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He was playing up the part really well. The truth was, Bam was right. We hadn't set up a thing. Chase had talked about finding him something silly to wear, but I'd suggested we let him think that. The mind was better at fooling itself than any prank ever could be.
Besides, I didn't want to get fired for the sake of a mint green tutu on a pro ball player. No, we'd save the tutu for the kid's parade, where it would be better appreciated.
"He put you up to this, didn't he?" Bam said as he slipped past me and out the door.
"I have no idea what you mean," I said sweetly. "I'm just doing my job and being professional."
He eyed me sideways. "Right. Know this." He waggled a finger at me. "If you prank me, I will prank you back."
I nodded. "Noted. I'll watch my back around you from now on."
He patted my shoulder and grinned. "You're all right. I like you. Better than that cheatin' bitch he was with. Hey, Chase." He looked toward him. "She's a keeper."
"Thanks for your blessing," Chase said, seeming uncomfortable.
"Any time." Bam didn't seem to notice.
"I feel like I should apologise for them." Hawk wore dark blue trousers with a hard crease on the knee, and a V neck t-shirt. Casual mixed with formal.
"On the other hand," he went on. "They're grown men who can apologise for themselves." He wiggled his brows at me.
I smiled back. "No apology necessary. As long as they behave up on the catwalk. No tripping each other."
"Not untilafterthe parade," Bam agreed.
"Not until you're not wearing clothes that belong to Lacey's," I said firmly.
"You're a hard woman," he teased, "but you have a deal."
Ollie followed them out shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. He wore a suit that would have melted panties, even if he wasn't so good looking.
"You look very nice," I told him.
"Thanks. I feel like…weird." He grimaced.
"It's a suit, you're supposed to feel weird," Bam said. "Ain't nothin' more unnatural on this Earth than a guy in a suit."
"Except a guy in a tuxedo," Hawk said.
"Amen to that, brother," Bam said. "You won't catch me in one of those, unless I have to. Even then."
I listened to them banter about the horrors of black tie clothing while I led them to the back of the stage.
"You're going out in alphabetical order," I told them. "Bam, Chase, Hawk, then Ollie." Nicknames, obviously, since Hawk's real name was Conrad. I couldn't imagine anyone calling him that. Hawk suited him so much better.
"In order of beauty, you mean," Bam said. He drew himself up and gave me a rakish smile.
"In opposite order." Hawk grinned. "Best looking last."
Bam frowned at him. "Says you."
"Yeah, says me," Hawk replied. "Are you saying you're better looking than God's Gift over here?" He jerked a thumb toward Ollie, who looked like he was ready to run away as it was.
Bam eyed Hawk sideways. "You have a point. She's mixing it up then, right Ash?"
I raised a hand. "Like I said, it's just alphabetical order." And the crowd wouldn't look twice at anyone else after they saw Ollie. That was why he was dressed in a suit. He was our showstopper.
"Let the woman do her job," Chase said. "She's not going to come to a game and tell us how to do ours. Right, Ash?"
