Deadly Sexy
Page 29
That night, Reese and JT had dinner outside by the pool. The condo management supplied the elegant meal, and they’d dressed for the occasion; he was in a nice suit, and she wore a skinny black sleeveless dress that brushed her ankles and a pair of jewel-encrusted sandals.
When they were done eating, they took a stroll in the moonlight along the black sand beach. Filled with the memories of the beautiful day and her feelings for him, JT said, “After we get married I’d like to live here a couple of months out of the year. I love this place.”
Reese’s heart began to pound but he played it cool. “We’re getting married?”
She looked up at him in the moonlight. “Yeah. We are.”
“Really?”
She stopped, got down on one knee in her very expensive designer gown and said against the sound of the waves, “Will you marry me, Reese Anthony?” Because she loved him more than she loved breathing, and because she couldn’t live without him, now or ever.
Reese thought this was the absolute best day of his life, so in response he got down on one knee too. “Only if you marry me, Jessi Teresa Blake.” He loved her more than life.
He extended his hand and they both stood. He eased her close. She ran her hand down the dark pane of his cheek.
“I think I fell in love with you over the cherries.”
He smiled. “I was a goner by then myself.”
“You know what I want to do on our honeymoon?”
“We’re having one of those too?”
“Yep, and I want to ride cross-country in a big rig.”
He laughed. “What?”
“Yep, and as your bride, you cannot deny me.”
He leaned in and kissed her softly. “I love you, Jessi.”
She kissed him back. “And I love you, Reese.”
They sealed their agreement with more kisses under the Hawaiian moon, then he picked her up.
“You’re carrying me again,” she said.
“Yep, taking you to bed.”
She placed her head against his chest, and in his mind Reese heard Frankie Beverly singing:
I knew you were meant for me.
Right from the start,
It was like destiny.
You’ve given me a reason to love one more time…
And she had.
Author’s Note
I am a huge sports fan. How huge? Well, when I went into the final stages of labor during the birth of my daughter, it was the first day of the 1980 NFL season, so I put off going to the hospital until halftime of the second game of the day because I knew there’d be no football shown in the delivery room. My poor husband!
JT’s character has been with me for over a decade. Originally, I’d toyed with the idea of hooking her up with Mayor Drake Randolph, aka His Fineness, and having her be the heroine of Black Lace, but I’m glad I didn’t. Making her the sister of Max Blake from Sexy/Dangerous and putting her with Reese Anthony proved a much better fit. Authors will tell you that sometimes stories morph in ways only the characters seem to understand, and this was such a case. I had no idea the Anthony men were the descendants of the House of LeVeq until the story began to unfold. The realization put a smile on my face, and I hope all of you LeVeq lovers smiled as well.
I’ve never had a story come to me complete with its own unique soundtrack, but Deadly Sexy did. Frankie Beverley and Maze. When I first began sketching out the story, one of the local radio stations played a song by Maze titled “Reasons” that I’d never heard before. I’ve been a Maze fan for over thirty years, and in my mind and in the minds of many others this iconic group has never received the industry awards or accolades they’ve so richly deserved. The song blew me away. It said everything Reese felt for JT. I know that many of my readers reread my books, so before you do that second read, download “Reasons” into your MP3 or iPod. Start with “Reasons,” add “Golden Time of the Day,” “Traveling Man,” “Love You Much too Much,” “Can’t Get Over You,” and listen to “Reasons” again at the end, and you’ll have your DS soundtrack. In my fantasy world this book would have shipped with a customized Maze CD, but this is the real world, so you’ll have to compile your own. Many thanks to Reve Gipson, Maze’s publicist, and their lawyer, Mr. Bernard Fischbach, for helping me get permission to use the “Reasons” lyrics.
For the readers who’ve recently discovered my work through the romantic suspense titles, all of the characters in these books are descendants of characters in my historicals. If you enjoyed Deadly Sexy, then pick up Topaz, Always and Forever, and A Chance at Love to read about Grace Atwood Blake and Loreli Winters Reed, the fiery great-great-grandmothers of JT and Max Blake.
In closing I want to send a few shout outs to: Lawan Williams, who’s over in Kuwait helping our soldiers; Rene Motley, in Lansing, Michigan, for her continued support and love; Sarita and the Songbird, whose six degrees of separation hooked me up with Maze’s people; Detective Sharon McCalop of the Dallas Police Department, for answering my questions about police procedure; my crew in Beverlyland and our newest bundle of joy—Marisa Haynes—who just happened to be born on my birthday! And last but not least to all my readers old and new. Stay blessed everybody. Keep reading and I’ll see you next time.
B.
About the Author
BEVERLY JENKINS has received numerous awards, including three Waldenbooks Best Sellers Awards, two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times magazine, and a Golden Pen Award from the Black Writer’s Guild. In 1999, Ms. Jenkins was voted one of the Top Fifty Favorite African-American writers of the 20th century by AABLC, the nation’s largest online African-American book club. To read more about Beverly visit her website at www.beverlyjenkins.net.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
By Beverly Jenkins
DEADLY SEXY
SEXY/DANGEROUS
BLACK LACE
THE EDGE OF DAWN
THE EDGE OF MIDNIGHT
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEADLY SEXY. Copyright © 2007 by Beverly Jenkins. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Mobipocket Reader September 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-154562-7
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900
Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.uk.harpercollinsebooks.com
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com
Table of Contents
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Author’s Note
About the Author
Other Books by Beverly Jenkins
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher