Rainbow Blues

Readers love
Pen Name - Doctor Chicken

by
KC B
URN

“It’s a pleasant read and… I did love Stratford and Vinnie and the tentative way they go about their relationship. If you’ve liked KC Burn’s other books, you’ll no doubt like this one as well.”

—The Blogger Girls

“I enjoyed the interaction between these two males and the fact that they were both tentative in their approach to dating yet willing to step outside of their comfort zone once they found someone worth fighting for.”

—Night Owl Erotica

“I highly recommend this book. Of course there is a happy ending, but the trip getting there was an amazingly entertaining one. This is one you won’t want to miss.”

—The Novel Approach

“It was a sweet and funny story, there are some scenes that actually had me laughing out loud. The book was easy and cute, I read it straight through and was sad when it ended.”

—Hearts on Fire

“Enjoyable character driven romance with a couple of nice guys finding their true love.”

—The Romance Reviews

“I needed a good sweet contemporary romance with plenty of laughs and this hit the spot. No huge drama here… but plenty of humor, dating disasters… a hot Italian, and an underpaid artist trying to protect his heart.”

—MM Good Book Reviews

By
KC B
URN

Grand Adventures (DSP Anthology)

Pen Name - Doctor Chicken

Rainbow Blues

T
ORONTO
T
ALES

Cop Out

Cover Up

Cast Off

Published by
D
REAMSPINNER
P
RESS

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Published by

Dreamspinner Press

5032 Capital Circle SW
Suite 2, PMB# 279
Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886

USA

http://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.

Rainbow Blues

© 2014 KC Burn.

Cover Art

© 2014 Catt Ford.

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 http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/.

ISBN: 978-1-63216-009-6

Digital ISBN: 978-1-63216-010-2

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition

June 2014

Thanks as always to my support/editing/brainstorming crew: Alex, Dottie, Chudney, and the book club girls (who put up with my moaning about writer’s block). Special thanks go out to Andrea M from my newsletter group, who helped me come up with Luke’s name.

L
UKE
J
ORDAN
opened the door to his apartment and walked in, slinging his keys on the counter. The door slammed shut behind him, echoing in the empty silence. He hung up his heavy winter jacket and ditched his work boots in the rubber tray by the entrance.

As he did 
every
 day, he stripped off his dirty, sweaty clothes and popped them in the washing machine. His apartment might be small and shoddy and located in an area of questionable safety, but it had a washer and dryer that he loved. His affection for his washing machine and the way it allowed him to avoid the Laundromat possibly bordered on unnatural, but then again, his social life was sorely lacking, aside from weekly visits from his son. His relationship with his washer and dryer was an unholy trinity that might be the best relationship he’d had since his divorce.

A quick peek into the machine told him he could wait another day or two before it was full enough to run. Naked, he strode into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

With a groan, he stepped under the steaming spray and stood there for a few minutes, letting the heat and the pattering of the water ease the muscles bunched and knotted under his skin. Every day, it seemed, the weight on his shoulders got heavier, and he didn’t know if the tension would ever go away.

He slicked soap over his skin by rote. His soapy hands slid down to his groin, but after a few halfhearted tugs, he sighed. He was only forty-three. Life shouldn’t make him so weary he couldn’t even be bothered to masturbate. Should it?

Without any other detours, he cleaned up quick, got out of the shower, and walked the short distance to his bedroom. The drawer on his dresser stuck, and he rattled the handle to get it to slide free. The thing was a piece of shit, bought on clearance from Walmart… or Target…. Sears? He didn’t recall. Furnishing his apartment after the divorce had been a necessity, but not a memorable one. He should have spent more. It wouldn’t have put too big a dent in his bank account, but at the time he hadn’t seen the point. And now, it seemed a waste to replace his almost serviceable furniture for something better. No amount of fancy furniture would turn his apartment into anything other than a squat concrete bunker. No decor could disguise the bleakness of his life.

He pulled on a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a T-shirt before slouching back into the kitchen. He opened the freezer door and eyed his selection of cardboard boxes masquerading as meals. Once upon a time he’d cooked regularly for his tiny family of three. But the effort of cooking was too much for just himself.

After selecting Salisbury steak—again—he slung it in the microwave and grabbed a beer from the fridge. One a day was all he allowed himself. At least while he was alone. Bleak was one thing. Drinking himself into a weeknight stupor was a whole different story.

A few minutes later, his “gourmet” dinner was ready, and he placed it on the coffee table in front of the couch. With a practiced hand, he flipped on the television.
NCIS
reruns first, then at eight there were other things on. Nothing new, unfortunately. This close to Christmas, everything was on hiatus.

He didn’t even have to check the guide to know when to change to which channel. Was this what he had to look forward to for the next forty years, or however long he had left? Appetite gone, he shoved his half-eaten meal away and laid his head back on the couch. Was this all there was for him? Could he put up with this… monotony for the tiny weekly bright spot of Zach’s visits?

The divorce had seemed like such a good idea. He and Kelly had been growing apart for years. Hell, they probably should never have gotten married in the first place, but with Zach on the way, and both he and Kelly still teenagers, it seemed the thing to do. He and Kelly were still friendly, but she’d been the social one of the pair of them. Once they’d split, Luke discovered most of their friends were her friends, but since their separation had been completely amicable, he hadn’t noticed the loss. Not until Kelly married and got pregnant in short order. Her new husband had been a widower with two kids under ten, and Kelly’s whole life changed. Suddenly, Luke’s entire social network, however peripheral he’d been in it, was gone. And he didn’t know how to build a new one.

Luke’s entire social interaction was watching various crime solving teams on TV do their stuff. Kelly and Zach knew why Luke had divorced Kelly, but he hadn’t told anyone at work the real reason. He didn’t dare. None of those guys were his friends. They respected him as their boss, but if they knew the truth, he wouldn’t even have their respect. So Luke never accepted any invitations to bars or parties or dinners, not even when he’d been married. After all, he’d been grappling with the truth for so long, and he was afraid if he got too close to anyone, they’d figure it out. The truth would likely be career suicide.

And what did he have to show for his carefully kept secret? A miserable lonely apartment and a miserable lonely life. He was too young for this, but he was too set in his ways to change now.

Not even the sexy DiNozzo’s antics were engaging enough—
the fourth time I’ve seen this episode
—to distract him. It wasn’t even eight, but maybe he’d go to bed.

His breath gusted out in a heavy sigh. He didn’t even the energy to hoist himself to his feet.

The phone rang—the landline. Luke glanced over in surprise. He’d only bothered getting a landline because it was the only way the front door buzzer would work, but once he gave his son a key, he hadn’t used it. In fact, the phone had a thin layer of dust on it.

“Hello?”

“Uh, hi, LJ?” Despite the hesitation, Luke had no difficulty placing the voice. Only one person called him LJ. “It’s me, Ryan? Zach’s friend?”

Panic stole his breath. Why was Ryan here? Had something happened to his son?

“What’s wrong, Ryan?”

Luke took the handheld receiver to the closet and had one arm in his jacket before Ryan spoke again.

“Nothing, just Zach wanted me to meet him here, and he’s not here yet. Can you buzz me up? It’s cold out here.”

Luke paused, letting his parental concern ease away while he took a few breaths. “Uh, sure thing.” He barely remembered which key to press to activate the front door release, but he waited until he heard the familiar squeak of the hinges before he hung up.