Tango in the Night

By KC Kendricks

Jubal Graham is back on the job after a shooter put him into a coma. Determined to have justice, Jubal is focused on finding a killer, not a new romantic entanglement. With his smoldering blue eyes and denim-clad swagger, Ellis Banks is a distraction Jubal can't afford – or ignore.

 

Ellis Banks came to Philadelphia to bust a drug operation; one that connects to the same case agency legend Kentuckian Jubal Graham is working. Ellis finds himself drawn to Jubal and mounts a determined siege.  

 

Jubal's surprise at having a suitor quickly develops into a growing affection for Ellis, but first things first. He's a target and so is anyone close to him. He needs to keep Ellis at arm's length until he makes an arrest.

 

Ellis has a different plan.

 

*  *  *  *  *

"Will you go out with me, Jubal?"

Persistence was a good thing for a drug enforcement agent to have, but I wasn't sure I liked his directed at me. I wasn't sure I didn't like it, either. It was certainly different to be on this side of the pursuit.

"Why did you come to my house last night?"

Ellis looked away as a flush crept up his neck. "I needed to know if your boyfriend lived with you."

I clamped down on my temper. He was out of line, and his eyes said he knew how far. I counted to five before I responded. "He's not my boyfriend. Don't do it again. If he sees you dogging me, it'll scare him."

"Like I'm scaring you, Jubal?"

"You're not scaring me."

"Oh, the hell I'm not." Ellis leaned back in his chair. "Okay. We'll do it the old southern way. Even straights say a year is enough to mourn. You can play the reluctant widower for another two months. I'll let you. Then you go out with me."

"Boy, you don't know anything about me."

"Wrong. You were all anyone talked about when I transferred in. I took notes."

"You're an arrogant rip, aren't you?"

Ellis grinned as he stood and stretched. He looked down at me, his expression pure insolence.

"Takes one to know one, Agent Graham."

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Deer Enterprises/White Deer Books
• Release date: Sep 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781536557480

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

Tango in the Night

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 © 2009, 2016 KC Kendricks

Cover art © 2016 KC Kendricks

All Rights Reserved

Published in the United States of America

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.

Thank you for purchasing a legal copy of this work.

Intro to Tango in the Night

He tossed the paper towels he’d been holding in the trash and crossed his arms over his chest. You talk like you’re old, and I know you’re not.

I’ve got a lot of miles on me, Ellis. I feel old.

Ellis’ gaze locked with mine. I knew that interested look, having been on the receiving end of it often enough in my life. It was nice to know I could still turn a head. He reached out and trailed his fingertips down my arm. You want some help feeling young again?

I hated to disappoint him. He was a nice-looking man, and I couldn’t deny my curiosity about him. But... I rebuffed him as gently as I knew how. Not with a co-worker, Ellis, even a handsome stud like you.

Ellis didn’t blink. His chin lifted the slightest bit as those blue eyes saw straight through my act. A warm little glow sparked to life in my belly. I knew by the way he pressed his full, sexy lips together he knew. We stood there staring at each, the air between us sparking with a strange blue lightning. He tried, but he couldn’t keep the corner of his mouth from quirking up in a little smile.

If you change your mind, Jubal, just say so.

I nodded. Ellis pushed off from the counter and walked toward the door. I had one more thing I had to say to him.

Ellis?

He stopped and turned around.

Yeah?

Nice ass.

He laughed as the door closed behind him...

What they said about Tango in the Night

Tango in the Night is a 2010 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention Recipient

Best Gay Contemporary

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4.5 Nymphs from Literary Nymphs, January 2010

I admit it. The thing that caught my attention first when I read the blurb was Jubal’s name... I’ve never come across a literary character with the old-fashioned moniker. The characters of Jubal and Ellis are perfect counterpoints, both professionally and personally, and despite the differences in their ages, they make a great couple with lots in common. And the sex is blistering hot and passionate. While I enjoyed the entire book, I truly appreciated the twist of who was the villain and how they dealt with him in the end. Read this one and enjoy. I know I did. -

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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

Books by KC Kendricks and Rayne Forrest

For current availability, please visit KC’s bookshelf at

https://kckendricks.blogspot.com/p/the-bookshelf-of-kc-kendricks-and-rayne_3.html

Ian Coulter’s Amethyst Cove Series

Double Deuce

Deuce of Diamonds

Ace, Deuce, Trey

Circle of Steel

Steel Wheels

The Sundown Saga

The Back Stairs

Beneath Dark Stars

River Walk

Moon Dances

Fly By Night

The Southern Cross Series

Netting Neptune

Taming Triton

Poseidon’s Pleasure

Between The Moon and the Deep Blue Sea

Catching Fireflies

The Men of Marionville Series

A Hard Habit to Break

Open Roads

What You Don’t Confess

Your Whisper in the Dark

A Cat Named Hercules

Leather Jackets

Station to Station

Dreams to Sell

The Right Brew

Where There’s Smoke

Bourbon and Blues

Twice Removed From Yesterday

Centerville Muscle

Bored, Stroked and Blueprinted

Memphis

July Heat

Levi & Stacy

Shining Victory

No One But You

––––––––

Single Titles (not part of a series)

A Friendly Neighbor

A Perfect Hire

December Promise

Desert Snow

Doors of Time

Eye of the Beholder

Give Me One Night

Hey, Joe

Highway Nights

Hot August Comes

Kentucky 98 Proof

Lick Me (Must Love Dogs)

Lightning Shifts

Passion’s Victory

Please Use the Door (a ghostly romance)

Ride Your Luck

Riding Against the Wind (sequel to Ride Your Luck)

SABRE

Seducing Light

September Morning

Shine A Light

Surrendered Victory

Tango in the Night

The Ghost at the B & B

The Quest

Undeniable

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Titles Written as Rayne Forrest

