English professor Gavin Dozier hasn’t had much luck when it comes to love. When his last boyfriend cheated on him, he was driven to experiment with women. Sex with Marian, though, had its own dangers, and before he knew it, he was a father. Now estranged, the only thing Gavin and Marian have in common is their daughter Evie, a precocious seven-year-old who stays with Gavin every other weekend. While out with her daddy, Evie meets the heavily-tattooed Brody Phelps, a sketch artist with serious talent who still dresses like a brooding punk rocker, even though he’s in his thirties. Brody is instantly attracted to the sexy college professor, but knows Gavin is out of his league -- the man has a kid, which probably means he isn’t gay, and besides, Brody never even graduated from high school. Guys like Gavin don’t go for guys like him. But when Evie leaves Gavin’s cell phone behind, Brody has the perfect excuse to meet up with them again. To his surprise they hit it off, and when he asks Gavin out, the professor accepts. Even though Evie brought them together, will her demanding personality pull them apart? Is Gavin ready to trust his heart to someone else again? Can Brody overcome his own fears of inadequacy and let Gavin in? And what will Marian have to say when the father of her child starts dating again?

Never Met a Stranger

Part of him suspects maybe kids are attracted to him because he’s like them in a way. He doesn’t feellike a grown-up. He doesn’t feeladult. At thirty-two, Brody can honestly say he’s always been the way he is now, or rather, it seems that way. He doesn’t feel any older than the nerdy ten year old kid who was way too interested in the stash of vintage Playboy magazines he found hidden away under his father’s bed. It wasn’t the women that turned him on—even at that age, Brody knew he liked other boys, and the naked girls in the magazines did nothing for him sexually. But he appreciated the photographs for their artistic value, and his very first notebook is filled with poor attempts at capturing the sensuality in the arch of a back, or the curve of a lip, or the exact shading in the depths of an eye.


Chapter 10