Page 23 of Midsummer Phoenixes
“And what’s that?”
He took his time cutting off the corner of the brownie with his fork and eating it. Finally, he said, “You missed work.”
“I guess I did.”
“Hmm. Sit a moment.”
I looked around. “But—”
“Just a moment. For me, please.”
I felt bad, especially since Rae still sashayed from one table to the other and Dwayne was prepared to stay longer, but I sat.
“Oh, you have to be nice to Ben. Can you promise?” I asked.
Soyer looked at me. Then he picked up his coffee to slurp noisily.
“You, my heart, are a menace. And you really don’t look it. I might have to put a warning label on you.”
“Is that a yes?”
Soyer sighed. “Fine. He’s not going in the woodchipper after all.”
Back at the counter, Ben coughed. I looked at him and watched as Rae patted his shoulder.
I narrowed my eyes at Soyer. “You totally knew he’d be able to hear that.”
Soyer sipped his coffee, this time managing without any slurping at all. “Maybe.”
“You’re terrible. Can he at least go home now, call it a night? And—I don’t know—I think he needs a set of Bluetooth speakers for emotional damages.”
More coughing from the counter, though this time, I didn’t turn around.
“A menace.” His eyes roamed over me. “I’ll have to get a closer look, decide where I can put that warning label.”
“I’m not really kidding, you know.”
Soyer sighed. “Fine.” He looked past me. “Ben, head home. Get yourself some nice Bluetooth speakers, just like my lover instructed. My lover who—in exchange—will not balk at you walking him to work from here on out.”
“Works for me. There are worse things than having a werewolf bodyguard.”
Soyer, very casually, moved his plates aside and said, “Amory, if you keep this up, I will not be able to control myself. I will have to grab you by that adorable bow tie, and then I’ll lead you to the back and—”
“Shh!”
I leaned over in an attempt to cover his mouth with my hand, but Soyer was faster. He grabbed me by the wrist, a mischievous grin on his face, and sucked on my pinky and ring finger before letting me go again.
Ben, having walked up to our table, cleared his throat, said, “Have a good night, Mr. Saintclair, Mr. Bennet. Thank you.” He said the last to me, then hightailed it out of the diner.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Dwayne looking out from the passthrough, but just for a moment. Still, I was slacking and shouldn’t be.
“Before you go,” Soyer said just as I got ready to tell him I had to. “I have dinner, technically dark lunch, waiting for us. Will you come home with me, Amory? I’d love to celebrate your first day back at work.”
That made me smile and completely forgive him his teasing of Ben. It was so typically Soyer.
“I’d love to. Though, not going to lie, I think I might fall asleep during that.”
“Hmm, that’s fine. I’ll simply leave your dessert in the fridge so I can feed you sugar for breakfast.”
