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CATEGORIES
AUTHORS
Habu Stephen Bush OTHER IMPRINTS
Memberof The Australian Publishers Association Member of
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Two Chances by Stephen Kessel
Gay male, romance. 6,477 words Price US$1.99
Tim’s partner, Nick, left him with their dream home and the “kids”—their four dogs. Now, after more than a year of long hours training staff in their franchised dog grooming business, and living alone, perhaps Tim is ready to take a chance. And perhaps there are some surprises in store for him if he does; though time has also taught him what really matters. And it’s not casual sex he wants. EXTRACT: So
there we were, stuck. Sardi pouted, Nick sulked, and I had as little to do with
the two of them as was possible in the circumstances. Sardi,
was twenty, had big, round black eyes the size of saucers and eyelashes so thick
and long a drag queen would kill for them. Add that to perfect deep-golden skin,
a lithe but muscular body, and a way of moving his ass that invited exploration,
and I could see what Nick liked about him. I
wasn’t bad, but I was thirty-two, looked like I worked twelve-hour days, and
Nick had explored my ass so often I figured it didn’t hold any surprises for
him anymore. But I doubted Sardi would be any good at training Cute as Nails
staff; for one thing it soon emerged that he didn’t like dogs. Nick
handled the advertising and signing up of franchisees, as well as still keeping
in with the advertising agency he had been working for when we had first met. He
now seemed to spend most of his time having coffee and driving around in his BMW
with Sardi beside him. Meanwhile, I had both halves of the mortgage, and the
four dogs he used to call his kids but had happily left behind for an apartment
in town and Sardi. Nick
was a natural salesman—he certainly had sold me. Our business would not have
existed without him I knew. He was worth his share. As
I was putting the shopping away and fending off my excited dogs, the phone rang. “Dinner,”
Andrew said, “This Friday, at my place. OK? 7.30.” “OK,”
I replied, too tired to chat. The
call was unexpected, and I wondered what the occasion was. Andrew was the man in my past, and still my friend. He was a solicitor and a good one. Nick had never really taken to him—I sometimes think he had taken me from Andrew just because he didn’t like him—and certainly didn’t like him now. That business of the small additions Andrew had added to the complicated business agreement we had both signed when we started franchising Cute as Nails, the dog clipping, dying, and styling centre that also painted their nails, had seen to that.
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