After years of climbing in and out of her police uniform, a more relaxed dress code was something she enjoyed. For the most part. Right now, though, CJ almost wished the SIU had a standard uniform as well. At least then she wouldn’t have such a mess to clean, she thought as she set her cookies and tea on the table in the sitting room of her suite and then rushed about, gathering her bra and panties, jeans, her T-shirt, and two different pantsuits. She was just rushing toward the double French doors leading into the bedroom when the door to the hall opened.
Hoping that neither Mac nor Mrs. Vesper had spotted her and her stack of clothes, she tossed them into the open suitcase on the bed and quickly zipped it closed. She then carried it out to drop next to the table where her laptop sat open, before turning to watch Mac wheel in an ancient cot. Honest to God, it looked at least fifty years old. It was one of those rollaway beds, where the ends folded up for easy storage. Closed as it was right now, she couldn’t see the whole mattress, but what she could see didn’t look promising. It had definitely seen better days, and CJ bit her lip, worrying over just how comfortable it would be.
Not that it mattered, she supposed. Comfortable or not, she was stuck with it, so CJ gave in to the inevitable and hurried over to shift furniture so that the cot would fit in the room. In the end, she didn’t have to move much. Shifting the couch and end tables toward the dining table a bit left enough room for the cot to be positioned in front of the door. Although it only left a couple of inches for the door to be opened before it would hit the side of the bed.
“There,” Mrs. Vesper said with satisfaction as Mac straightened from setting up the cot. But her smile disappeared nearly as quickly as it had appeared when she saw the stained mattress. “Oh, dear, I suppose you will need sheets,” she muttered, and turned to the door, only to find it didn’t open enough for her to slide out.
“Just a minute, Mrs. Vesper,” Mac said, and quickly closed the rollaway bed again so she could get out.
“I’ll be right back,” she assured them in a whisper, presumably to avoid disturbing the other guests, and then she slipped out into the hall and hurried away.
CJ eased the door shut behind her and then turned to survey the room. Even with the rollaway bed closed, the room seemed much smaller than it had without it. Or maybe it was Mac having that effect. The man was large too, she acknowledged, and moved around him to take up the seat in front of her laptop at the dining table. She then picked up her tea and started to sort through her emails, ignoring Mac until he asked with interest, “Are those cookies?”
“Yes,” CJ answered as she quickly grabbed them up to keep him from taking any.
“Not the sharing sort, I see,” Mac said with mild amusement.
CJ scowled. “Not when it comes to homemade chocolate chip cookies. And definitely not when it comes to someone who is stealing my bed.”
“Ah. Yes, well, they were good,” he acknowledged. “I— Wait, what do you mean stealing your bed?” he asked suddenly, a frown curving his lips down. “I’ll take the cot.”
CJ turned on him, one eyebrow arched. “I’m guarding your body, remember? That means putting myself between you and trouble. You’re safest in the bedroom with me between you and the entry.”
“But—”
“Besides,” she added, cutting him off, “the bed in there is queen-sized. Might be a bit tight but should fit two men fine if one of the officers shows up. He can sleep in there with you.”
“What?” he squawked with alarm.
CJ smiled at him sweetly, and then glanced to the door as it swung open and Mrs. Vesper hurried in with a stack of pink sheets in her arms.
“Here we are,” she said in a soft voice as CJ set down the cookies and jumped up to take the linens from her. “I’m afraid I only had pink ones left, but I know you’ll be the one on the cot since you’re the one guarding. I was hoping that would be okay.”
“It’s fine,” CJ assured her. She didn’t care what color they were.
“Well, then, I’ll leave you and go find my bed. I have to get up early to make breakfast for everyone tomorrow.” She followed the admission with a slight sigh, but then straightened her shoulders, gave them a smile and a cheery “Sleep tight,” and sidled out of the room.
CJ immediately set the sheets on the couch, and then moved to the door to lock it. Once that was done, she opened the cot and quickly riffled through the sheets until she found the bottom one.
“Let me help,” Mac offered, grabbing one end of the bottom sheet.
“Thanks,” CJ said easily. Working together, the bed was made in no time. They both turned to look at the pillowcase still on the couch.
“I’ll check the closet in the bedroom,” CJ said, and hurried out of the room to do so. Not that she had to go far; it was perhaps twelve steps from the end of the cot to the closet in the bedroom. Much to her relief, there were two spare pillows and even a couple of blankets on the shelf above the clothing rod. CJ grabbed all four items and carried them back out to the sitting room.
“There were two blankets,” she announced as she set her burden on the bed. “I took both, but if you get cold in the night and want one of them, just let me know.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Mac said, but didn’t head into the bedroom. Instead, when CJ moved back to the table, he followed and settled across from her.
CJ hesitated, and then raised her head and arched an eyebrow. “Not tired?”
Mac shook his head. “I suppose I should be after the fire and all, but I work nights as a rule and only got up at nine o’clock last evening. It’s still early for me.” He hesitated and then offered, “But I’ll go sit in the bedroom if I’m bothering you.”
“You’re not bothering me,” CJ lied, and proceeded to ignore him as she opened her emails on her computer. After a moment, though, she growled, “Stop staring at my cookies, Argeneau.”
“Sorry,” he chuckled. “They just look so good. I wonder if Mrs. Vesper left the other cookies out.”
CJ hesitated, and then sighed and stood up. “Fine, I’ll get you some cookies.”
“Don’t be silly, you’re busy,” Mac said, getting up as well. “I can go get my own cookie.”
“You aren’t going anywhere,” CJ announced abruptly. “I’m supposed to be guarding you. I can’t guard you if you’re wandering around the house on your own.”
Mac scowled, but then said, “Fine, then we’ll both go, because you’re not waiting on me.”
CJ didn’t comment; she simply led the way to the door, only to pause at the foot of the cot. They’d have to close the cot to get out. CJ bent to start to do so, but Mac said, “Hang on.”
Moving away, he quickly shifted the couch and end tables to the left several more inches, then stepped back to the cot to shift it as well. When he finished, he’d managed to make a good foot of space between the cot and the door. It couldn’t open all the way, but it was enough to let them out without having to suck in their guts.
“Thanks,” CJ said, but raised a hand for him to stay where he was as she cracked open the door to peer briefly out into the hall. Finding it empty, she gestured for him to follow and stepped out. CJ normally wouldn’t have locked the door for such a short trip, but there was a possible threat to Mac’s life, so she took the time to lock the door before escorting him downstairs to the kitchen.