“You wanted to speak to me?” Her surprise was obvious. “Why didn’t you?”
Corey shrugged. Across the car, Griff coughed into his hand meaningfully.
Erica glanced at Griff. “Pardon me?”
“You’re not exactly the most approachable woman in the world,” Griff said baldly. “You have a ‘don’t touch’ look going on.”
“Jeez, Griff.” Corey groaned.
When Erica spoke her voice bordered on icy. “I see.”
“There it is.” Griff glanced toward her before returning his attention to the road. “The look.”
“Erica.” Corey tried for a soothing tone. “I think you’re a stunner.”
“But you also think I’m frigid, is that it?”
Corey could have sworn there was a smirk in Griff’s voice. “I never said that.”
“You’re just a bit…daunting.” Her eyes narrowed, and Corey hurried to fix the damage. “I mean to me. A bit. Because you seem really smart, and probably date doctors or lawyers, blokes with degrees, instead of guys like me.”
Guys who barely finished high school and had to take the aptitude test twice before they’d let him become a fiery. Corey figured his verbal fumbling was only highlighting the notion he wasn’t as intelligent as her or the men she was probably used to hanging out with. His heart felt heavy as he finished. “I thought you might tell me to take a walk.”
Her anger seethed in the silence for a few moments during which Corey was certain he’d blown it completely. Why did Griff have to open his big mouth?
Then abruptly, Erica spoke, her words coming out in a staccato rhythm. “The last man I dated was a history professor. His name was Doug. We dated for over two years. We had plenty to talk about, but he was hardly interested in touching me. I want someone who’s interested in touching me.”
Corey was so stunned by the idea that Erica’s ex-boyfriend hadn’t been all over her every minute of every day that he didn’t speak for a moment. Into the silence, Griff’s laugh danced. His voice was warm and raspy. “I think you can stop looking, Red.”
Corey watched in astonishment as Griff reached up and smoothed a hand over Erica’s hair. It was a gesture filled with surprising affection, with tacit apology for his frankness. It was also a liberty taken that Corey was amazed Erica allowed. But she didn’t upbraid Griff or wrench away. Instead she closed her eyes on a sigh, as though his touch contented her, made her…
No way. No way is Griff turning her on.
Corey curled a hand around Erica’s nape. Her skin was supple and soft, the dark discs of her eyes like pools of melted chocolate. Shallow breaths puffed out of her, as though she was excited.
Because of Griff or him?
The virgin isn’t the only one with something to lose…
The Closer You Get
© 2011 L.A. Witt
Self-described manwhore Kieran Frost is loving the single life. Two years after moving to Seattle, he still has his friends with benefits, Rhett and Ethan, plus a never-ending supply of gorgeous, available men wandering through the bar where he works. A relationship? Spare him the drama and heartbreak. He’s got no complaints about his unattached lifestyle.
When Rhett’s daughter introduces him to newly-out-of-the-closet Alex Corbin, Kieran’s interest perks up. After all, the quiet ones are always the freaks in bed. But Alex isn’t just shy and reserved. He’s a virgin in every sense of the word, having never even kissed anyone else.
Kieran is no one’s teacher, and his first instinct is to run like hell in the other direction. But his conscience won’t let him throw the naïve kid to the wolves for someone else to take advantage of. The plan is to introduce Alex to his own sexuality, pull him out of his shell, then go their separate ways.
It’s the perfect, foolproof plan…assuming no one falls in love.
Warning: This sequel to The Distance Between Us contains a curious virgin, a shameless slut, a trip to a sex shop, and one stubborn heart. Oh, and a dildo.
Enjoy the following excerpt for The Closer You Get:
While he took my place and aimed his first throw, I went for my drink. Alex took his first shot, then lined up his second. Even with his need for concentration and my preoccupation with the beer on my tongue, the silence was awkward. Tense. Needed to be broken, like, now.
I swallowed my beer. “So, what are you studying?”
