GENRE: Gay Romance
LENGTH: 2,576 words
RATING:

Jordan Friedman bought a depilated beach house in Haydon Cliff looking to fix it up for his future. A future he hopes includes new boyfriend, Lexy Wanderer. Lexy has all kinds of secrets, including what his real name is, but Jordan's willing to wait for the whole story.

Working on his beach house during a storm, Jordan loses track of time on Valentine's Day when he and Lexy have dinner reservations at a fancy restaurant. When Lexy shows up with an impromptu Valentine's Dinner to be had at the beach house, it turns into the perfect evening to declare his heart.

EXCERPT:

"Jordan."

For a moment, he looked up at the sky. Expecting what? God? But of course all that looking up got him was water in the face. He looked down toward the ground and saw Lexy Wanderer standing there holding several large reusable grocery bags.

Jordan couldn't keep the smile from lighting his face at the sight of his newish boyfriend. Lexy was dressed in a bright yellow parka, hooded of course, pulled low over his face to protect his glasses, no doubt. And rain galoshes, also yellow.

"Hey, babe."

Lexy, however, was not smiling. Or Jordan didn't think he was. It was hard to tell from up on the roof and in the ... dark. What the hell? When had twilight come?

"Do you know what time it is?" Lexy demanded.

"Uh. No?"

Lexy sighed. "It's almost five. Our reservation is at five-forty-five. Something tells me you aren't going to be ready in time."

Jordan frowned. "Reservation?"

"OMG." Yeah, Lexy talked like the young guy he was. Something Jordan had been getting used to. "Valentine's Day. Dinner at Rodolfo's. Do you know how long it took to get that reservation?"

He winced. He had forgotten. He kind of thought Valentine's Day was stupid. Invented by card and candy companies. But he did remember now that Lexy had wanted to make a big deal of it. And he'd agreed. Apparently.

"Yeah. Sorry, babe. Totally slipped my mind."

The dramatic sigh again. "Obviously. Come down from there."

Jordan figured he had the tarps attached as good as he was going to get at this point, so he nodded and began the descent down.

Lexy waited at the bottom of the ladder for him.

"Okay, just, um, let me get the ladder put away and then the stuff inside and we'll see if we can make that dinner."

"Never mind that. I already canceled it."

Jordan looked at his face. Lexy looked more resigned than disappointed. That might be good. He wasn't sure.

"Why?"

"We're never going to make it. You'd need a shower, something better to wear ..." He gestured to Jordan's well-worn jeans. "Just ... it was probably a bad idea anyway. You never wanted to do it."