The Bookseller's Boyfriend

by Heidi Cullinan

  From loneliness, he acknowledged at last. From insignificance.

  Well, he thought with a wry smile, there was nowhere to feel quite so lonely as by yourself at the top of a lighthouse. It wasn’t terrifying, though. It made him sad, yes, and it let in all those feelings he’d tried so desperately to push aside. But he didn’t need to run from them anymore. He didn’t want to.

  He wanted to stay in Copper Point, with his friends and the person he loved, and find out what came after you stopped being afraid.

  When he got back to the bookstore, Matt and Gus loitered at the bottom of the stairs in evening wear, waiting for him.

  Panicked, Rasul pulled out his phone and looked at the time. “Don’t I still have several hours to get ready?”

  Matt and Gus exchanged a knowing look.

  “Technically. But not actually.” Matt pushed off the railing and crossed to Rasul, taking his elbow. “Come on. You’ll miss your fitting.”

  “Fitting? For what?”

  Gus took Rasul’s other elbow. “Your boyfriend has arranged some pampering for you before the event.”

  “Starting with a fitting for a customized suit.”

  Rasul kept looking from one to the other. “There’s no way in hell you can make a bespoke suit in two hours.”

  Matt snorted. “No, there isn’t. But we can do some fairly decent finishes on the one I ordered for you.”

  Engleton’s was quiet as they entered, only one employee behind the counter and an older couple shopping near the front of the store. Gus took Rasul to the fitting area and chatted idly until Matt rolled out a clothing dummy. It was wearing a fetching royal blue suit with big white checks, a pale blue shirt, a cheeky paisley bow tie, and a felted burgundy vest. There were also a pair of burgundy wingtip shoes.

  Rasul grinned as he touched the suit. “This is for me? Really?”

  Matt looked a bit smug. “We all consulted on it. We were fairly sure you’d like it.”

  “I love it. I want to put it on right now.”

  “You will, but only for a fitting. Then I’ll get to work while you continue your pampering journey.”

  Rasul hurried into the clothes, admiring himself in the mirror as Matt took his measurements. “Where’s Jacob, anyway?”

  “Chamber stuff,” Gus offered, tugging at the hem of Rasul’s jacket and smoothing the fabric over his shoulders critically. “Technically we should be helping, but we’ve been assigned Rasul duty. We don’t mind.”

  Rasul lifted his arm at Matt’s direction. “Do you think he regrets getting voted in as president?” It had been almost an afterthought, with him the only one running and Les Clark out of the picture completely.

  “Probably a little,” Matt said around the pins in his mouth. “Hold still.”

  “He’ll be fine,” Gus said. “He always grumbles a bit at changes initially. But he loves a challenge.”

  “Does he have help setting up and all that, though?” Rasul asked. “I had planned to offer my services.”

  “He’ll have our heads if you show up a second before he asked us to bring you.” Gus patted Rasul’s shoulder. “Just relax and enjoy your boyfriend’s bossy side.”

  Rasul had no objections when it was put like that.

  He hated to leave his suit, but Matt had whisked it away for alterations, and Gus took Rasul on to his next stop, which turned out to be his favorite masseuse at the Chinese massage parlor. Gus waited in the lobby while Rasul had every bit of tension efficiently expelled from his body. He tried not to moan in ecstasy, but a few times he couldn’t help it.

  After Gus paid the bill there, Rasul was taken to an affable barber two blocks off University Avenue who gave him a cut and a beard trim and told Rasul how much he’d enjoyed his books. After this it was back to the bookstore apartment, where Gina waited, petting the cats.

  “I’ll leave you now,” she said, heading down the stairs. “My job was just to set things up. I hope I did it right.”

  Rasul didn’t know what she was talking about until he went into the bathroom, at which point he laughed, and wiped a few tears away. Green sheets were hung across the room, and a ridged baking dish sat in the bottom of steaming, scented water. Petals were strewn around the room and across the surface of the tub, and a note was propped up on the vanity.

  I had them leave you a towel this time, Cassandra. See you soon.

  The bath was wonderful—Rasul took the dish out and said a prayer of thanks the water contained no dye—and when he was done, he came out to find Gus and Matt waiting for him, as well as his suit.

  By the time he was dressed and walking down the street to the community center flanked by his friends, Rasul couldn’t deny he felt more than a bit better than when he’d been brooding alone atop the lighthouse. He was a sucker for being cared for. It was a nice evening too. He couldn’t wait for Jacob to join him.

