My Best Friend's Mardi Gras Wedding

by Erin Nicholas

  The kiss was long and sweet, but eventually, she pulled back. She stared up at him as if a little dazed. He knew the feeling.

  “So, this date,” he prompted, not moving back out of her space one millimeter.

  She smiled, as if she’d forgotten what they’d been talking about before the kiss.

  “Right. Well, I need a date, yes. But not just any date. It has to be you and you have to be…”

  “I’m in. What do I have to be?” There was no way in hell he wasn’t going to this wedding, and whatever else, with her. A chance to spend a few days with her? Hell yes, he was in.

  “You have to act like you’re crazy about me,” she said, softly. Almost sheepishly.

  He laughed at that. “I think I can pull that off.”

  She smiled, but said, “I mean, actually, seriously into me. Like we’ve got a relationship. Like we’ve been talking regularly over the past year. Like you’re…my…you know…”

  “Your you know what?” He loved the blush on her cheeks and the way she was stumbling over her words. Victoria Kramer clearly didn’t realize that he’d do anything she needed him to do.

  She blew out a breath. “My boyfriend.”

  “Done.” Could he play her crazy-about-her boyfriend for a few days? Probably too well.

  “Yeah?” She looked so sweet and adorable looking up at him as if he was her knight in shining armor.

  “Fuck yeah.” He softened his voice too. “Tori, I’ve been thinking about you for almost a year. I went to that bar four times last night. I’ve been pissed off and frustrated all damned day that I didn’t see you. I’ve mentally mapped out a route from here to Iowa. Even though I don’t even know where in Iowa you’re from. I am feeling crazy here, and I’d love to get to know you better, and if you’re here for the next few days, I’m right there with you.”

  She seemed to need a moment to take all of that in, but she finally let out a breath, in obvious relief. “That’s…amazing. Thank you.”

  “But…” he said, as everything sunk in and he was able to think about something other than how much he wanted to get her naked. Right now. “…why do I need to play the boyfriend-of-a-year role? I mean, I’m happy to,” he added. “But sounds like there’s more to this story.”

  She nodded. And winced. “There is.”

  “Is there an ex who’s going to be there or something?” Oh yeah, he’d love that. He’d be happy to show some loser that he never should have let her go…and keep him far from her over the next few days.

  “Not that, exactly.”

  “You need to keep your grandmother from setting you up with some guy you have no interest in?” That he could also absolutely do. In fact, if his job here, in any way, involved him keeping her away from other men, he was definitely in.

  She smiled. “Not that either. I um… Last night, when I went to the bar and was so excited to see you…I saw someone who reminded me of you and I um…kind of…kissed him.”

  Josh processed that, and the stupid surge of jealousy he felt. “You kissed another guy last night?”

  She nodded. “I thought it was you.”

  He frowned. “How?”

  “He was built like you. And you both have beards. And it was in Bourbon O. And he saw me and clearly recognized me. Oh, and he was wearing a mask,” she added quickly.

  Okay, yeah, that was important information. That helped a little.

  “So, I thought it was you and I…kissed him.”

  “And what does that have to do with this wedding?” Josh asked, feeling like he was still missing something.

  “Uh…” She bit her bottom lip, then squeezed her eyes shut and said, “It was the groom.”

  Oh. Yeah, that could be a problem.

  “You kissed the groom?”

  She nodded, eyes still shut. “And the bride saw it.”

  Oh boy.

  “So, I need to prove that there is actually a guy that I met last year who looks like Andrew who was supposed to meet me there.”

  “You told them about me?”

  She nodded.

  “But they didn’t believe you.”

  “Right.”

  “So your best friend saw you kiss her fiancé and things are now…complicated.”

  “Except that my best friend is the groom. Andrew. And the bride hates me. Though, she hated me even before the kiss.”

  Josh blew out a breath.

  “Could we…” She wiggled a finger in the small amount of space between them. “Maybe get some space here? Or less space. One or the other. But this is really distracting.”

