That Man 3 (24 page)
Before I could protest, Chaz’s suggestion was met with loud claps and cheers.
A Cheshire grin spread across his face. We drew straws to determine who would go first.
It was Jaime.
“Okay, what’s your favorite piece of Gloria’s lingerie?” asked Chaz.
“Darling, you can’t answer that!” Gloria quipped, tugging at Jaime’s tee. “It’s too
personal.”
A cocky, dimpled smile flashed on her husband’s handsome face. “Truth. Anything I
can I bite off her gorgeous body.”
Gloria gasped with embarrassment, then smashed her red-lacquered lips against Jaime’s.
The sight of them so in love sent a tickle of chills down my spine.
I was up next. I wanted to slide under the table. “Please, not me!”
Chaz shot me a fiendish grin. “Yes, you. Who wants to pose a question to Jennifer?”
“I do,” said Blake, sitting cattycorner to me.
His eyes bore into mine. “Truth or Dare, Ms. McCoy? How many orgasms have you had
tonight?”
I felt myself flush as pink as the Manhattan I’d ordered. I could hardly look him
in the eye. There was no way I was telling in front of our friends, no matter how
intimate they were.
“Dare.” I shot the word at him.
A triumphant smile curled on his lips, lighting up those heart-stopping dimples. “Okay.
I dare you to say yes.”
I scrunched my brows. “Yes to what?”
“To this.”
My eyes stayed locked on Blake as he dug his hand below the table. Oh my God! Was
he going to stand up with his gigantic cock fisted in his hand and ask me to suck
it in front of everyone? I shuddered. I wouldn’t put him past him.
When his hand reappeared, I inwardly sighed with relief. A small glass sphere filled
with water was perched on his palm. A snow globe. As I stared at it more closely,
I noticed it contained a photo—the photo of the snow angel we had made together over
Christmas. I stifled a gasp.
He handed me the snow globe. “Shake it, Jen. His eyes, glinting with a hint of mischief,
stayed fixed on me as I did as he asked.
My heart did a somersault and my mouth dropped to the floor. I simply couldn’t believe
my eyes.
Sparkly flecks of snow danced in the water. But that was not all. Drifting among the
shower of shimmering particles was a magnificent diamond ring. And not just any diamond
ring. It was a large, multi-faceted snowflake diamond. Breathtaking! My hand trembled;
in fact, all of me was trembling as the earth shook inside me.
As I fell further into a state of shock and stupor, the sounds and faces around me
disappeared into thin air. It was just Blake and me.
While I sat there shell-shocked and speechless, Blake calmly took the globe from my
shaking hand and turned it upside down. He twisted off the base, and using the index
finger of his other hand like a hook, he scooped out the sparkling ring and set it
on the table. My eyes, wide as marbles, never strayed as he put the snow globe back
together and then set it down next to the ring. Around me, I vaguely heard my mates
oohing and aahing. The ring was simply dazzling.
Blake’s sexy voice brought me out of my stupor. “Well, Ms. McCoy. You haven’t taken
me up on my dare.”
I couldn’t get my brain to communicate with my mouth. Words stayed jammed in my throat.
“Could you please refresh my memory?” I finally managed. I teetered between awestruck
and dumbstruck.
“I dared you to say yes.”
“Yes to what?” Dumbstruck was winning.
“To the ring.” Blake paused and gazed deep into my eyes. His eyes didn’t blink a wink
nor did mine. In front of everyone, he got down on one knee. “Jennifer McCoy, will
you marry me?”
The words whirled about in my mind like the tiny dancing snowflakes. When the latter
settled to the base of the globe, reality settled in my mind. Oh my God. Blake had
asked me to marry him. The tears that had been threatening began to fall freely. My
heart was roaring so loud in my chest I could barely hear myself breathe out one simple
word: “Yes.”
Cheers and applause broke out, so loudly it was contagious and the whole bar joined
in. Blake gently grasped my unsteady left hand and slipped on the ring. I couldn’t
stop staring at it.
“Oh Blake, it’s so, so beautiful.” I choked out the words. With my other hand, I caressed
the side of his face.
“Like you, tiger.” Happiness danced in Blake’s sapphire eyes. He stood up and lifted
me with him. Before I could say another word (as if I could), he yanked my head back
by my ponytail, and his lips crashed down on mine.
In a fierce kiss. Just like the kiss that had started it all in a game of Truth or
Dare.
And as I melted like a snowflake into Blake—
that
man who had dared me from the beginning to be his, I thought about how different
my life might have turned out had I not accepted Chaz’s outrageous dare that night
six months ago. I knew at this moment life is full of truths and dares. Sometimes
we have to eschew the truth to discover it. And sometimes we have to risk a dare.
When life gives you dares, be daring. Be as brave as a tiger. Something rare and beautiful
may reveal itself the way the moon does when a cloud uncovers it. Something that can
change your life forever like…
Love. And melting as I was, our love was frozen solid. I had just dared to say yes
to my new forever. And his kiss was just the beginning.
That
man was mine.
The End
Dearest Reader~
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading the THAT MAN trilogy. I hope you
enjoyed it. And if you did, will consider writing a review—even a short one!—on Amazon
or Barnes and Noble or wherever you found it. Reviews mean a lot to me and help others
discover my books.
Would you be interested in a story about Jennifer’s best friend Libby? Or hearing
about Blake and Jennifer’s wedding?
