Only Boxed Set Coming Soon

Coming March 25, 2017, the Only Series will be available as an ebook packaged set from JMS Books.Below are the covers. The first one is the cover that goes up on Amazon only but I think it's pretty cool.

That's the news for now.

Two More Covers

Here's the updated cover for the final "Only: book.

And here is the one for Maybe This Time (my dancer book)

Only in His Dreams New Cover

The "Only" series is also being re-released through JMS Books (exclusively with Amazon for three months) and here is the first one's cover. It should be for sale on Amazon (or through the Unlimited program) in June (I think around the first).

Don't Forget

Tomorrow is the last day to enter to win Only His Heart. A few of my regulars haven't entered yet so just thought I'd mention. My list of those who have entered are below and I add to it as see someone entering. If you don't see yourself, I don't have you, so remind me. If you have won in the past, who cares. It's perfectly fine to enter again.

Here is the "official" excerpt if you are on the fence.


...Matt turned Calvin to face him and placed a kiss on his lips. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Did your grandmother get you counseling?”

“Sure, for a while I talked to people. It helped some. I still had nightmares for years. Not so much anymore.”

He hugged him tight. “I can’t imagine it.”

Calvin nodded and pulled back. He smiled a little. “Still want to fuck me?”

Matt lowered his mouth to his, kissing him deep and long until they were both breathless, and then when Calvin opened his mouth on a gasp, his tongue slipped in, tangling with his.

He yanked on the sleeves of Calvin’s open shirt, pulled it off, and threw it. “Does that tell you?” His hands smoothed over Calvin’s nipples sending shivers through him. “How about that? Does that tell you?”

Matt couldn’t remember wanting someone as much as he wanted Calvin at that moment. The man was the most gorgeous specimen he’d ever come across, but there was something that touched him about Calvin. From the first moment he’d seen him sitting alone in the cafeteria staring into a Styrofoam cup.

And apparently, Calvin had very sensitive nipples, he realized with a grin. He bent down enough to swipe his tongue across first one and then the other, eliciting a loud moan from the trembling man.

Though Matt didn’t consider himself a selfish lover, he didn’t think he was particularly generous either when it came to making sure whoever he was with had a good time. But with Calvin, he wanted to blow Calvin’s mind. And…something else, too.

Leaving his teasing of Calvin’s chest somewhat reluctantly, Matt dropped to his knees. He undid Calvin’s belt and slowly unzipped his pants. He noted the man wore pristine white briefs just before he slipped his hand in and cupped the prominent erection.

“Ah,” Calvin let out a deep moan that went straight to Matt’s cock. With his other hand Matt rubbed his dick through his slacks.

He released his grip on Calvin’s briefs but only for the time it took to yank his pants down to his knees. Licking his lips in anticipation, Matt opened his mouth over the bulge in Calvin’s underwear.

“Oh, fuck.”

Matt smiled. There was something incredibly sexy about four-letter words coming from that sweet, angelic mouth. He sucked on the hard cock through the cotton. Calvin squirmed.

Oh yeah, he could see himself wanting to tease and play with Calvin like this for hours. Unfortunately rubbing his dick made him just a bit crazed and his balls ached with the need to come.

He moved his hands away from his own cock and pulled Calvin’s tighty-whities down to his knees where he’d left his pants. The man’s beautiful thick, red cock slapped him on the cheek.

“Wow, that’s a thing of beauty,” he murmured.

Calvin laughed, drawing Matt’s gaze to the man’s beautiful face. Calvin was looking down at him, his cheeks flushed pink, his plump lips begging to be kissed. And damn, Matt wanted to devour them…him. But first, he wanted the cock.

He lapped up the pre-cum on the tip. Closing his eyes, he opened his mouth over the fat head, sucking gently. His hands moved to Calvin’s round ass, massaging the soft, warm skin there and briefly distracting him with thoughts of thrusting deep and hard between those cheeks.

The image flashed through his head and he very nearly stopped to get up and do just that. He pushed it aside, for only a short time, and sucked Calvin’s cock in earnest, pushing it farther into his mouth.

