Downward Facing Dreamboat Read online

  “I’m going down to open. There’s a set of stairs off the living room that lead outside the building. If you come down later, would you mind taking those? There’s a keypad on the door so it will lock behind you, so you don’t have to worry about locking it.”

  For a split second, Kincaid thought Owen was ashamed that he’d slept over, and then he remembered the door into the yoga studio was hidden. If he came out of it after the studio was open, everyone would know it was there.

  “If I come down with you now, can I bring my coffee? I don’t care if a sancti yogi judges me.”

  Owen grinned. “I wouldn’t let them. I don’t allow it when it’s aimed at another student.”

  The door they’d come in the night before also had a keypad lock, which Kincaid definitely hadn’t noticed last night. It made him feel better about Owen’s safety, knowing that even if someone found the door downstairs they wouldn’t be able to waltz into Owen’s apartment.

  “I’m horrible about forgetting my keys,” Owen said as they popped open the door downstairs and entered the studio. “That’s why I have the electronic locks.”

  Kincaid ran a hand across the taut fabric over Owen’s ass. “And it’s not like you could hide a set of keys in these shorts, anyway.”

  Owen wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into a kiss. “Just wanted to get that out of the way before students get here and I can’t touch you whenever I want.”

  “You can always touch me,” Kincaid said with a suggestive wink. Something about Owen brought out a playful, flirty side he hadn’t even known he had. Being around Owen was fun. At least, it was fun when he wasn’t obsessing over hiding his crush.

  “How about a late dinner tonight after my last class? I don’t have to teach tomorrow morning.”

  “Are you asking me out on a date?”

  Owen made a face. “I guess I am. Does it count if I’ve already decided I want to keep you? Then isn’t it just dinner?”

  He helped Owen pull the heavy drapes open, letting light flood into the studio. How many times had he watched Owen from the other side of that window and daydreamed about having this exact conversation with him?

  “I’d love to have dinner with you.”

  Owen leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before disarming the alarm panel and unlocking the front door.

  “How about I pick you up at your apartment like a proper date?”

  That would be awesome. Especially if it didn’t have to end at Kincaid’s front door.

  “How about you bring workout gear and you can spend the night and go with me on my run tomorrow morning?”

  He was just assuming Owen ran. Someone as fit as Owen couldn’t only do yoga, could he? It wasn’t essential that Owen ran, but it would be nice to be able to share that part of his life with him.

  “Sounds like a perfect Saturday morning, especially if we can do brunch after. But don’t think I’m going to let you go farther than you should. I know you aren’t released to long runs yet. You’re probably at what, three miles? Four?”

  “Three and a half,” Kincaid admitted.

  “We’ll get you back up to marathon pace,” Owen said. “Maui, isn’t that your next one?”

  “That’s the goal, yeah.”

  “How about we make the goal that I’m there with you?”

  “Cheering me on?”

  “How about running beside you?”

  Kincaid’s heart leaped. “I like that goal.”

  The door opened, and a stream of people ambled in, all carrying colorful yoga mats and looking much more awake than the early hour merited.

  Owen shot him a private smile and headed up to the front of the classroom. He hit a button on the wall and soft music started, which seemed to be a cue to the students to stop talking and sit on their mats.

  “Welcome, welcome. Find a spot and let’s leave room at the back for latecomers. If this is your first class at H’Ohmies, we’re glad to have you. If this is not your first class, thanks for coming back, and we’re glad to have you too.”

  Kincaid grabbed a spot up at the front. He used one of the studio’s mats, and he couldn’t stop the blush that flooded his cheeks when he remembered what he and Owen had been doing on mats like this one last night.

  “This is a vinyasa flow class. The most important thing to remember is that no matter what poses I’m calling out, you have to trust your body and listen to what it’s telling you. Feel free to modify poses whenever you need. One of the key tenets to vinyasa is staying with your breath, which means if you need to slow your flow down or take a rest pose, do it.”

  Owen laid out his mat and sat.

  “Normally we start with some standing asanas to get warmed up, but today I’m going to start with something different. We’re going to do a variation of child’s pose that’s called anahatasana, or melting heart pose.”

  Kincaid followed Owen’s lead and came up onto all fours.

  “From here we’re going to stretch our arms forward and let our hearts melt into the mat. Think about the way your heart feels heavy and full when you’re falling in love. Bring your chest down to the mat and really arch that back up, keeping those sitz bones up in the air to give you a good stretch through your chest and spine.”

  Owen matched his words with the action, then continued, “This pose is a heart opener, so it’s an ideal pose for us to use to set our intention for our practice today. Take any stress or upset and ball it up. Push it toward the mat and let it melt out, leaving room for healing and happiness. Think about what you want out of your practice today. Maybe you’re starting a new relationship or taking on new responsibilities at work. Dedicate your practice today to giving yourself the positive energy you need to move forward with your plans. To throw yourself into your goals or allow yourself to be open to sharing your life with someone who means a lot to you.”

  Kincaid opened his eyes and snuck a glance up at the front of the room. Owen was sitting at the top of his mat, eyes fixed on Kincaid as he spoke. Warmth flooded Kincaid’s chest, opening his heart more than any yoga pose could. The reality of being in a class with his dreamboat was better than any of his fantasies.

  “As you continue to relax deeper into anahatasana, clear your mind of any baggage you brought with you today. Any doubts or fears. Those niggling insecurities that stand in between you and happiness. Relax into the pose and know that a melting heart is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. We are all capable of love, we all deserve love, and we all are loved.”

