Fighting Dirty - Sidney Halston Page 0,64

is making you smile is someone I’d like to meet one day. You look happy, honey. I’m real glad for you.”

“It’s nice to see you sober, Mama. I hate to cut this short, but I have to work tonight and I have to go buy a dress before then.”

“A dress?” Her mother’s eyes lit up. “Maybe I could go with you?”

“I…uh…”

“Come on, honey. You need another set of eyes while you’re choosing, and someone to help zip you up.”

JL closed her eyes and hoped she wasn’t making a mistake. When her mother was concerned, she usually was, but…“Yeah, okay.” JL signaled for the check. “I’ll drive.”

—

“I’m so damn tired,” JL groaned four hours later as she dropped Rita off at EE’s to retrieve her car.

“I can’t remember having a better time. Your man’s going to love the dress,” Rita said.

“You think so? Is it bold?”

“No. Not at all. It’s beautiful. I hope it goes well at the party, darlin’.” She leaned over and kissed JL’s cheek. “Can I call you Sunday to ask how it went?”

“Yes. Keep it up, Mama. I’m proud of you.”

Her mother got out of the car, and JL rushed to the Pier. It had been a surprisingly wonderful and eventful day. Her mother had been remarkably helpful and surprisingly uncritical. She walked into her shift with an extra skip in her step. Life was good.

—

It had been nonstop for Enzo for the last two days. He’d made calls and conducted meetings and written proposals until he’d finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel. One of the investors, Luis Rommel, a laid-back San Diego native, loved Enzo’s new progressive plan for the Design District. Instead of a big commercial mall, his new idea was to build small cafés and mom-and-pop-inspired shops centered around the Walls—basically rejuvenating the area using what was already there instead of destroying it, and making the Walls the central focus of the area. It would cost a fraction of the price of a mall, and it would allow for a different market, one more in keeping with the small Florida town. Once he had Luis on his side he had no doubt the other investors would fall into line, and Luis was as excited about the new project as Enzo was.

Enzo had done all of this without contacting his father. He wanted to have everything in order before he had that conversation, because at the end of the day, his father and his father’s business partner, Marianna’s father, only cared about the bottom line, and if the bottom line was millions in profit, they wouldn’t care if it was a surf shop or a Walmart.

Truthfully, Enzo had done so well during the last seven years that his father couldn’t steamroll his ideas anymore. These last two days had taught him that he had enough influence on his own that even if his father fired him, he would be fine. Or so he hoped. Regardless, he had other deals on the back burner all over the nation, and he needed to discuss those with the investors going to the gala that evening, or at least schmooze enough that if the Design District deal didn’t end well, they’d still be onboard for his other projects. He didn’t want to be completely shunned if his father pulled the trigger and fired him.

That evening he walked into his house to get dressed for the gala with a little extra skip in his step. Things were looking as if they would all work out. Life was pretty damn good.

Chapter 15

“Whoa!” Enzo said as Jamie Lynn twirled in her floor-length, long-sleeved red gown that became sheer from the knees down but looked painted on her slim body from her knees up. The other women he’d dated never would have worn such bold colors, but the fact that she wore red made him happy. The most shocking part, though, was her soft blond hair, swept smoothly to one side. She looked young and fresh; her heavy makeup was gone, making her flawless skin glow. She was stunning, but he felt something was off with her. Maybe he just wasn’t used to seeing her like that.

She’d obviously done this for him. It wasn’t necessary; he didn’t need her to change for him. He was proud to stand next to her, whether her hair was green, blue, or purple, tattoos visible and all. But knowing that the most confident and nonconforming person he’d ever met would be willing to