“Hi.”
“Good to meet you,” Amira said. “Would you like any coffee or anything?”
“Just had some, thanks.”
Jill shot her a smile. “Robin’s going to be around for a few days, so I’m sure she’ll be back. Right now, though, I’m calling it a day and taking Robin to an early dinner before she passes out from traveling. If you need anything, call or text.”
“You know I will. Good to meet you,” Amira added to Robin.
“Likewise. Chat with you later.”
“Bye,” Jill said as she pulled Robin to a door in the back of the gallery that opened into what was clearly storage and a work area for Jill, though Jill did most of her creating in a studio at home, she’d told Robin a few conversations back.
“Ah, art stuff,” Robin said as the door closed behind her. But she didn’t say anything else because Jill pulled her into a kiss that made Robin’s insides flip.
“I know it’s only been a week, but it feels like a lot longer,” Jill finally said after a while.
“Yeah, it does. But here I am, and I’m really glad to see you. And maybe get a tea ceremony.”
Jill gave Robin a look that made her ache. “You’ll get more than that. Hold that thought while I get my coat.”
Robin did, and she allowed herself to appreciate Jill’s ass in her jeans. She knew what was underneath the loose black shirt, and oh, how she wanted to see it all again. Jill was wearing her combat boots and had her hair spiked up today, and when she put her leather jacket on, all she needed was a battered guitar case to make her look like a renegade indie rocker.
“Ready?” Jill asked.
“Yes. What’s the plan?”
Jill guided her out a metal back door that locked automatically behind them. They stood in an alley. “Where are you parked?”
“The garage about three blocks that way.” Robin pointed.
“Okay. Do you feel like going out to eat?”
“Whatever you think is the best plan of action. I’m just really glad to be here, and I’m still on East Coast time, so I might not be the best person to make the plans.”
Jill smiled and kissed her again. “So how about this?” She took her phone out of her pocket. “I’m texting you my address, in case we get separated. We’ll go to my place, and we can either eat there or go somewhere close.”
“I like that plan.”
“Good. I’m parked right over here. I’ll drive you to the garage and partially block traffic on the street while I wait for you.”
“Sounds excellent.”
Jill took her hand again. “God, you look good,” she said as they walked.
“I was thinking the same about you.” Better than good, Robin thought. Fucking amazing.
“So, as I told you last night, Madison is at Drew’s for the next week, so you’re welcome to stay with me.”
“Um. Yeah. About that.”
Jill stopped, puzzled. “What?”
“I accidentally met Madison.”
Jill raised an eyebrow. “Accidentally?”
“I was sitting on the bench outside the restaurant next door, giving you a few extra minutes, and she came out of the gallery and sat there to wait for Drew.” Robin shrugged, sheepish. “She asked if I was Robin. I didn’t want to lie.”
“Oh, really?” Jill sounded more amused than anything else.
“And we both said we were okay meeting outside the special introduction you might have planned for us.”
“Special introduction? Did she say that?”
Robin bit her lip. “Damn. I’m totally throwing a twelve-year-old under the bus, aren’t I?”
Jill laughed. “She’ll let me know what she thinks. Although, yes, I would have preferred a special introduction.”
“And not on this trip, I know. Sorry.”
“You have really interesting timing. It seems you were supposed to meet her today.” Jill started walking again.
“Probably for the best. She seems like she’s a really good judge of character. She’ll let you know if I’m good for you.” Robin remembered Christmas Future. Madison would definitely let Jill know what she thought of Robin.
“She is.” Jill opened the passenger side of her car, a black sport utility wagon whose back seat was covered with art supplies. “And you’re right. She will.”
Robin got in and buckled up while Jill went around to the driver’s side. She got in but didn’t start the car right away. “I think I prefer eating in tonight,” Jill said. The look in her eyes made Robin’s mouth go dry.
“And will this be an extended dinner?”
“Damn right.” Jill leaned over and kissed Robin into a delicious, heated fog, her lips and tongue making Robin throb, making her ache in ways she didn’t know she could. “The things you make me feel,” Jill murmured against Robin’s cheek. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Robin smiled and kissed her again, but pulled away before she got to the point where she couldn’t. “Okay. I’ll stop now before we get ticketed for indecent window fogging.”
