My Best Friend's Mardi Gras Wedding

by Erin Nicholas

  Come to think of it, she was actually the beautiful young woman who had lied to Tori about Josh being out on a tour for the next three hours.

  Tori frowned at her.

  “Neither,” Josh said.

  “Wait, me?” Tori asked. “You thought I was pregnant?”

  The girl shrugged. “Or that you were here to kill him.”

  “Kill Josh?” Tori looked up at him. “Why would someone want to kill Josh?”

  “Trust me,” the woman in black said. “There are reasons.”

  “Definitely.” This came from the big man who had an equally big, deep voice. He was watching Tori and Josh with a frown. He was good-looking. But big. He had to be six-five and looked like he could easily face down the defensive line for the Vikings. He also had a scar on the side of his face that made him look mean. It didn’t make him less handsome though. It made him better looking in a rough, warrior kind of way. Tori was certain that women found that jagged mark hot.

  “But since you’re not here for a paternity test or to poison him…” The girl looked at Josh. “You’ve got a tour.”

  “You think she’d poison him?” the other guy—the one who seemed like a troublemaker—asked, studying Tori.

  “What did you think? She’s too little to, like, stab him or something,” the girl said.

  “But it would be passionate, right?” the troublemaker asked. “Emotional. I mean, it’d have to be like a gun or something, right? Nothing as long as poison.”

  “Unless she really wanted to watch him suffer,” the goth girl said, watching Josh contemplatively. As if maybe the idea of him suffering was interesting. Or something.

  Tori wasn’t sure what to say to all of this. They were kind of…a lot. But Josh seemed to be taking it all in stride. So she said nothing. And watched it all with fascination.

  “And now that we’ve got the no-one’s-here-to-kill-Josh thing cleared up,” Josh said, dryly. “I need to drive Tori back to the Buckworth Plantation.”

  “You’ve got a tour,” the big frowny guy said.

  Josh frowned back at him. “Take care of it.”

  “No.”

  “For fuck’s sake,” Josh muttered. He shoved a hand through his hair. “Tori, this is my brother, Sawyer,” he said of the big guy. “This is my sister, Kennedy.” He pointed to the goth liar. “And this is my cousin, Owen.”

  Owen was also very good-looking. This family had some great genes. Owen wore a Boys of the Bayou T-shirt like Josh’s and faded jeans. He had his hands tucked in the back pockets and was just watching everyone with a small half smile. He certainly didn’t seem like any of this was strange or unusual. He straightened and gave Tori a slow grin and a, “Nice to meet ya.” He didn’t seem as put out about her showing up as everyone else did at least.

  “This is my grandmother, Ellie,” Josh said, gesturing to the woman who was watching them with a knowing smile. “This is my grandad, Leo.”

  The older man tipped his Boys of the Bayou cap. They’d already met—he’d driven the bus Tori had used to get down here—but she hadn’t known he was related to Josh.

  “And this is my dad, Jeremiah,” Josh finished.

  Josh’s dad grinned at her. “Welcome to Autre.”

  Okay, so two of Josh’s family members—and wow, they were all related?—were smiling at her. Two—his grandad and grandmother—looked more curious than anything. Only his siblings looked annoyed. That was only one third of them. That wasn’t too bad.

  “Here is the deal,” Josh said, addressing the group at large and then staring at his brother and sister. “I met Tori last year at Mardi Gras. We agreed to meet up again this year if we were both single and still interested. And…here she is.” He grinned down at her.

  Tori felt a little wave of surprise go through her. They were going to just share this whole story with everyone within five minutes of her meeting them?

  Of course, Sawyer, Owen and Kennedy had already seen him throw her over his shoulder and carry her into the office. They had to be wondering about that.

  Unless that was a typical thing for Josh…

  “So, you’ll all understand when I tell you that I’m taking a few days off and stayin’ glued to this gorgeous girl for as long as she can stand me. Don’t expect me to be around much.”

  Again, Tori was surprised by how matter-of-fact and upfront he was being. And his family looked…intrigued, but not exactly shocked by his honesty.

  “Does she want you to stay glued to her?” Jeremiah asked.

  Ellie swung on him. “Why wouldn’t she want him to stay glued to her?”

