Page 55 of 27 Kisses

“Fine. I needed a place to go. And then Jonah found me sitting in the TARDIS?—”

“Not just sitting,” Jonah says, from the doorway of the office. “You were yelling exterminate over and over again.”

She jumps to her feet and points her finger. “That’s no reason to call the boss!”

“Actually, it’s the perfect reason. Thank you, Jonah.”

He nods with a mulish expression. When he turns to leave, I hold up my hand. “Wait. Don’t go. I have questions. So many questions.” I nod to the other empty chair in the room, and he sits with a dramatic sigh.

“Nat,” I say, turning to the more urgent of the two, “you said you need a place to go. Wait—were you serious about spending Christmas with me?”

She snorts. “That was a joke.”

“Then why not go home?”

“I can’t.” She waves her hands around. I’ve never seen Nat this emotional before. Not quite the right word. Uncontrolled? “There are all these…children there.”

“Children?”

“Nieces and nephews. So many.”

I rake my hand through my hair. What is happening right now? “Did you invite them?”

“Duh. It’s Christmas, Garrett. I’m not a monster who hates— I mean, of course, they were invited.” She sinks back in the chair. “And it was fine until fuckface called and told me I couldn’t have my baby on Christmas, and then Mably Jane painted my refrigerator with grape jelly, and I lost it. My mom told me to go and cool down.” She huffs. “She’s not the boss of me.” Her head jerks up, and she gives me a warning look. “Don’t say it.”

I can’t help but laugh. “I wouldn’t dare.”

Jonah snorts. “Mr. Bishop is the boss of you.”

She makes an outraged sound and gestures to Jonah. “See what I have to deal with? Twelve-year-old know-it-alls.”

He jumps to his feet. “I’m twenty-two.”

“Prove it.”

I jump between them. “Hold on.” I give Nat a look, and she leans back in her seat and crosses her arms. When I’m sure she’s not going to do anything else, I turn to Jonah. “Why are you here?”

“You said?—”

“Not in Nat’s office, Jonah.” A headache is starting right behind my eyes. “Why are you here at work? It’s your day off.”

“Oh.” He shuffles his feet and shrugs. Then shrugs again.

“Jonah.” My sharp tone has him jumping to attention. Okay.

“I didn’t know where else to go. And same as Nat. I needed someplace quiet.”

“Did children invade your home too?” Nat asks, looking more sympathetic than she did ten minutes ago.

“Close. My roommates are throwing a party. I don’t like a lot of noise. Or people. Or noisy people. And I figured the TARDIS was free—only it wasn’t.”

“Okay. So much to unpack here. But first, let me assure you both— We’re not keeping the TARDIS.”

“We should, boss. It’s relaxing.”

I ignore her. “What about your family? Are you going home for Christmas?”

He shakes his head. “It’s just my brother. And we don’t get along.”