“You don’t have to agree so quickly.”
“Never mind?”
“I don’t know. Maybe remind me that it’s a complicated situation. That anyone would struggle to know how to navigate such treacherous waters. Or something.”
“Never mind!”
“Yes, well, all right. I’m a fool. A bloody, idiotic dolt of a human being. And I don’t deserve—”
The shop bells rang out brightly.
The sound of heeled boots crossing the floor banged a percussion in Nigel’s ears. He sat up, turned in his seat just in time to see Luna appear on the far side of the counter. She leaned over it, a look of fierce determination in her face, and spotted him where he sat in the nook. Her eyes locked with his. Then, setting her jaw, she lifted the hinged portion of the counter and stomped into the narrow space behind it. Taking a stance, she folded her arms.
“Botherthat order,” she declared.
Nigel, not entirely convinced he wasn’t dreaming, got to his feet, slack-jawed. “What?”
“I said,botherthat order. And I meant it.”
“I . . . Miss Talbot, I don’t understand—”
She stomped her foot. Actually stomped it, her heel coming down in a smart crack on the tiles. “You’re taking me to lunch, Mr. Grimm. Do you hear me? You’re taking me to lunch, and then we’re going to feed the ducks at Bally Park.”
“We are?”
“Yes, we are, so help me, Goddess! And when that’s through . . .”
Nigel held his breath, staring down into bright and burning dark eyes. “Yes?” he managed in a low voice.
Luna gave her head a sharp shake. “I haven’t decided yet. But it’ll be something. Either way, Mr. Grimm,youare coming withme.I hereby declare you kidnapped!”
Mr. Grimm stood on the curb at the corner of Pembroke and Addle Street, his arm upraised to hail a taxi. It took a few tries, and Luna bounced on her toes with impatience as she waited. Any moment, she expected him to back out. To tell her that shipment of Mama Morgana’s couldn’t be missed, and he really needed to be at the shop today. To send her away. Again.
But he didn’t. Though he resolutely refused to make eye-contact with her, he continued to raise his arm, signaling each passing cab with a dogged sort of determination. It was enough to make Luna think that maybe—possibly, hopefully—he didn’t mind being abducted.
Eventually, a cab put on its blinker. The driver bumped the front tire up against the curb and rolled down his window. Mr. Grimm, stepping gracefully forward, leaned down and spoke in his most smooth-as-velvet voice, “Excuse me, sir, but does your company have any protocol in place for kidnap victims?”
The cabbie blinked. “Come again, mister?”
Hastily, Luna smacked the back of her employer’s shoulder. “Ignore him, please!” she told the driver, shaking her curls. “We’re headed to Milo and Son’s. Can you take us?”
“Lady, if you’ve got an address, I can get you there.”
Mr. Grimm gave the address even as he held the door for Luna. She climbed into the cab, sidling to the far end of the bench, and he slid in beside her, elegant as always. The cabbie cast them a single scathing look in the rearview before promptly pushing the tinted privacy window shut, obviously not eager to interact more than necessary with a pair of idiots.
As the thaumatic engine turned over, and the taxi blended back into traffic, Luna glanced at her employer and whispered, “And what would you have done if he’d taken you seriously? About the kidnapping I mean?”
Mr. Grimm blinked at her, the picture of innocence. “I’m surprised he didn’t, considering your threatening aura and my obvious distress.”
With a snort, Luna settled more deeply into her seat and turned her gaze out her window. Her heart was still racing, and she took a shuddering breath in an attempt to calm it. She couldn’t believe she’d actually done it, couldn’t believe she’d actually gone and stolen her boss away from his own shop. The absolute gall of her! Her aunties would never recognize their dear and demure little girl now.
But when she glanced at Mr. Grimm from under her lashes, he sat quietly, his eyes downcast. And there was the faintest, sweetest little smile at the corner of his mouth.He’s pleased,Luna thought.He’s glad that we’re doing this.And her nervous heart began to settle into a more comfortable tempo.
“So,” she said as the taxi carried them along the winding ways of Ballycastle, “how did you discover Milo and Son’s and this famous roast of theirs? I’ve rarely seen you dine out. You seem to subsist entirely on Mrs. Goddard’s offerings!”
Mr. Grimm shot her a look, his hands flexing as they rested on his knees. “When I first arrived in Ballycastle, before I was established on Addle Street, I ate there a handful of times. I couldn’t really afford fine dining at the time, but on occasion, in desperation to eat anything that wasn’t smothered in fried batter, I would plunk down coin for one of their excellent meals.”
Luna frowned slightly. It occurred to her that she didn’t know much about Mr. Grimm’s personal history. She knew the broad strokes concerning his upbringing, his hedge wizard father, his early education. But there were huge gaps in her knowledge. Mr. Grimm kept his secrets as thoroughly as she kept hers, and it would be hypocritical of her not to respect his reserve.
