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Handle With Care
Handle With Care
Handle With Care
Ebook70 pages1 hour

Handle With Care

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If he didn't have bad luck with men Dean would have no luck at all, so he's surprised when he finds himself inviting a handsome tree lot operator he'd just met over for a Christmas Eve dinner. He's even more surprised when Gabe accepts the invitation. Will this just be two men sharing a holiday meal or will Gabe be that special someone Dean thought he'd never find?
This gay romance contains graphic depictions of sexual situations between consenting adult men and is not intended for readers under the age of 18 in the USA or the legal age for mature subject matter in other jurisdictions.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherLiz Winters
Release dateJun 8, 2013
ISBN9781301271689
Handle With Care
Author

Liz Winters

Hi, I'm Liz Winters and I write m/m romance and gay fiction for both mature and YA audiences. Although I wish I could write full time, unfortunately I spend my days in a corporate cubicle, watching the clock and waiting for that magic hour when I can head home and get back to writing my stories. When I'm not writing, I'm often reading, and if the book on my kindle isn't m/m romance or gay lit (or, on occasion, gay themed non--fiction with some Porn-Without-Plot homoerotica thrown in for research purposes only *wink, wink* - lol!), then it is most likely something about zombies. I'm also a bit of a movie and TV junkie and I love to travel with my husband of 15 years around the United States, the Caribbean and Europe.My reading and writing crosses subgenres, but I prefer contemporary stories and I don't necessarily need a happy ending, just the right ending. I like characters who feel real, which means that they are usually slightly flawed. I'm a sucker for a main character who is a little bit insecure, whether he has reason to be or not.I value reader feedback and hope to hear from readers at lizwintersmm@gmail.com. I'm also very grateful for all constructive reviews. However, I have a policy of not responding directly to reviews, good or bad, so if you have a question that needs a response please contact me via e-mail.

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    Book preview

    Handle With Care - Liz Winters

    .

    Table of Contents

    Title Page

    Dedication and Thanks

    Book Blurb

    About the Author

    Other Works

    Handle With Care

    By Liz Winters

    Copyright 2012 Liz Winters

    Smashwords Edition

    This is a work of fiction. Characters and places are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual events, places or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase as additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

    Cover created by Liz Winters

    Model photograph copyright gpointstudio and chaoss via Fotolia

    Model photographs are used for illustration purposes only. The author does not know the models or their sexual orientations.

    Dedication and Thanks

    To my husband, for his unwavering love and support of all my crazy schemes.

    Many friends helped me to improve this story along the way and to work up the courage to self-publish. Thank you John, Maureen, Natalie, Maura, Dawn, Sylvia and my editor, Alice!

    Book Blurb

    If he didn't have bad luck with men Dean would have no luck at all, so he's surprised when he finds himself inviting a handsome tree lot operator he'd just met over for a Christmas Eve dinner. He's even more surprised when Gabe accepts the invitation. Will this just be two men sharing a holiday meal or will Gabe be that special someone Dean thought he'd never find?

    This gay romance contains graphic depictions of sexual situations between consenting adult men and is not intended for readers under the age of 18 in the USA or the legal age for mature subject matter in other jurisdictions.

    Handle With Care

    Are you sure you don't want to come over for dinner tonight or tomorrow, Dean? I’m cooking for an army already, so it’s no trouble. I know it's not the same as Christmas with your family, but at least you won’t be by yourself.

    Bundled up in a heavy winter coat, my assistant stood next to me in the reception area of our strip mall storefront office as I set the security alarm. It was Christmas Eve and everyone else had gone home almost as soon as the early dismissal e-mail from headquarters hit our in-boxes. Marjorie, however, had stayed behind to ensure there was nothing I needed before I officially closed down the office.

    Thank you. I appreciate the invitation, but I couldn’t intrude on your family celebration, I refused politely. Marjorie meant well, but she didn’t know that this year I had deliberately used work as an excuse not to go back to Buffalo for the holidays. And while being alone on Christmas wasn’t going to be a highlight of my life, having to make small talk with a bunch of strangers would be no better than spending Christmas with my well-meaning but judgmental family.

    You wouldn’t be intruding at all. In fact, you’d be doing us all a favor if you took a turn listening to my Uncle Walter’s stories. He’s a Word War II vet, you know, one the very few still with us, Marjorie made one last ditch effort to change my mind, using powerful ammunition. She knew I was a military history buff and volunteered every other weekend at the VFW to help with taxes and financial issues. The vets were eager to share their stories and appreciated a listening ear as much if not more than the accounting help, and their recollections were more than sufficient compensation for my time. Even if Marjorie was right about her Uncle Walter, though, there was a world of difference between listening to stories at a VFW hall, and horning in on a family Christmas.

    You’re not playing fair, Marjorie, I chastised in a falsely playful tone. I’d love to meet your Uncle Walter, but perhaps some other time. I already have plans of sorts for the holiday, I gave her a smile that hinted at activities she wouldn’t want to ask about. Thankfully, she had always respected the boundaries I drew between work and home, and this was no exception. Recognizing the futility of further arguments, she gave me a resigned smile.

    I’ll see you Monday, then. Merry Christmas! she offered as we exited the building and I locked the front doors.

    Merry Christmas to you, too, and your family. Have them help you with the work and make sure you take some time to relax! I admonished. Marjorie just laughed and we both moved in the direction of our cars, parked on opposite sides of the small parking lot.

    The sky was already overcast, a layer of clouds rolling in ahead of the imminent blizzard. I had always loved snow. Growing up, I awaited the first snowfall the way other kids awaited Christmas. I never grew tired of it, even when my father eventually saddled me with the bulk of snow removal duties. But now, just as nature was about to deliver a white Christmas of everyone’s dreams, I couldn’t get excited. For an adult, the beauty

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