Page 41 of All We Want for Christmas
‘Hmm,’ he said. ‘Bit snug.’
‘I knew it would be too small, but maybe … I can get someone to add a panel in the back.’
‘That sounds like a lot of trouble,’ he said.
‘Well, a local seamstress is making a costume for me, so I could ask her to do it at the same time as she makes my costume.’ She didn’t mention that Henry and Fiona had commissioned Tessa or else Flynn would definitely have felt too guilty to agree.
He was still wearing the coat, and not looking too embarrassed, which Lara considered a huge leap forward.
She held up the bag.
‘You don’t have to wear the breeches that come with the costume. You could just wear some black trousers or jeans, I guess, and there are some boots that would do from one of the other costumes. So you won’t have to wear white stockings and add the buckles to a pair of smart black shoes.’
He laughed. ‘I don’t own those types of shoes and there’s no way I’m wearing breeches and stockings, so I wouldrather wear the boots.’ He’d moved to the full-length mirror, turning this way and that and twisting his lips as he scrutinised himself. Lara was slightly worried the back of the coat would rip under the strain of his broad shoulders.
‘It comes with a shirt that’s quite roomy, but it does have a jabot – that’s the lacy neck part. And, of course, there’s a tricorne and a mask.’
‘What?’ He snapped round.
She pulled the shirt from the bag and handed it to Flynn. ‘It needs a wash and iron.’
‘I can do that,’ he said, shaking out the crumpled cotton shirt with its lacy neck.
Lara took the offer as another positive sign.
‘Can I try it with the coat?’
She shrugged as if watching Flynn strip off in front of her was all in a day’s work. ‘Be my guest.’
Seconds later, he’d slipped off the coat and was pulling his T-shirt over his head. Lara wasn’t sure where to look, even though she wanted very badly to look at him.
He didn’t seem bothered by her being there in the slightest and casually slipped the shirt over his head. Even so, she’d had more than enough time to drink in the sight of his broad shoulders and toned stomach. She clutched the bag with the hat and mask to her, digging her fingers into the cloth bag while attempting to look cool and professional. Not that she supposed it was at all professional to ask a colleague to try on a highwayman’s outfit in front of you.
‘I suppose it’s OK,’ he said, tugging at the jabot while theshirt brushed midway down his backside. He still had the tracksuit bottoms on, so it looked slightly strange until he donned the coat as well. With the shirt underneath, it really was a very tight fit.
She pulled the hat and mask from the bag and offered them to him.
‘Thanks,’ he said, but didn’t attempt to put them on. ‘Do I really need to wear these?’
‘Yes, or you won’t look like a highwayman, just a bloke in a funny shirt and coat.’
He smiled briefly then grimaced as he tried to put the mask over his head. Instantly he was transformed into a rakish rogue and Lara’s stomach flipped. Was it wrong to feel lust at the sight of Flynn dressed as such a disreputable figure?
He lifted the hat, muttering, ‘I’m not sure how this goes …’
‘The usual way is with one point facing forwards but you can wear it different ways,’ Lara explained. ‘Sailors often wore the point at the back for a better view of the sea, but soldiers liked to have the tricorne pointed to the left so they could rest a musket on their right shoulder.’
‘I’m not a soldier or a sailor …’ he said, adjusting the tricorne hat so the point was forward.
When he was satisfied, he stood back while he looked at himself in the mirror.
‘I look ridiculous, don’t I?’ he growled.
‘I wouldn’t say that,’ Lara murmured, stifling her laughter. ‘Though with a scowl like that on your face, you do lookpretty mean. I wouldn’t like to bump into you on a dark night, that’s for sure.’
Flynn turned back to her with a roguish grin. ‘I wouldn’t mind bumping into you.’
Heat flooded her cheeks. ‘I can see you’re getting into character.’
