“You’ve been upset with me. Don’ deny it. And you’re not like that, so I had to have been doin’ something to get you riled.” Bijou ducked her head. “My father was some sort of sex addict and it colored my life. I didn’t want to be like him so I stayed away from men. Bodrie always made sex seem so cheap. And then I came here and . . .” She shook her head as her eyes stung and burned and the lump in her throat grew so big she couldn’t talk around it.

“Bijou, don’ be silly. You’re not at all like Bodrie. Not for one moment.”

Bijou took a deep breath to try to stop herself from crying. “You didn’t see me with Remy, Saria. I was a crazy person. Worse than Bodrie ever was. And I figured out that you must have noticed me flirtin’ with Drake, but if I was, I didn’t know it, I didn’t mean to do it.”

“Bijou, seriously, you didn’ do anything at all. I’m pregnant. I told Drake this mornin’ and he’s on his way home.” Her voice changed, the laughter fading. “I was jealous. You look so beautiful, and I had no idea I was pregnant. But your leopard was comin’ into heat and my leopard was crazy, which made me that way.” Her words came out in a little rush. “I didn’t have any idea you were leopard or maybe I would have put the two together, but instead I had my jealous pants on. I’m the one who’s sorry, Bijou. I hope you can forgive me. When you needed me most, I was actin’ silly.”

Bijou allowed herself to breathe again. “You’re pregnant? That’s so awesome, Saria.”

Saria smiled. “It kinda is, isn’t it? I’m still gettin’ used to the idea.”

Bijou carried her mug to the table and put it down so she could finish setting the table while Saria got the food. The relief she felt that everything between her and Saria had gotten back to normal was tremendous. She placed flatware carefully and added napkins before sitting down to finish her coffee.

“I turned into sex pants and that’s far worse than jealous pants,” she admitted. “It was horrible. And we destroyed your room. I’ll pay to have it fixed, Saria.”

Saria burst out laughing. “My brother has already taken care of it. He and Drake can put it all back together. His leopard was the crazy one, rakin’ the walls.”

“Not exactly.” Bijou felt compelled to be strictly honest. “I definitely helped, and there was no leopard involved.”

“You are the leopard, Bijou,” Saria pointed out. “I know it’s difficult to take in . . .”

Bijou scowled at her. “Difficult?” She interrupted. “Insane. Impossible to believe. The memory is tryin’ to fade. I’m tryin’ to convince myself that there’s some kind of Cajun curse on that room, or your brother bit me and instead of the werewolf, I became a leopard.”

“When I was little, I followed my brothers into the swamp and saw them shift into leopards. I watched them. It was horrible because at first they stripped and who ever would want to see their brothers naked? I knew I’d be traumatized for life!”

Bijou scooped up fluffy scrambled eggs mixed with crabmeat and rice. “You’re talkin’ to the queen of trauma, remember? My father and his band and their groupies thought group sex in the livin’ room was appropriate behavior.”

“I suppose I can’t top that,” Saria agreed with a slight grin, “but I was still horribly traumatized.”

Bijou gave a little smirk. “I’m certain I would have been too.”

Saria laughed. “You little hussy. You’d only be lookin’ at Remy.”

Bijou’s smile faded. “I know. He’s all I’ve ever looked at, and a fat lot of good that did me. Maybe if I’d seen him shift into a leopard I would have run for the hills and never come back. How did you feel about the entire leopard business?”

“I was jealous. I wanted to be like them. The brotherhood, you know. They were so close and I always felt like an outsider,” Saria admitted. “We used to talk about that, remember?”

Bijou shook her head. “You were crazy about your brothers. You thought they walked on water. You never complained about them.”

“I didn’t?” Saria added, as she added panfried trout to her plate.

Bijou took a hot beignet. “The first thing I did when I came back home was go to the Café Du Monde and order coffee and beignets. I missed them so much.” She took a bite. “These are wonderful, Saria. You always were such a good cook. I guess all that cooking for your pere really helped. I’m not so good. We had a chef—well, several. Mostly women, and believe me, they didn’t want me in their kitchen.”

“It should have been your kitchen.” Saria was indignant on her behalf.

Bijou shrugged. “That satisfaction was in knowin’ they wouldn’t last very long. Bodrie would get tired of havin’ sex with them and the way they would cling to him. He’d fire them and hire the next pretty face.” She added the trout to her plate as well. “I took a cookin’ class once. It was a disaster. I’ll have to try some of your recipes when I get in my own place.”

Saria pressed her lips together for a moment, clearly contemplating how to word her next sentence, putting Bijou on alert. “You know my brother isn’t goin’ to let you out of his sight. He’ll be expecting to share your place or have you move in with him.”

Bijou forced a casual shrug. “Clearly we’re not on the same page about that. Wild sex might be fun, Saria, but it will never be enough for me. I want a man to look at me and love me the way Drake does you. I’ve waited a long time for that. I can’t help it if his leopard is crazy about mine and that’s why he’s so physically attracted to me.”