by Josh Lanyon
“Okay. Agreed. But.”
“But?”
“For starters, I don’t know how you think we’re going to arrange a wedding in three d—”
Will interrupted, “I spent the morning phoning around, and I found a company that will marry us before lunch.”
Taylor’s heart jumped. “Today?”
“Yep, today. If you want to go for it. It’s $325 for a licensed minister, beach permit and insurance, a decorative certificate of marriage, and two fresh-flower leis.” He added, as though all those parasols and lovebirds had suddenly made him an expert, “The hard part about pulling off a wedding is arranging the venue. This entire island is a venue.”
“You’re serious.”
“I am. I’m serious. If you want them to take photos using our phones, it’s another two hundred dollars.”
“Another two hundred.” Taylor sat up, shoving the hair out of his eyes. “Okay. Right.”
“No frills, obviously, but—”
“We’re not frilly guys.” Taylor was starting to laugh. “Are you— Are you sure you know what you’re saying? Because I will not take kindly to being left at the altar.”
“No altar. Are we going for it or not?”
Taylor hesitated.
Will said softly, “I’m not pushing you. This is up to you. Say the word, and I’ll make the phone call. They said they’d hold that slot open for thirty more minutes.”
For a long moment they held each other’s gazes.
Their love, their relationship, was not perfect. It was complicated, occasionally messy, sometimes even confusing, and probably always would be. But it was the real deal. The for better or worse, in sickness and in health, till death do us part deal. Theirs was a partnership in every sense of the word.
Will’s voice was deep, a little husky, as he said, “Will you marry me, Taylor?”
Taylor laughed, a shaky, breathless laugh. He shoved the blankets aside and jumped out of bed. “Which beach?” He held his hand out to Will. “And who’s driving?”
Epilogue
It was raining.
Not hard, more mist than rain, but wet enough to keep the sun and surf crowd away. Now and then during the very brief ceremony, the sun peered through silver-edged clouds, smiled briefly, and faded out. The aqua surf hit the white sand in regular, leisurely heartbeats, and occasionally the grooms’ words were lost in the pound of waves and the cries of gulls.
“I, William, take thee, Taylor, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.”
Will slipped the platinum band—platinum mixed with a small percentage of lead from the bullet that had changed everything—onto Taylor’s ring finger. His hands were warm, his fingers steady, and his eyes smiled into Taylor’s.
Then it was Taylor’s turn.
“I, Taylor, take thee, William, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.”
Taylor reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a ring: a chrome and box elder band with a line of laser-carved pine trees. He met Will’s astonished gaze, slid the ring on Will’s left hand, and winked.
The damp wind tasted salty, but there were no tears. They were not men who cried easily or often, and surely not for happiness. The only moment of self-consciousness was as they each placed a wedding lei over the other’s head. The leis were made of ti leaves, wound with tiny, fragrant white tuberoses, and they were beautiful and festive. There were a couple of laughs, a muttered comment from Taylor, a few more clicks of phone cameras, and at last a kiss, so careful, so tender.
Afterward they had lunch at another of the big hotels, where they were serenaded by Christmas carolers clad in Hawaiian shirts. Will ordered champagne, Taylor ordered some kind of cake made with pineapple, cinnamon, and nutmeg and frosted with cream-cheese frosting and toasted coconut.
“You had a ring all ready to go,” Will teased, nudging Taylor’s booted foot with his own.
Taylor laughed and shook his head. “Yes and no. That was your Christmas gift. I picked it up yesterday at that little shop in Hana before we stopped for lunch.” His mouth twisted. “I thought it was time you wore a ring too. Of course, half an hour later you were telling me you were leaving me.”
“Not what I said. Never. And not what I meant. Ever.” Will spoke without heat, was even smiling a little. They were past the misunderstandings and miscommunications. Maybe there was something to the idea of a formal commitment. “From this day forward, buddy boy.”
Taylor said, “I guess we’re going to catch hell from pretty much everyone for running off and getting married like this.”
“Probably.”
They smiled at each other.
Later, Taylor said thoughtfully, “What are we going to do about American Eagle?”
“I’ve been considering that. What do you think about splitting off the global security consultant side of the business from the other side of the business? We could promote Euphonia to project manager and let Schwierskott handle the meet-and-greet stuff. He’s pretty good at it.”
“Uh, what other side of the business?” Taylor inquired.
“Private investigations.”
“Private… You want us to become PIs?”
“Well, think about it. What’s in our wheelhouse?”
Taylor opened his mouth, and Will said quickly, “Investigating. Investigating is what we’re good at. We’re field agents. We’re not analysts. I believe it’s a natural fit for us.”
“Do you?”
“I do.” Will smirked. “No pun intended.”
Taylor’s mouth twisted. He said, “Hm. It’s going to be hard getting a letter of recommendation from our last client.”
Will winced. “Will you consider the idea, at least?”
“Yes.” Taylor relented. “Actually, I kind of like the idea.”
“Do you?”
“I do.” Taylor’s turn to smirk.
Will said, “I thought you would.”
“But we’re not moving to Hawaii, Brandt. And you’re not buying a Ferrari.”
Will snorted. “Deal.”
And much, much later that night in their hotel room, Will held up his left hand and said, “You know, I like the etched pine trees.”
