Hi peeps, we have B.A. Tortuga popping in today with the cover to her upcoming release Real World, the second book in her Love is Blind series. We have a great excerpt, so check out the stunning cover and enjoy the excerpt! <3 ~Pixie~

Real World

B.A. Tortuga

Dan White is trying to acclimate to civilian life after a long career in the military with multiple combat deployments.

Now he’s home in the Austin area, living with his brother Dixon, Dixon’s husband, Audie, and their two nine-year-olds. During the New Year celebration, Dan meets Abraham Weldon, and the connection is instant.

There’s a kiss. There’s a dance. There’s a proposition.

Then Dan finds out Weldon is bisexual.

And a dad.

With five kids. Five kids, one of whom is a blind fifteen-year-old.

Weldon has been in love twice in his life—with his high school best friend, Blake, and with his wife, Krista, who he met in a Dairy Queen as she was crying over a positive pregnancy test. Love number three hits Weldon like a hammer when he meets Dan.

But since Dan isn’t interested in a guy with kids, they might only get one night together.

Excerpt

Dan swayed, really getting into it. He might not be on the music scene, but he knew what he loved.

“Do you dance?”

“I can sure try, if you think we’re safe doing it.” Oh, man, once again he hoped he hadn’t taken Weldon the wrong way.

“This place is friendly. Come on. Let’s try. Audie’s coming back to save the table. I haven’t danced in a couple of years.”

Dan hooted. “I haven’t either.” The song went even slower, almost dreamy, and Dan stood to pull Weldon out on the floor.

There were a bunch of couples of all sorts and shapes and Weldon fit against him, tongue in groove. Oh. Oh, that was unusual enough that he sucked in a deep breath.

Dan moved them to the outside of the dance floor, so he didn’t have to worry about losing his ability to lead. This was too good to lose to some drunk stumbling into them.

Weldon moved like a dream, swaying nice and easy. They didn’t grind against each other, didn’t do anything obscene, but Weldon’s interest was clear, the man’s erection firm on his thigh.

He was in heaven. Dan figured he had to be. Two beers couldn’t account for drunken fantasizing, though. Maybe this was real. Please be real. He could so have some of this, just for tonight.

“Mmm. You feel good against me.” Weldon’s words were soft, husky. Sweet.

“Ditto.” He chuckled. “Sorry, military speak. The guys keep telling me to use my words. I’m kind of a grunt and click guy.” And babbling, apparently.

“That’s cool.” Weldon moaned softly, the sound brushing Dan’s cheek.

“Sorry.” He’d shut up and feel the music flowing through him, the weight of Weldon against him. He felt overheated, hard as a rock. Weldon didn’t seem worried either, letting him move them deeper into the shadows, where they could press together even harder, where Weldon could slide one hand down to touch his ass.

Dan moaned, his breath starting to come fast. It had been a long time since someone had touched him who wasn’t a doctor or something. This was better than most of his long-past experiences put together, and they were just dancing.

One song melted into another, and they kept dancing. It was the easiest fucking thing he’d ever experienced in his whole life. Like it was meant to be.

Dan hummed, resting his cheek against Weldon’s head, and they couldn’t slide a credit card between them.

Weldon smelled like sawdust and Old Spice. The scent was somehow incredibly erotic. Maybe he’d become a lightweight over the years, but he should give Weldon the credit he deserved. The guy was sex on a stick.

“Could do this all night, Dan.”

Yeah, but midnight was coming, and it was New Year’s Eve.

“I could too.” He grinned. “It’s getting close to the witching hour.”

“Are you going to kiss me at midnight, Dan?”

“I am if you’re gonna let me.” He would love that, having someone on New Year’s, even if it was a fantasy.

“I think I would like that, man, very much.”

“Good.” Dan slid one hand behind Weldon’s head, feeling the silky texture of his hair.

The countdown started, and Weldon smiled. “Ten, nine, eight.”

“Seven, six.” Butterflies filled up his belly.

“Five, four, three.” Weldon hummed and went up on tiptoe.

“Two.” He bent, pressing his mouth to Weldon’s when everyone else shouted, “One!”

The connection was immediate, the chemistry flaring between them. Dan took the kiss to a slow, deep place, feeling as though breathing were overrated. He could do that anytime. This? This was special and he wanted every second of it.

Weldon clung to Dan’s upper arms, still dancing a little, swaying, their heads shifting to get a better angle. Oh, he could do this all night. Felt like Weldon was right there with him, lips soft and parted, tongue exploring his mouth.

They did finally break for air, because spots began to swim before Dan’s eyes. He smiled at Weldon, loving how blue those eyes were. “Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year.”

Oh, that voice was husky, soft, promising to turn him inside out with pleasure.

He squeezed that tight, hard-muscled ass. “You make me want to do things I don’t usually do when I just meet someone.”

“No shit on that.” Weldon grinned. “You’d be worth making exceptions for, though.”

“You too.” He meant it too. “You, uh, want another beer?”

“Yeah. That sounds great. I’ll go grab them, huh?” Weldon eased away, and Dan regretted the loss of that tight little body, then blinked. “Wait. Audie was grabbing them, yeah?”

“Maybe? Fuck if I know.” He was addlepated.

Dan drew in a deep breath and glanced at the stage, surprised to find Dix gone, the sound system playing canned music now.

Man. Man, that had been…. Had Audie found Dix? A part of him still felt a rush of panic at the thought of Dix alone and blind and helpless. Boomer was great, but he was a dog, and he could make a wrong turn….

“Boo!” Audie popped up next to them like a jack-in-the-box. “Dix is packing up. Did y’all want to go to Kerbey Lane? I know it’ll be a wait, but we get seated faster thanks to the blind dude.”

“Seriously? You’re using my brother to get a seat?”

“My husband, and why not? I use him for the handicapped sticker.”

“That’s stone cold,” Weldon said. “I like it. You want to ride with me, Dan? We can get on the list.”

“Yeah.” Yeah, that worked. A little alone time in the truck couldn’t be bad, right?

Audie gave them a glinting grin. “Cool. We’ll meet you there. The one on 183, okay?”

“Works for me. We’ll see you there.”

About B.A.

Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, BA Tortuga spends her days with her basset hounds and her beloved wife, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.

Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the  high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery menages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon-holed by anyone but the voices in her head.

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