“I wanted to serve pretty ladies drinks and get tipped, Remy,” Zep argued, his handsome face a bit pale. “I did not sign on to deal with stinky reptiles who don’t know where their damn place in the world is.”

Seraphina stood up and nodded. “Oh, Otis is visiting.”

Lisa felt her eyes go wide as she followed Sera’s gaze. A massive gator was strolling down the pier, out for a leisurely walk. He didn’t seem to mind that one of the tourists damn near jumped out of his skin running the other way. “Holy shit.”

Sera’s hand waved. “It’s okay. Otis is a sweetheart. He’s only eaten a couple of tourists. As long as he’s well fed, he’s harmless.”

Lisa watched in perfect horror as Remy obviously gave up on his brother and took that gator by the tail, hauling him back.

Damn that man was fine.

And she had a big decision to make.

* * * *

After he handled their reptilian interloper, Remy strode back toward the bar. Otis was an old visitor. He dealt with that gator the same way his pop-pop had.

“You are going to wash your hands, right?” Zep asked, falling in line beside him. “Because all the signs say you have to wash your hands before you go back to work after using the bathroom, and I think that should also apply to after you’ve handled dangerous reptiles. You don’t know where that damn thing has been, Remy.”

His brother had been no help at all. Zep had mostly looked like he was going to be sick. “I know where he was going. He was headed up to the parking lot. Having a massive gator in the parking lot tends to scare off customers, and then where would you get your tips? He likes to sun himself out there. The rocks are reflective.”

“I’m only saying you should be more careful.” Zep opened the door for him. “I know Pop-Pop used to do that all the time, but I think gators are meaner now.”

“It was Otis.” Otis was damn near a pet in some ways, and he was seriously getting on up there in years, but every now and again he got it in his lizard brain to make friends with the tourists. Tossing him back in the bayou usually worked because Otis was also pretty damn lazy, and the walk in was almost always a one-way trip. “I’m not a poodle, therefore I’m fairly safe around Otis.”