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Joey was standing at the newly built corral, one boot on the bottom rung. Steve, standing beside him and watching Sasha ride around the ring, said, “Lemmee get this straight. You’re staying here.” He pointed toward the ground.
“Yep.”
“With him?”
He pointed at Richard, standing on the patio near the grill, talking to Cruz about something. Joey let his eyes linger there for a moment and couldn’t help the smile that curled his lips. He’d been thinking long and hard about cutting back on his adventurous life, but then realized that he wasn’t cutting back – he was just trading one kind of adventure for another. “Yep.”
Steve thought about that. “Is it serious?”
“Yep.” Joey took a breath. “I think it is.”
“And you’re taking six months off work?”
“Yep.”
“And you want me to run the operation while you do it.”
“Yep.”
“Would you stop saying yep?”
Joey grinned. “Yep.”
Steve scratched his head. “And would you stop grinning like that? You been doin’ it since last week and it’s freaky.”
It was true. Joey felt like he’d been smiling for days, and it felt good. The job for Levi was finished, the coyotes were back to a smaller, more manageable pack, and his work was done for a while. He could afford to take the time and enjoy this unexpected but welcome turn his life had taken.
Richard came up behind him and slung an arm across his shoulders, making him jump. “Steaks in ten,” he said to Steve. “Grab a plate.”
Steve looked from Joey to Richard and back to Joey. He looked like he wanted to say something, but then just shook his head and sauntered off.
“He all right with your leave of absence?” Richard asked.
Joey reached down and squeezed his hand. It was the best he could do right now, in front of Sasha, even though he wanted to do more. A lot more.
He wasn’t used to having a child around, and he found that intimacy was something that happened after bedtime. They’d had to get pretty damned creative these last few days. Joey considered it a challenge. “He will be, once he thinks about it. Steve doesn’t like change all that much, but he’ll adjust.”
“Good.” Richard leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. “Because I want all of your attention for a while.”
Cruz whistled from the patio, making both of them – and everyone else – turn to look. He was wearing a neon orange apron today, and it matched his hat. “You boys come get it while it’s hot. Let’s get this party started!”
Joey and Richard grinned at each other. “You heard the man,” Joey said.
“I’ll pry the kid off the horse. You grab the food. Medium and small for her. Medium rare for me, please.”
“You got it.”
Joey made them plates, but the whole time he kept an eye on Richard and Sasha, who did not want to get off Blueberry and did not want steak and did not want to rest. Richard handled her like a pro, he thought, and then he wondered if he would ever have that kind of relationship with her. Not like a father, but...yeah, maybe like a father. Like Cusp had been with him and Mack.
He carried plates to the picnic table and waited for Richard to come. When they did, he cut up Sasha’s steak for her.
“Nice,” Richard said, looking. “You’ve got a way with triangles.”
“It’s cause I’m an axe predator.”
He sat down and Richard squeezed his thigh under the table.
This was the real party, he thought later, watching Richard carry a sleepy Sasha into the house. What he did before, that was just killing time. This was the good stuff, and he was ready and willing to experience every moment of it.
Books by DJ Monroe
BROKEN BLUE BOOK 1
WITH GREAT POWER COMES great responsibility.
Levi King is the most successful horse rancher in the southeastern United States. He’s got it all, but he’s also got a lot on his plate - salaries to cover, horses to train, the biggest ranch in the valley - and it’s all on him. Everyone around him needs his time and attention, so how did he end up volunteering his ranch for the Wide Open program, an organization designed to give ex-cons a second chance at life? Just what he needs – another responsibility. Even worse, this new responsibility has a cheeky grin, a fine body, and a way of making Levi’s blood run hot.
When Cruz Baltimore steps out of the police cruiser and sees the man who’s given him a second chance, he’s way more than grateful – he’s entranced. Levi King is dead serious, wicked sharp, and sizzling hot. Not that he’d be interested in a screw-up like Cruz. Still, Cruz can’t help himself. Levi is a strong man, king of his domain. He's a man with a destiny - Cruz just knows he wants to be part of it.
SONS OF GLORY BOOK 1
TWO STRONG WILLED HEROES. Two fiery tempers. Will their hearts go down in flames?
Valor Moretti is not happy to be home. In fact, he swore he’d never set foot in Patriot, Texas again. For years he’s traveled around the country as a freelance firearms instructor, happy to be anywhere but Glory Ranch. Now that he’s here and his inheritance is on the line, all he has to do is keep his temper and his cousins under control for the next year, and he’s home free. He didn’t plan on the hot-headed, way-too-sexy Yankee renting the cottage out back, and he definitely didn’t plan on the kind of attraction that promised to set his heart on fire.
Kent Massey hates Texas. He hates the heat, he hates that slow drawl accent, and he hates that he’s trapped here for at least a month while he trains Patriot's newest K-9 police officer. He especially hates his landlord – that man is a menace. Out shooting handguns at the crack of dawn, making Kent’s life miserable, and sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong. It’s enough to drive him crazy, especially when he discovers that he’ll be working with the guy. His only option is to deal with it, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it.
The two men are like fire and ice, oil and water. But when push comes to shove and real danger comes to Glory Ranch, they’ll have to set aside their differences and face their true feelings before somebody gets killed.
TWO BEAUTIFUL MEN, one simple mistake, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance at love.
Lincoln
Lincoln is done. When his lover walks out and leaves him with a Dear John letter and a broken heart, he knows for a fact that he will never fall into that trap again. He sucks at love, and he knows it. If only he could explain that to the busybody across the hall - the last thing he needs is to witness that guy's happily ever, the kind that he's lost forever.
Colton
Colton loves playing matchmaker, and he's determined to make sure his gorgeous neighbor Lincoln finds true love after a bad breakup. After all, everyone should be as happy as him. But when his own relationship falls apart, he has to rethink everything he thought he knew about love.
The problem is, his neighbor Lincoln makes it hard to think at all.
A GAY ROMANCE NOVEL about haunting, healing, and timeless love.
Charles Bedford, former author of popular bestselling books, hasn’t worked for months. His lover Kyle is dead, and most days Charles doesn’t want to be alive either. When he stumbles upon a rambling old plantation home deep in the heart of Virginia, he buys it, figuring it might be just the thing to pull him out of his depression. It’s time to move on, and Charles needs a project. He doesn’t realize, at first, that he’s stepping into an age-old mystery and a second chance at love.
The big mansion is creepy and more than a little lonely, so when a handsome stranger named Stony shows up at his door, telling stories of murder and secrets and forbidden loves from long ago, Charles is more than intrigued – he’s downright excited, for the first time in a long while. Maybe Stony can help him figure out why he constantly feels like he’s being watched, and why one room of the house makes him sick with fear. Something terrible clearly happened in this crumbling mansion, and Charles hopes that Stony has the ability to heal the old place - and maybe help him heal his heart, too.