Four Weddings and a Swamp Boat Tour - Erin Nicholas Page 0,73
cuisine, and that meant things like boudin balls, fried pickles, etouffee, and meat pies. They were going to have some beignets too, but, of course, planned a huge wedding cake.
Which had resulted in a call back to Iowa as soon as they found out that Paige’s sister worked in a bakery. Josie was well-known for her wedding cakes, and she’d been thrilled to get on a video call with Paige, Ellie, and Cora about the cake. She was even sending some embellishments—whatever the hell those were—because they wouldn’t be able to get them delivered in time from anywhere else.
Everyone was ecstatic about every fucking thing.
Except Mitch. He wasn’t getting laid, and he was falling in love, and that combo was making him itchy as hell.
But Paige was happy. And he couldn’t bring himself to say or do a damned thing that might change that.
He had broken their rules one night and snuck into her room, and they’d had quick, hot, dirty sex. But he’d tried to be good since then. They’d put those rules in place for a reason. And just because his family kept her busy, or drunk, or both, on their supposed date nights, he wanted to be a man of his word.
Finally, yoga was over, and the girls all headed for the fence, stepping carefully around the otters.
Paige approached him with a smile.
“So, it worked,” he said.
“Yep, plenty of room.”
“I’m glad.”
Was it ridiculous that he’d built the enclosure with otter yoga in mind? With Paige in mind? Knowing that she was planning to leave? Knowing that every time he looked at the grassy space up behind the rock formations and water slide that he’d think of her? Probably. He’d done it anyway. It wasn’t as if his heart was going to be any less broken without that yoga space.
“So, I have a question for you,” she said.
“Anything.”
Her smile brightened. Did she really not know that was where he was at?
“Will you be my plus one for all the wedding stuff?”
He huffed out a laugh. “Uh, yeah.”
“Well, I know we’d agreed I’d be your date to Tori and Josh’s wedding, but now it’s turned into a whole thing with the three weddings and some activities for the guests coming in early.”
He made himself take a deep breath before he answered. There was no too much this woman could ask him for, but he had to be careful not to spook her.
He reached out and caught her hand, tugging her closer to the fence. “I’m in. For all of it. You’ve done an amazing job with all of this, and you deserve to enjoy it when it all happens.”
Her eyes darkened with desire and a harder-to-name emotion.
He loved how pleased she looked by the compliment and by realizing what she’d put together. “Well, the tour in New Orleans wasn’t my idea. That was Tori. I guess Josh and Leo did that when her friend got married. And the crawfish boil the night before the weddings is the usual setup, just bigger. And—”
“You’ve made this all happen, and not only taken a huge weight off the girls, but actually turned this into a hell of a lot of fun for everyone,” he said.
He ran a hand up to the back of her head and pulled her closer. With his mouth against her ear, he said, “It’s hotter than hell to watch you enjoying all of this so much. Makes me want to throw you over my shoulder and kidnap you out onto an airboat.”
“Yes, please,” she said. Her voice was breathless.
“I’m thinking we—”
“Oh, hey, Paige.” Juliet was suddenly beside Paige. “I was wondering if you could look at something with me. For the wedding.”
Mitch pulled back with a sigh. Seriously?
His and Paige’s gazes met. She gave him a smile.
“What do you need me to look at?” she asked Juliet.
“Um… my…”
Mitch glanced at Juliet.
Kennedy cleared her throat, and Juliet blew out a breath. “My… dress.”
Mitch looked at Kennedy who was rolling her eyes.
“What’s wrong with your dress?” Mitch asked.
“Oh, you wouldn’t understand,” Juliet said. “It’s about the fit of the bodice.”
Paige snorted, and Mitch gave her an amused look.
“I don’t really do alterations,” Paige told her.
“I just want your opinion on it,” Juliet said.
Mitch finally laughed and straightened, dropping his hand from Paige’s face. “I love that you’re a terrible liar, Juliet.”
She blushed. “I’m not lying. I do want her to see me in my dress.”
“You’re making up an excuse to get Paige away from me.”