Page 87 of My Best Friend's Mardi Gras Wedding

Both of her grandsons groaned, which clearly made her happy.

“And I think that’s great,” she said.

Okay, she had a point.Underneath the cringe-worthy terminology.“Well, thanks,” he told her.“Tori is…special.”

Ellie gave him a soft, sincere smile.“Finally,” she said.

He couldn’t help but smile back at that.Ellie wanted everyone she loved to be madly in love.Even her ex-husband.

“Y’all are coming home after the wedding, yeah?”Ellie asked.

That made a knot in Josh’s gut tighten.“I don’t know how long she’s staying.”

“Well, then ask her.And then talk her into staying longer,” Ellie said.As if it was as easy as ordering a burger.

Josh sighed.It had been just over twenty-four hours since Tori had walked onto his dock.How could Ellie expect that he and Tori would be talking about her staying?But if he asked her that, she’d ask him why it was taking him twenty-three hours longer than it had the other men in his family.

“Maybe a day or two,” Owen said.“You can ease her into…everything.You can’t just drop that sweet girl into the middle of our craziness.”

“Well, she’s gonna have to be okay with it,” Ellie said lifting her shoulder.“I don’t see any of that changing.”She looked at Josh.“You’ve given her a good taste of crazy by now, haven’t you?”

If Museums of Death and throwing her over his shoulder in a ballroom full of the rich and sort of famous counted, then yeah.

But his hesitation made his grandmother shake her head.“Oh, boy, you gotta get on that.”

“Just blurt out how I feel?”

She laughed.“Show herhow you feel.”

Right.Big gesture.A spectacle.All of that.It didn’t count if it wasn’t a story everyone in town wanted to tell.Repeatedly.

Damn.What big gesture could he do for Tori?He’d have to come up with something good.

“And what if you scare her off?”Owen asked.

“If you think that’s gonna happen, she’s not the one,” Ellie said resolutely.

But Josh wasn’t so sure she’d be scared off.At all.Tori had her own brand of over-the-top.And she’d sure liked being kissed in the middle of the ballroom last night, and spun around the dance floor, and thrown over his shoulder.Just like those animals that needed extra love and attention and someone willing to go a little bat-shit—or cow-shit, as the case may be—crazy for them, didn’t Tori deserve that same thing?

The idea of Tori being immersed in his world—and loving it—made his heart pound.

Yes, he needed to get her to Autre, on his turf, away from the plantation and sequins, away from the murder museum and his stand-up-tour-guide routine, to the heart of…him.He wanted to show her everything and show her that he was willing and able to be crazy about her.

“So where is she?”Ellie asked, looking pointedly at the empty chairs at Josh and Owen’s table.

“Over there with Andrew,” Josh said.“The groom.Her best friend from back home.”

Ellie found Tori at the end of the bar.“They look cozy.”

Yeah, they really frickin’ did.

“So, you want me to leave them alone?”Ellie asked.

Josh sighed.Not really, but he should say yes.“Probably.”Then again,hemaybe couldn’t interrupt them without being a bit of an asshole, but Ellie could get away with almost anything.“Well…I mean…maybe.”

11

“Come on, Tori.You don’t really know him.”

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