Knave of Broken Hearts(Love in Laguna Series, Bk #2)
by Tara Lain
Blurb:
How come the minute Jim decides to be responsible, he finds himself taking care of his kid brother, getting a proposal from a wealthy woman, making a deal with the devil, and winding up in the hospital—when all he really wants is the Knave of Broken Hearts?
Available for purchase at
Paperback from Dreamspinner
Excerpt
“Jim?”
He looked up at Ken Tanaka standing in the door to the inner office. The doc came to get Jim himself.
“Are you okay? You look upset?”
“Oh no, not exactly.”
“Want to come in?”
“Sure.”
He
stood and walked through the door, inhaling Tanaka’s spicy/sweet scent
that filled his head like smoke. God, he felt disoriented, like he
didn’t know which world he lived in—one where he went out on dates with a
rich woman, or one in which he gazed into the beautiful eyes of Yaoi
Man and got a hard-on. Hell, both of them had to be fantasyland.
Ken motioned him into a private office that wasn’t an examining room. “Please, take a seat.”
Jim
sat in a guest chair in front of Ken’s desk, and the doc walked all the
way around to sit in his big leather chair. Very professional. Very
distant. Very not a good sign. “So I got back the results of your
echocardiogram.”
“Yeah?” Shit, they should take another test right now. The way his heart hammered in his ears, he’d sure as fuck fail.
“Your mitral valve prolapse is what I would call moderate to severe. It’s difficult to tell exactly without doing surgery.”
“Surgery?” Close your mouth, idiot.
“Yes, that’s how a severely, shall we say, floppy valve is corrected.” He smiled tightly.
“Floppy?” It came out like a squeak.
“I’m
not recommending surgery now. We’re going to observe over the next few
months. I want you to let me know any problems, arrhythmic heartbeats,
racing heart, chest pains, anything irregular that might occur, okay?”
Shit, all of that was so regular for him, and he was so not going to tell Tanaka that. He nodded.
“Don’t
worry. Mitral valve prolapse is quite common. Most people never have
any real difficulty. Just follow my directions. Don’t drink excessively,
eat healthy food, even organic would be advisable, and avoid stress.”
Jim’s
mouth opened, then closed. He was okay on the drinking thing so far,
although this news made him want to down a bottle of Jack. Still, on the
other stuff, the doc might as well say fly to the moon and bring back
some green cheese. Hell, even being around Tanaka could give him a
fucking heart attack. Sitting here thinking he might die any moment, and
his cock still wanted to escape his jeans just from looking at the
doctor’s lips. Maybe that’s how he’d go out. Lean over and kiss Ken
Tanaka. Bye-bye, Charlie.
“Does that all seem doable?”
Jim nodded. “Does, uh, that mean I don’t get the insurance?” Jesus, that would be bad.
“No.
As I told you, mitral valve prolapse is common. I’ve signed the papers
and turned them in. You should get the approval with no problem. You’re
officially no longer a patient.”
That felt both good and bad. “Thanks, man.”
“My
pleasure. As I say, it’s not an inherently worrisome diagnosis.” Ken
sat back in his chair. “So you’re hooking up with our sexy landlord,
huh?” He smiled, but something seemed phony about it.
“Uh, no. She was just talking to me about how to build out her suites. And she, uh, has some more work for us.”
Ken stood and walked toward the door of his office. “I don’t know, buddy. I’d look out for her. You could find yourself hooked.”
Buddy? Seriously?
“I won’t worry too much. You told me to avoid stress.” He walked over
to the door, looked at Ken, then glanced away. “You seem to have a new
boyfriend. Cute guy.”
He frowned. “My mother fixed us up.”
“Seriously?” Jim snorted a laugh.
“You, my friend, are not Japanese, or you’d understand.”
“You were born in Japan?” Ken had no accent at all.
“No,
I was born in Costa Mesa, but—well, it’s complicated. So don’t worry
about your heart. My office manager is gone, but she’ll call you to make
an appointment in about two months. Meanwhile, I’m serious about
contacting me if anything unusual occurs.”
“Anything?”
“With your health, crazy man.” He smiled, and this time it reached his eyes.
Two
months. He had no excuse to see Ken Tanaka for two months. Hell, that
was good news. Maybe he’d get his feet back under him, if he didn’t die
of a heart attack first.
“Thanks again for helping me with the architect thing.”
Ken raised an eyebrow. “Is it working out with Willings?”
“Yeah. He assigned one of the young guys in his office to handle the drawings, and he’s great. He’s really saved my ass.”
“Good. See, I helped relieve your stress.” He sounded sad.
“Yeah.”
He stuck out his hand. Ken took it, and heat traveled up Jim’s arm all
the way to his heart. “Guess I’ll see you in two months.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t marry any guys you don’t want to marry.” He tried to grin.
Ken didn’t grin. “I’ll try.”
Love in Laguna series
Also available in Audiobook
Available for purchase at
About the Author
Tara
Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels
that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published
in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 23. Her
bestselling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best
Contemporary Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay
Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC
Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations
firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing
craft.
She lives with her soulmate husband and her soulmate
dog in Laguna Beach, California, a pretty seaside town where she sets a
lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new
experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!
You can find Tara at
Giveaway
Thank you so much for having my beautiful boys on your beautiful blog!! : )
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, thanks for stopping by !
DeleteMy pleasure, thanks for stopping by !
Delete