“I get it. Well, if you change your mind, the boys are doing it, too, they’re supposed to be junior ushers or something. Also, there won’t be a bunch of adults. The only other model is Billie.”
The needle on my brain scratched when I heard her name, and the record stopped. “Billie?!”
“Yeah, she’s?—”
“Billie ismodeling?!”
Cole smiled at my reaction. “She’s the only one who fits the sample sizes.”
Billiehatedhaving her photo taken. This would be her literal version of hell. She was going to break out in hives. How was she going to take photos that were supposed to be in magazines if she was broken out in hives?
Shit. If I were there, would it hurt her or help her? I didn’t know. If this were twenty years ago, I would have my answer, but now… Still, I couldn’t be this close and not go and make sure she was okay.
“I can’t promise that the girls will want to have their picture taken, but we can try.”
“Are you sure?” Cole’s eyebrows practically touched his hairline as he grinned, not bothering to hide how entertained he was at the whiplash with my answer.
I gave him a half-hearted grin. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
Cole’s grin stretched wider. “Great! I’ll let Bailey know. She said the boys need to be there in thirty minutes, but if you need more time, it’s seriously no problem.”
“Okay, thanks.” I’d been responsible for successfully leading highly classified, dangerous missions of up to thirty men, but getting two five-year-old girls out the door on time was one I was not confident in succeeding in.
“No. Thank you. You are saving the day. We’ll see you down there. Oh, and come in the back when you get there, the shop is closed for the day, so the front will be locked.”
“Got it.”
Cole headed next door, calling his boys who appeared bummed to leave their new friends. “You’ll see them soon,” Cole explained, and the boys were asking why and when, as I called the twins in.
The girls ran up the steps totally out of breath. “Can we play with Luke and Leo today?” Joey asked.
“Luke and Leo are going to be doing a photo shoot with Billie today,” I said, and Joey’s shoulders slumped. “Do you want to do it, too?”
Her face lit up like I’d just told her we were going to visit Santa Claus. “Yes, yes, yes!”
“What about you, Andi? Do you want to do a photo shoot?”
“What is that?” she carefully queried.
“You will put on pretty dresses with your sister and take pictures with Billie and Luke and Leo.”
Her eyes nervously shot to Joey as she bit the inside of her lip.
“You don’t have to decide now. We can go and see if you want to, and if you don’t, you can just hang out with me, or Billie’s sisters are going to be there, so you can hang out with them.”
A huge smile spread across Andi’s face at the mention of Billie’s sisters. “Okay.”
“Alright, why don’t you girls go clean up your breakfast bowls and get dressed.”
The girls took off squealing like I’d just shot the gun at the starting line, and I leaned against the door. I’d barely been able to handle seeing Billie yesterday in jeans and a shirt, and now I was going to see her as a bride…what did I just agree to?
12
ADAM
I turnedonto the street the bridal shop was on and checked on the girls in the backseat, wondering if this was actually a good idea or not. Should I have just stayed at home? Was I only doing this out of selfish reasons because I wanted to make sure Billie was okay? Was this going to cost me thousands in therapy in years to come?
Joey looked like we were going to a candy store. Andi looked like we were going to the dentist. Would this scar them, or was it good to expose them to new experiences?
