Page 60 of Crazy Rich Cajuns

That was all true.Bennett felt a warmth in his chest that could have almost been pride.He loved having everyone here know that she was with him.He put his lips against her hair and gave her a kiss that he knew she wouldn’t feel but that he couldn’t resist.

“But…” Teddy said.

Bennett looked up at his uncle.“But what?”

“Sounds like she’s pretty wrapped up in the family business and what all’s going on with all of them.”He paused.“And you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were telling me about the tour business and all of the Landrys.”

Bennett nodded.Teddy had always been a big supporter of his and he kept his uncle informed on what he was up to.Lately, that had involved a lot of the Landrys.

“Sounds to me like those girls are all on an adventure.Coming to the bayou.Making a new life.Figuring their stuff out.Growing and expanding their horizons.”

“Okay,” Bennett said slowly.

“And now you’re planning the same thing.Uprooting things and going down there to pursue your passion.Doing something new and exciting.”

“Right.”

“And Kennedy’s just doin’ the same old stuff,” Teddy said.“Just seems…unfair, you know.She’s there for all of you to have fun and try new things.But she’s not getting to do that.”

“Shelikesthe…usual stuff,” Bennett said.She shifted in his arms, and Bennett realized his hold on her had tightened.He took a breath and relaxed his arms.“She’s just already found her place,” he said.“She knows who she is, what she wants, where she wants to be.”

“And that’s why you’re drawn to her,” Teddy said.“You want all of that.You want a place to settle, where people do what you expect them to do, where you can count on them.”

Bennett was nodding even before his uncle stopped talking.“Yes.Definitely.Where people say what they mean and where you know they’ll stand by the right thing even if it’s hard.”

Teddy nodded.

“Is that bad?”Bennett and his uncle had always been close.In spite of his mother’s eye-rolling over this side of her family, she loved her brother and when she could relax and not worry about good or bad impressions made on her husband’s colleagues and supporters, she’d been known to kick her shoes off and lounge by a fire, too.

Bennett, on the other hand, had enjoyed this side of the family’s more relaxed approach to life.They laughed more, had more fun, seemed to worry less.

But the biggest thing was that when Bennett had disagreed with his father’s politics, had broken ties with the law firm his father had founded with his best friend, and had started supporting his father’s political opponents, Teddy had stood beside Bennett.Teddy loved his sister and he and Preston Baxter had always gotten along, but Teddy had immediately called Bennett with his support after his falling out with Preston.Furthermore, Teddy had been the first major donor to Bennett’s foundation.Over the past couple of years, Teddy had continued his financial backing as well as his emotional support of his only nephew.

“It’s not bad at all,” Teddy said.“I know that you really want all of that.Just don’t make Kennedy be something for you that she doesn’t really want to be.”

Bennett felt a stab of awareness in his chest.Was he doing that?Did he just want the Landrys and their lifestyle, to be a part of the family?Was he making Kennedy into something in his mind that she wasn’t really so he had a way into the Landry family?

But no.He never knew what she was going to say or doexactly—in a fun way—but he knew she’d speak her mind and she’d be there for the people she cared about no matter what.That’s what he wanted.Honesty, someone who knew who they were and what they believed, someone who believed the same things he did, and someone who would do what they promised they’d do every single time.

That shouldn’t be a lot to ask, but in the world he’d grown up in, full of politicians and powerful men wanting to be even more powerful, it seemed those things were hard to come by.

“She’s someone I know I can count on,” he said, as Kennedy stirred a little in his arms.

“That’s wonderful,” his uncle said.“Just be someoneshecan count on, too.If you’re serious about her, she can’t just be the soft place where you land.She should have a chance to do some of the flying and landing, too.”

Kennedy’s hand flexed where it was resting on his chest, gripping his shirt gently.He looked down at her.Her eyes were still closed.She was so damned beautiful.He wanted her.Period.

At least, he was ninety-nine percent sure he did.He wanted this woman that he thought she was anyway.But was he missing something?Was he only looking at their relationship and whatheneeded?

Probably.

Because it really didn’t seem that Kennedy Landryneededanything.

“Maybe we’ll just—” Her hand started moving over his chest, making him forget what he was going to say.Was she still asleep?

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