“Pre-med.” He threw the dart and it landed firmly under the eighteen. Third dart poised in midair, he said, “What about you? What do you do?”
“I’m a bartender.”
The dart flew through the air and connected with the board with a thunk. “A bartender? So, you don’t mind giving money to the competition?” He gestured at the bar.
“Just don’t tell my boss I’m here, all right?”
Alex laughed as we switched places. “Your secret’s safe with me. I appreciate you coming too, by the way. I hope Sabrina didn’t twist your arm as hard as she twisted mine.”
I looked over my shoulder at him. “You had to have your arm twisted to meet me?”
“That’s not what I meant,” he said, sounding half-amused and half-unnerved.
“Just giving you shit,” I said. “Anyway, you staying in town for the summer or going home?”
“Staying here.” The words came out sharply, like he didn’t even want to consider the latter option. “I’m, um, I’m working full-time right now. Figured I should make some money this summer instead of wasting it going home.”
“And in between working, checking out the more fun things the city has to offer?”
Some color rushed into his cheeks, and he laughed shyly. “Yeah, that was the plan.”
I finished the turn, and after we’d switched, I said, “So, what is it you want to check out? Clubs, that kind of thing?”
Alex shrugged. “Guess that would be a good place to start. Somewhere I can, you know”—he looked at me—“meet guys.” We held eye contact for a moment before he turned back to the dartboard. It was a second or two, if that, but just long enough to create a tingle at the base of my spine.
I cleared my throat. “Not too many places like that where you come from?”
“Uh, no. I’m from a town that has three times as many bars as stoplights, and every one of those bars has dead animals on the walls.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “I don’t have the faintest clue where to go or what to do once I’m there.”
“Well,” I said. “I might be able to help you with that part.”
Shyness and boldness battled for dominance in his eyes, and I thought he might say something. He didn’t, though. Instead, he turned his attention back to throwing his dart.
Sipping my beer, I watched him. So he’d had a year at a university in a gay-friendly city. Probably dated a little, played the campus field a bit, and now he was ready to expand his horizons. Timid with the occasional break of matter-of-fact assertiveness. Oh, yes, this could be a lot of fun, especially if he wanted someone to help him explore some of the dirtier aspects of being a gay man in this town.
Someone threw their arms around my shoulders from behind, nearly making me drop my drink.
“Having fun over here?” Sabrina asked, more of a giggle in her voice than usual.
“Well, I am.” I looked at Alex. “You?”
Just before bringing his beer to his lips, he said, “I’m having a good time, yes.”
“Good,” she said. In a stage whisper, she said to me, “You’re being gentle with him, right, Kieran?”
I looked right at Alex. “Define ‘gentle’.”
He gulped. I grinned. Sabrina giggled.
“Okay, boys, don’t have too much fun.” She patted my shoulder, then wandered off to the rest of her friends.
Alex coughed into his fist. “So, how do you know Sabrina?” Still focused on me, he sipped his beer.
“I, uh, I lived with her dads when I first moved here.” I paused. “They needed a roommate for a while, so…” I made a dismissive g
esture with my glass. And I’ve been fucking them on a regular basis ever since.
“I have to say,” he said, “it blew my mind when she told me her dads were gay. She doesn’t bat an eye over it, and that’s when I realized I was living in a very different world now.” Amusement tugged at his lips, but there was something darker in his expression that made me curious what kind of world he’d come from.
“Well, get used to it,” I said with a wink. “Seattle isn’t one hundred percent gay-friendly, but you’re not in Kansas anymore.”
“So I’ve noticed.” He laughed dryly. “By the way, it’s your throw.”
“Oh, right.” I set my beer down and picked up the darts.
As I aimed, my phone vibrated. I groaned. Fuck, please tell me Mom isn’t calling again. I unclipped it from my belt. The screen lit up with Rhett’s name and a text message:
Having fun there, or coming back here tonight?
I chuckled. Had the message come from Ethan, it probably would have said “Still want to get fucked tonight?” Same meaning, different wording.
