Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Crossing The Line
    Crossing The Line
    Crossing The Line
    Ebook58 pages55 minutes

    Crossing The Line

    By Christiane France

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Rather than embarrass his wealthy family by admitting he’s gay, Alexander Derkeston solved the problem by publicly conforming to their old fashioned, upright, uptight lifestyle, and inventing a second life on the side.

    Even after his parents are killed in a traffic accident and the pretence is no longer necessary, Alexander still continues to follow family tradition and keep his private life private. Then the family chauffeur retires, and Wil Forrest is hired in his place.

    For Alexander it’s love at first sight. Wil is everything Alexander has ever wanted. But Wil is an employee, and when he suggests the two of them go clubbing together, Alexander is horrified. Old Abner Derekston had two rules the family has always lived by: One, never cross the line by getting overly familiar with the help, not if you want to maintain their respect. And two, if you want something, go for it.

    Is there a way Alexander can have his cake and eat it, too?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChristiane France
    Release dateSep 12, 2016
    ISBN9781536510638
    Crossing The Line

    Read more from Christiane France

    Related to Crossing The Line

    Related ebooks

    Contemporary Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      10 Literary Diss Tracks

      Apr 9, 2018

      10 Literary Diss Tracks
      11 min read

    • Article

      Clifton’s Place

      Mar 1, 2018

      THE SIGN outside the bar had appeared only recently. It announced the bar’s name and hours of operation, clear indications that this was not just another townhouse basement. Still, despite the listed business hours, no one got in before the sun went

      32 min read

    • Article

      The Emperors of Existence

      Dec 28, 2018

      The Emperors of Existence
      9 min read

    • Article

      Ineffectual Tribute to Len

      Mar 15, 2019

      After graduate school I hung around another year and drove a cab for Iowa City Yellow Cab. The cab was a boat, a Chevrolet Caprice wagon. I could have put a mattress in the back and lived in it. I didn’t hate the job. I’d sit in the Kroger parking lo

      24 min read

    • Article

      Housewarming

      Dec 1, 2022

      DENNIS MCFARLAND’S most recent novel is Nostalgia. His stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Best American Short Stories, and the Scholar, among other places. When Kevin arrived at the top floor and stepped into a long dark hallway, he couldn’t re

      21 min read

    • Article

      Speedboat

      Mar 24, 2022

      Nobody died that year. Nobody prospered. There were no births or marriages. Seventeen reverent satires were written – disrupting a cliché and, presumably, creating a genre. That was a dream, of course, but many of the most important things, I fi nd,

      14 min read

    • Article

      HOME To Roost

      Mar 5, 2024

      HOME To Roost
      11 min read

    • Article

      An Inspired Theft

      Jan 9, 2018

      An Inspired Theft
      3 min read

    • Article

      'But He's Naked!'

      Nov 20, 2019

      The following rewrite of one of Hans Christian Andersen's best loved tales is presented with apologies to the author, who did nothing to deserve it: So off went the Emperor under his splendid canopy. Everyone in the streets and the windows said, 'Oh,

      2 min read

    • Article

      Scoundrel’s Lair

      Jul 9, 2023

      Scoundrel’s Lair
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Escape Of Koravitch

      Sep 30, 2019

      The Escape Of Koravitch
      16 min read

    • Article

      Home to ROOST

      Jan 11, 2022

      Home to ROOST
      11 min read

    • Article

      La Otra Historia

      Jun 30, 2022

      La Otra Historia
      14 min read

    • Article

      Luxe, Calme Et Volupté

      Oct 12, 2018

      Luxe, Calme Et Volupté
      7 min read

    • Article

      Hello, Grim Reaper

      Dec 15, 2021

      She was a babe. A fully paid-up, card-carrying babe. There was absolutely no doubt about it, and she was heading straight for me. She was almost sprinting towards me across the recently reimagined lobby of Claridge’s. She looked up, her scarlet-anoin

      3 min read

    • Article

      Armatree HOTEL

      Jul 17, 2019

      Armatree HOTEL
      6 min read

    • Article

      Getting Out Alive

      Apr 6, 2017

      Getting Out Alive
      4 min read

    • Article

      Table Talk

      Sep 1, 2017

      Table Talk
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Art of Fiction No. 245

      Dec 15, 2019

      The Art of Fiction No. 245
      42 min read

    • Article

      Handsome Is . . .

