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  Rio nodded. “He’s barely spoken two words since I picked him up. Don’t know that I’ve ever met anyone so quiet. You shouldn’t have a bit of trouble from him if you decide to let him live above the store,” Rio told Tyler.

  Tyler waved away Rio’s concerns. “He looks so sad and lonely,” Tyler whispered.

  Hearn bent and kissed Tyler’s temple. “Go on. I know you want to.”

  Tyler gazed up at Hearn. “You’re sure you don’t mind if I go over and introduce myself?”

  “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t try and take care of the world.” Hearn gave his lover a kiss. “Go. I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”

  As Tyler made his way through the crowd, Hearn looked for Gracie. “It appears as though Gracie’s weaving her magic,” he chuckled.

  Rio followed Hearn’s gaze and shook his head. “Damn,” he huffed. “No matter what they say, we are not adopting a child. One princess in the house is enough.” Rio started across the hall with Hearn on his heels.

  Gracie did indeed look like a princess sitting on the throne of Ryan’s arm. Hearn couldn’t hear what she was talking about, but her gestures were dramatic. Nate and Ryan were in stitches by the time Hearn and Rio approached.

  “What’re you telling these men, Gracie?”

  Gracie immediately reached for Hearn. He easily took his princess in his arms and hugged her. At six, Gracie might be too old to hold like this, but with her small body-size, she fit Hearn’s arms perfectly.

  “I was telling Sheriff Blackfeather and Mayor Gills about my tea set. They said they’d come over sometime.”

  Rio made a sound in his throat and rolled his eyes. “I’ll be sure and drop them off before I go play pool or something.”

  Hearn laughed. As tough as Rio wanted everyone to think he was, Hearn knew the man was a marshmallow underneath. Gracie would be having tea for four before he knew it.

  Balancing Gracie on one arm, Hearn stuck his hand out to Nate. “Congratulations, Mayor.”

  Nate smiled and returned the handshake. “Thanks. I’ve got a few things I’d like to discuss with you when you get a moment.”

  “Oh?”

  Nate nodded, but before he could say anything more, George Manning stepped up to shake his hand. Hearn politely excused himself and carried Gracie over to the food table. “You hungry?”

  Gracie studied the table of food. “Do I gotta eat veggies?” she asked, scrunching up her nose.

  “Nope, not this time.” He set her down on the floor and picked up two plates. “You point to what you want,” he told her, as he moved down the buffet.

  After setting their plates on an empty table, Hearn went back for two glasses of punch. “Now don’t spill it on your pretty dress,” he warned.

  “I’m not a baby,” she informed him.

  Hearn leaned over and kissed her. “Yes you are. You’re my baby.”

  “Ooh, yummy, dinner,” Tyler joked, kissing Gracie’s neck.

  Giggling, Gracie pushed Tyler away. “My neck is not your snack. Get your own.”

  Instead of going to the food table, Tyler took a seat on Hearn’s lap and stole one of his chicken wings. “Hearn’ll share with me.”

  Hearn’s hand landed squarely on Tyler’s hip. “Get your own, moocher.”

  In a mock pout, Tyler stood and headed for the buffet. Hearn leaned over towards Gracie. “I would’ve given him more if he would’ve asked nicely.”

  Gracie was still giggling when Tyler returned to the table, plate loaded. “So what did you think of your new tenant?” Hearn asked, biting into a stuffed mushroom.

  Tyler paused with a carrot stick half-way to his mouth. “There’s something about his voice. I can’t describe it. He doesn’t talk much, but when he does, it’s…hypnotic.”

  Hearn finished off his mushroom. “How so?”

  Tyler shook his head. “I don’t know, soft, serene. The kind of voice you’d expect an angel to have.” Tyler shook his head. “I told you I wouldn’t be able to describe it.”

  Tyler gazed across the room at where Jay was sitting. “I tried to get him to join us, but he said he felt better staying out of the way.” Tyler put his hand to his chest. “If he were a few years younger I think I’d adopt him myself.”

