bed for me. I opened my eyes and glanced at the clock. Ten-thirty. A little earlier than normal, but I crashed pretty hard the second I cuddled up in his fluffy comforter. The thing was amazing. One of those down-type blankets but didn’t have those pokey feathers most of them have.
Looking around the room, I took in the masculine vibe. He had nothing on the walls except for a cityscape of the Chicago skyline over his bed. The furniture was a dark thick wood and squared off at every edge. The comforter was a pristine white which I found incredibly soothing. He swore he’d just changed the sheets two nights before, and I could still smell the strong fabric softener scent as well as the woodsy notes I’d come to associate with Jonah. Now I knew why that woodsy scent came with the fresh linens. It was his fabric softener. Still, on him it was delicious, and I wanted to burrow straight into it and never come out to the light of day.
Except, I was not the type of person to waste a perfectly good day when there was adventure and fun to be had, life to be lived.
Popping out of bed, I used the facilities, pulled my hair up into a messy bun, and brushed my teeth. My face was clear of makeup and the ribbed navy tank I wore really brought out the gray-blue of my eyes. I had on a pair of drawstring tan lounge pants that fell all the way to my toes.
I shrugged. Welp, if Jonah didn’t like the way I looked first thing in the morning, who cared? I lied to myself in order to let it all go and just move on with my plan.
Making sure to be quiet, I tiptoed into the living room and found Jonah lying with his feet stretched out across the length of the couch, wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and bare feet. He had his eyes on a game on the television with the volume turned all the way off. His dark hair had a sheen to it that suggested he’d already showered.
“You already showered?”
He turned his head and his dark gaze took in my ratty appearance from top to toe.
“Yeah. Do you always sleep this late?”
I opened my eyes wide and looked out the window seeing the sky was nice and blue and the sun was out.
“Uh, this is early for me. I work nights in a bar. I usually get off around two, help clean up until three, and then come home to eat something and then crash until around noon.”
“Noon? Wow. How many jobs do you have?”
“Three. Well, I had three. As I told you last night, I quit the diner I worked at three of the nights I don’t work at Tracks downtown. There I usually work Tuesday or Wednesday through Friday or Saturday depending on the shift.”
“And the third job?”
I smiled and made my way around the back of the couch and sat down on the comfy chair across from him. “I help out one or two days a week at Perfect Petal in Oak Park arranging flowers, cleaning up, doing the odd things that might be needed. The shop owner is Mama Kerri’s best friend and she pays me in cash under the table. I use that as my gas money for the week.”
“And you said something about a credential?”
“Usually after I wake up, I spend an hour or two on my studies online. I’m almost done. One more class and I’ll have my associate’s degree in business administration.”
“You work three jobs, and go to school part time?”
I tucked my feet up and to the side of me. “Yep. How about you?”
“Usually I try to work four on, four off, twelve-hour shifts unless we have a serious threat like this one then it’s all hands on deck with unpredictable hours until the killer is found and put in jail. Would you like some coffee?”
“Do you have tea?”
He smiled and shook his head. “We’ll get you some.”
“Coffee is fine too, thank you. Do you like being an FBI agent? Not that I know exactly what that all entails.”
He disappeared into the part of the kitchen you couldn’t see from where I sat, and I heard him pull down a cup and pour the coffee.
“Cream and sugar?”
“I’ll try it how you make it. I like to be surprised.” I stared out the window noticing the kids playing a game of stick hockey in the