THE KID
He’d carried her up the stairs, the tired little girl with the peaceful smile on her face. It was no secret to him she’d been getting under his skin lately, in the worst way possible.
The heartfelt way.
But the way she just lay limp in his arms, completely trusting, something deep in him stirred.
She felt just like his daughter.
He tried to push the thought away, the feeling, he really did. She had to be put to bed, tucked in. He was just doing what was necessary, right? He was always good at doing what had to be done. Could always be counted on.
But the feeling wouldn’t leave.
Every action he took felt like that. From holding her super close to him for a couple of seconds while he bent to pull back the covers with one hand, then laying her gently on the antique bed, seeing her body relax comfortably to the shape of the mattress. Pulling off her shoes, her socks. Rubbing those little feet gently so she’d feel comfortable-hell, he always wanted his feet rubbed when he took off his socks. The fact that hers were sweaty from a day of play and fun didn’t even hit the ew metre.
Running to the bathroom, he filled her special glass – another Darth Vader special – with water, making sure it was ice cold, then he went back into her bedroom, and placed it on the nightstand. He calculated quickly just how far away it needed to be so if she accidentally turned over and thrashed or hugged her pillow weird, it wouldn’t spill.
Then he watched her for a few moments, breathing deep. Lost, utterly lost in dreamland. “Good night, Princess,” he whispered, the whisper soft and scant even as whispers went.
Tiptoeing out, he quietly pulled her door shut, then at the last minute left it open the tiniest crack, so if she cried out, they’d all hear. Could come running.
Then he stood outside her door. His heart beating a bit hard. Everything necessary-that she required-had been done.
Realization flooded through him.
That was his little girl in there. His freakin’ little girl.
off his art, and all romantic relationships, but when a bulldozer of
a man comes to seek refuge in the dilapidated house Nathan is
renovating, all the promises he made to himself collapse under the
weight of powerful emotions.
his family’s legacy, an old house on the tiny cove of Refuge Bay.
He scraped together every penny he could find to buy back the
derelict manse, and now he needs investors to help put it to rights
so he can create a place for people like him: emotional wrecks in
need of a safe place to get themselves together.
turned his back on his passion, and believes by helping others, he’ll
help himself. When it seems no one is going to help, a new investor,
ex-military Augustine Jake Reiden, who insists on being called Og,
shows up early and inverts Nathan’s reality. Nathan has secrets,
but this bull of a man who has more bravado than anyone Nathan has
ever met, is harboring mysteries.
risk investing in the house, but he has conditions, and it turns out
one of them is he wants Nathan.
romance anywhere from sweet to hot to erotic, all in the Real Men
series. I love this genre, and plan to continue writing in it.
hand at writing male/male romance and found that I loved it, in a
very special way.
different than the dynamics I’ve explored previously. There’s
something about two warriors, two characters with similar power bases
figuring out how to come together. And the intense vulnerability when
they finally do…
man, and just needs someone to pull himself out of his self-imposed
prison…
a top 2 Amazon bestseller with her small town military romance
series, Real Men, currently over 10 books long. She has a passion for the small towns of North
America, and sets her compelling stories in the north country (Jack’s
Bay), western mountain country (Terrence Point, Dawson Ridges,
Golden) and in Chesapeake Bay (Refuge Bay), all replete with quirky
yet big-hearted neighbours always willing to lend a hand—and an
opinion, whether requested or not.Susan also deeply loves Christmas, with numerous Christmas stories in her
series, and adds more holiday books (including Valentine’s and
Halloween), annually.As she continues to write the beloved
Real Men series, she is applying her passion for love without
boundaries to the m/m genre. Her first book in the Men of Hope House
series is garnering excellent reviews, with formerly m/f only readers
exhorting others new to the genre to pick up the first in the series,
calling it, “Pure Joy”, and ‘one of the best books I have read
in a very long time’ – GoodReads.Susan can be reached at [email protected].
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Looks interesting. Thanks for the post!
The cover is quite appealing and the blurb intriguing. The story sounds good. Much success!