Check out my Last Christmas series for some seasonal cheer...

 I’d been so damned focused on my own truth-or-dare challenge, I hadn’t been paying proper attention. Now it occurred to me that the very beautiful and very sexy Kane had pulled a name from the hat... and that name was mine. Shit. He was far too good-looking for this...

He smiled at me. I smiled back. Why wouldn’t I? He was gorgeous...

My eyes flickered towards Elliot who was gazing at Cristian with a bit of a love-struck expression on his beautiful face. I sighed. There was no way he was ever going to be interested in me. If I was honest, I wasn’t really bothered; I was just suffering from a little hurt pride. I’d spent money on him last Christmas – the least he could have done was to give me the gift back and tell me he wasn’t interested.

Kane’s eyes followed mine to look at his friend. They narrowed slightly as he took in what I’d just seen. Elliot was clearly setting his sights on Cristian. Kane took me slightly by surprise when seconds later, he was grabbing hold of my waist and lunging at me... As his lips bumped a little clumsily against mine, I had my epiphany. I closed my eyes and parted my lips. I was instantly in heaven. It was almost as if I'd been put on this earth just to meet Kane. I honestly felt that I'd been waiting my whole life to kiss the perfect man and he'd just been delivered in the sexiest packaging imaginable. Oh, my God! Talk about your ultimate Christmas miracle!

Kurt had gone to bed by the time I got back so I couldn’t talk to him until the next morning.

With a flash of genius inspiration I started to cook bacon. No one could resist the smell of bacon... He appeared in about ten seconds.
“Bacon?” he asked, looking at me hopefully.

I raised my eyebrows at him. “You get yours when you tell me what happened to Jonny’s nose.”

He went red, “He was disrespecting you.” He said sullenly, “I didn’t like it.”

Well. I hadn’t expected that. I looked at him, “He was disrespecting me?” I asked, “How? What did he say?”

He went, if possible, even redder, “He said you were a good lay, that you were nothing but a quick roll in the sack and that he didn’t think you had any sort of future.”

I blinked. He might have put it crudely, which had clearly offended Kurt, but in all fairness, he’d got it bang on the money – because that was exactly the way I felt about him too... “Okay.”

Kurt frowned, “Okay?” he echoed, “What’s okay about that?”

I shrugged, “Well, it’s not like I’m in love with him or anything – we’ve just been messing around.”

Kurt scowled at me, “Well, I think you should choose better guys to mess around with – he’s a right wanker.”

Suppressing a smile I nodded. “Okay,” I agreed, “Good idea.”

“Who’s the lucky guy?” Sebastian asked kindly. He was such a sweetheart and I could totally see how Kurt had fallen for his subtle charms.

I felt my face heating up. Shit. Was I that transparent? Sebastian had only met me a handful of times since he and Kurt got together last year – the last time being when they were home for the summer break. It had now rolled back around to the winter break and since Kurt had missed Christmas with his family last year, due to realising that he’d fallen headlong in love with his roommate, Sebastian, and had only been back for the New Year; they’d come over to us straight from university for Christmas this year, with plans to spend the first part of their Christmas break with us and to go back to Seb’s family for the New Year. “There’s no special guy.” I mumbled – lying through my teeth of course but there was no way I was about to tell them.

Kane raised an eyebrow, “Oh, yeah?” he asked, “So why are you blushing?”

“Get lost, will you?” I said defensively. Well, wasn’t that the wrong thing to say? All four of them turned to me with their mouths open and then...

“Oh, my God!” That was George.

“You really have met someone!” That was Kane, looking utterly delighted for me.

“What’s his name?” That was Sebastian.

“The boy’s finally been tamed. We have to meet this mystical creature.” And that was Kurt, grinning knowingly and looking like a Cheshire cat.

I smiled bashfully back at them all, my heart swelling with their combined enthusiasm, “I’d love you to meet him but he’s rarely around here – he’s a flight attendant...”

I didn’t actually expect any of them to know whom I was talking about, since he didn’t even live in France anymore. He was from across the border and his family lived in Turin, but he had his own apartment in Les Arcs and he spent most of his down time skiing in the winter and mountain biking in the summer. He was totally into the same things that I was. He was amazing...

I was wrong about them being clueless though. Kurt was right on it. “Are you talking about Cristian Llardi by any chance?” 

Merry Christmas everybody!

Hey guys,
I thought I'd wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - and also to update you on a few things that I'm hoping to achieve in 2019...