Little whimpers escaped Calvin’s lips, and his hands slipped into Matt’s hair, holding him there. His hips moved, fucking Matt’s mouth. Matt stuck a finger in his mouth as he sucked, liberally wetting it, and then scooted it around to Calvin’s hole, pressing in.

“Matt.” Calvin groaned.

Fuck. The sound of his name in that voice from those lips caused his own erection to push so painfully on his boxers, he reached down and blindly unzipped his slacks, pulling out his hard dick.

“Matt, God, please, fuck me.”

He needed no second invitation...

Saturday Excerpt Early - Only His Heart by Shawn Lane

I'm going to be working on setting up the desktop tonight (and since I don't know how soon the wireless router will be working with both computers), I am posting the excerpt early. Also tomorrow I am literally going to be gone for the entire day and night. I should be back to posting Sunday's Eye Candy on Sunday.




Blurb:

Dr. Calvin Lassiter is an emergency room doctor who buries himself in his high stress job. He has no time for a relationship and most definitely is not interested in the new emergency room nurse, Matt Walton.


Matt is exactly what he doesn't want. An eyeliner wearing bad boy who rides a motorcycle.


Matt is intrigued by the stuffy, too beautiful for words doctor, but the good doc is as cold as ice. Matt's fellow nurses bet him he can't melt Dr. Lassiter and get him into his bed.


Too fascinated by Calvin not to try, Matt succeeds in breaking the doctor's hard exterior, but as their relationship turns serious, the possibility hangs over his head that his co-workers will tell his sexy doctor the truth and end his dreams of winning Calvin's heart forever.


Excerpt:

Matt Walton was having a pretty decent second day. Sure his feet hurt. Whose wouldn’t when they hadn’t been allowed much rest in the last forty-eight hours? Finally, he had a few moments to take a lunch.

He glanced around the basement cafeteria. Only a handful of people were there, not surprising as it was close to one in the morning. He didn’t recognize any of them, but it was only his second twelve hour shift.

Matt walked over to the food area and decided on a small salad and a slice of peach pie along with a cup of coffee. As he approached the register, he couldn’t help but notice a pretty young thing sitting by himself at a table in the corner drinking something out of a Styrofoam cup, his eyes downcast. The young man was dressed in scrubs and Matt figured he was probably an orderly or a lab tech.

Even as he was paying at the register he couldn’t keep from staring at the pretty young man. He was just Matt’s type.

Matt, who had come out as a teen, didn’t bother to hide his sexual orientation from anyone. He was out and proud and had participated in a number of gay pride events.

And this kid was seriously hot. Damn, he hadn’t been hit with such a wave of lust across a room like this in…a long fucking time.

Everything about him was gorgeous. His dark sandy blond hair, the porcelain skin, and those big pouty lips. Matt wondered what color eyes he had. He would guess blue. No reason not to find out.

He took his tray and walked to the corner table. He was really hoping this beautiful man was gay. Probably not, knowing Matt’s luck, but he could dream.

“Hey, kid, is this seat taken?” he asked as he stopped at the table.

The pretty young thing, who had blue eyes Matt noticed when he looked up, gave him the coldest look he’d ever seen. He stared daggers is how it was referred to, and lesser men would no doubt have been felled by it.

“That would be Dr. Lassiter to you…nurse.”

Matt’s jaw dropped. Whoa, this was Dr. Lassiter? Since the moment he began his day yesterday the other members of the nursing staff had warned him about Calvin Lassiter. Biggest prick you’ll ever meet, as cold and arrogant as they come, and even guy is an ice queen. This reminded Matt that when the nurse who said that about the doctor found out Matt was gay, she’d apologized all over herself, saying she hadn’t meant anything bad. Dr. Lassiter was gay, though, which is how he got the nickname.

“Sorry, doctor. Can I sit anyway?”

Dr. Lassiter didn’t respond, he just raised his cup to his stunning lips and took a sip.

Shrugging, Matt sat across from him and stuck his hand out. “Matt Walton.”

“I know who you are.” He didn’t take Matt’s hand. “You almost ran me over today in the parking lot with your motorcycle.”

