The Swap

By Devon Rhodes

When layoffs hit Jim LaRue’s company, his first concern isn’t for his own job, it’s for his friend and coworker, Tommy Graves. Tommy’s going through a bitter divorce, and he’s closing on a new home. Losing his job would mean losing the house—and the fresh start he desperately needs. Jim can’t let that happen to the man he’s secretly in love with, so he proposes a swap: his job for Tommy’s.

Now out of work, Jim reluctantly agrees to help Tommy remodel. He needs the income, but he can’t stand being a charity case—especially not when things between them start heading in a direction he hardly dared hope for. The strain drives a wedge between them, and a confrontation might spell the end of their relationship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
• Release date: Oct 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781634775755

Devon Rhodes

Devon started reading and writing at an early age and never looked back. At 39 and holding, Devon finally figured out the best way to channel her midlife crisis was to morph from mild-mannered stay-at-home mom to erotic romance writer. She lives in Oregon with her family, who are (mostly) understanding of all the time she spends on her laptop, aka the black hole.

Book preview

The Swap

By Devon Rhodes

When layoffs hit Jim LaRue’s company, his first concern isn’t for his own job, it’s for his friend and coworker, Tommy Graves. Tommy’s going through a bitter divorce, and he’s closing on a new home. Losing his job would mean losing the house—and the fresh start he desperately needs. Jim can’t let that happen to the man he’s secretly in love with, so he proposes a swap: his job for Tommy’s.

Now out of work, Jim reluctantly agrees to help Tommy remodel. He needs the income, but he can’t stand being a charity case—especially not when things between them start heading in a direction he hardly dared hope for. The strain drives a wedge between them, and a confrontation might spell the end of their relationship.

Table of Contents

Blurb

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

More from Devon Rhodes

About the Author

By Devon Rhodes

Visit Dreamspinner Press

Copyright Page

With gratitude to Trace, Karin, and Laura. Thank you for everything.

Chapter 1

JIM STOPPED short at the threshold of his boss’s office, his heart seizing with dread at the sight before him. The normally commanding and in-control Keith had his head in his hands. Coupled with the visitors Keith had just had, that didn’t bode well for any of them.

Plastering a normal-feeling grin on his face in spite of his apprehension, Jim purposely scuffled his feet to announce his presence as he resumed walking into the shop foreman’s office. Hey, boss. Free for a late lunch? Sorry, got tied up on a project. And was waiting for your unexpected company to leave.

Jim. Shut the door behind you.

Keith didn’t bother looking up, and Jim dropped the useless, carefree façade as he closed and locked the door, then sat down and waited for the hammer to drop.

The silence stretched between them, and finally Jim couldn’t stand to watch Keith trying to get up the courage any longer.

So, the suits just left, he prompted.

Yeah.

How bad is it?

Pretty fucking bad, Jim. Shit. Keith scrubbed at his face, refusing to look up. Jim might’ve suspected any other man besides the one in front of him of crying. But not Keith, surely….

They shutting us down?

An ironic snort. Not quite. Skeleton crew starting on Monday. Coming down as layoffs, since things ‘might pick back up.’ Keith finally pulled his hands away from his face to make quotation marks with his index fingers, and Jim got his first look at Keith’s eyes. They were reddened from the rubbing, and Jim was relieved to see they nonetheless held their usual determined glint as Keith somberly met his gaze.

Jim gave a short nod of acknowledgment, steeling himself. The machinists?

Decimated. Just about the whole roster, except for two. Keith looked supremely uncomfortable, jaw clenching.

Only two? Jesus. Seniority, probably had to use last-in, first-out, Jim speculated aloud. No response from Keith but a slightly pitying look in his eyes. Jim looked down at his hands, ever-present grease darkening the nails and knuckles.

So Martinez stays. And… Graves? Didn’t take Jim long to count to two. Full stop. Confirming his own imminent departure made his chest feel as though an engine block had just dropped on it, but even so, a part of Jim was relieved that his friends would be spared the carnage. Martinez had—what?—five kids? And Tommy was just getting back on his feet after a nasty divorce.

Not Tommy, Keith corrected quietly. You.

His head snapped up so quickly his neck popped. What? Tommy’s been here longer than me. Hell, he trained me. That can’t be right.

Yeah, but with your schooling you have more experience with the computer modeling, making the adjustments in-house instead of having to send the specs back to the geeks every time something doesn’t work. The excuse rolled off Keith’s tongue as if he’d rehearsed it. Which he probably had in order to justify keeping Jim. Loyal bastard.

At once grateful and appalled, Jim jumped to his feet, slamming his hands on the desk. That’s bullshit, Keith. You know Tommy can take and tweak anything and make it work, with or without engineering courses. That’s why we call him Maestro—he’s a frigging natural.

I can’t believe you’re arguing this, Keith yelled back. Fuck, Jim. I saved your fucking job. What the hell? It’s like you’re trying to talk me out of it.

What was he doing?

For a moment, Jim was tempted to just back off and accept the news, but the image of Tommy’s recent transformation from haunted to hopeful burned in his brain. Jim’d do anything to make sure he never went back to hopeless again. Even this.

He folded his arms over his chest. Right is right, man. Last-in, first-out. You need to keep Tommy.

Keith stared at him, shock written on every feature. You’re serious.

Jim nodded, resolute. He tried not to let himself think of the consequences just yet. He’d have plenty of time to ponder unemployment in the weeks and months to come.

His boss slumped back in his chair and Jim knew he had won. Or lost, as the case may be.

But I just gave his name to Central Accounting. Keith weakly tried one last time to give Jim the out.

Call ’em back. It’s okay, Keith, he added in a softer tone. I’ll be fine. He gestured to the phone. Go ahead. I’ll even stay here and give you support while you can my ass, he teased.

Fuck. Off. Asshole. But Keith grudgingly picked up the phone and speed-dialed Accounting. They’d known each other since they were kids, and obviously Keith could see Jim wasn’t backing down on this.

"Yeah, Carson here. Put a stop on the final for

Reviews for The Swap

[arecafe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Swap by Devon Rhodes is another good stand-alone novella in the Working Stiffs series published at Amber Allure by different authors to the theme of a working class man involved in a gay love affair. It features two strong-willed men who overstep the boundaries of friendship too fast in trying to help each other during layoffs at their workplace. This novella fearlessly explores many sources of tension that threaten to derail the men’s potential friends-to-lovers romance. First, each man is secretly attracted to the other while assuming the other is straight since both are very secretive about their sexual orientation. Second, one man ends up losing his job and working for the other as their romance begins to take shape. Third, both are prideful, stubborn, and lacking in communication skills in a realistically masculine way. The result is a very entertaining read with a lot of plot packed into a short length.

The story begins with Jim learning from his boss (who is also a close friend) that almost everyone but Jim will be laid off from the machinist department at their struggling company. Jim is immediately horrified on behalf of his friend Tommy (whom he secretly desires and who first trained him when he hired on). Tommy has just weathered a devastating divorce and the only thing that pulled him through was his dream to buy and fix up his first house. Now, with no job, he might end up homeless. Jim talks his boss into a swap: he’ll give up his own job so that Tommy can stay, but Tommy must never know. The boss reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, Tommy hears that Jim has been laid off and offers him a job as general contractor on Tommy’s home renovation project. Jim needs money and reluctantly accepts. The situation becomes charged with repressed sexual attraction and potential misunderstanding.

Val for AReCafe