Happy Monday, Readers!
Have you used Booksprout? If you haven’t you’re missing out. I use them as a writer and a reader and overall, I’ve been happy on both sides of the aisle. As a reader, I scrolled through the offerings of lots of books by talented authors I already love such as BJ Wane, Ashe Barker, and January Bain. I’ve also been able to check out the work of some authors that are new to me and all for FREE!
How does it work?
It’s very easy. Readers sign up for a free account, pick a book they agree to review on Booksprout and at specific retailers within the allotted time (usually about two weeks). They read the book and leave an honest review. Super simple!
I’ve been looking to get some reviews for Baby Makes Four so currently, there are a few ARCs up for grabs on Booksprout. If you enjoy smoking hot MMF menage romance, I recommend grabbing your copy before they’re all gone.
Click here to claim your copy of Baby Makes Four!
Here’s a teaser to help you decide:
Chapter One
Thursday, September 6, 2001—Mid-morning
* * * * *
The smell of fresh-from-the-oven biscuits and sizzling bacon hung in the air as Thomas Marks sat across from his father, Dr. Randall Marks, at the family restaurant where they had agreed to meet for breakfast. The old diner’s wagon wheel wallpaper and chestnut wood tables provided a comfortable sense of familiarity, but his dad’s stiffness, slow speech, and carefully chosen words filled Tommy’s gut with anxiety.
“How was the medical conference?”
“Riveting,” Dr. Marks replied with a roll of his eyes followed by a genuine smile. “So how’s Trisha getting along?” His dad’s gaze seemed to crawl all over his face as if he were observing every blink and twitch.
Tommy stared at his toast and scrambled eggs, moving the yellow bits around with his fork as he answered, “Well, you know…about to pop and snapping like a turtle. San Antonio heat is brutal for expectant mothers.”
“Yes, I would imagine so. Austin wasn’t much easier on your mom, my dear fourth child.” Dr. Mark’s serious expression lightened a hair but his blue eyes remained dim and probing.
“I get it. You’re the jedi. I’m the padawan.” He chuckled before taking a bite of bacon.
“So…Ken must be excited.” Dr. Marks finally dropped the hammer.
Tommy’s muscles tensed. He wiped his mouth with a paper napkin before taking a deep breath. “Is there something you feel you need to say, Dad?”
Dr. Mark’s shoulders slumped, and he sighed, his face a mixture of emotions. “I just don’t get it. You say you wanted it this way, and I’ve tried to accept your unique relationship the best I can, but I never expected this thing between the three of you to last. Sharing your wife with your best friend, and now she’s having his baby. I don’t…I know you say you’re happy, but…”
“I am happy.” He touched his head, patting his blond hair to make sure the meticulously gelled-back locks were still in order.
“For now, but those two are getting ready to share a bond you can’t even imagine—not until you have one of your own.” Dr. Marks tapped his fingertips against the tabletop.
“It’s my baby too…legally more so than Ken’s since I’m Trisha’s husband.”
His father grimaced. “Legal, smegal—I’m talking about emotions. The love you hold for your flesh and blood is special. Protecting his own is ingrained in a man’s DNA. You’re on the verge of standing on the sidelines, watching Trisha and Ken share meaningful glances and smiles and a kind of joy that transcends things like a certificate of marriage.”
Tommy’s pulse reacted to the ache in his chest. His dad had probed a sore spot, grinding against some nagging insecurities. Fears of Trisha and Ken growing closer and freezing him out surfaced from time-to-time, but he had always shoved those doubts to the back of his mind. The bond and commitment he shared with Trisha and Ken was solid. He was sure of it.
“And I don’t understand why you had to change your name when you and Trisha got married. I mean, I get Trisha taking your name, but you and her both changing your last names to Marks-Davidson?”
“You can change your name to whatever you want when you get married.” He took a sip of coffee.
Dr. Marks rolled his eyes. “You know that wasn’t what I meant. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. What happens when Ken finally decides to get a wife of his own, and you and Trisha still carry his name?”
He glanced at his dad sideways, tilting his head. “Umm…I’m pretty sure the baby takes Ken’s option of walking away clean off the table. For better or worse, the three of us are committed to each other.”
While rubbing his temples with both hands, Dr. Marks sighed. “I guess it’s too late to turn back now since your wife is already pregnant with another man’s child, but I want you to understand you messed up. When those two hold the baby and decide they want their kid to have a normal childhood with two parents, be prepared to lose your wife and your best friend.
Tommy frowned while shaking his head and balling up his fist into a tight ball under the table. Hearing his dad put such a scenario into words dug a pit in his stomach and filled it with hot sauce. He didn’t want to entertain those thoughts. Ken and Trisha loved him. They would never betray him. Trembling, he placed his hands on the table and exhaled. He couldn’t put off this discussion anymore. He had to come clean. “Dad, you’re missing a very important variable in the equation.”
He stifled his words while his brain worked on a way to tell his traditional-minded father that he and Ken weren’t just friends anymore. After reaching inside his jacket, he pulled a pen out of the inner pocket and grabbed a fresh napkin. He placed the pen’s tip to the thin, white paper and attempted to draw a diagram without ripping his makeshift canvas. He started by forming a triangle and then labeling the top point Trisha. He then designated one point Tommy and the other Ken. He glanced up to scrutinize his father’s expression—Dr. Marks seemed unimpressed so far but watched without comment. As he returned his attention to his draft, Tommy turned the line going from his name to Trisha’s into a two-sided arrow and repeated the process with the line going from Ken’s name to Trisha’s.