“That was you?”

“You really ought to drive more carefully in a hospital parking lot. We don’t need any more patients.”

“You walked in front of me and I was barely able to swerve to avoid,” Matt angrily retorted. “Maybe you should watch where you are walking.”

The doctor sighed. “Even if I did, there will be lots of people in the parking lot doing the very same thing. Families visiting loved ones. I’m sure as a nurse you don’t want to be responsible for running over some child coming to visit their sick mother, do you?”

His jaw tightening, Matt nodded. “Okay, point taken. I’ll slow down.”

Dr. Lassiter’s full lips curved up in a slight smile that was too damn adorable for such a jerk. He hated being a sucker for a pretty face.

“I have to say, Walton, I’m kind of surprised.”

“At?”

He shrugged. “I would think someone who is a nurse, one working in an emergency room, no less, wouldn’t be so careless as to ride a motorcycle.”

Okay, now the good doc was sounding like his mother.

“I’m a safe driver,” Matt replied in a tone to match Lassiter’s.

One blond brow rose. “Even so, car drivers may not be so safe. I’ve seen too many motorcycle accident victims here not to be concerned.”

Matt tapped his fingers loudly on the table, realized he was doing it, and hid his hand in his lap. “So, doctor, you don’t see car accidents, too? Just motorcycles?”

“Of course I see both.”

“Hmm, so do you tell all the staff you are surprised they drive cars?”

“No.”

To Matt’s delight, Calvin Lassiter turned a light shade of pink. Unfortunately, it made him even more appealing, damn it.

“Okay, then, I appreciate your concern and I’ll be sure to be more careful driving through the hospital parking lot.” He stabbed his fork into the salad. Then something occurred to him. He looked up, staring. “You look kind of familiar. Have we met?”

“No, you probably recognize me from when you nearly killed me.”

He ignored that and stuffed a bite in his mouth. “No, it’s something…Lassiter. I’ve heard that name before.” He tilted his head to the side, studying the sexy doc. “Wait, I know.”

Lassiter scowled when others in the room looked their way. “Keep your voice down.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I remember now. I should have thought about it yesterday when the other nurses were talking about you.”

That got him another icy glare. “And what were they saying?”

He felt himself heat in a blush this time. He cleared his throat. “How great a doctor you were. A-anyway, I guess I didn’t connect it then, but now that I see you, it makes sense.”

“I’m glad to hear it. What?”

“You have a brother named Barnaby, don’t you?”

Dr. Lassiter grimaced. “Former lover?”

“What? No.”

“You looked sort of like his type. His old type, I should say.”

Matt wondered what type he looked like, but decided to let that pass, at least for the moment. “My stepbrother is Nathan Llewellyn.”

Matt’s stepbrother, Nathan, had brought his new boyfriend, Barnaby, along for a family gathering about a month ago. He’d been surprised because he thought Nathan went for stuffy lawyers just like himself, not pretty boys in makeup.

He had to admit Barnaby was very attractive, but Matt thought his brother, Calvin, was even more beautiful.

“Right. I do seem to recall Nathan mentioning a stepbrother who is a nurse. I don’t think he ever mentioned your name.”

Matt nodded. “Yeah, we aren’t very close. We see each other maybe twice a year at family things. His father married my mother several years ago and we share some half-siblings.”

“Hmm.”

Silence descended over the table and Matt felt the need to break it. “So, you and your brother are both gay?”

Lassiter stiffened and pushed aside his Styrofoam cup and stood. “I don’t discuss my private life with the nursing staff. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back.”

Thursday Updates

Okay, so, I'm a believer that as a writer, you should write the character that's calling to you at that time.

And right now that character is Mason. Mason is my model hero from my upcoming Hot Summer Daze story for AQP, The Beach House. I'm working on the first chapter now and already I am in love with my tortured Mason.

I did get a chapter written, as I said earlier this week, on Maurice and Lance's story.

And no, I haven't forgotten Jude. He'll be done before the summer is over, I am promising that right now. Quote me from this post later if I break my promise.

Anyway, still waiting for covers for His Only and Only and Pieces.

