Ronnie, seated across from Mandy, looked up and saw them. With a smile splitting her face, she jumped up and met them as they approached. “I’m so glad you guys worked it out!”
“Thanks,” Cole said. “Me too.”
She threw her arms around his neck, and he laughed as he hugged her.
“So, your sister is Team Cole, but I’m still a little worried what your mom will say,” Cole said as she pulled away.
Ridley exchanged a puzzled glance with Ronnie. “Why would you say that? Mom loved you.”
Cole shook his head. “She asked about Jace immediately. I think maybe she had hopes for you two.”
Ronnie snorted. “Nope, sorry. Mom’s been telling Ridley to move on for years. She regards Jace as her other son, and she’d be the first to say that she really doesn’t want incest in the family.”
“Nice,” Ridley said. “Now I feel gross.”
“Did I hear someone say incest?” Jace called, looking up from his conversation with Lena. When he saw Ridley and Cole together, his smile flickered for only a second.
“What about you?” Ridley made a point of looking around, then back to Ronnie. “No new boyfriends here?”
“Shut up.”
“Seriously, though,” Ridley said. “No love from the DJ?”
She blushed and shrugged. “He invited me to his gig next weekend.”
“Ooh, a gig,” Cole teased. “You’re gonna be so hip.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Let’s sit. I need my coffee.”
Ridley guided Cole to an empty seat next to Ronnie’s place at the table, then sat beside him as Jace took a seat next to Mandy.
For a second, they all stared awkwardly. Then Mandy blurted out, “So this is your boyfriend?”
“Yeah, sorry. Cole, this is everybody. Everybody, this is Cole. My boyfriend.” He couldn’t help grinning like a goof.
Mandy eyed Cole. “Wow, you’re both so lucky. To be a fly on the wall in that bedroom …”
Ronnie choked on a sip of coffee. “Mandy!”
Mandy’s cheeks pinked up. “Sorry. Thinking out loud again,” she said with a laugh. Mandy was funny in that she came across so shy until she opened her mouth.
She’d always had a bit of a crush on Ridley, so he wasn’t that surprised by her comment. She’d nearly swooned when he showed up to brunch with a new hairstyle and better-fitting clothes that first weekend after the makeover. Still, it was a little weird to know she was imagining them together.
“I think I’m pretty lucky too,” he said, dropping a kiss on Cole’s cheek.
“So, uh… congratulations,” Jace said. “I’m glad you guys worked it out.”
Cole smiled tentatively. “No hard feelings?”
Jace smiled easily, but Ridley could see the effort it took him. “None. If Ridley’s happy, I’m happy.”
Cole relaxed. “Good. I’d hate to come between best friends.”
Jace’s expression took on a harder edge. “That would never happen.” But then he lightened up again. “BFF, right, Ridley? Forever’s right there in the tagline.”
“That’s right,” Ridley said, holding out his fist for a bump.
“He gets a forever?” Cole teased. “What do I get?”
Ridley leaned in close. “You get everything I can give you.”
“Sounds good,” Cole said, squeezing his leg. “How about we start with eggs?”
Epilogue
Three months later …
Ridley smoothed a hand over the front of his suit, the same one Cole had helped him shop for when he’d merely fantasized about what might be beneath the nicely cut lines of navy blue. He hadn’t had it on since the night of the prom, when they’d gotten their act together, but it still fit perfectly.
Cole wore a suit too, a lavender one with a pink handkerchief.
They were both dressed for the formal charity auction and ball, a huge fundraiser undertaken by the hospital. Ronnie had helped organize it, and she’d been at the convention center since noon that day solving last-minute crises. The ballroom was teeming with suited men and women in floor-length gowns. Twinkling lights strung over curtain-draped walls gave the room a lovely glow.
Ridley tugged at his sleeve, and Cole nudged him. “Stop fussing. You look good enough to eat.”
Ridley smirked. “You look good enough to eat, cupcake.”
