In the right sort of world, November would have managed to be a bit more ominous as it ushered autumn away and nudged winter along.  Mysterious winds whistling through the eaves, foreboding branches tapping at the windows, even the faint strains of carnival music from some distant shadow show would have been acceptable, but instead Jonas was left working in his office, electric lights blazing away the darkness and the buzz of the television from the other room drowning out the faint patter of raindrops on the roof overhead.

The problem, he decided as he signed his name to the letter he'd been writing, was that the real world had no sense of the dramatic.  He would have quite enjoyed an auspicious crash of lightning or some bloke in a fedora appearing out of nowhere and demanding to search his office, but it seemed as if the quest for the missing dagger was doomed to come to a mundane conclusion.

The end of some cases had always been more satisfying than those of others.  Corporate affairs in particular usually left him with little else besides a sense of relief, usually because he no longer had to resist the temptation to claw his own eyes out if he had to dig through another endless pile of information.  Though the conclusion of this one was particularly gratifying after all the hours he'd spent chasing down dead ends, he was almost disappointed to see it come to a finish.  None of the usual work was ever as intriguing.

Jonas read over the letter one last time, then folded it decidedly in half, setting it down on the desk.  He'd either have to stop off in Diagon Alley to hire a post owl so that he could send it on to its recipient, or he'd need to ask Lexus if he could borrow her recently purchased pet.

At least the object in question looked the part, he thought as he picked it up and turned it over in his hands.  He could see why a thief would put effort into obtaining it, although any notion of an ancient curse still struck him as complete and utter bullocks.  It was the sort of thing that his wife would have come up with when she was in the middle of one of her mystical kicks, not something that a reasoning wizard would actually believe.  Thoughtfully, he drew the dagger from its sheath, tilting it so that the gold blade glinted in the lighting.

A flurry of croaking from his recently-installed makeshift alarm system announced that the door downstairs had been opened, momentarily interrupting the sound of the television from the other room.  Jonas glanced at the clock; judging by the time, it was probably Lexus.

"C'mon up!" he called, frowning as he lifted the dagger to examine the intricate decorations around the hilt.  The entire piece was awfully well kept for something that was supposedly thousands of years old.  He tested the edge of the blade with his thumb; it was still sharp enough to cut. 

Grimacing, he set the dagger back down on his desk, clenching his fingers together tightly around his thumb so that the cut wouldn't bleed too badly.  "Alright then?" he asked the figure emerging from the stairwell, raising an eyebrow at her.  "Wonderful weather today, innit?"

In between asleep and awake was when the rain spoke to her the most. Lexus had spent the better part of the last four years denying the fact that she would spend the rest of her life as a werewolf and so this sweet bliss between wakefullness and slumber was when her body was in complete harmony between her human self and the wolf. Listening to the rain had helped prolong this bliss and caused Lexus to almost be late for work.

She had thrown a travelling cloak over her work clothes, one that didn't stand out too much amoungst the muggles, to keep them from getting wet but she refused pull the hood up. She hadn't bothered doing anything with her hair and delighted in the feeling of the rain on her skin. She had gotten used to the damp weather the European country offered her having spent most of the last year in the wilderness. There were rare times when the moon wasn't full that she let the beast inside her dance in the rain, enjoying it's primal nature.

As she walked into Jonas' office she let out a small yelp as the mechanical amphibian croaked at her. She growled at the small contraption before following Jonas' voice up to the main part of his actual office. She had so far taken two doses of Daz's improved Wolfsbane and noticed that she was quicker to her lupine temper than she normally would be. She figured it was a fair enough trade for not having to spend the full moon as a mindless beast, "What you talking about?" She asked with a coy and playful smile, "It's absolutely gorgeous out." She removed her cloak and hung it up on a nearby coatrack.

As she turned back to Jonas she noticed two things. The first being the beautifully intricate gold dagger he was spinning around in his hand, she assumed it was the dagger he had spent the last week and a half (probably much longer) she'd been working for him looking for. The second was that he was bleeding, she didn't know from where and she didn't like that she could smell it but she couldn't ignore it either, "You need me to get a bandage for you?'

The investigator snorted, keeping the pressure firmly on the cut.  "No, I reckon I'll survive," he replied dryly.  Explaining why he was walking around with his thumb bandaged was not how he intended to spend the rest of his week, particularly not when he finally had something to crow about.  "Once it starts looking like it needs to amputate, I'll let you know, yeah?"

