Roughhousing

by Laura Baumbach

Overview

James and Bram are back in this sequel to the bestselling A Bit of Rough! They've been dating a while now, but James is still unsure about his feelings for Bram. He's rushed into things before, and it's always backfired on him, so James wants to take it slow. Bram is so forceful, though, so sexy and convincing that it's hard to stand fast against him. In fact, Bram is the one steady thing in James' life, when everything else seems to be shifting like sand under his feet. His job is getting stressful, his apartment is getting dangerous, and James knows he's teetering on the brink of change, but is unsure what to choose. When a project at work seems to have fallen under Bram's influence through the old boy network, James decides to back off and tell Bram they have to cool down their heated relationship. Bram is willing to accommodate James - to a point. But what happens when self-assured Bram has had enough of James' insecurity? Taking up where A Bit of Rough left off, Roughhousing opens up Bram and James' relationship, following along as they become a real couple, and face the troubles that come from trying to blend two lives and two independent personalities. Their need for each other burns as hot as ever, but will that be enough to build a life on? This is a re-issued title.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608204328
Publisher:	MLR Press
Publication date:	09/02/2011
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.49(d)

Read an Excerpt

"You've got great architectural structure, but I don't see you as the drafting board type. I know I haven't seen you around Dunn and Piper. I'm new, but not that unobservant. I'd have remembered those shoulders of yours."

Bram Lord turned away from the fresh-faced, flirtatious bartender mixing drinks behind the portable mirrored bar. Taking a sip of his drink, he glanced down and to his left in the direction the sharp, slightly mocking, feminine voice had come from. At six foot six plus, Bram had to look down at most people and the petite, rail thin brunette was no exception. He raised one eyebrow and gave the smirking, green-eyed woman a sultry smile of his own.

Wrapped in a skin tight, black cocktail dress with a single strand of white pearls nestled into the tiny valley of her barely there cleavage, the woman stared up at Bram and ran the tip of her tongue over her upper lip in a brazen gesture of seduction.

Holding her stare with his own icy blue gaze, Bram winked at her and said, "Actually, I love drafting boards. They can take a lot of weight and you can adjust them to get the best angle and height when you're working on a special project." Bram's could feel one corner of his mouth quirk slightly. "And having the right angle is so important, wouldn't you say, Ms..."

"Harper. Stella Harper, newest and only female architect to join Dunn and Piper." The woman was attractive in a crisp, predatory way. Her dark brown hair reflected her manners, sharp-edged with a dangerous cut to it. She ran a suggestive finger over the thick muscles prominent under the layers of Bram's dress shirt and dinner jacket. "And you would be..."

"Unavailable, but flattered."He winked at her again and took a sip of his drink, cool gaze never leaving her sultry one.

Stella's smirking lips pursed for a moment before relaxing into something closer to a real smile. A playful twinkle replaced the predatory gleam in her eyes and she dropped her hand from his arm.

"I knew you were too great a catch to be single. I'm always a couple years late or two drinks ahead of everyone else in the room." She turned to face the mingling crowd, leaning against the bar with a dramatic sigh. "All the good ones are taken."

Bram smiled and settled next to her, studying the people talking and laughing in small groups around the Dunn's spacious, elegant living room. He automatically picked out a familiar head of dark curly hair in a group of people surrounding a frail, older, but still beautiful woman in a wheelchair. He sipped his drink and admired the way the man's well-cut trousers clung to lean thighs.

A small light of budding desire warmed him as the man crouched down in front of the wheelchair bound woman to talk with her at her eye level. The thin fabric of his trousers stretched enticingly over the curve of the man's small, firm buttocks. Bram's lover was a shy, attractive young man.

Glancing around at the people surrounding his lover, Bram noticed several other people, both men and women, admiring the same view he was. A burst of possessive pride shot through him and landed in his cock. It stirred and grew, pressing lightly against the silk fabric of his black boxers. Everyone in the room could look at the man, but he knew who James Justin, favored junior architect of Dunn and Piper, was going home with. Tonight and every other night of his life, if Bram had any say in the matter.