at him. “Go ahead, it is getting either warm or cold, depending on what you grab.”
He looked at her meal. “Sushi?”
“I like sushi. Well, I like it from this place.” She mumbled it around her mouthful of rice.
He laughed. “Can I try some of that?”
She guarded her food by hunching around it. “No. This is mine. There is another one over there.”
He blinked. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. This is my favourite, and I don’t share. I am twisted that way.”
She inhaled the wasabi burn and smiled happily. She opened a tiny packet of soy sauce and drizzled it over the rest of the rolls in her little packet.
She bounced a little when he sat next to her. She glanced over and took in his blue shirt, black tie, and rolled-up sleeves. He looked like the hottest accountant she had ever seen. He cautiously reached for the one that looked like her rolls. She tapped his hand with her chopsticks and tapped the correct box. “There you go. Watch out for the wasabi, it is rather deadly.”
He frowned. “This wasn’t on my list of foods I have eaten.”
She grinned and picked up another roll. “I know. I didn’t order anything that you wouldn’t normally eat. Even the tataki is charred slightly. And, there are dumplings.”
He blinked. “Really?”
She laughed and walked him through the order, arranged the dipping sauces, and set him up.
She leaned against him and watched him hold the chopsticks in his fingers. “Ten years, and you didn’t learn chopsticks?”
He scowled. “Every place I went to had forks.”
She leaned over and put some wasabi and soy on one of the rolls. “Open up.” She picked up the piece and put it directly in his mouth. “Now chew.”
He chewed and tasted the piece. “There is a fried shrimp in the middle of this.”
“There is.” She reached out and picked up a fried scallop. “This is a fried scallop in panko. Open up.”
He followed orders, and she spent the next twenty minutes feeding him and herself in shifts.
She packed up the remains of the order and handed him a bottle of sweet tea. “So, how was sushi?”
He grinned. “Better than I thought it would be. Interesting choices, though.”
“Yeah, I am stuck on fully cooked stuff for a while, but since I know that they have options, I use them.” She sipped at her tea and then capped the bottle.
“You are very good with those sticks.” He leaned toward her.
“I taught myself when I was a teenager. I practiced picking up small objects and then got bored and stuck with cheezies. That way, I had a reward system built in.”
She checked her watch and sighed. “Only twenty-five minutes left on my break.”
Kelnen reached for her and pulled her astride his lap. “Thank you for lunch, Krys.”
She felt unaccountably shy. “Um, thank you for going to HR this morning with a reasonable explanation.”
He pressed his forehead to hers. “It was the truth, more or less. We met a month ago in your time and decided to cohabit this week.”
“That is sort of true, but it feels like so much longer.” She chuckled and kissed him quickly.
The quick kiss was a mistake. She couldn’t do it just once, and soon, she had her arms draped around his neck as she pressed herself against him and made out with her drake-mage boss.
When her phone chirped, she broke the intense kiss and leaned back, putting her bra and shirt to rights. Kelnen had quick hands.
She looked at his surprised expression and grinned. “I gave myself a five-minute warning so I wouldn’t leave here looking like I have broken in this couch.”
She finished tidying her clothes and got to her feet, stepping back and seeing the banked flames in his eyes. Those eyes narrowed. “Two more days, and you will be in the tailored clothing. These trousers don’t do you justice.”
She laughed. “You are just pissed because you can’t get your hand up them easily.”
He grinned, and there was a bit of fang exposed. “There is that.”
She checked to make sure that she had closed the front of her trousers. He had literally gotten into her pants, but it was only his fingers that had been tormenting her. If the access was easier, she wouldn’t have gotten away that simply.
She turned to leave, and he grabbed her arm. “You are fine, teasing me like that?”
Krys smiled. “It wasn’t a tease. We are at work. If you insist on seeing me at lunch, I will have my lunch, and then, the time