Our next story, “The Whole Kit and Kaboodle”, is coming out on April 22 as part of Dreamspinner Press’ Closet Capers anthology. Since we’re only about a month away from the release date, we thought we’d share a little sneak peek!

Our protagonists are Grey Harris, a history professor, and Henry Adams, head of the special collections area of Hartwell University’s library. Sparks flew from the moment that Grey and Henry met, but Henry has been inexplicably reluctant to acknowledge, much less act on their mutual attraction, which has intrigued and frustrated Grey for the last two years.

Sneak peek snippet after the break!

Henry’s appearance was as understated as his personality. He dressed conservatively, and his dark brown hair was long, curly, and tended to fall into his eyes. The eyes in question were probably his best feature, huge and vibrantly blue behind horn-rimmed glasses. Otherwise his face was sensitive rather than striking, and most people would dismiss him as being nothing more than a stereotypical, tweedy librarian. But that first sizzling contact had told Grey there was more to Henry than met the eye, and all the devouring glances Grey had received since seemed to confirm it.

Yet every attempt Grey had made to flirt with Henry had been met with silence or unease. At first, Grey thought Henry might be in denial or still in the closet, but the subtle rainbow pin on Henry’s jacket lapel on Gay Pride Day had quashed that notion. But other than heated glances, Henry never said or did anything that indicated he felt any attraction to Grey at all.

It was intriguing and arousing, and Grey was glad he didn’t have to invent excuses to invade Henry’s domain and seek out his attention. Grey never pressed when Henry seemed to withdraw, but as a result, he was no closer to understanding why Henry was unwilling to act on their mutual attraction or respond to Grey’s subtle invitations to make their professional relationship a social one. When Grey decided to take the direct approach and asked Henry out, Henry had grown adorably flustered and murmured an apologetic refusal, but he hadn’t given a reason, not even a lame one.

It was the lack of excuses that made Grey begin to think Henry already had a lover, which meant Henry could look at but not touch other men. Yet this explanation somehow didn’t make sense. If Henry was already in a committed relationship, why didn’t he just say so? The more Grey thought about it, the more perplexed he became. If it hadn’t been for the way Henry had continued to look at him as though he were a particularly tasty treat Henry would secretly love to devour, Grey might have given up.

Turning back to the book in front of him, Grey stared at the pages without actually seeing them. He had no doubt Henry would be back in the doorway again before he left, but Grey wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. Yet there was an answer to every mystery, and Grey knew that he wasn’t going to stop until he’d solved the puzzle of Henry Adams, once and for all.