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

Brody shakes his head. “He had a long day yesterday. He needs his sleep. If we both left and he woke up alone, he’d be worried, don’t you think?”


He tries a different tactic. “I have to get my booth set up, and once I do, you and your daddy can come visit me, okay? He’ll take you up and down the boardwalk and you can look at all the art, and you can get something to eat, like…I don’t know, funnel cakes and snow cones and ice cream.”


As he lists off the carnival food, her eyes grow wide with excitement. He doesn’t know if they’ll sell such things at the art show, but this is a beach town, after all. Someone somewhere is going to have ice cream, and they’ll find it if she really wants it.


“So let me get ready to leave,” Brody tells her, “and you let your daddy sleep, and when he wakes up, he’ll bring you down to the art show—“


“And the beach!” she cries. “I want to go in the ocean!”


Chapter 39