Once he was out of sight, she slipped through the first entryway on her left into his living room. Although the large flat-screen TV did have a spot of honor over a fireplace, it was still a cozy room with many more books than she’d expected. She’d already known that John was a smart guy, but he always seemed to be moving. It was hard wrapping her brain around the image of him spending a quiet evening reading, rather than being out at sketchy bars, knocking bail jumpers’ heads together.

Resisting the urge to start examining titles—since she knew perfectly well that she’d never leave if she did—she moved into the dining room. The rooms were on the smaller side, but the lofted ceilings made up for it, keeping the house from feeling claustrophobic. It was cozy and adorable and, strangely enough, it suited John.

As she walked into the kitchen, she realized that the rooms made a circle, starting and ending at the entryway. Despite the age of the house, every room was freshly painted in currently trendy and warm colors, and all the furniture was newish and looked comfortable. He’d kept some of the vintage details, like the leaded windows and glass doorknobs, so that the place didn’t seem completely modern. Although her house—the one she grew up in and that she was chasing Sonny Zarver in order to keep—was unquestionably her very favorite place to be, she knew immediately that John’s house could quickly become a second favorite.

“Not that there’s any reason to be here after we bring Sonny in,” she told herself sternly, peeking into what appeared to be a study. This room was full of books, too. They covered two walls, making the small room feel even tinier. On the desk were a laptop and a tidy pile of folders. Quashing the temptation to peek inside those manila jackets and possibly get a glimpse of his active cases, she withdrew from the room. As much as she enjoyed stealing skips out from under John’s nose, sneaking a glance at his folders after he’d invited her into his home would feel like cheating.

She made her way back to the entry and sat on a cute wooden bench next to the oversize hobbit door. Although she felt twitchy and wanted to pace, she forced herself to stay seated. Since she didn’t want to think about how much she liked John’s house and how much she was starting to really like the house’s owner, she turned her mind to the skip they were chasing.

By the time John returned, freshly scrubbed and still smelling just the slightest bit like bubble gum, she’d come up with four and a half potential plans to get Sonny in custody without Tick’s poor mother having her house explode.

“Ready?” he asked as she popped up off the bench.

“Yep. Plan number five is missing the back half, but the first four are fairly solid.” She hurried out of the house in front of him, staying out of range so she could keep her body’s reactions in hand.