Dane Westerfield left Vermont a decade ago without a desire to return. California was home now. Or rather, his partner of six years, made it home. But when the unexpected death of his lover leads to the revelation of long kept secrets, Dame returns to the Vermont town he grew up in to help deal with his grief.<br><br>On the way to his sister’s home, he runs into Theo Mason, his first love. Theo had been one of the reasons Dane had been eager to leave Vermont and Dane’s not eager to see him again. Yet the rugged police officer makes it clear he wants another chance. Theo’s patience and understanding catch Dane off guard, and Dane finds himself wanting to give into Theo and his familiar heat. But Dane can’t shake the feeling that it’s too soon to try one more time.

One More Time

“Anyway, I have changed,” Theo said. “I still enjoy women, but I’ve decided for the most part I like guys better. The woman you saw at the table with me the other night is a colleague, and we decided to eat after a long day. We’re just friends.”


“Yeah, it doesn’t really matter anyway. Whatever you do or whoever you’re with is your business. What happened between us was over ten years ago.”


His eyelashes lowered, hiding his dark gaze for a moment. When he looked at me again, his expression was guarded. “Perhaps we have some unfinished business from those days.”


I shook my head and took a large swallow of my wine. “Nope. Not as far as I’m concerned. We fucked, you ran, I moved, end of story. Sounds finished to me.”


Theo’s mouth thinned, but he didn’t say anything, just brooded into his wine. A moment or two later, the waitress arrived with our meals, and we both set our attention to them.


“I thought maybe we could—ah hell.”


Chapter 14