Page 59 of My Best Friend's Mardi Gras Wedding

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 hewouldn’ttext you.”

“Okay, maybe.But honestly, Josh, maybe it’s cold feet, maybe he’s feeling nostalgic, maybe he’s contemplating everything.Heshoulddo 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 menotdo 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 someonedoeswant 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 likewhiner.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 and 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,verylong 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 sheshouldn’ttake 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.”

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