Blurb
For photographer Jesse Connor, Christmas lost it's shine when last Christmas, Jesse's lover, the man he thought had been the one, absconded with millions of dollars from the company he traded for. The FBI landed on Jesse's doorstep on Christmas Eve, and that was the nail in the proverbial Christmas coffin.
Now, alone in the city, facing another Christmas with nothing more than apathy, he's offered a chance to see Christmas in a different light.
Can the residents of Eden Vale, and in particular the son of the hotel owner, Gabriel, show him that he can start again and that Christmas and love can live inside everyone, despite hurtful pasts?
Excerpt
The 4x4 stopping next to him scared the ever living daylights out of him, and he stumbled to a stop. The window wound down, and Jesse, for the second time, was face to face with Gabriel McClurey and his azure-sky-meets-the-calm-sea eyes.
"You want to get in?" Gabriel asked. Jesse hesitated only because he was busy cataloguing the new skin revealed to him because Gabriel wasn’t wearing a coat. Glimpses of a tanned throat and the suggestion of broad shoulders in a stretched cable-knit sweater was a sight for sore eyes.
"Huh?" he finally managed. He was actually kind of proud of himself for making a single coherent sound.
"I'll get you there," Gabriel said. His mouth moved in all sorts of interesting ways, and Jesse was more concerned with watching the movement of his lips than listening to the actual words.
"There?"
"Up the hill. Get in," Gabriel said patiently. He gestured with his thumb out of the window. "Snow tires on. I'll take you to the hotel."
"Oh, thank you." He didn't want to come across looking any more of an idiot than he already had, and with a smile of thanks, he opened the door. He took a step to get in the car, slid on the snowy curbside, and promptly fell on his ass on the cold, hard and wet ground. Winded, he was at first unable to move. He could do nothing except listen to the sounds of Gabriel opening his car door to investigate.
"Hey, man," Gabriel said, "you okay?"
Jesse looked up into the sapphire eyes, but he didn't see concern. What he could see caused him to feel instantly embarrassed. Seemed to him Gabriel was holding back laughter. And Jeez, what a photo that would make.
Pushing aside a visceral need to capture the restrained mirth in Gabriel and mustering as much dignity as he could, Jesse scrambled to stand. He refused Gabriel’s help, using the open car door to help him instead.
"I'm fine," he said, caught between being angry at the contained laughter and wanting to laugh himself. Even he could admit that seeing someone fall on their ass in snow was kind of funny. Pushing his way past an insistent nagging pain in his left butt cheek, he clambered into the car. Gabriel shut the door for him, and suddenly the laughter bubbled from Gabriel's mouth. Jesse huffed and then strapped himself in. They didn't talk on the way up the hill. Jesse didn't want to call it sulking, but it probably was more than a little bit of sulk and one hell of a load of pure embarrassment. Thankfully the journey wasn’t long, and Gabriel was concentrating on the road and on controlling the car. Within minutes, they were at the top of the hill and parked outside the hotel.
"Thank you," Jesse said politely, and climbed out of the car as quickly as he could without sliding on his butt again. He heard chuckling, but he chose to ignore it and to rise above the need to confront the laughing bastard. Back straight and chin held high, he walked carefully to the hotel door, determined not to turn and look at the source of his embarrassment. For God's sake, how could one snowfall added to one hot man reduce him to clumsy idiocy?
Once safely back in the hotel and up in his room, he tested the arm that had taken the weight of the fall and experimentally rubbed his ass through his now wet jeans. He would probably ache tomorrow. Freaking snow. Freaking blue eyes. Maybe he should have another bath.
"You want to get in?" Gabriel asked. Jesse hesitated only because he was busy cataloguing the new skin revealed to him because Gabriel wasn’t wearing a coat. Glimpses of a tanned throat and the suggestion of broad shoulders in a stretched cable-knit sweater was a sight for sore eyes.
"Huh?" he finally managed. He was actually kind of proud of himself for making a single coherent sound.
"I'll get you there," Gabriel said. His mouth moved in all sorts of interesting ways, and Jesse was more concerned with watching the movement of his lips than listening to the actual words.
"There?"
"Up the hill. Get in," Gabriel said patiently. He gestured with his thumb out of the window. "Snow tires on. I'll take you to the hotel."
"Oh, thank you." He didn't want to come across looking any more of an idiot than he already had, and with a smile of thanks, he opened the door. He took a step to get in the car, slid on the snowy curbside, and promptly fell on his ass on the cold, hard and wet ground. Winded, he was at first unable to move. He could do nothing except listen to the sounds of Gabriel opening his car door to investigate.
"Hey, man," Gabriel said, "you okay?"
Jesse looked up into the sapphire eyes, but he didn't see concern. What he could see caused him to feel instantly embarrassed. Seemed to him Gabriel was holding back laughter. And Jeez, what a photo that would make.
Pushing aside a visceral need to capture the restrained mirth in Gabriel and mustering as much dignity as he could, Jesse scrambled to stand. He refused Gabriel’s help, using the open car door to help him instead.
"I'm fine," he said, caught between being angry at the contained laughter and wanting to laugh himself. Even he could admit that seeing someone fall on their ass in snow was kind of funny. Pushing his way past an insistent nagging pain in his left butt cheek, he clambered into the car. Gabriel shut the door for him, and suddenly the laughter bubbled from Gabriel's mouth. Jesse huffed and then strapped himself in. They didn't talk on the way up the hill. Jesse didn't want to call it sulking, but it probably was more than a little bit of sulk and one hell of a load of pure embarrassment. Thankfully the journey wasn’t long, and Gabriel was concentrating on the road and on controlling the car. Within minutes, they were at the top of the hill and parked outside the hotel.
"Thank you," Jesse said politely, and climbed out of the car as quickly as he could without sliding on his butt again. He heard chuckling, but he chose to ignore it and to rise above the need to confront the laughing bastard. Back straight and chin held high, he walked carefully to the hotel door, determined not to turn and look at the source of his embarrassment. For God's sake, how could one snowfall added to one hot man reduce him to clumsy idiocy?
Once safely back in the hotel and up in his room, he tested the arm that had taken the weight of the fall and experimentally rubbed his ass through his now wet jeans. He would probably ache tomorrow. Freaking snow. Freaking blue eyes. Maybe he should have another bath.
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