One morning before work, Alan Travers accidentally bumps into Detective Jim Garrison at a cafe where both men stop for coffee. The handsome younger man interests Alan, but he misses his chance to get to know the detective better and wonders if he'll get another.<br><br>With the help of his nephew Bryce, Alan concocts a plan to try and get Jim's attention "accidentally on purpose." It works, but as things heat up between them, Alan worries what Jim will think if he finds out their getting together was no accident.<br><br>Then Bryce goes missing, and Alan's going to have to come clean. But is he the only one not being truthful?

Accidentally On Purpose

When it settles there and doesn’t move, Alan dares to cover it with his own. He feels heady, as if the whole theater is looking at them, at this simple display of affection. He has to remind himself no one’s going to throw them out, or run screaming for the police.


He isthe police. This isn’t the Stone Age, isn’t that what Brooks said? Being attracted to another man is no longer the crime it was in my youth.


Which might as well have been back in 1875, Alan thinks wryly. Going on a date, getting handsy out in public where anyone can see them…this is all so new to him. No matter what Jim tries to tell him, Alan knows he’s old.


But Jim’s hand squeezes Alan’s knee, and then slides an inch or two up his thigh, and to be honest, Alan doesn’t feelold when they’re together. He feels gung-ho and full of spunk, young again in a way he couldn’t have said he was missing before tonight.


Chapter 25