Damn, it’s no wonder he gets laid so much. The guy has charm.
“Fine,” I sigh. “If we get a solid plan in place, I’ll consider coming.”
He pulls back and fist pumps the air. “Yes!”
“But if I see Tazen, I can’t be held responsible for how I’ll react.”
“I promise to hold you back if you try and de-nut him.”
I laugh. “I knew you were an amazing friend.”
He chuckles.
“Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to it. We have a lot to do.”
He hooks an arm through mine. “Yes, we do. Including picking a smokin’ hot bikini for you.”
I roll my eyes. Men. We are going to a car race and all he can think about is a smokin’ hot bikini for the few hours we might get to spend by the pool at the hotel.
“I thought you didn’t want to see my uneven breasts?”
“Hey,” he says casually. “Breasts are breasts.”
“You’re sad.”
He snorts. “Never denied it.”
“So tell me what poor girl is in your sights right now?” I ask as we walk.
“No one special.”
I nudge him with my shoulder. “Is there ever going to be anyone special?”
He huffs. “Doubt it.”
“Why?”
“Because relationships are too hard, I’d much rather just get laid.”
“Well, at least you’re honest.”
I smile. What would I do without Jace?
CHAPTER FOUR
The sound of someone banging on my office door causes my head to jerk up. I’m neck deep in paperwork and trying to cut costs anywhere I can until we’re back on our feet. I look up to see Matty leaning against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest. He gives me a warm smile, and I return it, though mine is probably flustered.
“Hey, Matty, what’s up?”
“Just letting you know the car wash is ready to go for Thursday.”
I give him the warmest smile I can muster up. I do this because I don’t want him to see just how scared I am. The car wash might make us a couple thousand dollars, which is super helpful, but it isn’t enough to even get us close to getting the big money by the time the end of the month rolls around. Right now, my prayers are going towards a business donating to help us out.
“That’s awesome, thank you,” I finally say.
He studies me. “Jace says you’re going away with him this weekend.”
I purse my lips. “Yes, that should be interesting.”
“It’ll be good, I think you’ll have a blast. I don’t even want to know how he managed to get those tickets out of Tazen, though.”
“That man has a special kind of charm.”
“He really should look at a profession as a gigolo.”
He bursts out laughing and I can’t help but join in. When we both stop, his face is warm. “Good to hear you laugh, Quinn.”
I swallow the lump that forms in my throat. “Well, let’s just hope things get better and we get a whole new world of chances for laughing.”
His eyes grow warm. “I hope so, for all of our sakes.”
“Me too, Matty,” I sigh. “Me too.”
* * *
“Cars?” I ask.
“Check!” Lenny calls out.
“Wash buckets?”
“Check.”
I run my finger down the paper. “Soap and washers?”
“Check.”
“Men in sexy bikinis?”
All of them frown and I burst out laughing. “I guess that’s a check.”
I came up with the idea to make the car wash a little more entertaining by having the guys dress in bikinis. They aren’t too thrilled about it, but it’s funny and it will bring in the girls. We’re doing it on the main drag, and any normal car wash won’t catch people’s attention. This one will. So, I went out and brought some cheap bikinis, including one for myself, and broke it to the guys.
The only one who seemed on board with it was Jace. That didn’t surprise me. Even in a bikini that man could get lucky.
“I’m too old for this shit,” Oscar mumbles.
“Aw, come on now,” I croon. “You’ll look stunning in your bikini.”
“I love you, Quinnie, but right now I’m tempted to give you a good spanking.”
I giggle softly. “But it’s because you love me that you’ll do this.”
I glance down at my watch. “One hour to go, guys, let’s get everything ready. Are all the signs set up out front?”
“All done,” Matty says.
“Then go and get your sexy on,” I say, biting my lip to stop myself laughing.
“You’ll suffer for this, young lady,” Lenny scoffs.
“Yeah yeah,” I say, waving my hand and walking back into the garage to gather the last of the supplies we will need for the car wash.
Half an hour later, I’m wearing a bikini that’s light blue and complements my skin tone. I feel self-conscious. It’s been a long time since I’ve worn so … little. With warm cheeks, I head out and my nerves instantly disappear when I see the line of men, all wearing bikini tops and shorts. I laugh so loud I have to double over and wrap my hands around my stomach.
“Oh,” I gasp. “My god!”
I stand back up and look at them all. Not one of them looks impressed, even Jace. They are all scowling at me, with their arms crossed. I choke down my laughter and say, “Aw, come on, guys. This is for our garage and most of all,” my voice grows serious, “it’s for me.”
At my words they lose their scowls. “Fine,” Oscar scoffs. “But this never happens again.”
“Understood.” I smile, still trying to fight down a laugh that’s threatening to bubble up again.
“Let’s do this!” Jace says.
We quickly make our way to the large parking lot we secured for the car wash to happen. We have our production line, with each of the guys doing a different job. It’s twenty dollars for a full wash and shine, as well as one hell of a show. I’m at the end of the line to offer a sheet that has information on how to make a donation to the garage, as well as offering free coffee and tea.
Cars line up within a mere hour, and soon we’re full. Matty gets the music going and the men quickly get into the swing of things when they realize my idea was genius and people are coming in left, right and center for their chance to see these guys washing cars in bikinis. Locals, who are frequent customers of ours, stand around, helping for free and making everyone smile.
“Quinn, love, this is wonderful.”
I turn from organizing the money tin to see a regular customer of ours, Joanne White, smiling at me. I return her smile in full force. “Thank you, the guys have really pulled it off.”
“From what I hear, it’s you that had this marvelous idea.”
She is giving me a mischievous little grin. She loves the guys being in bikinis. I can’t say I blame her, I’d come down just to see that.
“Well, I might have been behind it.”
She laughs and places a hand on my shoulder, her expression going more serious. “How is Rob, love?”
My heart clenches, but I keep my smile. “He’s doing okay.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen him at the garage, I was meaning to ask but I’ve been somewhat busy lately. That’s no excuse, though.”
“My dad’s fine, Joanne.”
“We’ll do everything we can to help you save this wonderful garage, you have a lot of people supporting you.”
I smile and nod. “Thank you.”
Our conversation is interrupted by the sudden screeching. I look around Joanne to see a group, a rather large group, of females screaming and jumping up and down. I look over to what has caught their attention, and my mouth drops open. Tazen Watts is walking over to the car wash, looking like he’s just dropped from heaven.
Clearly everyone here knows exactly who Tazen is, because the entire car wash has come to a screeching halt. My eyes scan the mass of people, and they all hold a different expression. Some have their mouths dropped open, others are wide eyed and shocked, some are screaming with joy and others are just standing there, confused.
I watch with a burning rage building in my chest as Tazen’s eyes fall on me and a smile spreads across his face. A cocky smile. The arrogant ass. He strides towards me, and I can’t help my eyes as they travel over his body. He’s wearing a pair of jeans and a tight black tee that is showing serious biceps. He’s got a cap on that’s twisted backwards and a pair of shades over his eyes. He looks casual, but a total bad ass.