Not believing in carrying an umbrella was apparently a common trait amongst witches.  Jonas politely refrained from remarking on this fact, although he gave the damp young woman a bemused look as she turned around.

"Just because we get it near-on every day doesn't make it a thing of beauty," he replied nicely.  "Me, I wouldn't mind a change from the regular.  Be a bloody hell of a lot less awful on the joints."  Or his leg, which ached consistently this time of year and frustrated him any time that he tried to walk long distances.  Perambulation helped him think, and Jonas was far too stubborn to give it up even when the dreary weather made the practice difficult.

"I was hoping you wouldn't mind another favor, though," he added, flashing Lexus a dry smile as he tapped at the letter on the desk.  The more work he did for wizarding clients, the more not owning an owl was becoming a pain.  Traveling to the owl post office every time he wanted to send a letter was becoming a nuisance, but Jonas didn't see how he could manage to care for one of the nocturnal avians himself.  Luckily, his new assistant's new pet had partially solved that problem.  "You think your bird would be up for a wing through the rain?  Save me a trip into Diagon, it would."

Lexus gave Jonas a smile when he coyly answered about his finger. She wished he would let her cover it up but wasn't about to argue with him about it. She'd just have to do her best not to let the smell get to her, it wouldn't be long before the cut started to clot and then the smell would dissipate. She just hoped she could last that long. She turned her head to the side and started to shake out her wet curls. She thought briefly that she must look like a wet dog shaking itself out but she didn't mind that much, she was finding the new melded personality she was experiencing since taking Daz's potion was actually making her feel somewhat better about herself.

She chuckled at his assessment of the weather and she felt a pang of homesickness, "I should take you home with me sometime. We actually have proper seasons back there. Snow in the winter, rain in the spring, sun in the summer and nothing but wind and changing leaves in the fall. I think you'd like it." She had found that since working for Jonas and feeling like she had a purpose in life again had caused her to warm up to him a lot quicker than she normally would have and had no real qualms about mentioning her homeland. Thankfully Jonas had yet to ask what had made her leave.

She took the letter from his desk and briefly looked at the address before slipping it into a pocket in her travelling cloak. She nodded, "Shouldn't be a problem." She glanced back at her cloak wondering if the little thing would actually be up to such a flight. She figured she'd have to buy a few owl treats on her way home from work that night to convince her. She hadn't been out much since Lexus had gotten her other than the day before when she made the trip to and from Dazmond's. She had no idea how far away Dazmond had been when she received the letter and didn't know if her little owl would be up for another flight so soon, "I'll send it out tonight."

There was no reason to show any doubt to Jonas about the task. She didn't want to tell him that she had possibly exhausted the little girl the night before by sending out a letter, mostly because she didn't want to answer any questions Jonas might have about where the letter had gone. Which brought her to her next dilemma, she needed to figure out a way to get a few days off work while the full moon was high without causing any suspicion.

She glanced around the room before her cool grey blue eyes fell on a calendar that Jonas had hanging up on his wall. Her eyes were drawn towards the full moon picture under the 13th. She felt a fearful and dreadful feeling clench around her stomach before she looked at the following sunday - the 16th. Of course! Why hadn't she thought about it before?!

"Hey Jonas, umm I was hoping to take a few days off at the end of the week, say the twelfth to the fourteenth. You see my birthday's on the sixteenth and I got an owl that one of my friends from school is visiting London and wants to hook up with me for my birthday." She paused before getting a mischievous glint in her eye, "Then I figure when she heads back home me and you can do a little celebrating of our own."

The red-haired man paused, regarding her thoughtfully for a moment.  The statement that one of her friends from Canada was visiting begged all sorts of questions, starting with 'How did she know you were here?'  Though Jonas would be the first to admit that his experience on the run had been under unique circumstances, keeping in touch with old school friends didn't normally happen when one was in hiding.

That meant that either his new assistant wasn't meeting up with an old school friend, or she wasn't so determined to stay in hiding.  Jonas felt relatively certain that at least the backbone of her story was true.  Though little used by wizards, internet search engines were a godsend to investigators, and from there it had only taken a phone call to a colleague in the Great White North to piece together the Muggle version of what had happened to Lexus Dale.  He suspected there was more to the story, but looking for information through wizarding contacts would have risked drawing attention to her.  Even though it meant that he didn't know exactly what had happened to her family or why there was a warrant out for her arrest, Jonas was willing to let that part of the mystery remain unsolved.

