Gay Lovers in China: Gay Travel Inc. Book 4

The final book in the "Gay Travel Inc." series is out today!

"Gay Lovers in China" (MM) by Berengaria Brown "Gay Travel Inc." book 4

Tyler Robbins, the owner of Gay Travel Inc., decides to send four of his best—and single—travel agents to different continents to report on romantic travel venues there. Raymond Marsh is sent to China.

Eric Yu is a travel agent, a gay man in a land where homosexuality still isn’t widely accepted. He longs to move to the land of his mother, America, but first he needs a job. When Tyler asks him to act as a guide for Ray, Eric is determined not to ruin his one big chance.

Ray finds Beijing hot and humid but there's an endless array of amazing cultural sites dating back four thousand years to see, plus his rather delicious looking guide. Eric takes Ray to the usual tourist venues. He does his utmost to be the perfect guide. But Ray senses he is hiding a problem behind his bland façade.

Can Eric open up and share his secrets with Ray?

Buy link: http://www.bookstrand.com/book/gay-lovers-in-china

STORY EXCERPT

The moment he’d received the e-mail from Tyler Robbins of Gay Travel Inc., he’d known this would be his one opportunity to easily make the transfer to his mother’s homeland where he could finally follow his sexual preference. Much as he loved China, and he’d been happy here, the idea of living in a land where he could openly follow his sexual desires was incredibly appealing. However, to do that he would need not just an American mother, but also a hope of employment. Eric knew if he could demonstrate to Tyler how good a travel agent he was, then his ability to speak Mandarin as fluently as English would bring genuine benefit to the company and, he hoped, win him a job.
He was determined to do his utmost to show Mr. Marsh the splendors of Beijing and had spent the time between receiving Mr. Robbins’s e-mail and Mr. Marsh’s arrival studying every possible venue Mr. Marsh might wish to visit.
He wanted to talk to his client to learn the places he most wished to visit, but right now Mr. Marsh was busy watching out the window and taking pictures so it wasn’t an appropriate time to distract him. When the train was about to arrive at Dongcheng, Eric cleared his throat and said, “Mr. Marsh, you will need to follow me please. Here we change lines. We must catch the Xicheng line now.”
Eric took charge of his client’s suitcase and led the way. Unfortunately the Xicheng line was the second oldest line, older than him, and not as beautiful as the airport line, but it looped around the heart of the city and took people everywhere they needed to go.
Providentially, Mr. Marsh was still busy looking around himself at everything and not condemnatory although likely he was tired after his long flight. Eric made a mental note not to tire him out too much.
It was only a few blocks from the station to the hotel, but they’d only gone a few paces on the street, when his client said, “Wait up a minute.”
Obediently Eric stopped and looked at Mr. Marsh, who removed his jacket, tied it to his backpack, and then said, “Is it always this hot here?”
It didn’t seem hot to Eric, but he answered cautiously. “July is summer in Beijing. If you wish, a T-shirt and shorts are permissible attire in most places. If you tell me your itinerary and the sites you most want to visit, we can leave anywhere that requires the covering of the skin until a cooler day.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
They began walking again, and his guest appeared relieved when they entered the hotel, which was, of course, air conditioned. Eric waved to the chairs in the foyer area. “I will wait here while you check in and then perhaps you can tell me what you would like me to arrange for tomorrow.”
Eric checked his cell phone. The top temperature for today had been ninety, which was about average for July, and the humidity was eighty, which was just a fraction higher than normal. He would need to remember his client found that combination hot before planning a day to the Great Wall. The problem was that for the best pictures, the tour of the Great Wall needed to be on a day with no fog. Everyone knew that air pollution in Beijing could be a problem, but no one ever called it anything other than fog in public.
He scrolled through the forecast for the next few days. Today was Tuesday. Friday was predicted to be a low of sixty-eight and a top of eighty-eight with forty percent humidity. That would be suitable.
Already Eric found himself automatically converting the temperatures on his cell phone from Celsius to Fahrenheit so he could provide them in an understandable format for the American. He also reminded himself to bring mosquito repellant. The rain brought out biting insects and that would not be good for tourism.
Mr. Marsh returned just then and said, “Come up to my room. We can get a cold drink and talk there.”
At once Eric was embarrassed that he hadn’t thought to provide cold water or hot tea for his guest. That was a bad mistake and one he wouldn’t repeat tomorrow. He followed his client into the elevator and up to the sixth floor and smiled as Mr. Marsh opened the door to Room 606. “This is a good room. Good for business,” he said.
His client didn’t appear to be listening. He walked across to the air conditioner and turned it onto high speed then lowered the temperature setting several degrees. Eric waited just inside the door.
“Can you please ask room service to deliver a couple of ice-cold beers? Plus whatever you’d like. And a snack for us both. Whatever is usual for an evening snack. Tell them to add it to my room account. Then we can plan tomorrow as you asked.”
“You don’t wish to see the menu?”
“No. I’d rather have whatever the locals are having. To get a feel for the culture here.”
Eric did as he said and then waited once again.
His client had pulled off his shirt, removed his shoes and socks, and was standing in front of the air conditioning unit, clearly trying to cool down. His abs and pecs were well defined, his chest a solid wall of muscle. Across his right side was a swirling tattoo of vine leaves and tribal markings surrounding a dagger, and on his left shoulder was a map of the world with parts of it colored blue, red, and green.
When the doorbell rang, Eric looked at Mr. Marsh, unsure if he should answer, but the American stepped forward as the waiter wheeled the food cart in and placed the tray on the small table. Mr. Marsh signed the account, thanked the waiter, and closed the door. “Thank God. Let’s eat. And talk.”
Then Eric’s jaw dropped open in surprise as his client unzipped his jeans and stepped out of them, revealing tight blue boxer briefs. Wearing nothing but his underwear, he sat at the table and waved at Eric to join him.

Buy link: http://www.bookstrand.com/book/gay-lovers-in-china