Lockleigh Elise Beckman is placed on my chest and tucked inside my gown so we’re skin to skin. I stroke my finger down my daughter’s cheek and I can’t remember ever feeling anything so soft. “I already love her so much. I didn’t know it was going to feel this way.”
Porter hasn’t taken his eyes off Lockleigh and me. “I knew you’d look good holding my baby.”
An awkward teenage girl falls in love with her father’s handsome boss and later becomes his wife and mother of his children. My life is a fairy tale come true. And now it’s time to live out our happily ever after.
THE END
It is my greatest hope that you enjoyed Porter. I appreciate the time you invested in my story… in my words… in a part of me.
I would be honored and grateful if you choose to leave a review.
Continue reading to enjoy an excerpt of Tap and Stout.
A faceless name. That's all she was when I agreed to play a part in deceiving her. But then the unplanned happened.
We met. And all I wanted from her was a dirty weekend… until that wasn't enough and I longed for so much more.
Lawrence Thorn suddenly means the world to me. And that's a problem. She's my business partner's sister. Forbidden fruit. Pursuing her can mean trouble for me at Lovibond Brewery. But I don't care.
I yearn for her skin against mine.
I crave her smell on my body.
I want to make her laugh and then hear her moan my name.
And she does for a brief moment in time.
But Lawrence wants more than I'm able to give. And it's a damn shame because there's no one on earth I want more than her.
An epic love.
A miserable ending.
Unless it's not.
***Note from Georgia—Tap is one of three books in the Men of Lovibond collection. Each novel will feature a different couple and can be read as a standalone. HEA. No cheating. No cliffhangers.
This quarter’s sales are profitable. Damn profitable. Buying into Lovibond Brewery as a partner four years ago has proven to be a wise decision. Oliver Thorn, Porter Beckman, and I are becoming three increasingly wealthy men.
The opportunity to financially back this company during its infancy couldn’t have presented itself at a better time. My life had been in a shambles.
Miserable in my business.
A failed marriage.
My wife and my business partner in love… with each other.
My world was a complete clusterfuck.
A knock on my office door steals my attention from the numbers. And the past. “Hey, Tap. You got a minute?”
“Sure.”
Stout enters, shutting the door behind him. He never does that.
Oliver Thorn, aka Stout and my business partner, shrinks into the chair across from me. He’s hunched with his forearms resting on his thighs. His face is nearly hidden in his palms. This isn’t the typical carefree Stout who launches himself into the chair opposite me and kicks up his heels onto the edge of my desk to annoy the fuck out of me. The disheveled guy in front of me looks… defeated.
I’m silent as I wait for him to look up at me. But he doesn’t. This is weird. Stout never acts like this.
Maybe I should prompt him to say something. Anything. “I was just going over the numbers. They’re up again. This time by thirteen point nine percent. That’s almost two times what they were last quarter.” Unbelievable how quickly this company is growing.
It began with two college guys brewing beer in their apartment. They dreamed of turning their hobby into a multimillion-dollar company. I was taken aback when Porter approached me about buying in as a partner. I was his boss. Although I wasn’t much older, he and Stout had seemed like a pair of naïve college graduates with zero business experience. Dreamers. But then I sampled the product and knew these guys had something marketable on their hands.
That was four years and several million dollars ago.
The founding fathers of Lovibond Brewery have been called many things. Lords of the hops. Masters of the craft. Top hops. Brew brothers. Boot keggers. The list is endless. The pair know and understand the science and production behind manufacturing high-quality, good-tasting ale. Money-making beer. Interesting direction given their backgrounds in chemical engineering and graphic design. And that’s where I come in. I’m the business and finance guy. Supply and demand. Numbers. Dollars. Evaluation. Return. Those are the things I know and understand. They need me. And I need them.
I trust Stout and Porter to produce a top quality product. They have confidence in me to manage all business and financial aspects. Each of us does his part. That’s why we make a great trio.
Stout still isn’t talking. Guess I’ll have to probe. “I’m assuming you shut the door because you want to speak privately.”
