Balancing Act; An Action! Series Book 60

By GA Hauser

In episode 60 of the Action! Series, we find the men from LA falling back into chaos and drama.
Butte County Fire Captain Hunter Rasmussen gets into trouble during a raging forest fire and Talent Agent Adam Lewis’ agency is reeling from the release of the tell-all book about his former partner, Jack Turner’s couch practices.
While the two men cope with huge hurdles in their lives, the Nation’s Top Male Model, Mark Antonious Richfield, adapts to life with his youngest son, Jacob Bentley. Jacob’s mother, Mark’s former fiancée, Sharon Tice, drives the Top Model out of his mind, which isn’t a far trip.

Meanwhile, actor Keith O’Leary lands a huge role in a feature film that could change the course of his career, while his husband, Carl Bronson, finishes wrapping his big movie in Paris, and returns to Los Angeles.
Lights! Camera! Action! Come back to the boys from Los Angeles for more insanity and great fun!

(All Action! books can be read as ‘stand-alone’. This series is written like a television show, so dive right in! Or, watch Capital Games, the pilot of the series now on demand and DVD.)

For a complete list of blurbs and reading order, visit my website at www.authorgahauser.com

THIS IS MY 200TH BOOK RELEASE! THANK YOU TO ALL THE FANS THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE.

• Language: English
• Publisher: GA Hauser
• Release date: Sep 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005160487

GA Hauser

About the AuthorAuthor G.A. Hauser is from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA. She attended university at The Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, and has a BA in Fine Art from William Paterson College in Wayne NJ where she graduated Cum Laude. As well as degrees in art, G.A. is a Graduate Gemologist from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). In 1994 G.A. graduated the Washington State Police academy as a Peace Officer for the Seattle Police Department in Washington where she worked on the patrol division. She was awarded Officer of the Month in February 2000 for her work with recovering stolen vehicles and fingerprint matches to auto-theft and bank robbery suspects. After working for the Seattle Police, G.A. moved to Hertfordshire, England where she began to write full length gay romance novels. Now a full-time writer, G.A. has penned over 200 novels and short stories. Breaking into independent film, G. A. was the executive producer for her first feature film, CAPITAL GAMES which included TV star Shane Keough in its cast. CAPITAL GAMES had its Film Festival Premiere at Philly's Qfest, and its television premiere on OutTV. G.A. is the director and executive producer for her second film NAKED DRAGON, which is an interracial gay police/FBI drama filmed in Los Angeles with the outstanding cinematographer, Pete Borosh. (also the Cinematographer for Capital Games)The cover photographs of G.A.'s novels have been selected from talented and prolific photographers such as Dennis Dean, Dan Skinner, Michael Stokes, Tuta Veloso, Hans Withoos, and CJC Photography, as well as graphic comic artist, Arlen Schumer. Her cover designs have featured actors Chris Salvatore, Jeffery Patrick Olson, Tom Wolfe, and models Brian James Bradley, Bryan Feiss, Jimmy Thomas, Andre Flagger, among many others.Her advertisements have been printed in Attitude Magazine, LA Frontier, and Gay Times.G. A. has won awards from All Romance eBooks for Best Author 2009, Best Novel 2008, Mile High, Best Author 2008, Best Novel 2007, Secrets and Misdemeanors, and Best Author 2007.G.A. was the guest speaker at the SLA conference in San Diego, in 2013, where she discussed women writing gay erotica and has attended numerous writers’ conventions across the country.

Book preview

BALANCING ACT

an Action! Series Book

By

G.A.HAUSER

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © G.A. Hauser, 2020

BALANCING ACT

Book 60 of the Action! Series

Copyright © G.A. Hauser, 2020

ISBN Trade paperback: 979-8670-0471-7-3

© The G.A. Hauser Collection LLC

This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or business establishments, events or locales is coincidental.

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WARNING

This book contains material that maybe offensive to some: graphic language, homosexual relations, adult situations. Please store your books carefully where they cannot be accessed by underage readers.

First The G.A. Hauser Collection LLC publication:

September 2020

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Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written

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WARNING:

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

This is my

200th published work.

I would like to thank

the fans that have enjoyed

my stories over the years.

A very heartfelt

THANK YOU!

Chapter 1

The Nation’s Top Male Model, Mark Antonious Richfield, held his nine-month-old son, Jacob Bentley Richfield in his arms. He had taken Jacob to his pediatrician for his vaccinations and a wellness checkup. While he waited for the doctor, Mark bounced Jacob gently, keeping him occupied. His bright blue eyes were wide and visually exploring the interior of the examination room.

