Tori tipped her head. “What about me and Andrew?”
“Paisley thinks that you make him homesick.”
Tori smiled softly at that. “Oh. That’s kind of nice.”
“Is it?”
“Isn’t it?” she asked. “It’s nice to think that he thinks of home fondly and that I remind him of it and his feelings for it.”
Josh shook his head. “I think she means that you make him want something that maybe he didn’t know, or remember, that he wanted.”
Tori frowned. “I really don’t think Andrew wants to go back home. Not for good. He loves New Orleans and his new job.”
“Right. Not the job, really.”
“Then what?”
He looked at her as if she was being slow.
She frowned. “What?”
“You, Tori. She thinks that you’re making him want you.”
Tori rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s ridiculous and insecure of her.”
“You sure?”
“Of course.”
He took a breath. “I saw you two talking in the hallway alone. It looked kind of…emotional.”
“You saw me and Andrew?” Tori asked.
“Yeah.”
“And you didn’t interrupt?”
“I have no right to interrupt,” he said. “He’s your best friend. You’re here for his wedding. You have a history with him. I’m…new.”
He was. New. Exciting. Fun. Different. Tori gave him a smile and took his face between her hands. “All the more reason for you to believe me when I say that Andrew was just trying to let me down easy.”
“Let you down?”
“He was starting to believe some of the stuff Paisley is worried about. About me wanting him and trying to break them up,” Tori said. “He wanted me to know that he cares about me but not that way.”
“So he believed the kiss too?” Josh asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t think he did at first, but then Paisley wouldn’t shut up about it. So he felt the need to talk to me about it.”
“What did he say?”
“That the kiss was amazing and that he always thought he wanted to end up with a girl like me—not me, of course, but someone like me. Someone from back home. He’d always envisioned himself living and working in Iowa. But then Paisley came along and changed everything.”
Josh was frowning up at her now. “He said the kiss was amazing?”
“Yeah.” She had to admit, even if she hadn’t meant to kiss him, it was always nice to be told you were a good kisser.
“And he said he’d always wanted to end up with a girl like you, but not you?”
“Well, he didn’t say not me. That was implied.”
“So he said he’d always thought he wanted to end up with a girl like you. Period. He didn’t qualify it?”
Tori gave Josh a look. “He didn’t mean me.”
“You’re sure?”
“Josh, Andrew has had every opportunity to be with me if he wanted to be. And he’s never said or done anything about it.”
“He’s had every opportunity? What’s that mean?”
She winced. She hadn’t really wanted to confess all of this. But hey, Josh knew about her crazy menagerie and that everyone at the wedding disliked her, and he was still here.
“Well, we’ve been friends forever. Spent a lot of time alone. But the only kiss was one New Year’s Eve.”
“And one in eighth grade,” Josh said.
“You’ve been keeping track.” She felt a little flutter in her stomach.
He gave her a single nod.
“Well, then…” She blushed in spite of herself. “I wrote him a letter when we graduated, basically suggesting that if we both were still single when we turned thirty, we should just get married to each other.”
Tori felt Josh’s fingers dig into her hips again, a little firmer this time. “What did he say?”
“He…let me down easy that time too. Said that our friendship meant a lot to him and he wanted to be my friend forever, and that he knew he’d end up with someone like me but he didn’t think we should get married.”
“So you don’t think he could have feelings for you now?” Josh asked.
She laughed. “No. Not only has he never before, but clearly he’s actually ended up with someone very not like me.”
Josh didn’t look convinced. “I talked to Paisley while you were talking to Andrew. You should be aware that she thinks Andrew is getting nervous about how different his life is going to be now and that you represent…comfort and home.”
Tori thought about that. “Well, that makes sense. But he’s approaching the biggest day of his life. It’s natural to think about all of that. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Or maybe the kiss at the bar made him realize he’s attracted to you after all and it’s got him thinking,” Josh said.
For a second, she flashed back to the bar and the kiss with Andrew. He had kissed her back. And he’d known who she was. Yes, she’d surprised him with the kiss, and possibly his reaction could be chalked up to instinct. When someone kissed you, you just automatically kissed back. But she immediately knew that wasn’t right. If someone suddenly kissed her without her expecting it, she was certain her instinct would be to push them away. She frowned. “Well, maybe there was a second or two where he realized I’m not gross or something,” she said.
Josh gave a soft chuckle.
“But tonight in the hallway was the first time I’ve even seen him since then. He hasn’t been looking for me.”
“How do you know he wasn’t looking for you?”
“Not one single text asking where I was.”
“Maybe Paisley had him busy so he wouldn’t text you.”
“Okay, maybe. But honestly, Josh, maybe it’s cold feet, maybe he’s feeling nostalgic, maybe he’s contemplating everything. He should do that. He should walk down that aisle on Saturday, totally sure that’s what he wants to do.”
“But you don’t think he should.”
Tori hesitated. She didn’t. Paisley was very different from the woman Tori had always pictured Andrew with. New Orleans was a very different place from where Tori had always pictured Andrew practicing law. “That’s his decision to make.”
