Kris T. Bethke is here today to talk about her new holiday novella!
Hi! I’m Kris Bethke, and I’ve popped in to give you a little taste of my latest release, His Needs. I love a good holiday romance, and throw in some friends to lovers, and I’m a happy camper. I know I’m not the only one. So it was at the forefront of my mind when I wrote this happy, sexy, holiday novella. Here’s an exclusive excerpt, and if it sounds like your thing, I hope you’ll pick up a copy.
Happy Holidays!
Excerpt:
“Noah, come on. We’ve been friends for twenty-five years and you’ve never even looked at me.”
“Because I didn’t think I could!”
“What?” That was… not what I was expecting at all. It didn’t even make sense.
Noah’s smile was sweet, and he closed the distance between us. Instead of sitting on the coffee table like he’d been doing for the last two weeks, he sat next to me. Close, so that we were touching, but angled so we could see each other without craning our necks.
“You’re the reason I knew I liked boys when I was seven,” he said simply, his voice soft and full of affection. “But you were Joe’s best friend, my older brother for all intents and purposes, and I knew I didn’t have even a glimmer of a chance.” He paused and then his smile turned rueful. “Well, I didn’t know then. But by the time I was thirteen, I figured shit out and what cocks were really for, and what I wanted to do with them. It was then that I shoved all thoughts of you firmly into the friend box, and I never looked back. I couldn’t allow myself to.”
The timing of it was funny considering that was about the time I fell in love with him. I shook my head. I couldn’t dwell on that, and I had to be the strong one here. He was confused, I knew that. And I had to help him. “Noah, you don’t really want me, and that’s okay. I’ve been dealing with this a long time and I promise—”
His laugh cut me off. His eyes were brimming with affection as he leaned into the back of the couch and studied me. “Travis, why are you fighting this so hard?”
I was so taken off guard by this whole exchange I didn’t even censor myself. “Because I’ve wanted you for so long and I can’t really believe that you’d flip to wanting me so fast.”
Noah tucked one leg underneath him, seemingly settling in.
“I can see how you might think it’s fast, but if you look at it from my perspective, it’s really not,” he said patiently. He reached out and took my hand, twining our fingers together. I forced myself not to focus on how right his hand felt in mine. “It’s the thing I never allowed myself to acknowledge, not consciously. But it’s always been there. You’ve always been there.”
I heard his words, knew he was speaking the truth. I had his strong, capable hand in mine, felt his warm skin and his pulse at the wrist beating against mine. My senses told me this was real, that it was actually happening. But there was a part of me that knew I must be dreaming. Or better yet, that I’d been hurt much worse and was really in a coma, hopped-up on hallucinogenic pain meds. There was no way I could believe it, despite the fact that I knew it was true. My brain couldn’t process this.
Noah lifted my hand, and his lips were warm and soft as he brushed them against my knuckles. I swallowed hard and stared, entranced, as he kept my hand pressed to his lips and looked up at me through his lashes.
When State Trooper Travis Kinslow is injured right before Thanksgiving, the only positive is that for once he won’t be working during the holidays. Since he has no family, Travis was absorbed into his best friend, Joe’s, and he considers them as good as his own. Everyone except Joe’s brother Noah. Travis has been in love with the younger man for much of his life, but he’s always kept his distance.
As an ER nurse, Noah is a caretaker by nature. When his brother’s best friend is hurt, he’s happy to help Travis while he heals. He’s only ever allowed himself to think of Travis as the next best thing to an older brother, but by the light of the Christmas tree, Noah finally sees Travis’s true feelings. And in that moment, everything changes.
When faced with opposition and a Christmas nothing like they imagined, will their hopes for the future be enough to carry them through?
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Author Bio:
Kris T. Bethke has been a voracious reader for pretty much her entire life and has been writing stories for nearly as long. An avid and prolific daydreamer, she always has a story in her head. She spends most of her free time reading, writing, or knitting/crocheting her latest project. Her biggest desire is to find a way to accomplish all three tasks at one time. A classic muscle car will always turn her head, and naps on the weekend are one of her greatest guilty pleasures. She lives in a converted attic with a way too fluffy cat and the voices in her head. She’ll tell you she thinks that’s a pretty good deal. Kris believes that love is love, no matter the gender of people involved, and that all love deserves to be celebrated.
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