Eye of the Beholder

By KC Kendricks

Some neighbors share more than others...

Andy Madison is city born and bred. Filling in for a friend at a coffee shop, Andy meets Ben Hardin and sparks fly. They spend a long, lazy Sunday afternoon together to get to know each other, and when they decide to let nature take its course, they go to Ben's cozy apartment.

Ben's taking his time becoming acclimated to his new life in the big city. He's got a great job he loves, he's making new friends, and his starter apartment has the most incredible views a young man could dream of. Ben's discovered there's more to admire than the arts, music and architecture. All he has to do is look out his window and across the narrow alley.

Andy thinks he's seen it all living in the Big Apple, but what he spies through Ben's window is something that can only be enjoyed by the eye of the beholder...

* * * *

Andy was sorta cute. I could invite him to a movie this afternoon and see what he said. It was one sure way to find out which team he batted for. "When do you get off, Andy?"

A smile played at his lips as he cocked his head to the left and raised his eyebrow. "Usually about midnight every night, one way or the other."

I bet I looked stupid with my mouth hanging open. A wide grin split his face, then he laughed, a low, happy sound that said he was pleased to have rendered me speechless. Andy sobered, at least a little.

"Are you attempting to ask me out?"

I gripped my coffee cup for dear life as I gathered my wits. "I'm not sure now. I think you might need to go home and get some sleep."

He leaned forward and brushed his knuckles across mine. "I don't like to sleep alone, Ben."

The smooth, silky way he said my name made me shiver, but I'm sure he intended that I would. Heart thudding unevenly in my chest, I met his gaze.

"Me neither, Andy, and I happen to be free around midnight." I didn't add that if we went to my place I'd make sure my curtains were safety-pinned closed.

He leaned forward again. "Tell you what. Give me your cell phone number and I'll call you when my shift is finally over."

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Deer Enterprises/White Deer Books
• Release date: Jul 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533799432

KC Kendricks

KC Kendricks calls herself an accidental writer. After completing her first novel writing as Rayne Forrest, she was urged to submit it to a publisher, and everything snowballed from there. Today, the author has had over seventy books published. In July of 2021, she tried to retire but her employer offered her a deal to work at home. She accepted. Now she balances work, writing, and hearth and home in a controlled chaos. A native of scenic western Maryland, the author enjoys most activities that don’t include snow. In warm weather she might be found walking the dog, biking on the C&O Canal towpath, planting delicacies in her garden for the deer to munch on at night, playing in the creek, or lazing on the patio with her Kindle reader or laptop. She recently began to research her family history and can't drive past a cemetery without stopping to search for family sites. Her mission is to photograph old tombstones before the elements erode the stones and the names are lost to time. For more about KC Kendricks and Rayne Forrest’s writing life, please visit the Between the Keys blog at http:kckendricks.blogspot.com . If you’d like to know more about the author’s country lifestyle and her daily activities full of simple country pleasures (and a lot of work), please visit the Holly Tree Manor blog at http://hollytreemanor.blogspot.com . KC can be reached through her blog, Between the Keys. All comments are strictly moderated by the author and personal messages are treated as such. Follow the author on Twitter for up-to-date announcements at Twitter.com/KCKendricks.

Book preview

Eye of the Beholder

by

KC Kendricks

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This book is a work of fiction. While references to actual places or events may occur, the names, characters, incidents, and locations are from the author's imagination and any resemblance to anyone, living or dead, is coincidental.

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Copyright © 2012, 2016, 2019 KC Kendricks

Cover art © 2016 KC Kendricks

All Rights Reserved

All rights reserved. Reproduction of this digital e-book for file sharing or selling, regardless of whether any type of currency is exchanged, other than what the author grants in writing, is strictly prohibited by law. Piracy is a crime.

Published in the United States of America

An excerpt from Eye of the Beholder

I'd chosen to sleep on the side of the bed beside the one and only window in the apartment. I might have made a different decision if the window faced east, but it didn't. I peered out through the streaky glass at the glow of the city lights and wondered if I'd someday make enough money to have a real view. The surprising, and scary, answer to that musing was I actually might. My employer recognized my talent.

I was just about to tuck my toes under the sheet when for no real reason a movement on the other side of the narrow alley drew my attention. I yawned as the lights in the apartment across the way and down a story went out. The lower half of the window rose about six to eight inches, and a pair of male hands set a block to keep it from falling closed. The hands, now unseen, pushed the sheer curtains apart to allow what little breeze stirred this night entrance to his room. Naked, he flopped down on his bed, his back arched as he stretched his arms over his head.

Why I didn't crawl between the sheets and go to sleep will forever remain a mystery. I never aspired to be a peeping Tommy. I might watch a little gay porn now and again, but what poor deprived country boy hadn't resorted to the joys of the Internet to get by until they could find a real man? That didn't make me a pervert. Unlike a few of the tricks I'd had since arriving in lower Manhattan, I didn't even like to have sex in public places.

But in the blink of an eye, I became a voyeur.

What they said about Eye of the Beholder

Four Hearts from The Romance Studio

Eye of the Beholder is an exceptionally engaging book... It has humor, vivid characterization and great narration in the voice of Ben. ...[it]flows from page to page and we get a simple, well-written look into Ben's daily life. .. I had fun reading it. I think you will too.

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Praise for the writing of KC Kendricks

KC Kendricks never disappoints!"—Fallen Angel Reviews

..beautifully moving in all the right places...KC Kendricks gives us a well-crafted tale- The Romance Studio

Good to the last word....- Sensual Reads

...Seriously entertaining and totally engaging...- Joyfully Reviewed

...solidly written contemporary romance...-Jessewave

Table of Contents

An excerpt from Eye of the Beholder

What they said about Eye of the Beholder

Eye of the Beholder

A bonus read from Doors of Time

About the Author

Books by KC Kendricks

Dear Readers,

Eye of the Beholder

When I was a boy, I dreamed of the big city, which, at the time, was a little speck on the map called Fraser’s Crossing. I never knew if a real Fraser had ever lived there. Maybe the town got its name from someone drowning at the river ford. Or from a fugitive hanged at the old crossroads a hundred years ago. Yes, I had an overactive imagination as a youngster, the kind that made the old men shake their heads, chuckle softly, then mutter, That Ben won’t amount to nothing.

I fooled them all, even my grandfather.

These days, I’m the one to look back and laugh. I’d taken my flights of fancy and love of computers and combined them into one sweet way to make a living as a graphic artist. I’d turned a few posters for the small businesses in Fraser’s Crossing into a job at the Daily Mail in Harrisville. That got me noticed by the publisher of the Reystown Herald and out of Arkansas, and my eyes were opened. I set my sight, heart, mind, and soul on New York City, and I made it.

And I made the guy in the apartment