“Seriously?”
“Hey, I’m a tourist. It’s my first time in New York City.”
“Okay. You can be a tourist today.” Maya wrapped her arm around Shannon’s waist and pulled her closer. “But get it out of your system, because we’re going to make a New Yorker out of you.”
Shannon smiled and kissed Maya’s cheek. “I don’t even know what that means.”
“It means, only one trip to the statue.”
“Until my daughter comes to visit.”
“Are you sure I can’t interest you in a tour of my apartment instead, specifically the bedroom?”
“Is it a private tour?”
“Very private.”
“I’m in.” Shannon strode to the curb and stuck her hand out to hail a passing cab. When one stopped, she jerked the door open and said, “Get in.”
Maya complied. And when Shannon slid in beside her, she murmured, “That was hot. I’ll make a city girl out of you, yet.”
“Just don’t think I’m forgetting about the statue, or the Empire State Building, or Times Square.”
“We’ll see it all. Don’t worry. We can do anything we want to.” For the first time in Maya’s life she truly understood what those words meant. She’d had the means to be free for years, and now she finally had a reason.
About the Author
Erin Dutton is the author of eight romance novels:
Sequestered Hearts
,
Fully Involved
,
A Place to Rest, Designed for Love
,
Point of Ignition
,
A Perfect Match
,
Reluctant Hope
, and
More Than Friends
. She is also a contributor to
Erotic Interludes 5: Road Games
and
Romantic Interludes 1 & 2
and revisited two characters from one of her novels in
Breathless: Tales of Celebration
. She is a 2011 recipient of the Alice B. Readers’ Appreciation Award for her body of work.
When not working or writing, she enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family.
Books Available from Bold Strokes Books
Pedal to the Metal
by Jesse J. Thoma. When unreformed thief Dubs Williams is released from prison to help Max Winters bust a car theft ring, Max learns that to catch a thief, get in bed with one. (978-1-62639-239-7)
Dragon Horse War
by D. Jackson Leigh. A priestess of peace and a fiery warrior must defeat a vicious uprising that entwines their destinies and ultimately their hearts. (978-1-62639-240-3)
For the Love of Cake
by Erin Dutton. When everything is on the line, and one taste can break a heart, will pastry chefs Maya and Shannon take a chance on reality? (978-1-62639-241-0)
Betting on Love
by Alyssa Linn Palmer. A quiet country-girl-at-heart and a live-life-to-the-fullest biker take a risk at offering each other their hearts. (978-1-62639-242-7)
The Deadening
by Yvonne Heidt. The lines between good and evil, right and wrong, have always been blurry for Shade. When Raven’s actions force her to choose, which side will she come out on? (978-1-62639-243-4)
Ordinary Mayhem
by Victoria A. Brownworth. Faye Blakemore has been taking photographs since she was ten, but those same photographs threaten to destroy everything she knows and everything she loves. (978-1-62639-315-8)
One Last Thing
by Kim Baldwin & Xenia Alexiou. Blood is thicker than pride. The final book in the Elite Operative Series brings together foes, family, and friends to start a new order. (978-1-62639-230-4)
Songs Unfinished
by Holly Stratimore. Two aspiring rock stars learn that falling in love while pursuing their dreams can be harmonious—if they can only keep their pasts from throwing them out of tune. (978-1-62639-231-1)
Beyond the Ridge
by L.T. Marie. Will a contractor and a horse rancher overcome their family differences and find common ground to build a life together? (978-1-62639-232-8)
Swordfish
by Andrea Bramhall. Four women battle the demons from their pasts. Will they learn to let go, or will happiness be forever beyond their grasp? (978-1-62639-233-5)
The Fiend Queen
by Barbara Ann Wright. Princess Katya and her consort Starbride must turn evil against evil in order to banish Fiendish power from their kingdom, and only love will pull them back from the brink. (978-1-62639-234-2)
Up the Ante
by PJ Trebelhorn. When Jordan Stryker and Ashley Noble meet again fifteen years after a short-lived affair, are either of them prepared to gamble on a chance at love? (978-1-62639-237-3)
Speakeasy
by MJ Williamz. When mob leader Helen Byrne sets her sights on the girlfriend of Al Capone’s right-hand man, passion and tempers flare on the streets of Chicago. (978-1-62639-238-0)
Venus in Love
by Tina Michele. Morgan Blake can’t afford any distractions and Ainsley Dencourt can’t afford to lose control—but the beauty of life and art usually lies in the unpredictable strokes of the artist’s brush. (978-1-62639-220-5)
Rules of Revenge
by AJ Quinn. When a lethal operative on a collision course with her past agrees to help a CIA analyst on a critical assignment, the encounter proves explosive in ways neither woman anticipated. (978-1-62639-221-2)
The Romance Vote
by Ali Vali. Chili Alexander is a sought-after campaign consultant who isn’t prepared when her boss’s daughter, Samantha Pellegrin, comes to work at the firm and shakes up Chili’s life from the first day. (978-1-62639-222-9)
Advance: Exodus Book One
by Gun Brooke. Admiral Dael Caydoc’s mission to find a new homeworld for the Oconodian people is hazardous, but working with the infuriating Commander Aniwyn “Spinner” Seclan endangers her heart and soul. (978-1-62639-224-3)
UnCatholic Conduct
by Stevie Mikayne. Jil Kidd goes undercover to investigate fraud at St. Marguerite’s Catholic School, but life gets complicated when her student is killed—and she begins to fall for her prime target. (978-1-62639-304-2)
Season’s Meetings
by Amy Dunne. Catherine Birch reluctantly ventures on the festive road trip from hell with beautiful stranger Holly Daniels only to discover the road to true love has its own obstacles to maneuver. (978-1-62639-227-4)
