Free Men of London 03 - Suit Yourself by Susan Mac Nicol Page B

characters that Leslie seemed to
know.
    “So what does Eddie do then?” he asked
snarkily. “Toss dwarves, fight rabid wolves, maybe slay a dragon or
two?”
    Leslie collapsed into snorts of laughter then
raised a hand to his mouth. “Sorry, you got me snorting again.
You’re the only man who can do that, I swear.” Oliver was gratified
that there was something he could do that the Marvellous Avengers
couldn’t. “Nope, Eddie is a chef. An award-winning one. He just won
the London Chef of the Year award a couple of weeks ago. “
    Oliver wanted to roll his eyes, but that
would have been rude. Now he had to contend with super chefs as
well. He couldn’t help feeling a little put out. “Oh, well, that’s
cool I suppose. I—”
    Leslie nodded eagerly as he butted in. “He’s
one of the chefs at the restaurant I want to take you to. Eddie’s
boyfriend, Gideon, he owns Galileo’s in Soho. He’s a chef, too,
only he’s just starting to cook again because he got burned in a
fire and lost a couple of his senses. Now that he’s starting to get
his smell and taste buds back, he’s returned to the kitchen again.
You’ll enjoy meeting them, and Galileo’s is like, the best place
ever.” He stopped to take a breath and Oliver saw his chance to
actually participate in the conversation.
    “Okay, that sounds like a plan. I can meet
these two friends of yours and try out one of my suits and get a
good meal, too. Win-win situation, I’d say. Any idea when you want
to do this da—this dinner?”
    Leslie pulled out his really fancy phone and
flicked through it, muttering to himself. Oliver sighed. He should
have known a guy like Leslie had a heavy social calendar and
probably had to book his events weeks or months in advance. He was
about to tell Leslie that it was fine and to forget dinner if he
was that busy when Leslie waved his phone at him and beamed
brightly.
    “How about next Friday, the thirtieth? That’s
only eight days away.” His face fell. “I’d like it to be sooner,
but this weekend I’m working at a fashion show, helping them out
with the setup and organising, and Laverne will have my balls if I
cancel. Plus, I could use the overtime money she’s paying me.”
    It seemed a bit far away, but Oliver tamped
down his disappointment at having to wait over a week to see Leslie
again.
    “Sure,” he agreed nonchalantly. “It’s not
like I have many other plans. Except, maybe drinks with my friend
Katie. You’ll have to meet her. I think the two of you will get
along really well. She’s crazy, too.” He flashed a grin at Leslie
who grinned back.
    “I’d love to meet her, just as long as she
isn’t one of those women who insist on telling me all about her
girly bits. I get enough of that at work, thank you very much.”
    “I think I can safely say that’s not
something you have to worry about.”
    Oliver was truly gutted when the afternoon
came to an end. He stood up as Leslie collected his belongings,
which had been strewn across the table like debris from a rock fall
and stuffed everything into his fancy man-bag. For a moment, the
two men looked at each other awkwardly. Finally Leslie stepped up
and placed a soft kiss on Oliver’s undamaged cheek and hugged him
tightly.
    “Thanks for this afternoon. I really enjoyed
it. I’ll text you the details of where to find Galileo’s, unless
you’d like me to pick you up? I can always borrow the work
car.”
    Oliver shook his head. “No, it’s fine, I’ll
tube it. I quite like the trains. All anonymous and no one really
cares who you are.”
    Leslie nodded. “Okay. Well, I look forward to
next Friday then. Enjoy your weekend. Tell your friend Katie I say
hi.” He slung his bag across his shoulder and with one last wave,
he turned and walked away.
    Oliver watched him go with mixed feelings.
One part of him wanted to grab the man and take him home and pound
the hell out of him. The other, a warm fuzzy feeling, told him he’d
just made a friend