After his lawyer had won his court case and Mark was awarded full custody of the child that was the product of an affair with Sharon Tice-Hill after sex in a church…while Mark’s ex-husband’s family mourned the death of their father. Mark and his ex-fiancé fucked in a storeroom.

Giving Jacob his surname, Richfield, was very important to Mark. His adult son, Alexander, became a superstar after he had changed his from Alexander Mark Lehman, to, Alexander Mark Richfield.

Now Alex, who was thirty, was starring in a nighttime cable drama as well as feature films.

Mark’s middle son, Isaac Milton Richfield, was a bright nineteen-month-old boy, and so smart, his vocabulary was extraordinary. With the help of their nanny, a former firefighter, Blake Hughes and Mark’s second husband, Stan Charles Richfield, Isaac was leaps and bounds ahead of where he should be. Both men taught Isaac daily, and seemed to love doing it.

The doctor entered the room and smiled at Mark.

Hullo, Dr Rosen. Mark shifted Jacob on his lap.

Hello, Mark. So, this is just Jacob’s nine-month exam…and vaccines.

Yes. There are no issues. Mark kissed Jacob’s cheek as the little one chewed on his fingers and watched Dr Rosen.

Let’s sit him on the table.

Mark stood from the chair and placed Jacob on the papered table. He rubbed his son’s back and kept him calm.

Dada? Jacob peered up at Mark with a nervous expression.

It’s okay, baby. Daddy’s here. Mark kept close to him.

The doctor rubbed a cotton puff with alcohol on Jacob’s arm and gave him his injection quickly. All done.

Jacob shot the doctor a dirty look and was thinking about crying.

Mark laughed at his expression and picked him up into his arms as the doctor put a small round adhesive dot on the injection sight.

Dr Rosen checked the charts to see Jacob’s weight which had been recorded by the nurse. He then smiled at Mark. How is Isaac?

Very well! He’s so bright he’s going to outshine his classmates when he gets to school. Mark cradled Jacob in his arms.

Wonderful. I’ll see you soon. The doctor left the room.

Mark adjusted Jacob in his arms and carried him out of the examination room. The nurses smiled and waved at them, giggling like fan-girls.

Mark left the clinic and carried Jacob to his pearlescent blue and purple, TVR, Tuscan. He opened the passenger’s door in the hot summer breeze blowing in Butte County, California. He placed his little man into the car-seat.

Once he was strapped in, Mark dropped to the bucket seat and started the car. He blew the air conditioner and gave Jacob his pacifier. His two small sons were very different in personality. Isaac was chatty and energetic whilst Jacob was quietly observant and very calm.

Jacob waved his arms around and then tried to see the dot adhesive the doctor had stuck on his arm.

All right, pet, let’s see what everyone is doing, shall we? Mark smiled at his son and returned to his estate in Paradise.

Backing out of the parking spot, Mark cruised the winding mountain roads to his home. As he did, he thought about this weekend and the guests that were expected.

Mark shifted gears and then rested his hand on Jacob’s leg, very proud of him for not crying when he got stuck. Mark laughed to himself and then turned on the music system. When he sang to the song playing out of the speakers, Jacob danced with him, wriggling his arms and legs, letting the pacifier drop from his mouth and ‘singing’ along with his dad.

~

Butte County Firefighter Captain Hunter Rasmussen inspected the rigging and equipment in his station. His crew had kept busy during the California summer fire season. So far, their crews and Cal-Fire had managed to stay on top of the blazes, but the weather predicted strong north winds and sporadic dry lightning strikes in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. That meant trouble.

While they prepared for the worst, Hunter wondered if this was his last season as a firefighter. His husband, Blake Hughes, had left the Los Angeles Fire Department and now worked as Mark’s nanny. Blake suffered from a bad low back and the heavy lifting was murder for the fifty-year-old man.

Hunter wasn’t far behind him. As he aged, this work became harder and harder. A man in his forties didn’t have the stamina a man in his twenties did. He and Blake had a long discussion about the future, and Hunter considered being an EMT and working with the ambulance service. Since he and Blake used to be partners in the LAFD, Blake was worried sick about him.

As Hunter kept his eye on the wind speeds and direction as well as the possibility of new fires, he tried not to take the advice to leave the fire service as a blow to his masculinity. But, it was rough thinking about leaving it.

I’ll see how this summer goes…

Hunter sighed and kept working.

~

Blake Hughes looked up at the blue sky while in the outdoor pool at the estate in Paradise. So far, he couldn’t see or smell smoke, but he worried…a lot.