  He grinned down at her and leaned in. “I’m distracting you?”

  She nodded. “Very much. I really don’t want to talk about the wedding right now. But we probably should.”

  “You did say that less space between us is an option, right?” he asked.

  Tori wet her lips. “Either we need to lose our clothes and get this over with so I can focus on the problem. Or you need to move back so I can concentrate.”

  “Get this over with?” he repeated, his grin growing. “You mean, just strip down and go at it right here and now. Get it out of our system?”

  She nodded, her pupils dilating and her gaze dropping to his mouth, then back to his eyes.

  He leaned in more, bracing his forearm on the wall over her head. “Well, there are a few things wrong with that. One, there’s not going to be anything quick about me stripping you down and going at it. Two,” he said as she took in a little breath, “there’s no way that first time is going to get you out of my system.” He leaned down and put his lips almost against her. “And three, there are a bunch of crazy Cajuns about to break that office door down and demand to know what’s going on, so we probably don’t have time.” He kissed her then, but just as she was melting into him, he pulled back. Hell, he’d waited almost a year for her. A little bit longer was just going to make it all sweeter when he did finally strip this girl down. And he was going to. For sure. Soon. It was good she understood that. He stepped back. “So a little more space it is. For now.”

  Tori took another breath. This was a deeper one, as if she was getting her wits back together. Josh grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the chair behind the beat-up and mostly-covered-with-junk desk. He kicked the rolling chair out, nudged her into it, and then leaned back against the desk, facing her.

  “Okay, let’s hear this story. Andrew, the groom, is your best friend. You kissed him. The bride saw it and freaked out. You told them you thought he was me, but they didn’t believe you.”

  Tori nodded. She sat with her elbows on the arms of the chair, her long legs crossed at the ankles. “That about sums it up.”

  “Why wouldn’t they believe you?”

  “You mean, besides the fact that you weren’t there?” she asked, lifting a brow.

  He grinned. It seemed like giving her some space brought out some sassiness. He liked her breathless and distracted, but sassy was good too. “You mean, I wasn’t there when you were.”

  She rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Right. Okay.”

  Josh braced his hands on the desk and leaned toward her. “I was there, Tori.”

  Her expression softened. “I believe you.”

  Good. She needed to. Though there would be not one single doubt in her mind how much he wanted her and how much he’d wanted to see her last night by the end of their time together.

  “Mostly they didn’t believe me because I’ve never kept a real secret from Andrew before,” she said. “Well, that’s why he didn’t believe me. Paisley didn’t believe me because she’s convinced I’m in love with Andrew and want to break up their wedding.”

  “Do you?” Josh felt it was a fair question.

  Tori hesitated. Then nodded.

  Josh felt his gut clench. “Are you in love with him?”

  Jesus. Even the thought of that had his entire body tensing up.

  Tori frowned. “No, I’m not in love with Andrew.” She paused. “I d
o love him. But I’m not in love with him. He’s my best friend.”

  “Yeah, you mentioned that.” A couple of times already. The truth was, Josh wasn’t so sure he believed a man could be just friends with a woman he truly liked. Especially not one as beautiful as Tori. Why didn’t Andrew want more from her? That made no sense. Which led Josh to believe that Andrew probably did have bigger feelings for Tori. There could be reasons they’d never acted on them, of course. Or maybe they had and it hadn’t worked out.

  He frowned. “Have you guys ever been involved?”

  Tori didn’t shake her head nearly fast enough for Josh. She did, finally, though. “Not involved. No.”

  “That wasn’t really an adamant denial,” Josh pointed out.

  And the bride suspected there was more between Tori and Andrew, obviously. Josh knew a lot of women. Sure, some of them were crazy, but he would never scoff at female intuition. His grandmothers, mom, sister, and all the other cousins, friends, and even past girlfriends were all scarily insightful when they wanted to be. Paisley might be onto something here.