I'm currently working on another Studs & Steel book - Colby's story this time. You may remember him from previous books. He's a police officer and his partner at work is Harrison.
Harrison is on paternity leave at the moment and Colby's feeling a bit out on a limb without him.
I've got another Studs & Steel Novella to come out too - probably nearer to summer 2019 - it's going to be called Three's A Crowd... here's a bit of a round-up of some of the books you can look forward to reading in 2019! Have a great Christmas and New Year!

Coming early 2019....

A brand new Studs and Steel story about Colby.

Colby is a police officer and usually works with Harrison.

Harrison is on paternity leave, his wife having just had their second baby, leaving Colby to his own devices...

I needed to talk to my buddy. He might be on paternity leave, but I needed a sounding board – and he was always going to be my confidante and therefore, my first port of call in a crisis.

I rang the doorbell of Harrison's house and waited a little nervously for him to answer the door.

After a couple of minutes, he came to the door, looking tired and slightly harassed. I grinned, “hey dude,” I said, “How’s it hanging?”

He narrowed his eyes slightly at me, judging whether I was simply asking after him, or if I was referring to his dick which, I’m not gonna lie, was impressive but I’d never fancied him so the point was moot. I did, however, want a man eventually who was as impressive in the trouser department if you know what I mean and that guy last night – phewee! He had a very impressive package, thanks very much...

“Thank God you're here,” Harrison said with feeling, handing me his eldest child, Lucy, who immediately snuggled into me and closed her eyes. I’d always been kind of gifted at getting the babies to sleep and Harrison’s children were no different to those of my siblings. They all loved their Uncle Colby.

I frowned in confusion at his hairless state, “Where’s Carly?” I asked, looking around for a sign of his beautiful and very patient, caring wife.

Harrison rolled his eyes, “Her gran’s ill so she’s shot off with her mother, leaving me with the babies on my own. Like I know what I’m doing,” he looked at me as if she’d left him with a boa constrictor to wrestle, “bleeding typical.” He grumbled, “You know what women are like...” 

I looked at him with slightly raised eyebrows. I guess I knew what my sister was like – and my mother, but other than that, actually, no, I really didn’t. They were a total mystery to me and I was pretty comfortable with that.

He grinned, “Come on in, mate. I’ll stick the kettle on. Are you off today or is it a late start?”

I explained that I’d slept through my alarm and that I’d had to swap a shift with Smithson and James.

He frowned, “That’s not like you,” he commented, eyeing me suspiciously, “late night, was it?”

I nodded, “Uh, something like that.” I hedged.

Lucy was well and truly asleep in my arms, which I can’t deny, was beginning to give me a bit of backache. I sat down in one of the chairs around the table and settled myself back into a comfy position while Harrison got the cups out and started making us a brew.

“Something like that?” he grinned and raised an eyebrow, “What? You met a guy?”

I nodded, “Yeah, it was a really shitty day...” I started to explain...

“You did what?” Harrison exclaimed, looking at me in horror, “You took the dude for a drink? Are you crazy?”

I frowned at him. I’d had a shitty day. He’d clearly had a shitty day. I thought the best thing all round was to go and sink a couple of pints... “No,” I said a little defensively, “why?”

He rolled his eyes at me. Something he did at work about a hundred times an hour... “How the hell do you know that he didn’t just climb straight up there again after you left him and jumped anyway?”

I felt the colour rising in my cheeks. The reason I knew he hadn’t done that last night, was because I spent the entire night with him, having rampant sex and enjoying his flesh in the same way as he enjoyed mine but I didn’t really think Harrison wanted to know about that... “Ummm.”

His jaw dropped as realisation dawned on him about what had transpired between myself and the suicidal guy on the building, “Oh, my God. You shagged him, didn’t you?” he asked.

I shrugged, “Well, technically, I guess you’d have to say that he shagged me, but yeah.” And it had been the best lay I’d had in ages – ever, even…

He shook his head, “You should have got him to A&E!”

I frowned, “But he didn’t do anything to hurt himself.” I argued. Jeez, he was only sat on the edge of the building. He wasn’t actually threatening to jump when I found him, either. He just started telling me about the producer guy that was involved in the new TV show he was in, who needed his face rearranging with my fist...

He closed his eyes and I could tell he was counting to ten in his head. I swear he thought I was stupid sometimes – but to be fair, sometimes I was... Chief often said I was the Joey Essex of the force and I don’t think he was talking about my looks... “You should have got him to A&E so they could watch him. They have people properly trained to deal with suicidal people. It doesn’t just go away, you know – the feeling of being worthless and that no one will miss them once they’re gone. Your boy is suicidal. That means he’s very depressed – about something or about lots of different things. He needed help,Colby, not a quick shag with a cute guy.”

