Page 46 of My Best Friend's Mardi Gras Wedding

“Let’s give them a minute,” he told Courtney.

She lifted a brow.“Really?You don’t want to interrupt?”

He definitely wanted to interrupt.But he couldn’t do that.Obviously Andrew was the reason Tori hadn’t answered Josh’s text.She probably didn’t even know he was here.

But he sure as hell didn’t want towatchTori and Andrew together.

“They’re friends,” he said.Friends that stood really close together.“If they have stuff to talk about, that’s none of my business.”

That was completely true.And, in spite of the surge of jealousy he felt—maybebecauseof the surge of jealousy he felt—he needed to remember that.

Courtney was clearly surprised.“It’s not your business if your girlfriend is cuddled up with another guy?”

Josh turned away from Tori and Andrew.“They’re not cuddled up,” he said, feeling a prick of annoyance.They weren’t.Exactly.They were talking.Privately.

“I don’t know if Paisley would agree with you,” Courtney said.

“Well, if you’re worried, why don’tyouinterrupt them?”he asked.

“The last thing we need is for thegroomto be pissed at a bridesmaid too.”

“Too?”

“Paisley is, obviously, pretty upset with Tori.And the fact that Andrew refused to kick her out of the wedding party.”

“The kiss was a mistake,” Josh said.Taking her bridesmaid status away seemed like an overreaction.

“Yeah, maybe.”Courtney tipped her head.“I mean, I guess now that you’re here that seems more likely.But it’s not like that’sallPaisley is upset about.”

“She’s a bride,” Josh said.“From what I understand, brides are supposed to be upset about stuff.”Hell, they made entire TV shows about it.

“I mean about Andrew and Tori,” Courtney told him.“Paisley thinks Tori is trying to talk Andrew out of getting married.”

Josh felt a tightness in his chest.Was that what they were talking about now?She’d told him that they’d been friends forever and that she’d had a crush on Andrew in high school.There could be jealousy there that had nothing to do with Tori being in love with him.Obviously, if he’d moved from Iowa to Louisiana and now had a fiancée, his time with Tori had been cut way down.Maybe she was just missing him.As a friend.

Josh really didn’t know what to do here.Tori had asked him to come.She wanted him here to help convince everyone that she’d meant to kisshim.That he was real.And she wanted them to all think that they were more than two strangers that met last Mardi Gras and hadn’t been in touch since.She wanted him to play the part of her boyfriend.She wanted him to help her convince everyone thathewas the guy she had feelings for.

Yeah, he could do that.Definitely.And ifToriwas one of the people he convinced, then all the better.

“Tell you what,” he said to Courtney.“How about you introduce me to Paisley?That will keep her away from this.”He jerked his thumb toward where Andrew and Tori were still talking.“And will prove that I’m real and I’m here.That’s gotta make her feel better.”

Courtney nodded.“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”She cast one more glance in the direction of the two friends under the stairs.She frowned slightly, but Josh resisted looking in that direction.

Tori had known Andrew her whole life.It made sense that she was comfortable with him in her personal space.And Josh couldn’t forget the way she’d kissedhimin his office yesterday.She’d let himinher personal space too.Very in.And he intended to spend a lot more time there.

He followed Courtney back down the hallway and into the main ballroom of the mansion.A ballroom.It wasn’t as big as he would have expected aballroomto be, but it was impressive nonetheless.A domed ceiling, easily twenty feet high, rose above them, and huge murals decorated the walls.The flooring was polished wood and the walls at the two ends of the room were floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the rolling lands of the plantation.It was gorgeous.And right in the middle, the princess was holding court.

Okay, it was the bride, but she commanded the space as if this were her throne room.People milled around, smiling and congratulating her, sipping from champagne flutes and plucking fancy hors d’oeuvres—he’d been right to eat before coming—from silver trays carried by wait staff in tuxedos.Paisley nodded and smiled at her guests, even hugging a few.She looked completely content at the center of attention.Without her groom by her side.

And she was beautiful.There was no denying that.She was dressed in a white, well, princess dress.The kind that fit her torso and then flared below her waist in huge billowing layers of material.The bodice sparkled.As did the tiara sitting on top of the blonde curls that had been piled up on top of her head.

It was absolutely the opposite of anything the women in his life would ever wear.

Or that Tori would wear.

He didn’t know how he knew that.He just did.

Girls who wore tiaras didn’t play with river otters.

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