DeVore lost the love of his life ten years ago, left his seven-figure career with a huge financial firm, and became a recluse. He now indulges a hobby of photography which has become his new vocation. At one of the few social functions he attends, he meets an amazing young man. Can he find new life and new love? The game of hearts is always risky, but what if a part of your first love now lives in another body?<br><br>Tim was a preemie and always frail. Later, an organ transplant was the only thing that could save him. Now grown, he still struggles to break restrictive family ties and find a purpose. It’s a thrill to meet the charismatic DeVore, an idol whose powerful photographs move many. But is this attraction his own, or coming from the stranger’s heart now beating in his chest?

A Game of Hearts

Then DeVore rolled to face Tim and lifted onto his bottom arm, resting on the elbow. It seemed as if he had just seen Tim’s scar for the first time. Up until now he had ignored it, other than that first morning when he’d worried that inner bone and muscle might be weak or not completely healed.


He reached, his hand not quite steady, and traced a fingertip along the puckered line, still redder than the rest of Tim’s torso. Since he tried to keep the mark hidden, thinking it ugly and knowing it provoked questions, his upper body had little color. His arms and legs were a healthy tan, but not his torso. DeVore shook his head, frowning.


“You’d mentioned surgery, and I assumed a stent or something like a new heart valve, but that wasn’t all. You had a transplant, didn’t you? Can I ask what and when?”


Chapter 14