A wrong number on New Year’s Eve turns into a romance.
“Wow. We haven’t had dinner yet and that sounds like you’re already laying the foundation for an out.”
It’s New Year’s Eve and Andre Maxwell tries to reach out to
his estranged twin brother only to find that phone number now belongs to
someone named Derek. It seems like Derek is a caring guy, and they stay on the
phone to watch the ball drop together.
In one of life’s twists, they meet as strangers at a local
pub and discover they’ve been talking on the phone. Derek doesn’t think he’s
ready to love again, and Andre’s never had a decent relationship. But lonely
hearts want what they want, after dark.
EXCERPT:
Out with the old and in with the new.
The new mattress arrived first thing on Friday morning. I
made the bed with the new sheets and hustled off to my day job. I was deep into
the personnel review of the new company, and I wanted to schedule a few
interviews for next week.
If I made it through the day without losing my mind, Eddie
and I were going to work at the radio station tonight to get two more Friday
night shows recorded. My lawyer hadn’t gotten back to me about the syndication
contract, but Eddie and I needed to do some preliminary work and get our ducks
in a row. We were going to act on faith.
I had all this to do, and my focus was on my date tomorrow
evening. Andre hadn’t called me, and I was squirrely over it. I had
purposefully not stopped at the Night Owl for a drink, and now I feared he
thought I was avoiding him. Which I was, in a way.
Andre was cute in ways Daryl had not been. It seemed shallow
to compare them, but I couldn’t help myself. I had yet to discern the color of
his eyes. The Night Owl’s dim lighting prevented me from getting a good look,
but I suspected they were light blue or gray. I had gotten a look at his ruby signet
ring though, and the shank was engraved with a stylized “C” which I thought must
be for his twin brother.
And then there was The Itch. Ah, that low-level simmering
heat in my balls every time I thought about what may or may not happen after
our dinner. I’d never been one to think with my cock, but my cock was ready to
seize the lead. I couldn’t allow that to happen. I barely knew Andre, certainly
not well enough to consider letting him fondle the goods.
Eddie and I worked like demented fiends until midnight, and
I hit the wall. I was beat until my ass hit the car seat, and I suddenly had a
second wind. Instead of heading home, I cruised into the Night Owl’s parking
lot.
This was not a good move, but Andre had said he’d call me
sometime today and he had not. I wondered why. I climbed out of my car just as
he sprinted out the door and straight for me.
“I thought you were going to call me,” I said as he pinned
me to my car and kissed my cheek. I slid sideways out of his grasp.
“I did say that, but the day got away from me, Derek. I’ve
been here, hoping you’d stop, and I’d just given up when I saw you drive in.”
He studied me for a moment. “Are you going to tell me you ‘worked’ late again?”
I pushed the button on the remote to unlock my car doors.
“Get in, and I’ll talk.”
His eyes glittered in the streetlights, but he finally
nodded and walked around to the passenger door.
If I didn’t tell him what was going on, he’d think I was
seeing another man, and I couldn’t blame him if he did. Keeping secrets never
worked well for me. I dropped back onto the driver’s seat and locked the doors.
I shifted to face him.
“What I’m about to tell you is top secret. It can’t get out
just yet because I still need my day job.” I held my right pinkie finger out to
him. “Do you swear to stay silent?”
Andre hooked his pinkie around mine. “I swear, but you’d
better tell me now or I might die from curiosity.”
“Here it is. I’m Rick January.”
He tilted his head. “Who?”
I stared at him. He didn’t know? “You don’t listen to local
radio?”
A wide grin transformed his face. “Gotcha! Oh, my God. I can
tell now. The voice. You really are Rick January? No shit?”
“No shit. My ‘working late’ is being on the air from six
until ten, weeknights. I don’t tell people this, Andre, but I’m telling you so
you know I’m not lying to you about working.”
He leaned back and then held his pinkie out to me again. “I
won’t tell a soul, not even my friend Joyce.”
“Thank you. But there’s more. The show is going to be
syndicated nationwide, so I have a lot of work ahead of me.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Wow. We haven’t had dinner yet
and that sounds like you’re already laying the foundation for an out.”
_*_*_*_
January After Dark is available at:
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G66DB4QX
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0G66DB4QX
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0G66DB4QX
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