He sat back in the chair. “Yes, I do.” His tone was confident, almost cocky.
“In my experience, the only men who understand women are gay. Are you, by chance, gay, Jaime?”
He let out a deep, sexy chortle. “Hardly. I could have several hundred stunning women give you a stellar recommendation.”
“Oh, so you have them review you like you’re a book on Amazon?” My deadpan sarcasm camouflaged my shock at the number of women he’d likely fucked.
He laughed again. “You’re quite witty, Ms. Long. I have to say I like you.”
Again, I was speechless and growing more heated by the second.
He moved in again closer to me and snagged my braid, coiling it around his exquisite, long-fingered hand. “So, what will it take to win your account?”
The hair play was distracting me. Sending a barrage of sparks to my core. This was likely some form of sexual harassment, but while my brain was whispering stop, my body was clamoring for more. Why did something so wrong feel so right? Battling my physical sensations, I forced myself to remove his hand from my tresses and composed myself once more. “I’ve asked every agency I’ve met with to come up with a pitch by Friday. Do you think your agency could do that?”
“Not a problem. I’ll put my best person on the job right away.”
“And who might that be?” I asked, my voice dripping with a mix of curiosity and sarcasm.
He grinned wickedly. “Yours truly.” With that, he rose and escorted me to the door. Before I could step over the threshold, he barricaded it with his body and outstretched arms. His biceps flexed as he pressed his hands against the framework. We were face-to-face again, only a breath away.
His eyes burnt into mine. “I meant to tell you, Ms. Long, I find your eyes fascinating.”
Most people did. My right eye was blue; my left one brown. I had a rare genetic condition known as heterochromia. In press releases and on the Internet, both eyes appeared to be brown thanks to Photoshop. But because I suffered from dry eye syndrome, I was unable to use contacts to conceal my idiosyncrasy the rest of the time.
Jaime continued to study my mismatched eyes. “They’re contradictions just like the rest of you.”
That I hadn’t heard before. “What do you mean?”
“Your mind says one thing, your body says another.”
His words spurred another rush of head-to-toe tingles and sent my heart into a gallop. My breath hitched. He was unhinging me again. “Mr. Zander, can I please leave?” I spluttered.
With a smirk, he pivoted so that he was leaning against the doorway. He gave my braid a little tug as I hurried past him. “Ms. Long, I look forward to the pleasure of seeing you again.”
“The same.” Bastard!
As I stomped down the hallway, I could feel his fiery eyes on my backside. His voice traveled down the corridor. “Oh, by the way, I find your black lace push-up bra and matching thong very sexy. And that garter . . . ”
Cringing, I just kept moving. How the hell did he know what I was wearing under my suit?
CHAPTER 2
Jaime
Leaning back in my desk chair, I folded my hands behind my head and chortled out loud. That meeting was priceless. Especially the expression on her face when she found out that I was the one and only Jaime Zander. Mentally, I gave myself a round of applause for not giving myself away during our unexpected elevator encounter or revealing that I recognized her immediately from the many photos I’d seen of her online. Though I had to admit she was far more stunning in person. And far more intriguing. And challenging.
She’s something that Gloria Long, I mused. Thank fuck, I did my research and knew all I could about her. The information about her past was sparse, but there was an endless number of entries about her as a businesswoman. My takeaway: she was tough cookie, but I could make her crumble. And not just in the boardroom.
With a content smile, I closed my eyes. Jesus fucking Christ. That ass. That gorgeous ass. It was imprinted on my mind. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t get it out of my head.
I bet it was perfectly round and sat high. Her cheeks, firm but supple, as smooth and white as porcelain. My twitchy cock flexed beneath my desk. In my mind’s eye, I fantasized bending her over my desk, squeezing those scrumptious cheeks apart, and then fucking her from behind. Pummeling her with my dick as she shrieked, those beautiful big tits bouncing in rhythm as she rocked backward to meet my thrusts, threatening to fall out of the cups of her lace bra. Hearing her yelp as I tugged hard on her long platinum braid, tilting her head back, as I brought her to the point of no return. No pain, no gain. I bet she was a screamer. Yeah, for sure and if she wasn’t, all of Manhattan would hear her come by the time I was done with her.
My hand involuntarily jumped to my spiraling cock when a ping from my computer intercepted my fantasy. An email. My eyes snapped open and my attention leaped to the screen. As I read whom it was from, my cock deflated and my spine tightened. How the fuck did she get my address? What the hell does she want? She was one of the last people I ever wanted to see or hear from.
Subject: SURPRISE!
Against my better judgment, I read the rest of the email. How ironic. An invite. Fine, I’d go. It would just be another opportunity to fuck with her mind.
Gloria’s.
Sex, Lies & Lingerie
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Most of my books take a village, but this one took a city.
First off, I want to thank my beta readers in alphabetical order: Becky Barney, Annette Brignac, Auden Dar, Kashunna Fly, Gloria Herrera, Marti Jentis, Jenn Moshe, Kristen Myers, Karen Matulsky Silverstein, Mary Jo Toth, and Joanna Halliday Warren. Each of you bought something special to this extremely challenging book and I’m so thrilled to have you on my team.
A special thanks goes out goes to Marti Jentis as well to two early ARC readers—Jill Johnson and Ilene Rosen—for your unwavering support and heartfelt words of encouragement. And to Lisa Sanders, who at last minute inspired the final twist. I love you all.
Now a big shout-out to my team of “regulars”:
*Arijana Karčić/Cover It! Designs, my cover artist, who painstakingly worked with me to create this gorgeous cover. It took several efforts to get it right, including abandoning a previous version, but my lovely Arijana never complained.