Science Fiction:

A Hero’s Bargain

Across Time

The Curiosity Shoppe

Science Fiction Series:

The Rea Cheveyo Chronicles: Kiana

The Rea Cheveyo Chronicles: Talyss

The Rea Cheveyo Chronicles: Reza

Futuristic Elements:

After the Sea Sprite Ball

Mischief at Midnight

Money Back Guarantee

Step Into Tomorrow

To Bed a Spy

Paranormal Elements:

Beyond the Night

A Hidden Heaven

Contemporary:

Loving Luke

One Summer

Right From the Start

Table of Contents

Tango in the Night

Intro to Tango in the Night

What they said about Tango in the Night

Books by KC Kendricks and Rayne Forrest

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

About the Author

Dear Readers,

A bonus read from A Hard Habit to Break

CHAPTER 1

I was finally home, the end of my long odyssey in view. I closed the front door of my Victorian-era brownstone and breathed in the alien scent of dusty abandonment, saddened the fragrance of my former life no longer remained. I steeled myself for those other things that did.

A brown leather jacket hung on the coat rack, and I draped my matching one beside it. That other jacket was in better shape than mine. Perhaps I’d keep it. I lifted it off the hook and held it up to my face, searching for any trace of the man to whom it once belonged. Maybe, if I used my imagination, the scent of his cologne lingered.

I placed it back on the hook and traversed the long hallway to my kitchen. The room wasn’t as I’d left it ten months ago. My friends had come and tidied up, needing something to do to try and help. I was grateful for everything they’d done, having been in no position to do it myself. They were going to be upset with me for slinking back into town under the cover of a Tuesday night, arriving as the sky lightened over the Philadelphia skyline.

They cared, and I appreciated that fact, but I needed a few days of solitude to accomplish the task I’d set for myself. I didn’t want them around as I sorted through Cliff’s things.

But first things first, as is often said. I rummaged in the pantry and found an unopened can of coffee. Thank God.

Desperate for caffeine, I’d have made a pot with the old stale stuff in the canister, but fresh was so much better. The hospital, the rehab center, even my big sister, all pushed decaf at me, and I hated the stuff. I broke the seal and wanted to weep at the rich aroma wafting up to me. I set the brewer and slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor, and the bedroom I’d shared with my lover.

It was a plain room, Spartan by some standards, done in shades of navy and maroon. His choice, not mine, but I scarcely cared. The king-size bed, the wing chairs, and end table by the large double windows overlooking the tiny back yard. Two dressers, one with his watch and ring lying on it and gathering dust, placed there by unknown hands. Nothing in this room had mattered except the two people in it. Well, the bed we’d held in high esteem. We’d spent enough time in it.

I opened the closet door and found the contents undisturbed, save for Cliff’s black pinstripe suit which no longer hung there. I wasn’t looking for it, though. My interest was more practical. I’d lost weight, and if his jeans fit me, I would wear them. I tried on the nearest pair, and satisfied with the fit, selected five more to run through the washing machine. Everything in the closet had a thick layer of dust along the hanger fold.

The coffee pot beeped as I started the washer. I filled the biggest mug I owned and carried it to my dusty desk in the living room, sipping with each step.

Damn. I bowed to the inevitable and called my cleaning lady. She didn’t even make me beg before agreeing to come this afternoon, warmly welcoming me home as she fussed at me for not calling her last week so she could have readied the house.

I hadn’t known I was coming home last week. I woke up a few days ago and simply knew it was time.

The call to my housekeeper completed, I fulfilled my promise to let my sister know I was home safe. We’d not always gotten along, but when the rehab hospital released me for outpatient care, I wasn’t recovered enough to come home alone and climb stairs. Allie had taken me in, and I’d spent the summer with her and what little family I had left in Kentucky. It had been good for me, a place of healing. My brother-in-law had worried about the effect of my homosexuality on my nephews, but like typical teens, the boys shrugged and ignored the fact, spending a lot of time with me. I suspected they did it just to annoy their father, but I enjoyed their company, regardless.

I kept my worry over Allie’s marriage to a man so much like our father to myself.

So I was home, and several paths lay before me. I’d promised myself not to rush into anything, that I’d take my time in making decisions, but I couldn’t sit in this house and mope.

In all honesty, my decisions were made.

Cliff’s life insurance policy had paid off the house and then some. I had happy memories here and didn’t want to move. This had been my home before I met Cliff, and maybe, in time, I’d be lucky enough to share it with someone else.

I probably couldn’t work as a field agent any longer, but my supervisor had been in contact with me over the summer and still wanted me on his team for special projects. I had to pass a physical exam, but I’d healed enough and shouldn’t have any problem qualifying for an inside desk job. I poured another cup of coffee and carried it to the parlor.

Double damn. The cable had been shut off, which meant I didn’t have Internet either. I picked up the house phone. No dial tone.

I sighed as I plopped my travel-weary feet in their Dingo boots on the coffee table. Going through Cliff’s things could wait until tomorrow. This afternoon I would visit my old office and see my fellow agents, and tonight I would surprise my friends at the local club. I needed to touch those people who meant so much to me and let them know how much I’d missed them while I’d been in Kentucky.

My voice echoed in the stillness of the house as I spoke aloud.

Welcome home, Jubal.

*          *          *

As far back as I could remember, I knew two things about myself. One, I wanted to work in law enforcement, and two, I was gay. My father lauded my dream of being a police officer or an agent—a real man. When he discovered me kissing my first boyfriend, his approval changed to anger. After that, no one but the men I had sex with knew I was queer. I left home at fifteen with a black eye, two cracked ribs, and valuable insight into the straight world.

Somewhere along my career path, I decided who I slept with was nobody’s business but my own. I didn’t