Excerpt: Sonoran Heat by Katrina Strauss

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Sonoran Heat by Katrina Strauss
Release Date: September 5, 2010
Publisher: Amber Allure
Publisher Link: http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/SonoranHeat.html
Amazon: Sonoran Heat

Blurb:

Newly single, Tony finds a fresh start with 21-year-old Josh, but worries chasing a man half his age will lead to heartache. It’s hard to resist when Josh intrigues Tony on an intellectual level -- and fires the landscaper's libido hotter than the Arizona desert they call home.

Digital art student by day, Josh waits tables at night, but his true dream is to paint. When he falls for Tony, he starts to rethink his goals and how the sexy older man might fit into them. But Tony’s recovering from a failed relationship, one that lasted nearly as long as Josh has been alive, and Josh must prove that in spite of age and inexperience, his feelings are sincere.

As the desert nights heat up, Tony and Josh explore possibilities both in and out of the bedroom, but when each man faces a difficult choice, they must decide on the future. Whether that future is together, or separate, is a matter of reason versus the heart.

Excerpt:

As they stepped out onto the deck together, Josh froze. Tony smiled, having achieved the desired reaction.

“Wow,” Josh murmured. “Great view.” He set the wine and glasses on the patio table, then crossed the deck. He peered over the railing at the terraced earth. “I wish I had a yard. At my apartments, we get a patch of ground with a bush, and that’s it. You do your own landscaping?”

Tony set the dishes by the place settings he’d laid out earlier. “I practiced on my own yard first,” he said with a touch of pride. When he and Richard had discovered the little stucco house on the side of the hill, the backyard had been a nondescript plot of dirt littered with weeds and prickly pear. With his bare hands, Tony had worked a miracle, and discovered a career in the process.

“You’re good.” Josh looked out past Tony’s yard. “That’s a lot of saguaro,” he said, commenting on the stately, multi-armed cactuses that dotted the expanse toward the mountains in the distance. “It’s almost like we’re out of the city. You have a hidden oasis back here.”

“We bought this lot when Deer Valley was on the edge of town, before Loop 101 cut through here,” Tony said.

“We?” His tone level, Josh fixed his gaze back on Tony.

“My ex,” Tony said simply. He filled both glasses with wine as he gestured toward the nearby foothills. “If it wasn’t for the Native petroglyphs over there, developers would have razed this entire area by now.”

“Lucky for you and your neighbors.” Josh didn’t press for any details behind the “we” slip, and Tony appreciated it.

They took their seats. Josh tore into the spaghetti. He dabbed his mouth with a napkin and spoke between bites. “This is great!”

“Old World recipe,” Tony joked. “My grandmother brought over her can opener on the boat.”

“Seriously. You’re a good cook.”

Tony chuckled. “I know at least a few people who would disagree with your assessment.”

“Well, they’re wrong.” Josh twirled a forkful of pasta and slurped it down, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed.

Tony dug into his own meal. He watched Josh from the corner of his eye; he liked watching other men eat, particularly when they went at it with hearty gusto. There was something primal about it, and it appealed to Tony’s baser instincts, the ones he was holding at bay right now. Twenty years ago, he would have already whisked Josh off to the bedroom with dinner as an afterthought.

They made small talk in between bites of food and sips of wine. “Why community college?” Tony asked.

Josh studied his wine and swirled it in the glass. “Cost. Flexibility. I’ll finish classes in May and get my Associate’s. From there, I can start work in digital design and save up for my Bachelor’s at ASU. I’m in the running for a scholarship, but it’s not enough.”

“What about student loans?”

“I’d rather not go into debt.”

Ah. So Josh had grander goals for his art career; Paradise Valley was just a stepping stone. Tony talked some about himself, too, revealing his Missouri roots. “When my father was transferred out here, I had this image of a barren wasteland, like the Sahara. I was surprised at how lush and fertile the Sonoran is. I decided I liked it.”

“Funny,” Josh said. “When I was a kid, I wanted to move somewhere with trees. My first pictures were of forests with waterfalls. That’s all I drew in grade school! Now I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

“What changed your mind?” Tony asked.

“My mother finally asked me why I only used my blue and green crayons. She told me she’d read in a book that saguaro are the pines of the Sonoran. I started looking at the desert in a different light and decided to draw what I saw. The more I drew, the more I came to appreciate what was right here at home. I joke there’s nothing to draw in the desert, but then some moment presents itself, like that sunrise we caught together at the diner. Or that over there.”

Josh looked out across the vista. Tony followed his gaze. The sun had dropped behind the mountains, silhouetting them against a purple velvet backdrop streaked with ribbons of red. As the colors deepened, Tony poured himself and his guest a second glass of wine. In silence, they watched the bright star of Venus blink to life, while the crescent moon turned a fiery shade of orange.

“We’ve shared one sunrise and one sunset,” Josh said. “What’s next?”

“Meteor shower?” Tony joked.

Josh’s laughter chimed in the cool evening air. He sobered and looked at Tony, point-blank, his face shadowed alluringly in the soft twilight glow. “I meant, what’s next now that dinner’s over?”

Tony shifted in his seat; what was next indeed? “How late can you stay?”

“A while.” Josh shrugged, but his gaze grew more intent. He downed his last sip of wine and set his glass beside his empty plate.

Tony wondered if the wine had bolstered the boy’s bravado. He finished his own, letting the final sip linger on his tongue. As bad as he wanted to get in Josh’s pants, he didn’t want it courtesy of an alcohol buzz.

He scooted his chair back and rose. He held out his hand. “Let’s go inside.”

Josh’s fingers wrapped warmly around Tony’s palm. The current that had been growing between them thrummed stronger. Josh stood, and their bodies drew close, just shy of contact.

Tony’s lips hovered over the other man’s mouth. The promise of a kiss was enough to send pleasant tremors down his spine. He pulled back an inch, realizing he wanted to savor the buildup a little longer.

“What’s stopping you?” Josh murmured, his breath sweet with the scent of the vine.

“You’re the first since…”

“Your ex?”

Tony nodded.

“It’s okay,” Josh said, squeezing his hand. “I have all night.”

“Me, too.” Tony turned and led Josh inside. The dishes could wait.