***
When Harper first embarked on operation Fix Up Rusty, she’d thought it would be easy. A shave and haircut, a brand-new outfit to wear to the gala, then they’d grab a bite to eat before she dropped him off at his house. Afterward she’dgo home, try to resist doing any more work for the day, and end her night with a cup of chamomile tea and a rerun ofMatlock, one of her favorite old shows.
But Rusty had to go and ruin everything.
She currently sat in a chair in the men’s section of Dillard’s at the Hot Springs Mall, waiting for him to try on another suit. This was his fifth one, and she didn’t think she could take seeing him come out of the dressing room one more time, gala or not. As it was, she needed a fan and a glass of water. Or a cold shower. Actually all three, because Rusty Jenkins, Maple Falls’ resident mechanic and good ol’ southern boy, cleaned up good. She hadn’t expected him to be the spitting image of the actor from that time-travel show set in Scotland. She’d only watched one episode, and she couldn’t remember the actor’s name, but she did remember how he looked in a kilt.Hmm, how would Rusty look in a kilt?
Realgood.
“How about this one?”
Steeling herself, she lifted her gaze as he walked toward her. Oh my. He looked handsome. No, not handsome. Hot. Super hot, in fact. He’d tried on blue, black, and two different-colored gray suits. They’d all fit him to perfection. Who knew he was hidingthatbody under those baggy clothes he wore all the time?
Yes. This is the one.
She stood and walked to him, even though she should probably keep her distance. But she couldn’t resist seeing him up close. The light-tan suit fit as if it were cut specifically for him. The pants tapered at the ankle and weren’t tooshort or long, and the jacket hung on his shoulders without being tight around the arms or waist. The ice-blue dress shirt was the perfect accent color. All he needed was a tie to complete the outfit.
“Do I look okay?” he asked, wearing the same uncertain expression that had appeared when they walked into the store.
“Um... turn around.” Telling herself that she was only checking to see if the suit fit as well in the back as it did in the front and that she wasn’t taking advantage of the view—even though she totally was—she nodded when he again faced her. “Yes,” she said, trying to sound as if she were talking to Kingston or Dylan or her brother, if she had one. By some miracle she managed to pull it off. “This will do.”
“Finally. I’m pert near done with tryin’ stuff on. Can I take off this monkey suit now?”
“Wait, you need a tie. Hand me the jacket.” When he slipped it off and gave it to her, she said, “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.”
He was being a good sport about this, considering he wasn’t used to wearing a suit or trying on one in front of someone else other than his G’ma, and that had been more years ago than he could remember. He’d explained all that when they were searching for the shirt, then asked, “How do you know what to pick out?”
“Fashion is my passion,” she’d said, picking up a crisply folded pale-yellow shirt from the stack on display.
“I thought real estate was.” He looked down as she held the shirt against his torso.
“I’m a woman of many interests.” Yuck. The yellow definitely didn’t work with his coloring.
“I’m starting to realize that.”
The department was almost empty save for one saleswoman helping a couple who were looking at dress shirts in the big-and-tall section. Harper found the ties and picked out a chocolate-colored one with thread-thin diagonal gold stripes. She held it against the jacket—Perfect—then hurried back to Rusty, who was tugging at his open shirt collar.
“Put this back on,” she said, holding the jacket out to him.
“Yes, ma’am.” But he was smiling as he took it from her.
Whoa.Her knees wavered. She’d suspected he had a nice smile hiding under that beard, but whew, where was a cold-water fountain when she needed one?
After he put on the jacket again, she showed him the tie.
He eyed it dubiously. “Okay, but I don’t know what to do with it.”
“You can’t tie a tie?”
“Never needed to. G’ma tied one for me a few times when I was little. Senior showed me how to once, but I forgot.”
“You didn’t wear a tie to prom?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t go to prom. Did you?”
“Yes.”
