Matteo shrugged. “When was the last time you were in love?”
“I wasn’t,” Levi blurted out. “I mean, I don’t think I’ve everbeen.” So why was a name ping-ponging through his brain, making it hard to think straight?
“Then you can’t know,” his brother replied plainly. “Until you know.”
Levi was trying to let the notion sink in when the curtain flew open, and even though they hadn’t peeked, he felt like they were somehow busted.
“What are you doing?” Haddie asked, accusation in her tone.
Matteo held his hands up in defense. “We saw nothing,” he assured her. “But nobody said anything about usnoteavesdropping.”
Levi wanted to back his brother up, but he was too busy staring at the strapless green dress Haddie was wearing, and the soft skin of her breasts threatening to spill out over the top of the fabric. Attempting to look away, his eyes traveled the length of her slender torso. The rest of the dress fit her like a glove all the way down to her knees where it finally flared out over her shins and feet.
“I know,” Haddie said, rolling her eyes. “It’s too tight. But Emma loves the cut and the color, so Layla’s going to take it a bit up here, which means having to move the zipper, but then I’ll at least be able to breathe.”
At least somebody was thinking about breathing,Levi thought. Because he was pretty sure he was holding his breath.
Emma popped out from behind a fitting room door, back in her T-shirt and shorts.
“That’s a wrap, everyone! Get your clothes back on. Layla’s closing up shop for the day, and we’re all going to have high tea at the inn to celebrate getting everyone outfitted for the wedding!We’ve got the dining room to ourselves until four when it opens to the public again.”
“I’m going to head out first!” Mrs. Woods said, pushing past Haddie and through the curtain. “Want to make sure your father doesn’t need help with the finger sandwiches.” She blew everyone kisses and basically floated through the door like the beaming mother of the bride she was apparently meant to be.
Layla gestured for the two men to join Haddie and Emma back behind the curtain. “Just leave everything on the hangers in your fitting rooms,” she told them. “I have to run home and take the puppy out for a quick walk before meeting you back at the inn, so I’m going to head out, lock the shop door, and you all can leave through the back if that works okay. The back door locks automatically.”
Emma pulled Layla into a hug and thanked her as the rest of them retreated to their respective fitting rooms.
Levi took his time untying his tie and unbuttoning his vest as his body—having…uh…physiologically reacted to Haddie in that dress—caught up to his brain.
Not long after they’d disappeared behind their doors, Levi heard one click open. Then he heard hushed whispers and what he was pretty sure sounded like kissing coming from beyond his door.
“Get a room, you two!” he called to his brother and Emma.
Emma laughed. “Busted!” she admitted. “You guys almost done?”
“Uh-huh!” Haddie replied. “Just need to shimmy out of thisthing!”
“Same here,” Levi added. “I mean…minus the shimmying. Feel free to go on ahead of us if you want to get started on those finger sandwiches. We’re right behind you!” Levi had no idea what finger sandwiches were, but he hoped they were something that excited Emma and Matteo enough to stop waiting so he could buy himself a few more minutes to…relax.
“Okay!” Emma called. “We’ll see you at the inn!”
A few seconds later, he heard a heavy door snick shut. A few seconds afterthat, he heard Haddie swear.
“Everything okay over there?” he asked, elbowing the wall he shared with Haddie.
“You have to help me,” Haddie replied, her voice straining with exasperation.
Something about the need in her tone brought Levi’s relaxing to a halt. He swallowed hard. “Um…what do you need?” he managed to say, his voice tight.
“My zipper is stuck. I got it only part of the way down, and then it just stopped, and I’m afraid I might actually pass out if I don’t get to take a full breath in the next thirty seconds.”
Levi had just let his shirt fall to the floor, and he was standing there in nothing but his unbuttoned tuxedo pants. “I’ll be right there,” he told her. “I just need to—”
“Levi!” she called with a whimper. “Please? It’s so tight, and I’m starting to panic, and…” She gasped. “I can’t…breathe!”
He threw open his fitting room and rounded the corner toward Haddie’s, bursting through the propped-open door and accidentallysandwiching her between himself and the mirror when her door hit him on the ass and clicked shut.
“Sorry!” he exclaimed and then backed up against the door.