Not sure what I will talk about tomorrow, but Saturday, I will post an excerpt from Only His Heart, Calvin's story, coming in May.

Updates On a Tuesday

Okay, so I haven't yet finished Kevin's Interlude story that I will be posting on the blog. I thought I'd get it done over the weekend but well...I didn't. Within the week it will be posted.

Thanks again for the birthday wishes.

I did get a message from Shayne who very sweetly signed on just to wish me happy birthday. He says his fever isn't quite as bad so he hopes that means he is on the mend. I know he has another doctor's appointment on Wednesday where the doctor will evaluate whether or not he has made any improvement. I know both Jack and Shayne are hoping to avoid him having to be hospitalized. A big hug and kiss to Josh too for keeping me updated on Shayne while Jack has been busy caring for him.

Now that the birthday is over, I need to get back to work. As you all know I have a lot of stories I need to finish, not the least of which is the fourth and final Only story, His One and Only.

Alas a New Week Begins

Thanks to everyone who read and enjoyed Only in His Dreams. I hope those who still have it in their to be read lists will enjoy it when they get to it.

Here's a picture for you.




Now that I am in wait mode to learn the fate of Pieces, I am going back to the fourth book in the Only Forever series, His One and Only.

Hope everyone has a decent week. It's my last week at 44.

New Release - Only In His Dreams

Normally I reserve Sundays for eye candy but since I have a release today I thought I would change it up a bit. Only in His Dreams is available right now for $3.00.

In other news, I finished my angst-filled, Pieces, and have submitted it to a publisher for consideration. As soon as I have news I'll post here. This is basically a story I began last year and then dropped it. Recently I had the urge to take it up again and I wrote the rest pretty quickly. Ava liked it a lot so we'll see what the publisher says. It was nice to finish a story I had originally tackled last year.

Excerpt Day - Only His Heart by Shawn Lane

Since I don't have a cover for the third book in the series, enjoy this picture.



This is the third book in the Only Forever series. Calvin and Matt's story. Calvin is Barnaby's brother. You'll meet him in Book 2, Barnaby's story.

Enjoy!

Jabbing his finger into the speed dial number, Matt waited, breath held as he listened to the rings.

“Dr. Lassiter.”

Matt swallowed, his heart hammering. “Calvin, this is Matt. Matt Walton.”

No response.

His palms sweating, he cleared his throat. “Are you there?”

“Yes. How did you get my number?”

“Nathan.”

“Ah. Okay, what is it?”

“I was wondering…I’m off today.”

“I remember.”

Matt laid down. He thought maybe it would help. “Want to maybe go somewhere with me?”

Smooth, Matt.

“Where?”

Okay, that was not a no. “Um, dinner?”

Matt could hear a sort or rustling on the other end and he was dreading Calvin saying no. He just knew he was going to. And probably with some lame excuse like he was washing his hair. He prepared himself for the disappointment.

“What time?”

He sat up straight. “What time?”

“Yes.”

“I can pick you up at six. If you give me your address that is.”

“Well—”

“I have a car, too. I’ll bring it,” he said quickly.

“All right.”

Matt barely had time to scramble to find a pen before Calvin was rattling off his address. “What do you like to eat?”

“I’m good with just about anything.”

“Chinese?”

“All right. See you at six.”

Matt smiled as he disconnected the call. Calvin had actually agreed.
* * *

Matt pulled into the end of the driveway at Calvin’s modest suburban home. The good doc lived on a cozy little cul-de-sac.

He’d agonized just a bit on what to wear to his first official first date with Calvin and ultimately decided on black slacks and a navy polo shirt along with his bomber jacket. He’d lined his eye with navy eyeliner.

When the door opened to reveal his date, Matt stared, more than a little in awe. Really, he didn’t think he’d seen a man more attractive, more beautiful than Calvin. Calvin had dressed in navy pants similar in style to his own slacks, but he wore a button down navy pin-striped shirt opened at the throat. A sexy gold rope chain lay against the creamy expanse of his throat.

