Lunch Date
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AfterThe Mystery of Nevermore
POV: Sebastian Snow
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“Yes, we have a small collection of black glass buttons,” I told the customer on the phone as I stood over the case in question, studying the pieces. “They became in vogue after the passing of Prince Albert. … The masses often followed the trends of—correct. And glass buttons were the more affordable option at the time. Are you looking for a complete set for clothing restoration, or are—? … You’re going to dowhatwith the buttons?”
A hand snaked around my waist from behind. I jumped and spun, only to find myself face-to-face with Calvin. He was finally out of the sling from his shoulder injury, and back to work after medical leave during the holidays. He wore one of his usual dark suits with a black pea coat thrown over it, the wool wet with melting snow. Calvin smiled, gave my free hand a brief squeeze, then raised a takeout bag.
“What was that?” I asked the caller, still staring at Calvin. Consider me momentarily distracted. Not that I could be faulted. My new boyfriend was hot as hell and appeared to have surprised me with a lunch date. “Do you understand these arerealantiques, though? Buy some replicas off eBay if you’re going to trash them like that.” I pulled the phone away and told Calvin, “She hung up on me.”
“I can’t imagine why.”
I set the shop phone on the case. “She wanted glass buttons for a modern art installation where she—naked and covered in red paint—threw them at the wall and recited free-form poetry about her menstrual cycle and the consequences of following trends every time they shattered.”
“Huh.”
“ButI’mthe bad guy for trying to limit the vision of her artistry,” I exclaimed.
“I brought sushi.”
“You don’t like sushi.”
“But you do.”
I took the bag and opened it, saying, “You didn’t really come all this way with—yes, you did.” I looked up. “Now you’re just showing me up.”
Calvin smiled, took my arm, and pushed me in the direction of my office. “Come sit and eat.”
“It’s been a busy day, though,” I started to say. “I shouldn’t leave Max alone.”
Max snorted and spared us a look from where he stood at the counter, wrapping a trinket in tissue paper for a customer. “If I had a boyfriend who dropped by my job for lunch and nookie, I’d sure as hell be leaving you to run the shop yourself, boss.”
The woman standing at the counter, waiting to pay for the sale, solemnly nodded. “Same,” she agreed.
Heat crept up my neck and pooled in my cheeks. “I’m so glad I hired you,” I told Max.
He shrugged. “Just keeping it real.”
“Who saysnookie, anyway?” I continued.
Calvin opened my office door and directed me inside. “There’ll still be plenty of people to yell at after you’ve eaten.”
Max laughed.
“She wanted tobreakthe buttons,” I protested. I put the takeout bag on the desk before adding, “And I didn’t yell—”
Calvin shut the door, tugged me forward by the front of my frumpy sweater, and kissed my mouth. His lips trailed to my jaw, along the side of my neck, and then he tugged the collar of my shirt aside and bit down. I grabbed Calvin’s hips to steady myself, one hand slipping inside the folds of his open coats and bumping against his shoulder holster.
“I’ve wanted you all day,” Calvin whispered as he let up on what felt like a pretty radical hickey.
“I’m sort of gathering that.”
He slid a hand between us to touch me through my trousers. “I couldn’t stop thinking about sucking you off since I woke up.”
