This gave her pause, and a slight blush rose to her cheeks at the idea. She too had liked and read most of Austen’s books in school, and she’d seen the odd adaptation here and there over the years. Kiera Knightly and Rosamund Pike had been really hot in that one movie. She could picture more or less what those suits and dresses looked like, and imagining Maddie dressed like Mr. Darcy wasn’t exactly a terrible fantasy. Still, the whole thing was a little strange. She was going to have to grill Stuart when they finally had a moment alone. This seemed like an awfully big concession.

She rejoined the other sisters when Joan finished with her, Janet heading back for her measurements. Jos called her over to try on shoes, and the two of them ended up laughing about it quite a lot when they wanted the same pair. They eventually decided to flip for it, though it took a while to find a coin to use. Ryann won the toss, and Jos tried to wrestle the quarter out of her hands to flip again. Ryann squealed and pushed at her, nearly doubled up with laughter.

“Ha!” Ryann said, finally holding up the coin clutched in one fist. “No cheating, Jos. I won fair and square.”

“What did you win?” Maddie asked from behind them.

She spun, her face flashing with heat at the sight. Maddie was smirking lightly, clearly recognizing the effect of her entrance, as everyone fell silent at the sight of her.

“We were just talking about you,” Jos said, giving Ryann a side eye. “Ryann was saying—”

“Never mind, Jos!” Ryann glared at her. “What are you doing here? I thought you had studio time today.”

“I did. I knocked off a little early because Julia asked me to come over for my final fitting, and I’m supposed to take you to one of the venues after this.”

“Ah.”

They were quiet, staring at each other for a long beat. Finally, Jos cleared her throat.

“Um, okay, as much as I like watching you two make heart eyes at each other, we were in the middle of a major debate.”

“The shoes are mine, Jos,” Ryann said, without breaking eye contact with Maddie.

Jos sighed dramatically. “Fine.”

Janet came out from the back, squealed at the sight of Maddie, and rushed her, throwing herself into her arms.

“Isn’t this fun? I can barely stand the excitement.”

Maddie laughed. “Me, either.”

“I can’t wait to see what you’re wearing,” Janet said.

Julia came from the dressing room. “Oh, good—you’re here. Come on back, Maddie. Let’s see how it fits.”

Maddie followed her to the rear, and Ryann sat down with the sisters again, Jos shoving another flute of champagne into her hands and sitting next to her, uncomfortably close.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” Ryann asked.

“Is it working?”