Top Shelf (Seacroft Stories Book 1)

by Allison Temple

  The posturing was unnecessary, though. The truth was, Martin hadn’t given the job offer much thought since that afternoon in Philip’s office. Not with the fire and all the work to open the gallery. Not when the students he tutored through the fall and winter started receiving their college acceptances. Not when Cassidy spent the last week pacing in front of her mailbox and sending frantic texts when she still hadn’t heard about any of her applications at the end of each day. And not when Seb lay awake the last two nights, talking in circles about all the things that might go wrong with their opening. Martin talked him down and promised he’d be there even if the whole thing was ruined by flash floods and celestial interventions.

  It surprised him how little thought he’d given to Dr. Stevenson’s offer, but Martin knew the reason why. He smiled and moved his hand to settle in the small of Seb’s back. He was rewarded with a strong arm around his shoulders.

  “Thank you, Dr. Stevenson,” Martin said, “but I think you can see I’m very happy just where I am.”

  Thank You

  Thank you so much for reading Top Shelf. There are more Seacroft stories coming, so please keep in touch!

  In Cold Pressed, Oliver comes to Seacroft, where he meets Nick, a sexy single dad with a complicated personal history.

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  About the Author

  Whether I knew it then or not, I’ve been a writer since the second grade, when I wrote a short story about a girl and her horse. My grandmother typed it out for me and said she’d never seen so many quotation marks from a seven-year-old before. I took that as a challenge and have tried to break that record in all the stories I’ve taken on since then. It’s good to have goals, right?

  I live in Toronto with my very patient husband and the world’s neediest cat. I try to split my time between writing, community theater stage management, and traveling anywhere that has good wine. Tragically, this leaves no time to clean the house.

  Also By Allison Temple

  The Pick Up

  Kyle’s life is going backwards. He wanted to build a bigger life for himself than Red Creek could give him, but a family crisis has forced him to return to his hometown with his six-year-old daughter. Now he’s standing in the rain at his old elementary school, and his daughter’s teacher, Mr. Hathaway, is lecturing him about punctuality.

  Adam Hathaway is not looking for love. He’s learned the hard way to keep his personal and professional life separate. But Kyle is struggling and needs a friend, and Adam wants to be that friend. He just needs to ignore his growing attraction to Kyle’s goofy charm, because acting on it would mean breaking all the rules that protect his heart.

  Putting down roots in this town again is not Kyle’s plan. As soon as he can, he’s taking his daughter and her princess costumes and moving on. The more time he spends with Adam, though, the more he thinks the quiet teacher might give him a reason to stay. Now he just has to convince Adam to take a chance on a bigger future than either of them could have planned.

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