No More Playas
Page 23
And then he felt her, her firebrand of heat, and then she had him tumbling all over again.
“Sean took the news better than I had expected.”
They were still in bed, had been there for a couple of hours after making love just as long nearly nonstop. To say his stamina had gotten tested was an understatement.
A smile touched the corners of his lips. “He didn’t have a choice. Once I had made up my mind to get you back, he didn’t stand a chance.”
“You were that sure of yourself?”
Her words made him shift his gaze over to her. “No, but I was that sure of my love for you. I just had to make you believe me.” He thought of all the things he’d done to convince her, and another smile touched his lips. “You didn’t make it easy, but it was worth every moment I tried. You were too precious for me to lose.”
She shifted her body to lean over him. “Okay, so what’s next?”
He chuckled. “No more lovemaking, that’s for sure. I can barely move.” He reached out and pulled her face down to his for a kiss. “Now we plan our future. Like a told you, I want marriage, babies, forever.”
She smiled. “So do I.”
“What’s so amusing?”
“All you playas who are turning in your cards, ready to settle down with one woman and produce kids. Amazing.”
“Yeah, amazing.” Lance couldn’t help but think about his best friend Sam who would be getting married on Valentine’s Day, and then there was Phillip and Marcus who had spring weddings planned. He then thought of Connor Hargrove, the man who had proclaimed his love for Carrie. According to a recent conversation Lance had had with Sam, if Connor had fallen in love with Carrie, then it was shocking news to everyone, since Marcus’s cousin had a reputation as being a playa.
Lance grinned. People would begin shaking their heads wondering why there were no more playas. Well, they would just have to read his new book to find out.
Sean stood at the window in his home and looked out at Boston Harbor in the distance. He refused to feel sorry for himself, since he had known from the beginning that falling in love with his brother’s girl had been wrong, but he hadn’t had any control of his emotions. Besides, Asia was such an easy person to love.
Here it was New Year’s Eve, and he fought hard to avoid wallowing alone in self-pity.
He almost smiled when the face of someone floated across his mind. Liz. If she wasn’t working at the hospital, chances were she was at home curled up reading a book. He wondered if she would go out with him tonight.
He picked up the phone and dialed her number. “Hello,” she answered.
“Hello, Liz. This is Sean. How would you like to go out tonight and celebrate a New Year?”
Epilogue
No More Playas
It was a beautiful June day on the island of Paradise, and it seemed that everyone was present to see the man who had been tagged as the ultimate playa turn in his playa card and say “I do” to the woman he loved.
Lance’s new book,No More Playas, was selling like hotcakes because both men and women wanted to know what had happened, although for different reasons. The women thought the book gave them insight, hope. The men thought the book would give them a clue as to what pitfalls to avoid so they wouldn’t land in Lance’s shoes.
But Dr. Lance Montgomery wouldn’t back down. He went on radio and television talk shows, did countless interviews, and all with the same message. Any playa could meet his match and fall in love. Hopelessly so.
With their diverse backgrounds and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology, Lance and Asia decided to create the Montgomery Marriage Institute, which would specialize in working with couples in crisis or on the brink of divorce. They thought that Paradise would be the perfect place to hold marriage seminars, where they would work with couples to build, repair, and strengthen their marriages.
Lance and Connor were standing together talking, waiting for their brides. Carrie and Connor had decided to skip all the hoopla and had eloped to Hawaii over the Easter weekend but to make her brothers and father—as well as Connor’s family— happy, they had agreed to a small reception, which had been held a couple of weeks ago.
“Well, well, the two men who are no more playas,” said a voice from behind them.
They both turned and smiled when they saw the newlyweds, Sam, Phillip, and Marcus. “Look who’s talking,” Connor said chuckling. “I recall a time the three of you were playas, too.”
“No, we were playa wannabes, but like the two of you, we got smart and met beautiful women and fell in love.”
Lance and Connor nodded in agreement. The men’s wives— Falon, Terri, and Naomi—were beautiful women. Lance then glanced across the way and saw his own wife talking to Pop and thought his wife was beautiful, as well. His gaze shifted, and he met sight of his brother Logan talking to Asia’s sister, Claire, and found that most interesting. Lyle, it seemed, was bored as hell and kept glancing at his watch as if counting the hours, the minutes, the seconds, when he could haul ass. Lance shook his head. He would give both his brothers less than a year to find the women of their hearts.
“Think we ought to go claim our wives for a dance?” Sam asked when the music began playing.
“Yeah, it won’t hurt. Will definitely earn us brownie points,” Marcus said, chuckling.
“You guys might settle for a damn brownie, but I want the cake with all the icing,” Connor said before walking off toward his wife. The four men watched as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her completely, in front of everyone.
“He’s always been an arrogant ass,” Marcus said, laughing.
“Yeah, but he might have something there. You’re never too old to learn how some things are done,” Lance said. And with that thought in mind, he walked straight to his wife, thinking he had something even better than a brownie or a cake. He had the most tantalizing dessert to ever be served. He had something called Chocolate Temptation.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title
Copyright
Dedication1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Epilogue