Fighting Dirty - Sidney Halston Page 0,43

He should tell her right then and there. The arrest had been because of him. And, what was probably worse in her eyes, in a few months’ time this area would no longer exist, if he had his way. The contracts were already drafted and awaiting a few signatures and permits, and then this area would be completely razed and in its place a huge outlet mall would be erected.

She jumped up and down excitedly. “This is my canvas, Enzo.” She looked at it. “It’s going to rock when I’m done. Nothing clears my head more than sketching and painting.”

“Jesus, sweetheart.” He ran his hands through his hair again. “Could you have picked a taller building?”

She laughed. “One of the cops who’ve been up our asses is home sick and the other is away on vacation. That’s why Jonah called this morning. I haven’t been here in weeks. I missed it.”

He didn’t even bother to ask how they knew about the police officers.

Hand in hand, they walked back to where her friend was now climbing down. “JL, long time no see. How are you?” The thin tattooed man with paint on his hands and gauges in his ears hugged Jamie Lynn until her feet lifted off the ground.

“Good to see you, Jonah.” She moved aside. “This is my friend, Enzo. Enzo, this is Jonah.” Enzo and Jonah traded nods before Jamie Lynn pointed to a couple a few feet away “Those two over there are Jasmin and Ella.” She indicated two people on the other side and said, “That’s Jared and Savannah.”

“You’ve come to work?” The man looked at Enzo questioningly.

“Yeah. Come on,” Jamie Lynn answered for Enzo, pulling him along to the rest of the group, who all gathered in front of her big wall. “We all try to help out doing the first coat. Otherwise it’ll take forever.”

“I can’t draw, Jamie Lynn.”

“It’s not drawing.” She handed him a long paint roller. “We’re just priming it. Like if you’re painting a wall in your house.” He made a face. “Oh, bless your heart, Pretty Boy, you’ve never had to paint before, have you?” She kissed his cheek and handed him a can of paint. “Well, join the rest of the working community.”

“You know that in Wynwood people don’t just grab a paintbrush and start painting. The artists there are chosen after a review process, and there’s permits and—”

“You know about Wynwood?”

“You don’t listen, do you? My job has a lot to do with developing urban neighborhoods. I am familiar with the area you were talking about in Miami.”

“Well, Tarpon Springs isn’t Miami. Someone has to start. We’re not going to go ask for a permit. No one would give us one, and that’s not the point anyway. This area is abandoned. We’re making it nice again. It’s harmless street art, is all.”

He blew out a breath. God, why did she have to be so adorably determined? He took a paint roller and started to work.

For the next four hours they coated the wall black. By the time they were finished everyone was exhausted. Jamie Lynn had refused to do any of the higher parts of the building, so one of the others had done the top. A few times he wanted to pull her aside to tell her that this was a wasted effort, that these walls would soon be gone. But she seemed so at home and in her element, and he didn’t want to ruin that. He also didn’t want to ruin their last hours together before real life set in, bursting the perfect little bubble they’d created during the last few days.

“Did you like JL’s work? Isn’t our girl talented?” Savannah asked Enzo.

“Uh…no, he hasn’t seen it,” Jamie Lynn answered for him.

“Seen what?” he asked Savannah.

Savannah brought JL in for a hug. “We gotta run. Show him.”

The group said a quick goodbye, Jamie Lynn thanked them for their help, and then they were gone.

“See what?” he asked again.

“My first wall.”

“Oh, I assumed this was your first wall.”

“Nope. It’s just the biggest and tallest. But I’ve been doing this for the last year or so.”

“Was this where you were all those times I asked you out and you dodged me?”

“Yes, this is usually where I was. But I wasn’t dodging you. It’s probably hard for your enlarged ego to grasp this concept, but I wasn’t interested,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her head on his chest.

“You’re interested now, though?”

“Very much