Dr. Marks sighed. “Son, I’m a doctor…I pretty much had that figured out.”
“Yeah, but how about this…” He made a few marks, changing the line connecting the points labeled Ken and Tommy into a final two-sided arrow. His cheeks blazed and sweat dampened his hairline as he slid the drawing across to his father.
Dr. Marks examined the smudged napkin for several seconds before his eyes bugged out. “Huh? You and Ken are gay?”
Tommy shivered. He had never seen his dad’s face so pale. “No…I guess the correct term is bisexual though I’ve never been interested in any other guy besides Ken.”
“How long has this been going on? College? High School? We’re the two of you doing those things before you met Trisha?” His dad’s face had gone from ghostly white to firecracker red in a matter of seconds.
“No, please calm down…it’s not like that.” He struggled to keep his voice from cracking.
“So you and Ken aren’t sleeping together and using that poor girl to…”
“Oh, God no!” He tapped his fingers on the tabletop. “Neither Ken nor I would ever use Trisha. We love her, and as for sleeping together…not exactly…not yet.”
After gulping down some coffee, Dr. Marks set his cup on the table and then clasped his hands together. Tommy recognized the gesture. His dad used to do it to quiet his aggravation when one or more of his kids were pushing him over the limit. Dr. Marks focused on his plate for a few seconds before he spoke. “Ok, putting my feelings about that huge blindside away for a moment, my first point stands. Ken and Trisha are going to be sharing a bond that you will have difficulty grasping, and now it seems obvious to me that you are twice as likely to get hurt. That’s what concerns me. I don’t want to see you devastated when the complicated situation you’ve created for yourself unravels.”
His chest throbbed as if some malevolent force had pushed a fist inside and squeezed his heart. His dad wasn’t wrong. Losing either Ken or Trisha would be a huge blow, and he wasn’t sure how he’d recover if something like that ever happened. Still, he trusted both of them with his life and his heart. “I’m not going to get hurt. There are rules. We’ve thought things through. The three of us together forever—it’s what we all want.”
“Are you sure?” Dr. Mark’s asked, staring him down. Tommy shivered, feeling as if his dad’s eyes could burrow into his brain and read the answer all on their own.
“Dad…” He struggled to find the right words.
“Maybe Trisha feels the same but are you sure about Ken?”
“Come on, Dad…what’s that supposed to mean?” His chest expanding as he heaved.
“You and Ken go way back and are very close. Hell, I always thought of him as a second son, but I saw you two more like brothers. You’re indicating you are feeling something different, something intimate. Are you sure Ken is too or does he still see you as a brother?”
Tommy’s lips parted but he didn’t know how to answer. Up until right then, he thought he knew. True, neither man had entered the other when they made love with Trisha, but it was a shared experience…three as one. He and Ken touched and kissed, and sometimes even a little more. “I’m sure.” He hoped he sounded more convincing than he felt.
“Ok, then.” Dr. Marks placed his hand on top of Tommy’s and gently squeezed.
A sense of relief rained over him. “So we’re okay?”
“I love you, son. I always want to be in your life so I have to accept your choices and pray they turn out like you want them to.”
“Thanks, Dad.” He smiled as he picked up his drink and finished it off. “I need to be getting back to work. Ken comes meandering in around nine-forty-five every day. If I leave now, I can beat him to the office and pretend I’ve been toiling away since seven a.m.”
Dr. Marks’ lips curved upward in a wry smile. “Give him hell.”
* * * *
As soon as Ken Davidson walked past the receptionist’s desk and through the entrance to the office he and his partner shared, he heard the door close behind him. He looked over his shoulder in time to see Tommy turning the locking mechanism just before moving up close behind him and slipped his arms around his waist. “Hey there, cowboy.”
Ken stiffened. “Are you nuts? We’re at work. What are you trying to pull anyway?” As Tommy pinned him to the desk, Ken quivered. He closed his eyes, picturing their intimate position. Tommy stood a head taller than him, his broad shoulders rippling as he held Ken’s smaller frame. He stifled a moan as his best friend caressed his chest.
The weight of Tommy’s buff physique rested on Ken’s back as he brushed his lips an inch above his collar. Ken’s heart fluttered, and his knees wobbled. Why now? His co-husband’s constant playing around was bad enough at home but did he have to bring it into their business?
Tommy’s warm breath covered Ken’s ear as he murmured, “What am I trying to pull? Don’t you know?” He explored lower, passing his fingers over Ken’s belt buckle and then lingered on the stiffening bulge in his pants.
“Not cool. Quit fooling around, you idiot.” Ken squirmed but didn’t struggle.
“Don’t be like that.” Tommy’s voice was husky and low. Ken struggled to maintain his composure, but the intoxicating mixture of his sexy friend’s manly scent combining with his vanilla-and-oriental-spice-based cologne made staying in complete control impossible. Ken’s lips parted as he took a heady whiff and nearly lost his determination to resist.
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Oh, my!
So I hope that was as good for you as it was for me! Be sure to grab your ARC before they’re all gone: Click here to claim your copy of Baby Makes Four!
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