Jonathan Banks and Peter Giles have worked together for five years, business partners in a planning firm that bears both their names. From the moment Jonathan was hired, the attraction between the two men was instantaneous and mutual, but he was dating someone else at the time and turned down Peter’s advances.<br><br>Now Jonathan’s boyfriend is out of the picture, and he’d love nothing more than for Peter to ask him out again, but he knows his partner all too well. Peter doesn’t take rejection easily. He likes flirting with Jonathan, sure, but doesn’t want to take the chance of getting turned down a second time. He's satisfied with the way their friendship is, and fears anything more intimate might ruin what they already have.<br><br>But everything both men have planned and worked for together is threatened on a cold, wintry evening when Peter’s car won’t start and Jonathan has to give him a lift home. Can the two friends move past their own fears and trepidations, and begin to build a future together as partners outside the office?

Not According to Plan

His receptionist buzzed to let him know Jonathan had arrived, and remind him she was on her way out. By the time Peter stepped into the small waiting area at the front of his tiny office space, Jonathan was alone, the front desk empty. A sign in front of the telephone read, Please Announce Yourself, though who was Peter kidding? No one dropped by to visit or chat. The only people who ever stopped in were those he invited or the few hapless souls who got lost looking for the bus stop.


Chapter 3