Page 31 of My Best Friend's Mardi Gras Wedding

“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.

Come to think of it, she was actually the beautiful young woman who hadliedto 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.”

“KillJosh?”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.Butbig.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 wascertainthat 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 bepassionate,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 wereallrelated?—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 aboutthat.

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