Scent
of Attraction
By Pender Mackie
BLURB
When Shawn takes a job at a cologne counter
in a busy department store he hopes it’s the beginning of a successful career
in the health and beauty industry.
But almost two years later Shawn is
frustrated with his job and his love life. He’s still working the cologne
counter, still single and still spending every night alone.
His job allows him to meet plenty of
good-looking men but most of them are straight, and even when they aren't,
Shawn is shy. He gets nervous and tongue-tied when he’s around a hot guy and
the thought of going on a date with a complete stranger makes his stomach churn
nervously.
When he meets friendly and outgoing Graham
the attraction on both sides is intense and immediate.
Shawn might be willing to step out of his
comfort zone this time, but there’s just one problem. Graham's already with
someone else.
Is their relationship over before they even
share a kiss?
EXCERPT
Shawn groaned quietly. Another day dealing
with good-looking straight boys. He really wasn’t in the mood for them today.
He groaned again and resisted tugging on his short, carefully gelled hair.
Besides being an annoying reddish blond and ridiculously fine, if he touched it
too much the spiked bits would flop over, ruining the overall effect. Plus,
he'd look about twelve years old instead of the twenty-five he actually was.
He stood in the center of his workspace,
grimacing at the glass and chrome-trimmed counters that surrounded him. The
glare—combined with the insipid store music and the smell of too many competing
colognes—was starting to give him a headache. His shift had barely started and
it was the middle of the January sales so the store would be full of shoppers
looking for things they wanted, but didn’t get for Christmas.
It was Shawn's least favorite time of year.
He didn't much like winter and he didn't like the frenzied shoppers and their
mindless consumerism. And he hated how the stores—including this one—pushed to
sell more of everything from perfume to kitchen gadgets, as if people hadn't bought
enough unnecessary junk at Christmas.
Shawn's bad mood wasn't really about gray
skies or bargain-hunters, though. He knew the real reason. He'd been working at
this stupid cologne counter for almost two years and still no promotion.
When he'd finished university and taken
this job in a brand new city, Shawn had known he'd be pushing fragrances and
skin products, but that was okay. He'd done his research. This company was one
of the best in the industry and he knew they liked to promote from within, liked
their executives to have ground-floor experience. It was even rumored that a
couple of the VPs had started out on the fragrance or cosmetics counter, and
Shawn was willing to pay his dues. He just hadn't expected it would take so
long to get his first promotion, and his lack of progress was making him moody
and frustrated.
But there were some good things about this
job. He got to see a lot of nice looking guys—though most of them were
straight. He didn't have to spend much time with Mandy; the annoying saleswoman
working the cosmetics counter, and his coworker, Stefan, was great.
He'd met Stefan when he began this job and
they'd become almost instant friends. Stefan was a few years older and in a
long-term relationship, but he'd made an effort to befriend Shawn and show him
around the city. His partner, Anthony, had been just as outgoing, and now Shawn
had a couple of good friends so his social life was doing all right even if his
career and love life sucked.
Stefan's shift would start soon, and Shawn
knew he'd be here any minute—his coworker was obsessively punctual. As Shawn
glanced at his watch, Stefan glided towards their counter in his usual snazzy
business attire and, for some unknown reason, a ridiculous-looking, puffy
down-filled coat. The coat was open and his hands were stuffed in the pockets.
Stefan was wearing his best bland expression. That meant he was up to
something.
"Morning, Shawn. Ready for another
fun-filled day of adventure?"
Shawn shrugged, feigning indifference as he
leaned against the counter.
"You could be a little more
enthusiastic since I'm about to make all your dreams come true. Guess what I've
got in my pocket?"
"Unless it's a dehydrated, instant
boyfriend and a bottle of water, I don't want to know."
"Ha ha. Funny," Stefan huffed. He
looked around carefully. “Where's Mandy?"
"Probably fixing her face."
"If she wears any more makeup she's
going to need a heat gun to peel it all off. Here, I smuggled us in some
coffee." Stefan carefully drew two takeout cups from his pockets.
Shawn brightened and pushed off from the
counter. "Thanks." He accepted the coffee gratefully, taking greedy
sips before stashing the cup behind the cash register sitting on the island in
the middle of their station. Caffeine was almost as good as aspirin. He could
actually feel the headache receding.
"Maybe you aren't making all my dreams
come true but you're definitely at the top of my list of favorite people
today."
"Aren't I always?" Stefan asked,
grinning. He sipped his own coffee more sedately. "I like your dehydrated
boyfriend idea. You could order him from the back of a comic book, like those
sea monkeys."
"Yeah. You could skip the 'I like him,
does he like me?' phase and the awkward first date stuff," Shawn joked. He
was getting into this now. "Just add water and ta-da! Instant boyfriend.
Plus, if he did something to annoy you, you could leave him on top of the
radiator to dry out and shrivel up again," Shawn suggested, laughing.
"Please! Don't use the words 'shrivel'
and 'boyfriend' together." Stefan shuddered theatrically as Shawn
snickered.
* * *
*
"Lord have mercy," Stefan
muttered.
Shawn looked up, his knees stiff from
prolonged kneeling. Stefan was gazing across the department store floor.
"What?" He turned awkwardly and
sat on his haunches. Damn. His foot was asleep.
"Hot man at ten o'clock. To your
left." Stefan spoke from the corner of his mouth as if he was in a prison
yard relaying a message—jailbreak tonight, pass it on.
Shawn thought maybe Stefan had seen too
many movies. It took him a few seconds to figure out where to look and when he
did, he couldn't see beyond the counter from his position.
"He's coming over. Get up here!"
"Why?"
"He's hot and who knows? Maybe he's
single."
"And gay?" Shawn asked only
half-sarcastically.
"Maybe. Just get up here!" Stefan
strode towards him and reached out to grab his arm. They both froze as the man
reached their counter. Shawn looked at him, curious to see what all the fuss
was about.
The man wasn't particularly tall but he did
have a nicely muscled frame, light olive skin, and dark wavy hair pushed back
from his forehead. The whole package was presented in a dark business suit and
a crisp white shirt. Shawn's pulse picked up. He loved the sight of a
good-looking guy in a smart suit, and this one was gorgeous.
Scent of Attraction
Pender Mackie: http://pendermackie.blogspot.com/
Silver Publishing
Contemporary M/M Romance
Purchase Link: Scent of Attraction
Thanks. I love visiting this blog. So many lovely pictures. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Pender. It was really great to have you here today.
ReplyDelete