He frowned. Calvin’s sense of humor about these things was a bit lacking before coffee.
I reached up and put both hands on his face, pulling him close enough to press our foreheads together. “This is not your fault. Period. You sent me somewhere I should have been safe. No one could have predicted that the second guy was hanging close enough to the scene that he was able to follow me. I’m okay,” I insisted. “Shaken up, but…hey, have you met the detective on the case? Mr. Invincible, I think the other cops call him. A real hero.”
This close, I watched the muscles in Calvin’s face soften. Just a little.
“Myhero,” I reiterated.
He finally smiled.
“Get dressed, handsome.” I let go of him and grabbed a T-shirt from the closet. I studied it for a moment, then looked over my shoulder.
Calvin was staring.
“Blue?” I inquired, holding it up.
“Gray,” he corrected.
“Oh thank goodness.” I yanked it over my head and went downstairs.
I walked through the dim living room, the blackout curtains doing a fantastic job at blotting out the intense May morning light. Dillon got up from his haphazardly placed dog bed in front of the couch and obediently followed me to the kitchen. I ignored the awful, fluorescent overhead that needed replacing, in favor of a small lamp on the counter. I switched it to the lowest setting, poured kibble into Dillon’s bowl, and then started a pot of coffee.
I spread some cream cheese on a day-old sort-of-stale bagel and took a bite. When I heard Calvin coming down the stairs, I grabbed a second bagel from the bag on the counter and dropped it into the toaster.
God forgive me, I loved a man who preferred his bagels toasted.
I opened a cupboard—no—another—for fuck’s—and found coffee mugs in the one farthest to the left. I set two beside the pot, poured cream into each, and glanced up when Calvin entered the doorway.
“About today,” he began, pulling his shoulder holster on.
“Emporium is closed, I know,” I said.
“No,” Calvin answered.
I perked up and turned around. “Really.”
He adjusted his pistol. “But I have some regulations about returning to work.”
“Of course you do.” Not that I was going to fight him—not after how sincerely scared I’d been last night.
“You’re not to be alone. I mean it, Sebastian.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll hold on to Max with my free hand in the bathroom.”
Calvin ignored the smart-assery. “Don’t stay late either. When you close, leave together.”
“Fine.”
“Keep your phone on you at all times.”
“Calvin. I get it.”
“This man from last night is dangerous,” Calvin replied sternly. “He could have killed you.”
“I don’t need to be reminded of that,” I muttered, pouring coffee into both mugs.
“After work, will you go to your father’s for the evening?”
I put the pot back on the burner a bit harder than intended. “I live here.With you.”