But when he tore his gaze away from that, it was Calvin’s too blue eyes framed by delicate gold lashes that made his breath hitch and his knees weak. And those…lips. Matt didn’t know how long he could resist those plump, kissable lips.

“Hello.”

Matt smiled, exhaling to calm the rapid beat of his heart. “You look fantastic.”

Calvin blushed. “Um, thanks. Let me get my coat.” He returned in just a few seconds shrugging into an Armani coat.

“Wow, nice coat.”

His date shrugged. “A Christmas gift from my grandmother. I think she got it on eBay.” Calvin stepped outside and turned to lock his front door.

When he turned around, Matt crushed his mouth over Calvin’s, unable to resist trying out those lips one second longer. They were the softest, tastiest damn lips he’d ever kissed. He pulled away before Calvin had time to protest too much.

“Sorry,” he said, not sorry at all. “I’ve just been wanting those since I first saw you in the cafeteria.”

Calvin didn’t answer but his lips did turn up just a bit in a small smile. When they reached his car, he raised an eyebrow. “You? A Mercedes?”

He laughed. “I know. It was my stepdad’s. He upgraded and it’s older, so he gave it to me. I rarely ever drive it because the motorcycle gets better mileage and it’s more my image.”

“Definitely,” Calvin agreed. “But there was no way I was going to ride on it.”

“I know. All right, let’s be off.”

Friday Updates

So, I didn’t get quite as much done Thursday on the current wip. Understandable given the day. Still I got about 500 words.

Monday I will begin the giveaway for Only In His Dreams. Wow, does it seem like forever since I had a release? It does to me. I’m excited to finally have a release coming up. As you know, Only In His Dreams is the first story in my Only series.

Saturday’s excerpt will be from Only In His Dreams but I think I am going to use the one that gives you a taste of Barnaby and Nate from Only For Him, coming in April.

Not sure who will appear as candy yet on Sunday. I’ll find something.

Release Date News

Only His Heart will be released May 23, 2010.

In other "only" news, eventually the stories in the series will form a paperback collection to be called Only Forever. Not sure about timing on that yet as there is a distinct possibility of a fourth story called His One and Only.

Only His Heart News

I am pleased to report Only His Heart is finished and ready to submit (pretty close and will be submitted tonight). I'll advise the release date as soon as I have it.

I really loved working on Calvin and Matt's story and I hope you will love it when you read it. As usual, I'll post the cover when I get it.

And now I seriously need to pump up the volume on Still the One.

Only In His Dreams Excerpt

I feel like I've been pushing Barnaby's and Calvin's stories that you might think I don't love my men, Travis and Darrell, from Only in His Dreams, the first book in the series. So below the picture is an excerpt. Hopefully it will get you excited for next month's release.




Darrell couldn’t remember the last time he enjoyed an evening like this. They’d watched all the various Die Hard movies, laughing and commenting throughout them. They’d switched to beers and he’d made popcorn. Really he hadn’t wanted the night to end. At least Travis wasn’t going home.

But Darrell had always been a cautious man. Starting anything, even casual sex with Travis, could get complicated. Since the firm was Travis’s if something bad happened between them it would be Darrell who’d be forced to find new employment.

That didn’t stop him from wanting to bend Travis over the sofa and fucking him deep and slow.

Forcing the tempting thoughts from his mind before it gave him an obvious boner, Darrell stood and glanced at the clock. Nearly one in the morning. “The spare room is all set up. The sheets are clean and I left a pair of pajamas in there for you if you’d like to change. They should fit well enough for you to sleep in them anyway.”

Travis stood and stretched, his rumpled white dress shirt straining across his biceps and abs. His mouth dry, Darrell stared openly. He’d found white guys attractive before, though he hadn’t pursued it, but never like this. Every move Travis made riveted him. Every curve of his sensual, slightly plump lips fascinated him.

“Great,” Travis said. “I’m bushed.”

He let Travis go in front of him down the hall toward the bedrooms, unabashedly gawking at the man’s perfect round ass. Really, his resolve to take things slow with Travis began to waiver. Maybe just a goodnight kiss would satisfy him. After all it had been sort of a date.

