Ingenue's Choice

Zara's Bois 2

Ingenue's Choice

An admirer of fine art but without artistic ability himself, Patryk Andrews works by day in a high finance position that his well-to-do father had more than a little hand in getting him. Gay and liberal, Patryk knows he's a big disappointment to his parents, but thrives in a job that leaves him more spiritually and emotionally empty than his last abusive and dysfunctional relationship.

A gifted painter from an affectionate, supportive clan of parents and three younger brothers whom he predictably ruled, Keir Monroe is an artist who has lost his way after the death of his lover three years previous. A chance encounter with Patryk sparks Keir's creative spirit, however, and more than a little lust.

But what starts off as a whirlwind physical obsession soon turns into more than either Keir or Patryk ever bargained for when both are faced with demons from their pasts...

Sensuality Rating:
SCORCHING

Genre:
Alternative Romance (M/M): paranormal / angels / ghost / interracial

INGENUE’S CHOICE

Zara’s Bois 2

Gracie C. McKeever

EROTIC ROMANCE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

ABOUT THIS E-BOOK:
Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to
one
LEGAL
copy for your own personal use. It is
ILLEGAL
to send your copy to someone who did not pay for it. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book.

INGENUE’S CHOICE

Copyright © 2007 by Gracie C. McKeever

ISBN: 1-933563-92-3

First E-book Publication: January 2008

Cover design by Jinger Heaston

All cover art and logo copyright © 2008 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

INGENUE’S CHOICE

Zara’s Bois 2

GRACIE C. MCKEEVER

Copyright © 2008

“He has an assignment for you, child. Time to get up and begin your redemption.”

Finally!

After weeks of waiting in limbo, fretting over what He had planned for her, Zara was just about at the end of her rope and welcomed the soothing, soft voice of her guardian angel Jamaereh like a Starbuck’s blended iced coffee during a dog day in August.

She couldn’t blame Him for putting her through a little hell after what she had done to her brother, taking body snatching and possession to new heights.

They took that sort of transgression seriously up here, the offense falling just below murder and just above adultery.

Zara had to admit she had been an A-class, selfish bitch to Zack when all he’d wanted and tried to do during her life and reincarnation was help her.

She yawned and stretched now, flung first one leg then the other over the edge of her bed to place her feet flat on the cotton-soft floor of clouds before standing.

She used to think walking in a pair of Jimmy Choos or Manolo Blahniks was like walking on clouds, but neither had anything on
this.

6

Gracie C. McKeever

“Come, young one, we have much to do.” Micah impatiently clapped his hands, prompting her to move faster. He was such a curmudgeon.

“I heard that.”

“I know.” She grinned as she made her way over to where her guardian angels were—Jamaereh standing and Micah pacing.

“I do not understand you humans. You should be eager and grateful that He has seen fit to give you a second chance,” Micah said.

“I
am
grateful!”

“You certainly do not act grateful. Do you know He could have punished you far more severely than sending you back on a…a…Oh, this is a complete travesty. I cannot even say it!” Micah threw up his hands and paced.

Jamaereh put a hand on Zara’s shoulder and pulled her close. “Do not pay him any heed. As you by now know, Micah can be a bit of a drama queen.”

“I know the type.” Zara chuckled. Some of her best friends were drama queens, not to mention drag queens, fairies, and twinkies. “So what is it that He wants me to do that’s so distasteful to Micah?”

“Something similar to what your assignment was your last time on Earth, only minus the hijacking and kidnapping.”

Zara bowed her head at Jamaereh’s mild rebuke, and the angel squeezed her shoulder.

“Do not fret, child. He understands human frailty, and this is why he is giving you a chance to redeem yourself.”

“I
do
appreciate His mercy.” Zara walked with Jamaereh as Micah fell into step behind them, grumbling.

“I do not see why you coddle the human so, Jamaereh.”

“Would you rather I turned her over my knee and spanked her?”

“It would be a start.”

“He has deemed that she has been punished enough.”

“Whatever.”

Zara choked back a laugh at the angels’ exchange, the epitome of two parents discussing the best discipline for a wayward child. Micah’s last rebuttal
Ingenue’s Choice

7

was so thoroughly pop culture and beneath the angel that hearing him say it momentarily eased her anxiety about this new “assignment.” “So, what is it you guys need me to do? I’m ready to work.”

