Saturday, March 9, 2013

Tammara Matthews on The Interview Spot With Her Debut Novel Lies Unleashed

The Diva Behind Lies Unleashed Tammara Matthews
 
1.) What inspired you to write Lies Unleashed?
     After reading numerous novels from the age of 15 on up, I was determined to write    
     one of my own that readers wouldn’t want to put down. One day I came up with a
     concept and just started writing and couldn’t stop. It was to the point where I could
     barely keep up with the thoughts processing in my head, like I was being forced to   
     keep writing if it makes any sense. After that Lies Unleashed was born.
 
 
 
 
 2.) How long have you been writing?
    I began writing my first novel in 2008 but prior to that I had been writing all my life as    
     writing has always been my passion. 
3.) Which character in the story did you have fun writing?
     That’s a hard question, I had fun writing both Ariel and Shawn’s character seeing how  
     they were the most devious characters in the book. They’re stories alone kept me busy    
     coming up with new ideas which made the novel fun to write.
 
4.) How can readers keep up with you? twitter facebook etc?
     I can be visited and contacted at www.tammaramatthews.com,
     twitter@AuthorTammara, Facebook.com/Tammara.Matthews, and   
     www.delphinepublications.com.
 
5.) Tell us about the publishing process for Lies Unleashed?
    Actually I first self-published Lies Unleashed in 2009 but I wasn’t doing to well       
    on my own so I continued to submit my manuscript and eventually got picked up
    by Delphine Publications. After signing on with Delphine they redesigned the  
    book, we changed the name, and reedited the manuscript, making it into the book
    that you see today. The publishing process was great and I was thankful that I was  
    allowed participation in the process.
 6.) Outside of writing, what do you like to do?
      I like to sing, write and record music, and spend time with my family and pets.
 
7.) Tell all the readers something about you that no one knows.
     I love animals just as much as I love writing. Also I’ve always wanted to write a    
     paranormal fiction novel which I plan to do in the near future.
 
8.) Is Lies Unleashed based on a true story?
 
No
 9.) What are your plans for the future and what are you working on now?
     My plans for the future are to continue producing great entertaining novels and I am   
     currently working on Lies Unleashed 2, which will be coming out in the Fall of this
     year.
10.) Any shout outs you want to give?
       I would like to give a shout out to all of my friends, family, and fans. Also to my   
       fellow Delphine authors and all aspiring authors who are working hard to make   
       things happen.
 
BIO
I was born in Augsburg, Germany and spent most of my life in the Midwest in East St. Louis, IL and St. Louis, MO.  I currently reside in Maryland, which is where I decided to pursue a career in writing. I began reading urban fiction novels when I was about 15 years old and had been interested in writing one of my own ever since. My very first novel “Lies Unleashed” debuted October 2013 and “Lies Unleashed 2” is soon to follow this upcoming fall. So stay tuned,  you don’t want to miss the drama that’s about to unfold.





LIES UNLEASHED SYNOPSIS
 
 In my novel Lies Unleashed, I take readers into the lives of colorful characters whose relationships are turned upside down when they can t seem to let go. Meet Niki, a partner at a law firm, who learns that her fiancĂ© Shawn had a little too much fun at his bachelor s party. She calls it quits, then meets Donte, who quickly sweeps her off her feet. But Shawn refuses to let go, causing Niki’s new relationship with Donte utter chaos. Then to further complicate the situation, Shawn’s brother James enters the picture, spinning a web of intrigue. Niki confides in her best friend, Charlene, who thinks she’s found a winner in Mason until she receives a threatening call one day from his wife/baby mother, which causes a whirlwind of drama to unfold. Watch as lives are transformed as multiple plots overlap in my debut novel as the saga continues.

Excerpt From Lies Unleashed



It’s 8 o’clock in the morning, and I’m just waking up again after getting up at 5 to fix my niece, Danielle, something to eat. After eating, we stayed up for a while and watched a little TV. We didn’t go back to sleep until 6 in the morning. Now I’m up once again getting her ready for her parents to pick her up and take her to school. Speaking of the devil, there they are now.

“Hey, Tanya, where is Darnell?”

“Outside waiting in the car. You know how he is. Always Mr. Impatient.”

“Yeah, I know,” I replied agreeing with Tanya. “He thinks we’ll take too long if he comes in. But he doesn’t have to worry about that today. Shoot, I’m tired and ready to go back to bed. Danielle wore me out these past two days, not to include this morning, but we had fun.”

