Chapter 7: After Close

At midnight on Tuesday the kitchen at Dombrowski's was dark except for the lights over the pass.

A man in a black apron was plating a dish for me.

"Sit," he said, then caught himself. "Sorry. Please. If you'd like."

"I'd like."

I sat on a steel stool at the end of the pass.

He set a white plate in front of me.

There was a piece of seared halibut on a pool of brown butter.

Beside it lay three wedges of roasted lemon and a leaf of parsley.

"This is the one from last night," he said. "I couldn't taste it. I wanted you to have it right."

I ate a bite.

It was warm and salty and soft, and I closed my eyes.

"Hank."

"Is it all right?"

"It's the best fish I have ever eaten."

His whole face went pink.

"You don't have to-"

"I'm not being kind. I'm accurate. It's my job."

He laughed, a short rough sound, and wiped his hands on his apron.

I ate the rest slowly while he stood across from me with his arms folded.

He watched every bite, and I let him.

"What do you want to do now?" I said, when the plate was clean.

"Whatever you tell me."

"That isn't an answer."

"I want to be told."

"Then I'll tell you." I set my fork down. "Take everything off but the apron."

He went still.

"Here?"

"The back door is locked, the line is dark, and Lena left an hour ago. Here."

"What if-"

"Hank."

He took a breath.

He untied the apron, pulled his shirt over his head, and undid his belt.

He stepped out of his clothes, one piece at a time, and put them on a shelf.

Then he retied the apron over his bare chest, and the black cotton hung to his thighs and left the rest of him bare.

He was already hard.

It tented the apron, and he didn't try to hide it.

"Come here."

He came around the pass and stood in front of my stool.

I slid my hand under the hem and ran my fingers up the inside of his thigh.

"Hands on the steel behind you. Grip the edge."

He leaned back against the pass and gripped it.

"I'm going to do something I haven't done yet," I said. "I'm telling you first."

He waited.

"I'm going to put my mouth on you."

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