New Release A VINTAGE AFFAIR

ISBN: 978-1-60737-807-5
Genre: LGBT Mystery/Suspense
Length: Short Novel
Price: $5.99

BLURB
Message in a bottle.

Somewhere in the cobwebbed cellar of the decrepit antebellum mansion known as Ballineen are the legendary Lee bottles -- and Austin Gillespie is there to find them. The last thing on his mind is hot and heavy romance with handsome bad boy Jeff Brady. But Jeff has other ideas and, after one intoxicating night, so does Austin.

The only problem is they have different ideas. Jeff doesn’t believe in love at first sight, and even if he did, he’s buried more deeply in the closet than those famous missing bottles of vintage Madeira. Popping a cork or two is one thing. Popping the question? No way. No how.

Unless Austin is ready to give up on another dream, he’s going to have to figure out how to make sure the lights go on -- and stay on -- in Georgia.


EXCERPT
He woke to a warm mouth moving on his with gentle insistence.

Smiling, his lips parted in welcome, he reached up to hook an arm around Jeff’s broad shoulders and draw him closer. Jeff’s mouth smiled against his. He tasted…robust, full-bodied. Sleepy and warm and human.

The last twenty-four hours came back in all their astonishing detail. Austin remembered thinking that nothing must be allowed to go wrong with the Cashel appraisal—shortly before everything that could possibly go wrong had gone wrong. It didn’t seem to matter much just now.

He lifted his lashes. Morning. A soft, rosy daylight filtered through the open drapes. Jeff’s eyes looked impossibly green in the vernal luminance. There was a faint gold bristle on his jaw, and his hair was sexily mussed.

“Thank you for last night.” The whispered words were commonplace enough, but Jeff’s expression transformed them into something more.

Or maybe that’s what Austin wanted to see. He said, equally unoriginal, “I had a really nice time.”

“I wish I could stay, but it’s already six o’clock.”

Austin wished Jeff could stay too. If Jeff changed his mind, he’d reschedule his own leaving. He couldn’t say it, though. He’d said far too much the night before. It had to be Jeff’s idea, Jeff’s choice, and Austin already knew that wasn’t going to happen.

“Part of why it’s special tonight is because we know this is a one time only.”
But for a few sweet heartbeats, it seemed like maybe Jeff would decide to at least postpone his leave-taking.

“You really are something, you know?”

“Naw,” Austin mimicked gently.

Jeff laughed. He rested his hand against the side of Austin’s face as though trying to memorize him in the soft uncertainty of the morning light.

Austin gazed unblinkingly up at him. Stay. Please.

Jeff’s face seemed to close. He drew back, rolled lithely off the bed, and reached for his underwear and khakis.

He dressed quickly, efficiently.

Austin enjoyed the view for a few seconds. There was no point rising until Jeff left. He planned to shower and then dress and then hit the road. He’d grab coffee and breakfast on the way, fill the gas tank at that station on the corner… He forced himself to think only of the day ahead, concentrate on the practicalities of his trip home. He must not—must not—be stupid about this. Indulging in a one-night stand had been stupid enough. Trying to make it into something more than it was would not only be stupid, it would be pathetic.

Interrupting his thoughts, Jeff said suddenly, “If they do send you back this way, you could give me a call.”

Was that supposed to be some grand concession? Judging by the guarded look on Jeff’s face, it was.

Austin said neutrally, “Sure.”

Jeff swiftly buttoned his shirt.

Austin knew it was a mistake, but he couldn’t seem to stop the words. “Do you ever get to DC? Or—”

“No.”

Jeff didn’t look at him. He reached for his wallet, automatically checking its contents.

Austin opened his mouth, then closed it. What was the matter with him? It wasn’t like he couldn’t take a hint. Or like Jeff didn’t understand what he was saying.
He threw back the bedclothes, and the scent of warm linen and recent sex wafted through the room. He walked to the window and gazed down at the park.

He felt Jeff come up behind him even before warm hands fastened on his biceps.

Jeff said huskily, “Austin. I won’t ever forget last night.”

Austin said over the tightness in his throat, “The pleasure was all mine.”

He could feel Jeff’s uncertainty, his hesitation, and it was ridiculous that he found himself unable to make this easy on them both. It was crazy. Crazy to react like this. It wasn’t like he hadn’t understood the rules of engagement. Or hadn’t had them explained to him in words of one syllable.

He hadn’t had enough sleep; that was all. And yesterday had been stressful by anyone’s standards. Naturally, after all that had happened, the evening with Jeff seemed to take on a greater, almost symbolic importance. Once he was home and everything got back to normal, he was going to wonder what the fuck his problem had been.

Maybe he was coming down with the flu or something.

“Are you…?” Jeff stopped. “Austin?”

He could hear the uneasy question in Jeff’s tone, and he nodded tightly to show he was listening. He hoped Jeff didn’t say anything that required a verbal response, because that was going to be hard to pull off without embarrassing them both.
“You take care of yourself, you hear?” Jeff said at last. He dropped one quick, final kiss on Austin’s shoulder and turned away.

Austin was counting the leaves on the tree across the way when he heard the door close.

A Vintage Affair by Josh Lanyon