*Mary Jo Toth and Virginia Tesi, my eagle-eye proofreaders, who catch all my typos—especially those pesky missing words.
*Paul Salvette/BB eBooks, my formatter, who puts up with my countless revisions. He’s the best!
Writing a book is hard enough, especially one as complex as Remember Me, but equally hard, if not harder is marketing it. I’m blessed to have an incredible marketing team in place to help me. A big thank you to the following:
*Candi Kane PR for spearheading my Teaser Reveals, Chapter Reveal, Release Blitz, and Blog Tour. Candi, you’re a doll!
*Give Me Books Promotions, for handling my Cover Reveal!
*Enticing Journey Promotions for allowing me to do my Release Celebration—Ena Burnette made that up. It was a first!
*The super talented Hayfaah Sumtally for creating all my stunning teasers.
*The incredible Tempi Lark for creating my amazing trailer.
*The lovely Keyanna Butler for posting on Instagram (one of these days, I’ll figure it out!) and creating my Spotify link. And for being the bestest PA!!! I adore you!
*ALL the bloggers who took the time to read, review, and promote Remember Me. I am beholden!
*The amazing bestselling authors who took the time to read and endorse Remember Me—A.M. Hargrove, Raine Miller, Angel Payne, Aleatha Romig, Alessandra Torre, and Meredith Wild. I am blessed to know you and have met you and to have read your amazing books!
*My Street Team—the passionate Jenn Allen, April Beatty, Cathy “My Ninja” Guadagnino, Kari Hansen, Kristen Myers, Barb Pardee, Debra Rowland, Lisa Sanders, Debbie Heniger Torrey, and Mary Luke Young. Word of mouth is everything!
*ALL my ARC readers! Thank you for your love and beautiful words! I’ve loved each and every one of your reviews and I’m so thrilled that my risky, twisty story has resonated with you.
I also want to thank my A-Team . . . all the authors who support me through their encouraging words and unconditional love. Arranged alphabetically: Aubrey Bondurant, Auden Dar, A.M Hargrove, Adriane Leigh, Angel Payne, Arianne Richmonde, and Aleatha Romig. You are my unicorns! I highly recommend you read their wonderful books!
I could not publish this book without acknowledging Pulitzer Prize winning journalists, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey of the New York Times for their exposé on Harvey Weinstein and his decades worth of alleged sexual abuse, as well as their fellow prizewinner, Ronan Farrow, who did the same for The New Yorker. Plus all the victims, both celebrity and non-celebrity, who bravely came forward to speak out. And finally, Tarana Burke, who made the #MeToo movement part of our national conscience and a platform for victims to speak up and heal years before it became a media sensation. Though my monster, Sheldon Greenberg, is fictional and was created several years ago, my story is inspired by all these incredible individuals—by both their investigative reporting and personal heart-wrenching stories.
Of course, I also need to thank my family, especially my hubby, who lets me sit at my dining room table all day hunched over my laptop typing away and buys me a bottle of wine every night. By the way, he tells everyone he’s the inspiration for all my sexy as sin heroes! I’m blessed to be in a beautiful, non-abusive relationship and to have him by my side.
Finally, my acknowledgments wouldn’t be complete without thanking all my readers who gave Remember Me a chance and read it. And a very special thanks to those who’ve spread the word and left reviews. I’ve read each and every one of them, and your beautiful heartfelt words have brought tears to my eyes.
Always remember, my Belles, you are the reason I write.
OTHER BOOKS BY NELLE L’AMOUR
Click on the covers to read about them and/or purchase. Please note these books may not be available at all retailers.
Secrets and Lies
Gloria and Jaime Zander’s passionate rollercoaster romance.
Unforgettable: A Steamy Hollywood Romance
Fall in love with sexy heartthrob, Brandon Taylor!
THAT MAN
The hot and hilarious USA Today Bestselling Series starring scorchin’ hot Blake Burns.
TRAINWRECK
Bestselling romantic suspense duet.
Baby Daddy
The bestselling hot and hilarious single parent romantic comedy.
The Big O
An OTT insta-love romantic comedy.
Love Duet
The critically acclaimed all-the-feels duet. “With love, there are no goodbyes.”
Naughty Nelle
A bargain-priced sexy romance compilation
COMING SOON!
Another sizzling romantic suspense. My most tortured alpha hero ever!
Boxed Sets
Writing as E.L. Sarnoff
Even the evil queen from Snow White wants a happily-ever-after.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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 college-aged princesses, and a bevy of royal pain-in-the-butt pets. A former executive in the entertainment industry 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. She writes juicy stories with characters that will make you both laugh and cry and stay in your heart forever.
PLAYLIST
Like my hero Finn, I love Bruce Springsteen. I’m sure you could have guessed that! Many of The Boss’s songs inspired Finn’s rollercoaster journey of finding his happily ever after with Skye.
“Working on a Dream”
“I’m on Fire”
“She’s the One”
“Countin’ on a Miracle”
“Hungry Heart”
“Two Hearts”
“Thunder Road”
“Brilliant Disguise”
“Tunnel of Love”
“Don’t Look Back”
Listen to them here:
SPOTIFY
I highly recommend seeing The Boss in concert if you ever have the opportunity. It’s an incredible experience. If you can’t, I encourage you to watch his amazing one-man show, Springsteen on Broadway, on Netflix. To watch a young Bruce Springsteen perform “Brilliant Disguise,” click here:
YouTube
I hope it’ll make you think about Finn and Skye and relive their epic love story.
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