I beamed at him, “You think I’m cute?” I asked delightedly, “aw, thanks buddy.”

He gave me a look that made me wonder if he sometimes felt violent towards me, “Call him.” he commanded me, “You did get his number?”

At my subtle nod, he rolled his eyes, “Right, and then you go and find him – and you get him the help he needs. Before he’s found dead with your DNA all over him.”

Oh, hell...

Coming Soon...

Available now for pre-ordering exclusively at Amazon. Release date 24th December 2018

Merry Christmas!

Coming Soon...

I had a few items that I considered valuable and I put them into my back-pack. I slung the back-pack over my shoulder and dragging my case behind me, made my way down to the garage and opened the garage door with the remote control. I put my case and my back-pack into the boot and then got in the car. What else? Oh, my God, Mr Twinkle! I couldn’t leave him here! I got back out of the car and ran back through the house to my bedroom. There he was, curled up on my pillow as he always was. My heart melted. He was so beautiful. I gently picked him up and took him back downstairs with me. Picking up his cat carry-box, I stuffed his blanket inside with a couple of his toys and then coaxed him into it. It was fair to say that Mr Twinkle wasn’t particularly fond of his carry-box. I guessed he associated it with visits to the vet.

He meowed mournfully as I placed his box behind the driver’s seat. “Don’t cry.” I said soothingly, “I’ll let you out as soon as I can.”

It hadn’t really occurred to me how bad the rain was until I reversed the car out onto the driveway. I hated driving in bad weather. Having only passed my test a year ago, I’d got little experience. It was absolutely pelting it down. I set the wipers to max and cautiously pulled out. So far so good...

I got to the traffic lights and pulled through as my lights changed to green. The next thing I knew the passenger side of my car was hit by something really hard and I was covered in glass. To my utter horror, I realised that it was an articulated truck that had run the red light and had hit me – and it was still coming closer to me. I started screaming; and that was the last thing I remembered...

Available now for pre-ordering, exclusively at Amazon. Release date: 19th November 2018

New Release out NOW! When Noah met Tobias...

 I was playing the guitar like my fingers were made of bits of putty. Shit. Focus Horatio!

“Rayshe?” Justin looked over at me as if I was a complete idiot, “What is wrong with you today, man?”

I shook my head, “Nothing... sorry.” I mumbled. My face was on fire and I could see that the guys were all looking at each other out of the corner of my eye. Shit. They’d start asking any second... now.

“Who is he?” That was Justin.

“What’s his name?” That was Noah.

“Where did you meet him?” That was Karl.

They all asked at exactly the same time and we all looked at each other in surprise before we all fell about laughing. This was the thing about being mates forever – we knew each other –very well.

I shook my head, “It’s just a crush.” I said with a sigh, “His name’s Danny. I play five-a-side football with him – it can’t go anywhere. He’s married – and very straight.”

Justin frowned, “So why bother?” he asked.

I shrugged, “I don’t know.” I sighed again, “He’s really nice...”

Noah cocked his head to one side, reminding me strongly of my dog, “You’ve spent time together?”

I nodded. We’d had that drink together at the bar the other night and we were seeing each other tomorrow again at football, “Not loads of time but you know how you can just tell when you meet someone you click with?” 

He nodded, smiling. “Yeah, I know.”

“I’m gonna invite him to come and watch us play on Friday.”

Karl’s jaw dropped, “At Studs?” he asked incredulously, “You’ve just said the guy was straight. Do you honestly think he’ll come?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know. I hope so. Why wouldn’t he?”

Karl frowned around at the rest of the guys, “Uh, because, and I quote, ‘he’s very straight’ – and married.”

I grimaced. Damn. Why did everyone have to keep focusing on that?

Out Now!

“He’s definitely Tobias Prince.” I said to Rayshe, who had just turned up with his fiancé, Danny. “I knew it the moment I saw him. Can you remember him. He was a right bastard?” But now he seems to be really nice.

He frowned at me, “Not really, mate. No.” he said, “But I wasn’t in your classes until we got to year ten, remember? I was transferred because there were too many students all wanting to do media studies in my half of the year group.”

I nodded. “Yeah,” I agreed, “You’re right.”

Karl came in at that moment, “Good day?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

I nodded, “It’s been an interesting one.” I said, “Guess who I’ve got to mentor this week?”

He frowned, “Uh, dunno,” he said with a shrug, “Duvall’s wayward son. The man-whore who pisses all of his dad’s hard-earned cash away?”

