"The Stolen Suitor" comes out Feb 1 and you can how pre-order on Amazon and ARE.
Here's the blurb:
His future was set until a thief stole his heart.
All of Clyde’s Corner, Montana, knows local dandy Chris Ramsey will marry Trix Stubben, young widow and heir to the richest ranch in the area. But one woman isn’t too keen on the idea. Mabe Crassen wants to get her hands on that ranch, so she sets her older son to court Trix, and her younger son, Jeremy, to distract Chris and lure him astray.
Jeremy Crassen thinks his mother’s scheme is crazy. But he wants desperately to go off to college, which Mabe will agree to—if he seduces Chris. How will shy, virginal, secretly gay Jeremy attract Chris, who seems determined to do the right thing and marry Trix? Jeremy can’t compete with a rich female widow. Or can he?
And an excerpt:
~ 2 ~
Chris was fixing a bulb in the twinkle lights above the coffee station when Jeremy Crassen strolled into the Merc.
The Merc, aka the Clyde’s Corner Mercantile, was the main source of groceries in town. They were small compared to the giant chain stores in the city, but big enough for Clyde’s Corner. Besides food, they carried beer, wine, liquor, and a small selection of the kinds of clothes a Montana working man or woman might need. And they were located plumb in the middle of Clyde Corner’s quaint, old town, Westerny Main Street. So the folks who worked in the store saw pretty much everyone in town on a regular basis and almost all the tourists too.
Except Jeremy Crassen. Chris gave him a second, appraising glance. He couldn’t recall seeing Jeremy in the Merc since he’d come in to buy penny candy or a pop when he was a kid. Still, Chris knew immediately who he was.
That thick, shiny, straight-as-sin, red-brown hair couldn’t belong to anybody but a Crassen. And Chris knew Eric Crassen fairly well. He came in often to buy beer and snacks. Eric was still as big, beautiful, and useless as he’d been in high school. Ergo, this had to be Jeremy, Eric’s younger brother. The last time Chris had seen him, Jeremy had been a ninth-grader—all elbows and knees and a huge mop of that red-brown hair. Chris remembered the long bangs that had covered Jeremy’s face like a shaggy dog, like the boy was hiding.
Well. Jeremy wasn’t hiding today. He wore that mahogany hair straight down, all one length, and well past his shoulders. The front was tucked neatly behind his ears, revealing a face that made Chris wonder why he’d ever hidden it in the first place. He had high, sharp cheekbones and large, even features. He was not as brutishly handsome as Eric. It took a longer appraisal to notice his looks. He was finer, more delicate, like china compared to earthenware.
Damn it. Chris had been looking at too many dinnerware catalogs lately. And that reminded him, he had to get those touristy mugs ordered for the store this week.
Jeremy glanced over at Chris, and Chris hurriedly looked down at the bulb and wire in his hands. He replaced two suspect bulbs before he dared look up again.
Jeremy was at the cold drink case, door open, perusing the contents.
He’d also grown into his limbs, Chris noted. He wore a beat-up leather jacket and jeans. He was tall, and his hips—visible as the jacket rose from him bracing an arm on the front case door—were narrow, yet with a tightly rounded—
Jeremy turned his head and looked right at Chris.
Chris choked on his spit, coughing like an idiot. He hurriedly went back to his bulbs and wire. Shit! Caught checking out Jeremy Crassen’s ass. Jeremy’d had an “aha!” look on his face too. Jerk-off. He was a Crassen, after all, and no doubt stupid and mean.
With a huff of self-disgust, Chris plugged in the twinkle lights and was unsurprised to see half the strand still wasn’t working. He’d deal with it later. He shoved the supplies under the coffee cupboard to get rid of them and walked toward the back room. He’d get Minola to come out and cover the register for Jeremy. He wasn’t—
“Hey.” A man’s voice, deep and smooth, spoke from close by, leaving no room to ignore it.
Chris turned and found Jeremy a mere few feet away. “Oh, hello. Can I help you?” Chris said it stiffly, and he frowned a little to let Jeremy know he wouldn’t put up with any bullshit.
Jeremy’s eyes were wide and innocent. “I was just looking for some cream, but, say, are you Chris? I heard you were back in town.” Jeremy smiled in a friendly manner.
“Oh, yeah, hey, um….”
“Jeremy Crassen.” Jeremy stuck out his hand, and Chris reluctantly took it. “I don’t blame you for not remembering me. I was a few years behind you in school.”
“Oh, right, I remember now.” Jeremy was being so nice, it seemed mean-spirited to continue to pretend he didn’t know who Jeremy was. “You’re Eric’s little brother. How are you?”
“Great,” Jeremy said, with another charming smile. “How about you? Are you back in town permanently? Going to take over the Merc from your old man?”
It was a fair question. It wasn’t Jeremy’s fault if Chris wasn’t quite ready for that commitment.
“Well, it’s what I’m doing for now anyway. My dad had knee surgery, so I’m helping my folks out. Say, let me show you where to find that cream.” Chris strode over to the milk case and opened the door, Jeremy trailing behind him. “We’ve got regular cream, organic whole cream, and half and, um, h-half….”
His tongue stumbled as he turned his head and fell headlong into Jeremy’s eyes.
Holy shit.
Eric was known for his blue eyes. The big stud had an honest-to-God dimpled chin and eyes the color of a deep blue sky, like some Disney hero. Women went nuts over those eyes. Eric had been a year ahead of Chris in school, and at the height of his teenaged hormones, Chris hadn’t been immune himself.
Jeremy’s eyes, however, were something else. They were a golden brown with a reddish cast, a few shades lighter than his hair and ten times as luminous in the light reflected from the cold case. Chris swallowed.
“Sure you don’t have any other kind of cream? In back, maybe?” Jeremy’s words were silky. His eyes dropped to Chris’s lips, then to his crotch.
Chris felt his face flame, and in the same instant, his cock start to swell. His goddamn blood was tag-teaming him.
Jeremy looked back up, his expression neutral, as if he hadn’t just…. Had he?
“Sorry, I was on my way to the back,” Chris said quickly. “For business. Have to take care of something. Excuse me. If you have any more questions, Minola can help you.” Chris jerked a nod of his head and fled.