His Perfect Partner
The search to find the one man destined to complete his life has sent Ethan to places high and low. What will it take to find his perfect partner?
Ethan Harrison has wonderful friends and a rewarding career, but he feels something is still missing. He's yet to find the man that makes his fantasies reality and soul find peace.
All that changes when a complicated case of economic espionage comes across his desk, and Special Agent Ryan Ashton walks through his office door. Life however is no fantasy and Ethan and Ryan's journey is much more complicated than a storybook.
Will the two men be able to hold on to their love or will a defendant bent on revenge have the final judgement?
Reader Advisory: This book contains M/M intimacy and contains scenes of violence. This book can be read as a standalone but may be enjoyed more when read as part of the series.
Capturing Perfection
Two men united by a bond neither time nor trauma could break now seek to capture the love that beats within their hearts.
Clayton Phillips and Logan Callen found each other at the tender age of thirteen. The two foster brothers quickly became inseparable, relying on each other for support to move beyond their troubled pasts. However, one whispered confession changed the course of their lives. Now sixteen years later the two men are together again, but the reunion is far from sweet.
Logan, an Army Ranger veteran, is trying to heal from both the emotional and physical trauma he endured while deployed in Afghanistan. Clay, a Boston Police Detective, is determined to rebuild their once close bond. Both men have withheld a secret from each other. Both men are in love—with each other. Can they work together to overcome their pasts and build a future together, or is it too late?
Reader Advisory: This book can be read alone, but may be better enjoyed when read as part of the series.
General Release Date: 12th November 2010
His Perfect Partner
Ethan stood as his next appointment was shown though the door. His breath locked in his chest and his heart stuttered as the most stunning specimen of the male species entered his office. All those silly clich�s he’d ever heard about meeting the partner of your dreams were true. Time froze, giving him ample opportunity to rake his eyes over the wet-dream-inspiring vision before him.
Dark hair swept back from the high forehead of a lean face. Chiselled cheekbones and a straight nose led down to a pair of perfectly kissable lips. A strong neck disappeared into the collar of the white dress shirt. Broad shoulders filled the jacket which was expertly tailored to the strong frame. Lean hips topped long legs. Ethan’s eyes slowly travelled back up the perfect body and locked on a pair of piercing light coloured eyes. They were a before unseen combination of blue and grey. And they were focused right on him.
He mentally slapped his face and told himself to get back in the game. Hoping the beginnings of the hard-on that thickened in his slacks wasn’t too obvious with his suit coat on, he held out his hand.
“Ethan Harrison. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Special Agent Ryan Ashton.”
A large hand engulfed his, and he swore sparks shot out where their skin connected. The strength evident in the grip was tempered by the slightly callused fingertip brushing across his wrist. Large veins descended from long fingers and roped across the back of the wide expanse. Heat infused Ethan’s palm, and a slight shiver rippled though his body.
He realised he still held Ryan’s hand as he stared into those mesmerising eyes, and he dropped his hold. Taking several steps back, he sat behind his desk to hide the evidence of his arousal. He gestured to the seat on the other side.
“Please sit. Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you anything to drink?”
Ryan set down his briefcase and sat in the indicated seat. He leant back and crossed one ankle over his knee. “No thank you.”
“Special Agent Ashton, I understand you’re here to hand over case information regarding the investigation of Luke Yeung and Amerisystems.”
“Please call me Ryan.” He picked up his briefcase. After removing a file, he placed it on the desk and leant forward to slide it across. “You should have everything we’ve compiled up to this point in here.”
Ethan picked the thick folder and set it to his left. He would review the materials later, but right now, he wanted to continue his conversation with the man before him. “Why don’t you brief me on the basics while you’re here?”
Ryan’s relaxed posture in the chair contradicted the burn of his gaze as their eyes locked. “Our division has spent the last year compiling evidence of economic espionage against Mr. Yeung. We have documented proof of him selling the designs for Amerisystems’ prototype for a new environmental monitoring device. There has been suspicion of previous leaks, but until now, everything has been circumstantial.”
Ethan stood and walked around his large mahogany desk to the chair next to Ryan. He wanted to be closer to the alluring man. He sat and mimicked the other man’s posture. “What exactly does this device do?”
Ryan angled his body to better face Ethan. Their feet nearly touched. “It’s designed to collect data on temperature, light and soil moisture for crop lands and transfer it wirelessly to a remote computer using a short message service. This would allow farmers to analyse the conditions of their fields and make adjustments for a better yield with the current crop. In the long term, it would allow them to review the data from previous years to anticipate the condition of their fields for a new planting season.”
Ethan was so caught up in watching those sensuous lips move that he nearly missed his cue in the conversation, “Impressive, who’s he selling it to and why?”
Ryan shifted in his chair and licked his lips.
