GENRE: Gay Mystery Erotic Romance
LENGTH: 25,131 words
RATING:

Dominic has just lost his husband Lewis, a man who cheated on anything that moved. He’s left to pick up the pieces with his daughter Harriet with the help of his sexy neighbor, FBI Agent Richard. Then his brother-in-law appears on his doorstep and tells him Lewis left everything to him, and Dominic and Harriet are to vacate the house within the month. Dominic doesn’t know what to do, and having Richard close by isn’t helping.

Richard has known Dominic was off-limits. But now that the man's a widow, he can’t stop himself from going over. Lewis' brother's suddenly snatching everything from Dominic after his death is concerning. What was Lewis hiding from his partner?

Richard focuses on keeping Dominic and his daughter in their home and off the street. But the attempts to get rid of Dominic intensify, as does Richard’s feelings for his neighbor.

EXCERPT:
Note: may contain sexually explicit scenes of a homoerotic nature.

“Dominic?” Richard touched his back and felt Dominic stiffen. “What is it?”

“Richard.” Dominic barely turned his head. Even in the darkness, Richard could see that he had been crying. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“What’s the matter?” Richard reached out and brushed his fingers across Dominic’s wet cheek. “Are you crying?”

“I’m okay.” Dominic jerked his head away. “I’ve got something in my eye.”

Richard sighed. He pressed his hand to Dominic’s back, rubbing at the spot between his shoulder-blades. That seemed to ease the pressure in Dominic’s taut frame, but not much.

“You’re allowed to cry. Nobody’s going to blame you for it.”

“I…” Dominic closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “I just needed some air. I couldn’t sleep.”

“Did you have a nightmare?” Richard paused. “Are you beating yourself up again?”

Dominic growled and turned to him, knocking Richard’s arm away.

“Rick, just leave off ...”

“Look, lie to everyone else if you want to, but don’t lie to me. How long have I known you? You can talk to me.” Richard grasped Dominic’s head in his hands. “Please, just talk to me.”

Dominic looked morose. Richard hated seeing him looking so sad. Dominic closed his eyes and then opened them again.

“Lewis lied to me, Rick.” He whispered. “He was with me for twelve years. We were married and we had a daughter. A life. Then I find out he’s been having affairs with many people, not just Holly. Men, women, anything that moved. But Holly was the one that made me the most furious. Under our roof, and he didn’t have the decency to hide it once I found out. Both of them rubbed it in my face.”

“Lewis just got too cocky, that’s all. That was not your fault.” Richard stroked Dominic’s cheek. “Holly’s not here anymore. She shouldn’t be your concern anymore.”

“I know.” Dominic snorted and shook his head, his lips brushing against Richard’s hand. “She thought she could seduce you as well.”

“Me?” Richard frowned. “Why did she think she could seduce me?”

“Because whenever you were in the vicinity, Holly would give you a look that said she found you attractive.” Dominic’s jaw tightened. “That she wanted to eat you up.”

Was he actually jealous? Richard found himself smiling.

“You needn’t have worried. College bimbos aren’t my type.”

“That’s good to know.” Dominic reached up and ran his fingers through Richard’s hair. Then he rested his forehead to Richard’s. “I’m so sorry for dragging you into this, Rick.”

“Don’t be sorry about it. We’re neighbours. We always look out for each other.”

“Not many neighbours would have done this.”

Richard grinned and tugged Dominic’s head.

“I’m not most people.”