Hank & Fallon_Something Wonderful

by Lynn Stark

  Silver’s Studs 8

  Hank & Fallon: Something Wonderful

  Hank Wells comes to Silver for a new beginning. He was part of a program for substance abusers, to get them clean and to help them remain that way. It was an intense program, but Hank had known that from the beginning. With a new home and a job, he knew he would feel as if he could do anything. What he hadn’t expected was to fall in love with his boss. The man is as handsome as he is nice and the star of Hank’s fantasies.

  Knowing he shouldn’t allow feelings for an employee to develop, Fallon Connolly keeps them to himself. He impulsively hired Hank after witnessing the man enthusiastically helping other customers. Fallon needs to keep his focus on running the family business, not falling for a man who is not only younger, but an employee. Complications are something he doesn’t need, even as he discovers how wonderful Hank truly is.

  Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Contemporary

  Length: 40,129 words

  HANK & FALLON: SOMETHING WONDERFUL

  Silver’s Studs 8

  Lynn Stark

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  MANLOVE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove

  HANK & FALLON: SOMETHING WONDERFUL

  Copyright © 2016 by Lynn Stark

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-68295-434-8

  First E-book Publication: August 2016

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2016 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  About the Author

  HANK & FALLON: SOMETHING WONDERFUL

  Silver’s Studs 8

  LYNN STARK

  Copyright © 2016

  Chapter One

  Hearing the soft chime overhead, Hank quickly finished stacking the last of the jeans in the correct cubby hole and headed to the rear of the store where the stockroom was located. He put the flat utility cart away that he had taken the stock out on and headed for the combination lock and time clock at the rear door. It was the end of his shift, and he was ready to get some supper and head home. Because it was payday, he was looking forward to eating out. It was a reward to himself for working hard and not giving in to temptation. Most of his check would go into savings, but he had held back enough to cover his share of expenses for the month. Hank had been working at the store since Christmas the year before. Because he was paid what people described as a living wage, he felt he was doing very well for himself. It helped that he didn’t have anyone to support. But he did have a future he was finally looking forward to, thanks to all the help he had received in getting clean and starting over in Silver.

  Hank was about to touch the pad that would read his fingerprint and register the time when his name was called. Trembling, his heart beginning to beat a little faster, Hank closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. It was Fallon Connolly, his boss and the owner of the department store. Fallon was also the most handsome man Hank had seen in his entire life. They had spoken at the beginning of his shift, but not since then. Hank guessed Fallon had probably been in his office attending to whatever it took to run a nice store like Connolly’s.

  Turning, Hank smiled. He liked Fallon. He was a nice guy. “Hi, Fallon.”

  The beautiful smile became even more beautiful. It just wasn’t fair, Hank thought, holding back a sigh. Fallon was unknowingly the subject of all of Hank’s fantasies.

  “Hi, Hank. Done for the night?”

  Hank nodded. “Yeah, everything’s done.” He stepped aside as his coworkers made their way to the door. “I’m just heading over to the Silver Spur Saloon for supper before I go home.”

  Fallon nodded and continued to smile. Hank believed there should be some law to prevent someone as perfect as Fallon from using their charisma on helpless goobers like Hank. It was just unfair. There wasn’t one part of Hank that didn’t respond to it. He just hoped Fallon didn’t notice how attracted Hank was to him. That would be embarrassing as fuck, he thought, cringing inwardly.

  “I was going there myself. Why don’t I join you? That is, if you don’t mind?” A dark brow lifted as he waited for Hank’s response.

  Choices. Life was all about choices. Right ones, wrong ones, some that had other people looking at you like your brain just took a dump. Hank had made his share of them all, especially the bad ones. That was over. Hopefully. He was still fighting the demons. But sharing a meal with the man of his dreams? That might be the biggest mistake he ever made, Hank thought, even as he knew he would do it.

  Nodding, Hank smiled, covering up the fact that he was nervous as hell and hoping the man wouldn’t think Hank was a total goober. “That would be great. I usually eat alone. It’ll be a nice change.”

  “I’ll just go u
p to my office and shut things down for the night. Why don’t you go grab a table for us? It’s Friday night. The place will be packed.”

  “Will do.”