He didn’t want his husband, Hunter, to do that work any longer. This wasn’t house fires and traffic collisions. It was blazing forest fires in impossible terrain.

Unck Bwake! Watch me!

Blake turned towards their slide. Isaac Milton Richfield, Mark’s middle son, was on top. Stan Charles Richfield, Mark’s twenty-seven year old second husband, was standing behind Isaac, but the eighteen-month-old boy was becoming independent already, wanting to do things himself.

Blake, who was waiting for Isaac at the bottom of the slide, smiled at the Top Model’s adorable son. Isaac had Mark’s green eyes and thick brown hair. The little one looked a lot like Alexander, Mark’s eldest son.

I’m watching! Blake opened his arms, loving this child like it was his own.

Zak slid down the slide with his inflatable water wings on and landed right into Blake’s arms.

Blake picked him up into the air and spun him around.

They both laughed in a riot and Stan, who was a big, strapping man at nearly six-four, with brown hair and hazel eyes, a tribal tattoo on his chest and another tattoo under his arm of a song lyric quote, took his turn on the fun slide.

When Isaac saw his dad splash into the pool, he went nuts and wanted to swim to him. Blake set Isaac into the water and Isaac paddled to Stan, keeping his head above the water.

Stan picked him up and snuggled with him.

Two of their lifeguard friends, Josh Elliot and Tanner Cameron, had taught Isaac how to swim. It was essential in a home with a hot tub and two pools; one indoor, one outdoor.

While Stan helped Isaac climb up the ladder to the top of the slide, Blake scanned the back of the property. Four horses grazed in an outdoor paddock; a black thoroughbred, Shadow of the Knight, a white Arabian, Piccadilly’s Phantom, a brown and white Percheron-mix, Bollward’s Tempest, or Bull, and a brown quarter-horse mare named Sally.

Their groom, Andrew Wilson, mucked stalls while the horses were outside the gorgeous newly remodeled barn.

The estate here in Paradise had basketball and tennis courts, an indoor spa with a Jacuzzi and sauna, as well as a gym, thirteen bedrooms, a working kitchen, a library, a study, and a theater/game room.

Not only was the property and home amazing, but Mark employed two wonderful helpers; Sierra, who did the cooking and baking, and her husband, Warren, who managed the house, and kept the place neat as a pin. They didn’t live at the estate, but they felt like family.

Unck Bwake!

Blake looked up at Isaac as he readied to go down the slide again while Blake stood at the bottom.

Isaac slid down and squealed in pure delight. Blake caught him at the bottom and held onto him as the energetic child recovered from the thrill.

A noise of the back door opening caught his attention. Blake turned to see who was joining them.

Mark’s first husband and business partner, Steven Jay Miller.

~

Wearing his bathing suit, Steve exited the kitchen where Sierra was kneading bread. The scent inside the house when she baked her amazing rolls and walnut wheat bread was heaven. He and Mark had taken today off. It was Friday and tomorrow many of their friends and family members were coming up for the weekend. His home had become a retreat for them. And with summer in full swing, many of them showed up for a relaxing break.

Before he jumped into the pool on this hot 90 degree day, Steve admired the heli-stop that was out in the meadow. He, Mark, and Jack Larsen, commuted to Sacramento via chopper. It made an hour commute by car, into a fifteen minute commute by air. He loved it!

Inhaling the fresh mountain breeze, Steve gazed out at the tree line and the dried meadow. He and the guys ran daily across the field, which was around a ten mile loop.

Eeeve!

Steve spun around to see Mark’s middle son, Isaac, waving to him from top of the slide.

Watch me!

Steve laughed at Zak since he was a crack up. Sure, he didn’t want kids of his own, maybe still didn’t, but as this crazy kid grew up, he was so damn funny. And…he looked just like Alexander, Mark’s actor son.

I’m watchin’! Steve yelled back comically.

Isaac slid down the slide into Blake’s arms.

Steve shook his head and smiled. Next February, Isaac was going to be two. Two! That amazed Steve. He had no idea where the time went.

Instead of diving into the pool, Steve climbed the ladder of the slide. He sat on the top and yelled, Zak! Zak! Watch me, as a joke.

Blake made sure Isaac could see him. Stan was sitting on the ledge, smiling at them.

Steve slid down and splashed into the pool. When he stood up and wiped his eyes of the water, he found Isaac laughing in joy at him.

Steve chuckled and grabbed an inflatable raft, crawled onto it, and relaxed, floating on the water as the birds zipped around the flowering plants with the bees, butterflies, and dragonflies.

