We Could Do This Tonight
We Could Do This Duet, Book 2
by Emerson Beckett
Blurb:
How do I choose which heart to break? No matter who I choose, I’m going to be the loser.
Alejandro
Three years ago, Ben walked into my Portland bar and stole my heart with one look. It didn’t matter that I’m 21 years older than him. All he wants is me.
Benjamin’s beautiful smile and endless charm attract everyone he meets, including my 20-year-old daughter, Anna.
No one knows about all the things he and I have done together. And I’ve made sure to keep it from her.
My carefully constructed life built upon rules and my duty to my family is about to crumble before my eyes because she and I want the same thing—Ben.
In the end, keeping us a secret may cost me both of them. I’m in an impossible love triangle that, no matter which one I choose, I’m going to lose.
And when someone attacks my bar via social media, it’s all I can take.
So, which do I choose? Anna’s happiness? Or a life with Ben?
Ben
I knew I loved Alejandro Sanchez the moment our eyes met across the bar. There was something about the single dad and bar owner that I couldn’t get enough of.
After three long years, he’s finally okay with us. But when he refuses to tell Anna about us, I take matters into my own hands.
I’ll do whatever needs to be done to keep him in my life, even if it means accepting a date with Anna.
We Could Do This Tonight is an age gap, single dad, boss/employee love triangle romance and the second book in the We Could Do This Duet. It is the tenth book set in the Package Deal World with reoccurring characters from the original series. It is best enjoyed after reading We Could Do This Forever.
Note to the reader: If you have not read the Package Deal Series, you might find it beneficial to start there and refer to the reading order for the PD World within the books. All the books are available through Kindle Unlimited.
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Excerpt:
When the countdown to midnight started, I stepped back and leaned against the bar. Telling myself I was checking to make sure everyone had champagne, my eyes drank in Alejandro as he stood protectively over his daughter and ex-wife.
When the shouts of Happy New Year began, I turned my gaze from him. But before I could get away completely, I looked up to see him glance at me before he kissed his daughter. When he leaned down to his ex-wife, I turned my body toward the TV on the opposite wall.
Maybe next year things would be different. I didn’t know if he was interested in me, or just enjoyed the flirting we were doing. Snapping myself out of this silly funk, I put a smile on my face and went back to work.
Around one-thirty, we had almost everything cleaned up for when we closed at two a.m. Nick had just left, even though it was my night to close. He’d stayed to help me put up the chairs before heading out. When the bar was empty, I locked up behind him, then carried the last bus tray of dirty glasses to the kitchen.
I picked up the sanitized ones from the dishwasher and headed back out to restock for the next day. Alejandro had come out of his office and began turning off the lights. Every time he extinguished one, my heartbeat increased. One by one, the lights around the room went out until only the recessed lighting around the bar remained.
The volume on the sound system had been turned down low, but helped to fill the void when everyone had gone home. Adding to the ambiance, the light shining down on the sparkling glassware and the amber colored contents of the glass bottles created the illusion of flickering candles. It was romantic as hell and fed my desire for him.
Lost in my fantasies, I didn’t notice when he walked behind the bar. Alejandro stood beside me, shoulder to shoulder, as I restocked the glasses. I could see him in my peripheral vision and felt the warmth of his body radiating toward mine. His biceps were straining his shirt and his expensive cologne intoxicated me further every time he stirred the air around us.
I breathed in the woodsy scent as he reached over to hand them to me, one at a time, making me smile and slowing me down. “You don’t have to help. I can do this.”
“I know,” he said quietly, “but I wanted to. And I needed to check on you.”
Turning my head to look at him, my brow furrowed. One look at him in this dim lighting made my heart beat a little faster. “Why?”
Alejandro turned to his side to face me, then folded his muscled arms over his chest. “You looked a little sad earlier. Thought you might be missing your family.”
I wanted to laugh and tell him my family was not what I was thinking about.
I wasn’t missing them.
I’d been imagining what it would be like to kiss him.
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Review:
I loved Ben. He’s sweet, funny, happy, and, luckily for Alejandro, forgiving & patient. Even knowing that they are meant to be together, it takes a LONG time to get there and the progression in their relationship is slow going. (I’m not sure I could have been as tolerant as Ben was so I’m glad Beckett had us jumping thru time in the early parts of the books to show how things developed.)
Alejandro is drawn to Ben but he feels like there’s quite a bit standing in their way – their age difference, the fact that they are employer/employee, and his daughter’s crush on Ben. While they find ways to work through the first couple, that last one is really hurting Alejandro (and giving readers some fits based on other reviews). He feels like it would be wrong to hurt her, after all as her father it’s his job to protect her, but he’s getting outside advice telling him to just tell her. (And we as readers know he should just tell her. She’s like 19 years old and it’s just a crush. Plus, Ben has never suggested the feelings could be reciprocated and I’m pretty sure he has a say in this matter too.) Eventually things come to a head, thanks to a little push from outside parties, and we’re good for that HEA they deserve.
Or maybe not! I looked down at this point and realized I was only about halfway thru the book and thought how much more can she put them thru! 🙂 Just a little more apparently and of course it all worked out in the end. Although I did wonder about Alejandro a few more times – the man had some seriously wrong reactions to situations. Luckily Ben is willing to wait for him to figure things out, which of course he does and comes out all the better for it, but it is a frustrating and sometimes eye-rolling journey to get there. So, who’s ready for a bit of a roller coaster read?
*****
Author Info:
Emerson Beckett is an avid sports fan and lover of M/M romance books, Emerson loves her new career as an author. It gets even better when she can combine the two. Emerson is the co-author of The Package Deal Series and The Portland Protectors: EHM Security Series with Rheland Richmond. The We Could Do This Duet is her first solo project.
Emerson lives in North Carolina and has been married to the same man for 34 years. She is the mother of three beautiful adults, one of whom is completely responsible for her addiction to MM Romance.
Emerson is now mom to an Australian Shepherd, four cats, and a cute bunny rabbit.
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Giveaway:
To celebrate the release of We Could Do This Tonight, Emerson is giving away an e-set of the We Could Do This Duet!
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!
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Check out the first book in the We Could Do This Duet: We Could Do This Forever
Preston James did things to me. Things that had me wanting more of him and his dirty mouth, even though I knew better. Things that made my heart race. Things that made me come to realize there was more to my boss’s best friend than met the eye.
Nick Reed
As one of the bartenders at Alejandro’s Bar, I’ve seen it all. I’ve even watched my friends, Christian and Cooper, both find the loves of their life. Six years after breaking up with my college boyfriend, I’m convinced that’s not the life I’m supposed to have until forty-five-year-old Preston James makes me the target of his relentless sexy stares and his straight-forward, dirty propositions.
Maybe being the object of his desire wouldn’t be so bad.
Preston James
The first time I laid eyes on Nicholas Reed, I knew I had to have him. There was something about my best friend’s bartender that captivated me. And I always got my way. But this twenty-eight-year-old grad student has me jumping through all kinds of hoops to get his attention. There’s nothing I won’t do to prove to him I’m exactly what he needs. I’m relentless like that and I won’t stop until he’s mine.
We Could Do This Forever is the first book in the We Could Do This Duet and is an MM Bisexual Romance. Additional tropes: Age Gap; Mutual Pining; Boss’s Best Friend; Secretly Wealthy; Humor.
Coming Soon to Audio!
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Romantic Reads and Such 