“He’s selling it to a Chinese company which is covertly funded by the government. This company is known for reverse engineering products from across the globe to manufacture and sell at discounted prices. This is the first time we have evidence of them being directly supplied the design schematics. If Mr. Yeung’s actions were to come to fruition then the revenue from the release of a revolutionary device designed for and by Americans will be significantly decreased by the sale of the imitation.”
“Well, in this economy, we certainly can’t afford for that to happen. Have you been the lead investigator?”
That little movement a moment ago had forced Ryan’s jacket to separate, and Ethan caught the briefest glimpse of a thickening bulge in his lap. He was ecstatic that he wasn’t the only one feeling the attraction between them.
Capturing Perfection
Detective Clayton Phillips stared at the screen of his ancient desktop as the words of the report for his latest bust slowly appeared on the screen. He swore he had the slowest computer in the entire precinct. The letter keys were so stiff that each strike felt as if he were taking a gavel to a strong man attraction at the local carnival. The monitor had a purple hue, and every once in awhile, he heard grinding noises from the CPU sitting on the floor at his feet.
His frustration levels had nearly reached maximum capacity. Of course, it didn’t help that the maintenance crew was working on the air conditioning in his South Boston station, and the air in his office was currently as stifling as the dankest jungle on earth.
A drop of sweat trickled down his temple, and the cotton of his shirt stuck to his damp back in the July heat. A fresh cup of coffee sat on his desk. As much as he needed the caffeine after spending all last night on a stakeout, he couldn’t stomach the idea of drinking something hot.
He scrolled his mouse up to the top of the report and re-read everything, making sure all the details were accurate. He heaved a frustrated sigh when he finished reading the suspect’s confession.
It was entirely possible that criminals were getting dumber everyday, or maybe, with the state of the economy, more people were getting desperate enough to commit stupid crimes. Take for instance this last case. A twenty-two year old construction worker—who’d been out of work for three months—had shoplifted from a convenience store. What would have been a Class C misdemeanour had turned into a felony when the clerk had confronted the would-be thief with a gun he’d kept under the counter. As the two had struggled, the gun had gone off, killing the clerk. When Clay had brought the suspect in for questioning the man had broken down in tears, saying all he wanted were some diapers for his kid. Now one man was dead and another’s life was forever changed. He hoped the D.A. wouldn’t put the screws to the kid too badly. He had to pay for the crime, but Clay couldn’t help but be sympathetic given the circumstances.
Clay clicked the file closed and sent it off to his captain. As he did, his eyes landed on the photo of Logan, his foster brother. In it, Logan was dressed in full BDUs and field gear. Behind him was a snow-capped mountain, and beneath his feet was the arid ground of Afghanistan. On his face was a smile Clay hadn’t seen since their early college days together, before everything had changed. He touched the image in the metal frame, wishing he knew how to help Logan find that smile again.
The fact that he and Logan once again lived in the same city—not to mention the same apartment—was a miracle. When one of Logan’s platoon buddies had called Clay, saying Logan had been given a medical discharge and needed a place to stay, Clay had asked where to pick Logan up before the man had finished speaking. At the time, it’d been almost nine years since he’d seen Logan; sixteen since his admission had caused a rift in their relationship and Logan had taken off without a word. Clay had regretted his actions every day since. His life since losing the man he considered his brother had been an empty shell. Now that he had Logan embedded in his home, Clay was determined to do whatever was within his power to not only help Logan heal from his injuries but to get them back to the closeness they’d shared since they both joined the Shelby’s household at the age of thirteen.
Clayton and Logan, the deadly duo as Mrs. Shelby had once called them, had been inseparable throughout their teen years. When their individual worlds had exploded, the two teenagers had been thrown together by the system and forged a bond thicker than the blood of those relatives who’d abandoned them. Being foster brothers in a house filled with love but meagre means, it was second nature to share everything. When Clay had begun to suspect there was something different about him, it was the first time he’d kept a secret from Logan.
In high school, it had been easy to put off any unwanted advances of the female variety. They’d always been busy with one sports team or another. They’d known scholarships were their way to college since they had no family to pay the way. As much as the Shelbys loved them, there was no extra cash to pay college tuition for a couple of kids they’d taken in from social services. When Clay and Logan weren’t practicing or competing, they’d hit the books with uncharacteristic teenage zeal.
Hiding his desires within the freedom of college life had been a little harder. By sophomore year, he’d been ready for a change. If it had been as simple as just coming out of the closet, he would have told Logan. However, life is never simple, and while his dick would twitch at the hot guys in the classes or at the gym, his heart only beat for one man. Logan.
He was in love with his foster brother, and Clay knew with Logan’s history that his love would never be returned. Now, Clay’s body inhabited his cramped office, but his mind drifted through time back to that night at the end of their spring semester sophomore year…