To Save His Mate(5)

Lacy wrinkled her nose. Yeah, she could see how it would be awkward. “Why don’t we just try to work together for starters,” Lacy suggested. “I’m pretty serious about my work, so don’t expect much.” Wow, that sounded rather conceited. She’d meant she was serious about her law enforcement work, not modeling! Well, she could hardly tell him that, so she let the comment go.

“A little downtime never hurt anyone. I’m sure you could spare some time to grab dinner with me at the diner or something,” he hedged.

Something other than lettuce did sound wonderful. All of the models in the house were doing some crazy diet to drop weight quick and prevent bloating, but Lacy never had to really exercise or watch what she ate to keep her figure. She definitely had no interest in their celery sticks or any other form of rabbit food those twig-thin twits were nibbling on.

“I think I might be willing to commit a felony for a cheeseburger right about now,” she confessed. Lacy laughed at the startled look on Ethan’s face. “I have one hell of a metabolism, so I don’t usually diet…or puke.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Eee-than!”

Lacy laughed again when Ethan cringed after Landon sang out his name from the men’s tent. “We’re ready for you.”

“Bloody hell,” he muttered.

“Guess I’ll see you in a few,” Lacy called.

“Yeah, as long as my outfit doesn’t resemble yours.” Ethan treated her to a crooked little grin before he sauntered off, and Lacy felt herself relax a bit.

She could definitely work with this guy.

This assignment just got a little more bearable.





Chapter Three





Ethan approached the men’s tent with dread. If they thought for one minute they’d get him into some skimpy little getup, then they were sadly mistaken.

As he neared, the music playing within grew louder. It was some edgy, techno crap guaranteed to have his head throbbing to its beat before long. When he pulled back the flap to the tent, he immediately noticed the lone woman inside…and she noticed him.

“Hi! I’m Allie, and you must be Ethan.” Her dull brown hair was pulled up on top of her head in a messy bun while a tape measure hung around her slim neck. There was an air of authority to the way she held herself around all of the lean and muscular men that surrounded her, standing head and shoulder above the small woman. Her face was youthful, and she looked genuinely pleased to see him. “Alrighty then, I can handle the strong silent type,” she added with a grin.

“Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting a woman to be in here.”

“Would you rather have a man dress you and take your measurements?” She laughed when he narrowed his eyes. “Easy there, tiger. I was only kidding.”

“Good.”

“Swell, now strip,” Allie ordered.

“Excuse me?” She has to be kidding, Ethan thought.

“Just down to your underwear. I need to see what I’m working with so I can decide what you’ll wear,” Allie stated matter-of-factly.

“Nothing skimpy and no waxing,” Ethan growled as he pulled his shirt over his head. He wasn’t vain in regards to his looks, but he wasn’t completely unaware of his effect on women, either.

He watched as Allie’s eyes warmed, her appreciative gaze roaming over his exposed chest and abdomen. As he reached for his belt, she turned and crossed to a rack of clothes, plucked off a pair of faded jeans and returned.

“Try these,” she ordered. “They ride low on the hips, so lose the boxers, but keep the boots.”

Ethan’s eyebrows rose. “No shirt?”

Allie quirked a brow right back at him. “With a body like that? It would be a crime.” She spun on her heel and began barking orders at another model, leaving Ethan to change, but she quickly turned back. “They’re waiting for you, Ethan, so pick up the pace. Landon’s a real bitch when he loses his light.”

Ethan looked around, seeing most of the models were in varying stages of undress, and shrugged. He’d never been modest—mostly due to his werewolf nature—so he just kicked off his boots and dropped his pants and boxers in one swipe.

Noting that the tent had gone quiet, Ethan looked up to find almost everyone staring at him. “I refused to go along with the wax thing.” He shrugged again, thinking that had been the reason for the stares.

Allie shook her head and smirked. “You have no idea, do you?” She said it more like a statement than a question, so Ethan didn’t answer. “You’re stunning…and I think you may have just given every one of my models here a bit of a wake-up call.”