slapped my hand against my jean-clad thigh.
“I want you to do a stranger photoshoot!” she blurted out.
Seriously, I was a pretty laid back person.
I liked to do what I liked to do.
I dressed like I wanted.
Ate how I wanted.
Worked out when I wanted.
Went to school.
Ultimately, I was pretty chill.
I mean, I worked in a strip club, for Pete’s sake.
What I did not do well were strangers.
I didn’t know why.
That was why I worked behind the bar.
It kept people away from me.
I could put on a good front, but honestly, I was not good with people I didn’t know.
And generally, people coming into a strip club didn’t give a damn about the woman behind the bar. They gave a damn about the woman up on the stage.
Something which I would never, not ever, do.
I was just fucking shy, okay?
I could bullshit with the best of them, but at the end of the day, I still hid behind my daddy when he introduced me to new people.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said. “It’s a stranger. I swear to God, if there was anyone else, I wouldn’t have asked you. But everyone is married, soon-to-be married, or pregnant that I know female-wise. You’re it for me.”
I swallowed hard past a lump in my throat.
“What would I have to do?” I asked, voice holding steady even though I could feel it threatening to crack.
“Whatever you wanted to do,” she admitted. “I was thinking that I could bring you to our house. We could do it in our bedroom. Or our kitchen. Wherever. Pretty much, we just throw y’all together and take pictures of you. Please, please. I know you’re about to say no.”
I was.
“Avery…” I started.
“He’s a good guy,” she blurted. “He’s rock solid—both in terms of muscles and personality. He’s a little quiet. He’s on the SWAT team. I’ve pretty much blackmailed him into doing it, too.”
“How did you blackmail him?” I asked curiously.
“Well, I think that I’m going to do a photoshoot auction,” she said. “Some of the pictures I’m going to enter into this auction will benefit the Fallen Officer’s Association. The association is something very near and dear to his heart.”
“Why?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking.
“Adam had a best friend in boot camp. His name was Doucet. Doucet went all the way through bootcamp with him, only to have him have a heart issue that forced him into retirement before they could even deploy. Doucet went on to join the police department while Adam went on to do his thing in the Air Force. Last year, Doucet died while on shift working a police call. He was hit by a tractor-trailer while on the side of the road.” She paused. “And ever since, Adam has done everything he could to help support fallen officers like Doucet.”
That made my heart hurt.
“That’s sad,” I said. “And you think you’ll get something out of this auction?”
She gave me a smile that lit up her face. “I know I will. With the SWAT team calendar doing so good? This will just be huge, I know it.”
She saw the indecision on my face.
“It’ll probably piss off your father,” she teased.
I laughed then.
“Anything that will drive my father nuts I’m down for.”
Her eyes looked so hopeful that I couldn’t say no.
I just couldn’t.
Fuck.
“Fine,” I sighed. “Saturday? What time?”
“Nine?” she asked hopefully.
I winced. “Make it ten, and I’ll do it.” I paused. “Only if you have donuts.”
“No good donuts are going to be left at ten,” she said.
I shrugged. “Then go get them early, and just have them there.”
Chapter 2
I don’t know what you’re fixing. But mine just broke.
-Text from Derek to Adam
Adam
“This is the worst idea that I’ve ever had,” I grumbled to myself as I put the stand down on my bike and swung off.
There were two other cars in Derek’s driveway, Avery’s, and a sweet as fuck Chevy Chevelle that looked to be in mint condition.
I bet that it sounded like a dream.
And handled like one, too.
I shoved my keys into my pocket and wondered for the eighth time what in the hell I was doing.
Doucet.
I was doing this for Doucet.
I did a lot of damn things for Doucet, though.
Shit.
Even stranger photoshoots.
Growing a pair, I knocked on the door of my fellow SWAT officer’s house and waited.
Nobody answered.
I knocked again, and the door was yanked open by a frazzled looking Avery.
She had what looked to be spit up in her hair.
“Hey!” She smiled, looking relieved to see me standing there. “Would you