  “I’m just asking the question.”

  “She came here,” Leo pointed out.

  “That doesn’t mean she wants him twenty-four-seven,” Owen agreed. With what could only be described as a shit-eating grin.

  “Yeah, that’s a lot of Josh,” Kennedy said with a nod.

  “I want you to give me three good reasons that she wouldn’t want to be with Josh constantly,” Ellie said, putting a hand on her hip and facing Jeremiah.

  “Yes, please, let’s talk about all the reasons she might not want to be with me,” Josh said dryly.

  “Well, he’s not as funny as he thinks he is,” Owen offered.

  Jeremiah nodded. Ellie scowled. “He’s the sweetest of any of my grandsons.”

  Owen laughed. “Well, that’s true.” He looked at Josh. “Total sweetheart.”

  “Fuck off,” Josh muttered.

  “See?” Owen said with a grin.

  “He’s smart,” Ellie said.

  “He’s not smarter than Sawyer,” Kennedy said.

  “I didn’t say he was smarter than Sawyer,” Ellie said. “I just said he was smart.”

  “Yeah, okay,” Kennedy agreed.

  Josh sighed. Tori felt herself fighting a smile.

  “Well, he’s a charming son of a bitch,” Leo said, shooting his grandson a wink.

  “He is. And he’s very good-looking,” Ellie said.

  “For sure,” Jeremiah agreed. “No question.”

  Josh rolled his head and seemed to be just waiting for it to be over. He didn’t seem surprised by any of this. Or offended. He looked…resigned really seemed the best descriptor. As if he’d been expecting all of this. Or at least something like this.

  Tori smiled. “No question,” she agreed. And something about all of this made him even more good-looking. “And yes, to answer the question, I do want him to stay glued to me.”

  Josh shot her a surprised look, then a grin. Then he turned a very smug grin on his family. “See?”

  Ellie chuckled. “And she clearly has good taste.”

  “I’ll bet she does,” Owen said, waggling his eyebrows.

  “Uh, no,” Josh said.

  “No, she doesn’t taste good?” Owen asked. “I don’t believe it.”

  “No, you are not going to be thinking about how she tastes,” Josh said.

  Ellie elbowed Owen in the side. “Don’t be an ass. She just got here.”

  “We can’t just leave it at ‘don’t be an ass’?” Josh asked.

  “Well, asking him to not be an ass ever is pretty unrealistic,” Jeremiah said.

  Owen didn’t seem offended by any of this either.

  It occurred to Tori that she should maybe be blushing. They were talking about Josh tasting her, after all. And Owen tasting her too. Kind of. Or at least him thinking about tasting her. Or him thinking about Josh tasting her. Or something. She was already confused. But, strangely, she didn’t feel embarrassed. She felt…included.

  Maybe there was something in the air down here that made people unabashed. She took a nice deep breath, just in case. Unabashed seemed fun.

  “Hey, guys?” Josh asked.

  “Yeah?” Ellie and Owen asked.

  “How about you all shut the fuck up now?”

  Yes, Josh had just told his grandmother to shut the fuck up.

  “Okay, so no one’s pregnant—yet—so let’s go to the
bar,” Ellie said.

  Yet? As in… But Tori didn’t have time to think about that any further.

  Josh sighed and nodded. “Fine. For a little bit. Then she needs to get back to Buckworth. She’s there for a wedding.”

  “I’ll get her back,” Leo said.

  “Just because we used the word ‘plantation,’ that does not mean driving her down Old River Road and stopping at every place and telling her all your stories,” Josh told him firmly. “And she doesn’t want to taste William’s rum. Or Bessie’s gin. Or Tyler’s whiskey.” Josh looked down at her. “It’s all moonshine. Don’t believe anybody who tells you it’s actually rum or whiskey. And don’t drink any of it. And don’t drink anything any of them mix up for you.”

  “Moonshine?” She felt her eyes widen. That sounded…dangerous. And interesting. Like more fun than Paisley’s stuck-up cocktail party at the plantation, for sure. And Tori thought she just might want to hear a few of Leo’s stories, as a matter of fact.

  Leo laughed at Josh’s explanation. “After you have a couple of glasses, you don’t care what it’s called or how it’s made.”

