Jay Anderson lives next door to the ruggedly handsome man of his dreams, detective Drake Hanover. He wishes their friendship could turn into more, but there's a problem -- Drake's ex-boyfriend, who has a habit of calling Drake after his breakups. After Drake once again caters to the whims of his ex, Jay about gives up hope Drake will ever see him as anything but the sweet, young twink next door.
Drake notices the sexy Jay -- who wouldn't? -- but the decade age difference between them and his needy ex keep him from thinking he could ever be more than Jay’s friend.
When his ex’s behavior gets to be too much even for Drake and the selfish man manages to hurt Jay, Drake realizes his feelings for Jay go far beyond friendship. Now if he could just convince Jay before Jay becomes his ex-neighbor.
"Sorry about that," Drake said with a smile.
Jay stood on the balcony of his apartment, the sliding glass door left open, as he looked out over the street below. He still wore the lemon-lime wool scarf around his neck, but he had changed from his work clothes and now wore what looked like painted on jeans accentuating his cute bubble butt and a thin white T-shirt. He faced away from Drake so he wasn't sure if the shirt was plain or had writing on the front.
He frowned when he noticed the cigarette in Jay's hand.
"Hey, I thought you didn't smoke anymore."
Jay turned to face him, his lips twisted, his pinked cheeks even pinker than usual. He stubbed out the cigarette on the metal railing. "I don't. Not really."
"You shouldn't even have any in your apartment." Drake knew he sounded like the pompous policeman he was. He couldn't help it. That was him. "Come inside."
Jay stepped back into the apartment and closed the slider. His plump lips looked redder than normal, like he'd been chewing on them. "I thought you were leaving."
"I changed my mind. I'll go to Ross's tomorrow instead. You and I had plans." Drake smiled. Jay didn't return the smile; if anything, he looked sadder still.
"You didn't have to do that. I said it was okay."
Jay's T-shirt had big red kissing lips on the front with the words You Know You Want to Kiss Me above them. His golden blond hair was a mass of curls, almost ringlets, giving him an angelic look. Really, Jay was easily the prettiest man he'd ever seen. He knew quite a few bears who'd practically cream in their pants over a sweet little twink like Jay.
"I know you did, but it wasn't okay with me. We made plans and I'm not changing them."
Jay nodded. "All right. Do ... do you want something to drink?"
Drake smiled. "Sure. What have you got?"
Jay shrugged a little and walked into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator. "Um. I've got Diet Coke, iced tea, and some wine." He looked sheepishly back at Drake. "No beer."
"What kind of wine you have? I'm off duty."
"I have Chablis and a Riesling."
"I'll have the Riesling."
Jay took out two wineglasses from a kitchen cabinet above the stove and filled them with the chilled white wine. He handed one to Drake.
"Now, how about those appetizers?"
Jay took a sip of his wine and shook his head. "You don't really want them."
It was all he could do to hold back a sigh. He adored Jay, he really did, but sometimes it took an extreme amount of patience to deal with the brat. And in his six month acquaintance with Jay, he had learned Jay could definitely be bratty.
"I do want them. I'm starving." Drake went to the freezer and took the boxes out, glanced at the oven temperature listed, and turned the oven on to preheat. "Are you going to make the guacamole or am I?"
Jay stared mutinously at him for a moment, his full lips almost downturned in a pout, and then, as though he changed to a different person, Jay suddenly smiled, a sweet, sexy as sin smile. "I'll make the guac; you make the dip."
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