Cradling his Heart by Charlie Richards

A bored man walks into a bar and strikes up a conversation with a stranger only to discover an attraction to an unlikely person.

Keith Ryzor had intended to meet Madeline for their third date, but at the last second, she cancels. Already at the restaurant, he decides to head in and eat at the bar. He spots a man alone with a beer and a plate of hot wings. Noticing the bit of hot sauce reddening the black man’s closely-cropped goatee, Keith sits down next to him and tells him about it. While he knows it’s not the most standard way to strike up a conversation, the guy doesn’t seem to mind. Keith finds himself sharing a surprisingly enjoyable meal with a man named Oliver Kostroma. Even though Keith normally dates women, he’s been with men, too, so he decides to ask him out. To his disappointment, Oliver turns him down.

Over the next week, Keith can’t get the sexy electrician out of his mind. When Keith spots Oliver again in an unlikely place—at a barbeque of a co-worker’s friend’s house—he takes it as a sign. It’s his second chance. Being a smart man, Keith learns from his mistakes. He doesn’t ask Oliver out. Instead, he goes the friends route, which quickly adds in benefits. Knowing he’s falling fast for Oliver, Keith enlists the aid of friends. Even as Keith works hard to win not only Oliver’s trust, but his heart, there are also those working against him. Can Keith prove to the skittish man that he’s worth the risk?