James sat at the bar and signaled for a beer. While he waited, he twirled around on his barstool and scoped out the room. Though still early in the evening, the place was fairly packed.

He had heard of Dooley’s Pub. He’d just never been there. It was supposed to be a laid back gay bar where a man could just get a beer and play a game of pool without worrying that someone would hit on him every time he turned around. Despite that, James hoped he might be hit on once or twice.

His prospects seemed pretty good if the looks he was getting were anything to go by. More than one man checked him out. James smiled and turned back to the bar. The evening was definitely looking up.

“That’ll be three fifty,” the bartender said as he set a beer bottle down in front of James. James pulled some bills out of his pocket and handed them over. He took a long sip of the beer, surprised at how good the cold liquid felt going down his throat.

“First time?”

James turned to look at the man next to him. He smiled, not in invitation, but just to be politeness. The guy wasn’t his type at all. “Yes. I heard about this place from my brother and thought I’d check it out.”

“I could show you around,” the guy said, clearly not getting the picture, “and introduce you to the regulars.”

“No,” James replied, “thanks anyway. I think I’ll just sit here with my beer.”

“My name’s Kurt,” the man said. “If you change your mind, I’ll be around.”

James gave a little nod and turned back to his beer. He rolled his eyes. There were quite a few men in there he wouldn’t mind spending the night with. Why couldn’t they hit on him? Why did it have to be some man dressed like a librarian?

Suits, dress shirts, slacks . . . none of that turned him on. Especially when the guy wearing them looked like he’d never seen a hard day’s work in his life. He wasn’t a prude by any means but he preferred men who wore jeans and t-shirts, and who understood the concept of working hard and playing harder.

He barely finished the thought when he caught sight of a man coming through the front door. A man who made him re-think his taste. James swung around to get a better look. No, whoever he was, he certainly wasn’t James’s normal type at all but something about the guy intrigued him and made his cock stand up and beg for an introduction.

The man wore a loose pair of tan slacks, a white button down shirt, and a tan suit jacket—everything James hated. He looked like a bookworm or librarian, right down to his horn-rimmed glasses. The only thing lacking was a damned bowtie. Horrible. Oh, yeah? Then why am I so fuckin’ attracted to him?

“Andy?” the man said loudly as he got closer to the bar, “I need my usual.”

“Another hard night, Dane?” the bartender asked as he made up some sort of pink drink and set it on the bar top.

The man, Dane, apparently, nodded. He grabbed the drink and swallowed it all down in one gulp. He coughed, slamming the glass down on the bar. “Hit me again.”

“Are you sure, Dane?” the bartender asked. “You hardly ever have more than one.”

Dane nodded. “I’m sure.”

“Okay, you’re the boss.”

James watched, fascinated, as the bartender made the man another pink drink. He handed it over. Again, the man downed the drink in one swallow. He didn’t cough this time but handed the glass back.

“Okay, I’ll take a straight ginger ale now.”

The bartender poured Dane a ginger ale and set it on the bar. “Anything I can help you with?”

“No, I was working on this really hot shower scene between Robert and Greg when my brother called. He started in on me and I lost my train of thought.”

James frowned. Hot shower scene? Robert and Greg? What was this man into? When Dane sat down two barstools away and started talking to the bartender, James leaned closer, his curiosity eating away at him.

“So, tell me about the shower scene,” the bartender directed.

“Robert just got home from work. Greg’s been gone on that conference in Tokyo for the last week. When Robert gets home, he discovers Greg in the shower. Greg is tired, he has jetlag but Robert is naked and crawling into the shower with him.”

James raised a brow and shifted to find a more comfortable position on the stool. With every word Dane uttered, James’s dick grew harder. He could just picture the scene in his mind. He had been tired before, so tired his eyes ached, but if his naked lover had crawled into the shower with him, he’d be so awake he would look like he just had three shots of espresso.

“So, what seems to be the problem?” the bartender asked. “Robert has Greg in the shower. They’re both naked. Let the scene just go from there. Just let it happen.”

Yeah, Dane, just let it happen, James encouraged silently.

Dane shook his head. “It’s not flowing right now. I’m just not feeling it.”

“I’d be more than happy to help,” James found himself saying before he had even thought about the words.

Oh hell!

Dane’s head swung up and James lost himself in the deepest brown eyes he had ever seen. It was like swimming in a sea of dark chocolate. Then those eyes blinked, breaking the spell James seemed to be under.

“Do I know you?”

James chuckled, shaking his head. “James.”

“Dane.”

James reached over and shook the hand the man held out, wondering why he hadn’t given his full name, or even his nick name. Then he thought about it some more. The chances of him seeing this man again were pretty slim. What did it matter if they only knew each other by their first names? After all, Dane hadn’t given his last name either.

James scooted over to the barstool next to Dane. He grinned. “So, what can I do to help you get your muse back?”

Dane raised one sexy brown eyebrow. “I . . . uh . . . who are you again?”

“James.”

“James, right,” Dane said, glancing down at his glass of ginger ale for a moment before looking back up at James. “And we don’t know each other?”

James shook his head. “No, but I’d like to get to know you better.”

“Why?”

What?

“Uh,” James shrugged. “You’re cute?”

“You make me sound like a puppy.”

James leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Yeah, but I don’t want to do the same things to a puppy that I want to do to you.”

James could see the astonishment on Dane’s face a split second before he started to grin. He hoped he wasn’t coming on too strong but the man was cute in his own bookish type of way. James certainly wouldn’t mind ruffling his feathers for a night.

“Okay.”

What?

“Okay what?” James asked, not quite sure he understood the man correctly. Dane had been a constant surprise since James had laid eyes on him ten minutes ago. What other surprises did his new friend hold in store?

“Well,” Dane said in a very reasonable voice, “you said you wanted to do things to me. Unless you’re talking serious pain or something, I’m in. Is my place okay? I’m only a couple of blocks away.”

“I . . . er . . . your place is fine.”

“Let’s go then.”