“Danielle! Come say good-bye to your aunt Niki so we can go. You know we don’t have much time!” Tanya yelled. “So are you coming to her birthday party tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I should be able to make it,” I smiled.

“I can’t believe she’ll be seven years old. My baby’s growing up fast.”

“I know. Who would’ve thought out of all of us you’d have a baby first, Tanya?”

“I know. I was the main one swearing up and down I wasn’t gonna have no kids, but I’m glad I did . . . Well, I guess we’ll see you tomorrow. Give your aunt a kiss good-bye, Danielle.”

“Bye, Aunt Niki,” Danielle said as she kissed me on my cheek.

“Bye, sweetie, I’ll see you tomorrow, OK?”

“OK.”

“Oh, tell Darnell I said hello,” I yelled waving them good-bye.

“Good, now I can get some sleep.”

As soon as I lay down in my comfortable bed underneath my big goose down comforter and started to doze off I heard another knock at the door. Damn, people just won’t let me go to sleep! “Who is it?”

“It’s Shawn.”

“What do you want? I already told you it’s over!”

“I know, but I need to talk to you. Can I come in?”

“Hell, no! We’re not together so why are you here?”

“To explain what happened and plead my case.”

“It won’t do you any good because we’re still not getting back together, but OK, I’ll give you five minutes.”

“Thanks for letting me in. It’s cold outside,” Shawn said rubbing his hands together.

“Look just get to the point. You got four minutes, now!”

“OK, OK! Look, I made a mistake, but I want to make it right so we can get back together. What happened really wasn’t what it seemed.”

“What do you mean it wasn’t what it seemed? You cheated on me at your bachelor’s party with a stripper!” I glared at him.

“I know, I know, but you don’t understand. They took advantage of me! I was drunk.”

“They? What do you mean, ‘they’? It was more than one? You slept with two women?”

“I was drunk, Niki, I don’t remember all the details of that night!” Shawn said rubbing his face.

“Let me ask you this then, did you use protection?”

“Huh?” Shawn replied dumbfounded.

“Don’t play stupid with me. Did you use protection with those disease-infested whores you fucked?”

“You want the truth?”

“What the fuck you think, Shawn?”

“I don’t know if I did or didn’t. I told you I was drunk.”

“You nasty bastard. Your shit probably itchin’ and burnin’ right now! Oooh, I’m so glad I didn’t sleep with you when you came home that night. I might’ve gotten every disease under the blue moon from you! You know what? Get the hell out of my house!”

“No, I’m not going nowhere,” Shawn said staring at me.

“You don’t have an option. Now get the hell out of my house!”

“Niki, I told you I’m not leaving until we fix this!”

“We ain’t fixing shit, now get out before I call the cops and have them escort you out!”

“Fuck you, Niki! I wish you would try to call the cops. I’ll smack the shit out of you!”

“Oh, you got me fucked up!” I yelled thinking he had clearly lost his mind.

We stared each other down for a minute, but noticing he wouldn’t budge, I finally gave in. “OK, we can talk,” I said irritated. “I gotta go to the bathroom real quick though so go ahead and have a seat.”

The next thing you know I was storming out of the bathroom holding a silver .25 automatic pistol with a custom-made pearl handle at the back of his head. “So you ready to leave now?”

“You wouldn’t shoot me!”

“Try me!” I said loading one in the chamber. There were three bullets in the clip, and I only needed one. I have very good aim.

“I’m not scared of that gun, Niki. I’m not leaving!” Shawn got up and began to come toward me with his fists clenched, and that’s when I did it. I shot that bastard right in his foot!

“Ahh!” Shawn yelled in pain.

“Next time it’ll be where the sun don’t shine, and I’m not talking about your ass, either! I hope the next woman won’t be looking for kids!”

“You crazy bitch!”

“Shut up and get the hell out of my house, and don’t come back or ever call me again!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t!” Shawn spat in pain.

I had that fool limping all the way home. After that, I was able to sleep as peaceful as a baby.

Now that I’m refreshed I can get some things done. Let’s see, I need to exercise, go grocery shopping, and I guess I’ll finish the day off with some shopping at St. Louis Mills Mall. A lady has to reward herself somehow, especially after the morning I’ve had.

After jogging and doing my morning workout routine I took a bath, did my hair, picked out something casual to wear, and headed for the grocery store. Thanksgiving will be here in about a week, and I like to be ready ahead of time. Besides, Shop-N-Save always has good sales around the holidays. St. Louis around this time of year can be a bit chilly so I grabbed my mid-length leather coat and headed out the door.

