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“Guilty,” she said. “I’m Wyatt’s wife. He’s Duncan’s younger brother. We don’t get a lot of action around here, so you’re going to be news for a while. But everyone in the family can’t wait to meet you.”
“Everyone in the family?” Hattie asked, her eyes going wide.
“As soon as Duncan told his parents what had happened to you, the story spread across the network. I’m amazed no one showed up at your door. O’Haras aren’t known for their patience, though I like to say they’re just nosy. You must be tough. Duncan is not pleasant when his work is interrupted.”
Hattie’s lips twitched. “There was an…adjustment period.”
Raven snorted. “That’s very diplomatic. I’ve got something for you,” she said, moving to the rack in the back. “You’ve got great bone structure. And I would kill for your height. Did you model?”
“Oh, no,” Hattie said. Derek’s words came back to haunt her. She was too tall, her hips too big, her face too angular, her nose too crooked. “I’m just plain old me.”
“Plain is the last thing I’d call you,” Raven said. “You’re very unique. You’re not meant to wear the same kinds of clothes other women wear. You should be showing off your attributes instead of trying to hide them. You’ve got the height to carry those curves. Very sexy. I’d love for you to model some of my lingerie. I do shoots several times a year for the catalogs I send out.”
“Lingerie?” Hattie asked, feeling dazed. She hadn’t seen any lingerie in the store.
“Sure,” Raven said, pointing to a curtain that was discreetly hidden in the back corner of the store. There was a neatly printed sign that said adults only. “The lingerie shop is the most profitable part of my business. I keep the women sexy and the men happy in Laurel Valley. What do you say? Could I get you to pose for me for the magazine? I wouldn’t put you in anything you’re not comfortable with.”
“I’ve never really photographed well.”
“I don’t believe that for a second,” Raven said. “But it’s really your body I want. I promise I’m not a creeper. You can ask anyone for references. I’m just determined, which is also an O’Hara trait. Plus, I’ll pay you five hundred dollars.”
“Can I think about it?” Hattie asked. If it was only her body, she wasn’t above making a little extra money however she could. It was her face being put out there that gave her pause.
“Sure,” Raven said. “Now go try this on. I’m pretty sure I have the size right. I have an eye for these things.”
It was the color of royalty—a purple rich in depth and texture—and it gathered at one shoulder and flowed to the ground. It was completely impractical, but Raven had been nothing but kind, so she did as she was asked and went into the dressing room.
The dress felt like heaven on her skin, and she saw, after she got it on and zipped it up, the skirt slit all the way up her leg. Raven had been exactly right on the size.
“Here, this belt goes with it,” Raven said, handing it over the top of the dressing room door.
It looked like Roman coins had been strung together, and when she put it on, it cinched her waist and accentuated the hips Derek had always found so offensive.
“I’m dying to see it on someone,” Raven said. “I fell in love with it when I ordered it, but it’s rare to have someone so perfect to try it on.”
“I don’t know…” Hattie said, as self-conscious as she’d ever been. “It’s really not me. I’m more of a plain Jane kind of woman.”
“You keep saying the word plain, but I don’t think that word means what you think it does,” Raven said. “Take my word for it. You’re not plain, average, or ordinary.”
Hattie opened the door and stepped out into the area that had the mirrors, and she turned only to see Raven’s face. She looked like someone had hit her with a two-by-four.
“Oh, my God,” Raven said.
Hattie’s heart sunk, and she started to step back into the dressing room to take it off.
“No,” Raven said. “Don’t go anywhere. You took my breath away. It’s better than I ever could have imagined. I am so good. I knew it’d be perfect for you.”
“What?” Hattie asked, sure she’d heard wrong. And then she turned and saw herself in the mirror and gasped. She looked like a goddess. She didn’t see any of the flaws Derek so often called out. Her curves looked lush, her waist small, and she stood with her shoulders straight and her chin held high.
“What size shoe do you wear?” Raven asked.
“An eight,” Hattie said.
“These run a little big,” Raven said. “Try a seven and a half.”
“Oh, I can’t wear heels,” Hattie said automatically. Nothing that would make her taller than Derek.
“Why?”
