Bleu Balls
(Balls to the Wall Series #7)
By Tara Lain
Blurb:
Double trouble. The McMillan twins, Robin and Bobby, are renowned for their talents—both as fine artists and for thrilling the various men who catch their eyes. As different in style and personality as their DNA is identical, they’re nonetheless best friends who divide and conquer, with Robin doing the serious painting and Bobby adding the sunny salesmanship.
But when their most important client decides Bobby must wield the paintbrush, the brothers revert to childhood tactics and switch places. Then along comes Micah, a handsome doctor who’s attracted to Bobby but invites Robin out to try to please his homophobic brother, and Paolo, the pain-in-the-butt client who thinks he’s wooing Bobby when he’s actually after Robin. Paolo harbors his own hidden pain that weirdly intersects with Robin’s, but pride and privacy conspire to produce what will either be a masterpiece—or end up as Dogs Playing Poker.
Available for pre-order
Also Available in Paperback
Release Date
January 9, 2018
Excerpt
Anson said, “This is Paolo Lind. His architectural firm
designed this building and is its largest tenant.”
Robin stared right at the man. “Cool.”
Lind nodded but said nothing. He glanced up, met Robin’s
gaze for an electric instant, and then shifted away. Ridiculous that a man so
gorgeous should be such an asshole.
Anson said, “So, Ms. Etheridge, show us what you
brought.”
Valerie stood her tablet on the table and began scrolling
through photos of their projects. “As you’ll see, the McMillan brothers have
the scope and grandeur to handle a project of this size but still maintain a
contemporary, even leading-edge look. No kitsch that murals tend to fall into
because the artist doesn’t know what to do in that large a work.”
She was doing a good job. Robin tried to listen, but his gaze
kept drifting to the architectural masterpiece across the table.
She pulled out a portfolio of drawings and sketches to
give them a sense of the immediacy of their work. “You can see the boldness of
line and form.”
The architect stared at Robin’s portfolio with a slight
crease between his dark, arched brows. Suddenly he looked up. “Excuse me, but
we’ve already seen their work for others. Do you have a design to show us or
not?”
Valerie paused for a fraction of a second too long, but then
she dove in. “Mr. Lind, to do a design for a project of this size would require
many, many hours of time—all on speculation. My clients are sought-after
artists.”
Lind pushed the portfolio across the wide, slick table.
“So are all the people we’re considering for this project. Obviously, your
clients must not value the commission.”
Well, shit.
Robin grabbed the portfolio. At the back were some sketches, and he ripped one
from the plastic sleeve that held it. He turned it over and pulled three
markers from his pocket—he didn’t leave home without them. Bold lines flowed
across the paper as he drew. He glanced up at Lind, who stared at Robin’s
moving hand. “So tell me. Do you design a lot of buildings on spec, darling?”
Lind scowled at him. Robin looked back at the drawing and took his thumb, wet
it, and smudged some of the lines. “Yeah, no, right? Because all you have to
sell is your design talent. Just like me. This building we’re sitting in is a
really good design. Not the best I’ve ever seen, but really good for Orange
County. You need a mural that reflects that design, and you’re a good enough
architect to know with one glance that I’m that guy.”
He kept drawing, slashing lines and swirling in flashes
of golden yellow, but the main theme was blue, baby. With a sneer, he slid the
abstract, wild, free creation across the table and stood up. “You can keep
this, because no matter who else you hire, they can’t begin to do what my
brother and I can do. But you’ll fuck up your building because, for whatever
reason, after an acquaintance of thirty seconds, you don’t like me. Maybe you
don’t like gay guys in eyeliner. Maybe you’re just an asshole. Hell, you want
reasons to dislike me? You should get to know me. I can give you a boatload of reasons,
but not liking my earrings is a pretty dumbass basis on which to choose an
artist, and you, of all people, should know that.” He leaned over, signed the
drawing with a flourish, flicked his fingers, and made the paper jump. “Good
luck with your building.”
He crossed the conference room and walked out just as the
sportswear chick yelled, “You tell ’em, cutie.”
The Balls to the Wall Series
Volley Balls
Bk #1
Available to purchase at
Kindle | Nook | Kobo | iTunes | Dreamspinner Press
Fire Balls
Bk #2
Available to purchase at
Beach Balls
Bk #3
Bk #3
Available to purchase at
Snow Balls
Bk #4
Available to purchase at
FAST Balls
Bk #5
Available to purchase at
High Balls
Bk #6
Bk #6
Available for purchase at
Prefer paperback?
The first and second book are now available in paperback!
About the Author
Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 32. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Paranormal Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. She lives with her soul-mate husband and her soul-mate dog near the sea in California where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!
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