“One who is very much in love?”
She slid him a look. Did he have a secret romantic side, then?
He took her elbow and steered her away from the jewelry store window and through the crowds.
“My sister recommended this place,” he said and stopped at the black-painted door of a posh storefront. He opened the door, placed his hand on the small of her back and thrust her through it as if he sensed her desire to bolt.
Jessica stood there, letting her eyes adjust to the light. The space looked like a hybrid between a living room and a boutique. It looked expensive. It even smelled expensive.
And here came the saleslady who looked more like a wealthy heiress than a clerk. She was dressed in understated elegance, a single string of pearls at her neck, her makeup and hair and manicure absolutely perfect.
Jessica braced herself, ready to get kicked out. But then she could feel Jamie’s presence behind her, and his hand resting on her shoulder, that solid warmth reminding her she was not only not alone, but also that she had a great guide for navigating his world.
“We’re looking for Meredith,” he told the woman.
“I’m Meredith.”
“My sister, Sarah Stately, recommended you.”
“I adore Sarah!”
“Don’t we all?” he said dryly, “My friend here, Jessica Winton, is in New York for a few days and has had all her luggage stolen.”
Meredith turned to her, and the genuine sympathy Jessica saw in her face belied whatever she had expected from the big-city shopping experience.
“You’ll need absolutely everything.” She couldn’t hide her delight.
“Just for a few days,” Jessica said quickly, resisting the temptation to go and start turning over price tags.
“I love your jacket. Clarion? The Canadian designer? You’re Canadian, aren’t you? I recognize the accent.”
Jessica nodded. “The Clarion was a splurge,” she said as a hint the jacket wasn’t in her regular price range.
“Can I just say, that even though I love it, it seems, um, a bit mature. How old are you?”
“Twenty-six. I am here on business, so I need items that are appropriate.” She wanted to add, and not too expensive, but she’d wait until Jamie was out of hearing.
“Got it. You are safe with me.” Meredith stood back, tapped a manicured finger against her lip. “You are going to be a dream to work with. Look at that figure.”
Jamie seemed to take it as an instruction. He looked at her, she blushed. She looked at him, he blushed. That super suave man blushed! It was one of the most endearing things Jessica had ever seen.
He looked hastily to his expensive watch. “If an hour will work, I’ll just duck out...”
Jessica felt oddly abandoned. Had she really thought he would stay? He was a busy man, and important. He wouldn’t have time for something so frivolous as all this.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Meredith told him firmly. “We’ll need your opinion if we want to get it just right.”
Jessica shot Jamie a look. His mouth fell open, and then he slammed it shut. He ran a hand through the silver of his hair. Obviously, he was not used to being ordered about by a saleslady, no matter how high-end the shop.
But when he looked at Jessica, something shifted in his face. His colossal composure was rattled, but only briefly. He cocked his head at her, and then lifted a shoulder.
He was staying!
Jessica felt like a deer caught in headlights. When she had originally assumed he would stay, she hadn’t considered modeling outfits for him. She supposed he would take out his phone and settle in one of those deep leather chairs at the front of the store.
It was a nightmare. Or a dream. She wasn’t sure which.
Meredith showed her to the change rooms. Actually, more like a change suite. They entered a private enclave with a sitting area and a change room bigger than her bedroom in the tiny cottage she had in the yard behind her parents’ house. It was certainly more well-appointed than her own lodgings, which suddenly seemed to lean more toward shabby than chic.
“In you go,” Meredith said.
“But I haven’t even looked at any clothes,” Jessica protested.
“I’m going to choose things for you.” She wagged a finger at her. “No dull colors. No safe but boring styles. No clothing that does not show off that super figure of yours!”
Jessica looked down at herself with a frown. Super figure? In Timber Falls they called it skinny. Still, it had made Jamie blush. She shot him a look. Rescue me, but apparently he was all done rescuing her for the time being. Because he wagged his eyebrows wickedly at her when Meredith mentioned her super figure, and then sank down in one of the chairs and pulled out his phone.
He could have had the decency to look a little uncomfortable—he was a man in a woman’s clothing store, after all—but he looked terribly at home.
Jessica went in the change room and Meredith slipped in with her, closed the door and studied her. “Did you lose everything?”
“Everything. My luggage was stolen from me at the airport.”
“So, you don’t even have makeup?”
This said with a faint shudder, as if no makeup was a catastrophe beyond measure.
“No lingerie? Pajamas?
“Everything’s gone.”
“How many days do we need to get you sorted for?”
“Three,” Jessica said, firmly. “If I can get my temporary passport, or travel documents, I’ll be here for the three days I originally planned. But just in case it’s a bit longer, I’ll need things I can mix and match for slightly different looks.”
“We’ll get you fixed up. It may be a blessing in disguise. I’m going to send my assistant to get you some makeup. Your face is amazing. I can’t wait to show you. It’s going to be a makeover.”
“Um, I’m not sure—”
“Your current bra, by the way, is a disaster,” Meredith said.
“Pardon?”
“You’ll see what I mean when I bring you a good one. Do you mind if I measure you?”
“Yes, I mind!” She crossed
