Thomas Lexington is openly gay, confident, and the proud owner of The Coffee Corral. He’s always dreamed of opening his own gourmet coffeehouse in his small hometown of Albin, Colorado, and now that dream is a reality. Opening day is a huge success, and even the town penny-pinchers seem to love the new coffeehouse.
Asher Jones is a ruggedly handsome cowboy who wanders into Thomas’s coffeehouse on opening day. He usually gets his coffee at a local gas station, but his usual haunt is closed for renovations. The minute Asher and Thomas lay eyes on each other, there’s an immediate spark. One huge problem—Asher isn’t out of the closet.
Despite their immediate attraction, Thomas is wary of getting too close to Asher. He’s been hurt many times before by men who use him but refuse to be with him openly. Thomas refuses to ever go back to being someone’s dirty secret. But the two men share a natural, easy friendship that brings them closer and closer.
As their friendship grows, so does their undeniable chemistry. The two men try to keep things platonic, but when Asher tells Thomas he’s willing to come out after all, the men move beyond a platonic relationship. Thomas thinks he’s finally found a man who will love him openly—but then Asher suddenly backs out of his promise.
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The Cowboy and the Barista is a 70,000 word story based on a novella written in 2014. The story has been completely rewritten and expanded into a full-length novel.
SNIPPET:
I’d never been into cowboy types, even though I was one growing up. Believe me, I had my reasons. But if you were only going by physical appearances, the one standing in front of me at the register sort of made me want to change my stance on that.
He looked a bit out of place, shifting uneasily in line at my new coffeehouse. He was tall as an oak, tanned, and his gaze scanned the room warily. I couldn’t see the color of his hair because he had a black Stetson pulled down tight, and he was fingering it like a security blanket.
So far today, I’d been handing out a lot of sweet drinks. But Mr. Cowboy didn’t look like a white mocha latte with chocolate drizzle kind of guy. I suspected he usually got his coffee from the local convenience store. He struck me as the sort who’d prefer the no-nonsense, push-button swill they specialized in.
While he was distractingly good-looking, and I’d have preferred staring at him some more, today was opening day, and I had all the town cheapskates to contend with as they lined up for their free samples.
