Diane knew that one day she wanted what her sister Melissa and her husbands had. A growing family, a nice house in Pearl, and to be a part of a community untouched by the horrors and dangers that seemed to occur more frequently in other parts of the country.
But, she also got a taste of the modeling world and actually enjoyed it despite her near-death experience.
“Hey, we were wondering where you went off to,” Lucas said, as he, Drake, and Mark joined her on the front porch. She smiled and then pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.
“What’s that you have?” Mark asked her.
“It’s from Monique. It’s the telltale of whether or not I’m going to continue modeling, do a few shoots here and there, or just get back to working at the boutique, and figuring out what I want to do next.”
“And us?” Drake asked.
“And you’ll be right by my side like you promised. That’s not what I’m worried about.”
Mark covered her hand with his. “Whatever is in that package, it doesn’t reflect what you mean to us, or what we have. We love you, support you, and think you’re the most beautiful woman on the face of this planet.”
She felt the tears reach her eyes. “I appreciate that.”
“Well, open it. If they didn’t place you in the catalogue, then they’re a bunch of stupid morons,” Drake told her.
Lucas took a seat next to her. “Come on, so we can get back to the barbecue and enjoy everything we love about Pearl.”
Diane tore open the large envelope along with a letter. The letter fell to the porch as Drake picked it up, but Diane stared in shock and then screamed.
“What is it?” Mark asked.
She turned the magazine around and there was Diane on the cover of the new fall lingerie catalogue.
The others must have heard her scream as Sage, her men, Wyatt, Anna, and Stacy came around the side of the house.
“What’s going on?” Sage asked, and Diane stood up and turned the cover toward Sage.
“Oh my God, that is awesome. I’m going to be your personal assistant,” she yelled out.
Quaid wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest. “I think she’ll have three very highly trained bodyguards as her assistants,” he said.
“And by the look of this cover, you three are going to be very busy beating off the unwanted males,” Wyatt teased, as they all passed around the magazine.
Diane pulled her men closer. “My own personal bodyguards. Now I like the sound of that.”
Everyone started laughing until Mark lifted Diane up and threw her over his shoulder then headed toward the inside of the house.
“Excuse us for a little bit, will you? We’ve got some business to discuss with our new boss.” He caressed his hand over her ass for all to see.
“Mark, you put me down.”
“You four go right ahead and take your time. We’ll just be going through this magazine, page by page,” Matt called out and they chuckled.
Diane was so embarrassed, but as soon as Mark had her in the house, he pressed her up against the wall and kissed her deeply. By the time he was finished thoroughly exploring her mouth, her legs felt like spaghetti.
“Baby, I’m so proud of you. Whatever you decide to do, we support you one hundred percent.”
She looked at Drake and Lucas. Both of them leaned forward from the side and kissed her cheeks.
“We love you,” Lucas stated.
“We’ll talk more after the party.”
Mark caressed her ass and gave it a squeeze. “I think there’s going to be a lot less talking after the party and a whole lot of loving our woman.”