The fact that she had moved from not telling him the whole truth - though, granted, he had never asked - to now potentially lying to him did not sit well with the investigator.  Lexus had had no qualms about casting spells on unsuspecting Muggles.  Jonas had not forgotten, and he had no intention of putting himself in a vulnerable position.

But there was no reason to give that game away just yet.

"Reckon a birthday's as good a reason as any to take a few days off," he said cheerfully, flashing Lexus a genuine smile.  "You've done well enough with getting things here in order, so I imagine I can make do on me own for a few days."

Whatever the real reason behind it, the timing was certainly convenient.  It would give Jonas the opportunity to get everything organized with his latest project and square things away with Anna without having to worry that Lexus would pick up the wrong piece of paper or inconveniently answer the wrong phone call.  He mentally crossed that item off his list of tasks to do in preparation as he gave the young Canadian a half-bemused, half-cautious look.

"You have something in mind for celebrating?" he asked dryly.  "Been a while since I've gone out for anyone that I wasn't related to."

Lexus returned the smile relieved that it had been so easy to get the days off. Unfortunately it wouldn't be this easy the following month but she supposed she could get to that when she had to. If she was going to be working for Jonas long term it would only be a matter of time before he found out, even if she didn't out right tell him. He was an Investigator afterall, figuring out stuff like this was his job and she was sure he would catch on to the fact that she'd have to find some excuse to be away once a month. From there it wasn't a short jump to figruing out that the moon was full everytime she was away. She decided it best not to think about it for now. She was able to have time to herself this full moon and then it was an entire month before she had to worry about it again and with Daz's improved Wolfsbane potion she may only have to take one day off.

She walked over to his desk and hopped up onto the corner of it crossing her legs at her ankles and twisting her torso to look over at the dagger he had been playing around with, "To be honest I have no idea. I've only been in London for a few weeks now, I have no idea where would be a good place to celebrate. Before that I was in Hogsmede and there were a few pubs there that seemed like fun spots but I'm not sure how often they have Ministry patrons."

She sighed and picked up the dagger examining it herself. It really was beautiful and was obviously old, "There's a nice little place in Knockturn that sells a good drink. Well I don't know if you can really call it 'nice' but it's a decent place and there doesn't seem to be any Ministry influence there." She felt like a common day criminal speaking like this but it was just a fact of her situation. If she was going to go out and enjoy herself for her birthday she'd need to go somewhere where she wouldn't be bothered by the constant fear of the Ministry bearing down on her.

"So this is that Dagger you've been looking for for like ever? Where'd you finally find it?"

'Nice' and 'decent' weren't really the vocabulary that Jonas would have chosen to describe any part of Knockturn Alley.  Knowing that Lexus had spent enough time there to feel comfortable recommending a place was a bit disconcerting, but her final reason made sense.  They were much less likely to encounter any Ministry employees in Knockturn, and considering the young woman's situation, the lawless alley would probably make for a better situation for her to celebrate her birthday.

Besides which, Jonas thought, his forehead creasing as he considered it, spending more time in Knockturn Alley wasn't exactly a bad thing.  The best way to cultivate sources there was to become more of a regular, and he'd be far more likely to be accepted with company than he would be on his own.

He couldn't help breaking into a grin as Lexus picked up the latest prize.

"Yeah, that's it," he confirmed, looking incredibly pleased with himself as he leaned back in the chair.  "Managed to track down the thief and negotiate for it.  Couple of blokes in Knockturn happened to hear her mention having it, and they gave me the name."

Aside from asking irritating questions, actually closing a case was by far Jonas's favorite part of his job, and having someone else recognize that he'd been successful was far more satisfying than simply sending off a correspondence to a client and being done with it.  But it did beg another question - and a conversation he'd been putting off having.  When he'd first hired on Lexus, it had been with the intent of having her work for a few days to organize the office, which was more of an excuse for him to give her money so that she could get back on her feet than an actual job description.  The Canadian witch had done a more than decent job of systematically organizing his files, but with the completion of the project, the terms of her employment had more or less been fulfilled.

"You know, Lex," he began nonchalantly, crossing his arms against his chest.  "We haven't talked much about you staying on past getting the mess into order.  Which you managed," he added with a wry smile.  "But if you want to turn this into a regular position, we ought to discuss what that'd entail."

