“Yes, I am.”

“No, I am.”

The thread of a chuckle was back in Cole’s voice. “Why does that not surprise me?”

Mitch turned to glare at his friend.

“And good luck with that,” Cole added.

Mitch didn’t need luck. He was a professional football player. He had strength, guts, agility and endless determination. He’d already defied the odds nine ways to Sunday. He could get one woman to buy one single dress. And since it was for a date with Jeffrey, he’d push for something that went from wrists to ankles, no cleavage, preferably in a sedate gray woolen blend.

By the time they arrived at Maximillians, Mitch had decided on exactly the dress Jenny should wear. But when he entered the store and made his way to the changing area, honing in on the sounds of Jenny and Emily’s voices, the nun outfit flew right from his head.

Jenny stood in front of the three-way mirror in a black strapless sheath of a full-length dress that flared out at the knees. The top was sequined and dipped low between her breasts, clinging like a second skin.

His mouth went dry, and his knees went weak.

“You’ll have all the men at the gala panting after you like Labrador retrievers.” Emily laughed.

That was Mitch’s fear, too.

Emily was dressed in a short, full-skirted deep-blue satin dress. It was also strapless, and flared from the waist to reveal a black crinoline peeking out at the hem.

Mitch felt Cole come to a halt beside him.

Jenny gazed wide-eyed at herself in the mirror and seemed to stumble for words. “It’s too…too…”

Too everything, Mitch wanted to shout. If she was dating him, sure, it was a perfect dress. But not when she was dating Jeffrey.

“Perhaps the silver?” a sales clerk offered, holding up a slinky, short dress with capped sleeves and ties that crisscrossed the open back.

Jenny frowned at it uncertainly.

“I’ll try that one,” Emily put in, scooping the hanger from the sales clerk.

“Go with the blue,” Cole muttered under his breath.

“Can you grab me some shoes?” Emily called as she pulled the heavy curtain shut.

“Sure.” Jenny turned and immediately spotted Mitch. Her jaw dropped open, and she glanced to the right and to the left, as if looking for the punch line to a joke.

She made her way toward him, every movement sinuous and graceful. Her voice, however, was an accusatory hiss. “What are you doing here?”

“He came with me,” Cole put in, and Jenny seemed to notice Cole for the first time.

“Why?”

“I got curious,” said Cole. “I couldn’t wait to see what she picked out.”

“I meant why did you bring Mitch?”

“We were having a beer.”

Jenny compressed her lips.

“I won’t get in the way,” Mitch found himself promising.

“I’m going to ignore you,” Jenny announced.

“Fair enough. Do you want to know what I think of that dress?”

She glared at him. “Absolutely not.”

“Okay,” he agreed.

But when she stared at him a moment longer, he found his gaze dropping to the cleavage, to the nipped-in waist and to the clingy fabric where it hugged her hips.

“You don’t like it,” she stated.

“That’s not the problem.”

“Then what’s the problem? You’re grimacing.”

“That style isn’t you.”

“It is now.” She brushed past him. “I have to get Emily some silver shoes.”

“Get her a bag, too,” called Cole, and Jenny cracked what looked like a reluctant grin as she shook her head.

Mitch watched as she made her way across the store. She consulted with the shoe salesman, chose two pairs, then started back. On the way, she paused at a rack, taking out something gauzy and pastel, her expression softening as she ran her fingers over the fabric. But when the sales clerk approached her with two more dresses, she let the gauzy one fall back on the rack. The two women chatted on their way back to the changing area.

Curious, Mitch went to see what had caught her eye.

He couldn’t have been more surprised. It was a V-necked, spaghetti-strapped dress made of pale, mottled rainbow silk. The soft, romantic colors were very unlike Jenny, as was the swish of the layered skirt that came to points at the hem, and the tiny jewels that adorned the neck and the waist.

For some reason, the dress reminded him of the house plans. Did Jenny have a secret romantic side? Instead of geometric lines and practicality, did she truly long for swirls and irreverence? The idea intrigued him.

“Hand-painted,” came the clerk’s voice from behind his shoulder. “One of my favorite designers. Brand-new in today. Is it for someone special?”

Mitch was willing to bet every item in the store was made by one of the clerk’s favorite designers. But if this particular one had caught Jenny’s eye, he wanted to see her in it.

He nodded to the changing rooms. “Can you take it to the woman who’s trying things on? The one with the strawberry blond hair?”

