Page 13 of Tempting Sebastian

The other fed into it, “Well, I heard Sebastian found him in a drug house.”

When I hearddrug houseI was done. “Excuse me. What did you say?”

They straightened their backs and in unison said, “Nothing.”

“No, I don’t believe it was nothing. I specifically heard you say Sebastian as if we know each other on a personal level. And I also heard someone say I found Jackson in a drug house which is wildly inaccurate, and you’re only adding to the rumor mill, which is not something I allow in my business.” They both looked down and said nothing. “I would suggest that if you want to keep working here in thepositivework environment I’ve created for all staff, you should find something else to talk about or go directly to the sources if it concerns youthatmuch. If you’re unhappy with that and you no longer wish to be employed here, say the word. I’ll wish you the best so you can leave to continue your inappropriate gossip session at the expense of a fellow employee that you know nothing about, somewhere else.”

The first said, “Sorry, Mr. Moore. We didn’t mean…”

“I know exactly what you meant. If you’ll excuse me.” I grabbed the coffee and poured my cup, not giving the ladies another look and left the kitchen.

I couldn’t believe what I’d heard. A drug house. Be serious.

I sat down at my desk when a knock came at the door. “Come in.”

Ian peeked his head around the door. “Hi, do you have a minute? We received an inquiry.”

“Yeah, of course. Come on in.” I watched as he and Jackson came in and sat down. “What’s up?”

Jackson spoke first. “We received an inquiry about a mint condition Lionel train set dating back to nineteen thirty-one. It’s about an hour away and they can meet tonight.”

Lionel Trains date back to the early nineteen hundreds. The inventor was Joshua Lionel Cowen, an engineer. In 1931, Lionel’s profits dipped due to The Great Depression but bounced back just a few short years later. Also, in 1931, the number 400E was released. It was the largest of all trains in the Lionel collection.

Ian chimed in next. “It’s a pre-war large black set. Easily worth almost two grand.”

Nodding, I said, “Let’s take a look at it. Are the two of you going?”

Ian leaned forward. “I can’t go. I have something to do after work.”

Giving him a look he knew well, with squinted eyes, I said, “Well, the new policy states everyone goes in pairs.” Then I looked at Jackson who was sitting quietly. I’m sure he was unclear of what was going on between Ian and me. “I’ll go with you, Jackson.”

He straightened his back, “Oh, um, you don’t have to, Sir.” There he was with that sir again. I felt my pants tighten.Fuck.“I just mean, I know you’re busy. I can go. It’s no problem.”

I cleared my throat, trying to push dirty thoughts out of mind, and said, “No. Jackson, there’s a new company policy that states everyone goes in pairs, especially if it’s after hours. We want to ensure the safety of our employees.”

Jackson looked down and I knew what he was thinking. He was blaming himself. I shouldn’t have said it was a newpolicy. It just drew attention to him and what he went through needlessly all over again. Then, I said, “It’s okay. It’s been some time since I’ve gone on one of these runs. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll meet you at the front desk at four thirty.” He smiled before I asked, “Can you give me and Ian a moment, please?”

“Yes, of course. Thank you,” he said. I could tell he was happy to go. He fumbled for a minute and finally stood up. “I’ll head back to my desk and finish going through the potentials.” I nodded to him.

Once the door was closed, I looked at Ian and said, “Do you think you’ll evernotbe too busy to go on one of these trips?”

“Oh, don’t start your shit, Sebastian. I made plans a week ago and I can’t break them. It’s too important.”

I threw him a raised eyebrow. “Look, it’s someone but no one I want to talk about yet. She’s important and I’ve already pissed her off more times than I can count so I can’t cancel this time. I just can’t.”

“Yeah, I get it. Don’t worry about it. I do think we need to come up with set days of the month that are clear for us to do visits.”

He nodded. “Yeah, okay. That works. Let’s talk about it later. I gotta head out and get ready.”

“See you tomorrow.”

*

I met Jackson at the front desk at four thirty. As I walked up, I watched him shut everything down and switch the answering service on the phone. He was the perfect person for this position and took great pride in every single thing he did. It showed. I asked him, “So, it’s an hour away, you said?”

Jackson grabbed his notebook and thumbed through it before finally looking up and said, “Well, more like an hour and a half. Not terrible, though.”

I grinned and said, “You’re right, with how rare these sets are, we should be lucky it’s not eight hours away. Let’s get to it. I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

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