by Nico Jaye
Reminded of how they’d reached that point, Tony smiled to himself.
Last night had been incredible.
Fucking incredible, as Lee would say.
After Tony’d cleaned them up, though, it’d been late, and they’d both been tired. They’d fallen asleep together, Tony’s arm curled around Lee while Lee traced the vines on his tattoo drowsily.
Scritch scritch.
Tony groaned low.
Sadie.
“...uz dat?” Lee shifted, burrowing his cheek into his pillow for a moment before cocking his head.
Tony ran his hand soothingly across Lee’s chest and leaned in to speak softly in his ear. “Sadie. I usually take her out first thing in the morning, and with my work schedule, that means around six o’clock.”
“Mmmm,” Lee murmured, dropping his head to nuzzle against the pillow again.
Just as Tony was preparing himself to leave the warm cocoon of his bed and the even more inviting warmth of Lee’s body, he felt Lee stiffen against him.
“Hrm?” Tony couldn’t help the inquiring noise. “You okay?”
Lee’s chest rose slowly beneath Tony’s hand, and Lee shifted around to lie on his back. He glanced up at Tony briefly before looking to the side. “I uh… I guess you might want me to—I mean, maybe now’s a good time for me to go…”
Tony stared at him. “Go?”
Another fleeting look, this time accompanied by Lee biting his lip. “I just—I know that’s how this kind of thing usually works, and um, I probably shouldn’t have fallen asleep, but it was just so good, and I didn’t really want to leave, and um…”
Lee trailed off, the look on his face suggesting he was afraid he’d revealed too much.
“I—” Tony swallowed past his dry throat. “I never said you had to go. I never wanted you to. I wanted you to stay.”
Lee’s gaze shot to Tony’s, his eyes wide and golden in the soft morning light. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Tony quirked a smile. “We still have round two.”
A slow smile spread across Lee’s lips, and Tony couldn’t help but kiss it.
When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against Lee’s.
“So, yeah. Stay—if only for round two.” Tony’s shrug was casual, but his heart was hammering because, good God, he didn’t just mean round two, but he couldn’t very well voice that right now.
Lee grinned back at him, and he ran a hand down Tony’s arm.
“Yeah. I’ll stay.”
~~~
He stayed.
For round two. For the weekend. And for the year beyond that.
Letting himself get dragged out to Hard Candy was the best fucking decision Tony’d ever made.
In their case, a drink wasn’t just a fuck. It was a whole lot more.
~~~~~~~
About the Author
Nico Jaye is a fan of all things HEA and has dragged her romance collection along for her moves from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Chicago to New York and back. She thinks reading is awesome and loves that she can hang out night after night with crinoline-wearing debutantes, brawny firemen in suspenders, and werewolf shifters with Scottish brogues. Her favorite stories are those that marry smut and fluff (a.k.a. smuff) into a gooey ball of HEA and fuzzies.
An overall feline enthusiast, Nico secretly (or not so secretly?) adores Hello Kitty, cat GIFs, spontaneous traveling, pretending to be crafty, emoticons, hot menfolk, and parenthetical statements (not necessarily in that order). After starting as the pitcher for Team Awesome (literally) and visiting places like South Africa, Oman, and Fiji, Nico discovered that letting the boys in her head tell her where they want to go could actually be the most exciting journey of all.
Connect with Nico Jaye online at any of the following:
Website: http://www.nicojaye.com
Twitter: @nicojaye
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/NicoJaye
Facebook Profile: http://www.facebook.com/nicolovesbooks
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/nicojaye
Tumblr: http://nicojaye.tumblr.com (NSFW)
Email: [email protected]
If you’d like to read more by Nico Jaye, then please feel free to check out her website for online freebies and additional information about other publications. Happy reading!
Also Available by Nico Jaye
His Fairy Godfather (coauthored with Cate Ashwood)
Into the Deep
Sex and Candy
Unscripted (Heartsville)
Where There’s Smoke
He’s Just Knot That Into You
A Time for Loving
Different Strokes
“Dream Lover” in the Cuddling anthology
The Frat Brat*
Punch-Drunk Love*
BTW I Love You*
Man-to-Man Coverage series*
* free stories with download links available on Nico Jaye’s website
Most books are available now on Amazon!
NOW AVAILABLE
Unscripted
Nico Jaye
Theater manager Teddy Carbone’s life has gone pretty much according to script... until now.
To his surprise, Teddy finds himself co-owner of the Oasis Theater with Carter Monroe, a corporate shark who’s looking at him like he’s chum in the water. Being in charge of the theater is one thing, but having to deal with Carter and his demands is another. With Carter’s proposed plan to sell the Oasis looming, Teddy must convince Carter the theater is worth saving. When he introduces the bright, bold world of the stage to Carter’s cold, all-business lifestyle, though, Teddy soon comes to recognize that the Oasis might not be the only thing he has a chance to save.
Excerpt from Unscripted
Unscripted © 2015 Nico Jaye
“You… I…” Teddy’s mouth hung open for a moment before he clicked it shut. “You can’t possibly be telling me you’re just going to decide to sell the theater without even seeing it. Without even setting foot inside. Without knowing what it is to the neighborhood, to the community?” Teddy blinked rapidly, unable to comprehend such a… such a heartless decision. Teddy gestured at the stack of papers, then lifted his hands earnestly. “We’re a goddamn nonprofit; it’s not all about the numbers.”
Carter raised his brows, a hint of a smile on his—full and shapely, dammit!—lips. “You’ll have to trust me when I tell you that, in my line of business, it oftentimes is all about the numbers.”
“And you’ll have to trust me when I tell you the Oasis is so much more than just the numbers.” Teddy moved closer to Carter, his hands—curse his Italian heritage!—gesticulating here, there, and everywhere. “It’s… it’s about Heartsville and history and keeping the community together.”
Carter clasped his warm palms around Teddy’s hands, effectively stilling them, and Teddy’s eyes went wide when Carter drew him closer. Against his better judgment, Teddy’s heart began pounding, and the reason this time wasn’t his anger. Carter searched his gaze with those crystalline eyes and smirked softly.
“You’re magnificent, did you know that?” Carter said under his breath.
Teddy was taken aback, but before he could come up with a response, Carter spoke again.
“I’ll admit sending a plan of sale so quickly may have been rash of me, but there have been deals where I’ve had to make quick decisions and think about the consequences later. I recognize now that this isn’t one of those cases, so I’ll think about it, okay?” Carter moved one of his hands, and Teddy’s whole body jolted when he felt Carter’s fingers pressed against his hip, followed by a light squeeze.
“Tell me, Teddy,” Carter murmured, his gaze hooded.”Have you ever done anything like that? Something rash and unexpected, to hell with the consequences?”
~~~
Unscripted, part of the Heartsville collaboration, is now available at your favorite ebook retailer.
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