  Josh shook his head. “Don’t drink anything Leo offers you, period. Stick with Ellie.” He smiled at his grandmother in a way that made Tori’s heart melt a little—a combination of affection and exasperation. “She’ll give you the good stuff. The legal stuff.”

  Ellie smiled at her. “Definitely stick with me, honey.”

  Owen laughed. “But don’t get sucked in by that sweet smile. She’ll get you schnockered, given half a chance,” he said. “She’ll just do it with liquor that comes from an actual distillery rather than somebody’s backyard.”

  Tori wasn’t sure if she should laugh. Or come up with a really good reason to leave.

  “But I can come along and protect you,” Owen said, stepping up and putting an arm around Tori’s shoulders.

  Josh immediately shoved it off. “Take a big step back, cousin.”

  Owen held up his hands and stepped back. “Okay. Just tryin’ to help.”

  “You’re never helpful unless you think you can get money, beer, a naked woman, or a laugh out of the deal,” Kennedy said to Owen. “And I don’t think you’ll be getting any of that from Miss Tori here.”

  “Oh, I bet I can get some laughs out of it,” Owen said.

  “Just stay away from her,” Josh said, looking far less amused and laid-back now.

  Was he actually feeling protective of her? Tori kind of liked that idea.

  “Doesn’t matter.” Kennedy stepped between them. “You’ve got a tour too,” she told Owen. “A bachelor party.” She gave him an evil grin.

  Owen groaned. “That’s the fourth one in a row. Why are you givin’ me the bachelor parties?”

  “Because you need to have your hands full to keep you out of trouble. And because the last bachelorette party I gave you came back in wet T-shirts.”

  “There were other parts of them wet too,” Owen said with a grin and another wiggle of his eyebrows.

  His grandmother elbowed him again but she smiled at Kennedy. “But those girls ended up buying four new T-shirts from us, and not one of them complained, so he did a good job.”

  Kennedy nodded. “I’m not keeping him away from bachelorette parties because they don’t like him.”

  “Exactly. They love him.” Ellie was clearly as proud of and as willing to brag on Owen as she was Josh.

  Kennedy gave her cousin a small smile. “I’m doing it because I like picturing Owen trying to rein in a bunch of drunk frat guys who act a lot like he does on any given Saturday night, and hosing off the boats when they all get sick from bumping over the bayou in the hot sun.”

  “You’re a wicked woman, Kennedy Landry,” Owen said.

  “Thank you.” Then she turned to Tori. “So I guess I will be taking care of the new girl.”

  “Uh, no,” Josh said. “I’d like to keep her in one piece and thinking I’m amazing. At least for a little while.” He looked down at Tori. “Don’t believe anything Kennedy says about me.”

  “There are a lot of ‘don’ts’ around here,” Tori said, completely amused.

  “There really are,” Josh agreed. “I can write all the rules down if you need me to.”

  “Or you can summarize it by saying, ‘fifty percent of the people around here are full of bullshit, and the other fifty percent are cuckoo. You just have to figure out which half is which,’” Sawyer said.

  Josh nodded. “Yeah. That.” He turned to Tori. “Remember when I told you not to trust anyone with a N’Awlins drawl or a bayou drawl?”

  “Yep.”

  “That goes double down here. Guys and girls.”

  She did laugh now. These people were…yeah, a little crazy. Or something. But they seemed so happy. So accepting. So comfortable with one another. Clearly they could do or say whatever they felt and were thinking at any moment. The things they’d said might be nuts, sure, but their love for one another and how much they enjoyed each other was obvious. She felt a little warm just being around them.

  “Tour boats,” Kennedy said, snapping her fingers and pointing at Josh, Owen, and Sawyer. “Now.”

  “See ya around, Tori,” Owen said, giving her a wink. He started around the building to where the boats were docked.

  Sawyer followed him, but turned back and said to Tori, “Stay away from Ellie’s rum punch if you want to remember the rest of today. And that’s not crazy or bullshit.”

  He gave her a grin that actually startled her. He didn’t seem much like the grinning type. And yes, that scar was kind of hot.

  “How do I know that for sure?” she asked.

  He chuckled, the sound low and rumbly. “Good girl.” Then he disappeared around the corner of the building.

