by
Jacob Baumgardner is struggling to get his nonprofit shelter for gay teens off the ground because the building needs a lot of help before it can pass inspection. Raised by his grandparents for part of his life, Jacob feels that the shelter is his chance to honor them, but someone is making things difficult. An anonymous extortionist seems determined to ruin Jacob’s late grandfather’s good name and keep the shelter from opening.
Luka Smith is struggling to find his place in the world after a traumatic event in his teen years pushed him to run. When Jacob hires him to help with repairs at the shelter, Luka falls for his new boss hard. Luka wants nothing more than to help Jacob realize his dream.
As they work together to ensure The Promise of Hope Shelter gets off the ground, their feelings for each other only grow. But will a calculating blackmailer close the shelter before it even has a chance?
Publisher: JMS Books, LLC
Editors:
Genres:
Pairings: M-M
Heat Level: 3
Romantic Content: 4
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Gay
Protagonist 1 Age: 18-25
Protagonist 2 Age: 26-35
Word Count: 50076
Setting: Nixon City, MO
Languages Available: English
-
- Jacob was torn between embarrassment of being caught in the middle of a panic attack and the safety he felt while wrapped in Luka’s arms. Technically this was the second time this man had rescued him in less than ... two ... maybe three hours. Okay, the first time was not really rescuing, but he’d still helped him during a bad situation.
-
- He squirmed a little and tried to pull away, but Luka’s strong arms tightened around his waist.
-
- “Give it a few more minutes.”
-
- Jacob nodded and slumped back against the wall of muscle behind him. His heartbeat sped up and he realized he could feel Luka’s beating hard into his back. Had he been worried about him?
- It felt so natural to be in his arms. Jacob hadn
READ MORE
t dated in quite some time, mainly due to his grandparents’ death and trying to start this new shelter, but he also hadn’t met anyone that had peaked his interest. And Luka
definitely
-
- peaked his interest. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure he hadn’t made the best impression on Luka, although he was just as confident that Luka wouldn’t soon forget meeting him.
-
- “I’m okay,” he whispered.
-
- “Okay,” Luka replied, pulling back slowly. “No quick moves.”
-
- Jacob nodded and waited for Luka to stand up before he tried to pull himself from the floor. His legs felt a little like jelly, so he was glad when Luka’s hand reached down in front of him like a lifeline. He grabbed onto it and let Luka pull him to a standing position.
-
- They stood facing each other, Jacob eye level with Luka’s chin. He was too embarrassed to say anything and too wobbly to move, so he concentrated on the cleft in Luka’s chin.
-
- “Jacob?”
-
- Luka’s voice washed over him and brought him warmth. He caught himself before he leaned his forehead into Luka’s perfect golden skin. “Mm?” he murmured.
-
- Luka’s thumb gently nudged his chin up until Jacob was looking up into his eyes. Dark chocolate eyes full of concern. “Are you okay?” Luka whispered, his hot breath caressing Jacob’s skin. He shivered and nodded.
-
- “Want to tell me what that was about?”
-
- Jacob made a half-hearted attempt to look away, but Luka’s hand cupped his chin and held him in place. “It was a panic attack. I get them occasionally. I haven’t had one in years.” Since the day his grandparents were killed in a car accident, to be exact, but he kept that bit of information to himself.
-
- “What brought it on?”
- Yeah, that was something he wasn’t going to tell him. How could he? His pulse sped up and he trembled.
