Seth laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”
Jensen let his silence speak for him. AJ gave each of them a slow once-over before saying, “You know, this might not be such a crazy idea.”
“Really?” Ames asked. “Because I have to say, it sure seems nuts to me.”
A slow smile appeared at the corners of her lips. “Think about it. The four of you are tall, muscular, gorgeous men. Put a feather duster in your hand and a tight black T-shirt with the words We Polish It until It Shines scrawled across the front, and you have yourself a hit with the women. This could be like Hooters, only the women’s version.”
Seth glanced over at Ames. “We’ve been reduced to lady porn. I feel so objectified.”
“Yeah, but lady porn sells.” He winked at AJ. “You’re a genius.”
“This is just weird enough to work,” Ames replied as a spark of excitement lit his eyes.
Jensen shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe we’re actually considering this.”
Jason rubbed his hands together. “Well, believe it, brother, because we’re about to go into business for ourselves.”
“Cleaning houses,” he helpfully reminded him. “What the hell do we know about cleaning?”
“What’s the big deal? It’s just a sponge, a bucket and some hot, soapy water.” Jason shrugged. “How hard can it be?”
Jensen sighed. “Why do I feel like you’re going to end up regretting those words?”
They spent the rest of the night going over details. Jensen agreed to spend the weekend working up a budget and figuring out how much they were going to need to borrow from the bank. And even though it wasn’t exactly what Jensen had imagined when he’d originally thought of running his own company, he had to admit a certain amount of excitement at the idea that he was finally going to get his chance to shuck the suit and tie.
His cell phone beeped, indicating he had a new text message. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw a name on the screen. Janice, and she’d found his blonde savior. First thing tomorrow morning, Jensen planned to meet her face-to-face. Oh yeah, things were definitely looking up.
Chapter Two
“I’m fine, really. I just caught a flu bug,” Marquetta muttered to her brother on the other end of the cell phone. She locked her Jeep and walked up the driveway to her front porch and fought off another bout of the chills. God, she hated getting sick. In her ear, Axel went on about taking extra vitamin C and getting plenty of rest. Their father had never been in the picture, and Axel had naturally just taken on the role as head of the family. But when their mother died a little over two years ago, Axel had taken on both parental jobs. He was always taking care of her and their brother Gavin. She loved him for it, but right now all she wanted to do was sleep. “I will, I promise,” she muttered. “I’ll call you later.”
On Axel’s orders, Marquetta had left their family’s body shop early, even though she had a Ford F-150 waiting on her to paint a rebel flag down the side of it. Marquetta hated to keep the customer waiting longer than necessary, but there was no help for it this time. As long as she kept coughing up a lung, she was useless at work. She was going to have to take a time-out and recoup, whether she liked it or not.
She loved working in her family’s car painting and detailing business, even though it hadn’t been her number-one dream job. Art had always been her first love. It’d started out as doodling mostly, then she’d gotten into high school, where her art teacher, Mr. Simpkin, had encouraged her to really work on her talent. Eventually that had led to her going to school for graphic design. Those dreams had been shattered in a single moment. One bad decision on her part had derailed her life plan and sent her crawling home, where Axel had set her up in the family business painting artwork on motorcycles and sports cars. She was good at it, even had a reputation in town, but she often wondered what could’ve been.
As Marquetta reached her front door, a sound behind her caught her attention, and she turned to see a man standing at the other end of her porch. In an instant, their gazes connected, and Marquetta was all but swamped with the stranger’s curiosity—and no small amount of desire, if she wasn’t mistaken. It was all there in that single connection. She quickly put a little distance between them and asked, “Can I help you?” But before he could answer, another wave of chills from her raging fever ran through her system. Lovely. This day was turning out to be a real winner.
Jensen had expected for her to be beautiful, but he wasn’t prepared for the immediate rise of heat when he saw her getting out of her Jeep. She’d been distracted by her phone call and hadn’t noticed him waiting at the far end of the porch. Jensen had taken advantage to get a good look at the woman who’d saved his worthless hide.
She had on a pair of tight, faded, ripped-in-the-knees jeans. They emphasized her small, womanly hips and all but begged a man to reach out and touch. A flesh-colored tank top stretched across small, round breasts. Her hair was a riot of golden curls that tumbled down her back. Blondes weren’t usually his thing, but this time he’d be willing to make an exception.
She had the cutest mouth with a full, pouty bottom lip jutting out, and a petite oval-shaped face. He closed the distance between them and reached a hand out in greeting when he noticed her shaking. Had he frightened her? “Ma’am, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m just…” She stopped and closed her eyes tight. “Just not feeling up to par.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
She frowned. “Do I know you?”
“Yesterday you saved my life.”
She looked him over, then her eyes widened. “You’re the suit that nearly walked in front of a semi.”
He chuckled. “Uh, yeah, that’s me.”
She stepped closer to the front door, a look of apprehension clouding her eyes. “How’d you know where I live?”
“This is going to sound a little strange, but I tracked you down from your license plate.” He quickly held both hands in the air. “I swear I’m not a weirdo or anything. I promise.”