  “I had a crush on Andrew for a little bit in high school,” Tori admitted. “A short one. That never turned into anything. There was a New Year’s Eve kiss when we were sophomores. Oh, and one in eighth grade. That was it. I was way more in love with the idea of being with Andrew—someone I knew really well, who didn’t think I was weird because of…” she trailed off and cleared her throat, “…who didn’t think I was weird and who was easy to hang out with. Our families get along. We’re from the same place. We both had the same goals. At one time, anyway. In any case, it seemed like a good idea for us to be together. But it never happened. My crush went away as soon as I saw Danny Jenkins play football the first time.” She grinned up at Josh. “Clearly my feelings weren’t deep and abiding.”

  “You ever kiss Danny Jenkins?” He hated Danny Jenkins. And Andrew the Groom, too, for that matter. Which was probably stupider than his urge to drive to Iowa to find her.

  “Nope.” She shrugged. “I learned a lot about football watching him though.”

  “You’re a football fan?” he asked. He liked that about her a lot.

  “Definitely. I cheer for the Vikings and I don’t want to hear anything about it.”

  He laughed. “Can I talk about LSU?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Definitely not.”

  “We’ll see. Maybe I can convert you.”

  “Doubt it.”

  “But you said you’re a football fan. That means you’d like to watch good football.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him and he wanted to kiss her so badly that he had to grip the edge of the desk to keep from grabbing her.

  He coughed and shifted. “Okay, so, you’re not in love with Andrew, but you do want to break up the wedding?”

  Tori sighed and slumped down in the chair. “I know that makes me a horrible person.”

  “Why do you want to break it up?”

  “Because I don’t like Paisley,” she said, fiddling with the bottom of her T-shirt.

  “Why not?”

  “She’s just…not nice. And not what I would expect Andrew to go for. She’s so…different from him.”

  “She’s from Louisiana?”

  “New Orleans,” Tori said with a nod. “Her dad was the mayor and is a senator now and—”

  “Paisley Darbonne?” Josh asked, straightening.

  Tori rolled her eyes. “Yep.”

  “Oh well…shit.” The Darbonnes were practically celebrities. Then he thought about it. “Yeah, I guess she probably is a little different from Andrew, unless he grew up with a ton of money and is used to hanging out with politicians.”

  “Nope. He’s just a small-town boy. His dad is a farmer, his mom is a teacher. He grew up down the road from me. We climbed trees and rode dirt bikes and went swimming in the pond between our places. He was the one I first got drunk with, and he was the one that always stuck up for me when I…embarrassed myself.”

  Josh studied her face. That was the second time she’d said something like that. She’d also said something about being weird. “How did you embarrass yourself?”

  “It’s not important.”

  “It is to me.”

  She looked up at him and gave him a half smile. “Are you going to tell me your embarrassing stories too?”

  “Sure. Or my family gladly will. Either way, I promise you’ll hear all about me being a dumbass,” he told her with a grin.

  “Okay.” She sat up a little bit. “I’ll give you one example. When we were juniors in high school, I found out a guy was catching frogs and blowing them up with firecrackers. So I collected a whole bunch of bugs and snuck into his bedroom and let them loose. He had bugs and flies all over his bedroom, in his sheets, in his clothes and shoes and backpacks.”

  Josh blinked at her. That was not what he’d been expecting her to tell him.

  “Because frogs eat all of those things,” she said, her cheeks getting pink. “So if they’re not around, there will be more bugs and flies.” Her cheeks got even redder. “I thought it seemed like appropriate revenge for the frogs.”

  Finally Josh nodded. “I agree. Wow. I’ll bet he hesitated to do anything like that again. But how is that embarrassing?”

  She looked surprised. “Everyone at school found out about it, of course, and thought I was really weird to do something like that just to save some frogs. And that I would go to that much trouble to catch bugs. And that I was willing to catch bugs in the first place.”

  “No offense, but the people you went to school with sound like dickheads.”

