Somebody To Love
Mariah Ankenman
(Jackson Family Distillery, #2)
Publication date: September 19th 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Penny Williams is a lot of things; intelligent, shy, socially awkward, but the one thing she wants to be most is a mother. Unfortunately, she’s never been very lucky in the dating world. Men rarely go for quiet nerds, but that won’t stop her. Being an independent woman of the 21st century, she decides to forgo traditional methods of baby making and try for a medical option. Only, she doesn’t want a random donation. She knows the perfect candidate. The only problem? It’s her best friend.
Bravo “BJ” Jackson would do anything for his best friend, but her latest request has him stumped. He knows Penny would make a great mom. Problem is, he never imagined himself as a dad. She says she wants nothing from him except his little swimmers. The real question is can he step away from a child who would technically be a part of him?
She promises nothing between them will change. But life gets complicated when they discover hidden feelings for each other that go beyond friendship. This deal could destroy what they have. Or it could reveal that what they really want has been in front of them the whole time.
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EXCERPT:
“Hey, BJ.”
“Hey, BJ. You send me a 911 text, took forever to answer your door and all I get is a Hey BJ?”
Her brow furrowed. Nose wrinkling. The small, upturned tip rising even higher. “I didn’t take forever.”
Felt like it to him. Every damn second had stretched into an eternity as he hauled ass over here. The worst of the worst running through his mind. Placing a hand on the door, he pushed slightly. Penny automatically stepped back, allowing him entrance. Once inside her house, he headed straight for the living room. The sound of the door closing, and her soft footsteps followed him.
Normally he’d sit on her couch, make himself at home, maybe turn on the TV. Tonight, he didn’t do any of those things. He stood in the middle of her living room and turned to face her. “Penny, what is going on?”
Long, thin fingers tapped against her thigh. “Um…well, you see, the thing is…do you want to sit?”
No, he didn’t want to fucking sit. He wanted to know what the hell was wrong with his best friend. Crossing his arms over his chest, he remained where he was.
“Right, okay, no sitting. Um, I…kind of need…oh! How rude of me. I haven’t offered you a drink, or are you hungry? I bet you’re hungry. I can make you a sandwich. I got those bread and butter pickles you like and—”
“Penny!” The woman was killing him. He reached out, grabbing her wrist in a firm, yet soft grip before she could turn tail and run off to the kitchen. Tugging on her arm, he gently pulled her to him. “I don’t need anything except for you to tell me what’s wrong.”
She tucked her chin into her chest, refusing to look him in the eye. “Nothing is wrong.”
“Bullshit.”
At that, her face rose. He rarely swore around her, but he was done playing or whatever the hell they were doing. Something had been bothering her for days. He knew it, knew her. He’d tried to let it go, allow her to come to him in her own time, but he was tired of waiting. Tired of her almost coming out with it, then retreating into herself. They were friends, dammit, best friends. She didn’t get to hide her problems. Not from him. Not when he could help.
“Please.” He brought his hands up, cupping her face, stroking the soft skin in a soothing manner. “Tell me what you need.”
“I need your sperm.”
His hands fell from her face. Shock dropping his hold. Hazel eyes grew impossibly wide as she blurted out words he’d never imagined coming from her lips. His brain tried to come up with something, anything, but surely, he’d misheard her. Penny couldn’t have possibly asked him for his sperm. Had she?
“I…what?”
A loud groan left her pink lips. Stepping out of his touch, she brought up her own hands to cover her face. He thought he heard her let out a muffled scream, but he couldn’t be sure of anything his ears were hearing tonight.
Dropping her hands, she turned and paced back and forth across the living room floor. “Okay, remember a while ago when we were talking about me wanting to be a mom, but being too socially awkward to attract any kind of decent man—”
“You mean you being awesome and the entire male species being too stupid to realize it?” Ableists fucks. He knew a lot of Penny’s relationship woes came from her partners not bothering to understand autism or even trying to learn more about it.
She waved away his sentiment, continuing, “Anyway, I was remembering your offer and—”
“Wait, wait, what offer?”
She stopped pacing and turned to face him. “Remember, we were talking about how adoption wouldn’t work, and you suggested I use, um, some guy’s stuff and then said I could even have yours?”
His jaw literally dropped. He would even swear he heard it crack. “Penny…I was…I didn’t mean…I didn’t realize you were serious about it.”
She lifted her chin. “Well, I am, and I really want the second set of DNA to come from you.”
He’d sampled too much of the latest gin batch and was currently passed out in the office having a wild, booze induced dream. That could be the only explanation for what was currently going on because there was no way he stood here, in the middle of Penny’s apartment, talking about her need for his sperm. Nope. No way in hell. This was all some weird, messed up gin fever, and he’d be paying for it in the morning with a hangover from hell.
Penny wants a baby, and who better to ask for help with that but her best friend, Bravo "BJ" Jackson? He'd do anything for her, even donate his swimmers, then not demand to coparent when the baby comes. But is that really what she, they, will end up wanting? Can friends have a child together and not end up crossing the friendship line?
Bravo doesn't believe in love because of what it did to his mom. So even though Penny is his ride or die, and he would do anything for her, there's no way he can love her, can he? Oh sure, he'll agree to give her a baby as she wants, even help her the old fashioned way, but beyond that...no, he won't fall in love with her. Or won't he? Hasn't he been in love with her forever, even if he doesn't realize it, won't admit it?
This is a sweet, cute friends to lovers story. Bravo and Penny are both adorable and it was so obvious how they really felt for each other, even though both were loathe to say it out loud, especially Bravo. Really the only thing that brings this down from 4 to 3 stars, is that the heat level is very tepid. For 2 people who had been in love forever, I wanted a whole lot of spiciness, and didn't get much. The story itself, though, and the couple, are awesome.
Author Bio
Bestselling author Mariah Ankenman lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains with her two rambunctious children and loving spouse who is her own personal spell checker when her dyslexia gets the best of her.
Mariah loves to lose herself in a world of words. Her favorite thing about writing is when she can make someone’s day a little brighter with one of her books. To learn more about Mariah and her books visit her website www.mariahankenman.com.
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