  He’d half hoped he’d meet Jacob outside the community center, but apparently he was inside seeing to last-minute issues. So while they waited for the doors to open, he chatted with Gus, Matt, and other community members waiting outside. Several people complimented him on his suit, which he completely credited Matt for.

  “Wait until you see Jacob,” Matt said, and suddenly that was all Rasul could think about.

  His heart beat triple time as he filed into the community center, trying to peer around the crush to find his boyfriend. There were just so many people.

  Murmuring apologies, he slipped around a clutch of people talking instead of walking and ducked around a pillar and into—

  Into a veil of stars.

  He couldn’t breathe.

  The entire main room of the community center had been draped in netting, and inside it were thousands and thousands of tiny white lights. It was his novel come to life. Except the veil wasn’t isolating. It overflowed with the people he’d come to know and love, the messy, wonderful members of the community he now called home.

  In the center of it, standing in the middle of the dance floor watching him, was Jacob.

  He was so handsome and dashing Rasul felt dizzy. His suit was absolutely bespoke—the burgundy felted wool of his vest was the whole of Jacob’s outfit, except for the silky tan vest and tie. He had a blue checked pocket square, and his coffee-colored shoes gleamed in the sparkling light.

  Smiling, he held out his hand to Rasul. “May I have this dance?”

  Before Rasul could melt completely, music started from the far side of the room. He started laughing when he recognized it.

  “You’re a bad guy, huh?” he said as he let Jacob pull him into his embrace.

  “The worst,” Jacob promised against Rasul’s ear.

  This time Jacob didn’t hesitate or blush as they ground against one another. They moved in perfect synchronization, wrapped up in one another as if they were the only people in the world. Rasul couldn’t stop smiling, but with the way Jacob’s heated gaze bored into him, he couldn’t stop blushing either.

  This is why it’s okay for you to stop running. You can afford to feel all your feelings now, because this man will be there to fish you out if you slip into the sea.

  Rasul drew Jacob’s head closer and pressed a heated, brief kiss against his neck.

  And I’ll be there to catch you too.

  When the music switched to Air Supply’s “Even the Nights Are Better,” Rasul wasn’t surprised. He simply downshifted, following Jacob as he led Rasul into a soft sway. As the town looked on and more than a few people snapped pictures, Rasul spun around the room with the person he loved the most, singing softly along with the music.

  When the song wound to a close, he felt something small and metal pressed into his hand. Jacob closed Rasul’s hand over it and Rasul recognized what it was, his heart soaring into the sky.

  “I love you, Rasul,” Jacob said into his ear. “Marry me. Stay with me forever.”

  Unable to stop grinning, Rasul lifted the ring, pressed it to his lips, then caressed the side of Jacob’s face w
ith it.

  “Yes,” he said, then felt his soul fly as Jacob kissed him and the whole room cheered.

  More from Heidi Cullinan

  I’ll marry you.

  Professor Valentyn Shevchenko isn’t sure how to react when, after months of ineffective flirting, the cute barista’s first words to him are a proposal. In many ways, Peter Grunberg is the solution to all his problems. With his work visa inexplicably denied, Valentyn is running out of options to keep from being deported. But is a green card marriage really the answer? Is it still a marriage of convenience when he’s this attracted to his potential spouse?

  Peter came to his uncle’s coffee shop in Boulder, Colorado, to reset his life after his struggles with selective mutism returned with a vengeance. He never meant his first words to the handsome ecology professor to be an offer of marriage, but he’s not backing out now. It doesn’t matter that Peter struggles to find words. He can say everything he needs to with his body.

  Though this relationship may have started out back-to-front, Valentyn and Peter are determined to make their fake marriage real. But one misstep in their immigration interview could bring everything crashing down. They’ll have to hope that their love is enough to overcome all their obstacles and give them the prize they’ve both been dreaming of: a certified happy ever after.

  Copper Point Medical: Book One

  The brilliant but brooding new doctor encounters Copper Point’s sunny nurse-next-door... and nothing can stand in the way of this romance.

  Dr. Hong-Wei Wu has come to Copper Point, Wisconsin, after the pressures of a high-powered residency burned him out of his career before he started. Ashamed of letting his family down after all they’ve done for him, he plans to live a quiet life as a simple surgeon in this tiny northern town. His plans, however, don’t include his outgoing, kind, and attractive surgical nurse, Simon Lane.

  Simon wasn’t ready for the new surgeon to be a handsome charmer who keeps asking him for help getting settled and who woos him with amazing Taiwanese dishes. There’s no question—Dr. Wu is flirting with him, and Simon is flirting back. The problem is, St. Ann’s has a strict no-dating policy between staff, which means their romance is off the table… unless they bend the rules.

