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Angelica left and Max turned to face Cosima who watched him. “Something on your mind?”
“Yeah. Did you say yes to us because you both wanted to sleep with us?”
He almost choked on the sip of coffee he’d taken. Not what he’d expected from her. At all. “No. Did you sleep with Reg?”
She nodded. “I just had to ask. I don’t want anyone getting hurt and this project is important. The Barrels really needs not just a place to nurture art and craft skills but advice on how to get started. I’d hate to screw that up because of lust.”
“That is precisely why we greenlit your project. I’m not sure what’s between you and Reg and frankly don’t want to, but Angelica and I both are on the same page.”
Cosima tipped her head to the side and regarded him from under her lashes for a long time. He knew she was trying to find any lie in his words but there was none. He and Angelica were winging it and having fun. For now that was all either of them wanted.
“I’m back. So do you want to see if Reg wants to join us?”
“I’ll text him. He’s waiting in his car until I could talk to you,” Cosima said. “I didn’t know Max was here.”
Angelica just nodded at her cousin and gestured for Max to follow her over to the table. They sat side by side on one of the benches at the farmhouse-style table. She put her hand on his thigh and squeezed, sending a jolt of fresh desire through him. Then she leaned over and kissed him—just a quick one. “Wanted to do that since you walked out of my bedroom.”
Before he could respond Cosima came over and plopped down across from them. “Well, Reg will be right here,” Cosima said.
Reg joined them and they started hammering out some of the details of the type of space they’d need and for the first time he learned that Angelica was a potter. That her craft was making pottery. She’d need a large kiln for firing the clay and room for several wheels.
But they also wanted space for painting, sculpting and were both interested in finding the person or persons who’d done the graffiti on the walls of the abandoned building. “I think it’s really important to have that artist do a mural on the side of our building.”
“I’ll have to see the work first but maybe we could have them do all of the buildings in the area. Right now we are focused on constructing several new buildings around an outdoor green space with both play areas and quiet benches and fountains. Something serene in what right now is an eyesore and probably a danger to kids and the community.”
“I like it. I haven’t really talked to anyone in the area so we’ll have to find out where to start.”
“Your good friend Logan Calloway grew up there and mentioned his brother has a gym there.”
“Oh, funny he didn’t mention it to us,” Angelica said with a wink.
And something stirred inside him that was partially sexual but more like some sort of warmth and caring. And somehow that felt more dangerous than he wanted to admit.
*
Sully Calloway lookeda lot like his famous brother Logan, but also rougher. Sully was an MMA fighter who kept his hair buzzed close to his head. He was large and muscly, reminding Angelica of The Rock or Vin Diesel. She felt perfectly safe with him but he wasn’t someone she’d want to cross. Max and he shook hands like they were old friends before he’d introduced her and Cosima.
“Sully is one of the partners in the development of this area,” Max said. “His gym is going to be one of the anchors to the building.”
“That’s great,” Angelia said. “My mom mentioned that you’ve already been doing a lot around The Barrels to revitalize the community areas.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, some. I mean there was no place to run and some of the people down here can’t afford to join a gym or don’t want to. I just know that when I was growing up, I needed to be out of the house.”
Angelica hadn’t realized how closely tied the Calloways were to The Barrels. It was a little sad to her that this low-income neighborhood had been neglected while Whiskey River had been flourishing. But there were neighborhoods like this all over and Max and Reg’s Second Start program was helping to combat it.
“Art was like that for me,” Angelica said.
“Yeah, it’s always something, right. So your text mentioned you needed my help,” Sully said as he turned to Max.
“We’d like to find out who has done the graffiti.”
“Why? I mean I’ve spoken to Officer Adam Wells and the property owners and they are all cool with it.”
Sully was protective of whoever had done the artwork. Which made her like him. He had his big, beefy arms wrapped across his chest in a sort of defensive pose. “We want the artist to do some murals on the art center and wondered maybe if he or she is willing teach kids who are interested in that kind of art.”
Angelica hadn’t had a chance to think through all the details but she knew that not everyone would be graduating high school and heading off to college. That path wasn’t for everyone. Her youngest brother Ollie had dropped out and went off to be a rodeo clown. Ollie had luckily found a mentor but not everyone could.
“Then I’ll go see if I can find her. She’s not really sociable and I’ll be honest she curses like a sailor so don’t get offended, lady.”