I chuckled. Chance would be a fine thing… “Not quite – can you remember Tobias Prince.” Please say you can. This is killing me!

His frown deepened, “Oh, yeah? I remember the little scrote. The one who picked on you all of the time before he went off to France – that Tobias Prince?”

“Thank you!”I exclaimed, “Yes! I nearly died when I was introduced to him this morning.”

Karl’s jaw dropped, “You’re kidding me?”

I shook my head, “No, I’m not. He’s calling himself Lawrence Prince these days – and now I’m mentoring him. He’s still got his fabulous red hair and everything.” And his big brown eyes are to die for but if you think I’m telling you that…

Karl frowned, immediately tuning into what I wasn’t saying rather than what I was, “You’re not falling for this joker, are you?” he asked sternly, “Because Tobias Prince was a wanker at school and generally speaking, a leopard doesn’t change his spots.”

I nodded, “I know that.” I said airily and trying my best not to look as if I was interested in him in the slightest, “I’m not fooling myself into thinking he’s any better than he should be.”

Karl grunted, “Make sure you don’t.” he said, “Guys like that eat guys like you for breakfast. We all remember Martin.”

Out Now! Release date 30th September 2018

I sat up. Hello. Someone had a good time last night. That was a definite twinge of having been given a good seeing-to... 

I frowned. I couldn’t even remember meeting a guy last night, never mind sleeping with one... weird...

I gingerly got out of bed. I was as completely naked as the day I was born and now I came to really think about it. I was absolutely starving.

I picked up my mobile phone off the sideboard and sent a quick group text off to the others, “Breakfast anyone?”

Immediately they all started pinging messages back to me.

“Are you sure you want to be disturbed from the honeymoon?”

“What about the husband?”

“That was some serious snogging you were doing last night. Are you sure you didn’t eat him?”

My jaw dropped. “What guy?” I sent back, trepidation starting to make my butt twinge for a completely different reason. I was beginning to get a vague feeling of panic.

“The one you married in the Elvis chapel last night at midnight.”

I gaped at the messages, “Oh, Christ...” I whispered. Why the hell did they let me do that? How the hell could they have let me do that…? I looked around my room and realised that there was a smart suit hanging up on the front of my wardrobe. I stared at it for a moment, desperately trying to remember wearing it. Nothing was coming back to me. I must have been completely wasted.

I grabbed my boxer shorts and a tee shirt and then I dived for the door. I grabbed my door key and ran down the corridor as fast I could manage. I banged on Karl’s door.

He opened it and I saw all the guys sat around in his room, “What did I do?” I gasped, leaning against the door frame for support. “Who was he? And why didn’t any of you stop me?” Seriously out of all of it – that was surely the worst of it? None of them thought to stop me from marrying a total stranger.

Karl frowned, “Why don’t you ask him?” he asked, quite clearly puzzled at my reaction.

I shook my head, “Because he’s gone. Whoever he was,” I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. “but we most definitely consummated the marriage...” I shifted from foot to foot, still very aware of what had gone on last night between my mystery guy and I.

Karl stared at me, “Gone?” he asked stupidly, “Gone where?”

Well if I knew the answer to that one… Sometimes Karl was incredibly dense for a smart guy.

Noah shook his head, “I tried to talk you guys out of it,” he said earnestly, “but you were totally into each other and he swore blind he wasn’t all that drunk.”

“Well, I was.” I snapped, “I can’t even remember what he looked like.” I really couldn’t believe that Noah had given up so easily. How drunk had he been last night to put up such a feeble argument? And yes, I was aware that I was blaming everyone else for my own stupidity…

Karl smiled, “Well, I can tell you that he was well fit…” He started, “And Noah got photos.”

Noah shot to his feet. “Oh, my God! I did! I totally did!” he shouted, “I got photos! I’ve just remembered.”

Well, thank Christ for that... At least I had some evidence.

“Oh.” His face fell as he scrolled through his phone, “They’re, um, they’re not very good...” he trailed off, going red.

I snatched the phone out of his hand and started to scroll. “No...” I murmured as I could see that we had most definitely gotten married by Elvis... There was a perfectly clear and decent photo of ‘the King’... but not one of the photos of my mystery husband and I were in focus. The one good photo of us with a glass of champers each was absolutely fabulous – apart from the fact that Noah had managed to perfectly cut both of our heads off... well, that was just champion...

Expected release date 31st October 2018

Prom night came far too quickly for my frazzled nerves but I got showered and dressed, wearing my favourite aftershave with Devon in mind, since I knew he really loved it.