~

Jack Charles Larsen had gone into work at Richfield-Miller International, but he was only going to put in a half a day. He hadn’t used the copter, but drove to Sacramento himself in his maroon Jaguar. After working in his own law firm in Los Angeles, Jack and his talent agent husband, Adam Lewis had made the move to Paradise to live with Mark.

Jack had met the gorgeous model ages ago, while going to college at Stanford University. Mark and he ended up on the baseball team together. The second Jack saw Mark Richfield in tight baseball pants, he was in love.

But…he and Mark weren’t meant to be.

Jack worked on his computer in his corner office in a high-rise tower. He had a slim view of the Capitol Building’s domed roof, and the downtown core. Since he had just become RMI’s in-house attorney, Jack was still obtaining files from the four corporate offices around the globe: London, Paris, New York, and here, in Sacramento.

He had hired a legal secretary, Harriet Shaw, and he and his aide were sorting through files to rid old outdated contracts, and making sure the new ones were on file or scanned onto the computer.

While Jack worked, he thought about his law partners at his old firm, and even though he would love to go to LA and have dinner with them, he hated Los Angeles.

He and his husband, Adam Lewis, owned a gorgeous beach house in Malibu. They were renting it to close friends, cops…Robbery Detective Mickey Stanton, his hubby, Homicide Detective Lieutenant Jeff Chandler, and Community Police Team Officer and part-time Dangereux cologne model, Joe Scarbino.

Jack thought he’d miss it more. Thought he’d go insane up north. No. That didn’t happen. Between having his horse Shadow of the Knight to ride whenever he chose, and Sierra’s cooking, he was in heaven.

Harriet entered his office with more files. She was an older woman of color who had worked for a huge gambling/hotelier’s law office in Las Vegas. He was lucky to have her.

Okay, Jack. We had another currier delivery. She set the files down.

Good. Let’s see what we have. Jack put his eyeglasses on and took a look.

~

Wearing shorts and a tank top, Adam worked on the computers in the study in the mansion. A cup of coffee next to him, he matched his stable of stars to auditions.

His two employees, Natalie Cushman and Logan Naveah, were still in LA, working from his office there. But, Adam had taken the plunge to live here with his husband, Jack, at Mark’s gorgeous home.

While he had his two employees on a video-chat, he was able to work at the same capacity as he had been while in Los Angeles.

With one exception…a tell-all book about his former agency partner, Jack Turner, had been released. Turner was an ugly old fuck that forced his young talent to do favors for parts. Couch practices. Nasty! Vile!

It occurred a decade back, and Turner had shot himself in the head rather than face a trial, but, with this new book out, and the publicity it was getting, he was indeed, feeling the fallout.

The reporter, Garth Ross, had left no stone unturned, and Adam was implicated in the deeds. Adam had been new to the business and Turner gave him his first job. The intimidation factor from Turner, who was a big beast, added to Adam’s anxiety. What was he supposed to do?

So? Sadly, he hadn’t done much even though he suspected things were occurring behind Turner’s closed door.

His inactions were gaining momentum.

A few of his actors had left him over it.

Adam knew he was going to lose more. But…he still had Alexander Richfield. Alex was one of his top earners, and Mark’s son. So? He’d never lose him. And, surprisingly, Steve’s second spouse, a transgender individual, Tadzio Andresen-Miller, the Swedish bombshell with the blonde hair and blue eyes, was also becoming one of his better earners. She had changed her name to Alexis Ridgeway for her career, and was now being hired for women’s roles.

At the moment she was working on a big part in a feature film, Silent Reign.

Warren entered the study behind him. He filled Adam’s mug with coffee.

Adam stopped typing and removed his phone earpiece. He took a break. Thanks, Warren.

I thought you could use a top-up. The nice man smiled.

Hi, Warren! Natalie, with her purple hair, piercings and tattoos waved through the video-chat screen.

Hi, Natalie! Warren waved back.

Natalie was dating Mark and Stan’s surrogate, Becca McKenna. Becca had given birth to Isaac, and was pregnant with Stan’s child once more, possibly expecting in December.

Warren left the study and Adam sipped the smooth dark roast.

Last Father’s Day, Stan’s family from New York stayed for three days. But, this weekend, it was Steve’s family that was flying up.

Did Adam miss LA?

NO!

He smiled, set his coffee down, put his earpiece back into his head, and returned to his work.

~

Tadzio Andresen-Miller was ready for her final scenes on the movie she was starring in. Although she loved being an actor, she was tired of this production and happy it was nearing an end.

While