      Oct 1, 2023

      NOT ALL PRINCES are handsome, of course, but Lancelot was—very handsome. Nursemaids swooned at his sapphire eyes and rosy cheeks when he was still in the crib. As a young boy, he needed only to flash his spectacular smile to wilt his nannies and get

      5 min read

    • Article

      Hankering After Ghosts

      Dec 1, 2022

      It’s been 10 years since the publication of my book A Natural History of Ghosts (see FT296:42-45). I probably should have written more in it about the writer Charles Dickens. The truth is I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Dickens. I rea

      8 min read

    • Article

      A Picture Of Dear Raymond

      Aug 24, 2022

      One of the great joys of Raymond Briggs’s column in The Oldie was that we got two geniuses for the price of one. As well as receiving his charming sideways look at life in the column, we got one of his peerless drawings every month. A compilation was

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Little Trip

      Aug 2, 2021

      As the first morning light peeked through the gap in the curtains, Alice left her new husband in bed. She wrapped her silk kimono around her; a present from Jeremy, it reminded her yet again just how generous he’d been since their wedding. Even this

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Crossing The Line

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Crossing The Line - Christiane France

      Crossing The Line

      Alexander Derekston deposited his laptop and briefcase onto the back seat of his limousine, stepped into the pleasantly warm interior and fastened his seatbelt.

      Straight home, sir?

      Alexander’s gaze locked momentarily with that of his driver via the rearview mirror. Then he allowed it to slide away, down over the man’s raven black hair to the wide shoulders and the seductively muscled chest and arms hidden beneath his dark blue uniform jacket. His fingers itched to reach out and smooth the tiny curls nestling just above the man’s collar. He imagined their silky texture, the warmth of the flesh beneath, and how it would feel to press his lips against— He cut himself off mid-thought.

      When the elderly driver Alexander inherited from his father finally retired several months ago, Wil Forrest was hired as his replacement. Alexander had been well aware of Wil’s charms the first time they met, but the man was an employee, nothing more and nothing less, so he hadn’t seen them as a problem. Not until this afternoon when he’d glanced out of the office window and noticed Wil washing the limo at the entrance to the garage in back of the store.

      There had been something about the sight of him standing there, bare-chested, with sweat running down his back and the sunlight painting him in shades of gold, that took Alexander by surprise and turned his normally organized thoughts into mush. It had also given him a king-sized hard-on he was desperate to relieve. So desperate, he’d wanted to rush outside right away and run his hands over the man’s skin. He’d wanted to taste him, to touch him, and to urge him back into the shadowy interior of the private garage where they would be hidden from the view of any casual passersby and they could...

      Sir?

      Alexander blanked his mind to the various delicious possibilities that seemed determined to take up residence in his head, trapped his hands safely beneath his thighs and glanced out the side window. After all, it wasn’t as if he could do anything about them. Sorry. What did you say?

      Are we going straight home, sir? Or do you have somewhere else you need to go?

      Yeah, pull in at the first motel we come to.

      If only! Alexander sucked in a breath, parted his knees slightly to relieve his aching cock, and tried to think of something else...such as whether or not he should hire a new buyer for the menswear department. The one they’d recently hired on a month’s trial didn’t appear to be showing the fashion sense he’d expected.

      Straight home, please. It’s been a long week. And this afternoon has been nothing short of absolute, mind-boggling torture.

      The drive from Derekston’s Department Store in downtown Bayview to the family’s lakeside mansion on the outskirts of town usually took no more than twenty minutes, even in heavy traffic. Tonight, with rush hour over, Wil made it in less than fifteen.

      After parking outside the mansion’s front entrance, Wil opened the passenger door for Alexander to exit. Will you need me again tonight, sir?

      Against his better judgment, instead of simply saying if he needed to go anywhere he could either call a cab or drive himself, and continuing on into the house, Alexander hesitated. He muttered something about probably staying in, then he added, You have plans for this evening?

      Wil shrugged. Not what I’d call plans exactly. Just the need to get out and have some fun. Between work and school, I haven’t been anywhere in a while.

      What are you studying?

      Creative writing. This is my first year.

      Alexander wasn’t particularly surprised by Wil’s choice of a subject. The man came across as quiet, thoughtful, contemplative, and, as far as Alexander knew, was pretty much a loner. All the things a creative person needed to be. So...you want to be a writer?

      That’s my dream.

      Good for you.

      If you didn’t need me, I thought maybe I’d take a few hours off and check out the action at some of the bars in town. He hesitated, a faint smile tugging at his wide mouth. Maybe try Roby’s, the new place on Lakeshore.

      Hah, so Wil was gay. Alexander had suspected as much. Roby’s? Isn’t that a gay club? Alexander said, only to wish he’d kept his mouth shut when Wil’s smile turned a whole lot too knowing, and Wil looked at him directly.

      "Yes, sir, from what I’ve heard that’s exactly what it is. You been there? I hear it’s supposed to be very nice. All the

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1