While shopping around I noticed a sign for fresh baked Sweet Potato pies 2 for $5. You know that’s my favorite so I headed over. There were only two pies left, and I had to have ’em. I raced over to pick them up, but lo and behold, another lady obviously had her eyes on the same prize so it was on. The path was clear, and the goal was near so I briskly walked over to claim my prize. The other lady, on the other hand, was cutting people off with her cart, damn near running people over and racing through the aisles like a madwoman just for a couple of pies. By time she made it to the pies they were already mine for the taking, so she just stood there looking stupid and embarrassed for almost injuring people with her cart for some damn pies that were already taken. I can’t believe how silly some people are.

Now that I’ve got everything on my grocery list I was standing in line waiting to check out, but just my luck, I got behind a lady with a million WIC coupons. After waiting in line for what felt like an hour, I finally made it out of the grocery store and home to put everything away. Then it was time to head to the mall and do some serious shopping.

The drive there was pretty nice, the crowds weren’t too large, and the majority of the stores had just received and put out their new stock so I was practically floating on cloud nine. After shopping till I dropped I headed over to the food court, picked up some tacos and nachos, and sat down at a table to enjoy my meal, but before I could take a bite, I saw some fools heading over this way yelling, “What’s up, Shorty?”

“One, I’m not your Shorty, and shouldn’t you be in school somewhere learning something?”

“Nah, Ma, we outta school.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m 22, and my man here is 23. We just here checkin’ out the sites, you know?” the dudes replied.

So I decided to humor myself. “So what do you and your friend do for a living?”

“We hustle and slang a little somethin’ on the side, you know. A nine to five just ain’t for a dude like me.”

“So what do you hustle?”

“Bootleg CDs and movies,” his friend chimed in with a grin on his face and a mouth full of gold teeth.

“So, you wanna buy one?”

“No, thanks.”

“You sure? We sell more than just movies and CDs. We can get just about anything you want.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, Ma, you name it we got it.”

“OK, how about a Dodge Viper GT?”

“Oh, you got jokes, Ma, huh? Real funny. We good, but we ain’t that good.” The guy smiled also displaying a gold grill.

“So you got a man or a number or somethin’?”

“Yes, actually I do.”

“Y’all married or engaged or somethin’?”

“Actually, we are.”

“Then where’s your engagement or weddin’ ring?” the guy quizzed.

“My fiancĂ© had to get it fitted because it was too small. He also wanted to get it engraved.”

“Oh, that’s nice, Ma, but I think you’d be happier wit’ me.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m happy where I am.”

“Alright, then, Ma, it was nice talkin’ to you, and if you change your mind, here’s my card. You can give me a call anytime at any of those numbers. Oh, I’m Tate, and that’s Ron aka Sly. I didn’t get your name,” Tate said extending his hand to me.

“I’m Sandra.”

“Well, it was a pleasure meetin’ you, Sandra, and I hope to hear from you soon, real soon,” Tate said holding my hand a little too long.

Snatching my hand back I smiled and waved good-bye. I know! I know! I just lied about having a man and gave them a fake name, but really, what would you have done? Once again I’m trying to eat, and then I feel a tap on my shoulder. “Yes?” I answered a little irritable thinking it was Tate and Sly. As I looked up I saw the most handsome man I’d ever seen in my life.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, sir, I thought you were someone else.”

“I know, the two little idiots that just left your table.”

“How did you know?”

“I saw them walking away when I was walking up.”

“Well, how can I help you?”

“I just wanted to return your ID card. You left it in the store back there. I tried to get your attention then, but you were hauling ass.”

“I know, I was pretty hungry,” I laughed.

“Well, that’s all I wanted. Have a nice day,” the man said and began to walk away.

“Wait, can I get you something to eat maybe? You did just return something very important to me.”

“Nah, I’m OK, have a nice evening,” he replied with a smile and continued walking.

Damn that sucks. He was fine too, I thought to myself disappointed. Oh well . . .

 

                         Donte and Mason

“Aye, Donte, did you catch up wit ole girl?” Mason asked.

“Yeah, she was fine too.”

“So what happened?”

“I gave her the ID back, told her to have a nice day, and walked away.”

“What! Are you serious, man?” Mason stopped in his tracks.

