Four Weddings and a Swamp Boat Tour - Erin Nicholas Page 0,58
Bayou dock.
“So your day at the office was okay?”
“Yeah. Kind of busy but nothing crazy. Booked tours, greeted people. No big deal. Kennedy was there most of the day, and when she had to leave, Sawyer helped me out. Josh and Owen are hilarious.”
“Good. I’m glad they were all good to you.”
Mitch wasn’t in the habit of telling his older cousins to mind their manners. Mostly because he never needed to.
Sawyer, Josh, and Owen generally did mind their manners. At least, well enough to have what they said and did chalked up to playfulness and flirting.
And Mitch had never had a woman he’d felt protective of enough to care if she was comfortable around his family.
“And I…” Paige started.
He waited for a few seconds before nudging the hammock and making it sway. “You what?”
“I had lunch with Tori.”
“Oh. Good.” He should have known that Tori would seek Paige out. That made him feel better. Tori was a friendly face and was one of the sweetest people he knew.
“And Juliet and Maddie.”
“Oh.”
He loved Juliet and Maddie. They were awesome. But they, like any of the other Landrys—and they were Landrys even if the official ceremony hadn’t happened yet—could be a lot in larger doses.
“It was great,” Paige said, meeting his gaze with a smile. “I really like them.”
He didn’t hide the little breath he blew out. “Good. I really like them too.”
“We talked about their weddings.”
Well, shit.
Wedding talk was the exact topic he would have told the women to avoid at all costs with Paige around.
Of course, all three were brides-to-be. The family was going to have a wedding a month for the next three months, starting in just a few weeks. He imagined those girls talked wedding stuff a lot when they were together.
He reached out and took one of Paige’s arms, lifting it and inspecting it from all sides.
“What are you doing?” she asked, bemused.
“Looking for hives.”
She laughed. “I lived through it. Didn’t even break out in a cold sweat.”
He kept hold of her hand when he lowered her arm. He met her gaze. “You’re still here, so I guess they didn’t scare you off completely.”
“Them talking about their weddings is okay, I suppose,” she said. “I won’t get itchy unless you ask me about swatches.”
He nodded. “I don’t really know what swatches are, so I think we’re safe there.”
She smiled. “But I was hoping I could ask you about something without you getting any images of boutonnieres or tuxedos running through your mind.”
He lifted her hand to his lips simply because now that he was touching her, he couldn’t not kiss some part of her. “Also, not entirely sure what a boutonniere is, and you will never see me in a tuxedo, so I think we’re okay.”
He wasn’t sure why his heart was suddenly drumming. It wasn’t the same feeling he’d had stepping into the house. That had been more of an I fucking love this feeling.
This was more of a hopeful feel. And he didn’t really understand that. She was telling him not to read anything into this. Even if he didn’t know what a boutonniere was, he knew she was warning him not to think whatever she was about to say was more than it was.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about a couple of things and I was wondering if you would take me on a swamp boat ride.”
That was not at all what he’d been expecting. “Of course,” he said easily. “But now I’m certain I don’t know what a boutonniere is, and I’m even questioning if I know what a tuxedo is. What do those have to do with swamp boats?”
She laughed. “The girls were talking about all the stuff they have to do for their weddings and everything that’s going wrong and they’re worried about. They don’t seem that into all of the planning. They’re all so busy and have been helping keep the tour company going and are planning to help with the petting zoo too. And it’s pretty amazing how they’re all coming together. I was just thinking that the wedding stuff could be a lot easier.”
Mitch just blinked. She’d been thinking about the other couples’ wedding plans?
She watched him blinking at her for a few seconds. Then she frowned. “Weddings often turn out to be a lot more work than they need to be.”
“Okay.”
“I’ve got several friends and two sisters who have planned weddings, and I’ve been in on a lot of it.”
“Right.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And I planned one for myself.”