Whoever said space was cold, never found love from the stars ... Some people never learn. This is the tune playing once again in Alex Beaumont’s head when he sees a vision in white attracting odd glances in the quiet little seaside resort of Padstow. He came to get away from it all, to bury himself in work, to forget every man he ever falls for eventually needs to get away ... from him. Adrift in the universe, Mani searches for a place to call home. The planet he finds is cold and inhospitable, not at all what he was expecting. He feels lost and alone, until a stranger’s smile warms him. And with that smile comes another kind of heat, one he’s never before experienced. Love is not what Alex ever imagined it to be. They say space is infinite, but the distance between what Alex wants and what he has experienced romantically seems to be growing ... until now. Like a shooting star, he’s about to fall long and hard. Will he crash and burn, or find the love he’s always dreamed of when looking at the night sky?

Space, Man

Alex rubbed at a sensation of tightness in his chest that this time occurred because of irritation. Was he irritated with the stranger, or his own reactions? If he carried on like this, he’d start suffering from heartburn. He looked the man over, glancing up and down, taking in the sight of taut muscle and other things barely concealed by the small towel draped around that so slender waist. No man had a right to have a waist like that with hips perfect for clawing fingers into, gripping, holding on.


Alex pressed his lips together while performing a mental shake. David needed underwear—what choice did Alex have but to share? He hadn’t put any such garb in the wash with the white suit. Did David not bother to wear any? The answer appeared to be no, as he dropped the towel and tugged on the jeans, shaking his head at Alex who shut the drawer, mouth falling open as he did so. Snap out of it. Just get the man dressed.


Chapter 9