When Nicky Hauser walks in on his restaurant-owner boyfriend having sex with a waiter, Nicky loses his lover, his job, and his home all in one night. Although he’s nearly thirty, he’s never settled on a true career, and he has nothing to show for his years with Tom. Depressed and unable to find work, Nicky ends up couch-surfing with friends until he lands a house-sitting gig for a wealthy family.
When Nicky’s clients discover that he loves to clean, demand for his services skyrockets. Word of mouth leads him to Spencer Cartwright, a busy computer consultant and a slob. Spencer and his wife divorced when he came out, but he’s never found the time or courage to settle down with a man. As Nicky sets Spencer’s house to rights, the two men find friendship. But Nicky’s past experiences make him wary of risking everything on love.
We needed something a little light after The Tin Box, I think. Housekeeping is light, but it has a sweetness and heart to it that I hope you enjoy. In addition to the main characters, I had special fun with some of the supporting characters in this one.
You can order Housekeeping through Dreamspinner Press, or through Amazon, All Romance Ebooks, or other booksellers.
To celebrate the new release, my book Equipoise is free in Kindle format, today through November 16! Yes, Equipoise is the third in a trilogy, so you'll probably want to buy the first two. But Stasis is only 99 cents and Flux is just $4.99. Plus I donate all my royalties from this trilogy to Doctors Without Borders, so you'll be helping a good cause. Oh, and Stasis is also available in an audio version! Audio version of the other two books are in production.
And here's a little snippet from Housekeeping:
Evan blew him a kiss and fluttered his eyelashes, then stole
a piece of Balvir’s cookie. “Calories don’t count if you eat off someone else’s
plate,” he said.
Deciding that a change of topic was in order, Nicky leaned
back in his chair. “Didn’t you guys go see a play last weekend?”
That set his friends on a long and involved critique of the
actors, the plot, the dialogue, and the costumes. Nicky smiled and listened but
kept his gaze on the handsome guy, who was typing furiously. Evan was in the
middle of an impassioned diatribe against the set designer’s entire family tree
when the guy knocked his arm into his cup, sloshing coffee across his sleeve.
“Fuck!” he yelled, startling the gaggle of teenagers at a nearby table. Then he
simply stared at his arm, looking as if he might cry.
Nicky was out of his seat before he could stop himself. He
grabbed a wad of paper napkins from the dispenser on the guy’s table and
started blotting at his sleeve. “You didn’t burn yourself, did you?” Nicky
asked.
“Uh… no. It cooled off already.”
“Well, that’s good.” Nicky looked critically at the brown
blotch marring the blue fabric. “You might be able to save the shirt, though.
Get it home right away and drown it in Shout.”
“Shout?”
“Stain remover.”
The man shook his head with bemusement. “I don’t have any.”
How could you not own stain remover? Nicky sighed. “Then try
this. Soak it in warm water with a little dish soap. You do have dish soap, right? And then sponge on a little rubbing alcohol.
That might do the trick.”
“I think… I think I’ll just throw it away.”
Nicky shrugged. The shirt had probably cost a hundred bucks,
but that wasn’t his problem. “Okay.” He was still clutching the wad of napkins
and he knew he should walk away, but those green eyes had him pinned in place.
And those eyelashes couldn’t be real, could they? Nobody had eyelashes that
long and thick.
“I have a meeting in forty-five minutes,” said the man,
looking like a lost child. “An important one.”
“Well, that stain’s going to show, even if you wear your
jacket. See? It’s all the way to the edge of your cuff.” Nicky set his finger
on the fabric in question and pretended not to notice how big and strong the
guy’s hand was. Nicky was definitely not
thinking about what that hand would feel like on his bare skin.
“Oh… crap.” The phrase came out sounding so lost and
overwhelmed that Nicky’s lust was replaced by pity.
“Look. There’s a Kohl’s a couple blocks from here. Just turn
left out of the parking lot. They’re not going to carry any shirts as nice as
this one, but I bet you can zoom over, pick up a plain white button-down, and
make it to your meeting in plenty of time.”
The guy smiled at him. One of his front teeth was the
slightest bit crooked, which somehow made him even better-looking. “Thanks,
man. Are you some kind of guardian angel?”
Nicky grinned back. “If I were, I’d have saved you before
you spilled. Um, and when you’re at the store? You might want to pick up a pair
of socks too. Yours don’t match.”
The man grunted and looked down at his ankles. “They don’t?”
“One’s navy and one’s hunter green.”
“I’m color-blind.
“Find an employee at the store. Have them pick out a pair of
black socks for you.”
“Thanks. I… I better go.”
Nicky stepped back and watched as the man closed his laptop
and folded his jacket over an arm. The guy held out his stained arm so Nicky
could shake his hand. “Thanks again. Really.” He had a firm grip.
Nicky wanted to straighten his tie, but there didn’t seem to
be much point since the guy would be changing clothes anyway. “Good luck with
the meeting.”
He watched as the man walked away.
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