Read No Time Like Mardi Gras for Free Online Page B

clothes. “Did you say something about a fresh shirt?”
    Silently cursing Teddy—but applauding his timing nonetheless—he dropped a kiss on her bare shoulder. “Oh, yeah, that’s why I brought you back here. I got a little sidetracked.”
    She took the shirt and slid it over her head. “Now we match.”
    “Consider it a Mardi Gras costume.”
    As he dressed, Jamie stuffed her ruined shirt and bra into the trash can and managed to untangle a few of her beads from the pile on the desk to put back around her neck. Holding the hopelessly tangled mound of remaining beads over the trash, she hesitated. “This seems wrong, somehow. I worked so hard to get them.” With a shrug, she dropped them in.
    Dressed now, Jamie tried to push the strands of hair that had fallen out of her braid back from her face. “I don’t even want to know what I look like right now.”
    “You look amazing.” Although Jamie rolled her eyes, as far as Colin was concerned, it was true. Her eyes were bright, cheeks pink and glowing, lips slightly swollen from his kisses. It was enough to make him decide to ignore Teddy’s eviction attempt.
    But even as he reached for her, Jamie had the door open and reality rushed right in.
    “So what are we going to do now?” she asked.
    Go back to my place? “Whatever you want.”
    “You know, I’m kinda feeling like I should give the French Quarter experience another try.” She seemed to have a fresh burst of confidence—as well as a burst of energy he couldn’t quite claim for himself.
    “Are you sure?”
    “Well, maybe we should start on Chartres and work our way back up to Bourbon Street.”
    It wasn’t quite what he’d hoped to hear, but she wasn’t heading back to her friends just yet and the night was still young.
    This time Jamie followed him into the bar, only blushing slightly when Colin tossed the keys back to Teddy and Teddy gave her a knowing wink along with a couple of beers. “Great shirt. It looks much better on you than Colin. Y’all go have fun.”
    Jamie looked up at him and smiled. “I intend to.”

THREE
    Okay, now she saw the attraction to the celebrations in the French Quarter. Maybe it was afterglow, maybe it was the fact that she wasn’t so uncomfortably conscious of Colin now—although she was still very conscious of him, it was different now and definitely not uncomfortable—but regardless of why, Jamie was truly enjoying herself and exploring that bit of her that was just a little on the wild side. There was an anonymity to being in a crowd of strangers that downright encouraged her to explore it. Anonymity was something she hadn’t had in a long time anyway, and it felt so damn good.
    Colin’s mood seemed to have shifted, too. More sure of her now, his charm was on full display, and he’d quit his best behavior, leaving her to discover he had a very wicked—and sometimes dirty—sense of humor. He’d kept it under wraps most of the day, making her question her initial judgment of his bad-boy tendencies, but they were there. Oh, yeah, they were there.
    But she’d worry about all of that tomorrow. Tonight, she had a bit of a buzz going, a gorgeous man on her arm and absolutely no reason not to enjoy them both.
    The entire Quarter was heaving with people, but she felt a part of the crowd, a part of the experience. She danced to the music that drifted out of the clubs and bars into the street, caught beads tossed from the balconies above, marveled at the costumes on display and in between enjoyed the feel of Colin’s arms around her, the press of his body against hers and the occasional kiss he’d drop on her lips or neck.
    It was the best night of her life and she was unwilling to let it end, even as Kelsey texted her repeatedly, wanting to go home now that she’d realized David wasn’t all she’d hoped he’d be. She’d delayed and stalled until Kelsey had gone home without her, and now Jamie felt a bit bad. But Kelsey had ditched her