“You’re not going to try to break them up?”
She took a deep breath. “You’re going to help me not do that.” She smiled. “You’re going to distract me and, if necessary, remind me that he’s an intelligent guy and that he needs to make this decision.”
Josh squeezed her hips. “I’m very happy to keep doing that. As long as you think that’s the right way to handle this.”
“Definitely. Not only do I need someone to help me keep my head on straight, I also need to prove that the kiss with Andrew was a mistake, and I have to salvage my pride. Show everyone that someone does want to kiss my socks off.”
“I want to kiss other things off of you too,” Josh said, his voice rough. He leaned in and captured her lips.
Yes. This. Lots and lots of this. Tori leaned into the kiss, sliding her hands into his hair and wiggling again. Josh really seemed to want her. Surely she could get him out of these clothes tonight. He was staying here. With her. He couldn’t send her back to her room alone.
But she was really going to need him to take the lead here. She was hardly a seductress. She’d lost her virginity to Chad Winer. Yes, a guy whose last name sounded like whiner. But he’d done all the work there. She’d slept with a guy in college twice. Again, he’d come on to her. In the biology lab. He’d found her dissection of the fetal pig hot. Which, of course, should have been a red flag. She was proud of her work and loved guys who loved animals. But dissection probably shouldn’t be hot on any level. And then there’d been Anthony. He’d been in her class in vet school. And, come to think of it, she’d decided to sleep with him when his hands had been bloody from operating on a dog that had been hit by a car. But that wasn’t creepy. That had been because he’d been confidently a
nd competently saving the life of an animal. Of course that was hot. Made sense to her anyway. So she’d slept with him on and off for about a semester.
But it had been a very, very, very long time since that semester. And she hadn’t even thought of getting naked with another guy since she’d met Josh. A year ago. Without knowing if she’d ever seen him again. Just meeting him and hanging out at a bar for a few hours and a couple of kisses, and he’d ruined her for other men.
Damn. Maybe she shouldn’t take him up to her room tonight.
But then he tipped his head, deepened the kiss, pressed her down against his hard cock while sliding a hand up her side to cup her breast and brush his thumb over her nipple.
Oh, she was definitely taking him up to her room tonight.
In fact, right now would be perfect.
Tori tore her mouth away and said, “Room 206.”
He sucked in a breath. “Yeah.”
She scrambled off his lap, hoping that what she lacked in grace she could make up for with eagerness. Josh caught her from tripping with both hands on her waist, then tucked her against his side and started for the door as if keeping her on her heels was just part of his job here.
Instead of the doors back into the ballroom, Tori tried to tug him across the patio to a side door that she knew would let him in on the other side of the staircase. They could get up to the upper floors without having to go through the ballroom.
But Josh wouldn’t let her lead.
“Come on. Through here,” he said.
“But we can bypass all of this,” she protested.
“Why would I want to do that? We want everyone to know that I’m here…and why, right?”
Well…that wasn’t a bad point. But the chances of being waylaid were, of course, greater if they were wading through people.
“We can socialize tomorrow,” she said. “In fact, it will be required.”
His big hand slid down to cup her butt and he said against her temple, “Yeah, but I want everyone to know where I’m spending the night.”
She swallowed. “Won’t they just assume?”
“I want them to be sure.”
He pulled her to the door and swept it open before she could protest further. Okay, fine, but these people didn’t really like her anyway, so she didn’t have to be overly friendly.
She’d forgotten who she was with though. And it only took about one minute back in the ballroom for her to remember. As much as she loved animals and couldn’t walk past one without stopping, Josh loved people. He grinned and said hello to several people standing just inside the doors. He clapped one man on his back as if they were long-lost friends. He tipped his head with his Southern-boy grin to several ladies old enough they could have been his mother. He stuck his hand out to one of the groomsmen with a, “Hey, man,” and gave Courtney, one of the bridesmaids, a big wink when she caught his eye from where she was dancing with another of the groomsmen.
“Do you know people here?” Tori asked, almost not noticing that Josh had stopped on the dance floor and had turned to pull her into his arms.
“Not really. But they all know who I am,” he told her with a conspiratorial smile.
She realized that they were dancing. She narrowed her eyes. “You intended to stop in here to dance.”
“I did.”
“But…bedroom,” she said. Dammit, maybe he really didn’t want to go up.
“You need to be here in the middle of everything, showing everyone that you’re completely comfortable and happy with everything as it is.”
He had a point. To convince Paisley that Tori was not trying to ruin her wedding, Tori needed to play the part of a happy bridesmaid.
But…Josh and the bedroom…
“I’ll dance for a while if you promise to eventually throw me over your shoulder like you did earlier today and carry me up to bed,” she said.
Josh tripped over his next step and came to a complete stop, gripping her tightly.
“I can probably handle that,” he said gruffly.
She smiled at him. “Okay, then.”
