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The sound of crutches squeaking and clomping along the hallway announced Natalie’s presence. “That dress was worth every penny,” she said, leaning against the open door, her cheeks flushed.
I grinned. “It better be, because it took a lot of pennies to buy.”
“The green makes your eyes look bigger, brighter.”
“Thanks.” An image of Doc’s intense gaze when I left him in the South Dakota library room flashed in my mind. I blinked his face from my thoughts. I’d spent enough of the afternoon dwelling on his words and over-analyzing his signals. Tonight was about Wolfgang. Nice, no-hidden-messages, non-eccentric, gorgeous Wolfgang.
“So?” My brows raised, I stared at Natalie’s reflection. “How’s he look?
“Delicious. Drop a cherry on his head and I’d eat him for dessert.”
I chuckled. “This sabbatical must be killing you.”
Natalie ran her hand through her hair, tugging on it. “God, yes. Maybe I could cheat, just this once.”
“No way. He’s mine, sister.”
“Does that mean you are officially staking a claim?” Which had been our code words since we were teenagers for “back off, this one is taken.”
“Yes.”
“Fine.” She tucked a loose curl back into my French roll. “Are you going to sleep with him tonight?”
“Natalie, it’s our first date.”
“So?”
“And I have two children.”
“All the more reason to get it when you can.”
Natalie’s needs of the flesh ruled her actions more often than not, which explained why she had trouble finding the right guy. Handsome for her usually equaled heartache, not honor, truth, and happily ever after. My record in the relationship series wasn’t much better, but I’d stopped trying and turned my focus on sexy men from the big screen who were either too old or too dead to break my heart.
I brushed away a smudge of mascara under my eye. “I’ll just be glad to make it through dinner without dumping wine in my lap.”
“You’ll be fine. Just relax, be yourself, and he won’t be able to resist you.”
“Yeah, right. Until I have to cough up the fact that I won’t be able to even start working on his house, let alone sell it, until September. Maybe even October.” I wiped my hands on a yellow towel hanging over the star-covered shower curtain. “And that’s if I still have my job by then.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
I squeezed Natalie’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault. It’s all this damned red tape.” I’d spent part of the afternoon jumping through the Historical Committee’s bureaucratic hoops and submitting the mandatory paperwork. “Until the city gives me the green light, we’re dead in the water—broken fibula or not.”
“I’d offer to bribe someone on the committee with sex on your behalf, but I’ve taken this sabbatical vow, you see.”
That made me laugh. “Thanks again for watching the kids. Aunt Zoe really needs to be at the shop tonight.”
“No problem. I have big plans for the twins involving M&Ms, Twister, and a strobe light.”
“They’ll have seizures.”
“Yeah, it’ll be a blast.” She loosened my spaghetti straps a bit, baring a hint more cleavage. “You ready, beautiful?”
I took a deep breath and worked my lips into a smile any parade queen would envy. “Now or never.”
She stepped back as much as she could with her cast to allow me to pass. As I brushed against the frame on my way through the door, something tugged at my hip. I heard a ripping sound.
“Uh-oh,” Natalie whispered.
I looked down. A dangling piece of lace flapped against my outer thigh, exposing a swatch of the green gauzy lining and a three-inch snag.
Natalie plucked a small strip of lace dangling from a nail that stuck out of the loose door trim. “Looks like you need a different dress.”
I ran to my bedroom and slammed the door.