I looked at Alex. Then I wrote back:
Think I’m going to stay. Call you guys later this week. Have fun. :)
Then I clipped my phone back on my belt and resumed my game.
Alex eventually beat me at that round of cricket, but it was close. He only had me by three points, so that was as good an excuse as any for a rematch. Had to see who really was the better player, after all. Since I won that game, we decided to go two out of three. Then three out of five.
Seven games and three beers later, I pulled my phone off my belt to check the time. I blinked a few times, certain I was misreading the numbers. How the hell was it quarter to twelve already?
“Damn, it’s almost midnight,” I said.
“Is it?” Alex looked at his watch. “I’ll be damned.” He exhaled. “I should probably get out of here. I’m working an early shift tomorrow.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“It was nice meeting you.” His smile was still shy but decidedly more confident than when we were introduced earlier. “Thanks for letting Sabrina twist your arm.”
I grinned. “I think this was well worth having it twisted a little.”
We held eye contact, and as the silence went on, the color in his cheeks deepened.
I cleared my throat. “So, um, listen, if you want the grand tour of Capitol Hill, I could certainly show you around. Take you to some of the places on Broadway.” And maybe show you the inside of an apartment a few blocks off Broadway.
“Sure, that’d be great.” He shifted his weight, obviously struggling to hold my gaze. “If you’re, you know, if it’s not too much trouble for you.”
“Not at all. What are you doing tomorrow night?”
He hesitated, then shook his head. “Nothing that I know of.”
“And you are twenty-one, right?”
“With a few months to spare, yes.”
“Why don’t you meet me at Wilde’s, then?”
“Wilde’s? That’s that gay club on Broadway, isn’t it?”
“Most of the clubs on Broadway are gay clubs,” I said. “Wilde’s just happens to be the best in my not so humble and very biased opinion as an employee. Have you been to any clubs?”
“Beside this?” He gestured at our surroundings.
“This is a sports bar. Big difference, trust me.”
He laughed quietly. “I’ll take your word for it. I have been to a strip club before, though.”
“Have you, now?”
He nodded.
“Enjoy it?”
“I think I might’ve enjoyed it more had there been some guys on the stage.” His smile was characteristically shy, but there was just enough of a devilish sparkle in his eyes to bring a grin to my lips.
Oh, yes, you do have a wild side, don’t you?
Who’s Your Daddy?
Lauren Gallagher
Everyone’s bringing baggage to this baby shower.
After her divorce, Carmen James is still trying to get back on her feet when fate pulls the rug out from under her. She’s pregnant—and she’s not sure who’s the father. Just one more thing for her impossible-to-please family to worry about. On the bright side, there are only two candidates: her best friend, Donovan, and Isaac. His boyfriend.
A little too much wine and the desire to comfort lead Donovan and Isaac to a night they both hope Carmen doesn’t regret. When she drops the bomb, though, Donovan’s plate, already crowded with a teenage son and a disapproving father, gets fuller. And Isaac, who’s still coming to terms with his bisexuality, wonders how he’ll handle fatherhood at forty.
Above all, both men worry that whatever the answer to the ultimate question—which of them got her pregnant—it will forever alter their longstanding friendship with Carmen. While they’re waiting for that answer, though, continuing their casual sexual relationship with her feels natural. But when emotions get involved, the cracks in their logic begin to drive Isaac, Don and Carmen apart just when they need each other the most.
Warning: This book contains three people in one hell of a pickle (anyone have any ice cream?), parents who suck at parenthood, parents-to-be who think they’ll suck at parenthood, a relationship-friendship-sexual-kind-of-thing that keeps getting more complicated, and a Chuck Norris joke.
eBooks are not transferable.
They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Who’s Your Daddy
Copyright © 2012 by Lauren Gallagher
ISBN: 978-1-61921-161-2
Edited by Linda Ingmanson
Cover by Angela Waters
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: August 2012
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Epilogue
About the Author
Look for these titles by Lauren Gallagher
Also Available from Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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