RELEASE TOUR incl Exclusive Excerpt:
SWEET SOMETHING by Lane Hayes
Length: 76,000 Series: Wood Hollow Stories, Book 2 Prior Reading: Prior reading recommended but not essential Genre: Contemporary, Rom-Com, Small-Town, Sports Tropes: Small-Town, Single Dad, Sports, Rom-com Trigger/Content Warnings: This deals with surrogacy. All happy. There is also a death of a sibling off page. Designer: Sleepy Fox Studio
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The line was relatively short at Dexter’s Donuts the following morning. I nodded at Janey and gave her a thumbs-up when she pointed at the coffee machine.
“Hiya, hot stuff. I haven’t seen you in a couple of days.” Janey set the to-go cup on the counter. “Feel like trying the special of the day? It’s a sour cream donut.”
“No, thanks.”
“Oh, c’mon, Big V. You’ll love it.”
I furrowed my brow. “Are you serving it on a baked potato with butter and chives too?”
Janey wrinkled her nose. “Uh…no.”
“Good. I’ll stick with the fritter, please.”
“Coming right up!”
I tapped my card and stepped aside to wait for the fritter.
Dexter delivered it a moment later. “Hey, look who’s here.”
I wasn’t prepared for him. Visions of Dexter in my bed and sucking my cock rendered me speechless.
I cleared my throat and licked my lips. “Good morning, Dexter.”
His grin lit his face like a spotlight on a dark stage. “Do you have a second?”
“Sure, but—”
“Come with me.”
Dexter grabbed my fritter bag and motioned for me to follow him into the kitchen. A large man and a petite woman wearing matching white aprons were heads down and elbows deep in a vat of frosting. They were in the midst of a heated discussion in Spanish and didn’t notice us trek to the back door.
A thin layer of fog painted the alleyway like a gossamer veil. It was quiet at this hour of the morning, and empty.
“This is very suspicious. What are we doing out here?”
“We’re having a private chat,” he replied.
“I hate chatting.”
“I know.”
“Did Freya tell you about her next doctor appointment?”
I nodded, peering into the pastry bag. “The heartbeat appointment.”
He beamed. “Finally. Anyway, she texted to see if it was okay if you joined us and I just wanted to personally let you know that it’s cool by me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. We can drive up together.”
I closed the pastry bag and studied his earnest expression. “Okay.”
Dexter slugged my arm playfully, his smile threatening to split his face in half. “Great!”
That much joy was almost too much…too contagious, too sweet, too pleasant. It was safer to think about fucking him like an animal than it was to share a poignant milestone.
“Yeah. Well, I should go and—oomph.”
Dexter leaped forward and wrapped me in a bro hug that morphed into an octopus hold.
Logically, I knew that extreme emotion sometimes led to random celebratory displays. I wasn’t a hugger, though. It wasn’t second nature for me to initiate physical contact, and I was terrible at receiving it, too.
I stiffened immediately, and of course, Dexter stepped backward.
“Sorry. I’m just so…”
“Happy. I know.”
Dexter’s smile faded, and his cheeks turned pink. He averted his gaze and mumbled something about getting to work.
And I should have let him go.
I didn’t want him to be ashamed or embarrassed, though. He had every right to be happy, every right to express his joy. I almost felt sorry that I was the only one who knew what he was going through.
Lane Hayes lives in sunny Southern California with her amazing husband, who thankfully doesn’t mind cooking, and their fabulous fox red Labrador, George, who’s pure mischief. Both provide oodles of inspiration for the low-angst, humorous books Lane loves to write.
She’s been telling stories about sexy, funny, sometimes geeky and quirky men who find love for a dozen years now and loving every minute. In her previous life, she sat at a desk and dealt with numbers, so yes…romance is much more satisfying!
Lane loves tea, travel, and chocolate…in any order. Add a book and she’s set!
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Website: www.lane-hayes.com
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