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slight accent to her words that Zarah couldn’t exactly place.
    Mary walked in the door behind the woman and stopped in her tracks, realized what was happening and rolled her eyes as she hung her sweater up on a hook behind the door. Zarah noticed Mary’s grimace and maintained a straight face, but it wasn’t easy. “Can you tell me a little bit about what you’re looking for? Is there a special event that’s coming in the future and you’d like a distinctive dress to wear? Or do you want to change your look?” Zarah asked, wondering if the woman would take the subtle hint and just leave. Zarah didn’t like snobs and this woman was a top of the line, pretentious snob who could hurt Mary’s feelings with the way she looked at the clothes her boss had carefully selected for her usual clientele.
    The blond shook her head and waved that away, oblivious to Zarah’s comment about changing her look and continued through the racks of clothes. “No. Nothing like that. I just like shopping. I suppose I need to purchase something from each of these tedious village shops today. I suppose some accessories wouldn’t be too poor quality.”
    Zarah ignored the woman’s insult and focused on making a sale despite the woman’s irritating attitude. She stepped back and surveyed the woman’s figure. She was painfully thin with small breasts and a gaunt expression that had a great deal of makeup which seemed to be hiding poor skin.
    Zarah really didn’t think there was anything in the store that would suit the woman but she thought hard. Most of their styles were more suited to a rounder figure since that was their client base. The women in the village weren’t interested in keeping up with the fashions from Paris or Milan and they definitely wouldn’t starve themselves to fit into those looks. The dresses Zarah had convinced Mary to keep in stock were more down to earth, things that would appeal to the village women but with a small bit of an edge to spark curiosity and draw people in.
    Zarah picked up a red wrap dress that generally flattered all figures, although it might make this blond woman appear a bit emaciated. “How about something like this?” she suggested and draped the fabric over her arm. “The deep V would show off your fabulous curves while the silk fabric clings alluringly to the body, making a man just want to pounce.”
    The woman fingered the fabric and shook her head with an obvious sneer to her upper lip. “No. You’re wrong. This wouldn’t suit my figure at all. What else do you have?”
    The bells over the door rang once again and Zarah turned to smile at the newcomer, grateful to have someone else to focus on besides this blond scarecrow. But her smile froze on her face as her eyes took in the tall, broad shouldered man stepping through the door. His dark eyes quickly took in the interior of the shop and settled on Zarah, making her heart race and her body tingle with awareness. His dark hair and dark eyes would have looked sinister, but the amusement in his eyes softened the devilish darkness.
    He was very tall, almost needing to duck low to enter through the door. Goodness, could he actually be taller than her brother?
    Zarah felt trapped, like a rabbit attempting to duck back down into its hole, sensing a predatory threat but unable to move because of some unknown force. She tried desperately hard to break the eye contact, but he wouldn’t allow it, forcing her to continue to stare and Zarah felt like a prisoner, captured and enslaved.
    “Darling!” the woman exclaimed. “What are you doing in here? This is a woman’s domain!” she teased and floated over to the tall man, draping herself against his left side. It was the first smile she’d shown since entering the store and Zarah wasn’t fooled by the Cheshire-like look she passed back in Zarah’s direction. The blond woman was staking her claim, showing Zarah that this tall, fascinating man was her property. The look she tossed over