  More from Bru Baker

  Craft store owner Grant has always been a sucker for a pretty face, and that goes double for a pretty face with an adorable sidekick. When seven-year-old Aubrey has her heart set on taking Grant’s already-full holiday craft series, he caves and gives up his one day off a week so she (and her hot guardian, Josh) can take private lessons. Their flirting ramps up week after week, and even though Josh isn’t with Aubrey’s mother, Grant can’t be sure the man isn’t straight. Maybe he’s just being friendly. And Josh, who most definitely is not straight, is afraid of being the creepy guy hitting on the teacher.

  Frustrated by their stubbornness and cluelessness, Aubrey takes matters into her own hands. She decides the best gift to give Josh is something homemade and from the heart—a boyfriend they’ll both love.

  Something in Jake’s relationship with Connor is changing, and not for the better. The only thing that’s been growing between them recently is silence, and when Connor starts lying about where he’s been and slipping out of bed at night, Jake fears the worst.

  Jake gets the surprise of his life when he finds out what Connor has really been doing. It couldn’t be further from what he’d expected. Instead of ending the relationship, Connor has been building up to taking the next step together with a huge romantic surprise for Jake.

  The scare shows Jake what’s really important, and the ordeal might make them stronger and bring them closer together than ever before.

 
Everyone wishes they were dead when wandering the purgatory of a home furnishings store, but these guys actually are.

  Benji Goss is the quintessential good guy. When his boyfriend dumps him and moves out, Benji obligingly keeps the cat—even though he’s allergic—because his ex’s new place doesn’t accept pets. He’s always joked the cat would be the death of him, but not in a way he expects when a feline mishap crushes him under a DEL TORO bookcase.

  Snarky loner Patrick Bryant is in such a rut he barely remembers the life he used to lead. The last thing he recalls is being decapitated by a DEL TORO bookcase in a freak accident. As a spiritual CASA resident, he haunts the aisles of affordable Italian furniture, assisting fellow spirits in moving on to their final destinations.

  When Benji appears in the CASA café, Patrick considers the naïve spirit just the man to cure his boredom. Benji’s relentless optimism chips away at Patrick’s sarcasm, making him question if there’s something beyond what he can see. But the heart is like CASA furniture—there’s always some assembly required.

  Connoll Pack

  Love sneaks in like a thief in the night.

  Danny’s parents raised him to believe his wolf was a curse. He’s part of the wealthy and powerful Connoll Pack, but only nominally. He abandoned that world to volunteer with supernatural kids, and he isn’t looking for a mate….

  Max is a shifter who is also a detective. He’s working a case that could make or break his career. Danny’s caught up in the case he’s on, and he’s also irresistible. They’re a bad match—Max, an Alpha having trouble with his new powers and Danny, who trusts Alphas as far as he could throw one. But they can’t get enough of each other, and they might bond before they even see it coming.

  They could be amazing together, but they have to get past a few obstacles—especially since someone close to Danny might be involved in the thefts Max is investigating.

  Crossing the border into love.

  Snap decisions and misguided ideas bring Portuguese national Mateus Fontes and businessman Crawford Hargrave together at the Canadian border crossing.

  Mateus is caught in a catch-22. With his almost-expired tourist visa, entrance to Canada is denied, but the US won’t let him back in either. Crawford thinks he’s solved things when he tells the border agent they’re engaged, and it works—except now they have to actually get married before either of them can get back into the United States. But Crawford has been burned by marriage once, and he’s determined not to make that mistake again.

  Neither of them expects real feelings to bloom out of their fake marriage, but they do. And the two of them have to learn how to be honest with each other to make things work, which is especially hard when their entire marriage is based on lies.

  BRU BAKER got her first taste of life as a writer at the tender age of four, when she started publishing a weekly newspaper for her family. What they called nosiness she called a nose for news, and no one was surprised when she ended up with degrees in journalism and political science and started a career in journalism.

  Bru spent more than a decade writing for newspapers before making the jump to fiction. She now works in reference and readers’ advisory in a Midwestern library, though she still finds it hard to believe someone’s willing to pay her to talk about books all day. Most evenings you can find her curled up with a book or her laptop. Whether it’s creating her own characters or getting caught up in someone else’s, there’s no denying that Bru is happiest when she’s engrossed in a story. She and her husband have two children, which means a lot of her books get written from the sidelines of various sports practices.

  Website: www.bru-baker.com

  Blog: www.bru-baker.blogspot.com

  Twitter: @bru_baker

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/bru.baker79

  Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/6608093.Bru_Baker

  Email: [email protected]

  By Bru Baker

  All in a Day’s Work

  Branded

  The Buyout

  Campfire Confessions

  Diving In

  Downward Facing Dreamboat

  Holidays Are Where Your Heart Is

  Homemade from the Heart

  King of the Kitchen

  Late Bloomer

  The Magic of Weihnachten

  More Than Okay

  With Lex Chase: Some Assembly Required

  Talk Turkey

  Traditions from the Heart

  DREAMSPUN BEYOND

  CAMP H.O.W.L.

  #7 – Camp H.O.W.L.

  #22 – Under a Blue Moon

  #28 – Hiding In Plain Sight

  CONNOLL PACK

  #36 – Stealing His Heart

  DREAMSPUN DESIRES

  #31 – Tall, Dark, and Deported

  DROPPING ANCHOR

  Island House

  Finding Home

  Playing House

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Downward Facing Dreamboat

  © 2019 Bru Baker

  Cover Art

  © 2019 Reece Notley

  [email protected]

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-746-9

  Digital eBook published December 2019

  v. 1.0

  Printed in the United States of America