Cover

Praise for the

Butterfly Bayou series

“Lila’s strength and vulnerability are balanced by Armie’s intelligence and humor, making them an easy couple to root for. Blake captures the flavor of her colorful Southern town with a vividly drawn cast. . . . This charming series opener hits all the right notes.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Blake has created a couple to root for, along with memorable supporting characters and story lines with depth. Readers will be eager to visit Papillon again.”

—Library Journal

“Southern delight awaits in Bayou Baby. . . . This charming small-town drama is as smooth and sweet as a Louisiana drawl.”

—BookPage (starred review)

Praise for

Lexi Blake

“Lexi Blake is a master!”

—New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst

“I love Lexi Blake.”

—New York Times bestselling author Lee Child

“Smart, savvy, clever, and always entertaining.”

—New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry

“Lexi Blake has set up shop on the intersection of suspenseful and sexy, and I never want to leave.”

—New York Times bestselling author Laurelin Paige

Titles by Lexi Blake

THE BUTTERFLY BAYOU NOVELS

Butterfly Bayou

Bayou Baby

Bayou Dreaming

Bayou Beauty

THE COURTING JUSTICE NOVELS

Order of Protection

Evidence of Desire

THE LAWLESS NOVELS

Ruthless

Satisfaction

Revenge

THE PERFECT GENTLEMEN NOVELS

(with Shayla Black)

Scandal Never Sleeps

Seduction in Session

Big Easy Temptation

Dedication

For Mari and Lila—sisters from another mister. I couldn’t have made it through this year without you.

prologue

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

Sylvie Martine stared down at the printed-out report and had to admit to the fact that she’d been completely wrong about Rene Darois. “I’m going to be honest. When we started this project together, I thought I would end up doing most of the work.”

The truth of the matter was she’d thought about dumping the class when she’d seen her brother’s best friend sitting in what should have been a sophomore-level history course. She’d known he was still taking classes at Tulane when she’d started her freshman year. He’d shown up at her dorm room and offered to give her a tour of the campus. They’d gone to dinner and talked about her brother and reminisced about the old days when they would run around the grounds of Darois House, and then she hadn’t seen him again until he’d been sitting in the big lecture hall four months earlier.

He frowned her way. “I’m an excellent research partner.”