"Shit, you're Ash."
"One and the same. And who are you?"
"Shane, head mechanic. Look, if I help you find him, can you maybe not tell him about the chocolate line? He made it real clear he'd kick the arse of anyone trying to pick you up."
"Sure, but you look like you could handle yourself."
He puffed up like a little boy at this, but seriously, he was built like a rugby player. He took me up a staircase to a mezzanine level. "So, who's that then?" he asked, jerking his head at Jez.
"My friend, Jez."
"She gonna get her tits out?"
"What? No! At least I don't think so. What kind of photos are you taking?"
"For next year's calendar. We do a clean one for families and mixed shops and then one for the boys."
"It's up to her."
"Mm, that's a fine-looking woman, I wonder if she can be persuaded? Well, Milky Bar should be in there. I'm gonna go chat to Jez. Anything I should know?"
"Ah, she's 29, a Virgo, likes her coffee black and is a practising witch."
"I reckon I've got eight inches of black magic she could wrap her hand around."
"Ew!"
"She could wave it around, and I'd guarantee all manner of magical stuff would come out."
"Ew!"
"Well, nice meeting you. Your friend come here in her own car?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Easier to convince her to stay. Later."
"Hey," I turned around to see the office door opened and Gabe in the doorway. He yanked me inside, his mouth covering mine before I'd taken two steps inside. "Missed you," he rumbled when he finally pulled away.
"You didn't tell me you had a nudie shoot going tonight," I said.
"I guess it didn't seem relevant. We're not sticking around for it."
"Really, I'd have thought you'd be dying to see a bunch of models’ tits."
"Only one lot I want to see," he said, running a hand upward.
"Gabe!"
"What? It's true," he kissed me lightly at the corner of my mouth, dropping light kisses from one side to the other. "Missed these lips.”
"It looks like Jez is going to be part of your calendar," I said, pulling back slightly.
"What?" he walked over to the window in the office that looked down on the main floor. "She knows what kind of photos they're going to end up wanting to take?" he asked, looking alarmed.
"I'm sure she'll find out, eventually. Look, are we in any rush? Maybe we should stick around, have a drink. I just want to make sure Jez's OK."
"Sure, I mean I had other things in mind, but if you don't want me to start by massaging your body."