Passion

Passion by M.L. Rhodes

Amber Allure #1 bestseller
Kindle gay fiction bestseller

As the owner and CEO of his own company, Robert Bauer has spent the past fifteen years building his business into a multi-million dollar corporation.  It’s taken all his time and energy, which hasn’t left much room for a personal life, especially a love life.  That’s fine with Robert because he doesn’t believe in the L word anyway.  Lately, however, every time he goes to his favorite bar, he can’t keep his eyes and thoughts off Jesse McIntyre, the gorgeous bartender with the soulful blue eyes. Even though Robert’s not looking for a relationship, and tries to shake the attraction, he can’t get the younger man out of his system. There’s just one problem…he believes Jesse’s straight.

Jesse’s been on the run from his old life for the past two and a half years.  Even though he slings drinks at a gay bar, he has a hard and fast rule about never hooking up with customers.  He’s been down that road before, and though his physical wounds have healed, the emotional ones aren’t so easy to forget.  He lets his customers assume he’s straight because it makes it easier to keep his distance.  That is until the businessman with the sexy smile starts coming into the bar.  Jesse’s drawn to Robert, even though he knows there’s no way a wealthy, powerful man like that would ever be interested in a tattooed, college drop-out bad boy like him.  But even if Robert weren’t his opposite, it wouldn’t matter anyway, because Jesse’s determined not to break his rules for anyone.

When fate throws them together, and they find themselves alone for a weekend, the passion that’s silently simmered for months ignites a firestorm that leaves them both shaken.  Will it be enough, though, to convince Robert, who’s sworn to never fall in love, that he might be pushing away the best thing that’s ever happened to him?  Or to force Jesse to face his fears once and for all and learn to trust his heart?

Genre:  Contemporary
Release date:  February 22, 2009
Length: Extended Novella

Available in ebook formats at: Amber Allure, All Romance Ebooks, Kindle US, Kindle UK, Fictionwise, and other online ebook stores
Available in paperback at: Amazon.com under the title Passion & Satisfaction (Passion & Satisfaction contains both stories in this series)

Excerpt…

As Jesse wiped down the shelves behind the bar, he wondered what he’d do with himself tonight. He never planned to get home before two-thirty or three in the morning on the weekends, and right now it wasn’t even 10:00 P.M. With Leila gone until Sunday night, it was going to be pretty damned quiet around their place. Maybe he’d catch up on his sleep for a change.

Alone. As always.

A vision of Robert filled his mind, his head tipped back, his lips parted, his breathing coming out in ragged sighs as Jesse sucked him off, hard and deep. He could almost imagine what the man would taste like, could almost feel his length on his tongue.

“Stop. Just stop,” he grumbled, forcing himself back to the here and now. “Damn it.”

But as if simply thinking about him had conjured him up, the front door opened, and when Jesse looked to see who was coming in, the man in his vision became a reality, blowing in on a gust of biting air and snow.

His eyes locked with Jesse’s and what Jesse saw there sent his heart off on a crazy, ragged beat.

“Robert?” he said softly, shocked to see him. He’d left twenty or thirty minutes ago.

“Did you ever have one of those crappy fucking days?”

His voice was hoarse, and there was a tired sag to his shoulders Jesse had never seen on him before. It lured him a step closer. “Is everything okay?”

Robert sighed, then approached the bar and sank onto the closest stool. “I’ve been better.” He set his BlackBerry on the bar, tugged off his leather gloves, and rubbed his hands together. “I went out to get in my car—it’s parked on the street in this block—and someone had smashed in the whole front end…probably lost control and slid into it. And instead of being upstanding about it and at least leaving a note with contact information, whoever did it drove off.”

Jesse winced. No wonder the man was upset. “Well, hell, that sucks.”

“Yeah, it really does.”

“Is it drivable?”

“No. The engine won’t turn over and even if it did, the driver’s side front quarter panel is smashed in against the tire.”

“Did you call the police?”

“Yeah, but they’re on cold accident reporting tonight because of the storm. Since it was a hit and run and I wasn’t in the car at the time, it’s up to me to have the car towed and file an accident report in the next seventy-two hours. So I called the auto club, but because of the weather they’re swamped. They said it could be six to eight hours before they can get here with a truck.”

“That’s crazy! It’s not that big a town.”

Robert shrugged. “That what I said. It still didn’t change the fact it was going to take them that long. I told them not to bother.” He shook his head, clearly disgusted. “I’ll just leave it where it is for now and they can come get it when the snow’s over. The last damn thing I feel like doing after a long day is waiting around until four or five or six in the morning for them to show up.”

It almost killed Jesse to say it, but he had to know. “Can your friend, the man you left with, give you a ride home?”

“No,” he sat flatly. “He’s gone.”

Relief surged through Jesse…though it pissed him off he cared so much. The realization that Robert wouldn’t be finding sexual solace with the blond man tonight filled him with downright pleasure. More than he had a right to feel.

Jesus. Stop it!

He set a whiskey glass on the counter and poured out two fingers of one of the better single malt Scotches BJ’s carried, then slid the glass to Robert.

The man looked at it and swallowed hard as if Jesse’s thoughtfulness had both surprised and touched him. It was a strange thing to see on a man like Robert who was usually so confident and self-assured.

He lifted the glass and looked at Jesse. “How’d you know?”

“Your poison of choice? I’m your friendly neighborhood bartender. It’s my job to know what my customers like to drink.”

What looked like disappointment flickered in Robert’s eyes for a fleeting second, and Jesse had a feeling the man had hoped Jesse knew what he liked because it was him, not because he made a habit of knowing all his customers needs.

It is because it’s you. But he couldn’t admit it to the man.

Robert drained the glass and set it back on the bar. He let out a deep breath. His voice, when he spoke, was husky. “Damn. That’ll warm you up on a cold night.”

Jesse held up the bottle offering more, but Robert shook his head. “Thanks, but I better stop there.” He pulled out his wallet and slid a twenty dollar bill toward Jesse.

Jesse pushed it back. “It’s on the house.”

Robert looked like he might argue, but then he nodded and put the bill back in his wallet. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“No problem.”

“Do you mind if I sit in here for a few more minutes where it’s warm while I make some phone calls? I’m going to try to find a room at a hotel for the night. The snow’s really coming down out there, and obviously I’m not going to get home.”

The thought of Robert and a hotel room brought back flashes of sweaty, nude bodies writhing together.

“Yeah, sure,” Jesse rasped. He turned away before Robert noticed the bulge in his jeans that broadcasted exactly where his thoughts had been.

He made himself stay at the other end of the bar for several minutes while Robert spoke on the phone. It seemed as if the nearer he got to the man tonight, the less control he had over himself. It was like Robert radiated some kind of invisible homing signal that Jesse was finding it harder and harder to fight.

But when he heard Robert’s tone turn to frustration, and seconds later saw him set his phone down with a thunk, then drag a hand through his usually tidy hair, Jesse returned, under the guise of picking up the empty whiskey glass still sitting in front of the man.

“Did you get everything squared away?”

“Apparently the interstate’s closed just west of here, headed over the mountains, because of the storm.”

“I didn’t realize it was that bad. They must be getting really pounded up at the higher elevations.”

“Yeah, well with the interstate shut down, it’s forced all the through travelers off the road, so every hotel and motel in town—all whopping three of them—are already filled to capacity. Same with the B&Bs. No rooms available anywhere.” He shook his head and scrubbed at his face with a palm. “Christ. This night just keeps getting better and better.”

The defeat in his voice and in the sag of his shoulders twisted the damned knot in Jesse’s gut again. And before he could think it through, he offered, “I can give you a ride home.”

Robert looked up and his eyes widened in surprise.

He couldn’t possibly be any more surprised than Jesse, though. His pulse raced and he alternated between dizzying trails of heat and expectation searing through his nerve endings at the prospect of spending more time with the man, and icy shock and dread squeezing his chest. What the hell had he been thinking? How could he have suggested leaving with a stranger?

The guy’s in trouble and it’s not like he planned all this…someone smashing up his car and the hotels being full because of the storm. He’s frustrated, he’s tired, and he’s had a crappy night. Besides, he’s not really a stranger. And you’ll be the one in control…your vehicle, you driving, and all you have to do is drop him off at his door.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Robert said. “Have you seen it out there? It’s snowing like a bitch. Nobody wants to be on the roads tonight. And by the time the bar closes it’ll most likely be impassable.”

Jesus. I’ve lost my mind. “It’s not a problem. The bar’s closing early and I’m leaving now anyway. I’ve got four-wheel drive. It’ll be fine.”

Robert’s brows drew together and Jesse thought he sensed an inner battle of some sort taking place in the man much like the one he struggled with. Why?

“Jesse, I—”

“Where else are you going to go, Robert? Places are going to be closing. You sure as hell can’t stay in your car all night—you’d freeze to death. It’s no big deal. I’ll take you home.”

“You don’t understand. I don’t live in town. I live in the foothills west of town.”

“Fine. Like I said, I’ve got four-wheel.” Damn it, why was he arguing with the man? He should take the out Robert was giving him. Why wasn’t he?

Because he’s in trouble and needs help, and in spite of everything, you’re not a selfish prick.

“I…” Robert shook his head and his eyes looked troubled as he gazed at Jesse. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Just say yes,” Jesse said softly.