An After-Hours Affair

“Oh, I’m going overboard all right.” She held out one of her silver sandaled feet. “See these? They’re Amerelda, three-inch heels, and I’m buying them.”

“What about the blue dress?”

“You liked the blue dress?”

“Your choice.”

“Well, I like them both.”

“Then buy them both.”

Emily put her nose in the air as she flounced off. “I think I will.”

Mitch turned to Cole and raised his brows, wondering if his friend had a master plan. “This is going to be an awfully expensive date.”

“Like I care.”

Mitch considered Cole’s determined expression, and came to the simple conclusion that he had it very, very bad for Emily Kiley. In a misery-loves-company way, it made him feel better. But only by a very small margin.

“I hope she’s worth it,” he offered to Cole.

“I figure I’ll know by the end of the weekend.”

Then Jenny appeared in the hand-painted silk, and the breath left Mitch’s body. She looked like a goddess, a fairy nymph who wandered out of a mystical garden. The colors set off her honey-toned skin, meshing perfectly with her minimal makeup and her delicate features. Her limbs were long and graceful, and he immediately pictured her with wild flowers in her hair, tiny white satin sandals and a trailing bouquet.

He found his feet moving, taking him closer to where she swayed one way then the other in front of the mirror. The words buy it, buy it, buy it echoed through his head, but he kept himself determinedly silent.

“It’s really not me,” she said to no one in particular.

Mitch moved closer still. “Pretend for a minute,” he said softly. “That you’re not you.”

“Well, that’s ridiculous.” But she smiled as she said it, and a warmth invaded his system.

“It goes with your eyes,” he offered, easing closer still, turning the conversation more intimate.

“It would have to. There’s every color in the universe on this.”

“Do you like it?”

“Maybe if I was a fairy princess. But I’d never wear it again.”

“So what?”

“I’m not going to buy a dress this expensive to wear once.”

“I’ll buy it for you,” Mitch found himself vowing. Then he instantly regretted the words when her smile disappeared.

“Cole told me his plan,” Mitch quickly amended, backpedaling fast. “I only meant that anything that won’t fit on his credit card will fit on mine. Don’t you want to be a fairy princess for just one night?”

A longing burned deep in Jenny’s green eyes, and he knew in that instant she was the fairy princess. She’d been the cautious, perfect child for her mother, the professional, meticulous employee at the TCC, and the chic, sophisticated city girl for Emily, but deep down inside, Jenny wanted to be the princess.

She needed this dress. And she needed the whimsical house and the custom furniture. And Mitch vowed to himself that he would move heaven and earth to make those things happen for her.

Suddenly, Emily appeared from her change room, and her eyes went wide when she saw Jenny. “Wow. That’s sure not you.”

“It’s not, is it?” And some of the light went out of Jenny’s eyes.

Cole moved closer to stand next to Mitch.

“But isn’t that the point?” Mitch quickly put in, feeling almost desperate. “For Jenny to buy something completely different? When is she going to get a chance like this again? It’s hand-painted silk,” he parroted the sales clerk. “Just came into the store today. One of her-” he gestured vaguely to the clerk across the store “- favorite designers.”

Both Jenny and Emily blinked at him in surprise.

“I overheard,” he defended.

Emily took another look at the dress. “Well, maybe,” she allowed.

“Once in a lifetime,” Mitch repeated. Then he lowered his voice for Jenny’s ears alone. “A dream.”

Jenny hesitated for a long moment. Then she turned back to the mirror. She pivoted, letting the skirt swirl around her thighs.

“It’ll look great on the dance floor,” Mitch dared. “You need some white satin sandals, low heels, maybe a ribbon at the ankle.”

“What the hell’s up with you?” Cole muttered beside him.

“Shut up.”

“That might look good,” said Emily. “Really, what the heck?”

Jenny smiled, and Mitch’s chest went tight. It was a perfectly natural reaction, he assured himself. He’d never claimed that he didn’t admire Jenny, only that he wasn’t any good for her. He wanted her to be happy. She deserved it.

Nine

The awards had been handed out by the governor, the speeches made, dinner was finished and Mitch’s distinguished plaque for the Youth Outreach Award was parked with the others on a table for attendees to admire. As the best days in Mitch’s life went, this would probably rank as the worst.

He’d made it through his short speech, thanking all the right people, but all he could see was that Jenny was with Jeffrey instead of him. And echoing inside his brain were his doctor’s words from earlier this morning. His worst fear had been realized today. Mitch was never going to play football again.

He hadn’t said a word to anyone, and now he was standing on the sidelines as the dancing began, accepting congratulations from friends, acquaintances and strangers while watching Jenny in Jeffrey’s arms.

He should have talked her into the gray wool blend instead of the rainbow silk after all. He resented the way the delicate dress flowed around her sexy legs, a splash of color in a sea of monochrome. Her hair was styled in a crown of braids, wisps flowing free over her temples and along her neck. And she’d found a pair of white silk sandals. The heels were higher than he’d pictured, but they were strappy and delicate, rhinestones winking around her slim ankles.

She was perfect, and it was all for another man.

He took a deep drink of his single malt.

She disappeared from his view, and he reflexively shifted, nearly knocking into an older gentleman in a tux, who scowled at Mitch, his bushy brows drawing together. Mitch gave a perfunctory apology, not particularly caring that the man might be someone important.

He wove his way through the crowd, trying to come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t a pro football player anymore. What was he now? Just a guy with a nest egg and no career, whose services would soon not even be required at the TCC. They’d have a new president, and Mitch would have little to do and nothing of value to contribute to the community.

He came closer to the edge of the dance floor, telling himself to stop wallowing in self-pity. But watching Jenny laugh in Jeffrey’s arms made everything that much worse. Jeffrey should let go of her. He needed to let go of her right now. In Mitch’s raw, emotional state, he needed Jenny in his arms, not in his teammate’s.

Scratch that. He and Jeffrey weren’t teammates anymore.

Mitch stuck his glass on an empty tray stand as the music changed from one song to the next. The band was sticking to classics, with the occasional jazz tune tossed in. No pop and no rock, and apparently no country, even though this was Texas.

When the floral arrangements were two feet high, the main course was Kobe beef and Newfoundland lobster, and the average carat weight per woman was in the low double digits, he supposed Keith Urban was out of the