  Hearn glanced at the young man. Telling himself he had nothing to be jealous of, he glanced back at Tyler. “I don’t need to worry about the two of you, do I?”

  Tyler lobbed the carrot stick at him. “Don’t be a dork. I guess he just brings out my maternal instincts or something. Anyway, don’t judge me until after you’ve met him.”

  “Whatever,” Hearn quipped, throwing the carrot back at Tyler.

  Hearn took a bite of his brownie when a chicken wing hit him in the face. Startled, he swallowed the bite before he could get it chewed. The large piece of food started to get stuck in his throat, he gasped for a breath and grabbed his glass of punch, trying like hell to soften the brownie. After a bit of coughing, he was finally able to get a breath. He glanced down at the wing on the table and turned to Gracie. “Did you just throw that at me?”

  Gracie clapped her hands and giggled. “I wanted to play like you and Dad,” she informed him.

  Hearn scowled at Tyler who was cracking up. “Nice. Teaching your daughter to throw food.”

  * * * *

  Cleaning up the last of the mess, Rio put the broom away. “You guys about ready to hit it?”

  “Yeah,” Nate yawned. “Just let me finish wrapping these leftovers. I’ll take ‘em home for now. Thought maybe I’d give them to Jay in the morning. I doubt Tyler left anything in his kitchen to eat.”

  “Want me to start loading them up?”

  “Sure,” Nate yawned again.

  Rio grabbed a big box full of food. He peered over his shoulder at Ryan. “You gonna just stand there? Can’t you see your boss needs to get to bed?” Rio chuckled on his way out to Nate’s SUV. He knew Ryan hadn’t given the small detail much thought, but officially, as soon as Nate was sworn in, he’d become Ryan’s boss. “God, is this a great country or what?”

  He put the box in the back of the vehicle and went back in for the next load. He wasn’t sure how many people Nate had expected to feed, but they had a ton of leftovers. Jay would be eating high on the hog for days. Not that the skinny fella couldn’t use it. Damn, he’d never seen anyone as tiny as Jay. Although the guy was probably five-foot-six or seven, Rio bet Jay didn’t weigh more than a hundred and five or ten pounds.

  Ryan stumbled out as Rio was going in. “Is your boss about ready?” Rio asked, twisting the knife.

  “Shut up,” Ryan snarled.

  “Or what?” Rio taunted.

  “Or I’ll sell my third of The Gym to Nate and he’ll become your boss, too.”

  “Damn. You fight dirty,” Rio said, pretending to lock his lips and throw away the key.

  Nate met Rio at the door and handed him another box. “That’s the last one. I’ll lock up.”

  Rio loaded the food into the SUV and got behind the wheel. Thankfully, he’d taken Jay over to the loft earlier, because all he wanted was to get home and crawl into bed. It had been a big day for all of them, especially their new mayor.

  Instead of fighting over who would ride shotgun, Nate opened the back door and climbed in. “Wake me when we get home,” he mumbled.

  Ryan got in the passenger seat and buckled up. “I’m damn proud of you, Nate,” He reached over the back of the seat to swat Nate’s ass.

  Nate was already so out of it, he didn’t even protest, simply grunted a reply neither of them could understand. Chuckling, Rio pulled out of the parking lot. “I wonder how big his head’ll get once all this sinks in?” he mused.

  “Shit, if I know Nate, the only thing that’ll change is we’ll have to go to City Hall to satisfy his mid-day hungers,” Ryan joked.

  “I heard that,” Nate piped up from the backseat.

  “You denying it?” Rio chimed in.

  “Nope.”

  “
Didn’t think so,” Rio said with a grin.

  Epilogue

  “It’s Sunday, where’re you going?” Hearn asked, from his position on the couch.

  “To the shop, but I won’t be long,” Tyler answered. He hated not telling Hearn the entire truth. He’d gone over it a hundred times, and there was something he needed to do.

  “Can you stop by and pick up something for dessert? Nate and the guys are coming over for lunch.”

