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“Don’t worry, I will,” I said.

“Tenley isn’t going to know what hit her,” she said.

“I mean, she’s not into women, so it doesn’t really matter,” I said.

“Still, she’ll have to pretend she’s into you and if you look hot, it’ll be easier,” she said.

“Do you think she’s going to want us to kiss?” I asked.

“Probably,” Lark said. “I mean, how else are you going to make her ex jealous? You’ll have to get handsy too. Make a real show of it.”

I made a face, but a bolt of heat shot through me at the prospect of feeling up Tenley. It wasn’t my fault she had a fantastic body that a lot of people would beg to get their hands on. Just because it was fake didn’t mean I wasn’t going to enjoy it just a little bit.

“It’s going to be interesting, that’s for sure,” I said.

Chapter Three

On Saturday before the party, I headed over to Ingrid’s to do some work on my toys. I wanted to do a test run with my new mold, and I had a few orders I needed to pack up and get ready to ship. Part of the payment of using her garage was watching Athena while Ingrid took a long shower and had a few minutes of peace not taking care of someone else.

Athena was yelling when I opened the door.

“We’re having a rough morning,” Ingrid said, and I could see how fried she was in her eyes.

“Go, I’ve got this,” I said, pushing her toward the bathroom. She shuffled off and I went to deal with my screaming niece.

Once I got her calmed down enough to ask her what was wrong, I could see that she was wearing herself out and starting to come back down.

“Do you need a hug?” I asked when she was down to sniffles.

“Yes,” she said, her voice thick.

We had a hug and then got her a snack and soon she was back to singing along with her show. I still didn’t know what she’d been upset about, but with toddlers you never really knew. They could get upset that their water was wet.

Ingrid came out a while later as I was tidying up. Her hair was wet, but she had on fresh clothes and she seemed much more relaxed.

“Thank you,” she said, going over to kiss Athena on the top of her head. “I’m going to make some lunch in a little bit if you want any.”

“Sure. I’m just going to work on my orders, so let me know if you need help or anything,” I said.

“Will do.”

I grabbed the order forms I’d brought with me and passed through the door near the kitchen and into the garage. The shelving unit that Ingrid had helped me build was looking pretty bare. I was going to have to take a whole weekend and do a ton of pouring to catch up. I was also really behind on my custom orders.

What felt like only a few minutes later, Ingrid was calling my name and saying that lunch was ready. I sealed the box I’d been packing and added it to the pile and headed inside to have sandwiches and baby carrots with Ingrid and Athena, then it was back out to do the custom orders.

Customers could not only pick their model, but they could pick the colors of silicone I’d pour together as well as glitter, if they wanted. It had taken a lot of trial and error to learn the right way to pour the silicone with a steady hand so that when it hardened and you took the toy out of the mold, you’d see all the colors and it wouldn’t look like a complete disaster. One of the first things I’d invested in was a vacuum pump and chamber to eliminate unsightly air bubbles that would damage the integrity of the toy. I’d mix up the silicone for each toy, add the colors (and glitter, if requested), and then put them in the vacuum chamber to prep all of it to go into the molds.

Pouring could be messy work, which is why I was so grateful that Ingrid didn’t care if I splashed on her garage floor. No matter how careful I was, spills happened. Once I had done as many as I could, I set them all aside to cure, which took hours, so I’d have to come back and pop them out of the molds when they were ready. In the meantime, I had to hope and cross my fingers that I’d done everything right.

I pulled off my gloves and put my mask away and headed back into the house to wash my hands and sit down. Why had I picked two jobs that required so much standing?

“You all done?” Ingrid said, looking up from mopping the kitchen. Athena was down for her afternoon nap, so the house was much quieter.

“For now. Everything is curing,” I said, sighing and sitting down. Ingrid finished cleaning and came to join me.

“I’m just hoping you can get your own studio space by the time Athena is in school, so she doesn’t nab one of your orders to bring in for show and tell,” Ingrid said and we both laughed.

“Don’t worry. I’ll try to stop that from happening,” I said, leaning my head on her shoulder.