Read Irregulars: Stories by Nicole Kimberling, Josh Lanyon, Ginn Hale and Astrid Amara for Free Online

seems like it’s getting to be lunchtime,” Gunther remarked.
    “I’d have thought you already filled up on cherries.”
    “Merely an appetizer,” Gunther said. “Can I buy you lunch?”
    “Nothing here looks that great to me,” Keith said.
    A smile twitched at the corner of Gunther’s lips. “Let me take you to lunch in my neighborhood.”
    “You mean to San Francisco?”
    “Home of some very famous vegetarian restaurants including one little five-star hole in the wall called Verdant. We could be there in half an hour.”
    “It takes that long to get through the portal?”
    “No, but traffic between Fisherman’s Wharf and Fort Mason isn’t that great at this time of year. What do you say?”
    “Portaling to San Francisco for five-star lunch sounds less like a business arrangement and more like a date.”
    “So what if it is?”
    “Now who’s not keeping it professional?”
    Gunther stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Neither of us seem to want to, so why should I adhere to some pretense?”
    Keith shook his head. “We’ve already done this, Gunther. It didn’t work the first time and it won’t work now.”
    “We never had a proper date before, just a series of booty calls,” Gunther said. “So let me make it up to you the old-fashioned way.”
    Keith had to admit the temptation. And not just the temptation of going on a date with Gunther. Verdant was legendary. While he’d worked as a chef, he’d never given much credit to the vegetarians in his field, nor had he been any great star. The chef at Verdant was both. And he did want Gunther to make it up to him. Hell, he might even be able to figure out what Gunther found so inadequate about that series of disconnected sexual events that he’d wanted to call them off.
    “Wouldn’t we need reservations?”
    “The chef owes me.” Gunther leaned forward and whispered, “Pixie trouble. You know how capricious they can be. One little misunderstanding and they’re curdling your cream and luring you off Lands End in the dark. But it’s all sorted out now. So how about it? We can be down there, done, and back again before this place closes.”
    Keith was about to refuse. Then the alcohol kicked in, relaxing him enough to say yes.
    ***
    Verdant was located in an airy space alongside the marina in Fort Mason. From its wide windows, Keith could survey both the marina and the Golden Gate Bridge beyond.
    The chef, a friendly faced brunette with close-cropped hair, greeted Gunther as a VIP and seated him immediately.
    The menu was elegant, filled with heirloom vegetables, local wine, and cheese.
    The price tag was breathtaking. Keith, in fact, had to take a deep breath as he automatically calculated price-point to food cost.
    It actually wasn’t that bad, for the location and for what they were getting.
    And besides, he wasn’t paying.
    Like every fine dining establishment that Keith had ever been to, the tables were small and relatively close together. But no one was seated alongside them, so once the appetizer had been delivered, their conversation could continue unimpeded by the presence of civilians.
    “So, who do you like for the murders?”
    Gunther glanced up, a look of slight confusion on his face. He set his fork down and said, “I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking about it.”
    “What were you thinking about?”
    “My lunch. My companion.” He gave a warm smile, as though it was only right and natural that all knowledge of his current mission should be put on hold just because someone set a radicchio, apple, and pomegranate seed salad down in front of him. “I was wondering, was being an agent your first career choice?”
    “No, not at all,” Keith said, laughing. “I was a chef with no aspirations at law enforcement and no knowledge of the other realms.”
    “I wondered,” Gunther remarked.
    “Why?”
    “When we—” Gunther seemed to struggle a moment before finding the words he wanted. “When we were seeing each