“Of course.” The clerk smiled, removing the dress from the display.

“Don’t tell her it’s from me.”

The woman touched her finger to her lips to promise her silence, and Mitch gave her a nod of appreciation.

He moved to another section of the store, pretending to ignore Jenny. In his peripheral vision, he caught her puzzled frown and her initial head shake to the clerk. But the persistent clerk prevailed, and Jenny took the dress into her cubical.

Mitch made his way casually back to the changing area.

“Are you going to offer an opinion?” Emily was demanding of Cole as she modeled the silver dress. “Or just stand there and gawk?”

“I’m here to make sure you don’t go overboard with my credit card.”

“Oh, I’m going overboard all right.” She held out one of her silver sandaled feet. “See these? They’re Amerelda, three-inch heels, and I’m buying them.”

“What about the blue dress?”

“You liked the blue dress?”

“Your choice.”

“Well, I like them both.”

“Then buy them both.”

Emily put her nose in the air as she flounced off. “I think I will.”

Mitch turned to Cole and raised his brows, wondering if his friend had a master plan. “This is going to be an awfully expensive date.”

“Like I care.”

Mitch considered Cole’s determined expression, and came to the simple conclusion that he had it very, very bad for Emily Kiley. In a misery-loves-company way, it made him feel better. But only by a very small margin.

“I hope she’s worth it,” he offered to Cole.

“I figure I’ll know by the end of the weekend.”

Then Jenny appeared in the hand-painted silk, and the breath left Mitch’s body. She looked like a goddess, a fairy nymph who wandered out of a mystical garden. The colors set off her honey-toned skin, meshing perfectly with her minimal makeup and her delicate features. Her limbs were long and graceful, and he immediately pictured her with wild flowers in her hair, tiny white satin sandals and a trailing bouquet.

He found his feet moving, taking him closer to where she swayed one way then the other in front of the mirror. The words buy it, buy it, buy it echoed through his head, but he kept himself determinedly silent.

“It’s really not me,” she said to no one in particular.

Mitch moved closer still. “Pretend for a minute,” he said softly. “That you’re not you.”

“Well, that’s ridiculous.” But she smiled as she said it, and a warmth invaded his system.

“It goes with your eyes,” he offered, easing closer still, turning the conversation more intimate.

“It would have to. There’s every color in the universe on this.”

“Do you like it?”

“Maybe if I was a fairy princess. But I’d never wear it again.”

“So what?”

“I’m not going to buy a dress this expensive to wear once.”

“I’ll buy it for you,” Mitch found himself vowing. Then he instantly regretted the words when her smile disappeared.

“Cole told me his plan,” Mitch quickly amended, backpedaling fast. “I only meant that anything that won’t fit on his credit card will fit on mine. Don’t you want to be a fairy princess for just one night?”

A longing burned deep in Jenny’s green eyes, and he knew in that instant she was the fairy princess. She’d been the cautious, perfect child for her mother, the professional, meticulous employee at the TCC, and the chic, sophisticated city girl for Emily, but deep down inside, Jenny wanted to be the princess.

She needed this dress. And she needed the whimsical house and the custom furniture. And Mitch vowed to himself that he would move heaven and earth to make those things happen for her.

Suddenly, Emily appeared from her change room, and her eyes went wide when she saw Jenny. “Wow. That’s sure not you.”

“It’s not, is it?” And some of the light went out of Jenny’s eyes.

Cole moved closer to stand next to Mitch.

“But isn’t that the point?” Mitch quickly put in, feeling almost desperate. “For Jenny to buy something completely different? When is she going to get a chance like this again? It’s hand-painted silk,” he parroted the sales clerk. “Just came into the store today. One of her-” he gestured vaguely to the clerk across the store “-favorite designers.”

Both Jenny and Emily blinked at him in surprise.

“I overheard,” he defended.

Emily took another look at the dress. “Well, maybe,” she allowed.

“Once in a lifetime,” Mitch repeated. Then he lowered his voice for Jenny’s ears alone. “A dream.”

Jenny hesitated for a long moment. Then she turned back to the mirror. She pivoted, letting the skirt swirl around her thighs.

“It’ll look great on the dance floor,” Mitch dared. “You need some white satin sandals, low heels, maybe a ribbon at the ankle.”

“What the hell’s up with you?” Cole muttered beside him.