Ain't She Sweet (Seven Brides for Seven Mothers #2) - Whitney Dineen Page 0,58

“You wore that? Why are you so dirty?”

“I wanted to look nice for the pictures,” he explains. “But then I fell off Thunder’s back and got scuffed up.”

“You went horseback riding in a suit? What in the world were you thinking?” She’s making my point for me.

“I wasn’t thinking, and I don’t need both of you ganging up on me. I promise I’ll wear sweats and a t-shirt for the next interview, so I’ll look as bad as you both obviously expect me to.” He’s full-on man-pouting.

Ruby and I share a look before bursting out laughing. “Dramatic much?” I ask James. Then I turn to his mom. “Actually, your son volunteered us for a swimsuit shoot with the Tattler, so I need to find a place to buy one.”

“He did what?” Ruby practically gasps.

James interjects, “Rachel was talking about Tara’s weight gain and I suggested that Tara show the world how hot she still is.” While that’s kind of flattering, I still don’t have a suit.

“Why are you doing it?” Ruby asks her son.

“That was Rachel’s idea.”

“You’ll have a great time,” I tell him. “I mean, why shouldn’t the world get to see you practically naked.” He looks horrified and a new wave of mirth bubbles up inside me.

“Whatever you do, don’t wear a Speedo,” Ruby warns.

“That’s like telling me not to wear a thong, Mom. Why in the world would I wear a Speedo?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Why in the world would you agree to let them take your picture at all?”

“Because they’re going to pay for my renovations; I already told you that.”

“James, I would have been happy to pay for your plumbing. I understand why Tara needs to talk to these people, but you aren’t exactly a pro at publicity. Do I need to remind you what happened when the paper came out to your place to interview you after you opened your farm stand?”

“What happened?” I demand. I’m equally curious and scared.

“Don’t tell her,” James warns his mom.

Ignoring her, James looks at me and suggests, “I can drive you over to the Target in Albany. They might have some swimsuits left on the clearance rack.”

I temporarily cut him some slack on whatever catastrophe occurred the last time he was in the paper, but even so, I’m eventually going to find out. “What do we do with Penny?”

Ruby scoops up the puppy. “She’ll stay with her grandma and keep me company. You two go on and have a good time.”

When James and I get to his truck, he asks, “Do you mind if I go home and change first?”

“I don’t see why,” I tease. “I mean, if you can wear a suit to ride a horse, surely you can shop in one.”

“I have a hole in the butt of my trousers,” he grumbles.

“James,” I ask seriously, “are you sure you want to go through with this? I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to back out.” I really want to know what happened the last time he was in the paper. He’s clearly embarrassed by it, so I know it wasn’t scoring the winning touchdown at the homecoming game. Maybe he was crowned king of conjugating Spanish verbs or something.

He shakes his head vehemently. “I promised to do it and I will. I just need to get over my nerves.”

“You can’t go off script anymore,” I tell him.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“We need to come up with something for you to do or say whenever you get stuck.”

“How about if I kiss you?” he suggests. “That way we’ll have the added bonus of proving to Rachel how into each other we are, and it will keep me from saying anything stupid.” He smiles like he single-handedly mastered nuclear fusion.

While every molecule of my body reacts to his suggestion, I somehow still manage to say, “We can’t kiss the whole time.”

“I’ve got this, Tara, I promise. I just had a bumpy start.” Just when I’m about to believe him, he suggests, “Let’s get matching Speedos.”

Chapter Thirty

Ruby

“Syd Byerly has extended his stay for a whole week,” Chris announces as soon as Ruby answers her phone.

“How? I thought you left a note in the computer telling everyone not to let that happen.”

“I did, but he went onto StayWithUs.com and booked it there. He also got himself a nice twenty percent discount for filling a last-minute room.”

“Damn it!” Ruby yells so loudly the puppy jumps off her lap and starts barking.

“I can make him switch rooms to inconvenience him a little,”