On a scale of one to ten, DJ Joe Salinas considers himself a four, five on a good day. Actor/part-time stripper Fess Kedley is definitely a nine, however, and Joe's pretty sure that slides into a ten as soon as the clothes come off. So when the outgoing Fess recognizes a shy Joe from his midnight radio show at a bachelorette party and proceeds to ask him out, Joe turns Fess down, convinced the man's either crazy or stupid.<br><br>The only problem is, Fess takes rejection as reason to keep on trying.<br><br>The two become unexpected friends, so when the thought of trying a date comes up again, Joe decides to take a chance. Though he doesn't understand what someone like Fess can see in someone like him, it's hard to say no when everything else feels so right.

What the Heart Thinks

“What’s the point of having them if not to sit on?”


She was gone as swiftly as she’d descended, leaving Joe slightly bewildered about what had just happened.


“You heard the woman.” Fess slipped his hand into Joe’s and tugged him toward the nearest sofa. “Let’s sit.”


Joe obliged. He even let Fess keep their fingers intertwined once they were settled. “You told her about me.”


“Sure,” Fess said. “Why wouldn’t I?”


Fess was too good at making statements that cheated Joe from refuting them. Because in that moment, as relaxed as he was, as unbothered as he was by Fess’s outward affection, as delighted as he was with the people Fess called friends, he could only summon one thought.


The gallery was a third full when Fess sought out Natalie to make his goodbyes. He found her away from the rest of the guests, sitting in the manager’s office with her feet propped up in her girlfriend Maren’s lap so Maren could rub them.


Chapter 14