Hurricane
Page 22
His phone rang, buzzing in his pants, making him jump. He grabbed it, grinning when he saw Wade’s name. He’d almost forgotten the sound of his phone. Weird.
“Hey, Wade.”
“Hey, Buster! Galen said it was okay to call.” Wade sounded as chipper as he felt.
“It is. We’re in Nassau. We took your boat!”
“The crew likes you way more than me.” Wade chuckled. “How do you like it?”
“The boat? I love it. I sleep on the deck. We eat. I’m having tequila.”
“Good on you! Hey, can I ask you a question?”
Shane braced himself, hoping Wade wasn’t going to ask him to come home. “Surely can.”
“What do you know about Dylan? I mean, is he, uh, family?”
“Wade. Honey, I don’t know any straight men.” At least he was fairly sure he didn’t. Certainly not the ones who worked in his bars.
“Oh. You think he just doesn’t like me? Maybe I’ve lost my touch.”
“Oh ho! Are you macking on my bar manager?” He waggled his eyebrows at Galen.
“My bar manager, Buster.”
“Right. Yours.” He laughed. “You think he’s hot, huh?”
“He’s stunning, man. I might want to eat him for lunch.”
“If you eat him, he can’t work for you.”
“No. I know. I just think he’s hot, okay? I need advice.”
“Uh. He likes dancing and Cajun food?”
“Really? Like club dancing?” Wade sounded dubious, which Shane understood. He’d seen Wade dance. Flail.
“Tell him to take Dylan to the Gator Grill,” Galen said, poking him on the arm.
“Len says the Gator Grill, man. You’ll drink, get sweaty, dance. It’ll end up okay.”
Wade chuckled. “Thanks, Buster. He makes me stupid like you did.”
“He’s a good guy.” Shane grinned. Dylan needed someone to spoil and love him. Shane was already taken.
“So am I.” Wade cackled, the sound like a giant bird. It was good to hear his friend so happy.
“You are. Tell him you have my seal of approval.”
Wade snorted. “He’s just glad you’re having fun, I think, and staying out of his hair. Little micromanager.”
“Fuck off, ass hat.”
“I intend to.” Wade chuckled. “So it’s good? The boat and your man and all?”
“Perfect. I owe you. This is amazing. I could float forever.”
“Good deal. I was ready to be on dry land, and my crew was bored.”
“You’re a good friend, Wade. You know that, right?”
“Of course I do, Buster. It works both ways. Have a shot for me.”
“I might have two. Talk to you in a few weeks, man.” Maybe. Maybe he’d be busy.
“Later, Shane.”
For the first time since he’d met Wade, the man didn’t sound reluctant to say goodbye. Or wistful. Wade and Dylan. Huh. Pretty damned cool.
He shoved his phone in his pocket, grinning like a monkey. “He’s going after Dylan.”
“No shit?” Len looked unbelievably pleased. “Good.”
“Yeah. It is.” He lifted his glass. “To tequila.”
“To you, darlin’.” Len clinked glasses with him. “I love you smiling and happy.”
“Yeah. I just love you.”
“Well, same here, dork. I just want to be with you.”
“Want to go walk on the sand, Len? Wander?” He could walk for miles in this sunshine.
“I do.” Len tossed cash down on the table and stood.
He admired that long, fine line of stud, then got up, took Galen’s hand. “I’m ready.”
“Come on, then.” Galen led him out toward the beach, toward the waves and sand and all of his favorite things. He wasn’t gonna think about bartending again if he didn’t have to.
He was just gonna float.
More from BA Tortuga
Stormy Weather: Book One
Galen Frost buys a house and a bait shop in a small Florida town to get away from his life as a semipro football player. When he meets good-time bartender Shane Barton, the heat between them is instant and intense—like the burn of good whiskey.
Galen and Shane don’t have much in common beyond their healthy libidos and their love of a good time, but the intoxicating heat brings them together like rain on the ocean, whipping up a frenzy of weather… good and bad. When trouble blows ashore, they will have to ride out the storm that breaks between them as Galen’s past rears its ugly head.
Sequel to Rain and Whiskey
Stormy Weather: Book Two
The weather in the Florida swamps is looking a little rocky for retired football player, Galen, his laid-back lover, Shane, and their gator, Vic.
When Galen buys into a football team, promoting and wheeling and dealing are the name of the game. He’s so busy he hardly gets to see Shane anymore, which means a lot of lonely naps on the couch.
Shane is tied up with managing the bar, covering for unreliable bartenders, and serving drinks to good-time party boys. Used to be Galen couldn’t get enough of him. Now he can hardly pry Galen away from the phone, and Shane starts to wonder where he stands in Galen’s life. Will things ever be the way they were?
