Stubbed Toes and Dating Woes

BLURB Will their treasure hunt lead them to true love or fool’s gold? Niclas Ruiz loves digging in the dirt for ancient artifacts. He’s obsessed with old words and lives in his own world. His summers are often spent traveling to new places to hunt for treasure with his trusty metal detector while trying not to get lost or stumble off a cliff. Love has never been high on his priority list. His being autistic and asexual has often been a hurdle for other people. But he’s happy enough to plod along on his own with his horde like a fairy-tale dragon. But sometimes, he allows himself to dream about a man out of his reach. Two things about Falk “Grizz” Evensen are certain. He runs a successful security firm and has been hopelessly in love with his best friend’s younger brother for many years. Neither of them has ever dared to test the waters. When Niclas plans to visit Cornwall for the summer, his older brother convinces Falk to join him under the auspices of keeping him safe. Is this May-December romance doomed to be derailed by fears of unrequited love? Will their treasure hunt lead them to true love or fool’s gold? ALSO BY DAHLIA DONOVAN The Grasmere Cottage Mystery Trilogy Dead in the Garden | Dead in the Pond | Dead in the Shop Motts Cold Case Mystery Series Poisoned Primrose |Pierced Peony | Pickled Petunia | Purloined Poinsettia London Podcast Mystery Series Cosplay Killer | Ghost Light Killer | Crown Court Killer Stand-alone Romances After the Scrum | At War With A Broken Heart | Forged in Flood | Found You | By the Fire | One Last Heist | Pure Dumb Luck |Here Comes The Son | All Lathered Up | Not Even A Mouse | Farm to Fabre | The Misguided Confession The Sin Bin (Complete Series) The Wanderer | The Caretaker | The Royal Marine | The Botanist | The Unexpected Santa | The Lion Tamer | Haka Ever After | Complete Box Set Stubbed Toes & Dating Woes © 2023 by Dahlia Donovan All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any written, electronic, recorded, or photocopied format without the express permission from the author or publisher as allowed under the terms and conditions with which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution, circulation or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly. Thank you for respecting the work of this author. Stubbed Toes & Dating Woes is a work of fiction. All names, characters, events and places found therein are either from the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to persons alive or dead, actual events, locations, or organizations is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author. For information, contact the publisher, Hot Tree Publishing. www.hottreepublishing.com Editing: Hot Tree Editing Cover Designer: BooksSmith Design E-book ISBN: 978-1-922679-58-1 Paperback ISBN: 978-1-922679-60-4 STUBBED TOES & DATING WOES DAHLIA DONOVAN HOT TREE PUBLISHING CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Also by Dahlia Donovan Acknowledgments About the Author About the Publisher To Bacon, my own little elderly furbaby CHAPTER 1 NICLAS “Happy birthday to me.” Niclas came up out of the middle of the River Wylve, eyeing the muddy coins in his hand. He shifted his waterproof metal detector under his other arm. “Well, aren’t you pretty specimens?” “Oi. Professor Dirt. Swim this way. I’ve brought cake.” His brother whistled sharply from the riverbank. “C’mon, Nic, I’d wager you forgot lunch.” “I didn’t.” Niclas glowered at his older brother, Izan. “I had breakfast. Who are you wagering with? It’s just you.” “Ready Brek dosed with more sugar than is healthy doesn’t count as a meal.” Izan grinned at him while Niclas grumbled under his breath. “Stop cursing at me in ye olde English. You could just use ‘fuck.’ The world won’t end if you do.” “I enjoy using old words. It’s fun. ‘Sard’ basically means ‘fuck’ anyway.” Niclas collected interesting curses almost as much as he did ancient artefacts. “Etymology is fascinating.” “And people think you’re talking about sardines or something.” Izan dodged the spray of water Niclas sent at him. “Are you coming or not? I can hear your stomach grumbling from over here.” “No, you can’t.” The Ruiz brothers were polar opposites in many aspects despite being almost identical in looks. They were often teased for being twins born ten years apart. Both had dark brown eyes and hair. Izan kept his close-cut, while Niclas had a shaggy, longish mane of wavy curls. The differences only expanded from there. Niclas was a twenty-eight-year-old autistic man. His hands were scarred from years of working on archaeological digs for the British Museum, though in all honesty, he blamed his own clumsiness for most of his healed injuries. His entire life revolved around archiving treasures and hunting for them in his spare time. Izan had served in the military—and hadn’t struggled with anything other than a drive to push himself harder and farther than anyone else around him. He stood both taller and a little broader than his younger brother. Protective by nature, he tended toward an organised and regimented life, not something Niclas found interesting or comfortable. For Niclas, a lot of life had been a struggle. He’d worked harder to keep up when others found things easy. It was sometimes exhausting. Things in general often came easily to Izan. On the other hand, Niclas stumbled his way into success and failure in equal measure, often with a bruise or two to show for his effort. Spatial awareness had always been an issue for him—thanks to being