Lexus's smile deepened as she continued to twirl around the dagger, enchanted by it's many ancient engravings. It was obvious that Jonas was proud with a job well done. It was the happiest she had seen him since they had met a few weeks prior. She realized how much he really was meant for this job. She turned her gaze back to the dagger trying to discern what about it had her so intrigued, it was as if she was being drawn to it by some unknown force and she wasn't able to pull away, then again she didn't really want to.

She chuckled softly, "So you were just able to persuade the thief to give it back?" She couldn't help but sound playfully skeptical. She didn't know any thieves personally but she found it hard to believe that he was able to just talk the woman into giving him the dagger back, especially after she had gone so far out of her way to steal it. Perhaps Jonas was a lot better suited for this job than she knew, "You sure you didn't threaten her a little?" Once again Lexus' tone was playful. She wasn't trying to undermine his achievement. It was incredible that he was able to obtain the dagger and be able to return it to it's rightful owner, she just liked messing with him a bit.

When the topic changed to the matter of her job she opened her mouth to protest convinced he was about to let her go. She had managed to completely reorganize his office and place everything into such an order where it was all easily accessible. She had no idea how he ever got his affairs in order within such a mess. Her unspoken protest turned into a wide smile and impulsively yet again she dropped the dagger and leaned over the desk where she had been sitting to give him a hug.

With a deep blush she quickly withdrew once again embarrassed with herself for having shown such intimate affection to him yet again, "Sorry." She added rather sheepishly but couldn't help showing her excitement, "I'd love to stay on, there's so many things I could do for you beyond organization. I can be like a full out secretary, answer your calls, send owls that sort of thing." She wasn't going to expect any kind of raise, that would have been greedy of her but maybe a few more hours in the office and a couple of privileges towards his work would be nice. She didn't want to press it upon him this early on but she felt she'd be really good at assisting him with his cases.

Jonas gave Lexus an amused look, leaning back in the chair so that it balanced on two legs.  "Because I'm the sort to threaten," he said dryly.  "No, I just explained the situation to her.  Most of the time, that's all you need to make a bloke come around."  He'd never call them threats, but explanations with carefully applied pressure worked handily and usually meant no one was out for his blood afterwards.

"Although," he added nicely, a twinkle in his eye, "sometimes you can offer to buy them dinner.  Funny how quickly they come to see your point of view then, even on a sticky point like what constitutes Muggle-baiting."

He was lucky he let his chair fall back down on four legs, or else Lexus's hug would have sent him careening back into the wall.  The witch's enthusiasm was contagious; he was happy to give her a place to stand, if only because memories of what it was like to start afresh without any sort of anchor were all too recent.  But if he were going to hire her on permanently, he owed it to her to be honest about the pitfalls.  Jonas had chosen his occupation, but he'd had years experience as an Auror to compare it with.  As far as he knew, Lexus had had nothing similar.

"Yeah, but there's the rub, innit?" he asked with a frown.  "I'd love to keep you on, but this sort of business isn't always consistent when it comes to pay.  I can't guarantee that it'd be as regular as it would for a normal job, and if the casework dries up, you might have to find something else for a month or two."

Giving Lexus a regular paycheck would be another tax on his already strained finances; at best, Jonas knew it meant moving out of the office and into a flat wasn't going to happen anytime soon.  But with luck, she could learn enough to help out on research and some of the mundane cases, effectively earning her keep by allowing him to take on more every month.

"If you'd really like to stay on, I might need your help on some research now and again," he said with a shrug.  "The more work I can get done, the more money we earn and then there's no worries on that front.  But know what you're getting into, Lexus.  This isn't easy," he warned her seriously.  "Most casework is boring as bloody hell, and on occasion, it can get dangerous.  You might be better off using me as a reference and finding a job in a cafe somewhere."

Lexus was practically bouncing with excitement. She had never dreamed of being able to find an actual life again. The last year on the run had been a horrible reminder of what she had become and it was only now, working for Jonas that she finally felt human again. Even though she had made a lot of good friends at the Lunar it still felt so surreal to her. It was like living someone else's life, sleeping in a room above the bar that had a specialized locked closet for that time of the month for her, having a government official constantly checking on her to make sure she was being a good little girl and the part she had found the most disturbing - wearing a work uniform that forced her to show her scars so everyone would know what she was - she supposed they were trying to make her the poster child for werewolf reform.

