Fruitcake is the laughingstock of the holiday season. But is it really an aphrodisiac instead? Motorcycle mechanic Sam McGuire is surprised to find a gaily wrapped box on his doorstep with a piece of fruitcake inside. The note on the present is an invitation to a holiday party. Intrigued, Sam attends the party -- mostly to get more of the fruitcake he falls in love with -- and meets his new neighbor, Jay Merriweather. The lure of Jay’s big family and its holiday tradition of enjoying Grandma’s fruitcake hook Sam, as does the sexy man himself. But Sam can't imagine why handsome, college-educated Jay would want someone like him, who was raised in a children’s home and barely graduated high school. Can the magic of the holiday season help two men who seem so different come together like the ingredients in a well-made fruitcake?

Blame It on the Fruitcake

I’d finished my breakfast, done the dishes, and was making big plans for the day. Big plans that included whatever TV had to offer.


No answer, but more knocking. I sighed. Gonna be like that, is it?


I went to the door and peeked out. An older heavyset woman stood there dressed in a light-blue Henley knit T-shirt, jeans, and colorful shoes. I didn’t know her, but she didn’t look hostile even though she had a heavy-looking purse slung over her shoulder and was carrying a plastic bag with what looked like something equally heavy in it.


I unlocked the door and opened it about halfway.


“Can I help you?” I didn’t really want to deal with her crap right now, but manners win every time.


“Are you Sam McGuire?” She was studying me as if I had the answer to some problem that bothered her.


Chapter 11