“Don’t think for one minute that you are going down there to party or otherwise have a good time,” Micah said.

“I know I’m not.” Like he would ever let her forget why she still existed.

“Give it a rest, Micah.” Jamaereh paused in front of a big screen TV, waved his hand before it and the screen flickered to life.

Zara glanced at the split screen—one side showing an attractive African American man with becoming and elaborately designed cornrows the other side featuring a white guy with dark blond hair stylishly and expensively trimmed—

and said, “Hubba, hubba.”

“Zara…”

“What? I’m just making an observation. They’re hot.” She rubbed her hands together as she read the vital statistics scrolling beneath each subject’s picture, feeling like a character from
Mission Impossible.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it…

“Get your brains out of your loins and take this seriously,” Micah said.

“I am!”

“Lest you forget, it is your frivolous and libidinous attitude that put you in His bad graces in the first place.”

“That’s not fair!” It hadn’t just been her libido or frivolity driving her. It had been her heart and love for Quincy Powers. And if she wanted to get really technical, if His Highness hadn’t seen fit to send her falling down an elevator shaft headfirst to her death, she would never have had to make the choice between her brother and Quincy in the first place.

Zara turned her gaze back to the screen and tried to get her mind on something less depressing than her untimely death.

Both men were attractive, especially the brother, and both were the sort of guys she would have been fatally attracted to in her former life before finally accepting them as another pair of gay friends to add to a growing collection.

Sometimes, she felt like a gay-man magnet.

8

Gracie C. McKeever

Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and Zara pointed at the screen as she turned to face Micah and Jamaereh. “Don’t tell me you want me to get these two together.”

Jamaereh nodded, and Micah said, “That is what
He
wants.”

“But they’re total opposites!” Even she could see that. One was plainly I-like-working-with-my-hands, blue-collar, and the other was I-don’t-like-getting-my-fingernails-dirty, upper crust. Couldn’t he give her something
easier
for her first time out?

“If it was easy then it would not be redemption,” Micah said.

“So, basically, I’m playing matchmaker.” Coming from a long line of matchmakers, the job should have been right up her alley. Not that
she
had benefited from any of her mother’s or aunts’ matchmaking shenanigans. But then she and those ladies had entirely different ideas on what constituted a good mate for Zara.

Micah arched a brow and put a fist on his hip. “Do you have a problem with this assignment, human?”

What a touchy angel.
“Not a one.”

“There had better not be.”

Sheesh, could trying to get her two new charges together be any harder or worse than putting up with Micah the Angel?

Ingenue’s Choice

9

“Do you have a problem with ghosts?”

“I’m sorry, did you just…” Keir Monroe frowned, knew he couldn’t have heard the club owner correctly. “You did ask me if I have a problem with ghosts, right?”

Quincy Powers chuckled. “Before you start wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into, it’s just a standard question I ask all prospective employees. And truthfully, it’s something I should have asked you during your initial interview instead of bringing it up at your callback. But things were so crazy a few weeks ago, it slipped my mind.”

Keir wondered why the man needed to bring it up at all, but hell, he’d play along. “I’ve never had a problem with ghosts.” Of course, he’d never actually come across one either.

“Good for you.” Quincy stood, came out from behind his large mahogany desk and extended a hand. “And congratulations.”

Keir took Quincy’s hand and shook it. “I’ve got the job?”

“You’re the best candidate I’ve interviewed. And despite our staff shortage behind the bar, trust me, we didn’t take any shorts on the process.”

Keir could attest to that fact after the first interview, as painstaking a procedure as he had ever endured, despite the ghost question omission.

Zara’s
was one of the hottest, trendiest clubs around and the bartender position at the night spot
was so sought-after, he hadn’t held out much hope of getting it until the callback earlier this week for today’s interview.

Curiosity piqued, he asked, “Why the question about ghosts?”

10

Gracie C. McKeever

Quincy led him to the door as he responded. “You probably heard how the creative brains behind the club died?”

Keir vaguely remembered hearing something about a tragic accident at this location before the ground was even broken to begin renovations. “I think I heard about someone taking a fall down an elevator shaft.”

“Her name was Zara Benjamin.”

“She’s who the nightclub is named after?”

Quincy nodded. “And she was a very good friend.”

Keir had heard rumors here and there, especially since he’d interviewed, but he had never been one to put too much credence into gossip. He liked to learn the lay of the land himself. “I’m sorry for your loss.”