“Yeah. I’ve been having a hard time since things ended with Eden.” No shit. He’s been on a three-month party streak. Booze and women.
“The last few months haven’t been your finest.” I’m pretty sure Stout has partied harder the last few months than his entire college career at Alabama.
“I have a problem.”
Stout turned to the party life to numb the pain of an ugly breakup. I guess most guys have done that at one time or another, but he took it beyond anything considered reasonable. Not the best way to deal when you have beer within your reach at any given time. “I’m glad to hear you’re taking charge before it spirals out of control.”
“Got a little out of control already. I spent the night in the slammer last weekend. Got a DUI.”
Oh, hell. A DUI conviction stays on your record for five years in the state of Alabama. “I can’t believe this shit, Stout. You’re a partner in a company advocating responsible drinking with a designated driver. Do you understand how that looks?”
“Trust me. I know.” He runs his hand through his hair and sighs. “I’m working with an attorney. He’s almost certain he’ll be able to get me out of it.”
“Avoiding a conviction only fixes part of the problem.” This could mean bad publicity for Lovibond if word gets out.
“My attorney says he’s certain we can divert my case out of the court system and avoid a criminal record if I go through a rehabilitation program.”
“That’s your only option?”
“I can fight it. Maybe I win. Maybe I don’t. But one thing’s for sure if I don’t do the program: I’m fucked if I lose the case.” That’s not good for anyone involved.
“Then you don’t have a choice.” Stout is going to rehab. Probably not a bad place for him, considering the amount of partying he’s been doing. He’ll have time to dry out.
“There’s a hitch.” Isn’t there always? “There isn’t a place for me in an outpatient program. I have to enter a thirty-day inpatient program.”
“Inpatient for thirty days?” Fuck.
Porter will have to pick up Stout’s load. I’m not sure how he’ll handle more work at this point; he’s already snowed under with his own responsibilities. We all are. “You think Porter can take on your work load as well?”
Southern Taste Beer Festival is just around the corner, and we’re in charge of hosting the event this year. Sixteen breweries will be traveling to our home turf in Birmingham for the festivities. It’s a ton of preparation even when we join forces. Being short a partner won’t be helpful.
“I’ve arranged to hire an assistant for him while I’m away, even if he doesn’t like it. Molly is working with a temp service to line up interviews.”
At least he’s making preparations for his absence. “We’ll do what it takes to make things work while you’re away. Just concentrate on getting your shit together.”
“That’s the plan.”
I’m no stranger to how a man can let his life spin out of control. “You’ll pull things together.”
“I have to. If not for myself, I have to do it for Lawrence.”
I try to place who he’s talking about but I’m stumped. “Lawrence?”
&n
bsp; “My sister, Lawry.”
Lawrence. Lawry. I should have been able to make that connection. “Right. I’m sure you don’t want to disappoint her.”
“I don’t. And that’s why I’m not planning to let her know I’m in a substance abuse program. She’d freak if she knew.” I’ve always been under the impression he was close to his sister. I’m surprised he’d keep something like this from her.
All this time as his partner and I’ve not met his sister. Never even spoken to her. “You don’t have to worry about me saying a word. I’m sure Porter won’t tell her anything either.”
“I know neither of you will rat me out, but I have a kink in my plan. The program won’t allow me to bring my phone into the facility. That’s a problem because I text or talk to my sister almost every day. She’ll know something is up if I go radio silent.”
“What kind of shit program cuts you off from your friends and family?” That’s his support system.
“They don’t cut you off. I can make calls from the pay phone and have visitors on Sundays.” I can see how that’s going to be an issue if they have daily contact.
“Have you come up with an explanation to explain your disappearance?”
“I have but I’m not sure you’re going to like it.” Stout closes his eyes and peeks at me through a squint. “I need you to be me while I’m gone.”
Well, that’s just dumb as hell. I laugh aloud because the idea is so idiotic.
“You want me to be you? You must be drunk right now because that makes zero sense. No way I could pass myself off as you to your sister.” She knows his voice. Plus, I’m Cajun. She’d hear one word out of me and immediately know I’m not him.