Page 37 of Beside Golden Irish Fields
“Oh, don’t be listening to the old biddies with their harsh tongues,” said the barrel-chested man who came in behind him.
He was a giant spectacle and had thick, lustrous silver hair and strong features. He was downright handsome and more in the sixty-year range she’d been expecting.
“I’m here to apply as well.” He dropped his boxing robe. A collective gasp went through the room, and Angie couldn’t blame them. He would be one hell of a subject to paint.
“They’re simply jealous not to be lying down beside a real man like us,” he continued, gesturing to his appendage.
“It’s as I always thought,” a woman whispered from the front row.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” another breathed.
“You’re a strong possibility,” Angie called out, deciding if the theater had arrived, she would play her part. “Next, please.”
“Well, now, the Yank has better taste than the women in this village, it seems,” the man said. “Seamus, you’re up, man.”
“Not my Seamus,” Brigid squeaked.
“Don’t worry none,” the well-endowed man said. “We had to get them all pissed to make a showing.”
Sure enough, Seamus appeared. And then Gavin and Killian. The Lucky Charms had been outdone by their own husbands.
“Here we be, girls,” Gavin said, holding his arms out. “Your own personal inspiration.”
Killian looked green, but he puffed out his chest. “You’ll be making masterpiece after masterpiece now.”
“Won’t be able to keep their hands off us,” Seamus said, a wide lopsided grin on his face.
They dropped their robes, and more gasps sounded.
The Lucky Charms sure as hell were lucky, Angie thought. But they didn’t seem to feel so lucky just now. They were all sputtering.
“You’re all hired,” Angie said, calling their bluff. “Ten euros an hour. No breaks. And you have to stand completely still the whole time. Okay, come to the front of the class now. We’ve held class long enough waiting for you. Line up, please, on either side of me.”
“Oh, the Yank is a fierce one,” Seamus said, walking toward the front, almost proudly.
This was Carrick’s father, Angie suddenly realized. In the flurry of naked men, she’d forgotten, or at least failed to make the connection. Oh, God, if he were anything like him…
She so didn’t need to be thinking about that.
“I’m Angie, and yes, I’m fierce. Are you taking the offer?”
He gestured to himself. “You offer is low, I think. This fine body is worth more than ten euros. Goodness, girl, I have striploin steaks that cost more.”
“Let that be a lesson to you, Seamus,” someone yelled. “Your steaks cost too much.”
The rest of the men joined him at the front. The elderly man with the red bow tie was grinning from ear to ear.
Gavin cast Angie a glance and winked. “Would you consider a hundred euros an hour? With this gorgeous body, I don’t think I can work for less.”
“What rubbish!” his wife exclaimed.
A sluice of water hitting Gavin’s chest had him crying out, “What’s this?”
More water hit him, and then the rest of them. Angie put her hand over her mouth as the rest of the Lucky Charms pulled water guns out from behind their easels and started soaking the men.
Like the sheep who’d rampaged Bets’ garden on the day she arrived, the men scattered, crying out at the tops of their lungs.
“Run for it, men!” the giant of a man cried. “Forget the robes!”
