Book Title: Off-Balance
Author: Brigham Vaughn
Publisher: Two Peninsulas Press (Indie/Self-Published)
Cover Artist: Brigham Vaughn
Release Date: August 3, 2020
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance
Trope/s: May/December, age gap, hurt comfort,
rich man poor man, workplace romance
Themes: Grief, family acceptance/homophobia, exploring light kink,
friends and chosen family, emotional baggage.
Length: 104 535 words/ 260 pages
It is the first book in a new series
Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited
Love doesn’t always add up.
Blurb
Russell Bishop is a rising star at Vantage Marketing.
Stephen Parker is the company’s CFO.
A spilled cup of coffee gives them an opportunity to act on the mutual attraction they’ve both been trying to ignore. But attraction isn’t enough with an almost twenty-year age gap and clashing expectations about their relationship.
Fiercely independent, Russ isn’t sure he’s ready for long-term commitment and Stephen is afraid history is repeating itself.
Their relationship reaches a crossroads when the death of Stephen’s father forces them to visit his hometown in southern Georgia. Estranged from his family, Stephen must come to terms with his past and say goodbye to the father whose expectations he could never live up to. The small, conservative town provides its own challenges as Russ must find the strength to be the man Stephen desperately needs.
From Chapter 1
Stephen Parker watched in horror as the cup he’d clutched between his forearm and his chest tipped forward. With an iPad and a leather portfolio full of important documents in one hand and his phone in the other, he could do nothing to stop its tumble to the floor. It landed with a violent eruption of scalding hot espresso, splashing in every direction.
“Fuck!”
He jerked away, barely avoiding getting his navy blue suit drenched. His cognac brown shoes didn’t fare so well, however, and he frowned as he watched the liquid soak into the expensive leather. With a sigh, he reached down to pick up the cardboard cup. A stairwell door slamming shut made him jerk in surprise and he nearly lost his grip on his iPad.
“God fucking damn it.” Stephen finally got a grip on the slippery cup and straightened. He carefully skirted the puddle, then headed out into the hall with an irritated sigh. “Hell of a way to start my day,” he muttered.
It wasn’t yet 7 a.m. and the office of Vantage Marketing was deserted. Only half the lights were on, and he knew the cleaning staff wasn’t in yet. He liked coming in early; it was the only way he got work done without interruption. His assistant, Elizabeth Lawrence, could only do so much to keep people at bay.
Stephen tossed the empty cup in the nearest trash can, then made a beeline for the janitor’s closet. He unearthed a wet floor sign inexplicably hiding behind several boxes of cleaning supplies. Thankfully, after twenty years there, he knew the place like the back of his hand. Said hand was covered in spilled coffee, but he wanted to put the sign out before some other health- minded idiot decided to take the stairs and tracked coffee through the halls. At forty-seven, he was all too aware of the threat of a gradual thickening around his waist. He stayed fit, but only because carbs were generally a thing of the past and he took the stairs whenever he could. Stephen let out another irritated sigh at the untimely demise of his morning espresso.
Mulling over the idea of sneaking out to grab a replacement coffee, Stephen swung the door of the stairwell open and blinked at the sight in front of him with growing horror. There was a figure sprawled on the floor, with a spreading puddle of something dark and wet beneath it. The person on the floor groaned, and Stephen’s brain finally caught up with what he saw.
Stephen knelt immediately, tossing his papers and electronics aside. “Are you okay?” The man blinked up at him for a moment before he shifted with a grimace. “Maybe?”
When he tried to sit up, he let out a loud groan, slumping back to the floor. Stephen barely had enough time to catch his head to keep it from hitting the floor again. “Shit.”
Stephen scrutinized the man whose head rested in his hands. Huh. It was Russ Bishop, one of the firm’s newer marketing analysts. The guy he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off since last year’s Christmas party. Ridiculous, since Russ was a good twenty years Stephen’s junior but so handsome and charming it hurt to look at him.
“Russ?” Stephen asked urgently, staring down into Russ’s hazel brown eyes. Russ blinked at him, his gaze clearing and becoming more focused. “Lie there while I call the paramedics.”
“No, no. I don’t need the paramedics,” Russ protested. “I was a little dazed for a sec, but I’ll be fine once I catch my breath.”
“Nothing’s hurt?”
He grimaced. “My ankle’s killing me. It went sideways when I hit the puddle of coffee.”
“I’m less concerned about your ankle than your head. Did you hit it when you fell?” Stephen asked grimly, guilt twisting in his stomach at the thought that he was to blame for Russ’s accident.
Russ frowned. “No, I don’t think so.” He lifted his hand and gingerly felt across his scalp, wincing. “Ugh. There’s a knot forming. I guess I did hit it.”
“I’m calling 911.” Stephen’s tone brooked no argument. He gently rested Russ’s head on his thigh for a moment and shrugged out of his suit jacket, bunched it up, then slid it under Russ’s head. It would be a good deal softer than his leg. Russ let out a low murmur of protest but Stephen quieted him with a touch to his shoulder with his free hand as he reached for his phone with the other.
The call was brief, and after Stephen notified building security of the accident, there was nothing he could do but wait. And apologize.
“I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I was afraid this might happen. I was on my way back with a wet floor sign and some paper towels, but you beat me here.”
“It’s fine, Mr. Parker,” Russ protested. “Really. It was an accident. I should have been paying more attention to where I was going. That’s what I get for checking my email while I’m walking up the stairs.”
“After I nearly killed you, the least you can do is call me Stephen,” he replied grimly.
Brigham Vaughn is on the adventure of a lifetime as a full-time author. She devours books at an alarming rate and hasn’t let her short arms and long torso stop her from doing yoga. She makes a killer key lime pie, hates green peppers, and loves wine tasting tours. A collector of vintage Nancy Drew books and green glassware, she enjoys poking around in antique shops and refinishing thrift store furniture. An avid photographer, she dreams of traveling the world and she can’t wait to discover everything else life has to offer her.
Her books range from short stories to novellas to novels. They explore gay, bisexual, lesbian, and polyamorous romance in contemporary settings.
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