Let me know by e-mailing me at:
or posting a comment on my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/NelleLamourAuthor
THAT MAN 4 and THAT MAN 5 may be coming your way soon! *Wink* In the meantime, I hope
you read and enjoy my other books!
MWAH! ~ Nelle
I wrote much of the
That Man
trilogy over Christmas 2013, so naturally Christmas songs, both classic and pop,
influenced my writing. As some of you, dear readers, may know, I LOVE Christmas songs
and could listen to them to all year round. I also saw the animated movie
Frozen
over Christmas with my twin daughters; the journeys of the two heroines and the hero,
along with the songs, also inspired the story of Jennifer and Blake.
“That Man” / Caro Emerald
“Brave” / Sara Bareilles
“This Girl is on Fire” / Alicia Keys
“Ho Hey” / The Lumineers
“I’m So Sexy” / Right Said Fred
“Bad Romance” / Lady Gaga
“Blurred Lines” / Robin Thicke
“Roar” / Katy Perry
“Jealous Man” / Ace Moreland
“Bad Boys” / Inner Circle
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” / Frank Sinatra
“All I Want for Christmas is You” / Mariah Carey
“Drummer Boy” / Pentatonix
“Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” / Kristen Belle, Agatha Lee Monn, and Katie Lopez
(from
Frozen
)
“Love is an Open Door” / Kristen Bell and Santino Fontana (from
Frozen)
“Let it Go” / Idena Menzel (from
Frozen)
“Crazy in Love” / Beyoncé
“Let Her Go” / Passenger
“Say Something” / A Great Big World
“Please Forgive Me” / Bryan Adams
“Love” / John Lennon
“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” / Roberta Flack/Céline Dion
I have so many people to thank. Trust me, it’s taken a village to write the
THAT MAN
trilogy.
First, I want to thank my family for letting me write. They’ve had to put up with
so much, including late-night dinners and pre-made ones that come straight from the
freezer case. Thank goodness for Trader Joe’s! My husband, despite his own busy schedule,
has been especially helpful, picking up the mommy slack while I’ve sat, what feels
like 24/7 behind a computer. One of these days, I’m going to watch TV again with everyone.
I am also grateful to my supportive beta readers who didn’t hold back and gave me
insightful suggestions. They include in alphabetical order: Michele Coddington, Tracy
Graver, Cindy Meyer, Kim Pinard Newsome, Jasmine Roman, Jennifer Moshe Silverstein,
and Karen Silverstein. I’d also like to acknowledge three dear, early readers who
hold a special place in my heart—Amber Escalera, Kellie Fox, and Sheena Reid.
A big thank-you goes to Karen Lawson for proofing my books and making me laugh with
her comments, Arijana Karcic for the beautiful covers, and my formatter, Paul Salvette,
who patiently put up with all my revisions. A hug belongs to my writer BFFs, Adriane
Leigh and Arianne Richmonde, who kept cheering me on. What would I do without your
endless e-mails?
I’ve talked about the community of book bloggers in this trilogy. Writers, especially
independent ones like me, are beholden to them. They work so hard to get our books
into readers’ hands. There are so many to thank, but I am especially grateful to Mary
Tatar/Love Between the Sheets for organizing my blog tour. A shout-out also goes to
those, who have gone out of their way with their kindness and support. In random order
because I’m too tired to alphabetize: Cindy Meyer and Debra Presley/The Book Enthusiast,
Jen Oreto/Winding Stairs Book Blog, Ellen Widom/The Book Bellas, Desirae Shie/Book
Boyfriend Reviews, Lisa Pantaro Kane and Jennifer Skewes/Three Chicks and Their Books,
Mags Pereira/SMI Book Club, Becky Barney/Fairest of All Book Reviews, Jennifer Noe/The
Book Blog, Maria Barquero/ Maria’s Book Blog, and Sheeba Ellison/Bedtime Reads. Last
but not least, the lovely Jennifer McCoy/Sub Club Books, who, by a strange fate, shares
the same name as Blake’s tiger. Talking about karma!
Finally, I want to thank my readers. You are so special and I love hearing from you.
Your kind, inspirational words always brighten my day. You make every I-want-to-pull-out-my-hair
moment worth it. I write because I adore you.
Thank you, all, from the bottom of my heart for being there for me. This is never
an easy journey. I feel blessed.
♥ MWAH!
Nelle L’Amour is a
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author who lives in Los Angeles with her Prince Charming-ish husband,
twin teenage princesses, and a bevy of royal pain-in-the-butt pets. A former executive
in the entertainment and toy industries with a prestigious Humanitus Award to her
credit, she gave up playing with Barbies a long time ago but still enjoys playing
with toys with her husband. While she writes in her PJs, she loves to get dressed
up and pretend she’s Hollywood royalty.
Her books include the highly rated
Seduced by the Park Avenue Billionaire Boxed Set, Undying Love, Gloria’s Secret
,
Gloria’s Revenge
and the
That Man
trilogy.
Gloria’s Forever
, a novella, will be published in Spring 2014.
Nelle loves to hear from her readers.
Sign up for her newsletter:
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That Man
That Man 3
Seduced by the Park Avenue Billionaire
Seduced by the Park Avenue Billionaire
(Box Set)
An Erotic Love Story
Gloria
Gloria’s Forever:
Coming Spring 2014