earrings, bracelets and waist chain tinkled. With a name like Jingle, Skyler supposed you had to go with your bestowed gifts.
Her young assistant winced at the frilly dresses. “Did you consider my ideas from last week? I mean, some of these women could stand a little figure-flattering black.”
“Your ideas were super.” Though Skyler had all the leather, lace and satin she could handle in the back room. “In fact, they inspired me to get you a present.”
She returned to the storeroom, where she pawed through the boxes. Tucked between three pairs of red leather hot pants and a stack of white leather thong panties, she found Fiona’s black leather jeans. Skyler held them up to her waist and studied her reflection in the mirrored wall. She and Fiona were about the same size, though Fiona was a few inches taller, so the pants dragged the ground. But still…
“Hot, hot, hot,” she whispered, imagining the cool, tight leather clinging to her thighs. The silver studs running down each side seam glinted seductively in the dimly lit storeroom. Her blond hair would contrast like spun straw against a matching leather vest.
With a rueful smile, she shook her head. “Yeah, right, Skyler. Maybe you could wear them to the church fashion show next month, or the neighborhood block party.” She liked her rebellions locked away or hidden safely beneath her clothes. And if sometimes playing it safe got old, well, she always managed to stumble into excitement. Though climbing a tree to rescue a cat had been a first for her impulsive side.
Tucking the pants under her arm, she strode out, locking the door behind her.
As she walked toward Fiona, her assistant’s eyes widened. “Where did those come from?”
Skyler held out the pants. “I ordered them for you.”
Fiona dropped the collection of pastel blouses she held as if they’d suddenly caught fire and stroked her hand reverently down the leather. “No kidding?”
A pleased smile was breaking over Skyler’s lips when the bell over the shop’s door jingled again.
Jack Tesson, broad shoulders, jet-black hair, whiskeyed eyes and all stood in the opening.
He actually asked me out yesterday was the first thought that popped into her head—after her hormones shouted whoo-whee, of course.
She’d often wondered if a man would ever come along and challenge her brothers, sweep her off her feet and…
And nothing. Rolling her shoulders, she watched him walk toward her, fighting the desire rumbling through her stomach. She’d warned him off yesterday. Why was he here? Smiling at her? That warning discouraged everyone, which was fine by her. She didn’t need the complication of a man in her life, or warming her bed. And definitely not a firefighter.
The few men who’d warmed her bed hadn’t met with encouraging fates, she reminded herself. One had suddenly moved to Florida. One had entered the priesthood—though that story had come from Wes, so she wasn’t quite sure about its validity. Then again, the alternative was picturing the guy at the bottom of the lake. Which, according to Baxter legend, was the poor guy’s final resting place.
But then Mr. Florida had been something of a dead-beat. Skyler wasn’t sorry to see him go. And the priest/lake dweller had slobbered over every female he encountered, so her brothers’ intervention had been a frank relief. As the only girl in a sea of testosterone, she’d certainly lived through moments of frustration, but getting rid of and warning off unwanted attention without confrontation by her was not one of them.
However…watching the luscious Jack Tesson stroll toward her, Skyler’s usual caution deserted her. The man was really a temptation. A big temptation. Her head spun at the thought.
Then she realized she still held the leather pants. How was she going to explain these outrageous things in her conservative shop?
Stopping in front of her, he angled his head. “Mornin’, ’tite ange.”
Her face heated, and the desire in her stomach cruised through her veins. Not good. He was absolutely the worst possible man for her. Clearly reckless, adventurous…heroic. Unfortunately, her libido knew what it liked, and it was completely irrational at the moment.
Fiona fared no better. Her assistant’s jaw had dropped so low, she was tempted to call an orthodontist.
Skyler cleared her throat and tried to act normal, while frantically wondering how to explain her handful of studded black leather. “Jack, this is my assistant, Fiona Jingle. Fiona, Jack Tesson.”
As they shook hands, Skyler puzzled through this attraction. Why did he affect her so strongly? Maybe she’d been working too hard. Maybe she’d spent too much time picking out ostrich-feather and leather lingerie.
Yes. Desperate, she latched on to that excuse. That’s it. Her mind, focused on lingerie, had made the natural leap to sex. Then Jack had appeared and bam, instant attraction. One man could not so effortlessly create near-panting, cat-rescuing and lust-inducing preoccupation in a woman who’d sworn off men—especially dangerous men.
“You sure got a diverse inventory, chère,” Jack said as he stood between them, his gaze taking in seemingly every detail of the leather pants she held.
Skyler didn’t need that kind of scrutiny. Classy as her shop was, it couldn’t survive without the lingerie revenue. Jack couldn’t be trusted with her secret. He worked with her brothers, he was a virtual stranger, he was a man.
Before she could say anything, though, Fiona said, “Oh, no, Mr. Tesson. Skyler special-ordered these for me. We don’t carry this kind of thing.”
Grinning, Skyler shoved the pants at Fiona. “Why don’t you try them on?”
Fiona danced off, but not before giving Jack one last dreamy look over her shoulder. “Nice to meet you,” she said, her facing flushing a becoming shade of pink.
“You, too,” Jack said, then smiled.
That same smile had sent Skyler into a dead faint yesterday. The fact that her assistant wandered back to the dressing rooms under her own power only magnified her humiliation. Her heart condition had caused occasional problems in the past, but none this embarrassing. Of course, he couldn’t possibly know he’d caused her to faint. No doubt Ben had explained something along the lines of overexcitability, stress, etcetera, etcetera. No one—and she meant no one—had to know the real reason for the fainting.
She stared up at Jack, noting she was within touching distance of his awesome body. His size fairly dwarfed her. How tall was the man anyway?
He reached out, twisting a lock of her long blond hair around his finger. “Your brothers told me they had a baby sister. I never woulda pegged you as her, though.”
Skyler snatched her hair from his grasp and stepped back. Those reckless brown eyes had her stomach turning somersaults. “I’m fair, like my grandmother.” And if L’Oréal helped with a few well-placed highlights once a month, he certainly didn’t have to know.
“What about that drink?”
Her eyes widened. “You just don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
“Nobody dates