  Twenty minutes later, Hank was sitting across from Fallon in a booth tucked away in the corner. If he had been given a choice, he wouldn’t have chosen the isolated position in the room. He didn’t want to give anyone, especially Fallon, the idea that he wanted to be quite so alone with the man. Well, as alone as he could be in a room packed with people. However, he hadn’t been given a choice. He had stood in line, waiting for a table, only securing it a couple of minutes before Fallon’s arrival. Now they were seated across from each other and looking over the menu. Hank stared at his so he didn’t stare at Fallon.

  “I’m going to have the fried chicken,” Hank said, raising his voice so he could be heard.

  There was a band playing at the other end of the large room and a couple hundred other people enjoying themselves. He placed the menu on the edge of the table.

  Fallon chuckled. He had dimples. It wasn’t the first time Hank had seen them when the man smiled. They were cute dimples. No, he corrected, they were sexy-as-hell dimples.

  “Me, too. I don’t know why I bother with the menu. I’ve been eating here since I was a kid, and I always get the same thing. Fried chicken, french fries, and a chocolate shake.”

  Blinking, Hank had to think about what Fallon had said. He had been distracted by those dimples. Was that a scar over Fallon’s left eyebrow?

  Hank’s stomach grumbled, and he finally focused completely. He had worked from one o’clock to ten and had only eaten a ham salad sandwich on his lunch break. He was now starving. “Yeah? That’s funny. I have the same combo when I order the chicken. They have a great steak here, too.”

  “I know a lot of people order it, but I never have. Maybe I’ll try it next time.”

  Feeling bold because of Fallon’s friendliness, he suggested, “You could try it now.”

  “I could,” Fallon agreed with a smile. “But my taste buds are already waiting for the chicken.”

  It didn’t take long for Hank’s nerves to settle down. Fallon was relaxed, which seemed to have a direct effect on Hank. Once that happened, he was able to enjoy the evening for what it was, two guys having a meal together. They talked about work briefly. Fallon asked Hank if he still liked working at the store. That was something Hank could answer honestly. He did like working at the store. Helping people came naturally to him. He particularly liked the elderly customers who came into the store. Some of them were real characters. His absolute favorite was Bart Noolly. The man was a hundred and seven years old, an age Hank found to be amazing. Bart came in regularly, mostly to try on sneakers, but he had so many family members, that he always seemed to need a gift. If Hank was working when Bart came in, Hank was always asked to assist with the elderly man’s shopping. Yeah, he enjoyed his job.

  The next topic was sports. Hank liked watching them, but wasn’t much of a participant. Fallon, without much surprise on Hank’s part, had played football all the way through college. He could have gone pro, but opted out to return home to help with the family business.

  Hank had learned Fallon now ran the store alone, his father and grandfather having retired. Both of the elder Connolly men visited the store about twice a month. At least that was about how many times Hank saw them. Fallon’s grandfather was a bit stiff, but his father was friendly enough.

  By the time Fallon broached the subject of Hank’s past, they had just finished off slices of hot apple pie topped with vanilla ice cream. He felt the light mood he had been feeling go up in smoke. He couldn’t even look at Fallon. Hank wasn’t stupid. Silver was a small town where there weren’t many secrets. The reason for Hank being here had never been a secret, but that didn’t mean he wanted to talk about it. Not that he had anything to hide, but he didn’t know Fallow well enough, and never would. Not enough to share any part of the darkness of the years before Hank was given a second chance. They were employer and employee. They weren’t friends. Hank knew his place in the scheme of things. It was one thing to share a casual meal after work or to have a fantasy in the privacy of his bedroom. But Hank knew there could never be anything else between them. Because of that, he wasn’t about to tell the man more than he already knew.

  Shrugging his shoulders, Hank forced a smile to his lips. “There’s really not much to tell. I came to Silver from Buffalo because I needed a change.” That was a huge understatement, Hank thought with no little amount of self-disgust. “My parents are still alive. I have two brothers and a sister. I finished high school, but never managed to get to college.” He glanced around at the small, brightly-colored lights strung around the room, giving it a party atmosphere. Suddenly, he wished he was anywhere but sitting across from Fallon Connolly. Siberia would have been nice. He didn’t want to inadvertently expose any of the bad parts of his life. “I might go to the community college here this fall, when it opens.”

