I looked up at her as I shoved my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. Nerves raged through my stomach like dinosaur wings, and I had to put my hands over it to try and settle it. “Three exes.”
“Oh, god. Youaredesperate.”
I glanced back out at the crowd and mentally took in how many candles each woman had in her hands. If I managed to pull the day off, I’d be okay. Somehow, the survival of my business had come down to me depending on three men who owed me absolutely nothing.
“You’re making me nervous.” Jenny ran her hands through her hair and shook it out. “You get all your equipment set up. Prepare as if one of those exes is showing up. I’ll help with the crowd.”
I gripped her hand and squeezed. “Thank you.”
“We stick together here. Unless it’s about booth location. Half of us would shove our own grandmothers down to get a better booth.”
While I handled my station, I rethought how I would work if there were a naked man in front of me. I rearranged things and made sure my wax pot was warming at the right temperature. I even set up a makeshift changing area with a few more curtains, just in case. Mentally, I was already preparing my speech about why there was no model. I was preparing to have tomatoes thrown at my head. Ones that weren’t ripe yet, so they’d hurt more.
“Holy hell! Are these the guys?” Mavis’ voice boomed around the building, and I was sure every person in every booth had heard her. “I’m getting a seat up front!”
I snapped my head up and saw that the guys Mavis was shouting about were all three of my exes. Each of them had come to help me with whatever emergency I had, despite not knowing what it was.
Jayden stood with his hands in his pockets and a crooked grin on his face. Adam had his hands on his hips, as casual as he was effortlessly strong, and his eyes were trained on me. Ian, always mysterious and brooding, had his arms crossed over his wide chest and a scowl across his mouth. To anyone who didn’t know him, he’d look mean and a bit scary. I knew he just had resting bitch face.
With Adam’s long hair tied back in a loose bun at the base of his head, his light brown eyes surrounded by the thickest lashes I’d ever seen on a man, and the way his bearded smile revealed a small gap between his front teeth, it was no wonder Mavis was shouting. And Ian, with his scowl and tattooed arms… His curls were thicker than mine. He kept them shorter, but nothing hid the waves. His dark brown eyes were piercing and made women think of melting chocolate. Melting chocolate on rock hard abs, probably. Yeah, swooning had commenced inside my booth.
I jerked upright so fast that I knocked over my chair and sent it into my privacy tent, which also crashed to the ground. My hands shook and my heart hammered away as I tried to pick it up. They’d all shown up. What was I supposed to do? What did I say to them? How did I explain what I needed while knowing that they probably shouldn’t have shown up for me?
“Here. Let me help.” Jayden’s voice washed over me as he knelt next to me and covered my hands with his. “Nervous?”
I briefly met his eyes and then looked back down at the ground. “Confused.”
He brushed my chin with a single finger and winked at me when I met his gaze. “Save that for later. Tell us what you need first.”
I looked up and, sure enough, theushe was referring to were standing right there, watching me. Adam and Ian. I covered my burning ears for a moment and then blew out a strong breath. “It’s big.”
Adam held out his hand and wrapped it around mine to pull me to my feet. He was so warm, and I could feel his body heat from where I stood, two feet away. It brought back too many memories of cold nights spent clinging to him. He slowly smiled as he took me in. “Talk, Vi.”
With the three of them standing around me, all staring at me, I accepted that I didn’t have time to panic about them. That would come later. I needed to save my business first. Which meant I had to beg them to do something that was potentially very uncomfortable. Taking a deep breath, I shook my hands out, and was cut off before I could speak by Mavis shouting from the crowd.
“Which one’s getting naked? I don’t care, I just want to know who to start undressing in my head.”
A strangled sound came from my mouth, and I wrapped my arms around myself in an attempt to self-soothe and stop my legs from sprinting me out of there. “Um. I am so sorry. I can’t begin to tell you how horrified I am right now. Apparently, the post I made advertising this sale made a few people think I would be sculpting from a live model today. A naked model.”
Jayden laughed. “Shit.”
“I know. And I would never ask for this if it weren’t an emergency. If I don’t provide these women with a naked model, they’re going to destroy my business. I don’t need help with that, so I’m begging one of you to do this for me. Please.” I couldn’t meet their gazes, so I continued speaking to my shoes. “I’ll be sure that you’re not showing anything you don’t want to show. I’ll do whatever I can. And I’ll owe you. I’d say I’d pay you, but you just heard that one failed sale could ruin my business, so I think you know I don’t have the money for that.”
After a few moments of tense silence, Adam grunted. “Sure. Why not?”
I shocked him by launching myself at him and wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug. “You’re saving my ass. Thank you, Adam.”
His hands settled on my waist and flexed. “Come on. Get me naked and tell me what to do.”
Ian caught one of my belt loops as I tried to walk away. Pulling me closer, he dropped the scowl and showed me one of his rare smiles. “You look good.”
I bit my lip and felt even more of my face go red. Looking down, I twisted my fingers together and fought a big smile. “Thanks.”
Jayden chuckled and ran his finger down the shell of my ear. “I guess we’re going to join the crowd and watch this, since we’re here.”
Swallowing, I made a weird sound and then hurried over to where Adam was staring at the crumpled privacy tent. I had a job to do. I was a businesswoman. I could handle anything.
Adam shrugged and reached over his shoulder to grab his shirt and pull it off. With a secretive smile, he tossed me his discarded shirt and watched as I brought it to my nose without a second of hesitation.