My m/m romance novella "The Trouble With Tony" releases on Aug 21! It's a light-hearted contemporary romance in which a Seattle private eye who's investigating the murder of a young woman pretends to be a new patient at a sex clinic where she was being treated. Much to his dismay, he starts to fall for steely-eyed, ex combat surgeon Dr. Jack Halloran, the murder victim's doctor and a likely suspect.
This is the book first in a new series called "Sex in Seattle" that revolves around a Seattle sex clinic--its doctors, patients, and surrogates.
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This week and next I will be posting a new excerpt from the book. Leave a comment here and/or on next week's post. I will pick one winner from the combined comments section to win a free ebook of "The Trouble with Tony". Comment on both to double your chance to win.
Here's this week's excerpt:
Jack headed back to the clinic’s front door—and walked right into Tony DeMarco, who was exiting the dark clinic.
Jack blinked at him, stymied. “Tony! What… what are you doing here?”
“Uh… hi, Doc,” Tony looked shocked himself, and very guilty. The look lasted only seconds before Tony schooled his features into a picture of smiling innocence.
Jack’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“The door was open,” Tony said.
“It was?” Damn Loretta. Jack was going to have to speak to Trudy about her first thing in the morning.
“Yeah, so I just popped my head in to see if you were around.”
“But why are you here so late? We didn’t have an appointment.”
Tony was blushing and extremely uncomfortable. He clutched at the front of his coat. “Um….”
Suddenly, Jack got it. He relaxed and smiled. “Ah. It’s okay, Tony. Come on in.”
Jack went into the clinic and turned on the lights. Tony followed with all the enthusiasm of a dog being sent to its emasculation. He stood in the waiting room awkwardly, not looking at Jack.
Jack stuck his keys in his pocket and folded his arms. “Talk to me,” he said in his calm, doctor’s voice. “What’s going on tonight? Are you feeling sexually aroused?”
Tony got a surprised look on his face. “Er….”
Jack had treated a good number of men who struggled with erectile dysfunction. One thing they all had in common was that when the urge did strike, they wanted to do something about it right goddamn now, because they didn’t know how long the urge might last or when it might reappear. It was like a starving man trying to snatch the last cookie off the conveyor belt. One patient had called it “hallelujah time.” You did not fuck with hallelujah time. The surrogates knew that when they were working with an E.D. patient, they were on call twenty-four-seven.
“It’s all right. I understand. But why did you come here? There’s no one you can—?”
“No. I, uh, thought the clinic might be open late. It was stupid. I’ll go.” Tony looked like he wanted to dig a hole, hide in it, and then cover it with a cement foundation.
“Hang on.” Jack unzipped his coat. “It’s all right. I don’t have any place I have to be. Tell me what you’re feeling. Are you erect right now?”
Tony froze.
Jack smiled. “Am I going to have to use euphemisms?”
“That would help, yeah,” Tony said in a strangled voice.
“Right. Are you at half-mast, full-mast, or is the sail still on the deck?”
“Um… half-mast?”
“And you feel like you could get to full-mast?”
Tony looked at Jack with an expression of amused disbelief. “Yeah, pretty sure I could.”
Jack considered it. He hadn’t laid out Tony’s surrogacy plan yet, hadn’t even fully decided there would be one. Okay, he’d been avoiding it like it was the six-month-old tub of yogurt at the back of the fridge. Anyway, Michael [the clinic's gay surrogate] had mentioned in their last staff meeting that he was going to the islands this weekend. So even if he were willing to jump in on such short notice, he wasn’t around.
“Would you like to try some touch therapy—a light massage? No pressure, just see what happens,” Jack offered, keeping his face and voice determinedly neutral.
“With you?”
“Yes.”
Tony glanced to the door, seemingly torn.
“If you’re not comfortable with that, it’s fine. Just let me grab some files, and I’ll walk you out.”
Tony took a deep breath and seemed to make up his mind. His eyes met Jack’s and he licked his lips. “Okay, Doc. Let’s see whatcha got.”
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