  Josh was the last of the guys to go. And even though the rest of his family was still standing there, he moved in close to her and slid a hand to the back of her neck. “Stick with the sweet tea and crawfish pie over there,” he told her, “and you’ll be fine.”

  With him this close, she felt heat slide through her in spite of their audience. “Didn’t you tell me last year that the crawfish pie and sweet tea would make me forget all about Iowa?”

  He gave her a slow grin that was sexy as hell—and mischievous. “Yep. You’ll never want to leave.”

  She mostly forgot, or maybe stopped caring about, their onlookers. She rose on tiptoe and put her lips against his.

  He took over in point four seconds. His fingers curled into her neck and he opened his mouth. The kiss was all-consuming and he clearly didn’t give a crap about who was watching.

  He didn’t let her go for nearly two minutes. When he did, her heels thunked back down against the wooden slats of the dock, and she stood staring up at him.

  She’d never met a guy like Josh. She was surrounded by blue collar guys who worked with their hands, didn’t mind getting dirty, and who lived near and saw their families on a regular basis. In fact, that described most of the men in her hometown. Elton, Iowa was full of hardworking, family-loving men. Okay, maybe not full. But there were several. Still, she’d never felt this way about any of them. And she’d known them all a lot longer than she’d known Josh.

  He just seemed so…obvious about everything he felt. Whether he was frustrated or happy or turned on, it was clear and he didn’t hold back on expressing it. She loved that.

  It was what she loved most about dogs. Most animals, actually. They were very clear about their feelings. If a dog was angry or scared, you knew it. If they were hurt, you knew it. If they were happy to see you, you knew it. Most of all, they were loyal and protective and openly, yes, unabashedly loving.

  Like Josh was. Or seemed to be. She had to keep reminding herself that she didn’t really know him. But damn, it felt like she did.

  Tori grinned up at him. She’d never liked a guy because he reminded her of a dog, but in this case, it was a very good thing.

  “I like that smile,” he said, his voic
e unmistakably affectionate. “Let’s keep that right there for the next several days.”

  Tori nodded. “You keep doing that from time to time and I’ll be grinning like an idiot.”

  “Can do. Definitely can do.” He hesitated, then took a breath. “Okay, I’m going to go to work. Leo will get you back to the plantation.” His gaze flickered to his grandfather. “Eventually,” he added. “And I’ll see you there tomorrow.”

  “I can’t wait.” And suddenly that was true. She’d been dreading all the wedding activities for, oh, about seven months.

  “Me too.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake.” Kennedy was there behind Tori then, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her away from Josh. “Ellie, she’s all yours.” She nudged Tori toward her grandmother. Then she turned Josh and pushed him, much harder, toward the boats.

  Josh went, but not without casting a last look over his shoulder at Tori.

  Even that made her stomach flip.

  “Hoo-ee,” Ellie said, wrapping her arm around Tori’s waist and starting for the dirt path that led from the Boys of the Bayou tour company building to the road. “I’ve never seen him like that.”

  “Who? Josh? Really?” Tori asked, tripping onto the road as she tried to look back over her shoulder.

  Ellie laughed as she tightened her hold on Tori. “Really. So I’m going to need your life story.”

  5

  Tori let the other woman lead her across the road to what was clearly a bar. It was a wooden shack, really, but it had neon beer signs in the windows and the sandwich board that sat in the gravel out front said, Today’s Specials: Appetizer-beer, Entrée-beer, Dessert-beer, Soup of the Day-Beer cheese…without the cheese.

  “Do we have time for a life story?” Tori asked as Ellie led her into the building.

  In contrast to the bright sunshine beating down outside, the bar was dark and Tori’s eyes didn’t adjust very quickly. She vaguely took note of a few booths along the wall to her left and the wooden tables and chairs in the middle of the room, but they were all empty at the moment. She also noticed there was a jukebox, three televisions mounted in the corners of the room—all of them off right now—and a short step up to where the long wooden bar sat. The place smelled like beer, smoke, and bayou. And none of that bothered Tori. In fact, she thought it smelled like a place that had been here for a long time. It was the kind of scent that made people feel at home. Like her barn back in Iowa.