My heart rate about doubled when Dad shouted up the stairs that someone was at the door for me.... Oh, my God! That would be the mysterious Delilah!

Mum came bustling up the stairs almost the minute Dad had shouted, “You never told me you had a girlfriend, Karl,” she admonished, “And she’s so beautiful – so tall and graceful.” 

I nodded, feeling completely bewildered. I had no clue who this Delilah girl was. No clue... “Uh, yeah – we’re uh, we’re not really serious. We’ve not long met.” Try never met...Who the hell had he sent to pick me up? I sure as hell hoped he hadn’t set me up with someone that thought I’d fancy them. The only person I wanted to be with was Devon and I thought he knew that.

I checked my appearance one last time in the mirror and headed for the stairs on slightly shaky legs.

My jaw hit the floor when I got down the stairs and found ‘Delilah’ waiting for me in the hall.

I stared at Devon, not quite sure that I could believe my eyes. He was dressed in the most figure-hugging dress I’d ever seen on anyone. It fit him like a glove and showed off his beautiful slim frame absolutely perfectly.

I didn’t care that he didn’t have breasts. I didn’t care that his waist wasn’t as cinched in as a girls’ would be. To me he looked just as utterly perfect as he did in a plain white tee shirt and jeans and I just wanted to kiss his ruby red lips until they were back to the colour I was more used to seeing. Not that I didn’t like them red. He looked perfect just the way he was – and he looked perfect when he didn’t have the make up on. Hell. He was just perfect no matter what.

Coming Soon...

New Series Launched... The Band....

 I was playing the guitar like my fingers were made of bits of putty. Shit. Focus Horatio!

“Rayshe?” Justin looked over at me as if I was a complete idiot, “What is wrong with you today, man?”

I shook my head, “Nothing... sorry.” I mumbled. My face was on fire and I could see that the guys were all looking at each other out of the corner of my eye. Shit. They’d start asking any second... now.

“Who is he?” That was Justin.

“What’s his name?” That was Noah.

“Where did you meet him?” That was Karl.

They all asked at exactly the same time and we all looked at each other in surprise before we all fell about laughing. This was the thing about being mates forever – we knew each other –very well.

I shook my head, “It’s just a crush.” I said with a sigh, “His name’s Danny. I play five-a-side football with him – it can’t go anywhere. He’s married – and very straight.”

Justin frowned, “So why bother?” he asked.

I shrugged, “I don’t know.” I sighed again, “He’s really nice...”

Noah cocked his head to one side, reminding me strongly of my dog, “You’ve spent time together?”

I nodded. We’d had that drink together at the bar the other night and we were seeing each other tomorrow again at football, “Not loads of time but you know how you can just tell when you meet someone you click with?” 

He nodded, smiling. “Yeah, I know.”

“I’m gonna invite him to come and watch us play on Friday.”

Karl’s jaw dropped, “At Studs?” he asked incredulously, “You’ve just said the guy was straight. Do you honestly think he’ll come?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know. I hope so. Why wouldn’t he?”

Karl frowned around at the rest of the guys, “Uh, because, and I quote, ‘he’s very straight’ – and married.”

I grimaced. Damn. Why did everyone have to keep focusing on that?

Out Now!

“He’s definitely Tobias Prince.” I said to Rayshe, who had just turned up with his fiancé, Danny. “I knew it the moment I saw him. Can you remember him. He was a right bastard?” But now he seems to be really nice.

He frowned at me, “Not really, mate. No.” he said, “But I wasn’t in your classes until we got to year ten, remember? I was transferred because there were too many students all wanting to do media studies in my half of the year group.”

I nodded. “Yeah,” I agreed, “You’re right.”

Karl came in at that moment, “Good day?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

I nodded, “It’s been an interesting one.” I said, “Guess who I’ve got to mentor this week?”

He frowned, “Uh, dunno,” he said with a shrug, “Duvall’s wayward son. The man-whore who pisses all of his dad’s hard-earned cash away?”

I chuckled. Chance would be a fine thing… “Not quite – can you remember Tobias Prince.” Please say you can. This is killing me!

His frown deepened, “Oh, yeah? I remember the little scrote. The one who picked on you all of the time before he went off to France – that Tobias Prince?”

“Thank you!”I exclaimed, “Yes! I nearly died when I was introduced to him this morning.”

Karl’s jaw dropped, “You’re kidding me?”

