Joe Gallant

Blurb

Joe Gallant, playboy race car driver, a man headed, down the path of self-destruction. Roberto Morgan, suave up and coming young Dallas attorney, on the fast track to prominence and success. Secrets, lies, and a combustible attraction. Two men bound by the secrets of the past class and burn beneath the hot Texas skies. Will the past secrets of the fathers destroy their sons' chance at happiness in the present? The fathers may have gotten it wrong; can the sons get it right without losing the one chance either man has for finding lasting happiness and love?

Excerpt

Inside the rough, weather-beaten wood structure, the music decibel hit eardrum splitting levels. Peanut shells litter the old rough wood-planked floors. Several of his acquaintances made room for the three men at their table. Here, Joe didn't have to pay, but the drinks kept on coming. Tight-jeaned, big-breasted women with tiny waists kept both him and Dev on the dance floor. Joe noticed Rob politely refused, and the only drink he ordered appeared to be mineral water with a twist of lemon.

It wasn't until quite a bit later that things seemed to quiet down and he found himself sitting next to Rob, everyone else out on the dance floor. He downed another draft, parched and sweating after the last two-step with the blond now draped against a cowboy at the end of the bar."You're not drinking," Joe pointed out as he set down his empty glass and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

A sexy waitress placed another in front of him. His leg rubbed against Rob's and even as drunk as he was, he started to feel horny. He glanced at Rob--dark-haired, tawny-skinned, remote, untouchable Rob Morgan--and felt the urge to kiss him, but not inside the crowded roadhouse. Somewhere quiet, where he could take his time exploring that sweet mouth of his.

Joe studied Rob, and this close, he could see the color of his eyes. They weren't brown, like he expected. Definitely blue. Cobalt with flashes of gold framed by long, black eyelashes. Certainly not ordinary. But then nothing about him was ordinary. Not the red in his hair, not the blue eyes, not one thing about him that did not make Joe's temperature rise. Then his gaze fastened onto his mouth...sculptured lips, wet from the drink he'd just finished.

"You have a lover back in Dallas?" Joe couldn't help asking, never taking his eyes off Rob's tasty-looking mouth. The man seemed nervous; his tongue flicked out. Joe's glance moved upward.

Rob's eyes widened in surprise. Obviously, the question had taken him by surprise.

"No. I haven't had time for relationships of that nature." "Too busy trying to make your mark, hmm?" He was definitely a man on the rise. He sure had the looks to get him there. And with Aaron backing him, likely it wouldn't take long.

"I guess you might say that." Joe watched him take another sip from his glass. He licked his lips. Now Joe's whole focus was on getting a taste of him. What would Harper Morgan's son do if Joe just leaned over and claimed a big ole kiss? Would Rob yield the way Harper had yielded all those years ago to Aaron? What would Rob do if Joe kissed him? Right here in the middle of the Texas roadhouse. That sure would start folks' tongues a-wagging, now wouldn't it?

Suddenly, Joe felt like he was suffocating, and his head began to spin. "Gotta go," he slurred as he unsteadily got up from the table. He needed fresh air. It seemed like forever before he found the exit door and burst outside into the cooling desert night. He took several deep gulps of fresh air. He stumbled and someone caught him before he toppled over and made more of a fool of himself than he already had.

"I've got you," Rob said. "I think maybe it's time to head back to the house." Joe nodded and simply held on as Rob dragged him toward the Jaguar. He propped him up and started to open the door.

Joe stopped him. Rob glanced back.

"If you had a lover, would it be a man or a woman?" This far out in the parking lot, there was no one else around. No one but the crickets, the frogs, and the moon up above.

Something flickered in Rob's eyes. Joe cupped his face. "Man or woman?" he murmured just before he leaned in and stole that kiss he just had to have.

Rob didn't pull away. In fact, he leaned forward and Joe deepened the kiss. He thrust his tongue between Rob's lips. He twisted and it was Rob who backed up against the car. Joe was so hungry--ravenous because he tasted so good and Joe just had to have more.

"Joe! Where the hell are you?"

This time Dev was the man doing the interrupting.

It was Rob who moved first, the parking lot light caught and glanced off his watch. That's all it took for Joe to regain his senses. What the hell was he just doing kissing Rob Morgan? Harper's son? Fuck. He was quite obviously too damned drunk.

Rob called to Dev. Joe slipped into the backseat of the car and leaned his head against the back of the front seat. How many more regrets did a man get in his life? How many more stupid moves was he going to make?

Dev slipped into the passenger seat, then Rob got behind the wheel. Joe didn't look up. It was Dev who kept up the conversation, lulling Joe into a stupor. It was nightmares of the night back in Dallas when he'd had his accident that jolted him awake. But he wasn't in the Jaguar, he was in the ranch house, in his bed. His head pounded and he felt like shit. Morning sunlight was streaming in through the window. And he was naked. What the hell had happened? And how had he missed it? Who exactly had put him to bed?

Shit! What had he done now?

Dev strolled into his room carrying a Bloody Mary. "About time you woke up."

"What time is it?" Joe mumbled as he rolled out of bed with the beige sheet wrapped around his hips. He took the drink and downed in. His mouth felt like crap, too. He peered up at Dev. "Did you put me to bed?"

Dev looked sheepish. "Can't say I was in much better condition than you. Nope, wasn't me. That would be Rob."

Joe dropped back onto the bed, an arm slung over his eyes. Could it get much worse?