I pressed the button and turned around to a bunch of smiling faces.
“Don’t even start…” I warned.
“Oh no, we are sooooo getting into this. Jonah? You’re calling the agent by name?” Blessing noted right off the bat.
“Of course, I am, because it is his name,” I fired off and set the phone down.
“And you’re flushed, as though you’re happy to talk to him. Reeeeaaaallly happy,” Charlie added. “I know that look, girl. I feel that way every time I visit one of Addy’s photo shoots and see all those naked or half-dressed women. Who am I kidding? Even the men.”
“You hit on everything that moves,” I countered.
“True, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are into this guy! The FBI guy who saved you,” she teased.
“I think it’s romantic. Like a fairytale.” Liliana put her hands in a prayer pose at her chin, her eyes filled with rainbows and unicorns.
“Mama! Get them to lay off,” I requested.
“And ruin all the fun? I want to hear about this Jonah fella. I left the hospital before you two. Sonia said you’d chatted with the FBI agent who saved your life, but she didn’t say you took a liking to him. Do tell?” She leaned over the counter on her elbows and put her cheek into her hand.
“You guys are impossible!” I harrumphed.
“No, we’re your sisters, and you’re hot for a guy and we want to know more! Like, what happened with that good-for-nothing boyfriend of yours, Trey?”
“Oh blech.” I made a gagging sound. “He broke up with me yesterday. Let me start at the beginning of my day so you’re all caught up…”
“And then you’ll tell us about Agent Jonah Fontaine?” Liliana demanded in her singsong, life-is-amazing tone.
I took a deep, fortifying breath. “And then I’ll tell you about one heck of a hot FBI agent.”
When I opened the door, I was not only greeted by Jonah, but also the blond agent from the hospital.
“Hi, Simone, this is my partner, Agent Ryan Russell.”
I smiled. “Nice seeing you again. We met briefly last night.” I glanced at Jonah and his dreamy dark gaze was planted directly on my face, as though he were cataloguing my every reaction. My stupid traitorous cheeks heated.
The agent held out his hand and I shook it, trying to focus on what I was doing, not on my savior.
Right behind me, Mama put her hand to my shoulder and peeked around the door. “Well, hello, gentlemen. Come in. May I offer you some coffee or tea perhaps?” She held the door open fully.
“Uh yeah, goodness. I should have offered. Would you both like to come in?” I gestured with a thumb behind me.
Agent Russell grinned and Jonah bit down on his lush bottom lip. Oh, what I wouldn’t have given to be the one to taste that bit of flesh.
“Gratitude, ma’am. Unfortunately we need to get Simone to her home. Agent Russell is working right now.” He gestured to his partner who was in a dark suit, much like the one he’d worn last night, while Jonah looked scrumptious in a form-fitting kelly green, long-sleeve thermal. His dark jeans had definitely seen better days if the fray around the pockets and the fading down the thighs were anything to go by.
Agent Russell put his hand over his heart. “Wonderful offer. How’s about a rain check?” His light-eyed gaze traveled from me to Jonah and then back to my mother. “I have a good feeling we’ll be seeing more of each other,” he stated in a very forthcoming manner.
I’m certain my eyes widened, and my heated cheeks went from hot to absolutely flaming.
“Um, let me just grab my sweater.” I turned around, dashed to the coat rack, and pulled off a slouchy, long gray cardigan I’d left here the last time I stayed over. It was soft, comfy, and had a hood. Felt like I was wearing a blanket all day. I loved it.
The men led me to a black SUV, and I got into the back. I folded and unfolded my hands repeatedly as I checked my surroundings.
“Technically this is not the first time I’ve been in a situation with the police,” I shared unnecessarily and then immediately tried to fix it. “I mean, not for anything serious. Actually, it wasn’t even my fault. It was my foster sister Tabby’s idea.” Neither man said anything and the quiet in the space felt stifling, so I continued. “We were playing a prank on one of our teachers and things got out of hand…” I clenched my teeth together and mentally smacked myself silly, for stupidly sharing an embarrassing story. I did that all the time. Shared too much. Talked too much. Gave too much advice.
“How so?” Jonah asked, saving me from feeling the burn of humiliation.
“We, uh, stuck a hose in the front door of the house and toilet-papered his trees and bushes. He’d given Genesis, one of my other sisters, a bad science grade because she refused to participate in the dissection of a pig. She’s a real human and animal lover, and anyway, she’s the one who’s a social worker downtown. It was going to go on her permanent record and she really needed perfect grades to get a good scholarship, so our plan was to get back at him. Mama Kerri had already worked out an arrangement with the teacher, though we didn’t know that at the time. Swear!” I crossed my heart with one finger.
Agent Russell chuckled. “Brother, you got yourself a live one,” he murmured, and I wasn’t sure if him saying that was a compliment or not. I couldn’t tell from his tone either.
Shoot. I was making myself look like a complete dork. “Never mind. I always do this. Talk too much. Ignore me.” I waved my hand and stared out the window.
Jonah turned around, the window between us open so I could see his handsome face unimpeded by the heavy plastic partition. “No way. Don’t stop now. The story was just getting good.” He grinned. “What happened after the toilet papering and the water hose?”
I swallowed and sucked in my bottom lip. His gaze stayed on my mouth and I watched in extreme fascination as he licked his lips. My body started to heat and the space between my thighs throbbed. It felt like long minutes passed between us as we stared at one another instead of only maybe twenty seconds.
“Um, well, I didn’t know that Tabby had turned the hose on, so by the time he woke up the next day, his house had flooded. Did some pretty serious damage to his floors.”
“No shit!” he exclaimed.
“’Fraid so. The cops were called. Apparently, he had a video doorbell and caught Tabby’s face as she held the water hose and me as I papered a bush. Officers came to school and took us right out of our classes. I was so scared…”
“What happened next?”
“Mama Kerri talked to him. Explained our backgrounds, how we were both foster children trying to find our way, yada. He dropped the charges, but we had to pay for the damage and apologize in person. We spent the entire summer raking lawns, cleaning houses, babysitting…whatever it took to pay back the damage. All of our sisters helped though. It was pretty amazing. Everyone spent the summer paying off what Tabby and I’d done to get back at a teacher who was being unfair with Genesis. All for one, and one for all.” I shrugged.
“Wow, that’s something else…” Jonah’s voice was low and held a note of praise.