Cameron Dane - a younger man.pdf - Cameron Dane - nonie.maxwell

A Younger Man

Cameron Dane

Published 2012

ISBN: 978-1-59578-952-5

Published by Liquid Silver Books, imprint of Atlantic Bridge Publishing, 10509

rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or

otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Liquid Silver Books

http://LSbooks.com

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of

the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual

events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Blurb

Recently divorced and out of the closet, Noah Maitland is a regular Joe, salt-of-the-

earth kind of guy who is newly navigating the world of dating other men. So far he hasn’t

had a lot of luck. Noah is a father firsthe has two teenage sons. The owner of a

handyman business in a small community, Noah wants someone to love who is also

appropriate for where he is in his life.

Zane Halliday is a young manmuch too young for Noahwho is struggling to

take care of his brother and sister and meet his bills every month. Recently thrown out of

his apartment, Zane stumbles on Noah, literally, and Noah offers Zane some much-

needed help.

Each man is dealing with his own set of problems, and both crave someone to talk to

and trust. Soon a friendship between Noah and Zane blossoms. But Noah could never fall

for someone so much younger than he isnot to mention Zane is not gay. But what if

sexually innocent Zane isn’t as straight as he assumed he was? How will Noah be able to

resist this much younger man once Zane figures out the only person he wants is Noah?

Dedication

For everyone who fell in love with Noah Maitland in Grey’s Awakening , this one is

for you. I can’t thank you enough for all the encouragement and support. I hope you like

Noah and Zane!Love, CD

Prologue

“Why won’t you at least go out with him?”

The female voice rang in Noah Maitland’s ears, the question rubbing his last nerve

raw. Noah sat across the dinner table from his oldest son, Seth, and Seth’s girlfriend,

Kim. After processing her commentno, her nerveNoah just barely held in the need to

roar down the walls of his kitchen with a shout to get the hell out of his cabin. And Noah

loved his son, loved the kid like hell. The boy had been his pride and joy from the

moment his mother put the crying infant in his arms nineteen years ago on Thanksgiving

morning. The only day that had matched his first son’s birth had been the night his

second child, Matthew, had come into the world fourteen years ago. In this moment,

though, Noah could only be grateful his youngest son hadn’t come to dinner with his

eldest.

“Mr. Maitland, why won’t you at least go out with him?” Kim, this young redhead

Noah hardly knew, continued to drill a hole into his forehead with her stare. “Ken is a

really nice guy, and I’d be more than happy to set you up.”

Breathe. Noah silently listened to the clock tick on the wall, and counted to ten. She

means well. Just breathe. Only Noah’s knowledge and respect for how much Seth liked

this Kim girl kept Noah from telling her to back the fuck off and get out of his face. But

shit, the girl clearly had no sense of boundaries. Had Seth cleared this line of

conversation with Kim before arriving for dinner? One glance at his sonthe kid

continually shifted in his chair and played with his glasstold Noah everything he

needed to know. He’s still uncomfortable with me being gay.

Fuck. Noah sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His chest ached with the new

distance between him and Seth. “I don’t want you to set me up with this Ken person,

Kim,” Noah kept his voice nice and even, “because you just finished telling me about his

birthday party you went to last weekwhere he turned twenty.” Christ, the guy wasn’t

even a full year older than Seth. “He’s way too young for me. It wouldn’t be

appropriate.”

Kim brushed his comment aside with her hand. “People don’t care about stuff like

age difference anymore when they’re dating; you go out with whoever you want, and

screw anybody who doesn’t like it.”

Noah parted his lips to disagreeat least where his personal dating choices were

concernedwhen Seth blurted, “How can you even say you’re really gay anyway?” A

hard edge filled Seth’s tone, and a glint of cold steel iced his usually warm hazel eyes.

“You told Mom, you got your divorce, and you’re in your own place now. Matthew and I

get to deal with shitty comments from people we thought liked us, but what for? You’re

always home. You never fucking go out.”

“Hey.” Noah raised his voice. “Language, Seth.”

Seth snorted. “Matthew’s not here to hear me.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Noah replied. “You have a guest. Be respectful of that.”

“Kim has heard me curse before. But you know what,” Seth threw his arms up in the

air, “fine. My point is still the same, and it’s one you don’t want to hear. You said you

got divorced because you couldn’t ignore the fact that you’re gay anymore, but what has

changed? You’re still home every night, just like you were when you lived with us and

Mom. And whenever I or Matthew calls you, you’re never doing anythinglike being on

a datethat you can’t interrupt, so why did you even bother? How do you really even

know you want to be with another dude if you never even go out and talk to one, or kiss

one? You might as well have just stayed married and kept everything a secret.”

“And then your mom wouldn’t be with Tom right now,” Noah pointed out to his son.

“Oh,” Seth’s dark brows shot halfway up his forehead, “so this was about Mom

then? Letting her go so she could be happy, not you.”

Fucking Christ. Backed into a corner, Noah couldn’t exactly tell his son

particularly not with the kid’s girlfriend sitting at the tableabout Sirus. About this

beautiful man whom Noah had found himself wildly attracted to, to the point where he

wanted the guy so much he couldn’t hide his feelings anymore, only to discover Sirus

was already passionately in love with someone else. By that point Noah had already

separated from his wifeex-wife nowonly to find himself alone.

Haggard and weighed down all of a sudden, Noah could only say, “It’s

complicated.” His gut twisted a little less now with thoughts of what might have been

with Sirus, something that had in truth ended before it had even begun. “You’ll have to

trust me on that.”

With pinpoint focus, Seth said back, “Or maybe you don’t really want to go out on a

date with another man. Maybe you’re not as gay as you thought you were.”

Noah’s lip curled. “I know what I feel.”

Seth sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “So go out on a date with a guy and

prove it.”

Words, phrases, lectures, pummeled Noah’s throat in their effort to get out. He slid a

glance at Kim, someone not nearly close enough to Seth for Noah to consider her family,

and pushed down the volume of frustration living inside him.

Through lips that barely moved, Noah looked at his son and said, “We’ll talk about

your tone and how you’re behaving later.”

Seth started to rise from his seat, but Kim put her hand on his arm. “Maybe we

should just relax and eat.”

Breathing, fighting the rise in his core temperature, Noah speared a roasted tomato

with his fork. “I think that’s a good idea.”

Growling, using a rumbling noise Noah recognized as one he made himself when

angry, Seth sat back down.

The rest of the meal was had in silence.

* * * *

Later that night Noah stared in the mirror, growling at himself in much the same

manner his son had done during dinner. Noah took care of himself. His work, chiefly as a

plumber but also as an overall handyman when needed by his clients, kept him in good

shape. Great shape, even. And not just for a forty-two-year-old; just great shape in

general. His eyes were a completely uninteresting, dull brown though; nobody would

ever get lost in the depth of their blah color. But he still had a full head of hair, and only a

very few grays were mixed in with the blond. He wasn’t classically handsome or

arrestingly, sexily attractive in any way, but Janice, his ex-wife, had once told him he had

a strong, honest look about him that people didn’t forget and that made a person feel safe.

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