Chapter 82
"Coffee?" Monroe asked as I leaned against the counter in his green hallway. He was wearing his red plaid shirt and his smile was bigger than usual.
"Sure," I replied. "You know I can never decline a good cup of your coffee."
Monroe grinned. "Wise woman."
He stepped away to work his French press in the kitchen as he hummed some Bob Dylan. It wasn't an older song, but one of his newer ones. Since when did he know music like that? I hummed along anyway.
"Some things just last longer,
Than you thought they would.
And they never ever explain.
I'm dreamin' of you.
That's all I do.
And it's driving me insane…"
I shuffled over to the kitchen and rubbed Monroe's shoulders while he poured the coffee.
He turned as he handed me the mug. "Just the way you like it," he said. But it wasn't his voice.
As I looked up, my mug fell from my hands, shattering on the floor. It was Nick… in a beard… in Monroe's red plaid!
"Something wrong?" Nick asked with his blue-green eyes twinkling at me. A cell phone rang in the distance. "Better get that." He winked at me.
The ringing continued as it woke me out of my dreams. What the hell? I shook my head. I was spending way too much time at that trailer. That had to be it, right? I tried to nod back off.
"Nick," Monroe sighed and my heart leapt out of me. Did he know what I was dreaming about? Had I said something? My eyes shot open and I looked over at Monroe, who was talking into his phone.
"It's two-thirty..." Monroe let out a deep sigh. "We have a Bikram class at six a.m., and hot yoga on too-little sleep is how groin pulls happen. Aren't you supposed to be on vacation?"
"Is he okay?" I tugged at his white shirt. "Everything going well?" Monroe motioned a hand in my direction.
"But lemme guess, you need my help... All right. I get it," he groaned into the phone. "What do you got?"
I strained to hear Nick's side of the conversation, but then Monroe asked if Nick meant an alley cat. I sat up straight in bed.
"Klaustreich," Monroe scoffed. "Total jerks. Women love them, but it never ends well. Isn't that always the way?" Monroe looked over at me, softening his face briefly. "Well, sometimes, at least." I didn't love Heath when he tried to rape me, for sure.
Monroe told Nick in more detail about his ex, Molly, than what he'd shared with me. She'd left Monroe for a Klaustreich. No wonder he'd seemed so angry before. Monroe went on to tell Nick that the Klaustreich had slashed Molly's face as a last goodbye. I shook my head. Luckily Heath had only been able to claw at my back.
"Sleep with one eye open," Monroe warned Nick before hanging up the phone. He released a heavy sigh as he leaned on his side, facing me. His eyes had that fiery rage again; soulless and full of bad memories. I held him close to me, running my hand through his wild, curly hair.
"Nick didn't get attacked by a Klaustreich, did he?" I asked. Oh, hopefully he was okay. If that Klaustreich harmed him, I'd go hunt the damn cat down myself.
"No. He said it's some domestic dispute thing, more than likely."
"He's always on duty, isn't he?"
"Yeah. Apparently so. But why does it have to be at two in the freakin' morning?" He groaned again. "Now I'm all agitated and we need to get some sleep."
"Just Relax." I moved my hand from his hair down to his back. "Let's just clear our heads and close our eyes." My voice was gentle, soothing. I lightly hummed The Rolling Stones, and Monroe sighed, settling into my arms.
"Baby you better get some sleep tonight.
All you got to do is close your eyes.
You better get some sleep tonight…"
Nick could take care of himself. He'd be all right. I worked on clearing my own head as I drifted off to sleep.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Nick was tackling Heath the Klaustreich to the ground. He was shirtless and beads of sweat dripped from his chest.
"I'll protect you," he said and flashed me a smile as he held his boot against the Klaustreich's throat.
I ran over to him. "Thanks for saving me," I awed as he pulled me into a kiss.
A tug at my shoulder yanked me from my dreams.
