Reading glasses perched low on his straight nose, he looked perfectly disheveled and poetically masculine all at the same time. How was this man still single?
She glanced at the tree and smiled. It was hideous. The decorations were expensive and lovely, but the garland had been thrown on with amateur effort, and the lights were blinking and racing fast enough to cause a seizure.
“What do you think?” he asked, closing the file that rested on his lap and tossing it onto the pile of paperwork to his left.
“I think it’s perfect, exactly how a family decorated tree should be.”
“We waited for you to do the angel,” Addison announced. “Daddy said we should take a picture.”
“Oh, okay.” Skylar pulled out her phone and opened the camera.
Rhett stood and her mouth went dry. His trim waist was carved with muscle and tight from his hips to his broad chest. “Ready?” He hoisted Addison into the air, lifting her higher than his shoulders.
Strong arms roped with thick sinew twisted into smooth, bulging shoulders. The softest tuft of hair flashed under his arm.
Addison lifted the angel and Skylar focused the camera. Rhett leaned close to the tree and Addison reached for the top, sinking the angel’s coned skirt over the tallest branch.
Skylar snapped several pictures—anything to hide how overheated she suddenly felt. “I’ll send these to you.”
“Thanks.” After he put Addison back on the ground, he adjusted the angel and asked, “Is that straight?”
“Hmm?” She’d been sorting through the pictures and zooming in on certain pectoral points of interests, not paying attention to what was actually happening. “Huh? What? Yes, looks straight to me.”
She needed to get out of there.
As soon as she made herself a snack, she went back to her room to finish up what she could. The project would take another week to complete, but she was making great headway. She also thought she did well on her exam, so all in all, this was adding up to be a pretty decent class, one she hoped to get an A in.
The next day, Erin stopped by unannounced again as they were eating lunch. Skylar assumed it was to drop off the forty dollars she was owed but that would make too much sense. Every time Erin came by the house, she disrupted the happy, peaceful vibe.
“Tonight’s the town Jingle Ball,” Erin said, as if Skylar should know what that meant.
She was aware that for the last three years Jasper Falls had hosted a Jingle Ball, but it wasn’t something she ever attended. “And?”
Erin scoffed. “Addison needs a new dress. Santa will be there, and all the kids will have their pictures taken with Santa and the mayor.”
“Santa’s coming?” Addison perked up from where she’d been coloring at the table. “I want to go!”
“O-okay. What time should she be ready?”
“You’ll have to bring her there by five. And Mr. Buchanan expects you to work late. He’ll be busy meeting families and taking photographs and you’ll have to keep Addison occupied at the event. Here are your tickets to get in the door. Don’t lose them.”
“He wants me to attend the Jingle Ball?”
“Are you listening to me? Yes, he wants you there to keep an eye on Addison.”
“But I don’t have clothing for a ball.”
“Really, Skylar, no one’s going to be looking at you. You’re just there to keep an eye on Addison. Wear whatever you want.”
Her mom and dad went to the ball the year James was born, and they both got really gussied up. Her dad even rented a tux.
The first hour of the evening was really the only part geared toward the children. The rest of the night was like a wedding reception with music and dancing while white-gloved butlers served hors d’oeuvres. As an employee of the mayor, who was technically the host, it would be inappropriate to wear anything other than a dress or a suit.
Erin left without paying her the forty dollars for the chinchilla or offering money to buy Addison a dress. Skylar sighed. “Looks like we’re going shopping.”
They drove to McGinty’s and found Addison a white dress with a red ruffled petticoat underneath. She also needed shoes and tights, which were easy enough to find, but the store had nothing in terms of women’s formal wear.
In a panic, she called her sister. “Hannah, I need to borrow a gown. Something black and simple.”
“Sky, I don’t have anything like that. The closest I have to a black gown is the dark blue cocktail dress I wore to the winter formal last year, but your boobs are bigger than mine. It might not fit.”
She didn’t have time to be picky. “Is it clean?”
“I think so. It’s in my closet.”
“Perfect. I’m swinging by to borrow it for tonight.”
“Where are you going?”
“The Jingle Ball.”
“For real?”
“Don’t ask. Thanks for the dress. I owe you one.”