[Valentine's Inc. Cruises 04] • Battle Ship

Dawson Hoshaw lives by one motto—work hard, play harder. As the owner of Blue Lotus, a tattoo and piercing shop, he’s got the first part covered. The second part, he accomplishes through meaningless hookups and no-strings-attached encounters. It’s safer this way, with no risk of getting his heart broken again. But when his best friend, Peyton, enters him in a contest—and wins—Dawson finds himself the recipient of an all-expenses paid singles cruise around Australia, courtesy of Valentine’s Inc.

As long as he can remember, Stephen Kincaid has known it’s his duty to take over his family’s chain of men’s clothing stores. The closer his father grows to retirement, the more responsibility Steven assumes. Running multiple businesses and living up to expectations doesn’t leave him with much time for dating, and he can’t remember the last time he took a vacation. So when he wins a contest he didn’t even enter, he can’t pass up the opportunity to see Australia before returning to his humdrum life.

When a mix-up forces Dawson and Steven to share a cabin, their dream vacation turns into a nightmare. It wouldn’t be so bad if they could escape each other during the day, but it’s hard not to run into one another. And the more time they spend together, the more they find they don’t want to stay away. After a night of passion, Stephen and Dawson can’t help giving in to the growing feelings between them. But how can they make this vacation fling work once they go back to the real world?

Battle Ship is a Valentine’s Inc. novella, but you will see familiar faces with this Forever in Middlebury Crossover. It can be read as a standalone and is intended for adults 18 and over.