I shoved the last of the toast in my mouth, cheeks puffed out with too much food. His eyebrows stayed up as I spoke around the partially chewed toast. “Two minutes.” He might be hot, but I knew I had no chance with him, so I didn’t really care what he thought of me. And I loved perfectly toasted toast. I hurried back to my room to gather up the money I had. I left the thousand bucks that was my first week’s wages.

I’d have to give most of it to Corb for staying here. And eating his food. And making his date run off before he could get any. I grinned. This day was looking up. I was about to go on a shopping date with what I could only say was a very handsome werewolf.

Back in the main room, Sarge stood with his hands tucked into the pockets of a pair of jeans. He’d found a white T-shirt that I was sure was one of Corb’s and a pair of boots to go with the clothes.

He crooked his finger at me. “Let’s go get you stuff.”

Stuff.

Equipment. Right. If only I knew what all I was going to need.

Go with the flow. Don’t freak out. Change is good.

I hurried after him down the stairs, his long legs easily outstripping mine. “Sarge, what is it we do exactly? What am I being trained for, because I’m pretty sure it’s not a new kind of ghost tour?”

He held the door at the bottom of the stairs, and I stepped into the humid air that could only be springtime in Savannah. I drew in a big breath, feeling a rush of fondness for this place I’d loved so much as a kid. The smell of a heck-a-lot of flowers coated the air in sweetness that some people might find cloying. I loved it.

I shook my head. “Sarge? The job, what does it entail? Because the shadow world is a lot more than ghost tours.” How much would he tell me? Did I trust him? The answer to that was not really.

I was not some high-school girl ready to trust a big strapping man with flashy white teeth and pretty eyes. More likely I’d end up kicking him at some point in the day while I enunciated a big word for him just to see if he knew what it meant.

I could be mean like that when cranky and sore.