“I didn’t want to come on too strong. Besides, I’m sure I’ll see her again.”

“And how can you be so sure about that?” Mason laughed.

“I just got this feeling we’ll meet again.”

“And what if it doesn’t happen?”

“Then it just wasn’t meant to be,” I replied nonchalant.

“I ain’t gonna lie though, the way you carried it was real crazy. That was some playa shit right there. I know she was sitting there looking like, what the hell! Probably wondering why you didn’t holler at her,” Mason said laughing.

“I was feeling her, but I wasn’t gonna let her know that. I will if I see her again though.”

“How you know she’s feeling you?”

“If you could’ve seen the look on her face, believe me, you would’ve known too,” I smiled feeling cocky.

“Shoot, you better hope I don’t meet her first cuz I’m a have to get her number.”

“Please! You ain’t her type, Mason!”

“We’ll see.”

“No, we won’t because I’d have to intercept on that one.”

“Whatever, man, so what you wanna do now?” Mason asked waving me off.

“Let’s go grab something to eat. We gotta meet up with Jerome and his boy around 6 o’clock to shoot some hoops.”

“That’s what’s up. Y’all bet on this?”

“Hell, yeah, and I got some nice money on this one too, so you better bring your ‘A’ game.”

“And if I don’t, don’t worry. I’m sure you make more than enough money throughout the week that it won’t even graze your pockets,” Mason smiled.

“That don’t mean I wanna lose.”

“So what do I get out of the deal?” Mason asked.

“Half of what I make, which won’t be chump change.”

“Alright, bet!”

                                                             Niki

I just made it back home from the mall, and I’m beat. About an hour later I’m kicked back and relaxing while watching How Stella Got Her Groove Back and the next thing I know my phone is ringing.

“Hello?”

“Hey, girl!”

“Oh, hey, Charlene, what you doing?”

“Nothing really, I just called to see if you wanted to go out tonight.”

“Where are you trying to take me now?”

“To that new lounge that just opened up, Escotta.”

“I don’t know. The last time we went out somewhere we were damn near running from the cops for something as silly as you mooning somebody for cutting you off.”

“Hey, that was his fault. He never shouldn’t have gotten smart.”

“Weren’t you flicking him off enough? Did you really have to catch up with him to moon him?” Niki said laughing.

“Hey, he had it coming. Besides, you have to admit that was pretty funny, especially the facial expression he made. His face turned red as hell! Remember what he said, ‘Well, I’ve never! You should be ashamed of yourselves!’”

“That really made it funny. Mr. Belvedere asked for it,” Charlene laughed.

“Alright, I guess I’ll go, but you know I don’t like clubs like that so if I hate it we’re gone, and you can’t say no ’cause I did it for you.”

“OK! OK! We can go if you don’t like it, but we’ll be going somewhere else, maybe bowling or something, then.”

“So who’s driving?”

“I will!” Charlene said excited. “I’ll be there to pick you up around 8 or 8:30 p.m.”

“OK, that’s cool. I’ll be ready.”

To my surprise the lounge wasn’t overcrowded and everyone was relaxed and having a good time. “This is a pretty nice lounge. We should come here more often.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we will,” Charlene replied. “So what happened to Shawn? Are you two gonna work things out? The last time I spoke to you, you said you two had a pretty bad argument.”

“Me and Shawn are never getting back together,” I replied quickly.

“What happened? One minute the two of you were getting married, then the next thing you know you were saying the engagement was off.”

“Do you know that jerk slept with two of the strippers at his bachelor’s party?”

“What? How did you find out?”

“Well, one of the strippers he slept with named Candy just so happens to be my secretary. I hired her as my new secretary a few months ago because my old one, Terry, found a new job and resigned.”

“Terry quit?” Charlene asked.

“Yeah. I don’t blame her though. Her new job pays her more than I could, and they gave her a promotion. I threw a going away party for her before she left though. I’ll miss her. She was a good secretary.”

“I liked her. She was so nice,” Charlene added.

“Anyway, I was heading out to lunch, and Candy asked if she could join me. It was a pretty slow day so I let her come along and just had her forward all my calls to voice mail. When we got to the restaurant and ordered our food we somehow got on the conversation of men and relationships. I already knew she was a stripper, and she would always tell me stories of how wild the parties she worked would get. So as usual, she started telling me about the last party she stripped at which was a bachelor’s party. She said the guys were tipping well that night so a lot of the girls were doing extra ‘favors’ for the right price. Then she started to tell me about this client she was dancing for named Shawn. She said he was a very nice-looking dude about 5’10 or 5’11 with a mid-brown skin complexion and dark hair which he kept closely faded. Wanting to make sure it was him I asked her where the party was held. Once she said it was downtown at the Marriott I knew it was him.”