She had briefly squinched up her nose at his muggle baiting remark. She supposed it was only fair for the way she had been teasing him but was still thankful for the fact that Jonas hadn't reported her to anyone for the little charms she had been putting on the muggles of London just to get by. She personally still didn't find anything wrong with it but he certainly had so it was nice to see he was able to joke about the whole thing now.

Her smile faltered slightly when Jonas started to get serious with her. She nodded along to his words making sure he knew she understood the life she was walking into. As for money she was fairly safe. She hadn't told Jonas about it in fear of him finding something wrong with it yet it again but she had been doing rather well financially just by selling her health drinks on the side of the road to health conscious muggles. It wasn't as if she was giving them magic, in fact back in her home country the potion practices of the native tribes wasn't even considered magic to those that wielded wands. However she kept her mouth shut still wanting him to know she understood the risks without worrying herself about where her money was going to be coming from.

"I get it. I do. I understand it's not the happy fluffy work that they show in the movies and on TV, it rarely ever is." She brought her smile back as she continued on, "But I'm ready to do my part, hell even if you need me to work on a few cases with you I'm golden. I'm actually really good at tracking down things." She didn't want to add the fact that her wonderful new feral senses allowed her to track down the scents of most people, it was a fact she had hardly come to terms with herself and that would also mean revealing herself to him which at the moment was just one big fat no no.

She feigned a hurt expression, "Hey you ain't getting rid of me that easily." Her own expression turned serious as she added, "I'm not ready to give you up yet."

The investigator made his best attempt to keep bemusement from showing in his expression as Lexus cited her proficiency at finding things.  From his limited experience with the Canadian, the young woman was extraordinarily gifted at happening upon some things, but he wasn't prepared to accept that being good at finding bargains translated to anything in reality.

Still, her eagerness to help definitely counted in her favor, and Jonas was perfectly happy to admit that he might need the help.  It had taken years to build up enough of a clientele so that he'd have a relatively constant income from month to month, but now, with the extra work coming from wizards on top of his normal Muggle patrons, the business was getting to be more than he could handle on his own.  Having an assistant, even one who only handled routine research, would be a boon.

"Blast, there goes that plan," he replied cheerfully, not looking at all put out.  "Reckon I'll have to try harder then."

Jonas rubbed a hand over his face, and then considered Lexus thoughtfully, his forehead creasing for a moment.  "When you get back next week, we'll go over how to use some of the databases," he said, flashing her a quick smile.  "The Muggle bits will be a bit easier to get you started on, especially since you're already familiar with the files.  I imagine there's one or two items coming down the pipe that you'd be able to manage just fine on your own.

"But we should talk over the rules of engagement, too," he added, arching his eyebrows at her.  "If you work for me, you only use the tools here for investigations that I assign to you.  No looking up old blokes that you used to date," he added dryly, looking faintly amused at the possibility.  "And don't go repeating any details outside of the office, yeah?  I know you're bright enough to keep things to yourself.  We have a duty to confidentiality once we get hired on."

Lexus chuckled softly at his joke. It made her feel good that they had such an amusing relationship. She still didn't know much about him and now with a more lasting position she'd definitely like to get to know him better but if their early interactions were anything to go on getting to know Jonas was going to be quite the adventure. Lexus was excited just by the thought of it.

She nodded along with his explanation of her extended duties. Using the databases wouldn't be too hard, she was already good at using the internet with having a muggle family. The time she had spent back home during holidays and after the werewolf attack left her a lot of time to get used to her family's computer and how to go online although she was sure she wouldn't be using something like google to do any research needed for his low risk cases. She was still shaking with excitement at the idea of not only having a more permanent job but also being able to help Jonas out on the actual cases themselves although it was probably better if she stuck to the muggle cases for the time being. Too much exposure to the wizarding world could be hazardous.

She straightened up and gave him a serious expression, "Of course, you know I'd follow every rule you put down. I'd never do anything to compromise you or your job." She had never worked in a position like this before but she knew there had to be some rules about confidentiality. Jonas wouldn't be able to function if he was running his mouth off at every moment he got and nor would she, that'd be a good way to get fired.

