"I made you a picnic," she said, smiling at me over her sunglasses. "I might be a while. I don't want you to starve to death."
I leaned back in the driver's seat and pulled onto Main Street. "Did you turn this into a date, Hazel?"
"No, this is a professional courtesy."
"So the painting I commissioned from you comes with food," I said as we approached the Mast Brothers' chocolate factory on the north end of town. "Good to know."
"I love these old buildings." Hazel sighed as I drove up to the ornate factory gate. It was already unlocked so that the workers could set up for the art fair that weekend.
"Look at the detail on this wrought iron," she said, hanging out the window of the car. I forced myself to look at the gate detail and not her ass. "See? They put in chocolate candies and the tools for the trade. People really had an eye for detail back then."
I parked in front of an expansive brick building with two-story-tall windows.
"This is where I want to put the food hall," I told her, leading her through the building. We passed a large statue of a meerkat.
"Oooh, it's Mast the meerkat!" Hazel squealed. "I used to come here when I was a kid. They had this little train that ran underground to a museum. It had these creepy animatronic puppets. I would always be so freaked out, but then I would get free candy at the end of it."
"The puppets are still down there," I said. "And they are still just as terrifying. All of this space," I said as we walked into another large building that used to house the chocolate meerkat manufacturing, "is going to be exhibition halls."
"It's beautiful!" Hazel said. She spun around in a circle through the spots of light from the high clerestory windows. I couldn't help it. I swept her up in my arms and danced us around and around the room.
Hazel was slightly breathless when we stopped. My hands were resting on her hips. Her skin was soft and warm. All I wanted to do in that moment was kiss her. Hazel licked her lips and stepped back, pulling at her shirt.
"So," she said. "What do you want me to paint?" She turned to walk to the heavy wooden barn-style doors at the end of the building.
"The train used to roll straight inside the warehouse for loading and unloading," I explained. "We could do a painting from here. But maybe you want something with a little more perspective."
Hazel looked around. "Can we access that roof?" She pointed through a window to the adjacent building.
"There are stairs on the other side," I said, picking up her equipment and leading her across the courtyard. She followed me, stopping every so often to look out one of the windows.
"Admiring the view?" I asked.
"Among other things."
The building was eight stories tall and gave an impressive view of the complex.
"Amazing," Hazel said as we stood at the edge of the roof. I had an arm firmly around her waist.
"I'm not going to fall," Hazel scoffed as we walked around the perimeter of the building. She immediately tripped, and I hauled her back against me.
"Maybe you should do a view from the ground."
"No, this is perfect, see? I can include those huge doors, and we'll put some landscaping there on the side. Then we have a row of restaurants along those tall windows," she said.
I set down her art supplies.
"You don't have to stay if you don't want to," Hazel said, looking up at me. "I'm sure you have a lot of important things to do."
"This is the most important thing right now," I said as she set up her easel.
"Yeah, but I can do it myself."
I snorted. "I'm not leaving you at an abandoned factory site alone. Besides, you made me lunch." I spread out a blanket on the wooden walkway on the roof. "Also I think I need to hire you to make lunch once a week at least, maybe more. Mace has it in his head that we need to rotate to give Josie a break on cooking."
"And of course you're going to outsource it."
I opened up the picnic hamper. "Hazel, I am a god among men and good at a great many things, but cooking anything more than a burnt omelet is beyond my capacity. I already sent you money for ingredients. No take-backsies! Make me proud."
