Hard to Break - Bella Jewel Page 0,12
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