"We need to get ready for Bikram," Monroe's voice echoed somewhere between my dreams and wakefulness. I grasped my pillow. "Renée," his voice continued. "Come on, dude, we've gotta go."
I rolled toward him, letting out a deliberate yawn. I cleared my throat before I spoke to remove the southern drawl. "What time is it?"
"Five. Well, later than five now. We gotta get moving." He leaned over to kiss me. "Happy Lunar-versary."
Holy crap, was it the fourteenth already?
"Happy Lunar-versary," I replied like I remembered. With the events lately I hadn't kept track. He was far better than me. And they said men were the ones who were horrible about remembering these kinds of things.
From behind his back emerged an orange rose. "For you, Hun."
He drew it across my bottom lip teasingly as I took hold of it. "It's lovely." I let its scent wake me up a bit more. "Interesting color." I glanced up at him. "So orange means…?"
He wiggled his eyebrows. "Desire."
"Oh, really?" My coy smile permeated. "So you desire me?"
"Had I'd known you were gonna wear a dress like that last night, I'd have skipped my meeting and desired you a helluva lot more, if you catch my drift." He rocked on his heels a bit. "And I'd done a better job at keeping you safe from assholes," he added, mumbling under his breath.
"Thank you for everything last night. You're gonna have to add damsel saving to your business cards." I swung my feet off the bed and managed to coax myself up. "And thank you for this." I held the rose to my nose again. God, I loved roses.
"Okay, not to ruin this sweet, endearing moment, but, umm, we really gotta move or we'll be late for class. And my instructor doesn't allow for tardiness, man. She's a stickler for punctuality."
"Right on it," I replied while holding back another yawn. It was too early for this, but I loved him, and I would suffer whatever for him. He always did for me.
A quick shower and a change of clothes later I was dressed for hot yoga. Monroe had cautioned me on attire. No cotton, since it would hold in sweat. Instead, I wore my pink sports bra. Although I was a bit exposed with it, I wasn't about to wear a full shirt in the heat. I'd found a pair of my yoga capris that were designed to whisk away moisture. I was as prepared as I could be.
"You feel comfortable in that?" Monroe asked. "You look really good in it," he grinned.
I glanced down. "Physically comfortable, yes." I nodded and looked over at his attire of a tank top and tight shorts. "You okay in that?"
"It's all dri-fit material. I'm fine, now let's go."
We settled in the car as Monroe drove.
"Here, drink this." He handed me a bottle of water from his bag. "I've got a few more in there. It wouldn't hurt for you to drink two before we get to the studio. It's important to stay well hydrated."
"So how hot is it going to be in there?" I asked.
"It's a steady hundred and five degrees," he replied with a grin. "Nothing like Portland weather, lemme tell ya."
I downed the first bottle and worked on a second as we crossed the Rose Island Bridge. Along the drive Monroe gave a brief history on Bikram Choudhury and his crippling, weight-lifting accident at age seventeen that had crushed his knees.
"It was with the guidance of his guru that Bikram created his twenty-six posture series, which restored his health." Monroe said in his teacher voice. "Some of the poses you're already gonna know."
"So how long is this class?"
"They're ninety minutes long."
"Wow, an hour and a half?" Hopefully I'd survive.
Monroe smiled. "The longer the better."
The Bikram studio wasn't too far from Monroe's house. We arrived on Southeast 16th Avenue in ten minutes and parked in front of the Sellwood Studio.
"This place is nicer than most. There are lockers for your stuff, and we can get a shower in the locker rooms right afterwards, which I highly recommend 'cause it ain't pretty afterward."
The rush of heat hit my face as we entered the studio. They already had it piping hot and it was like I'd stepped into a sweltering, July afternoon in Louisville. As we walked in, a tall, broad-shouldered woman with blonde hair came up to us.
"Morning, Monroe," she said with what looked like her version of a smile. She seemed heartfelt, but intimidating nonetheless. "So, who do we have with us today? Is this Renée?"
"Yeah," Monroe replied with a sheepish grin. "I talked her into coming with me."