Travis turned to him as they reached the spare room, a small smile on his lips, and before he could lose his nerve, Darrell pushed him against the wall and ground his mouth over Travis’s squelching the man’s gasp of surprise.

As soon as their chests melded together, as soon as his hands slid up Travis’s arms, as soon as his pelvis fitted against Travis’s, Darrell knew the goodnight kiss had been a mistake. Or the idea that it would satiate him had been anyway. His dick was so hard he thought it might tear through both his briefs and his slacks.

Travis moaned low and opened his mouth to allow the intrusion of Darrell’s tongue. For just a minute, second really, Darrell intended to pull away and return to his original plan, but then Travis’s hand crept between their bodies and cupped his erection.

Fuck.

And that’s just what he intended to do. He tore his mouth away with effort and asked the burning question in his feverish mind. “Do you top, bottom or both?”

Minor Updates

I have nothing really very new to report. I am still working on Only His Heart and it's coming along.

I have decided once this book and Still the One has been completed I will return to working on Jude's book, Twice in a Lifetime. I have several people mention this to me lately (you know who you are), so I guess I'd better get to it.

But first, I must finish Only His Heart and Still the One. Still waiting on a cover for Only For Him.

Sigh...Monday

Well, it's Monday again. It's a somewhat short week for me at the day job (evil) as I took Tuesday off for some doctor's appointments. Any day off is a good one, though.

I made a great deal of progress over the weekend on Only His Heart. I managed to finish three chapters. Go Me! At this rate I should be well on my way to finishing this in the near future. Yes, I know I was supposed to work on Still the One which is due March 01, but I didn't wanna. LOL. Seriously, that is my only excuse. I wanted to work on Only His Heart. It's working out well, I think, and I expect to perhaps be finished with that book by February 06. That still gives me three weeks to get Still the One done.

Today's picture is for Maggie.

I Think I Have a Title (Only His Heart)

So I think I am going to go with Only His Heart or His One and Only. Something along those lines. As D.L. pointed out, in order to go along with Only In His Dreams and Only For Him, I think the pronoun in the third book needs to match. I'm leaning toward Only His Heart.

I actually started it and have about 1,000 words done but now I think it needs work. Not sure I like the words I have so far and may redo what I have written. We'll see. I wanted to work on it and so I did, but really, I do need to work on Still the One.

PS. The middle picture is more my image of Calvin, although, perhaps just a smidge older looking, but fairly close. Last time on the Ash pics for a while since I need to do Still the One.

E.H., feel free to ignore my fantasy picture and make up one of your own.

And because Eyre felt bad, I put the first picture pack. Oh and there's Zac, too. LOL

Need a Title

This isn't a contest, really, just asking for suggestions, and of course, if you suggest something you'll have my undying gratitude for whatever that's worth. LOL

As you know, I have finished two of my three books in the "only" series. The first two are Only in His Dreams and Only For Him. What this means is the third book needs to have "only" in the title. Anyone want to offer suggestions?

Here is the basic premise (subject to change on Shawn's whim):

Dr. Calvin Lassiter is an emergency room doctor who buries himself in his high stress job. He has no time for a relationship and most definitely is not interested in the new emergency room nurse, Matt Walton.

Matt is exactly what he doesn't want. An eyeliner wearing bad boy who rides a motorcycle.

Matt is intrigued by the stuffy, too beautiful for words doctor, but the good doc is as cold as ice. Matt's fellow nurses bet him he can't melt Dr. Lassiter and get him into his bed.

Too fascinated by Calvin not to try, Matt succeeds in breaking the doctor's hard exterior, but as their relationship gets serious, Matt can't help but fear the wall will come between them for good if his co-workers tell his sexy doctor the truth.

So, there you have it. Suggestion away, but please do think of something with "only" in the title.

Only For Him is Finished

Couldn't resist posting this one.


Only For Him is finished! Yeah! I've already sent it off and I have a release date of April 18, 2010.


The third only book starring Calvin, Barnaby's brother, has to wait just a little longer. I think you'll like Calvin too as he looks very similar to Barnaby but a little older and a lot more stuffy. But not to worry his hero, Matt, will definitely be a great match for him.


