On the floor was a pair of cream-colored high heels with a rhinestone ornament across the toe. Manolo Blahnik was written inside them.
For a moment Hallie thought about ignoring the outfit. She’d bought a perfectly respectable navy-blue dress to wear to the wedding.
But then she saw the Dolce & Gabbana label inside the dress and that did it.
She made a quick trip downstairs to tell Braden his luggage was there and that she was going to get dressed. “Meet you in an hour,” she called as she ran back upstairs. She went to the bathroom, wrestled with a curling iron, and managed to put her hair up on her head. Little tendrils fell down beside her face.
One thing she’d learned from being around Shelly was how to pile on the makeup. She had one of those little kits of eye-shadows and she used every one of the earth colors. Blush followed base, then she outlined her lipstick.
When her hair and face were done, she went to the bedroom and stripped down to her skin. She was glad she had pretty, white, matching underwe
ar.
The dress felt as good on as it looked. It had been lined with some silky fabric that slid over her skin. And it fit perfectly—as did the shoes. There was a little white beaded clutch on a shelf and Hallie quickly put her keys, credit card, some cash, and a lipstick in it.
She was almost afraid to look in a mirror. When she did, she saw a different person than the one who usually stared back at her. Braden was right. Something had changed in her.
There was a soft knock on her bedroom door and she immediately thought, Jamie!
But she found Braden standing there wearing a dark suit. She had the great satisfaction of seeing him inhale sharply, and he seemed to be speechless.
Hallie turned full circle. “How do I look?”
“You…” Braden could do little more than stare. “Stunning,” he said at last. “Are you really the little girl with skinned knees who lived across the road from me?”
“One and the same.” Oh, but it felt good to have a man look at her as Braden was doing! It was a kind of power she’d never felt before. Men used to say, “Hallie, do you know if your dad has a hammer I can borrow?”
But right now Braden was looking at her the way men looked at Shelly. “Can I get you something?” they asked her. “Can I do something for you?”
“Shall we go?” Hallie asked, her voice as demure as she could make it.
“I would be proud to escort you,” Braden said and held out his arm to her.
The sidewalk in front of the church was full of people, all beautifully dressed.
Suddenly, Braden halted, holding her to him. “Hallie, that’s Kane Taggert and next to him is his brother, Michael. And the man on the left is Adam Montgomery senior.”
“Really? I bet he’s Adam’s dad. I’ll have to introduce myself.” She started forward, but Braden didn’t move.
“Hallie, you don’t seem to realize who these people are. They own things. Big things. We’ve been trying to get the Montgomery-Taggerts to our firm for years. To handle just one percent of their business would make us. If I brought them to the firm, I could write my own ticket.”
Hallie realized what he was saying. “I’d prefer that you didn’t do any business today. They’re nice people, not clients to be won.” When she looked at Braden, his eyes seemed to be glazed. “There’s Uncle Kit. I have to talk to him. Why don’t you…?” Kit was walking away. “I’ll see you inside,” she said to Braden and left him as she hurried to the church.
“Hallie, my dear, you look quite lovely,” Kit said.
“Thank you. I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Anything.” They started up the church steps.
“Would you please find Raine and ask him to stay with Jamie today? Jamie’s in a bad mood and I’m afraid the noise will cause him some problems.”
“And our strong young Raine can get Jamie out before he is embarrassed?”
“Yes,” Hallie said, grateful for his understanding.
“How very kind of you, especially since it’s my guess that Jamie’s agitation is caused by the rather remarkable ring you have on.”
Hallie held up her hand. “Awful, isn’t it? It’s not mine, but I can’t get it off.”