Miss Intimidation reached out for my hand and shook it with a firm grip. "I'm Jess Riley. Nice to meet you. Heard a lot of good things." She gave me a knowing nod and another… smile? I smiled back with a smooth face.
As she let go of my hand, her face contorted quickly into a Lion, but then she retracted just as fast. Holy crap! I maintained my composure, but it was all I could do to fight back a shriek. A Lowen? Oh, God. I turned slowly to face Monroe, widening my eyes for only him to see. He rocked on his heels. Couldn't he have given me some warning? Come on, Monroe.
"Jess here works as a guard in Juvenile Detention, but she teaches Bikram on the side," Monroe said while grinning at Miss Intimidation.
"Yeah, either way I'm keeping people in shape." She let out a deep laugh, which only added to her nickname. "So, is this your first Bikram class?"
"Yeah. I do Ashtanga yoga, but not as much lately since I moved here."
"Oh, you're in for a treat, Missy." Her grin seemed more like she was ready to put me through Hell.
"So I've heard," I hastily replied.
She placed her hands on her hips. "Well, you both put your things away. Monroe can show you where everything is, and we'll get started here in fifteen minutes."
As we walked away, Monroe whispered, "So, umm, I kinda forgot to mention she was a Lowen."
"Gee, you think?"
"But you didn't flinch at her woge. You never cease to impress me with that, man."
"Good thing, because I really don't need another one knowing what I am."
"Aww, Jess is a pussycat compared to most Lowen. I've known her a long time. Even if she knew about you, she wouldn't hurt ya. She's not the like that son of a bitch with the Russell Crowe complex."
"I guess we'll see after this class."
Monroe pointed out the women's locker rooms, and I darted in, locating a locker to put my things in. I took another glance in the mirror and pulled my hair into a tight ponytail high on my head. No, it was still hanging too long. I redid it, and looped the end halfway though. There, much better.
Making my way back to the studio area, Monroe was waiting for me.
"Good, you've got your hair back," he commented at my up-do. "The less in your face, the better."
We set up our mats, placing towels down on top of them to catch the sweat. Oh, I was going to look pretty after this. My arms were already damp and we hadn't even started yet.
"I see a few new faces," Miss Intimidation began. "I want to welcome you to Bikram yoga." She went over a brief history similar to what Monroe had told me and an overview of the poses. "The heated room encourages detoxification, increased circulation, and provides for safe stretching," she continued. "These poses are designed to benefit every muscle, joint, ligament, tendon, and organ in the body. So please stay focused, and even if you feel ill, remain in the room. The contrast of heat and cool will only make you feel worse. Trust me on that."
Miss Intimidation caught my eyes and another grin passed her lips. Was that for me? Did she think I was going to hightail it out of here? A shot of my reckless spirit came on at the thought of her challenge. Oh, bring it on.
The first few poses went smoothly. Even with the heat, I moved gracefully from Eagle to Head to Knee, and then into Standing Bow. Monroe was moving effortlessly like he had the poses memorized, not really paying much attention to Miss Intimidation's guidance.
"Next is Balancing Stick," she said. "Now take this one easy, especially my new people."
I bit back a grimace and flowed into what seemed very much like a Warrior Three pose to me. I held my balance as the sweat dripped off me like a rain storm onto my towel. Ick. This must have been how Natalie felt when Mr. Foxy Loxy facilitated our classes.
"How are you doing?" Monroe quietly asked in my direction as we maintained our pose.
"Good. I was expecting worse, honestly."
"I told you. I knew you'd like it." Sweat beaded down his cheeks and the curls of his hair laid flat and matted against his forehead. I didn't want to know what I looked like.
I directed my attention back to Miss Intimidation, still keeping control of my pose. She nodded approvingly at me and placed a hand on her hip as she walked the room.
