What a Woman Wants (Players Series, 3)($13.44Value)

Description

After a close friend commits suicide, Faith, Monique, and Shannon head to the beach cottage on Hilton Head Island. Determined to heed her advice and make the most of their lives, they make a pact to spend the summer embracing new adventures. They also embrace new men and a new best friend along the way. Filled with profound passion and sensuality, witty dialogue and richly drawn characters, this is a story of women having fun, embracing life, taking charge, and doing the things they want –and discovering in the process that everyone deserves to kick the routine every once in a while, let their hair down and explore new things. And if the right man comes along, especially one who is willing to make an already hot summer even hotter, then pushing the envelope just might give her life the jolt it needs. Brenda Jackson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 125 novels, including the Westmorelands series, the Madaris Family series, and The Playas series. She was the first African-American author to have a book published under the Harlequin/Silhouette Desire line of books and the first African-American romance author to make the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists for the series romance genre. Many of her books have been adapted into movies. Jackson has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Jacksonville University, and is a member of the Romance Writers of America and of Delta Sigma Theta, Incorporated, Sorority. She worked for 37 years in management at a major insurance company and now divides her time between family, writing and traveling. Brenda married her childhood sweetheart, Gerald, more than 45 years ago, and they have two sons. She lives in the city where she was born, Jacksonville, Florida. What a Woman Wants By Jackson, Brenda St. Martin's Griffin Copyright © 2007 Jackson, Brenda All right reserved. ISBN: 9780312359348 Chapter One  “Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.” Faith Gilmore watched as the coffin was lowered into the dark earth. A part of her still could not believe what she was seeing. She glanced over at the two other women standing beside her. Monique Hardings and Shannon Carmichael were in the same daze of disbelief as she was. It was like they were all stuck in some sort of weird dream. Tomorrow they would wake up from it, and Cely would take them all to task when they told her about their strange nightmare. Me commit suicide? No way. There isn’t that much depression in the world. I am the most levelheaded, laid-back, not-a-care-in-the-world person you know. There’s no way I would ever get in a funk so blue that it would trigger me to take my own life. Yet she had done exactly that, and this was no dream. “This ends the memorial service for Cecilia Graham,” the minister was saying. “You may all return to your cars.” Faith blinked. Return to their cars and do what? Mourn some more? Leave? Ask themselves for the thousandth time how could this have happened? Why this happened? Especially to Cely, who had always been the strongest of the four of them. She felt someone touch her hand, glanced up to see Monique and Shannon standing right in front of her. Faith looked at them mutely, noting that their eyes were as red as hers, their cheeks just as tear-streaked. “It’s time to go,” Monique said softly, and Faith could hear her fighting to hold back more tears. “Yes,” Shannon chimed in, her voice just as tight. “I need to get away from this place. Quick. I need a thick slice of pizza, a strong drink, and to get laid. Hell, I need something, anything, to make me forget everything I’ve gone through today. This week.” Faith almost rolled her eyes. Shannon had always been the one they all thought had the weakest disposition. Cely had always worried about how Shannon went about dealing with stress. “How about if we go back to my hotel room, drink some wine, and chill. I’m really not in the mood to go to the repast,” Faith suggested. Monique understood. “Neither am I. I’m sure Cely’s family will understand if we wait and visit tomorrow before we leave.” “Yes, I’m sure they will,” Shannon agreed. “They know Cely was more than a friend to us. She was like our sister.” Faith nodded. That was true—ever since the four of them had met so many summers ago as teens on Hilton Head Island, they were sisters. Cely’s grandparents had operated a hot dog stand on the beach, and she had been their little helper. Like Faith’s parents, Monique’s and Shannon’s families had owned time-share condos and made the trip each summer to the island, where the four girls had become the best of friends for life. But now one of their lives had ended. The circle they had formed more than twenty years ago was broken, and somehow they had to repair it and move on. “All right, let’s go. But first let’s say good-bye to Mrs. Graham. I don’t want her to think we’re deserting her.”     A couple of hours later, Faith, Monique, and Shannon had replaced t