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.
“Hello, angel,” he practically purrs when he reaches me.
“Why the hell are you here, Tazen?” I mutter, noticing that Joanne is scurrying away to my left. Thanks, Jo!
“Heard you were tryin’ to make money, thought I’d come down and check it out.”
God, he makes me want to punch him in the nuts.
“To gloat, you mean?”
He crosses his arms and his muscles flex and bunch beneath his skin. “No, angel, I’m just interested to see what you’ve got.”
“What I’ve got, buddy,” I spit, stepping closer, “is a whole lot more than you could even begin to imagine.”
I can’t see his eyes behind those shades, but I know, I just know, they’re running over my body because a slow, sexy smile spreads across his lips and he mutters, “Fuck yeah, you do.”
Ugh.
My cheeks burn and I cross my arms to stop myself swinging at him, which is what I really want to do.
“There are a thousand other garages in the area,” I whisper with fury. “Go and find another one.”
“There are, you’re right,” he says, stepping closer. “But yours is in the perfect location.”
I want to stomp my foot with rage. He is purposely here just to get under my skin. For whatever reason, he’s decided that taunting me is the highlight of his no doubt action-packed life.
“Don’t you have better things to do, being a world-famous ass … I mean custom car builder?”
His grin gets so big those dimples pop out. God, he’s so beautiful it burns my eyes.
Jerk. No one should be that … pretty.
“She’s heard of me, I’m flattered. And for your information, angel, I do have better things to do. Plenty of better things, but you have a location I want. What more could a man ask for than to be doing what he loves, in a garage in the perfect location?”
“The problem with your perfect little plan,” I snap, “is that you’re taking away my garage, my passion for working with cars and stealing what I love.”
His brows shoot up. “Sweetie, do you really think you can do a better job here than a famous custom car builder who has worked with cars his entire life?”
I lean in close, so I’m up on my tiptoes and in his face. “Hell yeah, I can, sweetie.”
I just hope I’m right.
He snorts. “Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better about trying to take this garage. You’re clearly not in a stable place within your mind.”
I lift my hands and place them on his chest, giving him a shove but he’s too quick. He catches my wrists and jerks me forward so I lose my balance and fall towards him. I gasp as he leans down, so close our lips are only millimeters apart. “It’s time for you to give it up, little angel. I will get this garage, and I will do it justice. Consider it me doing you a favor. I’ll give you a good price; you can pick your life up and get out of debt. Won’t that be nice?”