"Okay, let's move into the Standing Separate Leg Stretching Forehead to Knee." She moved back up to the front of the room to demonstrate. I spread my legs and dipped down to another familiar pose, but my foot caught the towel at an awkward angle, sliding my legs too far apart, and I almost fell backward. Crap!
"It's fine if this one gives you a bit of trouble. It takes time to master these poses." Miss Intimidation called out with a smirk in her voice. "Just do what you can." My cheeks burned and it wasn't due to the heat. Regardless, I repositioned myself and leaned into the pose, displaying more than perfect form. Ha, take that.
Pose after pose I held on, pushing against the heat and taking each challenge that was thrown my way.
"The last pose is a Final Breathing Exercise. Go ahead and sit down on your mats." She walked through the proper technique of filling your lungs through your diaphragm. With each breath my recklessness subsided. I'd successfully met each challenge head on.
Miss Intimidation walked up to us after we'd finished.
"Well, what did you think about Bikram?" she asked.
"The heat really intensifies it, but considering, it wasn't as difficult as I'd anticipated."
"Huh." She placed a hand on her hip. "I must have been too easy on you then." That loud laugh roared out of her once again. She slapped my back hard, striking the sweat, which made a squish sound. Double ick. I arched up sharply. The sting from her hand burned across my skin. Wow, either she didn't like me, or she was a hard-hitting woman. Maybe it was a little bit of both?
"We better hit the showers," Monroe said as I rolled up my mat and held the towels out in front of me. They were soaked. I was avoiding mirrors until after my shower, for sure.
I moved back into the locker room area. The cool air hit me and I shivered like I was in the Antarctic. My stomach lurched at the temperature difference, but I held it firmly. I wasn't going to retch. No, I could hold it back. I distracted myself with putting things away in the locker while pulling a fresh towel from my gym bag and the items I needed for the shower.
I used the hottest water setting I could stand to warm back up then inched it back to cool. Just getting the sweat off me felt more than wonderful. I lathered up and I had to admit my muscles felt the most relaxed they had been in a long while.
"You did really well in there," said a female voice behind me and I yelped as I spun around. The top of Miss Intimidation's head was visible over the shower door and she smirked at my response. "I like Monroe. He's a good guy," she said as I held myself the best I could in the shower. "I hope you think so, too."
"Of course I do," I replied. What the hell was she getting at?
She raised her brow. "He really seems to like you, so be good to him, okay?" Oh, wow. She was giving me a 'break his heart and I'll rip your face off' talk. Well, she'd made her point.
"Oh, I plan on it," I replied with a nod, keeping her gaze. I wasn't about to show fear, intimidating or not.
"I hope to see you back here again. Monroe likes his Bikram, and it's good if his partner shares that interest."
"I'll see what I can do." That was one way to encourage me to get into a routine. Yikes!
Miss Intimidation jerked a nod and walked off. I breathed out when I was sure she was gone. Holy crap. I shook myself and went back to my shower, quickly finishing up.
Monroe was smiling once I returned.
"So you wanna do this again sometime?"
I swallowed hard. "I think I'm obligated to say, 'yes.'"
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Monroe dropped me off at my house since I insisted that I needed to make sure Chloe had gotten back safe and sound. The smell of smoke hit my nose as I entered the living room. It was coming from the kitchen. Fire? Another Daemonfeuer? Oh, God! My bag dropped to the floor, and I darted in toward the direction of the smoke. I jumped back with a start as soon as I entered the kitchen.
"Tequila Sunrise! Good morning!" Slick said with a bright-white smile, holding my bottle of orange juice in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He was wearing blue boxer shorts and… nothing else, posed like an arrogant Adonis, chiseled torso and all. I refused to look and see if he was chiseled elsewhere. He paused and gave me a puzzled look. "Uh, is this your house?"
"Yes, it's my house."I scowled, walking toward him and snatching the juice out of his hand. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, he's kind of here with me." Chloe's voice came from behind me. I turned quickly. She was dressed in Slick's blue dress shirt and… nothing else. Together they had a whole outfit. Well, perhaps not.