  But a romance that keeps them—literally—in the closet can’t lead to happy ever after. Simon doesn’t want to stay a secret, and Hong-Wei doesn’t want to keep himself removed from life, not anymore. To secure their happiness, they’ll have to change the administration’s mind. But what other secrets will they uncover along the way, about Copper Point… and about each other?

  Sequel to The Doctor’s Secret

  Copper Point Medical: Book Two

  The hospital’s least eligible bachelor and its aloof administrator hate each other… so why are they pretending to date?

  Dr. Owen Gagnon and HR director Erin Andreas are infamous for their hospital hallway shouting matches. So imagine the town’s surprise when Erin bids an obscene amount of money to win Owen in the hospital bachelor auction—and Owen ups the ante by insisting Erin move in with him.

  Copper Point may not know what’s going on, but neither do Erin and Owen. Erin intends his gesture to let Owen know he’s interested. Owen, on the other hand, suspects ulterior motives—that Erin wants a fake relationship as a refuge from his overbearing father.

  With Erin suddenly heading a messy internal investigation, Owen wants to step up and be the hero Erin’s never had. Too bad Erin would rather spend his energy trying to rescue Owen from the shadows of a past he doesn’t talk about.

  This relationship may be fake, but the feelings aren’t. Still, what Erin and Owen have won’t last unless they put their respective demons to rest. To do that, they’ll have to do more than work together—they’ll have to trust they can heal each other’s hearts.

  Sequel to The Doctor’s Date

  Copper Point Medical: Book Three

  Once upon a time Nicolas Beckert was the boy who stole kisses from Jared Kumpel beneath the bleachers, but now Jared’s a pediatrician and Nick is the hospital CEO who won’t glance his way. Everything changes, however, when they’re stranded alone in a hospital elevator. Ten years of cold shoulders melt away in five hours of close contact, and old passions rekindle into hot flames.

  Once out of the elevator, Jared has no intention of letting Nick get away. It’s clear he’s desperate for someone to give him space to let go of the reins, and Jared is happy to oblige. But Jared wants Nick as a lover in a full, open relationship, which is a step further than Nick is willing to go. They’ve traded kisses under the bleachers for liaisons in the boardroom… and it looks like the same arguments that drove them apart in high school might do the same thing now.

  Jared’s determined not to let that happen this time around. He won’t order Nick from his shell—he’ll listen to what his friend says he needs to feel safe. Maybe this time he can prescribe his lover a happy ever after.

  Readers love the Copper Point Medical series by Heidi Cullinan

  The Doctor’s Secret

  “Cullinan weaves themes of racism and Asian culture, family pressures, and the value of friends, home, and love into a deeply satisfying romance.”

  —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

  “If you like slow, trope-filled romances with high stakes and happy endings (and a side of codes and gurneys), this is a must-read. Cullinan knows how to keep her readers hooked!”

  —Love Bytes

  “I stayed up past my bed time to finish this book and it was totally worth it.”

  —Two Chicks Obsessed

  The Doctor’s Date

  “…the story’s magic is in how their affection for each other helps them individually achieve self-confidence and self-love. This tear-jerker is a captivating winner.”

  —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

  Author of over thirty novels, Midwest-native HEIDI CULLINAN writes positive-outcome romances for LGBT characters struggling against insurmountable odds because she believes there’s no such thing as too much happy ever after. Heidi is a two-time RITA® finalist, and her books have been recommended by Library Journal, USA Today, RT Magazine, and Publishers Weekly. When Heidi isn’t writing, she enjoys cooking, reading novels and manga, playing with her cats, and watching too much anime.

  Visit Heidi’s website at www.heidicullinan.com.

  You can contact her at heidi@heidicullinan.com.

  By Heidi Cullinan

  With Marie Sexton

  Family Man

  COPPER POINT: MAIN STREET

  The Bookseller’s Boyfriend

  COPPER POINT MEDICAL

  The Doctor’s Secret

  The Doctor’s Date

  The Doctor’s Orders

  DREAMSPUN DESIRES

  The Professor’s Green Card Marriage

  TUCKER SPRINGS

  With Marie Sexton: Second Hand

  Dirty Laundry

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The Bookseller's Boyfriend

  © 2021 Heidi Cullinan

  Cover Art

  © 2021 Paul Richmond

  http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot b
e legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

  Mass Market Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64405-858-9

  Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64405-857-2

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-856-5

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2020944386

  Digital published January 2021

  First Edition

  v. 1.0

  Printed in the United States of America