Tea company owner Tate Blackwood isn’t just in search of the perfect persimmon-flavored tea; he’s also looking for a good time. Many one-night stands are his thing. There’s no way he’ll have a boyfriend, or fall in love with another man.<br><br>Enter Paul Persimmon, the green-eyed owner of a little bookshop in downtown Channing, Pennsylvania. Tate thinks the man is honest, warm-hearted, and uninhibited. When Tate enters the bookshop, his life takes a quick turn. Although Persimmon insists on a date with Tate, Tate thinks another one-night stand will happen.<br><br>Is Tate too set in his ways to settle down with one man, though? Can he reach for love after finding Persimmon? Or is his relationship more about being best buds with Persimmon? Only time and persimmon tea will provide the answers to his steeping questions.

Finding Persimmon

We’re supposed to be together. We’re already friends. We can now be lovers. Can’t we?


“You’re a changed man,” Persimmon said. “I can see it in your eyes.”


I cried over you tonight, Tate thought. Real tears. Humbled. Yours for the taking.He took a sip of Persimmon’s drink, downed half of it, and said, “I’ve done a lot of thinking with my heart. I like you…more than a one-night stand. You get that, right?”


“It’s about time, guy. I’ve been waiting for this moment.”


They kissed again, breaking the world in half, flying, floating, somewhere else on the planet. Away from the bar and the Steve Grand song that floated out of the jukebox. A part of the earth started to melt, and the stars brightened inside the heavens, above the bar, distantly. Lifted. Different. Close to each other. Drifting.


When the kiss ended, Tate said, “I want you. Let me have you.” He patted his heart, nodding. “I’m falling for you, Mr. Persimmon.”


Chapter 21