She couldn't help the blush that rose to her cheeks when he mentioned using the databases to look up old boyfriends. It wasn't that it was such a ridiculous kind of joke but that she had never really dated anyone before. In school she just wasn't interested and in her tribe she was viewed as an outsider and off limits then as a bartender sure she had gotten invitations and had a few wild nights here and there but it was usually with guys that for some reason got off on the whole werewolf thing. She had gone on a few dates here in London but the guys probably didn't even remember her and she had no desire to learn more about them, "I think it's safe to say you don't have to worry about that."

"Anything else I should know or should we just cover everything on Monday?"

The eagerness of the newly-dubbed Watson was refreshing.  Jonas did his best to bite back any hint of a smile as Lexus assured him that she wouldn't compromise the work.  At the very least, he knew the Canadian was good at keeping secrets, though whether she'd guard those of others as well as she protected her own remained to be seen.  Either way, she was earnest enough to be worth his while to give it a try.

"Better fit we wait 'til Monday," he replied.  "Might as well start you fresh and go over it all at once, yeah?  Besides," he added, flashing her a crooked grin.  "If you're spending the week out and about for your birthday, like as not that you won't remember a thing once you make it back to the office again."

There were certainly still questions lurking about.  He might have his own pet theories on what his assistant's story was, but Jonas knew the importance of being wary.  Despite it all, though, the value of a fresh start had been firmly engrained in his memory.  Giving a bloke the opportunity to try again made all sorts of change possible.

"Look," he offered, giving Lexus a shrug.  "How about you help me get things in order today, send that letter out tonight, and then take the rest of the week off?  The sixteenth is Sunday, innit?  We can meet up after you're back then."

Lexus nodded and got up off the desk with a chuckle. She would have given anything to be able to spend the rest of the week trashed out of her mind with a few old friends from school. She wished she had anyone that she called friend aside from Jonas and he was only in that category because no one else was. If only her story was true and her life was that entertaining. Instead of gallivanting around London on a Birthday Bender she'd be locked away, possibly in one of her usual caves fighting the cruse that had been brought upon her. She was nervous about how she was going to react to Daz's version of the wolfsbane potion and figured it was better to be safe than sorry. She wouldn't be back on her feet again until Saturday at best.

"Alright then Monday it is. We can do a whole orientation session." She gave him a playful wink and walked over to the nearest filing cabinet. Although she had pretty much gotten everything in order by now she was a bit of a perfectionist and needed to make sure that Jonas hadn't messed anything up. It was proving to be a bit of a challenge to get the older man used to the filing system she had put into place for him.

As she flipped through the files to make sure they were in their right places she spoke over her shoulder to him, "Yeah my birthday's on Sunday. Have you heard of The Black Chimaera? I figured we could go there. I was there the other night, just needed a small drink, you know and the owner seemed like a really nice guy. Sure the place is filled with ex-cons but at least we'd be able to celebrate without having to worry about someone trying . . . to bother us." She had almost forgotten how little she had told Jonas about the actual reason why she wasn't too fond of the Ministry finding her. He knew that she didn't want them to have her but there was no truth behind it all. He could only assume that her being on the run was due to some horrible crime she had committed that caused her to leave her own country.

Jonas paused, his expression going carefully blank as he considered this information.  'Really nice guy' wasn't a description he would have necessarily applied to the owner of the Black Chimaera, although he had liked the bloke well enough.  Either he was secretly harboring a prejudice against gigantic hairy Scotsmen and had never realized it or he was entirely out of touch with what the younger age set considered an appropriate appearance for 'really nice' people.

Still, it was an unexpected opportunity.  Though the fact that his new assistant was apparently comfortable  around ex-cons made him uneasy, it gave him a natural chance to become better acquainted with the crowd at the Chimaera.  If Jonas were going to be taking on more cases for wizards, he was going to need more connections in the wizarding underworld.  Manfred Ashford and Cináed Tawse had helped him once, but they wouldn't necessarily do so in the future unless he could build on the relationship.

"Yeah, got a drink there just last week," he replied easily.  Jonas almost felt guilty - almost - at technically using Lexus as a pass into the Chimaera.  But the young Canadian, who was fairly attractive, was more likely to be greeted with a warm welcome.  And he could hardly help it if she'd asked him to celebrate her birthday there, could he?  Besides, she was probably better off if he were there to keep an eye on her.  As comfortable as she was around ex-cons, there was no telling what they might get after with a young woman.

"Their ale is pretty good, actually.  I wouldn't mind stopping in again."  Jonas flashed her a crooked smile.  "On for Sunday, then?"