"The love of a child brings real love to a man and woman."
Reviewed by Kay Quintin
Posted November 18, 2012
Romance Contemporary
Bryan Lassiter and his partner Gage are owners of an
exotic dance review, Beefcake, Inc. Bryan's life is
fulfilling and organized until he steps into the grocery
store and spots a small boy that stops his heart. The child
has his violet eyes, his birthmark and the lisp he himself
had as a child. There is absolutely no doubt this is his
child. The beautiful woman who is his mother, is not
someone Bryan remembers at all. This dictates following
them home and confronting the lady. Drunk out of his mind four
years ago at a friend's bachelor party brings back hot sex
with a now faceless stripper.
Jenna Corrigan was blessed at adopting her nephew,
Trevor, when her sister died of cancer when the baby was 6
months old. Not knowing who the father is she lives every
day with her beautiful son in fear that the father will
appear and take her son. All goes downhill when Bryan
mistakenly takes Jenna as a prostitute rather than the
respectable teacher she is. Now his life's goal is to
protect "his" son. He doesn't expect to find that Jenna is
a wonderful, caring mother to his son. Learning the truth
changes Bryan's focus to becoming the best dad he can be in
any way he can. As Bryan and Jenna realize their
attraction is not only because of the child, Jenna falls in
love with him and fears he will take Trevor away when he
learns the lie she has kept from him. Finding the DVD of
Trevor's birth while Jenna is gone, reveals to Bryan that
this "woman" has taken his son from him. With her whole
world crumbling before her, Jenna has to make the greatest
pitch in her life to get Bryan to understand.
Judi Fennell's new series is a hot commodity! I
absolutely could NOT put BEEFCAKES AND MISTAKES down.
Chuckling one minute
and wiping my eyes the next, this definitely kept my
interest. BEEFCAKES AND MISTAKES was very emotional and
"hot". Do not
miss this super series. I will be anxiously awaiting the
next installment of the Beefcake series. Way to go
Ms. Fennel!
SUMMARY
Big Mistakes Come in Small Packages...
Bryan Lassiter never knew he had a son—until the day he sees little Trevor Corrigan in the grocery store. Those distinctive violet eyes, that hair, that birthmark... Remembering his own feelings about being adopted, this owner of BeefCake, Inc. and sometime exotic dancer craves the connection of the one person on the planet who shares his genes.
Of course, Trevor's mom has pretty nice "jeans" as well, igniting a craving for a different kind of connection. Or reconnection, in spite of Bryan not remembering their first night together. But the proof is standing there in front of him, so it must have happened. Right?
...So do fabulous gifts...
On her deathbed, Trevor's mother signed custody of her baby over to her half–sister, Jenna Corrigan. Since then, Jenna has worked hard to build a good life for herself and the boy who's become the center of her world. Conceived by mistake after a one–night stand, Trevor's father is listed as "unknown." As far as Jenna's concerned, he can stay that way.
But one look at Bryan could lead Jenna to making the biggest mistake of her life. Those distinctive violet eyes, that hair, those come–kiss–me lips...
Falling in love could be the biggest mistake of all...
When Bryan mistakes Jenna for a hooker and she realizes he's Trevor's father, the mistakes and misunderstandings begin growing. But something else is also growing between them, too. Sometimes, one wrong turn can be oh so right...
ExcerptHe had a son.
Bryan Lassiter stood at the end of the grocery store aisle and stared at the little boy three feet in front of him.
The curly black hair was the same, including the identical cowlick above the right eye that drooped a little lower than the left, and the same dimple in his right cheek. The eyes, too, were the same. Those damned, cursed violet eyes that Bryan had hated ever since Julie Richardson had called them pretty in first grade. Him and Elizabeth Taylor.
And now this boy.
And if those weren't enough, it was the birthmark on the kid's arm that sealed the deal. Bry had the same one, shaped like a five–pointed star with a rounded tip on the bottom right spoke. Bryan had eventually had a tattoo put on top of it—in the shape of a star—but it was the same.
He had a son.
"Trevor? Where are you?" A pretty brunette rushed around the end cap, worry etched across her face. It softened when she saw the boy—the exact opposite of Bryan's reaction.
He didn't know her.
Oh, he'd slept with a lot of women in his life, but he did pride himself on remembering what they'd looked like, no matter how drunk he'd been—
No. That wasn't entirely true. Brad's bachelor party had passed by in one drunken haze and there could have been a stripper involved...
Considering Brad's party had been four years ago, and the kid looked to be about three or so... Yeah, it looked like it was more than possible, though he'd never been so drunk he hadn't worn a condom.
Which have been known to break.
Hell. Given that the kid looked like every one of his baby pictures, one night of debauchery and bad luck could have led to him having a son.
"Sweetheart, I told you never to run away from Mommy. This isn't the place to play hide–n–seek."
Bryan's eyes flew to "Mommy." About five–six, with curly brown, chin–length hair that she kept tucking behind her ears but which wouldn't stay, high cheekbones, and wide eyes—blue or gray, he couldn't be sure. Graceful movements of a dancer that would be lost in a strip joint, but the legs that went on forever definitely wouldn't be.
Had they been wrapped around him? Bryan felt himself grow hard just thinking about it.
But then he looked at Trevor and his whole body got hard. If that little boy was his, she'd kept him from him.
Did she even know who the father was?
"I sowwy, Mommy." Trevor stuck his thumb in his mouth and Bryan was even more convinced the boy was his.
Lots of kids sucked their thumb, but it was the way Trevor played with his cowlick—just like Bryan had. Until his finger had gotten caught in the tangles and his older brother Kyle had laughed at him. Mom had had to cut his finger free and that spike of hair at the front of his head had been one more thing for Kyle to tease him about. It'd been the last time Bryan had sucked his thumb.
"Yes, well, you scared me, honey. I don't want anyone to take you from me, okay? You have to stay with me." Mommy knelt down and hugged Trevor, the action tugging her figure–hugging tan pants low in the back.
No tramp stamp, so at least he'd had some taste in women when he was drunk. Even strippers.
Bryan shook his head. He of all people shouldn't judge her. He'd done some stripping in his day and now owned an exotic dance revue, BeefCake, Inc. But he and his partner Gage ran a classy business and No Fraternization was the top rule of the house. Too bad she hadn't prescribed to the same rule.
"Why would someone take me, Mommy?" Trevor stopped twirling his hair with a lock swirled around his finger.
Mommy smoothed a ring–less left hand over Trevor's hair, disengaging the tangled finger, then slid her palm down to cup his cheek. "Because you're a very special boy, Trevor. That's why I love you so much. So you need to stay with me at all times and not run away, okay? Even if you're playing."
Trevor nodded and Bryan felt as if he were looking in a mirror. "But why am I vewy special?"
She pulled him against her and kissed his cheek. "Because you're my little guy."
Bryan's vantage point gave him the perfect view of the fierceness of her expression when she said it, the quick tightening of her bicep beneath the short sleeve of her t–shirt as she hugged him. She loved the kid. But obviously not enough to give him the father he deserved.
Bryan had half a mind to tell her that, but supermarket aisles weren't exactly the best place for airing dirty laundry. He checked the time on his cell. An hour and a half until the meeting with Gage.
He slid his sunglasses on and pulled the baseball cap rim lower. He could hang around for a while. Follow her to see where she lived—and then plan when would be the best time to show up and discuss his fatherly rights.
***
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