“So what did you do? Did you tell her that was your man?” Charlene asked concerned.

“No, I didn’t want to feel stupid or embarrassed so I let her keep talking. Plus I wanted to see what else she had to say. She said he started to feel all on her, but she wasn’t going to tell him to stop because he was tipping nice. So after she finished giving him a lap dance, he asked her if she did other things. She said she usually didn’t, but he offered her $300, claiming this may be the last night he sleeps with another woman for a while since he was getting married in a few days.

“She said, ‘You know me, I ain’t turning that much money down,’ so I happily obliged.”

“Do you know if they used protection?” Charlene asked.

“She said they did, and she put it on him, but the condom broke sometime while they were having sex. Then she told me she may be pregnant, but she’s gonna wait to see if her period comes at the end of the month.”

“Wait! What” Are you serious?” Charlene asked in shock.

“Dead serious.”

“So how did you find out about stripper number two?”

“When he came to my house to make up with me, he accidentally told me while we were arguing. He claimed he was drunk when it happened and they took advantage of him. Once I found out about stripper number two, I told him to leave, and you know he refused! Then when I threatened to call the cops he told me he’d smack the shit out of me.”

“What! What did you do then?” Charlene asked curious.

“I told him to have a seat while I ran to the bathroom, but I really went to grab my handgun. The next thing you know, I was holding it to the back of his head telling him to leave.”

“Did he leave?” Charlene asked listening intently.

“No, actually, he got up and started coming toward me with his fists clenched like he was gonna hit me, so I shot him!”

“Oh my God! Did you kill him?”

“Girl, no! You think I’d be sitting here so calmly if I did? I shot him in the foot.”

“Oh, I bet he left then.”

“He sure did. You should’ve seen him limp out of there. It was comical!”

“So has he called you anymore?”

“Nope, and hopefully he never will. I did meet this one guy though.”

“Oh, really? Where?”

“At the mall, and he was so fine. He brought my ID back to me after I left it in one of the stores.”

“How did he look?” Charlene asked curious.

“He was about 5’9 or 5’10 with hazel eyes and a mocha-colored skin complexion. He had a low fade and muscles to last for days.”

“He sounds cute. I gotta see him! So did you get his number?”

“No.”

“Did you at least hold a conversation with him?”

“Somewhat.”

“Well, damn! What did you do?” Charlene quizzed.

“I tried to get him to sit down and have lunch with me, but he refused. He told me to have a nice day and left after I offered him something to eat twice.”

“Dang, he played you! What was he gay?”

“No, I don’t think so. Maybe he didn’t feel like having female company or as attractive as he was, he probably had a girlfriend already . . . well, so much for men.”

“Let’s not say that just yet. There’s still hope! Look over at the entrance,” Charlene said.

“Oh my God! That’s him, Charlene!”

“Damn! He looks like he just stepped out of GQ magazine’s front cover, and who is his friend? They must’ve been in there together! Why didn’t you try his friend then?”

“One, I’m not a ho! Two, this is my first time seeing his friend! And three, I don’t really get off on light-skinned dudes.”

“Well, hell, I do. That’s just more light-skinned brother for me,” Charlene smiled.

“Believe me, you can have them. Most of them, or at least the ones I’ve dated, were stuck up and until I’m proven wrong, I’m sticking by that.”

“Niki, I think they’re coming this way!” Charlene said checking her makeup in her compact.

“Oh no! What am I going to say?”

“I don’t know, but we better think fast!” Charlene added.

“Hello, ladies, may we join you?”

“Sure, please do!” Charlene answered while blushing.

“I’m Donte, and this is my friend Mason.”

“Of course, you already know I’m Niki, and this is my friend Charlene.”

“Oh, two for two!” Mason added.

“Come on, man, that was corny,” Donte laughed.

“Oh no, it’s OK. I like corny,” Charlene smiled. “So, Mason, do you like to dance?”

“Of course, but I hope you can keep up,” he smiled.

“Oh, is that a challenge?” Charlene grinned.

“Yeah.”

“OK, then, let’s do it,” Charlene said excited.

“Bet!” Mason added.

“So, Niki, we meet again.”