  Slipping on his light jacket, Tyler gave Hearn a quick kiss. “If you promise not to wake Gracie from her nap, I’ll pick up a pie. Although it’s Sunday, so Kyle’s is closed. You’ll have to make do with one from the grocery store.”

  “Mmm, sounds good. Cherry if you can find one,” Hearn’s attention returned to the movie.

  Tyler drove to the shop and parked in back. He turned up the stereo as he worked, putting together the bouquet. After gathering a rather large bunch of daisies, he started to automatically reach for the roses, but stopped himself. Nope. Roses were too good for this particular arrangement.

  With the stems tied with ribbon, Tyler switched off the stereo and locked up. The drive to the cemetery wasn’t long, just outside of town. He parked the car, happy to see he was the only person there. What he had to say to Mitch was private.

  Flowers in hand, he easily found Mitch’s grave. He smiled at the remnants of the last bouquet Hearn had delivered. Picking up the faded and torn ribbon, he stuffed it in his pocket.

  Tyler propped the fresh flowers against the headstone and stepped back. “This is it, Mitch. The last bouquet you’ll ever get from me or Hearn. He’s mine now, mine and Gracie’s. You were a fool for not holding on to what you had, but your stupidity gave me a family, and for that I’d like to say thank you.”

  Tears burned his eyes at the thought of living a life without the man he loved. “He’s everything to me, and I make damn sure I let him know that on a daily basis.”

  Chuckling, he had to do a bit of bragging. “You gave up on him too soon. Even you would’ve been proud of the man he’s become. Although I doubt he’d have had the confidence to take chances if he were still under your constant criticisms. Hearn’s now the Parks and Recreation Department Director. He’s already started programmes that have made a big difference.”

  Tyler kicked at a clump of greening grass. “Well, that’s about all I have to say to you. Thanks for giving me the best lover and partner a man could ask for, and thanks for giving Gracie the best daddy in the world.”

  Turning away, Tyler walked back to his car, feeling better than he had in a long time. He’d been meaning to have that little talk with Mitch for a while, but in his life, the living took precedence.

  After stopping off at the grocery store, he pulled into the drive, happy to see Rio’s pickup already parked there. He lifted the two cherry pies from the passenger seat and went inside. He was a little surprised to see the living room empty, but heard voices coming from Gracie’s room. Damn. He wondered which one of her new ‘uncles’ had woken her from her nap.

  Tyler set the dessert boxes on the kitchen island before going to investigate. The door to Gracie’s room was open enough for Tyler to peek inside without being noticed. He covered a laugh, as he observed Rio sitting in one of the tiny chairs with a red feather boa around his neck. Gracie was pouring pretend tea and telling her new playmate all about school.

  He never thought he’d see the day. Nate had been over several times for Gracie’s now-famous tea parties, but Rio had always been adamant about not joining in. Tyler didn’t know whether to tease the big guy or not. Rio looked like he was having the time of his life. He thought about running to get his camera to capture the moment.

  In the end, he decided it wouldn’t be fare. Tyler walked back and quietly opened the door before slamming it. “I’m home. Where is everyone?”

  He barely suppressed a laugh when Rio came sauntering out of the bedroom, minus the boa. “Nate, Ryan and Hearn needed to run to City Hall for a minute, so I told ‘em I’d keep an eye on Gracie.”

  “Oh? Is she awake?” Tyler had to turn away when he noticed a red feather caught in Rio’s black curls.

  “Yep, just now,” Rio said, acting more manly than usual.

  “Well, if you don’t mind watching her a little longer, I’ll get lunch started.”

  “Okay. Just holler if you need me,” Rio said, going back into the bedroom.

  As Tyler fixed the marinade for the steaks, he finally let out the laugh he’d suppressed for so long. Life was good.

  About the Author

  An avid reader for years, one day Carol Lynne decided to write her own brand of erotic romance. Carol juggles between being a full-time mother and a full-time writer. These days, you can usually find Carol either cleaning jelly out of the carpet or nestled in her favourite chair writing steamy love scenes.

  Email: [email protected]

  Carol loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com .

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