  She stared at him for a moment, then her face broke into a huge grin. “They were,” she said. “But I was…am…animal crazy. That’s not the only weird thing I’ve done for something with four legs.”

  Josh couldn’t help but lean over, grab the arms of the chair, and drag her closer. He kissed her softly and said, “You are really underestimating my tolerance level for crazy.”

  She took his face between her hands. “Thank you for going to the wedding stuff with me.”

  “Well, it’s not like it’s totally selfless, you know. I figure it exponentially increases my opportunities for more kissing.” He kissed her again. “And more than kissing.”

  “Oh,” she said softly. “It definitely does.”

  “So when do the festivities kick off?”

  She winced slightly. “Tomorrow night, actually. Cocktail welcome reception for the family and bridal party.”

  “Okay. I’ll rearrange a couple of tours and be there whenever you need me.”

  “It’s at the Buckworth Plantation. Do you know where that is?”

  He laughed. “I do.” Everyone knew where the Buckworth Plantation—known locally just as “Buckworth”—was.

  “Good. It’s there. Starting at seven.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  She gave him a huge smile and kissed him again, then sat back. “Thank you.”

  “Not a hardship,” he told her, gruffly. He was going to have her all to himself tomorrow night at a fancy cocktail party at Buckworth. Well, sure, it would be a party full of other people, but she needed an ally. A boyfriend. He had all kinds of built-in reasons to sneak off into a corner with her, or pull her into the shadows of the oaks outside.

  “Well…I’m going to really appreciate it,” she said, with a sexy, adorable little smile.

  “As in, you’ll want to thank me somehow?” he asked, dropping his voice to a low rumble.

  Her lips parted and she was staring at his mouth again. “Yeah,” she said softly.

  “Well, honey, I think I warned you that bayou boys are dangerous,” he said. “But you walked right down my dock anyway and asked me for a favor. There’s no going back now.”

  “I’m okay with that.”

  He grabbed her hand, pulled her up out of the chair, and in between his knees. Then he kissed her again, knowing he was never going to get enough of it. It was a dee
p, hot, slow kiss that seemed to set his nerves on fire from his scalp to his toes.

  Then, when she made a needy little sound in the back of her throat, he lifted his head and looked into her eyes. “Really fucking glad to see you,” he said.

  “Ditto.”

  Pulling in a deep breath and telling himself he only had to make it about twenty-four hours, he nudged her back and stood. He took her hand and started for the office door.

  “I’m gonna send you back to N’Awlins,” he said. “And I’ll meet you at the Buckworth Plantation tomorrow night. But this time”—he stopped with his hand on the doorknob and looked down at her—“you’re giving me your number. I’ll text you when I get there.”

  She nodded. “Perfect.”

  He opened the door with a smile.

  That died on an exasperated sigh the next second.

  Owen, Kennedy and Sawyer were on the other side, leaning against the railing directly across from the office.

  But it was way worse than that.

  His father, granddad, and grandmother were there too.

  “Well, finally,” Ellie—the matriarch of the Landry family—said, getting up from the bench where she’d been waiting.

  Tori looked from the older woman up to Josh.

  He looked…resigned. He glanced down at her. “Sorry about this. But it was bound to happen. Might as well get it over with.”

  “Get wha—”

  “So not pregnant or murderous?” The beautiful young woman, who had insisted that Josh was going to be out on a tour for the next three hours, pushed away from the railing and crossed her arms.

  The woman was dressed in black Converse tennis shoes with shorts and a black cropped tank that left her stomach bare and showed off a swirling tattoo on her upper arm, another peeking out from under the strap on the left, and a gorgeous flowered tattoo that ran up the outside of one of her thighs. Her jet-black hair ended in red tips and she had piercings sparkling up the outside of one ear, another gem glinting from her nose, and a small heart that dangled from her belly button. Her makeup was bold—black eyeliner, purple lips, black nail polish—and she had an equally bold attitude. It was clear she ran the joint.