“Did you see that friggin’ Barbie doll he married?” Logan said with a disapproving scowl. “Ugh. She was a serious bitch, and so fake.”
Tess giggled. “You mean you don’t like overly prominent plastic curves?”
“I like curves fine, when they’re real. None of hers were.”
“You could tell, huh?”
“Couldn’t you?”
Tess shrugged, her brows lifting as she said, “Well, he always liked busty women. God knows that’s not me. I remember wondering why he liked me so much when all his exes were these hourglass-shaped women . . . I hadn’t realized at that point he was into me for my money, not for me.” She dabbed at the side of her mouth with her napkin. “The thing is, it used to make me feel so insecure when I was younger. Being a beanpole. I hadn’t embraced my body yet.”
“And now?” Logan asked quietly, eyes locked on her.
“Now, I totally, gladly accept myself for who I am. But it was so hard as a teen, and even in my early twenties,” she admitted. “It was really hard, actually.”
He was fascinated. “What do you mean? Why?”
“I was too tall, too skinny, and flat chested,” she said plainly. “My mother was . . . I don’t want to say a movie star, because that gives her more credit than she’s due. But she was a B-level actress, she was in a handful of movies back in the seventies. We all look just like her, my brothers and I—it’s practically the same face. But she was a real bombshell, sex goddess type. Hourglass curves, and only five-foot-five. Whereas I, however, inherited the Harrison DNA: tall and lean. Apparently, my father’s grandmother was six feet tall.” She fidgeted with the napkin, folding it in her lap. “My father offered to get me a boob job for my sixteenth birthday.”
“Are you serious?” Logan sputtered. “Please be kidding. Jesus.”
“Dead serious. I was mortified. Ah, the teen years . . .” Tess shot him a wry smirk. “My mother had abandoned us, my father was . . . my father. My brothers were great when they were around, but I just wanted to either go out with my friends, or hide in my art studio and paint. To be normal. But I wasn’t. I was a flat-chested giant.” She grinned ruefully, her tone weary as she said, “Do you have any idea how hard it can be for a very tall girl? I hit five-ten by the time I was fifteen. I was taller than my own brothers for a few years, much less some of my teachers. And forget about the boys.”
“Well, I was five-ten at thirteen,” Logan said. “You wouldn’t have scared me.”
“Where were you when I needed you?” she joked, throwing her hands in the air in mock frustration.
“Well, I’m here now! Better late than never.”
They laughed together.
“It wasn’t until my early twenties that I started to love being tall. ’Til I started getting off on towering over people, embracing the power of it.” She eyed him and added, “Come on. You’re huge. You know that being tall can grant some unspoken power. That people treat you a bit differently.”
“I never really thought about it,” he said earnestly. “But I’m a guy. I didn’t have to. I mean . . . yeah, I knew deep down people would think twice before messing with me just because I’m big. So . . . I guess I just proved your point after all.”
Her voice lowered as she leaned across the table and murmured conspiratorially, “Now, I love wearing high heels. At the Holiday Ball, in my stilettos? I was six-foot-two.” Her smile was radiant. “Even my two older brothers were an inch or two shorter than me. Pierce is six-two; he looked me in the eye. Heh.”
“I bet you stood there like a goddamn Amazon warrior princess,” Logan said reverently. “I bet you do every time.”
“Goddamn right.” Her smile brightened before she took another sip of water.
He could only stare at her. Respect, appreciation, lust, bemusement, and genuine like all flowed through him at the same time. She was something special. Other women, given what she’d had since birth, could very easily coast through life. But Tess was as down-to-earth as they came, with a good and still-open heart, despite her past heartaches. Tess Harrison was a rare woman. He could almost feel his crush on her deepen, which was both a rush and a curse.