by John Inman
Estelle had an arm in a cast, propped in a sling around her neck. The arm had been broken above the wrist when Bobby punched her and threw her to the floor. Her face was swollen and bruised from the blow. She had rope burns, as did Puffer, around both wrists and ankles where Mayfield had tied them together. She had also suffered a teeny tiny heart attack, as she described it, in the aftermath of all the excitement. Thus the hospital bed. And the flowers.
Behind the bruises and the swelling on her face, which served to iron out her wrinkles rather nicely, Boz thought, the sparkle in her eyes was still alive and well. At the moment those eyes were resting on Puffer, parked in the wheelchair beside her.
Puffer had a huge bandage over his broken nose, his left foot was in a fat bootie since he seemed to have broken three toes somehow, and he had a long cut on the side of his cheek that was smeared with some sort of orange disinfectant that made him look like he had been dipped in a bucket of axle grease.
He was proudly holding up a diamond ring in his free hand. The ring caught the light quite prettily, Boz thought, even though Puffer’s hand was shaking like he had malaria. Clearly the poor man was scared to death.
Dilly was blubbering softly at Boz’s side, caught up in the romance of the moment. And truth be told, Boz was a little choked up himself because Puffer was proposing marriage to the woman in the bed, albeit awkwardly and without a whole lot of enthusiasm. As if perhaps his common sense had only just then returned, but now it was too late to stop so he might as well get it the hell over with.
Estelle seemed as astonished as everyone else at the romantic turn Puffer had taken. “You mean you want to marry me?” she asked for the third time.
Puffer had paled a little more each time she asked the question. This time, looking positively anemic, he answered in a voice a bit this side of surly, “I guess so, dammit. Yeah.”
Estelle took a death grip on Puffer’s hand and yanked him out of his wheelchair and into her bed. Puffer’s bootie flew off, and he said, “Ow,” as he tumbled down next to her, boney arms and legs flying every which way. Estelle sorted the appendages out in quick order, neatly rearranging them like cordwood, before pulling Puffer into a lung-popping embrace.
When Puffer surfaced from his new fiancée’s embrace, he looked at Dilly and Boz. They were standing by the bed, shuffling their feet and trying to look happy for him.
Puffer shot them a devilish glare. “Oh, get over it,” he snapped with a good-natured grin. “Love isn’t just for the young, you know. If you guys can be mushy, so can we.”
Boz and Dilly blushed and contritely mumbled in unison, “We’re never mushy.” As if determined to prove themselves liars, they immediately sidled closer to each other. Dilly stuffed his hand in Boz’s pocket while Boz plopped his head on Dilly’s shoulder.
Puffer snorted back a sardonic laugh. Then his expression turned gently pensive as his young friends snuggled close, happily lost in their love for each other. After a moment, most of the humor and a good deal of the sentimentality slipped from his gaze. Narrowing his eyes, he nailed first Dilly, then Boz, with deadly accuracy. Rather like an assassin’s well-aimed bullet.
“By the way,” he growled, arching one eyebrow high even while Estelle nibbled daintily at his ear, “I thought I told you little shits not to burn down my cabin!”
More from John Inman
Kenny Long is living a new life. Blinded in an accident, he has taken control of his unexpected reality the best way he can, and it’s working out better than he hoped.
Of course Larry Boots doesn’t know any of that. All he sees is a beautiful man sitting on a park bench.
Larry has a few problems of his own: his mother. His job. The lack of romance in his life.
His job. In the course of that job, Larry strikes up a friendship with Kenny. The next thing he knows, he’s so head-over-heels in love, even his mother doesn’t seem so bad. Of course his career is still a problem, but he’s working on that. Hopefully he’ll have the problem resolved before the man he’s being paid to murder succeeds in murdering him first.
And before the man he loves finds out he’s a cold-blooded killer.
Joe Chase and Ned Bowden are damaged men. They each bear scars from surviving the world they were born in. Deep scars, both physical and emotional.
When fate offers its first kind act by bringing the two together, suddenly their scars don’t seem so bad, and their lives don’t feel so empty.
Yet that kindness comes at a price.
Just as Joe and Ned begin to experience true happiness for the very first time, the world turns on them again.
But this time it turns on everyone.
When Jamie Roma and Derek Lee find their blossoming love affair interrupted by dual invitations to a house party from a mysterious unnamed host, they think, Sounds like fun. The next thing they know they are caught up in a game of cat and mouse that quickly starts racking up a lot of dead mice. Yikes, they think. Not so fun.
