Page 38 of The Naughty List
Jonah’s eyes twinkle with amusement as we get onto the elevator. “Careful with those old codgers. They can get handsy.”
“In my experience, men of all ages can be a little gropey.”
Jonah smirks, ducking his head behind the paper sack holding my gingerbread building supplies.
“We are going to bake the gingerbread men for the village though. From scratch.”
“Of course we are,” Jonah grumbles.
After we reach his floor and exit the elevator, Jonah uses his code to let us inside. Z and Ache great us enthusiastically.
I kneel down to love on both of them. “Remember the day we met, when Zeus tackled me to the ground?”
“Down, boys,” Jonah commands and they both look at me to see if I they have to listen to him. I give each of them one more love pat before standing. “He had a lot more energy back then. He’s slowing down a bit these days.”
I nod sadly. “They probably need to go out. I can take them.”
He shakes his head. “You go out there this time of night dressed like that and I’ll never see you again. I’ll go. You stay here and warm up. Get started on the cookies and I’ll help with the houses when I get back.”
While Jonah puts Ache on his leash, I pull off my hat and the silly elf-shoes, discarding them by the door. When I take off his jacket to give it back before he goes out into the cold, I pull my keys from the pocket, along with a receipt.
Unfolding the long, thin strip of paper, my eyes go wide. “Jonah, you spent three thousand dollars on toys?”
He shrugs. “There’s a lot of kids there that don’t get anything else for Christmas. I always make sure I have something for everyone. Miss Nancy sends me a list.”
“That’s really sweet. You know, it’s also a tax deduction.”
He rolls his eyes. “I don’t care about that.”
“You saved the receipt.” I’m about to hand it to him when I notice something scrawled on the back.
Aimee, it’s says in female cursive handwriting. The i is dotted with a heart. It’s followed by a local phone number.
I hold it up inquisitively.
“Salesgirl at the toy store. She was very helpful.”
“I bet she was.” I resist the urge to gnaw on my lower lip. “Are you going to call her?”
Jonah levels me with a solid stare. “I don’t know. Is that a problem?”
His tone is challenging. This is why he thinks I can’t be his assistant.
My teeth clench and my jaw ticks. He’s testing me. I failed the Janine test already. If I want to be his assistant, I’ve got to get used to this.
“No problem at all. Just didn’t know if you wanted to keep this or toss it.” I lay the receipt on the side table with my keys.
“I’m not going to call hertonight,” he offers.
“Have fun walking the dogs,” I say, dismissing him, because this is the reminder I needed. I nearly lost sight of what was really important. I need to get my train of thought back on track and it will be easier if he isn’t here. “Don’t forget the little blue baggies.”
Jonah is Jonah. And like he said at the bar, we aren’t shopping in the same category.
I glance at the Henry Bear receipt.
We don’t even shop at the same stores.
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