Page 53 of Crazy Rich Cajuns

“Well, he’s been interested in projects in Louisiana for a while,” Charles said.“But he never said a word about moving there until he got involved with the swamp boat company.”

“But he isn’t reallyinvolved,” Kennedy said.“I mean, he owns a percent—and not much really,” she added.“It’s like seventeen percent.And it completely runs without him.We’ve been doing it for years without him.He doesn’t need to be any more involved.He comes down some weekends and plays around with my brothers, but it’s not like we’re having board meetings and shit.”She winced.“Stuff.”

“Exactly,” Charles said, lifting a red Solo cup.

Huh, still drinking.She had to give the man points for that.It was vanilla vodka, but he showed signs of being able to hang with the Landrys at a crawfish boil.

“What do you mean byexactly?”

“I mean, he doesn’tneedto be there.He could be nothing more than an investor.He’s done plenty of that.It’s not like he moves to the town where all of his business interests lie.So there must be another reason he’s thinking about getting closer to Autre,” Charles said with a wink.

Kenney frowned at the fire.Okay, it was one thing for Bennett to think that they would date and she’d fly back and forth to Savannah for him and they’d sleep together on the weekends he was in Autre.Which, honestly, had been all but maybe one or two since he’d bought into the business.It was another for him to move hislifeto Louisiana.

“Isn’t it a big deal to move his whole foundation?”she asked.“Uprooting a foundation and reestablishing it in a new state seems like a lot.I assume he has contacts and donors and stuff?”She didn’t know what exactly it did, but foundations typically raised money and then gave it out to groups that needed funds.Wouldn’t it be difficult to start that all over in Louisiana?

“He has a few donors,” Teddy said.“But his foundation mostly runs off of the investments he made with the money his grandfather passed down to him.”

Oh.So his connections in Georgia weren’t that critical.

“Of course, since most of his passion projects have to do with the environment, it helps that he knows a lot of people in public service here in Georgia,” Charles said.

“Public service?”Kennedy repeated.“You mean politics.”

Charles grinned and sipped again.“Yeah, politics.”

“Sothatwould make moving to Louisiana difficult, right?He might have all the same money, but he’d need connections to get things done with it?”

Teddy was the one to chuckle this time.“Bennett makes connections about as easily as you do, Kennedy.He’s never met a man, woman, or child he can’t make a friend.”

“You think I make connections easily?”Kennedy asked.She did okay with the tourists who came to the bayou.But that was her job.Other than those people, she didn’t really meet new people.She lived in the same town she’d been in all her life.With the same people.All.Her.Life.She sighed.Her world wasn’t really all that big, honestly.

Teddy grinned at her though.“I’ve been with you most of this evening.My entire family thinks you’re great.All of the people at dinner who were listening to your stories were enchanted.My sons may never eat a po’ boy that you haven’t made again in their lives.Hell, you have Charles here half-drunk and flipping plastic party cups instead of inside talking business.I think you make connections very easily.”

That made her feel a little warm and she smiled.“Well, thanks.”

“And you and Bennett have that in common.You have a way of making people feel comfortable.You’re very genuine and people are drawn to that.”

Kennedy sipped from her water bottle, thinking about that.So she and Bennett had something in common.Not just their love for Cora’s bread pudding and the bayou—hell, herfamily—either.There might actually be something in their personalities that was similar.She liked that idea.Even as she realized that was a kind of weird thing to care about in a guy she was using just for sex and hors d’oeuvres.

You’re not just using him for sex.

Yeah, well, she was going to ignorethatthought.

Feeding her hors d’oeuvres addiction, though, was real.She couldn’t eat that stuff at home without being majorly teased.

Don’t be stupid.No one falls for a guy because of stuffed mushrooms.

Well, of course not.But she could want to spend weekends in Savannah with him because of those mini quiches.She wasn’t sure she should even hint at what she’d do to him to get more of those.

It’s not about the quiches!

Kennedy frowned and looked around for the bottle of vodka.Her subconscious was being a real bitch tonight.She was determined to ignore any niggle that her attraction to Bennett was more than physical.Because that complicated things and was risky.

He might be considering a move to Louisiana—maybe he was already in the midst of it, in fact—but it wasn’t just about her.Bennett was the kind of guy, with the kind of resources, that made a move like that no big thing.He could spend a few months in Louisiana and then head right back to Georgia.Or hell, maybe he’d decide to try Colorado on for size.Or New York.He didn’t have any real limitations.Bennett Baxter was meant to do big things.

And if Ellie can leave Leo, then a guy like Bennett can absolutely find something bigger and better than you.

Yeah, she really needed to find that vodka bottle.

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