Sex Lust & Lingerie (Secrets and Lies Book 2) Read online

  PRAISE FOR SEX, LUST & LINGERIE

  “5-Stars! Ms. L’Amour wraps up this riveting story with lots of drama, action, and intense passion that’ll have you on the edge of your seat until the very last page!”

  —Maria Loves Books Book Blog

  “The sexual tension between Gloria and Jaime is incredible, sensual, and steamy, and kept me wanting more, more, more!”

  —The Book Enthusiast

  “This romance is spectacular. It is witty and smart, will leave you breathless, and wanting more.”

  —Mary Elizabeth’s Crazy Book Obsession

  “I don’t think there could have been a better ending to this book. It was serious awesomeness, plenty of drama, heartbreak, jawdropping OMG, swooning, and happy smiles.”

  —Book Boyfriend Reviews

  “Nelle certainly shows imagination when it comes to writing sex scenes and she even surpasses Sex, Lies & Lingerie with this sequel.”

  —Arianne Richmonde, USA Today Bestselling Author of The Pearl Series

  “Bravo to you, Nelle L’Amour…I was addicted and fighting every impulse to flip to the last page to relieve the intense pressure and intense pressure to know how this story was going to end.”

  —The Book Blog

  SEX, LUST & LINGERIE

  Nelle L’Amour

  Sex, Lust & Lingerie

  Copyright © 2018 by Nelle L’Amour

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved worldwide.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to events, locales, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is purely coincidental.

  No part of this ebook may be reproduced, uploaded to the Internet, or copied without permission from the author. The author respectfully asks that you please support artistic expression and help promote anti-piracy efforts by purchasing a copy of this ebook at the authorized online outlets.

  Nelle L’Amour thanks you for your understanding and support.

  To join my mailing list for new releases, sales, and giveaways, please sign up here:

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  Cover by Arijana Karčic, Cover It! Designs

  Formatting by BB eBooks

  BOOKS BY NELLE L’AMOUR

  Unforgettable

  Unforgettable Book 1

  Unforgettable Book 2

  Unforgettable Book 3

  Alpha Billionaire Duet

  TRAINWRECK 1

  TRAINWRECK 2

  A Standalone Romantic Comedy

  Baby Daddy

  An OTT Insta-love Standalone

  The Big O

  THAT MAN Series

  THAT MAN 1

  THAT MAN 2

  THAT MAN 3

  THAT MAN 4

  THAT MAN 5

  THAT MAN 6

  Secrets and Lies

  Sex, Lies & Lingerie

  Sex, Lust & Lingerie

  Sex, Love & Lingerie

  Love Duet

  Undying Love

  Endless Love

  Writing as E.L. Sarnoff

  DEWITCHED: The Untold Story of the Evil Queen

  UNHITCHED: The Untold Story of the Evil Queen 2

  Boxed Sets

  THAT MAN TRILOGY

  THAT MAN: THE WEDDING STORY

  Unforgettable: The Complete Series

  Gloria’s Secret: The Trilogy

  Seduced by the Park Avenue Billionaire

  Naughty Nelle

  To all the book bloggers who work so selflessly and passionately to get our books into the hands of readers. I applaud you.

  Table of Contents

  Praise for Sex, Lust & Lingerie

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Books by Nelle L’Amour

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Epilogue

  About Sex, Love & Lingerie

  Excerpt from Sex, Love & Lingerie

  Note from Nelle

  Follow Nelle

  Books by Nelle L’Amour

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  “A man is not what he thinks he is; he is what he hides.”

  —André Malraux

  PROLOGUE

  Jaime

  Three Days Earlier

  The fluorescent lights glared in my eyes. I wasn’t used to them. They were giving me a fucking headache. I rubbed my temples as I processed the reason I was here.

  I’d just been given the opportunity of a lifetime, but I wasn’t sure if I could go through with it. So much shit could happen and it could all blow up in my face. As I procrastinated answering his last question, I took in Special Agent Marshall’s office.

  It was nothing like mine. Basic steel-gray, functional furniture. A desk. A couple of armchairs, one of which I was sitting in. Plus a window with partly opened vertical blinds offering a decent view of downtown Manhattan. Located on the twenty-third floor of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, The FBI’s New York field office was one of the largest branches in the country with over 2000 full-time agents.

  A massive computer occupied his desk. The credenza behind it was stacked with thick files along with a few framed photos of his family. An American flag stood next to it. To the right, a bulletin board filled with mug shots of the FBI’s most wanted criminals and to the left, a wall full of honors he’d received while working for the Bureau. Among them were commemorations for bringing down numerous Wall Street inside traders, including Bernie Madoff, whose notorious Ponzi scheme ruined the lives of many innocent people. These arrests had led him to being appointed the head of the local bureau’s white-collar crime’s division. Agent Andrews, who was leaning against his superior’s desk, his arms folded across his chest, was part of his team. While I hadn’t taken off my suede jacket, not knowing how long I’d be detained here, both men were now coatless and jacketless, with the sleeves of their crisp white shirts rolled up. With their buzz cuts and frat-boy looks, they were clones of each other though separated by at least twenty years. Almost father like son. I wondered if the older, more experienced agent, was grooming the younger to one day take over his job .