Cole stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. His hair currently matched his pink handkerchief, a blond frosted with pink tips, and ever since he’d done the color, Ridley had teasingly called him cupcake. Cole pretended to pout, but secretly he loved the endearment. He’d been called pet names by other lovers — usually the highly original babe or baby — but there was something about cupcake that was so sweet.
Cupcakes were cute and fluffy and, okay, tasty, but they weren’t sexy so much as fun and comforting. Cole liked that he was more than sex to Ridley, even though the sex was really good too. He’d never had that with a boyfriend, both the physical and emotional connection at one time.
Ridley pecked a kiss to his lips. “Stop pouting. Let’s find our table.”
Cole hooked an arm through Ridley’s as they walked. “Maybe you should have agreed to be auctioned off,” he mused as they walked. “You’d probably raise a lot for a good cause.”
“You have a large savings account I don’t know about?”
Cole glanced at him, confused.
“Because you’d have to buy me,” Ridley said.
Cole grinned. “True. I’d probably go broke trying to compete with a rich man. Then I’d be devastated when my true love was stolen away.”
Ridley snorted skeptically as he pulled out a chair for Cole. “Good thing we’ll never have to live through that tragedy.”
“Totally.”
The table was covered in white, with a silvery blue runner. In the center of the table, a vase of water held floating lilies. Three small votive candles flickered around it.
Cole picked up their two name placards marking their seating arrangement and tucked them inside his inner breast pocket.
“What are you doing?” Ridley asked, amused.
Cole shrugged. “Keepsake. So I can remember our first formal occasion.”
He felt a little silly admitting it, but he was incredibly sentimental. Since he and Ridley had gotten together — committed to each other, that is — he’d been making a scrapbook where he saved ticket stubs, pasted in photos, and wrote journal entries. It was incredibly sappy, but he felt so thankful to have Ridley, and he didn’t know any other way to express it.
Hospital staff members Ridley knew were seated at the table. Their name placards were still in place, so Cole quickly committed their names to memory: Dr. Rollins, Dr. Holtz, Mr. Evans-Griggs and … Mr. Evans-Griggs.
Cole paused, wondering if a mistake had been made, until he looked at the two men and realized they were obviously a married couple.
“Let me introduce you around,” Ridley said, rattling off the first names that went with all the placards Cole had just read. He was unlikely to keep them all straight, but he smiled and said hello to Casper, Eric, Gage, and Ben.
Ridley knew the other four men because they’d all gone in on the cost of the table together. This way, they didn’t have to sit with strangers. Well, unless they were Cole. But Ridley was a good icebreaker, telling a funny story about Dr. Rollins nearly breaking an ankle on the basketball court. At least, Cole thought it was supposed to be funny. One of those “you had to be there” moments.
The table held eight people, leaving two seats empty. The final two had been reserved for Ronnie, should she ever stop running around; and her boyfriend Axel, who was the DJ for the dance and busy until the auction started.
“This is my boyfriend, Cole,” Ridley said. “He’s an amazing hairdresser. So if you ever need to be styled, he’s your man.”
Cole half stood to shake hands with a cute guy with floppy brown hair and his equally hot husband who had the perfect amount of s
tubble to walk the line between classy and rugged. He smiled as he greeted them, ridiculously pleased every time Ridley called him boyfriend. It had been three months, but it never got old. Although husband had a nice ring to it …
Maybe someday.
“You really don’t have to talk up my services, sweetie. I’m doing fine.”
“Cole’s one of the most popular stylists at the salon,” Ridley added, clearly bragging for his colleagues’ benefit.
Cole waved it off. “That’s nothing like being a doctor. I’m sure they don’t care.”
“Au contraire,” Ben said. “I’ve been thinking about doing something new with my hair.”
His husband looked momentarily disconcerted, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.
They talked shop about the hospital, and Ridley made sure to bring Cole up to speed when he wasn’t sure what they were talking about. Just as they were running low on small talk, Ronnie showed up.