Jill grinned and drove her to the garage and dropped her off. When Robin pulled onto the street a few minutes later, there was Jill, partially blocking traffic. Robin flashed her lights, and Jill stuck her hand out the window in a wave before she accelerated. And Robin knew, as she positioned her car behind Jill’s, that just like that first day she’d met her in that art class, she would follow her anywhere.
Agent Tolson opened one of the two files on her desk and added a plain white envelope to it. She closed the file and tapped it, undecided. She took the envelope out and turned it over, to the side that had her name handwritten on it. For the third or fourth time, Tolson took the sheet of paper out and read the thank you note again. Finally, she carefully folded it and put it back into the envelope. She picked up the copy of the note from the corner of her desk and placed it in the top right drawer of her desk, which was one of a few concessions to privacy from the Bureau she allowed herself.
She closed the file and checked the name, ensuring that it matched the official closed case ledger before she consigned it to the vault. Preston, Robin Anne, DOB June 15, 1978//Seattle, WA. Correct file, correct protocol. She entered the information onto her tablet with her stylus then placed the paper file aside so she could enter the second file into the closed case ledger. Match the name, enter the data, close the case. Tolson set Chen’s file on top of Preston’s once she’d finished and poured herself a cup of celebratory tea from the ornate teapot that sat on her desk. She carried the cup, along with the saucer, to the window.
Some cases took a bit longer than others, but that was the nature of change. The Board of Advisors would be pleased at her next debriefing and Tolson’s undiminished record of success would continue unabated. That was because she chose her cases carefully, and conducted myriad inquiries before undertaking the more difficult ones like Chen-Preston, which required long-term coordination and resource juggling to ensure proper timing.
Not to mention providing extra incentive. Of course Preston was redeemable. She had been all along. Tolson wouldn’t have taken the case if she weren’t. But Tolson knew a few things about human nature. Preston would respond to a challenge, and being told she might not be salvageable would galvanize her to extra effort. Chen had been the same way, when the Bureau initiated contact with her while she was still working at the bank. Tolson sipped from the cup, the china delicate against her lips. A lot can happen in a few years.
She would see that her field agents—she’d chosen them herself—on the Chen-Preston case received extra benefits and commendations. And copies of the thank-you note, which helped them realize the importance of the work they did here.
Tolson smiled as she raised the cup to her lips, and drank a silent toast to the Bureau, her team, and the quixotic nature of change. May it be ever possible.
ABOUT ANDI MARQUETTE
Andi Marquette is a native of New Mexico and Colorado and an award-winning mystery, science fiction, and romance writer. She also has the dubious good fortune to be an editor who spent 15 years working in publishing, a career track that sucked her in while she was completing a doctorate in history. She is co-editor of All You Can Eat: A Buffet of Lesbian Romance and Erotica and the forthcoming Order Up: A Menu of Lesbian Romance and Erotica. Her most recent novels include the romances The Secret of Sleepy Hollow and From the Hat Down as well as the mystery Day of the Dead and the Goldie science fiction finalist, The Edge of Rebellion.
When she’s not writing novels, novellas, and stories or co-editing anthologies, she serves as both an editor for Luna Station Quarterly, an ezine that features speculative fiction written by women and as co-admin of the popular blogsite Women and Words. When she’s not doing that, well, hopefully she’s managing to get a bit of sleep.
CONNECT WITH THIS AUTHOR:
Website: http://andimarquette.com/
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The Bureau of Holiday Affairs
© 2015 by Andi Marquette
ISBN (mobi): 978-3-95533-550-2
ISBN (epub): 978-3-95533-551-9
Also available as paperback.
Published by Ylva Publishing, legal entity of Ylva Verlag, e.Kfr.
Ylva Verlag, e.Kfr.
Owner: Astrid Ohletz
Am Kirschgarten 2
65830 Kriftel
Germany
www.ylva-publishing.com
First edition: November 2015
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form wi
thout permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Credits
Edited by Jove Belle
Cover Design & Printlayout by Streetlight Graphics
The Bureau of Holiday Affairs Page 25