Trapped inside a spooky old house in the middle of nowhere, with the body count rising among their fellow guests, they begin to wonder if they’ll escape with their lives. As a cataclysmic storm swoops in to batter the survivors, the horror mounts.
Oddly enough, even in the midst of murder and mayhem, Jamie and Derek’s love continues to thrive.
While the guest list thins, so does the list of suspects. Soon it’s only them and the killer.
And then the battle really begins.
Forty-six-year-old Eddie Hightower has a problem. He’s all alone. The only thing that saves him from facing that stark reality is the fact that he isn’t really alone at all. He has a house full of pets and a refuge full of stray unwanted animals he spends every waking hour trying to place in homes. While he loves what he does with all the joy in his heart, that same poor aging heart is still missing something. And Eddie knows exactly what it is. Romance.
But wait. Cue the music. Suddenly, beyond all hope, it happens. In the small desert town of Spangle, California, where Eddie lives, comes a sad young stranger with piercing gray eyes. They are the palest, most stunningly beautiful eyes Eddie has ever seen. Poor Eddie Hightower is swallowed up in their silver depths and disappears without a gurgle. The stranger’s name is Gray Grissom. Gray, like his eyes. Without hesitation Eddie opens his doors—and his heart—to the lost young man. After all, that’s what Eddie does. He finds homes for strays. But this is one stray Eddie intends to keep for himself.
The world of writers, readers, and reviewers is a close-knit family of friends, fans, and fiction fanatics. That’s the world Milo Cook and Logan Hunter reside in—thriving on the give and take of creativity, the sharing of stories and ideas, and forever glorying in their boundless love of books and the words that make them breathe.
But sometimes words can cut too deep. And when they do, there is inevitably a price to pay.
What begins for Milo and Logan as a time of new love and gentle romantic discoveries, becomes before it’s over a race for their lives and for the lives of everyone they know.
Who would ever suspect that an entity as beautiful as the written word could become a catalyst for revenge? And ultimately—murder?
Readers love John Inman
Larry Boots, Exterminator
“Those looking for a satisfying love story with both an erotic component and an adrenaline rush won’t be disappointed.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Larry Boots, Exterminator was a thoroughly enjoyable read that I’d have no hesitation in recommending.”
—Divine Magazine
A Party to Murder
“This is a fun and interesting thrill ride of a romantic suspense.”
—Joyfully Jay
“John Inman knew what he was doing when he wrote this book. Definitely a recommended read if you like a good mystery.”
—Gay Book Reviews
Strays and Lovers
“Readers who enjoy intensely emotional, hurt/comfort style of stories sho
uld really enjoy this story and find it as satisfying as I did.”
—Long and Short Reviews
“…it’s a heartwarming romance that also makes you want to go out and adopt an animal!”
—Jessie G Books
JOHN INMAN is a Lambda Literary Award finalist and the author of over thirty novels, everything from outrageous comedies to tales of ghosts and monsters and heart stopping romances. He has been writing fiction since he was old enough to hold a pencil. He and his partner live in beautiful San Diego, California and together, they share a passion for theater, books, hiking, and biking along the trails and canyons of San Diego or, if the mood strikes, simply kicking back with a beer and a movie.
John’s advice for anyone who wishes to be a writer? “Set time aside to write every day and do it. Don’t be afraid to share what you’ve written. Feedback is important. When a rejection slip comes in, just tear it up and try again. Keep mailing stuff out. Keep writing and rewriting and then rewrite one more time. Every minute of the struggle is worth it in the end, so don’t give up. Ever. Remember that publishers are a lot like lovers. Sometimes you have to look a long time to find the one that’s right for you.”
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/john.inman.79
Website: www.johninmanauthor.com
By John Inman
Acting Up
Chasing the Swallows
Dilly and Boz
A Hard Winter Rain
Head-on
The Hike
Hobbled
Jasper’s Mountain
Larry Boots, Exterminator
Laugh Cry Repeat
Love Wanted
Loving Hector
My Busboy
My Dragon, My Knight
Nightfall
A Party to Murder
Paulie
Payback
The Poodle Apocalypse
Scrudge & Barley, Inc.
Shy
Spirit
Strays and Lovers
Sunset Lake
Two Pet Dicks
Words
THE BELLADONNA ARMS
Serenading Stanley
Work in Progress
Coming Back
Ben and Shiloh
Ginger Snaps
Published by DSP Publications
7&7: An Anthology of Virtue and Vice
The Boys on the Mountain
The Second Son
Willow Man
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.
Dilly and Boz
© 2019 John Inman
Cover Art
© 2019 Aaron Anderson
[email protected]
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 be 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.
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64405-617-2
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-616-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019944299
Digital published November 2019
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America