"Oh, Chloe," I sighed out.
"What?" Chloe asked with a dismissive shrug. "I'm a single woman." Chloe casually walked into my kitchen, taking the orange juice from my hand and finding a glass in the cabinet.
"Yeah, you are," I sighed.
"So, this is a nice place." Slick said with a grin. "Snob Hill," he added with a respectful nod.
"Yeah, Snob Hill," I replied with as much sarcasm as I could muster. Harvey was definitely dead to Chloe. I glanced downward at the ashes of Slick's cigarette accumulating on my counter top. "Can you please put that out somewhere?" I gestured toward his hand. "I don't allow smoking in my house."
"Sorry. My bad. You got an ashtray or something?"
"No. I don't smoke," I replied tartly. Really? I motioned over to the sink. "Just take it over to there and run some water over it."
Slick made his way to the sink and I turned back to Chloe. "How are you feeling today?" I asked with a look that asked, 'Have you lost your freakin' mind?'
"I'm as hung over as one could be." She gave me a look that replied, 'My mind is just fine.' "And I assume you were as clear-headed this morning as always, right?"
"Yeah. No hangover." I smiled smugly. "But by the time I'd left I was practically sobered up anyway."
"Lucky," she scoffed while taking a sip from her glass. She made a painful face. "I need something stronger." She looked into the glass. "Besides, I had enough OJ last night." She set the glass down on the counter.
"You need an aspirin?"
Her blue eyes looked sweetly at me. "That and some coffee."
"I'll get some pills and French press you some java," I said with a shake of my head.
Through the wince of her headache an appreciative smile formed. "Thanks, Renée. I love you."
I looked back to Slick and raised an eyebrow. "So, are you sticking around?"
Slick sported a sheepish grin as he ran a hand across his washboard abs. "I really should head home." He faced Chloe. "I really had a good night with you, uhh…?"
"Chloe," she replied with a bit of sarcasm of her own.
"Right. Chloe," he repeated quickly. "Really good getting to know you." He winked at her. Oh, I'm sure it was good. He grabbed a banana from my counter top. "I'm just gonna change clothes." He stopped at the doorway and looked over his shoulder at Chloe. "But I'm gonna need that shirt back."
"Oh," said Chloe with a smirk. She turned toward me. "Guess I'll be back in a bit."
Chloe followed Slick and I shook my head. Poor Harvey. I moved toward my French press and pulled out my coffee grinder, going to work. By the time Chloe and Slick had returned with a decent amount of clothing on, coffee was ready and I had the bottle of aspirin from my medicine cabinet on the counter for her.
Chloe reached for the pills and took a sip of coffee to swallow them down. "Thank you, Renée. Thank you so much."
"Coffee?" I asked Slick, trying to be polite.
"Nah, but thanks anyway. I really should go." Yeah, he should've gone last night. "I'll just catch a streetcar… Unless one of you lovely ladies wanna take me home?" He watched our blank stares. "Okay, so I guess not."
"I'll just walk you to the door," I said with a motion of my hand.
"Thanks again, Chloe," said Slick with another grin and a wink.
Chloe nodded at him with a smile on her lips as he passed her by. I followed him into my living room, tisking at Chloe with my eyes along the way.
As we reached the front door, Slick leaned against the frame before I could open it. "Maybe I'll see ya around, Beautiful," he grinned as he winked. Really? Had he no decorum whatsoever? I merely shook my head in disgust.
"See ya around," I replied with a slight eye roll. Hopefully not for a long time. I reached for the doorknob, swinging open the door and knocking Slick off balance. Oh, darn.
"Bye, Beautiful," he said with a wave as he walked out.
I closed the door quickly behind him, turned, and shot a look at Chloe, who was leaning against the kitchen doorway. "Slick, really?"
"Sorry. I couldn't help it," she shrugged as we both went back into the kitchen. "Besides, you left me all alone to my own devices last night."