  “Well, Mr. Zander,” said Agent Marshall, his voice curt. “Are you in or are you out? Can we count on you?”

  What they were asking me to do had huge ramifications for me personally. I pondered their offer. Professionally and emotionally, the timing couldn’t be worse.

  The payoff, if I was successful, could be a game changer.
br />   But if I wasn’t, Gloria and everything she’d worked for could blow up in smoke.

  “We need you to get close to her.”

  “You want me to sleep with her?”

  “Whatever it takes,” responded Agent Andrews stiffly, his eyes penetrating mine. “Even if you have to fuck the truth out of her.”

  With a shaky breath, I nodded. “I’m in.”

  Faint smiles crawled across the two agents’ faces. A pleased Agent Marshall clasped his hands on his desk.

  “You have twenty-four hours to change your mind. We will be in touch.”

  Agent Andrews explained the covert way they would communicate to me. The code.

  “We will need you to go to Los Angeles,” added Agent Marshall.

  Now, I had even more reason to go to LA. The earlier events of the evening spun around in my head. A cluster fuck. Gloria had caught me kissing Vivien and fled. I owed her an explanation.

  After the briefing, which lasted about an hour, I hurried out of the building and immediately called my assistant Ray to make travel arrangements. He was used to my often spur-of-the-moment plans.

  “Are you planning on seeing Gloria there?” he asked.

  Not revealing the true purpose of my trip, I filled him in on what happened at the bar.

  “Jaime, she’s not heading to LA.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Kevin told me she’s going to Paris.”

  “Paris? Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “He’s right here. He’ll tell you himself.”

  I didn’t have time to ask Ray what he was doing with Gloria’s PR guy, who got on the phone and vague-explained that Gloria had detoured to Paris for personal reasons.

  Shit. Maybe she had a lover there. Spite me sex.

  “Where is she staying?” I spit out.

  “The InterContinental.”

  “Let me speak to Ray.”

  I waited a brief second for Ray to return to the phone. “Have them fuel the plane for Paris. I’ll be at the hangar by ten.”

  With that, I ended the call. The wind that was kicking up bit me. Walking briskly, my heart racing, I hailed a cab to take me back to The Walden. Once back in my hotel suite, I packed a bag and grabbed my passport. One hour later, my private jet was airborne and heading to Paris.

  CHAPTER 1

  Gloria

  The Present

  I couldn’t believe I was in Paris confined in a cabin on the top of the Grande Roue Ferris wheel with Jaime Zander, staring wide-eyed at a magnificent diamond ring he’d just presented to me. I was in shock. We’d known each other for less than a week. My heart was fluttering as fast as a hummingbird’s wings. Seated pantiless on his lap with my legs draped over his muscular thighs, I was waiting for him to answer my question: “Are you asking me to marry you?”

  Jaime’s reaction was as intense as my own. He visibly jerked and blinked his eyes several times. And then he just stared at me. A long second passed. My heart still pounding, I waited with baited breath for his response. The silence of the night air was numbing.

  “Gloria…no,” he finally stammered.

  His words hit me with a blow. My face turned fifty shades of red. I felt foolishly embarrassed. It was time to mentally hit the “reset” button.

  Except I didn’t know what to say. And it appeared that he didn’t either. After a few moments, he regained his composure and broke the awkward stretch of silence. “It’s a toi et moi ring.”

  A “you and me” ring, I said to myself. The lyrics of the Charles Aznavour song that had been playing when we’d arrived at the Ferris wheel floated in my head…you and me, two hearts merge. Except he wasn’t giving me his heart. My emotions were a jumble of pain, self-loathing, and confusion.

  He lifted the ring from the velvet box. “I found it in an antiques shop that my client told me about. The dealer told me it’s almost a hundred years old. An old soul like you. Do you like it?”

  I gazed at the intricate, sparkling ring. “It’s beautiful,” I murmured. It truly was. A dazzling art-nouveau work of art, the two perfect heart-shaped diamonds kissing each other like lovers.

  He grasped my right hand. “Gloria, why are you shaking so much?”

  “I’m just a little chilled,” I lied, flinging my pashmina shawl across my right shoulder with my free hand. Inside, I was falling apart like a glacier-struck cruise ship. Confession: At this very moment, I hated this man—this man who I thought I loved—for how fucked up he could make me feel.

  Without a blink, I watched as he slipped the ring onto my middle finger. It fit perfectly. I should have been thrilled that this man I’d known for not even a week was giving me such an extravagant gift, but instead I found myself battling angry tears.

  “Thank you,” I managed. Truthfully, I wanted to tear if off my finger and toss it into the Seine.

  He planted a warm kiss on my lips. The kiss sent another chill through me, not the good kind.

  I pulled away. My thumb rubbed across the smooth surface of the two entwining diamonds. “What is this ring for?”

  Jaime coiled a lock of my loose hair around his hand. “Working together. The two of us are going to make a great team, Gloria.”