It maybe wasn’t a sign of maturity and self-confidence, but the idea of having Josh sweep her out of this room, knowing they were headed upstairs, because he just had to have her, while everyone looked on, was appealing.
And yeah, she was glad her parents weren’t here to see it. She also kind of hoped Andrew’s parents wouldn’t tell them. She was twenty-eight and her parents didn’t get a vote in who she spent her nights with, of course. Still, she wasn’t a scene-causer. Not these kinds of scenes, anyway. There was that one time that she’d thrown a fit about her biology teacher wanting to feed mice to a snake in class. Yes, she’d let the mice loose, but she’d also let the snake loose. And of course the time she’d punched the Nelson boys over those kittens. And she could never forget her dad’s birthday when she was ten, or her grand gesture to Marcus Turner on Valentine’s Day her freshman year. But generally she didn’t stir things up and almost never in any kind of human relationship.
Josh wanted to make her the center of attention? She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. But she let him lead her around the dance floor. In her bright red, sparkly dress.
Hey…he could dance? “You dance,” she said out loud. Stupidly.
His lips quirked. “I do.”
She understood immediately. “Because girls like guys who can dance.”
“Same reason I know how to cook,” he agreed, spinning her before pulling her back against his chest.
“You do?”
“I don’t have to do it often at all. Between Ellie, Cora, and Kennedy, we’re all very well fed, but I can. And do…when the occasion calls for it.”
“You mean when it will help you get a woman out of her panties faster,” Tori said.
He laughed. “Um… yeah.”
“Kennedy cooks?” Tori asked. His sister hadn’t really struck her as domestic in any way, though she’d only been around the other woman for a few short minutes.
“She’s amazing. She learned from Ellie. I think Ellie and Cora are hoping she’ll take over the bar, or at least the kitchen.”
“Why do you call your grandma Ellie?” Tori asked.
“Because she’s one of three grandmas I’ve got in Autre,” he said with a crooked smile. “Growing up, there were four women I considered grandmas. Oh, and there was a great-grandma. It was too confusing to call them all grandma and Ellie isn’t really a ‘granny’ or a ‘nanna’ so she was always just Ellie.”
Tori nodded, loving the feel of just relaxing and letting Josh lead her around the floor. “You don’t think Kennedy wants to take over the business?”
Josh laughed.
“What?”
“Your mind works fast and constantly, doesn’t it?”
Tori grimaced. “Yeah. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I also love that you went right past the part about me getting women out of their panties.”
Tori shrugged. “Well, it’s pretty obvious that I’m not the first girl to develop a crush on you across a bar.”
Josh’s eyes softened. “You have a crush on me?”
She laughed. “You didn’t know?”
He smiled. “I guess it’s just a…sweet…word. Yes, I’ve had hookups, one-night stands, that kind of stuff. But I’ve never had…this.”
She looked up at him. “This? What is this?”
“I’m not entirely sure.” He leaned in, brushing his lips over hers. “But I really like it.”
She did too. She put her mouth against his ear. “I like dancing with you, but I liked sitting on your lap even more. And I’d like to do it without clothes on.”
He coughed and missed a step in the dance. Tori grinned to herself.
“Are you flirting with me, Ms. Kramer?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I don’t really do that. Am I?”
“I think you are.”
“And is it working?”
“You can’t tell?”
He pressed his palm against her lower back, bringing her against his hot, hard body. “I could say something here about your butt and my head, but I’m just going to say that there are definitely ways to tell if I like you and I promise, the main one is on full display.”
She laughed. “This might require closer examination.”
“Well, here’s one for instance.” He suddenly stopped—in the middle of the dance floor of course—cupped her face, and kissed her. Because he was, obviously, all about the full displays.
And he kissed her.
Full, deep, tongue, the whole thing. She was on tiptoe, his hands were in her hair, their bodies were plastered against one another, and there could be no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was real. This was the kiss she’d been going for the other night at Bourbon O.
After a few long, delicious moments, Josh pulled back, looked down at her, gave her a little wink, then fulfilled his promise by bending and lifting her over his shoulder before striding toward the grand staircase in the front of the mansion that was line-of-sight for eighty percent of the people at the party.
8
They’d just gotten to the base of the staircase when Josh heard, “Hey! Hang on!”
He turned, swinging Tori away from whoever was coming after them.
Andrew.
Of course it was. Well, fuck.
He had Paisley in tow though. The bride didn’t look especially pleased, but it was hard to tell what she was upset about exactly.
Josh was making a spectacle. He knew that. It was very intentional. Paisley seemed to be the type to be annoyed by a guy carrying a girl up to bed at her big party. Not so much because it was a tad risqué, but more because it was taking attention away from Paisley. There was an equal chance, however, that she was pissed that Andrew was coming after Tori with clear concern and curiosity.
“Can I help you?” Josh asked Andrew.
“Tori?” Andrew was frowning at Josh, but not addressing him directly. “You okay?”
Josh pivoted sideways so that Tori could look at Andrew. She giggled. “I’m very okay.”
My Best Friend's Mardi Gras Wedding Page 14