"Left you alone?" I echoed mockingly, reaching for a mug from the cabinet. "You must have been really drunk, because I clearly wanted you to come with me."
"Oh?" She feigned innocence. "I don't remember a lot about last night. Well, either way… I had to find something to do since you left me."
"Or someone," I scoffed at her as I poured myself a cup of coffee, breathing in the scent. "I'm sure you could've refrained."
"Oh, come on, Renée. Did you look at him?" She grinned despite her hangover. "But, damn, he sure knew his way around a bedroom."
"I'll bet Slick did," I said loudly without any remorse. Chloe held her head.
"Not so loud," she moaned. "And his name is Desmond," she added quickly.
"Desmond? Wow." I stifled a laugh as I took a sip from my mug. "Slick suits him much better."
"He's really a nice guy," Chloe argued as she and I took our coffees to the living room.
"Right, a real gentleman," I scoffed again.
Chloe settled on the couch, clutching her mug. I sat down next to her and crossed my legs. "And he's human," she continued. "So you see… I don't just go for Karnickelhöhles."
I quickly looked up at her. "Please don't tell me you slept with him because of what your brother said?"
"No, but this only proves I'm not an… artgleich." She almost hissed out the word.
"Chloe, he just said that so you'd butt out of his personal life. He didn't really mean it that way."
She took another swallow of coffee. "Well, I don't want anyone else thinking I'm like that. I can be attracted to others outside my Wesen species."
"Of course you can. You've had a crush on Johnny Depp for years," I replied while lightly elbowing her.
"Okay, that's not the same thing," she chided at me. "So how is Monroe? Was he okay after last night?" Chloe asked with concern. She was changing the subject. I'd let her off the hook for now.
"Yeah, he was fine. A few scrapes, but okay."
"So what happened last night exactly? I remember parts of it."
I filled her in about the Blutbad, and what happened outside. "Fortunately, Monroe showed up at the right time. My God, Chloe. That guy was a lunatic."
"I can't believe you went outside with him. Renée what if he'd killed you or raped you, or a combination of the two? Seriously!"
"It was better than him having rabbit stew with a side of Slick."
"He wasn't going to do anything in a bar full of people."
I shook my head "I don't know, but he might've. I couldn't risk you and…"
"Stop risking yourself." Chloe reached for my hand, cutting me off. "It's not worth it."
I leaned in, meeting her crystal blue eyes that were filled with worry. "Keeping you safe is worth it. So this morning was interesting," I added. It was my turn to change the subject. "Monroe introduced me to Bikram today."
"Really?" Chloe paused. She was fully aware I wasn't going to listen to her warnings, so she played along. "Is that the hot yoga thing you told me about?"
"Yeah, and it was definitely hot in there." I sank back into the couch."And then there were a few surprises." I told her about the Lowen Bikram instructor.
"And he didn't even tell you before you went in there?" Chloe asked with her eyes wide.
"Yeah, he tends to forget other things when he's in teaching mode," I replied.
"That's a big thing to forget," she scowled slightly.
"It was fine. Well, except for when she cornered me in the shower."
I detailed the encounter with Miss Intimidation and our chat while I was vulnerable. I hadn't mentioned my little shower pow-wow to Monroe. It was silly to discuss it. His friend just wanted to make sure I was good for him and she'd done well to scare the crapola out of me. With the stupid dreams I'd had last night, maybe she wasn't so wrong to question it. I didn't want to think about that right now.
"What the fuck? So this Lowen chick just confronted you while you were naked?"
"Yeah. It seems I might become a Bikram regular if I want to stay in her good graces." I forced a chuckle. "That's one way to keep attendance up."
"Well, just be careful. You've already had your fair share of Lowen in your face." She shook a mothering finger at me. "You need to keep what you can see hidden from this one, Renée."
"I don't think finding out I'm a Grimm will earn her trust, and right now I don't want to be on her bad side." I cringed. Pussycat or not, being on her bad side might be fatal. I could see the headlines now, 'Death by Bikram.'