  So that’s what I was—a client with benefits. A good fuck who could make him money. A knife sliced through my heart. I may have foolishly thought I was in love with him, but he was clearly not in love with me.

  The big wheel started spinning again, and as it spun back to earth, my emotions spun out of control. Over the past twenty-four hours, he had fucked my brains out. I had enjoyed every minute. Now, he was fucking with my brain. And I didn’t like it one bit. There was a fine line between losing control and being out of control, and I had just crossed it.

  Stupid, stupid me.

  CHAPTER 2

  Jaime

  After I’d given Gloria the antique diamond ring on the Grand Roue, it seemed like everything between us changed.

  Admittedly, I wasn’t prepared for her reaction. Marrying her wasn’t on my mind. Where the hell had that come from? We’d known each other for barely a week. All I was doing was trying to move things forward, show her that I cared about her. In retrospect, maybe the ring wasn’t a good idea. I could sell a dime for a dollar, but I was no expert when it came to relationships.

  While the night was still young, Gloria insisted on going back to the hotel. The ride back in the limo was strained. Her spine stiff and straight, she sat as far away from me as she could, fidgeting with the ring as if she might take it off.

  “Come here, you.” When she didn’t budge or even turn to look at me, I sidled closer to her, putting my hand on her thigh. I hadn’t forgotten that I’d torn off her panties, leaving them behind on the wheel. A thank you for Claude for taking us on that erotic thrill ride. I’d ridden her to heaven. Set off fireworks in sync with those of the Eiffel Tower. Spark for spark. My explosion meeting hers.

  My cock still throbbed. I was still so erotically charged from that mind-blowing orgasm. With nothing between us except her red dress, I longed to slip my hand under the chiffon and play with her clit. Slather my fingers with juices like I had up in the sky. Set her bundle of nerves back on fire and make her come all over my digits. And then fuck her senseless once more right here in the back seat.

  The second my hand touched down on her satin skin, she flinched and yanked it away. Almost in the same breath, she crossed her long legs.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Her behavior surprised me.

  “Please don’t touch me.” Her voice was as cold as dry ice. The words stung.

  Before I could say a thing and frankly, I was speechless, my cell phone rang. With the awkwardness in the air between Gloria and me, I decided to take it. It was probably Ray wanting to know when I’d be back in the office. Slipping it out from my pocket, I glanced down at the caller ID screen. Unknown number. It rang again then stopped before ringing again. The signal.

  Reluctantly, I answered it and upon hearing
the familiar voice I regretted it.

  “I can’t talk right now,” I responded. “I’ll get in touch tomorrow.”

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Gloria turn my way. Her face was piqued with curiosity. Then it darkened, her duo-colored eyes narrowing at me.

  “Your client?” she said snidely, folding her arms across her chest.

  “Yeah,” I lied.

  She held up her middle finger with the ring on it. “Maybe you should have given this to her.”

  She was flipping me off.

  Fucking secrets and lies.

  CHAPTER 3

  Gloria

  Morning couldn’t have come fast enough. Showered and dressed, I was ready to go back to Los Angeles. I needed to get back to work and away from this man who had worn me down both emotionally and physically. Taking a break from packing, I glanced at him, still asleep in bed. He looked so peaceful—a sharp contrast to the tense, conflicted me. And oh so beautiful. Sleeping on his back, with the covers draped low on his hips, he offered me a bird’s-eye view of his toned pecs and arms, washboard abs, and that magnificent V that led to the tent beneath the sheets that told me he had a hard on. And oh, that gorgeous chiseled face with its morning shadow and kissable dimpled chin. My heart fluttered; my body pulsed. I couldn’t help it. I forced myself to look away.

  Folding up the lingerie that he’d rummaged through and made a mess of yesterday, I silently cursed the soreness between my inner thighs. Not because I found the pain uncomfortable but because I found the memory associated with it unbearable. He had fucked me silly on the Grande Roue, sending me orbiting, and then had put my emotions into a tailspin.

  Jaime Fucking Zander had gotten under my skin and then into my bloodstream. And somehow, he’d gotten into my heart. Both my beloved late mentor, Madame Paulette, and good friend, Sandrine, were right. I’d fallen in love with him. Except this complicated, commitment-phobic man, whose name meant “I love” in French, was incapable of loving. I was just one of his many conquests. I glanced down at the ring on my middle finger. Caught in the ray of sunshine that beamed through the French doors of our charming hotel room, its sparkle was blinding. Once again, my thumb involuntarily skimmed over the two magnificent kissing diamond hearts. Toi et moi. He probably gave this kind of ring to all his women. I just wanted to go back to being moi. Gloria Long, the cool, confident CEO of Gloria’s Secret, the world’s leading retailer of lingerie. The powerhouse of a woman in control of her life. Yes, heading up a billion dollar, global empire came with its share of challenges and headaches, but it didn’t come with lust and heartbreak. My eyes snapped back to Jaime and I silently cursed him. He had made my emotions spin out of control. I couldn’t focus on anything but him. Even light packing was an effort.