First up though is Still the One the sequel to The Best Gift. It's a look into Malcolm and Dusty's life five years later (probably out in June as part of a Best Friends Amber Pax).


Once that is done I will be returning to Calvin and Matt.
As soon as Only For Him has a cover, I'll let you know.

Progress Update and Only For Him Teaser

Barnaby's making progress and getting it on with Nathan right now. I hit the 10,000 word mark. I really have no clue what the word length will end up at for Only For Him. I'm thinking novella which starts at 18,000 but it might end up under that and make it to Extended Amber Kiss which is what Only In His Dreams was. This one will be just a smidge angsty but hopefully in the end you will all feel that Barnaby and Nathan deserve their Happily Ever After.

I still intend to keep my self-imposed deadline of having it done January 23/24. Wish me luck!

Before I get to Calvin and Matt's story, which will be the third "Only" book, I will then be working on the sequel to The Best Gift with Dusty and Malcolm five years later. That one will be called Still the One and should be part of a best friends/lovers Amber Quill sort of anthology (called Pax) in early summer.

Here is a teaser for you. The opening pages of Only For Him.


Barnaby Lassiter thought perhaps if he squinted his left eye and tilted his head a bit to the right the guy leering at him from the other end of the bar could pass for him. The man at the other end had dark hair and glasses like him. Maybe if he had another drink or two or three he could pretend.

The man, apparently feeling encouraged by Barnaby looking at him, got up and made his way toward him. Barnaby shook his head and took a sip of his chocolate martini. Nope, not even close to looking like Nathan.

“Hey, gorgeous,” the man said as he reached Barnaby. His hand smoothed over Barnaby’s jean covered knee. “Can I buy you another one?”

Barnaby smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, I’m meeting someone here.” Which was not a lie, actually. And he was glad of that.

The guy’s smile turned brittle. “Sure, whatever.” He moved away, but not before digging his fingers painfully in Barnaby’s leg.

Dickhead.

He sighed and glanced at his digital watch. Calvin was already thirty minutes late. Stood up by his older brother had to be the height of patheticness. Um…that probably wasn’t even a damn word.

The bell above the door jangled and Barnaby once more turned to look hopefully.

At last.

Calvin Lassiter, his older brother by seven years, was an emergency room doctor. Barnaby had dyed his hair bleached blond whereas Calvin’s was still milk chocolate brown. His brother, dressed in dress slacks, shirt and a tie, was the picture of conservative. No hair out of place, no earrings, no nose stud.

All more than he could say for himself of course. He had gone home from his work as an admin assistant at the Law Offices of Anderson, Llewellyn, and Stevens, and changed into jeans and a blue tank top, and a leather jacket. He had three diamond studs in his left ear and another one in his left nostril. He’d also applied eyeliner, mauve blush, and mauve lip gloss.

Calvin noticed him at the bar and walked over. He was already frowning. Not a good sign. His brother slid onto the stool next to him.

“Hey, I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.”

“I’m busy, Barnaby. I had a meeting at the hospital this afternoon and it ran late.” Calvin ordered a red wine from the bartender and then turned to Barnaby. “Did we have to meet at a gay bar?”

“You’re gay, too.”

“I don’t hang out at bars,” Calvin said, with that note of superiority he usually had when speaking to Barnaby. “And neither should you.”

“I feel comfortable here.”

Calvin glanced around the bar. “I don’t see why. All that these guys want is to get laid. None of them are looking for anything serious. And you have no idea if they have diseases or are serial killers.”

Barnaby felt the muscle in his jaw tick but he said nothing and took another sip of his drink.

“If you’re looking for someone, why don’t you try one of those online dating services?”

“Oh, yeah, right.”

“They have some for gay men, you know.” Calvin looked at him critically. “I can see how some of them might find you attractive.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Calvin sighed. “I just don’t like you in places like this. You aren’t careful, Barnaby.”

He drummed his fingers on the bar. “Look, I didn’t ask you to meet me to get a lecture on how I am going to be murdered by a serial killer.”