September 4, 2011
**updated 5/17/2016 and April 1, 2021**
Just released! Highway Nights!
Highway Nights goes way back in my stack of idea folders and stems from one of my youthful adventures. I used to keep company with a fellow a few years my junior, and we liked to trip down the Interstate to a little place by the river for a late-night snack and a few rounds of pool. I was quite fond of that little out-of-the-way place with its welcoming proprietor and friendly bartender. (At least they were to me, but I always smiled and never gave them any grief.) So The Downshift Diner is a little nod to that time in my life.
Here's the blurb and excerpts from HIGHWAY NIGHTS, now available. Thanks for reading!
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HIGHWAY NIGHTS
Contemporary gay romance
Garrett Webb has a five-point plan for starting his own business. To keep it on track, he takes a second job and settles into the evening delivery run between Owensville and Mt. Franklin. The solitude of being on the road clears his head and enables him to chart a better future for himself. When a foggy night sends him to the safety of The Downshift Diner and its owner, Oliver Sanderson, that future takes an unforeseen turn.
Oliver Sanderson enjoys a quiet life along the lonely stretch of highway that’s home to his diner. The road brings all manner of interesting souls to his door. When Garrett Webb steps out of the fog seeking shelter, his openness and honesty draw Oliver’s interest. He’s ready to take the next step but needs to be cautious. Trouble is coming to the diner, and Oliver wants Garrett clear of it.
Good intentions can’t hold out against their budding attraction. Garrett makes the diner a regular stop during his nightly run, and the men get better acquainted. But Garrett’s past isn’t done with him. In a single heart-stopping moment, Garrett is forced to a decision that risks Oliver’s life – one that could forever end their highway nights.
INTRO:
Oliver settled in the booth and stared across the table. “You gonna tell me why you’re really here?”
“I told you. Food and conversation.”
The young man didn’t bat an eye. Oliver had a good sense about men, and it said Garrett was interested in a lot more than talk. He saw no point in calling the fellow on it, not yet. It could be Garrett didn’t consciously realize what he wanted. Life handed you moments like that, and Oliver had had his fair share of them. But if the lad wanted talk, he’d be glad to get the ball rolling.
“All right, then. I’ll be nosey and start our chat. So why are you working two jobs? A young fellow like you should be out clubbing every night.”
“My five-point plan suffered a setback. I’m working to recoup some losses.”
“Boyfriend?”
Garrett sighed. “Not any longer.”
And, no doubt, the ex-boyfriend was the reason the five-point plan had been derailed. It usually was. Oliver could say he’d been there and done that, too, but he’d wait to see if Garrett asked first. He didn’t, so Oliver tried another topic.
“Nice jeans.”
“Thanks. I got a great deal on them. Twenty bucks at a yard sale.”
Yard sale? No wonder Garrett dressed like a prince. Oliver could, too, if he had the patience to treasure hunt, because that’s what a yard sale really was.
“Good looking, hard working and frugal. You don’t find that combination every day.”
Garrett sipped his cola, his blue gaze fastened on Oliver’s. “That’s me. Do you like the back pockets of my pants?”
“Ah, a flaw. Vanity.” Oliver leaned back, unable to refrain from grinning at Garrett. “I noticed. I’ll say it since your ego appears to need it.” He leaned forward and kept his voice down. “Nice ass.”
EXCERPT:
Oliver grinned and stopped in front of him.
“Happy to see me?”
Garrett glanced down. “As happy as you appear to be. Can a guy get a soda to go in this joint?”
Oliver shook his head. “I’ve better at the house. Let me tell Shirl and Billy not to call me unless it’s an emergency.” He disappeared into the kitchen, and sauntered back out in less than thirty seconds. Oliver motioned at the front entrance. “Let’s go.”
Garrett turned and held the door open for Oliver. “What constitutes an emergency?”
“Someone is bleeding, choking, or keels over all the way to the floor.” He placed his hand on the small of Garrett’s back and guided him around the corner of the building.
Garrett leaned closer to the warmth of Oliver’s body. “Not fire?”
“That’s what the firemen are for. Call ‘em. Besides, I like firemen. Don’t you?”
“Sure. Big, burly men turn me on.” Garrett stroked Oliver’s well-formed bicep. Oliver laughed softly and backed Garrett against the rear wall of the diner, out of sight from the clientele and staff.
“To each, their own.”
Garrett grasped Oliver’s hips and yanked him against him. He held him there and soaked up the heat from Oliver’s body. The corner of his mouth quirked in a small smile.
“So, am I going to have to beg you to kiss me again?”
Oliver ran his thumb over Garrett’s lower lip. He swallowed, the muscles in his throat moving. “Garrett. Be sure you want this. Don’t lead me on then tell me to stop.”
“I came for this, Oliver.”
Something dark and unsettled sparked in Oliver’s eyes. “Don’t get too attached to me, either, boy.”
“I’m horny. I want to fuck you, not marry you.”
Oliver leaned in, his breath warm on Garrett’s moist lips. In the back of his mind, Garrett registered surprise at Oliver’s reticence but he’d ponder it later. He shifted forward and touched his lips to Oliver’s.
Need burst through him, a siren song in his blood that built as Oliver’s tongue licked into his in a bold stroke. The larger man pressed his body to the sun-warmed bricks, pinning him, his pelvis grinding against Garrett’s in a mock taking. Garrett thrust his tongue into the heat of Oliver’s mouth. Back and forth they tested, well matched, as the world spun behind his closed eyes. Suddenly breathless, Garrett tore his lips from Oliver’s. Oliver rested his forehead to his, breathing hard.
“You should go home, Garrett.”
“I don’t think so. Why are you afraid of me?” He ran his fingers through Oliver’s short hair.
Oliver brushed a kiss to his lips. “I’m too old for someone in his twenties, Garrett.”
“I’m going to surprise you. I’m thirty-two.” He laughed as the man’s eyebrows shot up. “Told you I was older than I look.”
Oliver’s eyes darkened. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am, but I still feel like a dirty old pervert chasing chickens.” He levered off the wall, grabbed Garrett’s hand, and pulled him along the flagstone path to the bungalow-style house.
Garrett fell into step beside him and slipped their linked hands behind Oliver’s back. There was one sure way he knew to find out Oliver’s age—give him a little dig.
“You can’t be that old. What are you? Fifty?”
“Fifty! No, smart-ass, I’m forty-four. Happy to know that?” Oliver eased his hand free as they climbed the steps to the wide veranda. He pulled keys out of his pocket and unlocked the front door. “I should spank you for that.”
Garrett stepped into the foyer and patted his butt. “A spanking might be fun sometime, but not tonight...”
HIGHWAY NIGHTS
