A Kiss in Time

by Pat Henshaw

  “How was school? Work?” Joel, no, Randy asked.

  He just looked and sounded so much like Joel that he made my head and heart ache.

  Couldn’t he at least change into another person when the case was over?

  “I want to thank you for last night,” he said when he seemed to realize I wasn’t going to answer his questions. “You saved my life. I thought the guy you parked all over was a friendly informant, not the guy I was after. I let him in, and he jumped me.”

  “No problem,” I answered when it seemed the ball was in my court.

  “Can we do one last thing?” he asked. “Just one more time for me?”

  I must have looked as puzzled as I felt. What did he want from me now?

  He stood and walked slowly over as if I was going to attack him. He held out his arms.

  “Please. Just hug me,” he whispered.

  I hurt. All the parts of my body that were supposed to be invincible—my heart, my mind, my soul—hurt.

  I hugged him. What were we doing? How could I let him go?

  I felt him shaking. Then I felt his tears on my tee shirt.

  “Please stay. I think we can make this work. I care. I care too much,” he whispered.

  Now we were both blubbering and hugging. I was so relieved I felt like I would float if he didn’t hang onto me.

  Then he laughed, more of a gulp and giggle, but I wasn’t counting.

  “If for no other reason, you’ve got to teach me the wall flip thing,” he added.

  We pulled back and grinned at each other.

  “How about the wall walk?” I pointed to the bottom row of arcing footprints. “You wanna know how to do it, too?”

  “Wow. You’re kidding, right?”

  “Nope.”

  “Fucking A.” He took a deep breath. “And you’ve got to tell me what you decided about your walls. What are you going to do with them?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’m still working on it. I’m counting on you for inspiration.”

  I kissed him. Yup. I’d found my fount of inspiration.

  THE END

  ABOUT PAT HENSHAW

  Pat Henshaw, born and raised in Nebraska, has lived on the US’s three coasts, in Texas, Virginia, and now California. Before she retired, she held a number of jobs, including theatrical costumer, newspaper features reporter and movie reviewer, librarian, junior college English instructor, and publicist. She also loves to travel and has visited Canada, Mexico, Europe, Egypt, Thailand, and Central America as well as almost all fifty US states.

  Now retired, she enjoys reading and writing as well as visiting her older daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren on the East Coast and playing havoc with her younger daughter’s life in NorCal. She thanks you for reading her books and wants you to remember that every day is a good day for romance.

  For more information, visit pathenshaw.com.

  ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC

  JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!