Unforgettable: Book Three (A Hollywood Love Story #3)(82)

“A hot pastrami sandwich,” Jaime and I shouted out in unison.

“Sounds good. I’ll have one and could I also please have a cherry Coke.”

God, she was refreshing. A real girl who ate real food. So different from my Botoxed supermodel hook-ups who ate nothing but a bunch of lettuce leaves.

I reminded myself this was a business lunch. I turned to Jennifer.

“Jennifer, tell Jaime about your idea for the daytime.”

I listened without interrupting while she explained her vision of airing telenovelas based on popular erotic romance novels. She was articulate, concise, and passionate. A perfect pitch. I was impressed. But as good as her pitch was, I was sure my best bud would find it absurd.

When she was done, a smile whipped across his face. Holy shitballs. Just like my father, he went for her idea. “That’s brilliant. You have to pitch my wife, Gloria.”

Jennifer lifted a brow. “Gloria?”

“Jaime’s wife is the founder and CEO of Gloria’s Secret,” I chimed in, practically creaming in my pants at the thought of Gloria buying ad time on SIN-TV despite my skepticism and displeasure over the fact that Ms. McCoy had won another victory.

Her face glowed with excitement. “Wow! I’d love to. I’ll put together a PowerPoint.”

“That’s an excellent idea. I’d like you do that quickly.” My tone was very businesslike and masked any feelings I had about her.

“I’ll start on it the minute I get back to the office. But the presentation may have to wait until after the first of the year. We’re doing focus groups, and I’d like to include the findings.”

Damn those focus groups. They could ruin everything. Then again, they could prove that I was right. That there was no place for women’s erotica on SIN-TV.

Jaime took a slug of his Dr. Brown. “I’m sure that would be just fine. Gloria loves focus groups, and right now, she’s crazy busy with Christmas just around the corner. And then we’re all going to Hawaii over the holidays.”

Jennifer was beaming. “Great. I look forward to meeting her.” She stole one of our fries. “Jaime, did Blake tell you? I was at the opening of your father’s painting retrospective.”

“No, he didn’t.” He shot me a sheepish look.

“I was going to introduce you to her, but she split early with her boyfriend.” I put a special snarky emphasis on the word “boyfriend.”

A small frown tugged at her lips. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stay longer. But I just want to tell you I was blown away by your father’s paintings. He was so talented.”

Jaime broke into wide but slightly melancholic smile. He loved his father dearly and was devastated when he took his life. Jaime had made it a lifetime goal to exhibit his father’s paintings and share his talent with the world.

“Thank you. That means so much to me. Did you have a favorite painting?”

Jennifer’s green orbs glimmered. “Yes, I loved The Kiss.”

The Kiss. That kiss. My blood flooded with lust. I so f*cking wanted those edible lips back on mine.

“That was my favorite painting too,” I chimed in softly, remembering the way she’d looked the other night in her little black dress and the profound way that painting had affected her. I had been on the verge of spinning her around, taking her in my arms, and crashing my lips on hers—giving her another kiss she’d never forget—when damn Kat showed up and ruined the moment. And then f*cking Dickwick came along.


Jennifer turned to look at me. Feeling her eyes on me, I met her gaze. Neither of us blinked. I would have given a million bucks to know what was going on in that pretty head of hers. Only one thing was for sure: sparks were flying. I could see them. Maybe Jaime was right. She did have a thing for me. Before either of us could say a word, Jennifer’s sandwich arrived along with the Coke. I watched as she took a long sip of the bubbling soda through the straw. She closed her eyes and moaned, “Mmm.” My cock flexed beneath the table. She was having that effect on me yet again.

“Eat your sandwich before it gets cold,” ordered Jaime.

Her mouth came up from the straw. She did as bid, taking a hearty bite of it.

“This is delicious.”

Yes, it was delicious, but I was only hungry for her. I wanted to consume her, every bit of her. Savor every ounce of flesh. Run my tongue from those lush lips all the way to her sweet *. Swirl it around. Lick and lap. I just knew it would taste of cherries and vanilla.

The memorable ring of Jaime’s cell phone hurled me out of my fantasy. He had it set to the song, “Toi et Moi,” a duet sung in French by Charles Aznavour and Céline Dion. This song obviously had a special meaning to him, but he’d never told me the significance, even when I’d asked him. His eyes lit up when he gazed at the caller ID.

“It’s Gloria. I have to take this . . . Hi, angel.”

“Angel” was Jaime’s term of endearment for his wife. While he chatted with her, everything about him changed. His voice softened, his eyes grew hooded, and smiles replaced smirks. He went from businessman and friend to husband and lover. A cocktail of envy and unease seeped through my veins.

“I’m here with Blake, the babies, and his new development executive. She’s come up with an amazing idea for a block of programming targeted at women. You have to hear it. You’re going to love it.”