Beaten by the IT recession, Justin has come back to his hometown where he’s inherited a small house from his mother. Surely Barry, his old crush and sometime nemesis, is long gone. Jobs are scarce, so impulsively Justin seeks to buy into a pet grooming business. But when he has to visit the local bank for a loan, who sits behind the big desk but Barry?<br><br>Justin’s appearance jolts Barry out of his miserable rut of a life. What if they were to pick up where a brief boyhood attraction abruptly ended? Then his mother’s sudden stroke throws his whole life into a tumbled ruin.<br><br>Juggling business and pleasure can be a complex, risky endeavor. Will Justin resist Barry’s charms and flee again, or will fate give them a new leash on life?

A New Leash on Life

Barry scratched an ear, shifted in his seat. His gaze touched Justin’s briefly and skated away. “Do you think twenty grand will be enough? I can approve that much without going to the board for their agreement, unless it’s secured. Wait though, if you can get an appraisal on the house, we could go considerably higher, I’m sure. Just guessing it will appraise out at least seventy-five to eighty thousand. I’d lend two-thirds of that.”


Justin sucked in a fast breath. “I think you may have a mortgage on the storefront too. I’m not sure about that yet. The only issue is the fact I can’t lay hands on a substantial down payment right now.” Hell, he couldn’t put up five dollars if he wanted to eat the next week or two. Necessities had taken a bigger bite out of his savings account than he had intended to spend. Barry had no need to know that, though.


Chapter 5