Free Galahad in Jeans (Louisiana Knights Book 2) by Jennifer Blake

she’d fit in, he heard a shrill whoop. Next thing he knew, his cousin Merry Lou, well-rounded and with fiery auburn curls, came flying toward him in a fluttering mound of petticoats. She launched herself into his arms, hoop skirt and all, a move so unexpected he staggered with it, recovering only with wrenching effort.
    “Beau, darling!” she cried. “Where have you been? I’ve been dying to see you!” And she laid a kiss on him with so much suction her mouth popped when she let him go.
    The back of his neck burned and he turned red; he knew he did. He also knew Merry Lou’s husband, Jim, was standing, thunder-stuck, in the middle of the gym floor. And Carla was watching with a glacial look in her eyes and her lips twisted in disdain.
    “Merry Lou, honey,” he began, while reaching back to catch her arms and unwind them from around his neck.
    She interrupted in breathless haste while grabbing fistfuls of his shirt front. “I know this isn’t the place, Beau, darling, but I saw you and just couldn’t help myself. It’s been so long!”
    It hadn’t been anything of the kind, no way, no how, since the two of them never saw each other except in public. There wasn’t a thing going on between them and never would be. Glancing at Jim again, Beau had an inkling of why Merry Lou might want people to think there might be, but he didn’t want any part of it.
    “This is not the way.”
    “I know, I know, but what else can I do?” She looked up at him with tears shimmering in her eyes as she whispered. “Don’t spoil it, Beau. Please, please don’t.”
    Beau had played with Merry Lou when they were kids, swam with her in the creek. As a gangling teenager, he’d hung out with her and her friends on the courthouse square on hot summer nights. They were good buddies and third cousins since they shared a great-grandfather somewhere down the line. Certainly, they were not, and never had been, lovers. So she wanted to use him now? The unwritten law was that buddies helped buddies. He couldn’t disappoint her.
    He was sure Merry Lou’s husband, that hound dog, Jim, wouldn’t understand. Well, of course he wouldn’t, or there’d be no point.
    That Carla would get the difference was unlikely, too. He’d need to do some fast talking to explain it.
    That was, if he really wanted to clear it up.
    Maybe he didn’t?
    Maybe the lady magazine editor would be so disgusted she’d forget about her article. Maybe she’d take herself off and leave him alone.
    Was that what he wanted?
    It had better be, since the time for clearing up the situation had run out. Music was beginning for the first skit, and places were being called for everyone involved. By some fiend’s arrangement, he was in nearly every skit in the pageant. He’d have no chance to talk to Carla until they were headed back to Windwood.
    She turned away without a word or backward glance, heading toward where Granny Chauvin was holding court in the center-front section of seats. At least she’d have somebody to talk to while he was busy. Maybe Granny would give her the lowdown on Merry Lou, since she knew everything that went on in town.
    “Uh, oh,” Merry Lou said, releasing his shirt and smoothing at its wrinkles as she watched Carla walk away. “Did I mess things up for you?”
    “Not exactly.”
    “I think maybe I did. That’s the lady from the magazine I’ve been hearing about, right?”
    Was there anybody who didn’t have their nose in his business?
    “Yeah, it is.”
    “She didn’t seem too happy. Maybe I should have a quick chat with her.”
    “Leave it alone,” Beau said without inflection.
    “No, really, I don’t want her thinking—”
    “I said let it go. What she thinks isn’t important.”
    Merry Lou gave him an appraising stare. “No? Then why are you looking like a sick calf?”
    He tried for a grin, but wasn’t sure he made it. “Maybe I’m afraid Jim will want to meet me out behind the gym.”
    “That I’d like to see!”