She gave him a once-over. “What are you dressed up as?”
He was pretty proud of his efforts, and drew himself up to showcase the black cape, boots and swashbuckling ebony hat he thought he wore so stylishly. “Zorro. You couldn’t tell?”
“You look silly.” She offered him the tray she held. “Cupcake?”
“What do you mean, I look silly?” Ty demanded. “Ladies love Zorro. They think he’s a dashing hero. And sexy.”
“Guy Williams was sexy. Antonio Banderas was a sexy Zorro.” She gave Ty another once-over. “Please take a cupcake so I’ll feel better about deflating your monstrous ego.”
Ty ignored the cupcake, wishing he could have a kiss instead. “Where did I go wrong?”
“I don’t have time to tell you all the ways that costume is wrong.” She laughed and started to move away. “Where’s your date?”
Ah. The little lady was prickly because she was expecting Daisy to land on his arm any moment. He felt better now that he knew her lack of charmed respect for his costume was thanks to jealousy. “Squint’s escorting her.”
Jade moved away. “By now you have to wonder where you’re going wrong, Ty. When Daisy Donovan throws you over, and you only put on half your mustache, something’s not working for you.”
She disappeared into the crowd. He felt his upper lip. Frog and Sam banged him on the back. Ty coughed, thinking he could easily survive BUD/S, since he could survive the camaraderie of his so-called friends in BC. “Easy on the lungs and rib cage, fellows.”
“Where’s your ’stache?” Frog demanded.
Ty looked at Frog, dressed as a fairly convincing Robin Hood, and Sam, who was masquerading as a pirate. Both of them had their mustaches firmly in place. Ty felt around in his pocket for the left side of his. “Thought I had it on.”
They smirked. “Smart-asses,” he said, realizing his friends had let him walk out of the bunkhouse missing half his facial prop. “Friends don’t let friends go out missing the most important part of their costume. The mustache is the sex-magnet angle for Zorro.”
They seemed to think that was hilarious. “Look,” Frog said, “Sam snapped a photo when you weren’t looking. It’s pretty much gone viral on the internet.”
The photo showed Ty trying to get his hat just right in the mirror, really working hard for Zorro-mysterious, completely missing the fact that one side of his upper lip was traumatically bare. “You guys are such a riot.”
“Yeah.” Frog wiped tears of laughter from his eyes and put his phone away. “That we are.”
“So, was Jade bowled over by your sex appeal?” Sam asked, loudly enough that half the county could hear the question, even over the whirring of air keeping the bounce house inflated, and the squeals from delighted kids.
“Not really,” Ty admitted. “She seemed to be under the impression that I was here with Daisy. Every piece of gossip transmits itself at warp speed in BC, but for some reason not the one bit of info that really mattered reached her ears.” He glared at his buddies. “You two are useless.”
“You gotta talk your own book, brother,” Frog said. “We can’t do all your heavy lifting for you.”
“Yeah, don’t expect us to sell the steak if it ain’t sizzling on its own,” Sam said, and they drifted off, vastly amused with themselves.
Ty sighed and went to man the dunk booth as he’d promised Jade’s mother, Betty, that he would.
“Don’t you look hot,” Daisy said at his elbow. She was dressed like a princess, of course. What else would anyone have expected? “Hot as a pistol!”
Ty perked up at the rather corny appreciation of his efforts. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” She traced his upper lip where there should have been a sweet Zorro-inspired clump of faux bristles. “I have my face paints with me, since I’m in charge of face painting. I can fix that in a jiff.”
He was pretty relieved to hear it, even though he was surprised Daisy had been given any assignment at all, up until the point she began slowly, sensually painting on his upper lip with a brush. A crowd gathered around the princess and Zorro, and he wondered desperately where Squint was.
Ty could have predicted with the accuracy of seven oracles that Jade would catch him with his chin firmly clutched in Daisy’s, well, clutches, her face inches from his.
“Well, at least it’s a mustache now,” Jade said, “instead of half a confused black caterpillar.”
“I think he looks sexy as hell,” Daisy said, and planted one right on his cheek. Ty’s eyes went wide. His body recognized hot sex appeal and his inner guide reacted urgently, screaming Fire! Fire! Danger!
He leaped away from Daisy, just in time to see Jade heading off toward the ice cream booth her mother ran, a very popular spot surrounded by anxious kids wanting sprinkles on their ice cream and parents wanting hot chocolate.
“I heard a rumor,” Daisy said, “that Jade Harper made you dump me tonight.”
“Ah...” Ty tried to glimpse Raggedy Ann’s hot red curls in the crowd near the ice-cream stand. “She didn’t approve,” he said, his brain belatedly registering that he probably should have censored that remark.
“I see,” Daisy said. She leaned up against his chest. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
He stared down at the determined, dynamite bundle of feminine firepower his buddy Squint seemed to think he could handle. Hell, no, Squint can’t handle this. I can’t handle this. It would take the real Zorro to tame this tiger.
“You tell Jade Harper that nobody dumps Daisy Donovan. Nobody that doesn’t end up regretting it. And it goes double for her. She and Suz and Mackenzie Hawthorne aren’t the queen bees of BC, even if they think they are. And for some odd reason, I get distinctly brotherly vibes whenever I’m near you. It’s really tragic. All kinds of man, and something about you makes me want to pat your head like a puppy. I just don’t get it.”
She sauntered off, sexy in a white Cinderella ball gown that bordered on safe-for-kiddies-and-somehow-unsafe-for-bachelors. Ty wiped his brow under the gallant black Zorro hat.
“You’re smearing the ’stache,” Squint told him, suddenly appearing through the crowd.
“Crap!” Ty quit trying to wipe off Daisy’s kiss and the sweat on his brow. “Where the hell have you been? And why haven’t you got a hold on the princess of peril?” He stared at his pal. “And what is that you’re wearing?”
Squint laughed. “Where the hell I’ve been is helping Justin Morant put up another six tables and accompanying chairs. The Haunted H has a much bigger turnout than expected. They also needed about another six dozen wienies for the wienie roast.”
“That’s nice. Glad you’re making yourself useful,” Ty growled.
“Why I’m not holding my hot princess is the simplest part of your question. I believe in keeping the lasso loose, brother. But not too loose. I’ll be catching up with the Cinderella in question momentarily. Believe me, I’ll teach her all about magic pumpkins and wands that do a different kind of magic.”
“That’s nice,” Ty said, still staring at Squint’s outrageous getup. “Anyway, what the hell are you?”
“Can’t you tell? I’m you.” He pointed to the camo bandanna, boots, camo pants, black Kevlar vest and helmet equipped with night-vision goggles. “I’m you going into BUD/S.”
“That’s so funny I forgot to laugh,” Ty said sourly. “It’s all fine for you to mock my efforts, since you