Taylor said, “It reminded me of—”
“Me too,” Will said gruffly. “It reminds me of where we’ve been and where we’re going.”
“Which is hopefully not camping.”
Will leaned over to kiss him. He whispered, “Which is together. Forever.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Dear Reader,
It’s hard to say goodbye to characters I love as much—and for as long—as Will and Taylor. I think it’s one reason I kept delaying this book.
The journey of Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt began in April 2008 when Loose Id published Dangerous Ground. The stories were intended to be quick, fun, episodic adventures, and I believe I’ve kept that promise. The boys have had a good long run, and it’s certain they will continue their adventures long after you turn the final page. Thank you for sharing the ride.
Thank you to Keren. Thank you to Kevin.
(As always, make sure you’ve downloaded the most up-to-date version of this book because in fiction, as in real life, things have a way of changing!)
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About the Author
Author of over sixty titles of classic Male/Male fiction featuring twisty mystery, kickass adventure, and unapologetic man-on-man romance, JOSH LANYON’S work has been translated into eleven languages. Her FBI thriller Fair Game was the first Male/Male title to be published by Harlequin Mondadori, then the largest romance publisher in Italy. Stranger on the Shore (Harper Collins I
talia) was the first M/M title to be published in print. In 2016 Fatal Shadows placed #5 in Japan’s annual Boy Love novel list (the first and only title by a foreign author to place on the list). The Adrien English series was awarded the All Time Favorite Couple by the Goodreads M/M Romance Group. In 2019, Fatal Shadows became the first LGBTQ mobile game created by Moments: Choose Your Story.
She is an Eppie Award winner, a four-time Lambda Literary Award finalist (twice for Gay Mystery), an Edgar nominee, and the first ever recipient of the Goodreads All Time Favorite M/M Author award.
Josh is married and lives in Southern California.
Find other Josh Lanyon titles at www.joshlanyon.com
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If you enjoyed this story, try these digital titles by Josh Lanyon:
Novels
The ADRIEN ENGLISH Mysteries
Fatal Shadows
A Dangerous Thing
The Hell You Say
Death of a Pirate King
The Dark Tide
Stranger Things Have Happened
So This is Christmas
The HOLMES & MORIARITY Mysteries
Somebody Killed His Editor
All She Wrote
The Boy with the Painful Tattoo
In Other Words…Murder
The ALL’S FAIR Trilogy
Fair Game
Fair Play
Fair Chance
The ART OF MURDER series
The Mermaid Murders
The Monet Murders
The Magician Murders
The Monuments Murders
BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS
Mainly by Moonlight
I Buried a Witch
Other novels
This Rough Magic (A SHOT IN THE DARK Series)
The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks
Mexican Heat (with Laura Baumbach)
Strange Fortune
Come Unto These Yellow Sands
Stranger on the Shore
Winter Kill
Jefferson Blythe, Esquire
Murder in Pastel
The Curse of the Blue Scarab
The Ghost Had an Early Check-out
Murder Takes the High Road
Séance on a Summer’s Night
Novellas
The DANGEROUS GROUND Series
Dangerous Ground
Old Poison
Blood Heat
Dead Run
Kick Start
Blind Side
Other novellas
Cards on the Table
The Dark Farewell
The Dark Horse
The Darkling Thrush
The Dickens with Love
I Spy Something Bloody
I Spy Something Wicked
I Spy Something Christmas
In a Dark Wood
The Parting Glass
Snowball in Hell
Mummy Dearest
Don’t Look Back
A Ghost of a Chance
Lovers and Other Strangers
Out of the Blue
A Vintage Affair
Lone Star (in Men Under the Mistletoe)
Green Glass Beads (in Irregulars)
Blood Red Butterfly
Everything I Know
Baby, It’s Cold (in Comfort and Joy)
A Case of Christmas
Murder Between the Pages
Slay Ride
Stranger in the House
Short stories
A Limited Engagement
The French Have a Word for It
In Sunshine or In Shadow
Until We Meet Once More
Icecapade (in His for the Holidays)
Perfect Day
Heart Trouble
Other People’s Weddings (Petit Mort)
Slings and Arrows (Petit Mort)
Sort of Stranger Than Fiction (Petit Mort)
Critic’s Choice (Petit Mort)
Just Desserts (Petit Mort)
In Plain Sight
Wedding Favors
Wizard’s Moon
Fade to Black
Night Watch
Plenty of Fish
Halloween is Murder
The Boy Next Door
Collections
Short Stories (Vol. 1)
Sweet Spot (the Petit Morts)
Merry Christmas, Darling (Holiday Codas)
Christmas Waltz (Holiday Codas 2)
I Spy…Three Novellas
Point Blank (Five Dangerous Ground Novellas)
Dark Horse, White Knight (Two Novellas)
The Adrien English Mysteries Box Set (Three Novels)
The Adrien English Mysteries Box Set 2
Male/Male Mystery & Suspense Box Set
Partners in Crime (Three Classic Gay Mystery Novels)
All’s Fair Complete Collection
BLIND SIDE (Dangerous Ground 6)
January 2020
Copyright (c) 2020 by Josh Lanyon
Cover by Ron Perry
Edited by Keren Reed
All rights reserved
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Published in the United States of America
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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.