I shook my head, “No, I’m not. He’s calling himself Lawrence Prince these days – and now I’m mentoring him. He’s still got his fabulous red hair and everything.” And his big brown eyes are to die for but if you think I’m telling you that…

Karl frowned, immediately tuning into what I wasn’t saying rather than what I was, “You’re not falling for this joker, are you?” he asked sternly, “Because Tobias Prince was a wanker at school and generally speaking, a leopard doesn’t change his spots.”

I nodded, “I know that.” I said airily and trying my best not to look as if I was interested in him in the slightest, “I’m not fooling myself into thinking he’s any better than he should be.”

Karl grunted, “Make sure you don’t.” he said, “Guys like that eat guys like you for breakfast. We all remember Martin.”

Available now for Pre-Ordering. Release date 30th September 2018

I sat up. Hello. Someone had a good time last night. That was a definite twinge of having been given a good seeing-to... 

I frowned. I couldn’t even remember meeting a guy last night, never mind sleeping with one... weird...

I gingerly got out of bed. I was as completely naked as the day I was born and now I came to really think about it. I was absolutely starving.

I picked up my mobile phone off the sideboard and sent a quick group text off to the others, “Breakfast anyone?”

Immediately they all started pinging messages back to me.

“Are you sure you want to be disturbed from the honeymoon?”

“What about the husband?”

“That was some serious snogging you were doing last night. Are you sure you didn’t eat him?”

My jaw dropped. “What guy?” I sent back, trepidation starting to make my butt twinge for a completely different reason. I was beginning to get a vague feeling of panic.

“The one you married in the Elvis chapel last night at midnight.”

I gaped at the messages, “Oh, Christ...” I whispered. Why the hell did they let me do that? How the hell could they have let me do that…? I looked around my room and realised that there was a smart suit hanging up on the front of my wardrobe. I stared at it for a moment, desperately trying to remember wearing it. Nothing was coming back to me. I must have been completely wasted.

I grabbed my boxer shorts and a tee shirt and then I dived for the door. I grabbed my door key and ran down the corridor as fast I could manage. I banged on Karl’s door.

He opened it and I saw all the guys sat around in his room, “What did I do?” I gasped, leaning against the door frame for support. “Who was he? And why didn’t any of you stop me?” Seriously out of all of it – that was surely the worst of it? None of them thought to stop me from marrying a total stranger.

Karl frowned, “Why don’t you ask him?” he asked, quite clearly puzzled at my reaction.

I shook my head, “Because he’s gone. Whoever he was,” I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. “but we most definitely consummated the marriage...” I shifted from foot to foot, still very aware of what had gone on last night between my mystery guy and I.

Karl stared at me, “Gone?” he asked stupidly, “Gone where?”

Well if I knew the answer to that one… Sometimes Karl was incredibly dense for a smart guy.

Noah shook his head, “I tried to talk you guys out of it,” he said earnestly, “but you were totally into each other and he swore blind he wasn’t all that drunk.”

“Well, I was.” I snapped, “I can’t even remember what he looked like.” I really couldn’t believe that Noah had given up so easily. How drunk had he been last night to put up such a feeble argument? And yes, I was aware that I was blaming everyone else for my own stupidity…

Karl smiled, “Well, I can tell you that he was well fit…” He started, “And Noah got photos.”

Noah shot to his feet. “Oh, my God! I did! I totally did!” he shouted, “I got photos! I’ve just remembered.”

Well, thank Christ for that... At least I had some evidence.

“Oh.” His face fell as he scrolled through his phone, “They’re, um, they’re not very good...” he trailed off, going red.

I snatched the phone out of his hand and started to scroll. “No...” I murmured as I could see that we had most definitely gotten married by Elvis... There was a perfectly clear and decent photo of ‘the King’... but not one of the photos of my mystery husband and I were in focus. The one good photo of us with a glass of champers each was absolutely fabulous – apart from the fact that Noah had managed to perfectly cut both of our heads off... well, that was just champion...

Expected release date 31st October 2018

Prom night came far too quickly for my frazzled nerves but I got showered and dressed, wearing my favourite aftershave with Devon in mind, since I knew he really loved it.

My heart rate about doubled when Dad shouted up the stairs that someone was at the door for me.... Oh, my God! That would be the mysterious Delilah!

Mum came bustling up the stairs almost the minute Dad had shouted, “You never told me you had a girlfriend, Karl,” she admonished, “And she’s so beautiful – so tall and graceful.” 

I nodded, feeling completely bewildered. I had no clue who this Delilah girl was. No clue... “Uh, yeah – we’re uh, we’re not really serious. We’ve not long met.” Try never met...Who the hell had he sent to pick me up? I sure as hell hoped he hadn’t set me up with someone that thought I’d fancy them. The only person I wanted to be with was Devon and I thought he knew that.

