Of course, these were his most devoted fans. Those who had seen the news articles and blogs about him andhad still given up their evening to come to the small town of Mission Grove to see him. Not everyone would feel the way they did. Not everyone would be so welcoming, supportive, or even tolerant.
For the moment, this was enough. It was more than he had dared to hope for, and he wasn’t going to waste a second of it worrying about what the future would bring.
“Linda Picklesimer,” he said into the microphone, sweeping his free hand toward her. “Let’s give her a hand for all of her hard work in planning such a spectacular evening.” When the cheers and applause died away, he brought Cameron’s hand to his lips and kissed his fingers. “And my amazing boyfriend, Cameron Stone, without whom this evening wouldn’t have been possible.”
The noise level was deafening. Asher was pretty sure people down at the Boardwalk could hear them.
Once they finally got everyone calmed down again, the Q & A portion of the evening went better than he’d anticipated. No one brought up Mitchell Faraday. No one asked him about Landon Dwyer or Kyle Anders. Not a single person mentioned anything from that bleak time in his life.
The questions they did ask, however, were ones he’d heard plenty of times before. Where did he get his inspiration? What was his process? How had he come up with the character of Marshall Kane? What new adventures did he have in store for the detective?
The most popular inquiry—asked by no less than seventeen people—was inevitably the one he couldn’t answer. When could they expect a new book in the series? He wished he could have given them more than a vague “soon,” but it was better than explaining the uncertain future of the series.
As promised, Becca had called the previous week, so excited he swore he had felt her vibrating through the connection. Atrea Press had indeed been unwilling to accept the manuscript as it was, resulting in the termination of his contract. Becca had explained that meant he was also free from any further obligations to the publisher. Submitting anything to them in the future, be it another Marshall Kane Mystery or something else entirely, was completely at his discretion.
He would, of course, have to pay back the advance he’d been given, but otherwise, he was free and clear to do whatever he wanted with the manuscript. Since receiving the news, he’d been working almost nonstop, typing late into the night as he purged himself of the story he never thought he’d get to tell. His excitement for the series, for its eclectic cast of characters, burned like wildfire, making him question if he truly wanted to end the series with this latest book.
Either way, there was still a lot of work to be done beforeUninvitedwould be ready for public consumption. In his mind, he had a tentative deadline set for the spring,but until he found an editor, he couldn’t promise his readers anything. Plus, there was the matter of explaining why the book wouldn’t be released with Atrea Press. That was probably something he should talk to Talon about, but for the time being, he figured it was probably best to keep quiet on the topic.
“Umm, yes.” He pointed to an older gentleman with graying hair and a crooked nose. “You have a question?”
Rising stiffly from his chair, the man smoothed the front of his hunter-green sweater vest and gave Asher a kind smile. “Mr. Dare, in your series, Detective Kane is often found in the company of women.” His age-marked cheeks flushed, and he sounded apologetic as he continued. “As a self-professed gay man, do you find it difficult to write those scenes?”
Sex. He was asking about sex.
Well, Asher gave him points for originality. It certainly wasn’t a question he’d ever been asked before, but he reasoned it was one that would likely come up more in the future.
“Difficult? No, not really, but porn helps a lot with that.”
“Oh, my god,” Cameron groaned, his face flaming scarlet as the crowd laughed. “My parents are here!”
This only made everyone in the audience laugh harder. Which, in turn, had Cameron’s face turning about nine different shades of red.
Trying to swallow down his own laughter, Asher looked out into the crowd, immediately spotting Sarah and Mark Stone in the front row on the left side of the stage. He winked at them, then lost the battle of remaining composed when Sarah blew him a kiss.
The woman was unlike any parental figure he’d ever met, and he fucking adored her.
“No, no,” he said through his laughter, “I’m kidding. Sort of.”
He’d known from a pretty early age that he preferred boys to girls, but that wasn’t to say that he didn’t find women attractive. He just didn’t need to see them naked to appreciate their beauty. As such, he’d never taken a woman to his bed. It wasn’t something he prided himself in, nor did he consider it a badge of honor like some gay men he knew, Luke being the prime example. He’d just been lucky enough to know exactly what—and who—he wanted.
“I’m not sure if you knew this,” he continued, “but I’m not a detective, either. I’ve written about doctors, scientists, strippers, and drug dealers. I’ve never been any of those things.” He was a little surprised to find so many smiling faces nodding along as he spoke, but it bolstered him. “I like men. I like one man a little more than others.” He chuckled when Cameron groaned again. “I don’t think that disqualifies me from writing straight relationships in my books, though.”
And he left it at that. Oh, he had a lot more to say on the subject, enough to fill another twenty minutes at least, but he didn’t feel the need to justify himself, not this time.
Deciding that was probably a good place to wrap things up, he thanked his readers again, then turned the microphone back over to Linda. He’d thought there was no one else in the world more organized than Cameron, but Linda Picklesimer could definitely give him a run for his money. Within minutes, she had him seated at a long table surrounded by copies of his own books and a line of people snaking through the library.
By the hour mark, his right hand cramped, and he didn’t think he’d ever be able to fully straighten the fingers again. He also couldn’t remember ever talking so much in his life. Some readers simply responded with their name when asked. Others wanted to discuss every scene of every book he’d ever written. He did his best to oblige them while keeping the line moving, but his throat was starting to feel raw from overuse.
“You’re doing great,” Cameron whispered in his ear a while later. Soft lips brushed against his temple, and a plastic, lidded cup bearing the logo from the Witch’s Brew was pressed into his unoccupied hand. “Just a little bit longer. Hang in there.”
He pulled away, clearly intending to go back to whatever task he’d been overseeing, but Asher wasn’t readyto let him go. Grabbing his wrist, he pulled Cameron back to his side and arched up for a chaste, yet proper, kiss.
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
The group of women queueing on the other side of the table giggled, causing Cameron to blush right to the tips of his ears.
“You two are so adorable,” the one closest to the front said while her friends nodded their agreement.