Myth and Magic: Queer Fairy Tales
edited by Radclyffe and Stacia Seaman. Myth, magic, and monsters—the stuff of childhood dreams (or nightmares) and adult fantasies. (978-1-62639-225-0)
Nine Nights on the Windy Tree
by Martha Miller. Recovering drug addict, Bertha Brannon, is an attorney who is trying to stay clean when a murder sends her back to the bad end of town. (978-1-62639-179-6)
Driving Lessons
by Annameekee Hesik. Dive into Abbey Brooks’s sophomore year as she attempts to figure out the amazing, but sometimes complicated, life of a you-know-who girl at Gila High School. (978-1-62639-228-1)
Asher’s Shot
by Elizabeth Wheeler. Asher Price’s candid photographs capture the truth, but when his success requires exposing an enemy, Asher discovers his only shot at happiness involves revealing secrets of his own. (978-1-62639-229-8)
Courtship
by Carsen Taite. Love and justice—a lethal mix or a perfect match? (978-1-62639-210-6)
Against Doctor’s Orders
by Radclyffe. Corporate financier Presley Worth wants to shut down Argyle Community Hospital, but Dr. Harper Rivers will fight her every step of the way, if she can also fight their growing attraction. (978-1-62639-211-3)
A Spark of Heavenly Fire
by Kathleen Knowles. Kerry and Beth are building their life together, but unexpected circumstances could destroy their happiness. (978-1-62639-212-0)
Never Too Late
by Julie Blair. When Dr. Jamie Hammond is forced to hire a new office manager, she’s shocked to come face to face with Carla Grant and memories from her past. (978-1-62639-213-7)
Widow
by Martha Miller. Judge Bertha Brannon must solve the murder of her lover, a policewoman she thought she’d grow old with. As more bodies pile up, the murderer starts coming for her. (978-1-62639-214-4)
Twisted Echoes
by Sheri Lewis Wohl. What’s a woman to do when she realizes the voices in her head are real? (978-1-62639-215-1)
Criminal Gold
by Ann Aptaker. Through a dangerous night in New York in 1949, Cantor Gold, dapper dyke-about-town, smuggler of fine art, is forced by a crime lord to be his instrument of vengeance. (978-1-62639-216-8)
The Melody of Light
by M.L. Rice. After surviving abuse and loss, will Riley Gordon be able to navigate her first year of college and accept true love and family? (978-1-62639-219-9)
Because of You
by Julie Cannon. What would you do for the woman you were forced to leave behind? (978-1-62639-199-4)
The Job
by Jove Belle
.
Sera always dreamed that she would one day reunite with Tor. She just didn’t think it would involve terrorists, firearms, and hostages. (978-1-62639-200-7)
Making Time
by C.J. Harte. Two women going in different directions meet after fifteen years and struggle to reconnect in spite of the past that separated them. (978-1-62639-201-4)
Once The Clouds Have Gone
by KE Payne. Overwhelmed by the dark clouds of her past, Tag Grainger is lost until the intriguing and spirited Freddie Metcalfe unexpectedly forces her to reevaluate her life. (978-1-62639-202-1)
The Acquittal
by Anne Laughlin. Chicago private investigator Josie Harper searches for the real killer of a woman whose lover has been acquitted of the crime. (978-1-62639-203-8)
An American Queer: The Amazon Trail
by Lee Lynch. Lee Lynch’s heartening and heart-rending history of gay life from the turbulence of the late 1900s to the triumphs of the early 2000s are recorded in this selection of her columns. (978-1-62639-204-5)
Stick McLaughlin: The Prohibition Years
by CF Frizzell. Corruption in 1918 cost Stick her lover, her freedom, and her identity, but a very special flapper and the family bond of her own gang could help win them back—even if it means outwitting the Boston Mob. (978-1-62639-205-2)
Edge of Awareness
by C.A. Popovich. When Maria, a woman in the middle of her third divorce, meets Dana, an out lesbian, awareness of her feelings brings up reservations about the teachings of her church. (978-1-62639-188-8)
Taken by Storm
by Kim Baldwin. Lives depend on two women when a train derails high in the remote Alps, but an unforgiving mountain, avalanches, crevasses, and other perils stand between them and safety. (978-1-62639-189-5)
The Common Thread
by Jaime Maddox. Dr. Nicole Coussart’s life is falling apart, but fortunately, DEA Attorney Rae Rhodes is there to pick up the pieces and help Nic put them back together. (978-1-62639-190-1)
Jolt
by Kris Bryant. Mystery writer Bethany Lange wasn’t prepared for the twisting emotions that left her breathless the moment she laid eyes on folk singer sensation Ali Hart. (978-1-62639-191-8)
Searching For Forever
by Emily Smith. Dr. Natalie Jenner’s life has always been about saving others, until young paramedic Charlie Thompson comes along and shows her maybe she’s the one who needs saving. (978-1-62639-186-4)
A Queer Sort of Justice: Prison Tales Across Time
by Rebecca S. Buck. When liberty is only a memory, and all seems lost, what freedoms and hopes can be found within us? (978-1-62639-195-6E)
Blue Water Dreams
by Dena Hankins. Lania Marchiol keeps her wary sailor’s gaze trained on the horizon until Oly Rassmussen, a wickedly handsome trans man, sends her trusty compass spinning off course. (978-1-62639-192-5)
Rest Home Runaways
by Clifford Henderson. Baby boomer Morgan Ronzio’s troubled marriage is the least of her worries when she gets the call that her addled, eighty-six-year-old, half-blind dad has escaped the rest home. (978-1-62639-169-7)
Charm City
by Mason Dixon. Raq Overstreet’s loyalty to her drug kingpin boss is put to the test when she begins to fall for Bathsheba Morris, the undercover cop assigned to bring him down. (978-1-62639-198-7)