Free Deja Voodoo (A Cajun Magic Novel) (Entangled Suspense) by Elle James Page B

pressed together.
    “We’re just friends, Mom,” she provided. “And yes, discussing it later would be best.”
    “Ed, Ben tells me you’re an avid fisherman.” Her mother drew attention back to her choice of men for Alex.
    “I’m hoping to spend my vacation doing some fishing. I’ve scheduled a guide for early tomorrow morning.”
    “Oh, that’s too bad. Alex is very familiar with the bayous and knows all the best places to fish, don’t you, dear? Perhaps she can take you out in the evenings after she finishes up at the gym.”
    “Mom, Mr. Marceau would probably rather go with his guide. Besides, I have Sport visiting.”
    “I could watch Sport while you take Ed out on the bayou,” Calliope offered. “I mean, I could keep him company.”
    Alex glared at her friend.
    Before she could back out of it gracefully, Ed sealed the deal with a smile. “I’d like that.”
    The younger children finished their dinners before their older siblings. To avoid further questioning, Alex jumped up to help Molly, Teddy, Rosie, and Eleanor clear their plates. By the time they ran off to play, the adults had finished. Dolley and Madison gathered the rest of the empty plates and started in on the dishes.
    “I’ll help,” Alex offered.
    “No, cher .” Her mother headed her off before she could duck into the kitchen and disappear. “Why don’t you give Mr. Marceau a tour of the garden? C’est magnifique in the starlight.”
    She pulled her mother to the side. “Mom, stop playing matchmaker. I know you care about me, but I don’t need help finding a man. Besides, like I said, I have Sport staying with me for a little while. Men aren’t going to want to go out with me while I have a man staying at my house.” There, that lie slipped off her lips a lot easier than the last. And it wasn’t totally a lie. Sport was a man…for the time being.
    Alex’s mom touched her arm, her forehead lined with worry. “Sport seems nice and all, though kind of quiet. Are you sure you want to have a man stay with you, alone in your house?”
    “I’m twenty-nine, Mom, not nineteen.” She patted her mother’s hand. “I know what I’m doing.”
    “Mr. Marceau is such a nice gentleman.”
    “Yes, I’m sure he is.”
    Her mother patted her arm again. “Then show him around the garden, and I promise not to bother you anymore.”
    She knew better than to believe her. “I can’t leave Sport alone.”
    “I don’t know why. He and Calliope seem to have hit it off.” Her mother smiled toward her friend and her man-dog. “She’s quite taken with him. I saw her whispering to him all through the meal.”
    Calliope chose that moment to wave at her and called out, “Sport and I are headed back to your house.”
    “I’m coming,” she said.
    “Alex, please,” her mother begged.
    God, she hated it when her mother begged. Since her father had passed, she hadn’t been able to say no to her mother.
    “Stay and visit,” Calliope offered. “I can manage Sport by myself.”
    “See?” Her mother beamed. “All taken care of.”
    This is not happening. All the effort to parade Sport in front of her mother as her boyfriend had somehow backfired. Now her mother had it in her head that Sport was Calliope’s main man. If only she knew . If she had been a good daughter, she’d have been honest with her mother at the start. Unfortunately, the opportunity to tell her the truth had come and gone about the time she introduced Sport in the first place.
    “Fine.” She waved her friend off and turned to find Ed. “One spin around the garden and I’m out of here.” She didn’t look forward to spending time alone with the man, not when his touch made her skin tingle and his semi-smiles brought on an attack of butterflies in her belly and a strange ache between her legs. But if it would get her mother off her back, she’d do it, then get back to her real issue—finding a way to turn Sport back into a dog.

Chapter Six
    Dolley and Madison had