  The new community college was in the final stages of construction and was set to open in a few months. Now that he was free of the drugs and was thinking clearly for what seemed like the first time in forever, furthering his education seemed like a good idea. Hell, it couldn’t hurt.

  “Sounds like you have a plan.” The server arrived with a single check instead of two and placed it near Fallon. Hank felt his face heat up with embarrassment as he realized Fallon was planning on paying for his meal.

  Hank quickly held up his hand. “No, let me.” He reached for his wallet and pulled out enough to cover their meals and the tip. He smiled, and he slid out of the booth, tucking the wallet back into his pocket. “I guess I’ll see you Monday.” He had the weekend off. It was the first one in a month. “Have a nice evening.”

  Fallon stood. He was a good head taller than Hank, forcing Hank to look up at his employer. “You, too, Hank. Enjoy your weekend off.”

  “Thanks, Fallon.”

  Hank turned and left before he did or said something he might regret. He already regretted sharing a meal with the other man. Why have hopes where there was no chance for them to grow and blossom into something wonderful?

  And Hank wanted wonderful. He didn’t expect it. He had no hopes of it. Still, he wanted it with every fiber of his being. That was why he would look elsewhere for it. Men like Fallon Connolly weren’t for men like Hank.

  Arriving home in time to watch a movie with his housemates, Hank settled in with a bowl of popcorn and, for a while, forgot about everything but the action on the screen.

  It was another matter when Hank was finally alone in his room. Falling in love, or even having the hots for someone, wasn’t in his plans. Not yet. He had to give himself time to get firmly back on his feet. He had a good start, but letting his emotions run amok at the moment was not a good thing. If he got dumped, was hurt by some man, then he didn’t know if he would be strong enough not to fall back into old habits. He just didn’t want to test himself yet. Sticking to his plans, even tentative ones like attending Silver’s new community college, was the best course to have.

  With that thought in mind, Hank poured lube onto his palm and wrapped his fingers around his throbbing dick. Fallon Connolly might not be part of Hank’s future, but he could remain part of the fantasy.

  Hank couldn’t really imagine Fallon in his tiny room, so he imagined something grander, maybe a fancy house or apartment. The man was used to the finer things in life, Hank was sure of it. There were a lot of nice houses in Silver. Surely Fallon lived in one of them. Or did he live out in the country, on the edge of the wilderness, in some private retreat?

  “Dammit, pick one,” Hank muttered to himself as he gave his slicked dick a firm stroke.

  Listening to himself, Hank chose a luxury apartment with lots of marble and shiny surfaces. He had seen those on TV. Putting himself into one was a little more difficult. He chose a huge bed with soft sheets. His fingers tightened on his cock. He stroked it twice more as he closed his eyes and l
ooked around the fabulous apartment taking shape in his head. The bedroom was huge. He didn’t know why anyone needed so much space. He felt vulnerable being alone in the room. Where was Fallon? Hank didn’t want to be alone anymore.

  A door opened and Fallon stepped into the room. Big, beautiful, and as sexy as any man ever made, Hank could only stare at him. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought to have a lover who looked like they belonged in a movie or painted by a master.

  The smile Fallon gave Hank as he lowered himself onto the bed beside him formed those sexy dimples. Silver-gray eyes sparkled, as if there was mischief close at hand, or Fallon kept a secret he was willing to share—for a price.

  Would it be a kiss? A blowjob? Whatever it was, Hank was willing to pay.

  His gaze skimmed down over the large, toned body, one so different from his own, Hank wanted to yank the sheet up to cover his skinny self and hide it from Fallon’s heated gaze.

  Hank moaned as Fallon came closer. Fallon was watching as Hank stroked his cock. His doing so was so fucking hot Hank almost came. But it was too soon. He wanted to play first. He wanted to have a little fun with this man before they got down and dirty. It might be the only time they were ever together. Hank wanted all the memories he could get, something wonderful he could relive time and time again.

  Fallon leaned close to nuzzle the side of Hank’s face. The incredible sensations that simple act brought to Hank rippled over his skin. His toes curled and his body twisted as he tried to get closer. A large hand on his shoulder prevented him from moving to his side to face Fallon.