Description
Two men. One roof. Who knew togetherness could be so dangerously tempting?Korbin is looking for a renter to help make ends meet. Not quite ready to make the offered room a squatter's paradise with a public ad, he advertises by word of mouth. Turns out he's doing it at just the right time.
Cage is relocating for a new job and needs a no-hassle place to live. He's wary about sharing space with a total stranger, but the opportunity to be able to start at his new job without this stress is too good to pass up.
Except one of them is hiding a secret identity and his past has taught him to not talk about it. Friendship brings the men closer, but will the secrets they both carry keep them from exploring a deeper attraction between them?
Excerpt:
Korbin tapped the wheel, singing to the radio. His foot even bounced a little, trying to keep the beat while paying attention to the road. Where is that stupid stop sign? Aha! The tree branches moved in the breeze and the stop sign appeared. He slowed and made the stop, the lone car at the four-way, then pressed for gas.A sudden and very loud pop made him startle as he reached the other side. Then his car wobbled and thunked. “You have got to be kidding me.” He smacked the wheel with a fist.
Checking his mirrors more out of habit than there being anyone else on the road, he limped to the side, then put the car in park on the shoulder. After releasing his belt, he raised his left arm out of the way to snag the door handle with his right fingers. Once the latch was loose, he pushed with his shoulder and the door swung open. It was a practiced move, and had been for the last two weeks. The cast on his arm was a hindrance he’d learned to maneuver around.
He walked to the front of the car and groaned, then cussed a little under his breath while he was at it. Now there was no doubt he was going to be late to meet the renter for the interview at his house. Korbin kicked the tire and flinched at the shot of pain that lanced his toes.
“Smooth, dummy.” Why doncha break a foot and an arm? Well, nothing to be done about it now. Maybe if he was lucky, the guy he was meeting was desperate for a place to stay and would wait.
He could hope.
Leaning through the car window, he popped the trunk and turned on the flashers. The tick-tock of the lights blinking made his teeth clench. Today was not a day he needed this to happen.
What sucked was he was off the beaten path, a back road to his place that would have saved him about ten minutes, making it to his house before his visitor easily. That cushion of time was now destroyed.
Rummaging through the trunk, he pulled the floor cover out of the way to expose the wheel well. He was bent over the trunk lip with his rear in the air when the sound of a car right behind him had him peering over his shoulder. He straightened, taking in the bright blue, small- size pickup.
The man behind the wheel gave him a welcoming smile and opened his door with a metal creak. “Need some help?” he called, standing to his feet on the ground. Korbin had become used to the accents of the area since coming to live there, but this man’s was rich and robust, pure southern hospitality.
“Depends. I don’t have any money.”
The guy standing beside the truck blinked and gripped the door, not coming any closer. “Money? I thought you needed help.”
Korbin crossed his arms and leaned a hip on the car’s bumper. “Unofficially, I do. I have to change a tire and this makes it difficult.” He dropped his chin to his healing arm.
A gaze of sympathy swept over the guy’s face. “Oh, man. What happened?”
“Me and a ladder had a disagreement. The ladder won by dumping me twelve feet.”
The man behind the open truck door winced. “Sorry, but ouch.”
Korbin chuckled. “No biggie. I’m a klutz by nature.”
“Well, I can help with that,” he said, meaning the tire with a pointed look to the car. “And I won’t charge you, though if you could tell me how to get to Honeyhock Road, I’d appreciate it.”
“I can do that,” Korbin replied, though he was more afraid of being mugged than having to pay for the help. The man smiled again and Korbin took in his friendly appearance, still on his guard. A man doesn’t move out of the big city and forget everything he’d learned because he was now in some small everyone-knows-everyone country town.
As he approached, Korbin admitted he was good looking. Solid shoulders with a body that tapered to snug jeans and a firm waist. He was probably a few years older than Korbin. From the distance he couldn’t make out his eyes, other than they sparkled and he tended to squint a little when he smiled. Thick brown hair was trimmed over his ears and was most likely finger combed more than not. It looked rugged but good on him.
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