I checked my appearance one last time in the mirror and headed for the stairs on slightly shaky legs.

My jaw hit the floor when I got down the stairs and found ‘Delilah’ waiting for me in the hall.

I stared at Devon, not quite sure that I could believe my eyes. He was dressed in the most figure-hugging dress I’d ever seen on anyone. It fit him like a glove and showed off his beautiful slim frame absolutely perfectly.

I didn’t care that he didn’t have breasts. I didn’t care that his waist wasn’t as cinched in as a girls’ would be. To me he looked just as utterly perfect as he did in a plain white tee shirt and jeans and I just wanted to kiss his ruby red lips until they were back to the colour I was more used to seeing. Not that I didn’t like them red. He looked perfect just the way he was – and he looked perfect when he didn’t have the make up on. Hell. He was just perfect no matter what.

Coming Soon...

Available now for pre-ordering from Amazon...

I looked at myself in the mirror of the salon and swallowed hard. In that instant, I hated Mandy. Hated her because, goddamitt,I looked about fifteen.

I’d always had a baby face and that was the main reason I sported my facial hair – to try to make me look at least my age. Clean-shaven and with my hair stripped back to my natural red, which as far as I knew hadn’t been seen in public since I was around thirteen when I started having it dyed dark brown to match my eyebrows and eyelashes, I looked ridiculous. Staring at myself in horror, it dawned on me that I looked like a flaming cherub. I’d always been more pretty than handsome. I scowled at my reflection, “What’s this?” I asked, “Are you trying to get me picked on? Who the hell doesn’t pick on a ginge?”

David grinned, “No one picks on people with ginger hair anymore.” He said, “You can thank Rupert Grint for that when you next bump into him. He’s totally made being ginger cool – and so has Ed Sheeran, Damian Lewis, Prince Harry...” He trailed off, running out of red-haired celebrities to prove me wrong with but even I had to admit, all of those guys were totally hot.

I grimaced. He was probably right but I still didn’t like to see myself the way I was supposed to look. It made me feel vulnerable. I was used to acting a certain way when I was out in public. It was a version of me, but it wasn’t the real me. Because the real me was still that kid Mum left to face the world on his own... and now I felt as if all of my confidence had been stripped from me and I was seeing the real me for the first time in ten years – and it really didn’t sit well with me. I was looking at the boy that believed his mother cared so little for him that she left without a backwards glance; the boy who went off the rails and picked on the one boy in school that would probably have been his friend if only he’d handled things better. 

I’d been utterly heartbroken and convinced that she’d left me because I was gay with ginger hair... I knew that was ridiculous now; she’d just got sick and had died, but at the time it was very real. I hated being the little, skinny, red-haired and freckly Toby Prince – and I took it all out on some little blonde kid who’d been really sweet and whose only crime had been to try to befriend me. I was absolutely foul to him and I can only imagine how relieved he must have been when my family moved away – with Dad’s blossoming career.

I really didn’t like the person I’d become and took the opportunity when we moved to reinvent myself as a new Tobias Duvall. My new self was dark-haired. I was still full of sass and I still had a smart-arse mouth on me that got me into trouble – but I didn’t pick on people in an attempt to balance out my own failings. No, this time I decided to embrace my sexuality – much to Dad’s chagrin – and it worked. It got me noticed and got me more guys – and therefore more dick – than you could shake a stick at... 

I’d been absolutely stoked when my beard started to grow through and was more or less the same colour as my eyebrows instead of my natural red hair colouring. That had been a total stroke of luck.

 The red hair aside, I was still pissed off. He could dress it up anyway he liked but this was definitely a punishment for bringing the Duvall brand into disrepute and no one – me especially – wanted the media sniffing around the restaurants, making my punishment into some sort of reality TV circus. It was bad enough that I’d got no real choice in what was happening. I did have a choice. Of course, I had a choice. I could leave without a penny and make my own way in the world – but that was extreme and I was, essentially, a spoiled brat. I had no idea how to make a normal man’s wages last from one day to the next, never mind pay rent, bills and buy my own food. I was as far removed from reality as it was possible to be. I made the ‘Made in Chelsea’crowd on the TV look modest... I was an absolute disgrace.

I really was a bit pathetic when I took a hard look at myself – something I wasn’t prone to doing because I really didn’t like what I saw – it reminded me that I hadn’t really changed all that much over the last ten years...

