Free That Man 2 by Nelle L'Amour Page B

set up production. The already warm dry desert wind blew against my face while I soaked in the scenery. I’d never actually been out of Vegas before and was in awe of the beauty of the desert wildlife and rocky terrain. The next frontier, I mused. It was only a matter of time until someone like Steve Wynn laid his stake in this virgin ground and built a brand new strip of luxury hotels and casinos.
    “How’s your son doing?” I asked Vera.
    “Much better.” She smiled. “I thought he was coming down with the flu but it turned out to be just a twenty-four-hour bug.”
    “That’s lucky. I had that flu last week and it sucked.” The memory of Jennifer coming to my apartment and taking care of me flashed into my head. Despite the pleasant temperature, it sent a shiver straight to my dick.
    “Kids are such a joy, but they come with so much responsibility. Being a parent is the hardest job you’ll ever love,” she added with a laugh.
    “I wouldn’t know.” And, at the rate my love life was going, I might never know. Jennifer, however, was marrying that dweeb dentist Bradley, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she had a family before long. That fucking anal Dickwick probably had things all planned out. I inwardly groaned. Operation Dickwick was sadly at a standstill.
    About a half an hour into the ride, my cell phone buzzed. A text. Holding it in my hand, I quickly checked whom it was from. My heartbeat quickened. It was from Jennifer. Two cold little letters responding to my text from last night: ok. My heart sank. She didn’t even fucking take the time to capitalize the “o.” So much of me was hoping she would have written something like: Looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday . That and a little xo .
    With Jennifer on my mind and in my heart, I told Vera about her idea for a daytime block targeted at women as well as about the focus groups and erotica book signing. Keeping her eyes on the road, she listened intently. When I was done, she repeated verbatim the words my father had used, “Mommy porn. That’s fucking brilliant.”
    I could trust Vera. She was my favorite affiliate manager. In her late thirties, she was strong yet compassionate and didn’t take shit from anyone. Raised by her single-parent mother, an abusive drug-addicted showgirl, she’d managed to get both a college degree and business degree. She was married to a great guy who designed neon signs for Vegas hotels. Tall, blond, and beautiful, she reminded me in many ways of Gloria Zander. I admired her greatly, like I did Gloria.
    “Your new development girl sounds like a rare find,” commented Vera as we came upon what looked like a studio in the middle of the desert.
    “She is,” I breathed.
    For the first time on our drive, Vera turned her head to look at me. “Blake Burns, I detect some feelings in your voice.” She gave me a knowing smile. “Do you more than like her?”
    I let out a loud exasperated sigh. “Yeah, I do. I’ve never met anyone like her before.”
    “So what’s stopping you, Blake? You know Conquest is pretty liberal when it comes to interoffice affairs.”
    “She doesn’t trust me.”
    Vera laughed lightly. “Well, Mr. Hook-Up, I can understand that.”
    I scowled, but she had a point. “It’s more than that. She’s engaged.”
    I expected her eyes to shoot up, but they didn’t. Instead, she smiled warmly. “I never told you this, but I was engaged when I met Steve.”
    “Really?” Steve was her beloved husband.
    “Yup. It was love at first sight. It took me a bit, but I broke off my engagement with my fiancé whom I realized was not the right man for me. I’ve never looked back.”
    My heartbeat sped up, in a good way. Vera had instilled in me some guarded optimism. Hope. Maybe, Jennifer did have feelings for me, but didn’t know to handle them. I mean, at times the electricity between the two of us was palpable. Sparks had flown in the air we breathed. I just needed to figure out how to prove