She looked beautiful but frazzled. Her wrinkled brow and pursed lips sort of ruined the elegant updo intertwined with small daisies and baby’s breath that Cole had done for her earlier that day. Her dress, a strapless black gown with gold accents, was sophisticated and flattering.
“Hey, Ronnie! Sit down and eat,” Cole said, standing to pull out her chair.
“I wish,” she said, shaking her head. She half turned, which drew Cole’s attention to a guy hovering a few feet behind her. He seemed incredibly out of place, even though he wore a serviceable suit. Something about the way he held himself, the way he fidgeted, said he was not a man used to formal attire. “This is Sean.”
“Sean,” Ridley said in a thoughtful voice. “You look familiar.” Then he snapped his fingers. “We met, didn’t we? At Ian’s birthday party last year?”
“Yeah, Ian’s my brother,” Sean answered.
Ronnie pushed Sean toward the chair. “Sit here.” She thrust a paper sign with a large black number 114 into his hand. “You can bid with this. He should be near the end of the lineup.”
Sean sat down, giving an awkward wave as everyone stared at him. “Uh, hi. Sorry for crashing your table. I didn’t plan ahead, and uh … I needed to be here.”
“No worries,” Ben said. “The more, the merrier.”
Dr. Holtz, Eric, gestured to the paper in his hand. “You’re planning to bid tonight, I see.”
Sean flushed to the roots of his hair. “Yeah. I hope so. I’ve got about five grand to my name. But he’s worth it. I just hope it’s enough.”
It might not be. At a hospital charity auction like this, there were some deep pockets in the crowd. But Cole was more interested in finding out who he was so desperate to impress.
“Who’s worth it?” he asked.
“Uh, Jace Gillespie. Do you know him?”
Cole exchanged a startled look with Ridley.
“We know him,” Ridley said, his eyes narrowing. “Shit, you’re that Sean? The one who messed with his head?”
Sean winced. “Not intentionally.”
Jace had told Ridley just recently that he’d met someone who was confused about his sexuality, and their relationship was messy and complicated. In fact, that guy — Sean — was at least part of the reason Jace asked out Ridley in August, though he didn’t tell Ridley until later. He’d wanted something simple, he’d said.
Cole’s road to a relationship with Ridley hadn’t been simple, either, but it had been worth it. It was yet to be seen whether Sean would be worth the trouble he’d brought to Jace.
“I know I fucked up,” Sean said, “but I’m here to make it right. I plan to bid on and win Jace tonight. Win his forgiveness too, I hope.”
“Well, that’s good,” Cole said. “Right, Rid?”
“Yeah,” Ridley said, “as long as his intentions are good.”
Cole didn’t even have to wonder if Ridley’s dislike was borne of jealousy. They’d buried that doubt three months ago, and Cole had kept his promise not to question Ridley’s heart. He knew he was loved, and he also knew that Ridley would always be close with Jace. He’d made his peace with it.
They ate dinner. Well, most of them ate. Axel plowed through his dinner as if he hadn’t eaten in a week, while Sean appeared to be too nervous to do more than push the food around the plate. He was a built guy, stacked with muscle, and Cole would have expected him to be the type to eat three servings in one sitting.
After the dishes were cleared away, the auction opened. They alternated men and women on the stage, so up first was a petite lab tech that Ridley had only seen in passing, then a nurse’s aide, who was adorably shy as he ducked his head and smiled as the bids poured in. Then a physician’s assistant, and so on. About half a dozen more followed before Jace’s name was announced.
He strolled out in a suit, one hand tucked in a pocket, and he looked like he belonged on the pages of GQ. The man had a natural stage presence, and when he smiled, Cole could see why Ridley had fallen for him.
Sean raised his bid number with a shaky hand. Jace’s eyes widened as he noticed who had just bid. Another bidder raised his number. Then Sean. Then him.
“That guy in the front row is going to outbid me,” Sean grumbled. “He looks hot too. Fuck, this is a disaster.”
Axel disguised a chuckle with a cough. “Glad I’m off the market,” he said to Cole.
He agreed wholeheartedly.
While Cole was distracted by the spectacle of heartache that wasn’t his own, Ridley pushed back his chair and stood. He held out a hand. “Come on, cupcake.”
“Where?”
“Home,” he said with a small smile. “I can think of things I’d rather do than watch Jace’s love life play out like a soap opera.”
“Oh? Like what?”
“Like getting out of these suits.” Cole liked where this was going. He nodded encouragingly, and Ridley finished with, “And turning on a movie, probably science fiction, and just—”
Cole pouted. “Seriously? Are we already in the sweats and TV phase of our relationship?”
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,” Gage joked from across the table.
Ridley bent and whispered in his ear, sending tingles skating over his skin. “Who said anything about sweats? You’re going to be riding me while we watch TV.”
“Ung,” Cole said eloquently.
“And then I’ll ride you. And you’ll ride me again. Until we’re totally sore and sticky and exhausted.”
Cole’s breath caught. Then he stood so fast his chair shot out and tumbled over. “Shoot, sorry!” he said, scrambling to set it upright while Axel smirked at them. Cole was pretty sure he’d heard at least some of what Ridley had said, but he was too turned on to care. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Where are you guys going?” Ronnie said, drifting over from wherever she’d disappeared to. “The auction—”
“Is half over, and we’re not bidding on anyone,” Ridley said. “In fact. Here.” He reached into his wallet, pulled out five one-hundred-dollar bills and tossed them in front of Sean. “My contribution to charity.”
Sean shot up out of his seat. “$5,500 and my undying devotion!”
There were twitters of laughter. “The bid’s at $10,000, son.”
Sean deflated, until Jace stepped up to the microphone. “Keep your money, Sean. The undying devotion is … an intriguing offer, though.”
“Yeah?” Sean said.
“I’d like to hear more about it. Later.”
He stepped back, looking down and smiling at his toes. It looked like maybe Jace would get his happy ending too. From what Ridley told Cole of it, Jace had fallen pretty hard for Sean, and he’d been hurt. Cole glanced at Sean, intrigued, but his love angst couldn’t hold a candle to Ridley’s offer. Smiling, Cole took Ridley’s hand and headed home with his boyfriend, secure in the knowledge that Ridley really, truly chose to love him out of all the men in the world.
Even the one he’d thought he’d always wanted.
Thank you for reading!
Dear reader,
I hope you enjoyed Operation Makeover! Cole and Ridley are really precious to me, two men who both had their own brand of insecurities to overcome to find love with someone who would appreciate them. If you hadn’t guessed, Jace’s love story is next, and he’s being paired with Sean, Ian’s brother who appeared in Orderly Affair. I realize you may not be super fond of Jace right now, given that he never fully appreciated what Ridley had to offer for so many years, but I promise that he’ll win your hearts if you give him a chance!
If you have time to leave a review, even just a few words, that would be super helpful to an indie author like me! And if you’re just starting the Hearts and Health series, I encourage you to go back to the beginning and read the story of Ben and Gage in Heart Trouble.
I love interacting with fans on social media. For book teasers, giveaways, and all the latest book news, join my fan group on Facebook: DJ and Company. Someone wins something every week! If social media isn’t your cup of tea, not to worry! I also offer bonus content and exclusive giveaways through my newsletter list. Sign up here!
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About the Author
DJ Jamison is the author of more than twenty m/m romances. She writes a variety of queer characters, from gay to bisexual to asexual, with a focus on telling love stories that are more about common ground than lust at first sight. DJ grew up in the Midwest in a working-class family, and those influences can be found in her writing through characters coping with real-life problems: money troubles, workplace drama, family conflicts and, of course, falling in love. DJ spent more than a decade in the newspaper industry before chasing her first dream to write fiction. She spent a lifetime reading before that and continues to avidly devour her fellow authors' books each night. She lives in Kansas with her husband, two sons, two fish, one snake, and a sadistic cat named Birdie.
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