One Bride Too Many: One Bride Too Many / One Groom To Go. Jennifer Drew

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СКАЧАТЬ come-on, a bet to see who made coffee the next morning, not that she still had a thing for one of the bad-boy Bailey twins.

      Tess continued glumly rearranging the display of Kozy Kountry bedding and accessories, not one of the best merchandising decisions she’d ever made. Baby Mart customers hadn’t snatched up the comforters quite the way she’d hoped, not surprising since the cow looked more comatose than cute. One thing she’d learned early on—it didn’t really matter that infants could see black and white better than pastels. The product had to appeal to grandparents and other gift-givers. That meant adorable designs and clever gimmicks.

      She really wanted a jump on Bailey’s new line so she could stock the most promising items ahead of her competition. But she was having a hard time convincing herself it was worth finding a date—or maybe even several dates—for Cole. A little winged cupid would make a cute quilt design, but she couldn’t see herself in the role.

      The big question was, who, who, who? Even her friend Mandy, who was practically paranoid about blind dates, might be tempted to go out with Cole, but Tess had even less enthusiasm for matchmaking than she did for dopey-looking cows that weren’t selling. And she hadn’t even had the presence of mind to put a limit on the number of dates she was willing to arrange. Her choice would have been zero, but as her sister, Karen, had pointed out when she talked it over with her on the phone, at least Tess would get to see Cole again herself.

      Did she want to stay in contact with him at any price? Her saner self said forget it, but she’d had such a wild crush on him in high school, she didn’t want him to disappear again without giving her a chance to see how wrong she’d been to idolize him. Face it, she’d been using him as a standard ever since, and it was time to get him out of her system for good. Certainly this matchmaking scheme would do the job. She hated it already.

      She slapped another red label with a reduced price over a cow’s lolling tongue and thought about the way Cole had plagued her in high school. He’d been a stinker but so cute she’d welcomed any attention from him, even his devilish teasing. She’d had a tremendous crush on him but had never deluded herself into believing they’d ever be a couple. Cole dated cheerleaders and party girls who, if not exactly brainless, were definitely dedicated to having a good time.

      Imagine, Cole Bailey wanted her to find a woman for him. He had a pretty vague idea of what made a girl nice, though. Thank heavens she’d fully recovered from her girlish infatuation! Cole had walked away from the women in the bar, but she was still convinced boys like Cole grew into men who were heartbreakers. Reformed or not, he wasn’t going to make her suffer the pangs of unrequited love again.

      Already he had her thinking like the heroine in a Victorian romance novel. So he was gorgeous, lean, hard-bodied and darkly handsome. She could see men like that any day for the price of a movie ticket. The person she’d like to meet had to be sweet and reliable, a good companion for the long haul. She wasn’t a love-struck adolescent easily impressed by a good-looking exterior.

      Oh, he’d be easy to fix up, she thought crossly as she finished marking down the slow sellers in the baby-bedding display, but she didn’t want to set up any of her friends for a big disappointment. Cole might think he wanted a nice girl, but how may hearts would he break before he found the right one—if such a person existed? He’d gone this far without committing himself to anyone. She’d expect a cow to wander off one of the quilts before a bad boy like Cole settled down with a nice girl.

      Unfortunately, she’d lost the bet. Cole had distracted her in the first game—had he ever! But she’d blown the third and decisive one on her own. It was too late to complain about his underhanded tactics. Anyway, she’d never admit to him that having his arms around her had ruined her concentration.

      She owed him, but she hated to put any of her friends at risk. Should she issue a medicine-bottle warning with every offer of a date? Beware—this hunk may be dangerous if taken seriously. If she did, who would accept?

      If she flashed a picture of Cole, every single friend she had would beg for the opportunity to go out with him. Maybe she could lay a high-school yearbook on the coffee table and casually point out his senior class picture. He’d only improved with maturity.

      Much as she hated to admit it, her big sister had been right about one other thing. Not only did she owe Cole for losing an admittedly foolish bet on pool, but he’d gotten her out of an embarrassing situation with Freddy at the wedding. He probably would’ve moved in on her like a snake after a mouse—her least favorite scenario.

      Her clerk, Heather, was busy showing car seats to a customer, so Tess stayed out front. She spotted a petite blond woman flipping through a rack of infant outfits and hurried over to offer assistance.

      “Tess, how are you?” the woman asked when she turned and recognized her.

      “Jillian, hello.” Tess smiled automatically as she did with any customer. “Can I help you with something?”

      “I hope so. I’m so excited! My sister is having twins, two girls if the doctor is right. Naturally I need something special for her baby shower.”

      Jillian Davis was in kickboxing class with Tess and was so good she could easily have been the instructor, except she already had a supergood job as a bank loan officer. She was one of those adorable women who made other women feel as if they had spinach stuck in their teeth and a run in their panty hose. In her spare time, Jillian volunteered for community causes and usually ended up as chairperson.

      “We have some darling stretch jammies, almost like aerobics outfits for infants,” Tess suggested.

      “No, something more feminine, I think. By the way, I’ve almost decided to drop kickboxing.” Jillian gave a cursory glance at the outfits Tess pointed out. “I’m absolutely fascinated by yoga. It enriches the total person, and the yoga academy looks like a wonderful place to meet Mr. Right.”

      When Jillian started moaning about how difficult it was to meet the perfect man, it usually meant she’d had a bad date the night before.

      “How about quilts? I have a really good sale on them today.”

      Jillian took a quick look at the cutesy cows and shook her head.

      Darn, thought Tess, all those attributes and good taste, too. Did the woman have no flaws?

      She looked up to offer another suggestion and saw Cole striding through the mall entrance to the store. Someone could make a fortune by devising a calendar with no Mondays if they were all as bad as they were today.

      He was wearing jeans so threadbare she was afraid to look closely for fear of learning the color of his underwear. His ensemble included dusty tan work boots and a faded blue T-shirt with a Detroit Lions football logo. Jillian perked up so much she looked two inches taller and a shade blonder.

      “Hi, Tess,” Cole said offhandedly, eyeballing Jillian with slightly narrowed eyes. “Don’t let me interrupt with a customer.”

      “Oh, I’m a friend of Tess’s, not a customer.” Jillian was quick with the smile.

      Wrong on the first count, Tess thought, ready to write off any sale she might have made to her non friend.

      “Nice to meet you.” Cole was quick with the handshake.

      They both had good people-meeting skills—glad hands, big smiles, eye contact.

      “I’m Jillian Davis.”

      “Cole СКАЧАТЬ