That Man 3 by Nelle L'Amour Read Free Book Online

producers, and directors.” I hadn’t yet shared this thought
     with Jennifer, but was positive she would jump all over it.
    After another shovel of snow, Harold nodded his head approvingly. “That’s a good idea.
     She seems so happy, and she’s told us how much she loves her job though she never
     told us she was involved with adult entertainment. My wife doesn’t know, but eventually
     I’ll tell her.”
    “Thanks,” I said, not knowing what else to say.
    Harold and I both shoveled more snow. We were almost finished.
    “One last thing, son.”
    The tone of his voice made me uneasy.
    “I saw you with my daughter last night.”
    My stomach knotted. I put my shovel down. “What do you mean?”
    “You know what I mean. You kissed her.”
    Words stayed tangled in my lumpy throat. My face flushed. I couldn’t hide the truth.
    “You’re more than just her boss. She’s in love with you.”
    I sucked in a breath of the cold air and shot out the words. “And, Mr. McCoy, I’m
     in love with her.”
    To my surprise and relief, he smiled. “Did you have anything to do with her breakup
     with Bradley?”
    “No, nothing at all.” A lie as white as snow. I wiped some sweat off my brow and inwardly
     shuddered.
    “Well, to be honest with you, son, I never liked him though I never told my daughter
     or my wife that. He just rubbed me the wrong way.” He regarded me warmly, his eyes
     squinting from the glint of the snow and the sun. “I have a good feeling about you,
     Blake. Take good care of my little girl, Jennie. She’s my one and only.”
    I smiled back at him. “I will, sir.”
    His eyes darkened. “And make sure you don’t hurt her.”
    I nodded. “You have my word.”
    Satisfied with my response, he tossed his shovel. “C’mon, let’s head back inside.
     I’m as hungry as a bear.”
    Equally famished, I followed suit. Warmth radiated inside me. I’d scored points with
     Jennifer’s father. When I got back to LA, I was going to have a heart-to-heart with
     my dad too. Especially since Jen and I worked together, he needed to know.

Chapter 6
    Jennifer
    I helped my mom make breakfast in our charming knotty-pine kitchen. Despite the fact
     she was a gourmet cook, she’d never updated it. It still bore memories of my childhood.
     We were standing a shoulder’s width apart, working away at a Formica counter.
    I took a break from the fruit I was dicing. “Mom, can I ask you a question?”
    Beating eggs in a bowl, she smiled at me. “Of course, honey. Anything.”
    “How did you know you loved Dad?”
    Her smile morphed into a concerned frown. “Oh dear, you’re still in love with Bradley?”
     She’d clearly not picked up on my feelings toward Blake. Though so much of me wanted
     to share what was going on, it was all too new, and I was unsure how things would
     move forward once we were back at work. I responded with a sigh.
    “Hardly. I’m totally over him. I’m just curious. That’s all.”
    My mom quirked a relieved smile. “I fell in love with him the minute I saw him. I
     couldn’t stop thinking about him.”
    My mom had been his student his first year as a young assistant professor of English
     at Boise State. There was only a year difference in age between them.
    “And then what?”
    “The feeling was mutual. He asked me out.”
    “Weren’t you nervous about going out with your professor?” When I thought about it,
     a student-professor relationship was not that different from an employee-boss one.
    “Yes. I was. But my heart ruled my brain. I was young.”
    I was young too. But I knew what’d happened. Ultimately, that one date turned into
     a relationship. A love affair. A jealous female student made the university aware
     of their relationship. Fraternization was not allowed. My mother, an aspiring scholar,
     sacrificed her career, putting my father’s interests and needs before hers. She left
     the university, and three months later she and my father married. While I was