When Galen starts to forget their dates, the pressure builds, jealousy and hurt swirling into a tropical storm. Galen and Shane need to seek shelter in each other before everything they’ve built is washed away.
Road Trip Collection
The road to love is notoriously bumpy, full of twists and turns that can throw even the best driver. With obstacles around every corner, Sonny and MJ try to keep it between the lines in two tales that blend steamy romance with high-stakes action and intrigue.
Racing the Moon
Sonny runs moonshine the old-fashioned way. Too bad some fool blew up his road in the Carolina mountains, keeping him stuck, high and unfortunately dry.
Explosives expert and ecoterrorist MJ’s mission is to protect the environment by shutting down a logging company. An encounter with Sonny in the misty forest sheds a new light on his quest, but it’s not until Sonny drugs and kidnaps him for an impromptu holiday that their engines really start to rev.
Steam and Sunshine
A mission they can’t resist lures Sonny and MJ out of retirement when they get word of a man creating dangerous weapons for the government. They head to California to take him down.
What they find is Paddy, a physicist who doesn’t understand the scope of his own discovery, and Neil, his bodyguard. During a wild and unpredictable cross-country ride, an uneasy partnership develops between kidnappers and targets when the four men discover they have a common enemy.
Leaning N
A fist fight, a snowstorm, a stolen kiss in the barn… and a second chance at love.
Ford Nixel has two law offices, two fancy condominiums, and all the right connections. In short, he has everything he wants.
The last thing he needs is his Uncle Ty’s stake in the Leaning N, a ranch that’s been in the family for generations. Ford hasn’t even been to the ranch in over a decade, not since he left his boyfriend Stoney behind and headed back to college alone.
Ford arrives at the Leaning N to find Stoney, now a single father, right where he left him. A fist fight, a snowstorm, and a stolen kiss in the barn later—Ford knows none of the heat between them has dissipated.
Leaning N
Everything’s bigger in Texas, including weddings. And misunderstandings.
Colorado wedding planner Mason O’Reilly lands a major contract: a two-hundred-guest wedding at the Leanin’ N Ranch, where his friends Ford and Stoney are working to provide a safe space for GLBT events. The Wright/Preston ceremony is a destination wedding, and as the grooms are from Texas, everything is done over the phone and email. There’s no way that could lead to trouble, right?
Oops.
Oil tycoon Noah Wright isn’t happy about the impending disaster, but he admires Mason’s quick thinking and
grace under pressure. And that’s not all he likes about the out-and-proud wedding planner. Even though Mason’s interested in Noah, his Mr. Right can’t possibly be a rancher from Dallas.
Can he?
Readers love the Stormy Weather Series by BA Tortuga
Rain and Whiskey
“If you like your MM full of raw, animalistic, rough, sexy, interludes, you will love this one!”
—Crystal’s Many Reviewers
“Rain and Whiskey must be one of the hottest male/male romances ever.”
—Rainbow Book Reviews
“Holy cow, let me just hose myself down because this baby is scorching hot!”
—MM Good Book Reviews
Tropical Depression
“BA Tortuga keeps us on edge, just a wee bit, in this steamy sequel to Rain and Whiskey. I really like this series and am hoping for more.”
—The Novel Approach
“The swamps, the locals and this couple and the way BA Tortuga puts her touch on all three is why I read this series.”
—Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
BA TORTUGA, Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting, and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.
Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery ménages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeonholed by anyone but the voices in her head.
Website: www.batortuga.com
Blog: batortuga.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/batortuga
Twitter: @batortuga
By BA Tortuga
Best New Artist
Bombs and Guacamole
Boys in the Band (Author Anthology)
Mud, Movies, Bullets, and Bulls (Author Anthology)
Old Town New
Private Dances
Refired
Road Trip, Vol. 1
Say Something
Seashores of Old Mexico
DREAMSPUN DESIRES
#6 – Trial by Fire
#30 – Two Cowboys and a Baby
LEANING N
#16 – Commitment Ranch
#42 – Finding Mr. Wright
LOVE IS BLIND
Ever the Same
Real World
THE RELEASE SERIES
The Terms of Release
The Articles of Release
Catch and Release
SANCTUARY
Just Like Cats and Dogs
What the Cat Dragged In
STORMY WEATHER
Rain and Whiskey
Tropical Depression
Hurricane
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Hurricane
© 2017 BA Tortuga.
Cover Art
© 2017 Alexandria Corza.
http://www.seeingstatic.com/
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
ISBN: 978-1-63533-836-2
Digital ISBN: 978-1-63533-837-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017950134
Published November 2017
v. 2.0
First Edition of Hurricane published by Torquere Press, 2008.
First Edition of Bartender Rescue published in the Bar None anthology by Torquere Press, 2013.
Printed in the United States of America