I should have told Dad to stick his money years ago when I left for university. I’d lived with common people back then and I’d enjoyed their company and I’d gotten used to living a much simpler existence. But then I’d gone home – back to the lavish lifestyle and back to my real ‘friends’ who’d all talked me out of trying to find my own way in the world and really what the else was I gonna do? I was good for absolutely nothing– my business degree was pretty much worthless. If I tried to make my own way in the world, no one would hire me for my actual worth – only for my name and what they could get out of who I was. I was screwed whichever way you looked at it.

I guess to some people I was a pretty big deal. I was, after all, Tobias Duvall, eldest son of Darren Duvall, TV chef extraordinaire. I was deemed to be some sort of international playboy... I was on the cover of every gay magazine – and most other magazines and newspapers for that matter – but not for anything that I’d done that was worthwhile.

They were usually candid snaps of my friends and I falling out of nightclubs with various dubious hangers-on... I might be able to boast a great sex life – but at the end of the day, it was just meaningless sexual encounters with a load of random guys that wanted a bit of notoriety... It was all just so shallow and empty and quite frankly I was getting kind of tired of it. I didn’t dare admit that to any of my friends though. They’d all think I was a pussy – a quitter... But where the hell were our lives heading? I couldn’t mess around with numerous horny guys forever... someday I wanted someone to love...

I was, if I was going to be completely honest with myself, as equally relieved for something to do as I was pissed off. To be forced to have a break from my so-called friends and everything they stood for was actually quite a nice change.

They were off on holiday to some exotic island for their spring break and I was supposed to be joining them at some point. I’d been pretty vague about it, wanting to distance myself from them anyway, but now I had to do this for a month so there was no way I’d be able to leave and party with them.

The excuse I’d given them was exhaustion. They’d laughed and told me to make sure I’d got my stamina back for a massive blowout party once I got there. The sad thing was that they wouldn’t really care whether I was there or not. No one was going to miss me. Not really...

I caught the eye of my stylist, Mandy. “I look like a kid.” I grumbled.

She smiled back at me, “Actually, I thought you looked really handsome.” She said, “Handsome and wholesome and young and full of ambition.”

I resisted the urge to look back in the mirror and rolled my eyes at her instead, “Yeah, whatever.” I grouched. Wholesome? Was she having a laugh? I was about as far removed from ‘wholesome’ as it was possible to be. Man-whore was a closer description – hence the punishment...

She chuckled, “I prefer you like this than the swarthy prima donna that walked in here.”

I shrugged, slightly hurt at her choice of description, “Yeah, well...” 

Uncle David appeared at my side and looked at me through the mirror, “That’s a whole lot better.” He said, beaming at me.

I scowled up at him, “I look like a kid.” I grumbled.

He shook his head, “No.” He said, “You look like a fine young man that’s about to find out what a real day’s work is like.”

I pulled another face. David shook his head, “This will be good for you, Tobias.” He said firmly, “Your dad and I know what hard work is all about. We had nothing when we started this business and we worked our arses off to get where we are today. All you’ve ever done is piss it up the wall.”

I frowned. Seriously? He was making me out to be some sort of loser... I wasn’t a loser. It wasn’t my fault that I’d grown up wanting for nothing... I knew there were people in the world worse off than I was... I’d just never really thought about it because it had never affected me before.

David grinned at my discomfort, “Welcome to the real world, Tobias. You’re going to be rubbing shoulders with real people.”

I raised an eyebrow, “I’ve rubbed far more than just shoulders with real people before, you know – some of the ‘real’ guys you’re talking about go to posh nightclubs too and they like to have a bit of TV royalty rubbing them up the wrong way – or the right way as it were.” I grinned and winked.

David gave me one of his looks. He hated it when I got lewd. “There’s really no need for you to talk about your sex life to me. I don’t share intimate details with you about mine – I’d prefer it you could extend me the same courtesy.”

Prudish bastard. I shrugged, looking at myself in the mirror again. Jesus. I couldn’t get over my naturally carrot-red hair? But why red? Why couldn’t he have made me a blonde? Dad was just being cruel now... “Yeah, whatever.” I said.

David smiled at me, “Oh, and Tobias – you have an apartment that’s reasonably close to the restaurant. You have one month’s allowance to allow you to get by until you get your first week’s wages and then you’re expected to get by on the same as all of your colleagues.”

My jaw dropped, “You have got to be kidding me.”

He shook his head, “Your dad wants you to understand a little of what he went through at your age.”

“But that’s so pointless.” I whined.

He shrugged, “He’s the boss.” Was all he said and then he was gone.

Coming Soon... Available now for pre-ordering. Release date 30th September 2018.