Pete came downstairs, sporting a grin. He was dressed, thank goodness, and he seemed like he was heading out somewhere.
"Where are you off to this morning?" I asked him.
"Going to help Rosalee with the spice shop," he bit back his grin. "So, how are you today, Chloe?" He gave a shake of his head.
"I'm fine. Going shopping soon."
Pete looked Chloe over. "You might need a few hours to recoup after your night of partying. Ya know I really didn't need to hear all the after-party events through the walls." He shuddered for effect.
"Well, Desmond the human and I were just having fun."
Pete laughed. "Desmond the human? That's not what you were calling him last night."
Chloe actually blushed, which didn't happen often. She stood a bit too quickly, and held her head again. Pete laughed. "I'm going to take a shower," she said and pushed past Pete as she climbed the stairs.
I chuckled once the door slammed upstairs. "There's coffee if you'd like some."
"Nah, Rosalee and I are going to grab breakfast before we get to work."
"Breakfast, huh?" I gave him a knowing look.
"It's the most important meal of the day." Pete winked. "So you wanna join in on the fun? Rosalee could use all the help she can get."
"Yeah. I could see if Monroe could come with us," I replied as I savored the last of my coffee. "He'd probably enjoy the opportunity to look around if nothing else."
"I know I've enjoyed it. Just the books alone are amazing. That place is huge compared to the Wesen Fachgeschäft in Louisville."
I tilted my head. "Fachgeschäft?"
"Yeah. A specialty shop. It's where we can go to get the things that most pharmacies don't know a thing about."
"And there was one in Louisville? How come no one ever told me about that?"
Pete bit at his upper lip. "Well, Née… Umm, you gotta understand that with your ability, it wasn't exactly safe to have you knowing about something like that." More separation. I suppressed a sigh. "But now that you're… Well, you're half Wesen, so it's okay if you know." Pete resumed his smile.
"And here I just thought Freddy had great spices and teas," I replied dryly. "But it explains the Jacene better." And after Monroe's talk about Freddy, it explained the other things like gallenblase. Was that considered a specialty item, too? Pete didn't need to know about that. "So, how much is there left to pack at the spice shop?" I asked instead.
"Oh, didn't I tell you? We're unpacking."
"Unpacking?" I squinted at him. "I thought she was going back to Seattle."
"She might later, but for now she has to stay for the trial, and then there's her brother's apartment to deal with. So while she's here, she decided to keep the spice shop open and try to sell off some of the merchandise. A lot of the things in there won't keep, and most of it she has no use for. She and I worked on the place yesterday, but there's still a lot to do."
So, the Fuchsbau was staying. Hmm… At least she could make some money off the shop this way.
Pete raised an eyebrow. "So, are you going to talk Chloe into coming with you? It would be great if she could help us out."
"Yeah, I can talk her into it. She'll hate me, but I'll make it up to her somehow."
Pete laughed. "Just don't tell her I asked her to come or I'll have to hear about all the way back to Louisville."
"Don't worry," I said with a grin. "I know how to speak Chloe."
"I'm glad someone does." He smirked. "It's a difficult and vulgar language."
A/N: Okay, so obviously back to story mode. Phone calls from Nick late at night about Klaustreichs and talks of groin pulls. Ahh, love that show!
I hope you like the spin I put on Jess Riley. You may remember her from "The Bottle Imp." It's my way of solving the mystery of why Monroe would know a Lowen that works in Juvi. Seems Miss Intimidation has no problem scaring Renée a little bit, huh?
More Nick dreams, hmm? Your author is definitely "Team Nick's Beard" so I wanted an opportunity to write him in with one. haha! We'll see what happens with those dreams and feelings soon enough. Nick is still out of town...
Gonna stop here. more chapters soon. I love comments, so if you're lurking/reading, send me some feedback. Thanks for reading as always, and STAY TUNED! (: