Book 3 in the Centerville Muscle series.
ABOUT JULY HEAT
Drew Bernard’s life was shattered in a single, breathless moment. His one action made reconciliation with his family impossible. He can’t change it, but he’s determined to move his life forward and not be defined by a single, horrific moment. When a friend reaches out to him with the offer of a place to stay and a temporary job, Drew makes the move to Centerville.
Morgan Osborne made choices for the benefit of his son, but now the child is a grown man and determined to sever all ties with him – except for the monetary ones. When an unsuspecting Drew witnesses a particularly heated exchange, Morgan makes his apologies and ends up asking Drew to go out with him.
Drew is drawn to Morgan, but he’s afraid to trust his heart. His vision of his new life never included someone like Morgan, someone who would need to know the truth.
All clean and shiny, I hoped to snap a quick nap before my
dinner date. I expected a call or text from Morgan to let me know what time
he’d pick me up. I didn’t anticipate a knock on the door. I pulled on a pair of
faded blue jean shorts and opened the front door to find Morgan standing there.
He looked me over, his gaze going up and down and back up
again. He finally looked me in the eye. “Wow. You have the nicest…eyes.”
I laughed in spite of myself. “It wasn’t my baby blues you
were looking at, Osborne. I know what you’re really interested in.”
“Can’t get much by you. Hey. Your eyes are brown.” He
narrowed his eyes and gave me a fake glare. “Okay. I get the joke. I, um,
was driving by…on my way home… and I saw your car. Is six too early for
tonight?”
“How’d you know it was my car?”
He grinned and flicked his thumb over his shoulder toward
the driveway. “Pfft. Mick Ambrose wouldn’t own something like that, that’s how.
And it has a Virginia license plate.”
I laughed. “Fair enough. So where are we going tonight?”
“There’s this little authentic Greek place over in Easton I
like. It’s very casual, but the atmosphere is great, and the food is even
better.”
“Cool. I’d invite you in--”
“No. No, I don’t want to put you on the spot like that.”
We stared at each other for a moment, but neither of us
spoke. Whatever Logan thought about the man it was obvious Morgan knew and
wouldn’t cross some imaginary line. The problem was I didn’t want Morgan to drive
away now that he was here.
I rolled the dice. “We could start the evening early.”
I swear the man’s ears pricked up like a collie. “I’ll just
wait in the truck while you get dressed.”
With that, he was down the steps, nimble as a mountain goat
and twice as fast. I scratched my chin. I’d wanted to trim the beard but that
might take too long.
It was a good thing I’d already decided what to wear. I
dressed in record time and slowed down long enough to quickly run the trimmer
over my face. In less than ten minutes I’d made myself presentable, sent Logan
a text, and was out the door and into Morgan’s pickup, the one with Osborne
Mechanical, Inc. emblazoned in big gold letters on the doors.
I fastened the seat belt. “What’s first on our list?”
“Did you have lunch?”
“Yep, and even if I didn’t, it’s too close to our dinner
time to eat. Or are you trying to fatten me up for some nefarious purpose?”
He slowed for a stop sign, made a right turn, and
accelerated. “My purposes are all legal and above board. Our first stop is at
my place so I can freshen up. I didn’t expect you’d suggest we spend the
afternoon together.”
I shivered as a sudden vision of us naked on a bed and
bathed in sunlight flashed through my mind. It had been a long time since I
entertained thoughts of having sex again.
“What’s wrong, brown eyes? You already regretting coming out
to play?”
“Not at all.” I glanced at the large brick and stone houses,
set well back from the street behind mature oaks and maples. “Swanky
neighborhood.”
“It used to be, back in my grandparent’s day. Now it’s gone
middle-class.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Not at all. That was a poor choice of words. I guess it
would be more politically correct to say we now have a lot of diversity on the
street, but still good families.”
I glanced sideways at him. I suspected he’d come of age in a
time when words were just words and not considered a social judgment.
“Good families with money?”
“Well, Drew, here’s the thing. The local historical society
has its talons deep into this little enclave, so yeah. You have to have some
money to abide by their dictates as to what you can do with the property you
own.”
He turned left and we passed through a set of wrought iron
gates flanked by simple square fieldstone pillars. A mortared fieldstone fence,
about six feet in height, was built along an east-west line and I suspected the
wall surrounded the entire property. The paved driveway curved gently to the
left and the massive stone house came into view.
The center section of the house was two stories tall and
flanked by wings on either side. I guessed it was built in the nineteenth
century and had been added to over the years. I must have been thinking loudly.
“My great-great-grandfather built this place in the
mid-eighteen-sixties. It’ll be Jason’s someday, not that he’ll appreciate the
history of the place or his family.”
“Is having someone to pass this legacy on to why you married
and had Jason?” Fuck. I put my hand on his knee. “I’m sorry. That was
inappropriate of me.”
Morgan didn’t respond as he pulled the truck in behind the
house and backed it into a spot with practiced ease. I started to panic that
I’d offended him. My question bordered on why he’d tried to deny being gay, and
the whys of it weren’t any of my business. I was on the verge of apologizing
when he patted my hand.
“It’s okay. The answer to that is yes.”
It hadn’t been that simple and I knew it.
* * * *
He handed me a tall tumbler of iced tea.
“Thanks. This is some kitchen. Did the historical society
need to approve this, too?”
“Oh, hell yes. I submitted plans to take out a wall and they
collectively fainted. They came for an on-site inspection before they gave me
the approval to proceed.”
I grinned at him. “Is ‘on-site’ code that means they were
nosey?”
He tapped the rim of his glass to mine. “Smart is a big
turn-on to me.” He downed several swallows of tea, set it aside, and drilled me
with a hot hazel stare. “You wanna come wash my back?”
It wasn’t the worst idea I’d heard today, but it wasn’t
something I wanted to do on a first date. I shook my head. “Red light, Morgan.
I can’t move that fast with someone I just met.”
“Fair enough.” He closed the distance between us and slipped
his arms around my waist. “But if I don’t do this, I may not make it through
the day.”
My heartbeat pounded in my ears. Anticipation jolted through
me. I wasn’t ready to get naked with him but kissing him was something else. My
whole being stretched toward the moment his lips would touch mine. Then they
did, and I melted into the man.
His lips tasted of hope and questions. Knees quivering, I
opened to let him in, and his warm, silky tongue slid over mine. My cock
swelled full in seconds, aching with a need I couldn’t meet, not yet. I wrapped
my arms around his neck and held on as he backed me to the kitchen island and
pressed his lower body to mine. He moaned as he rubbed his erection to mine and
pulled his lips from mine to kiss his way down my neck. I forgot how to breathe
as he nibbled my earlobe.
“Morgan. You’re killing me here.” I held him tighter so he
couldn’t pull away.
He chuckled softly. “Good. Do you want to reconsider my
offer?”
“Nope. I signed on for a ride in your Mach 1 and dinner. I’m
sticking to the plan.”
He brushed his mouth to mine in a quick, light kiss and
released me. “We’ll stick to your plan since mine isn’t working at the moment.”
I laughed with him knowing he wasn’t the least bit deterred.
He motioned for me to follow him and led me to a comfortable family room
complete with a very large flat-screen television. He handed me the remote
control.
“Tune in whatever you like. I’ll be a few minutes since I
have to scrub my own back.”
“Oh, shoo. Get. I’ll be right here waiting for you.” I
plopped down on the sofa and grinned up at him. He leaned over me and I forgot
to smile. Did he plan to kiss me again?
“I want you to think about me upstairs and naked. And wet
and soapy. Probably hard, too.”
I sucked in a ragged breath. Two could play that game. “And
you think about me sitting here with my hand down the front of my jeans.”
He straightened so quickly I was surprised he didn’t hurt
his back. “That’s just playing dirty pool, my friend.”
JULY HEAT
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KC Kendricks
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