“Well, technically, we didn’t really meet. You left as fast as you came, remember?” Niki replied.

“My fault, I didn’t have much time. I had something to do later that day.”

“That’s OK, you’re forgiven.”

“So you wanna dance?” Donte smiled while holding out his hand.

“Sure, I’d love to as long as you don’t refuse to have dinner with me like you did last time.”

“Don’t worry, I got you,” Donte said pulling me onto the dance floor.

“Oh my God, look at your friend. He can actually dance! It looks like Charlene has some competition,” Niki said laughing.

“Yeah, I give him that, he can dance,” Donte added.

A little while later, the DJ put on a slow song. As I started to head back to our table Donte grabbed me and gently pulled me back into his embrace. He then wrapped his strong arms around my waist as I wrapped mine around his neck. That’s when I almost melted. I swear he felt and smelled so good. I felt like I was floating on a cloud. That didn’t last long though. As soon as I got comfortable in his embrace someone tapped him on the shoulder. As I continued to bury my head in his chest someone asked, “May I cut in?”

“Nah, homie, we good,” Donte replied.

That’s when I heard, “Well, you are dancing with my lady, so I know you don’t think I’m just gonna stand back and watch.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, but you don’t have no other choice but to stand back and watch,” Donte replied gently pushing me behind him.

“Shawn, we’re not together anymore so get over it!”

“Oh, so you think I’m just gonna let you go that easy?”

“You don’t have much of a choice but to, Shawn!”

“Yeah, well you got another think coming because this ain’t over until I say it’s over!”

“Damn, dawg, she don’t want you no more. Obviously she wasn’t happy with you or she wouldn’t be here with me, now gone ’bout your business so we can get back to doing what we were doing.”

“Fuck you, dawg!” Shawn spat as he swung at Donte with a sloppy right hook.

Before the punch could connect, Donte ducked and came up with a vicious uppercut that knocked Shawn off his feet. After that, Shawn was sprawled out on the floor knocked out cold.

A few minutes later, Security ran over asking who started the fight and everyone pointed at Shawn, so they grabbed him by his arms and dragged him outside. Angry and embarrassed, he yelled, “Oh, this shit ain’t over, and next time I ain’t using my hands! This ain’t over, Niki, so don’t get comfortable! Let me go!” Shawn yelled trying to jerk away as Security dragged him out of the building. I think he went to jail that night ’cause as soon as they let him go he tried to assault one of the guards. They put him in handcuffs faster than he could blink. The only reason they didn’t kick Donte out was because everybody said Shawn started the altercation, and plus, we knew a couple of the bouncers from other clubs me and Charlene visited. See what stupidity gets you?

We all left the club after the showdown and grabbed something to eat. Charlene and I were shocked when we saw that uppercut Donte caught Shawn with, but we all laughed hard as hell after seeing how Shawn landed when he hit the floor. Donte had that fool knocked out on the floor, snoring. Through all the drama we still managed to have a nice and comical night at the expense of Shawn. Sad to say, even after being knocked out cold in front of all those people, I’m sure Shawn still isn’t giving up. He hates to be a loser, but little does he know he might have more to worry about than me if Candy’s pregnant. She’s crazier than he is, and I’ve seen her in action.

The next morning I woke up refreshed and stress free so I decided to go out for breakfast. That’s when my cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey, sweetheart, did you enjoy yourself last night?” Donte asked.

“You know I did,” I answered cheerfully.

“So what are you doing this morning?”

“I’m getting ready to head out for breakfast.”

“Can I join you?”

“Of course you can, I’d love that,” I smiled.

“OK, don’t go anywhere. I’ll pick you up, and we can decide where to go from there.”

During breakfast I gave Donte the whole rundown about Shawn and our history together. I have to admit, though, I’m surprised that Donte didn’t run from the situation I’d gotten him into. That tells me a lot about him. He’s not a punk and doesn’t back down from problems. Boy, had I been messing with the wrong men, or should I say, “boys.”

Donte and I ended up spending the whole day together, and surprisingly, we had a lot in common. Neither one of us has kids, we both enjoy writing, and I even found out he’s a very good cook, but I’ll be the judge of that. After that day, we began to spend a lot of time together and made our dating situation official, so I am now his lady. What, you didn’t think we’d get married that soon, did you? Nah, I got a while for that and kids. There’s no rush here.

LIES UNLEASHED IS AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE BOOKS ARE SOLD WORLDWIDE!