Page 19 of My Best Friend's Mardi Gras Wedding

“Oh my God,” Tori groaned.“None of that matters.That was forever ago.”She turned to Paisley again.“IswearI thought he was Josh.Iwantedhim to be Josh.I wish right now that he was Josh.”

Paisley sniffed.“I don’t believe you.I think you’ve been in love with Andrew forever.I know you don’t want this wedding to happen.”

Okay, Tori could not, in good conscience, insist that she was thrilled Andrew wanted to marry Paisley, and she couldn’t convincingly convince anyone that she was happy about this wedding.Which meant that she took just a beat or two too long to reply.“I just—”

“I don’t believe you!”Paisley stamped her foot.

Looking for an ally, Tori turned to Andrew.“Andrew, you have to tell her that nothing’s going on.”

“Nothing’s been going on,” he said to Paisley.“I had no idea that Tori wanted to kiss me.”

Tori felt her mouth drop open.Okay, he was drunk.But seriously?“What are you doing?”she asked him, stepping closer.

He shrugged.“If you have feelings for me, it’s okay.It’s understandable.I don’t like the idea of you with some guy you met down here last year either.”

“It’sokay?”Tori repeated.“It’sunderstandable?Either?Are you insane?”

He shook his head and swayed slightly.“You don’t have feelings for me?”

“Of course I do,” Tori said.But she added quickly, “Friend feelings.Affection.Caring.”

“Love,” Andrew said.“You love me.It’s okay.”

Tori glanced at Paisley.She looked like she was about to have a stroke, but she seemed to be waiting to hear Tori’s response.

Tori took a deep breath.“Yes, I do love you, Andrew.But as a friend.Like a brother.I’m notin lovewith you.”

“Paisley and I have discussed this and she says that we need to acknowledge your feelings for what they are so that they’re out in the open where we can all deal with them,” Andrew told her.

They’d talked about Tori’s feelings for Andrew?Or what they thought Tori’s feelings for Andrew were anyway.Tori frowned at the other woman.“What the hell does that mean?”

“I know that you’ve always told yourself that you only loved Andrew as a friend,” Paisley said, suddenly looking cold and completely in control rather than steaming mad and out for blood.

Wow, that switch turned on and off quickly.

“Ihaveloved Andrew as a friend,” Tori told her.

“But when the person closest to you is suddenly closer to someone else, it can stir those feelings up and help you realize what theyreallyare.You’ve always imagined a certain life with Andrew.Maybe in your head it was on neighboring farms or something,” she said, the scorn for that idea clear in her tone.“But the truth is now hitting you—his entire life is different.His future is different.And it doesn’t include you.And now that you’re losing him, you’re realizing that you’re in love with him.”

Tori felt a stabbing in her chest at the truth in Paisley’s statement.Andrew’s life and futureweretotally different now than she’d always imagined they’d be.Not that she’d imaginedthemas husband and wife, but she’d always assumed he’d be a part of her life, down the road, sharing things like holiday dinners and events like the births of children and the deaths of parents.She would take care of his animals and he’d help her wade through her dad’s will when it came time.

And now all of that was…gone.It would all be different.Most of that would be nonexistent.If Andrew helped her with her father’s will, it would be from a distance.

She felt tears stinging her eyes and pressed her lips together.Her throat was so tight that she couldn’t argue with Paisley’s assumptions.

Paisley stepped forward, reaching for Andrew’s hand.She regarded Tori with a touch of pity, and a lot of triumph.“It’s really important to be honest about how you feel,” she said.“It’s only fair to both Andrew and I.He needs to know where you stand.He can’t assume.And it isn’t fair to me to be asked to give you time alone together anymore.If you were just childhood friends, that’s one thing, but you can understand why I would be concerned now.”

It was Tori’s turn to gasp.“So you don’t think that Andrew and I can have a private conversation now because you think I’m in love with him?”

She saw exactly what Paisley was doing.The other woman was jealous of Tori and Andrew’s relationship—a friendship, dammit—and history, so she’d come up with a way to justify keeping them apart.And a way to make it all Tori’s fault.

“Exactly.”Paisley said it coolly.

“So, you’re absolutely convinced that I’m in love with Andrew and planned this kiss and some kind of jilted-bride scenario?”Tori asked.

“Yes, I am.”She leaned into Andrew and ran her hand up his chest.“Fortunately, I’m completely sure of Andrew’s feelings for me.”

Tori wasn’t sure about that.Why work so hard to keep him and Tori apart then?And maybe Paisley hadn’t noticed the way Andrew had kissed Tori back.

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