Perfect Fit - Brenda Jackson [0]
Perfect Fit
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Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PART ONE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
PART TWO
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
PART THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
EPILOGUE
About the Author
DAFINA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
850 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Copyright © 2003 by Brenda Streater Jackson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
All Kensington titles, imprints and distributed lines are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotion, premiums, fund-raising, educational or institutional use.
Special book excerpts or customized printings can also be created to fit specific needs. For details, write or phone the office of the Kensington Special Sales Manager: Kensington Publishing Corp., 850 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022. Attn. Special Sales Department. Phone: 1-800-221-2647.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Dafina Books and the Dafina logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-6773-3
eISBN-10: 0-7582-6773-8
First Hardcover Printing: May 2003
First Trade Paperback Printing: April 2004
First Mass Market Paperback Printing: April 2006
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To the love of my life, Gerald Jackson, Sr. and to my sons, Gerald Jackson, Jr. and Brandon Jackson.
To Cindy Clay for letting me pick her brain on a subject where I have no experience—getting back into the dating scene.
To my aunts, Jennie Bell Mercer and Josephine Cooper. Thanks for always being there for me.
To my Heavenly Father. I’m everything I am because you love me.
PART ONE
It is better to trust the Lord than to put confidence in men.
—Psalms 118:8
CHAPTER ONE
Gabe
Detroit, Michigan
Gabriel Blackwell had a low tolerance level for women who constantly tripped on excess emotional baggage, and the one sitting across from him had bags packed so heavy he wondered how she was lugging them around.
After listening to her moan, weep and groan for the past hour, he’d just about had it. There were only so many burdens a mortal man could take from a woman who refused to see the light of day because her lover of the past two years had made one mistake too many.
He lifted the wineglass to his lips and took a sip as he continued to listen to her whine. Since this was their first date, she was evidently clueless that this was not the way to go about establishing a new relationship with someone. When he’d picked her up for dinner, he’d been truly impressed since she definitely was a looker who had everything in all the right places. For once he had thought his mother, who’d harassed him into going out on this blind date, had finally done something right. It didn’t take long for him to change his mind and decide that instead, she’d definitely done something wrong. En route to the restaurant when a certain song by Luther Vandross began playing on the car’s radio, the woman had begun crying her eyes out over what she’d tearfully described to him as “painful memories.” Evidently the pain only got worse, because she’d been sobbing ever since. Several times he had offered to take her back home, but she’d refused, saying that at some