RICHIE: New Orleans Wolf Shifters with plus sized BBW for mates (Le Beau Series Book 6) by V.A. Dold, Tori Austin Page A

you a noogie and mess up your fancy hair.”
    Billie stepped back and touched her fancy updo. “You wouldn’t dare! It took forever for the beautician to create this man catnip.”
    Richie barked out a laugh. “Man catnip?”
    “That’s right.” She nodded and leaned closer. “I’ve already gotten numbers from three guys.”
    “Sorry to break it to you, cher. But that’s because you’re a bridesmaid. Guys always hit on the bridesmaids. It’s a thing.”
    Billie put her hands on her hips. “What kind of ‘thing’ are you talking about?”
    “Ah, hell. You really don’t know?”
    She crossed her arms and tapped her toe. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking you.”
    Richie cringed and leaned away from Billie before he said as quickly as he could, “It’s kind of a bragging thing for guys to bag a bridesmaid.”
    She gaped at him, and blinked. Without a word she reached into her tiny bridesmaid purse and fished out three even tinier slips of paper. She ripped them once, twice, and then a final time before tossing the confetti sized scraps over her shoulder.
    Then she squared her shoulders and slipped a hand into the crook of Richie’s arm. “Let’s find Piper, shall we? I’ll even let you escort all this sexy, man catnip.”
    Richie grinned and gave her a wink. “I’d be honored to escort your sexiness.”
    Before they could find Piper, Billie was summoned to join the wedding party for pictures. At first Richie hung around and watched. His hope was she would appear since the girls were here. She didn’t. Apparently, the personal attendant wasn’t required for the wedding party shots. Who knew? After forty-five minutes of “look this way,” “smile,” or “could you move a little the other direction?” he’d had enough. The reception would be in the ballroom of the hotel so he headed back to locate a stiff drink. If the Goddess happened to be in an extra helpful mood, he might even find Piper waiting for him there.
     
    *****
     
    Piper had every intention to escape the wedding as quickly as possible. Her aunt, Margery, the mother of the groom, had other plans. Some of the wedding guests left their gifts at the church and now a small mountain of shiny packages needed to be relocated to the reception.
    With a heavy sigh, she glanced one last time at the double doors that would take her to Richie. Her fascination with their telepathic link would have to wait. Since she was parked next to the exit door at the rear of the church, the logical option was to get a couple people to help lug the gifts through the church and out the back.
    It took a few trips, but the task was done and her car was packed solid.
    Piper puffed a strand of hair from her face and shut the trunk of her car. “All right, that’s the last of them. Could you guys meet me at the hotel to unload?”
    “Sure, we’ll meet you at the front entrance with a luggage rack,” one of the men said as he turned to find his own vehicle.
    Slightly overheated from the exertion of repeated trips back and forth loading gifts, she turned up her AC and got on the road. The sooner she was done, the sooner she could track down Richie.
    Fifteen minutes later, her assignment was completed and she searched the ballroom. It looked like most of the guests were either still at the church or somewhere in between.
    Her heart sank. Where was he? Piper grimaced when she took a step to leave and search the lobby and bar. The shoes were pinching her toes something awful. A sadist with a grudge against women must have designed the heels she wore. Grateful she always had a backup plan, she made a beeline for her room and the comfortable flats that waited there. Fashion be damned, she was attached to her toes and planned to keep them.
    Once in her room, she grabbed the flats and kicked off the heels. Closing her eyes, she smiled and sighed. Blissful relief. She spotted her laptop sitting on the bedside table and powered it up. Qball was still out there and for