A small girl, her man and her books: No Regrets by Nicky James

Title: No Regrets

Author: Nicky James

Publisher: Encompass Ink

Word Length: 91k

Genre: Contemporary MM Romance 18+

Release: March 15, 2017

Life makes no promises, and sometimes, you draw the short straw. Landon Johnston’s life came to a grinding halt seven months ago, when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. With the encouragement of his grandmother, Landon works his way out of his slump and tries to live life while he still can. Deciding he doesn’t want to drag anyone else down his morbid path, Landon gives up all friendships and denies himself love. It’s better this way, because all he has to offer is eventual heartache and sadness. While traveling the world, Landon meets Abel Matheson, a free-spirited, unedited, and nerve-grating man who was supposed to only be a one-night-stand. Despite Landon’s insistence that he can’t form a relationship with his current diagnoses, Abel is persistent and will not be ignored. Fighting against all his ingrained urges to run, Landon finds himself drawn down the road he swore he’d never take. Intimacy grows and bonds form… Only… Abel doesn’t know Landon is sick. How can anyone love a man with no future? Telling him might cause him to run, but staying silent means living a lie. A lie which will only reveal itself in time.

The silence returned as we continued with our drinks. Abel was the one to break first when he slid his empty cup aside and leaned in, talking in a hushed voice. “So, Landon from Canada, computer nerd and Spiderman wannabe. I’m gonna cut the shit and be blunt.”

“You mean, more blunt?”

“Yeah, more blunt, so brace yourself. You’re incredibly hot and I wanna find a room somewhere and fuck you senseless.”

“Oh. Umm…”

Who the hell says shit like that?

“There is a pub a block down. Let me buy you a couple of drinks and help you relax, because you’re all stiff and uptight. Then, what do you say we find somewhere private after that?”

I had to search for my words because they’d fallen into a gaping chasm of disbelief. “You’re awfully presumptuous.”

“I can be. But, you haven’t told me to fuck off yet, so I’m guessing you’ve been considering it too.”

Yeah, I’d been considering it since he stood in line for drinks twenty minutes ago. Is that how these things worked? Hey, wanna fuck? Sure, let’s go.

Swallowing the dry lump from my throat, I pinned him with a glare, doing my best to show confidence even though I trembled on the inside. “Maybe I am. Only, I don’t drink.”

More like I couldn’t drink, at least not with the massive array of medications I took. It was something I had to give up long ago. What I wouldn’t have given for a beer to calm me down. He was right, I was wound tighter than a spring.

“A twenty-six-year-old, non-drinker. You just get more and more interesting. I’ll have to find other ways to get you to relax then. I can be creative. Are you here with anyone?”

“No. I umm… I came alone.”

“Do you have a room nearby?”

“What about your friends? Won’t they be looking for you?”

He chuckled. “Nah, they’ll be drinking themselves stupid half the night and won’t even know I’m not there.”

“Oh… umm…”

“A room?”

My gaze dropped to the table once again. My blood pressure rose with each slam of my heart against my ribcage. Why the hell was I so nervous? It wasn’t like I was some virgin or anything. I took a deep breath and tried to rein in the suffocating emotion before it got out of hand.

Shifting my gaze to my notebook, I saw my list in my head again and heard my grandmother’s words.

If I died tomorrow, I’d have no regrets. Can you say the same thing?

I was sure this wasn’t what she meant. Sorry, grandma.

Time to tick off another one.

“Fuck it. Yes, I have a room a block down the road.” With another shaky breath, I pushed my half-empty mug aside and grabbed my notebook. “What happens in China stays in China, right?” Standing, I glanced back at him.

His grin was facetious as he sucked the corner of his bottom lip into his teeth. “It’s not Vegas, but I think it applies.”

Nicky James lives in the small town of Petrolia, Ontario, Canada. She is mother to a wonderful teenage boy and wife to a truly supportive and understanding husband who, thankfully, doesn’t think her crazy.

Nicky has always had two profound dreams in life; to fall back hundreds of years in time and live in a simpler world and to write novels. Since only one of those dreams was a possibility, she decided to make the other come alive on paper.

Nicky writes MM romance books in a variety of styles including contemporary, medieval, fantasy, and historical.