The Call Boys: Brace What happens when four gorgeous hunks, who think they’re immune to love, decide to open a male escort service? They fall head-over-heels, of course. Brace McCall might have known that when he finally met a woman who could take him or leave him, he’d lose his heart. And that’s exactly what’s happened. If Brace thought his client, Penny Frazier, felt the same way about him, he’d take their relationship to the next level—one that was hotter, more intimate and entirely exclusive. Penny is doing her damnedest to keep her relationship with Brace casual. Unfortunately neither her heart nor her libido is cooperating. But she’s determined to hide her true feelings from the mouthwatering male escort. After all, she has no idea that Brace hasn’t touched another woman since he met her. Two people insanely in love, trying to act as though they don’t care about each other. It’s a romantic disaster in the making. Someone is bound to get hurt. But love—and a lot of hot, gritty sex—heals all wounds. |
Excerpt As the night wore on through the four-course meal, Brace tried to focus his attention on the older woman. After all, that was his job. Fortunately it didn’t require much more than a lot of smiling and a lot more aimless chitchat. Unfortunately his thoughts kept slipping the leash and sneaking back to Penny every time he lowered his guard. After coffee and liqueurs, his date excused herself and headed off to the ladies room—an excuse to pass through the restaurant a final time and make absolutely certain she was seen by all and sundry. It was as Brace motioned the waiter for the bill that a familiar musical voice rose to his ears. Stiffening in his seat, he realized that Penny Frazier had just been seated in the adjacent booth, along with at least two other females. Although the high walls of the booth isolated the women from his sight, it sounded as if one of her friends was three sheets to the wind. Automatically, he tilted his head and listened to their feminine chatter. Penny’s friends were doing most of the talking but her occasional lilting phrases were worth listening for. It was just as Brace’s date was slipping back into the booth after her trip to the ladies room that one of Penny’s friends asked, “So are you seeing anyone, Penny?” Talk about a loaded question. As though his life hung on Penny’s answer, Brace held his breath and listened for all he was worth. When Genevieve started a sentence, he lifted a finger to her lips. Startled, she gave him a what- the-hell look but he cut that off too—this time with a kiss to the corner of her mouth. All of his maneuvering paid off and he was able to hear Penny when she answered the question. “No one special,” she said in her typical cool voice. No one special? A heavy fog of emotion descended on Brace as he tried to deal with Penny’s blunt voicing of his worth. He knew he was far from perfect but he’d never have put himself in the category of “no one special”. For several seconds he lost track of where he was and who he was with. The next thing he knew, Genevieve was asking him if something was wrong. He blinked, his eyes narrowed on his brandy snifter. His elbows were propped on the table, his hands clasped in a hard knot, his jaw held so tightly it felt as if it might shatter. No one special? How could she describe him as no one special? Maybe she was talking about someone else, though he wasn’t very keen on the idea of her seeing someone else—even if he was nothing special. “Shhh,” he snapped as Genevieve opened her mouth again. “Really?” one of her friends taunted her. “Because I heard from Sylvia, who lives in your apartment building, that lately you’ve had some hot hunk over to your place at least once a week.” “Oh him,” Penny drawled as though she considered him slightly less important than the stuff she pulled from the lint trap on her clothes dryer. “Yes him!” her friend cried. “Sylvia said he was delicious. You’re holding out, Penny. What’s his name?” “Brace McCall,” she finally told them to Brace’s utter dismay. His nostrils flared painfully as he reached for his glass and downed the fine liquor in an unsophisticated gulp, drawing a startled look from the waiter, who had finally arrived with the bill. “Sooo,” her friend prodded her. “Are you getting some or not?” Brace could almost see Penny’s feminine shoulders lift in an offhand shrug. “I’m getting some,” she admitted. “And?” her friend pressed her. “And the sex is okay. It’s just that…the guy lacks passion.” He didn’t hear anything after that. A loud, blank buzzing filled his ears while a haze fell over his eyes, coloring his emotional fog to dense, black anger. The guy lacks passion? Oh no. No fucking way! The guy does not lack passion! Brace chewed on the inside of his cheek and considered his course of action because he sure as hell wasn’t going to sit there and do nothing! As he sorted through his arsenal, he noted that his biggest weapon was the fact that Penny hadn’t told her friends he was a male escort and she was paying for his company. Armed with this deadly ammunition, he smiled grimly, too injured to think of how his actions might affect Penny. When he finally turned and looked at Genevieve, he found her watching him intently. “Mr. McCall,” she ventured tentatively. “Are you okay?” He smiled composedly as he pulled out his wallet, inserted his credit card into the sleeve on the bill holder and handed it off to the waiter. Then he took Genevieve’s hand and touched it to his mouth. “I’m sorry,” he said smoothly. “But I have a slight matter of professional significance to attend to. I’ll be right back.” He stood and shot his cuffs then took the time to straighten his slacks. Because he was pissed. Really pissed. And he needed a few moments to collect himself. Once he felt he had his emotions under control—the pain and fury buried deep inside—he took a step toward the adjacent booth, turned and reached inside the breast pocket of his Armani jacket for his business cards. These he gave to each of Penny’s two friends. “Hello,” he introduced himself, flashing his most disarming smile. “I’m Brace McCall of the Call Boys Male Escort Agency. I couldn’t help overhear your conversation with Miss Frazier and felt I had a professional obligation to defend myself as well as my company.” Without looking at Penny—too angry to look at Penny—he barreled ahead. “If either of you young ladies would be interested in the services provided by my agency, I can assure you that all of our escorts are very special. I’m sorry your friend found me lacking. I wish she’d informed me of my failing sometime…ah…before the twelfth booking,” he said snidely, and with utter ruthlessness. “Male escort!” Her blonde friend’s mouth formed a big, sloppy circle as she shouted, “Penny! You were paying this guy for sex?” Finally pinning Penny with his frigid gaze, he said, “In compensation, I’d like to offer Miss Frazier a full refund.” As Brace glared down at Penny, he was gratified to note she looked absolutely mortified. And yet, in a way, it made the pain even worse, confirming his fears about not only her feelings for him but about what he did for a living. Her gaze fell to her hands in her lap, her white teeth buried in her plump lower lip—that full, luscious lip that Brace had hungered for every moment he spent with her, during his dreams, not to mention his waking hours. When working at home. When out with other clients. That sexy, provocative, delicious mouth that she’d always denied him. “Th-that won’t be necessary,” she stuttered. “I insist,” he grated, fixing a cold smile on his face, punishing himself with the thought that she never would have given him a chance. Never would have had the guts to even introduce him to her friends. Again she demurred, this time lifting her gaze to him pleadingly. That look of appeal almost undid him. For a brief second he stalled in his headlong attack. Clearly, she was embarrassed by the scene he was making in the upscale restaurant. But Brace was determined to make his point and show her that he did not lack passion. “If you’re going to refuse my offer of a refund, then you should at least give me the opportunity to defend my…my reputation and let me prove myself.” “D-defend yourself?” Penny echoed. “Brace, what on earth—” He pulled his shoulders square and challenged her icily. “I would say a lack of passion would be a pretty severe handicap for a man in my profession.” Penny’s redheaded friend exploded into laughter and pointed a finger at him. “He’s got a point, Penny. You’ve sullied the poor man’s honor. He might never get another trick!” But while Penny stared open-mouthed at her friend, Brace already had her by the wrist. With a jerk, he yanked her from her seat and trapped her against the slat of polished wood that divided the booths. “But if you want passion,” he snarled as he took her face firmly between his hands, “I get to make the rules.” |
madison hayes
The Call Boys: Brace
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| Cover Art by Syneca |