Redemption of the Playboy (book 5): Blessed and Highly Favored

By Vanessa Miller

After a very public argument over child support payments, the mother of Shawn Morrison’s third child is found dead. The police believe that Shawn is involved and bring him in for questioning. 

In the fight of his life, Shawn turns to the brother who disowned him and the ex-fiancé who left because of his cheating ways, and wants nothing to do with him. But Lily is now a born-again Christian and feels compelled to help her lost love.  

Will stepping back into Shawn’s world prove to be too much for Lily to handle? Or will her forgiving heart and new attitude concerning morality finally help Shawn turn back to God in this, his darkest hour?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vanessa Miller
• Release date: Feb 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507034613

Vanessa Miller

Vanessa Miller is a bestselling author, with several books appearing on ESSENCE Magazine's Bestseller List. She has also been a Black Expressions Book Club alternate pick and #1 on BCNN/BCBC Bestseller List. Most of Vanessa's published novels depict characters who are lost and in need of redemption. The books have received countless favorable reviews: "Heartwarming, drama-packed and tender in just the right places" (Romantic Times book review) and "Recommended for readers of redemption stories" (Library Journal). Visit her online at vanessamiller.com; X: @Vanessamiller01; Instagram: @authorvanessamiller; Facebook: @Vanessamiller01.

Book preview

Redemption of the Playboy

Fifth book in the Blessed and Highly Favored Series

by

Bestselling author of the Praise Him Anyhow Series

Vanessa Miller

Other Books by Vanessa Miller

After the Rain

How Sweet The Sound

Heirs of Rebellion

Feels Like Heaven

Heaven on Earth

The Best of All

Better for Us

Her Good Thing

Long Time Coming

A Promise of Forever Love

A Love for Tomorrow

Yesterday’s Promise

Forgotten

Forgiven

Forsaken

Rain for Christmas (Novella)

Through the Storm

Rain Storm

Latter Rain

Abundant Rain

Former Rain

Anthologies (Editor)

Keeping the Faith

Have A Little Faith

This Far by Faith

Love. Hope. Faith.

EBOOKS

Love Isn’t Enough

A Mighty Love

The Blessed One (Blessed and Highly Favored series)

The Wild One (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)

The Preacher’s Choice (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)

The Politician’s Wife (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)

The Playboy’s Redemption (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)

Tears Fall at Night (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

Joy Comes in the Morning (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

A Forever Kind of Love (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

Ramsey’s Praise (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

Escape to Love (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

Praise For Christmas (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

His Love Walk (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

Could This Be Love (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

Song of Praise (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

CHAPTER ONE

Shawn Morrison, the touchdown king of the New Orleans Saints was in the Déjà vu Showgirls club making it rain for two strippers named Fire and Desire. He and his boys stood at the bottom of the stage flashing dollars and screaming, Come holla at ya’ boy.

The strippers stepped to the end of the stage where Shawn and his boys were. Fire and Desire dropped it like it was hot and picked up the dollars like payday had come early.

Man, I might have to get me a private show, JoJo, short for Joe Johnson, Shawn’s teammate said as he slipped a dollar in Desire’s unmentionables.

Me first, Shawn said like a giddy schoolboy.

Haven’t you had enough lap dances for a lifetime?

Shawn heard the annoying voice and immediately knew who was standing behind him. Paris Holmes was the most annoying ex-stripper—now reality show princess, he’d ever had the displeasure of sleeping with. He got a skin rash every time he was forced to have a conversation with her, so he just kept passing out dollars and hoping that Paris would fly away.

Don’t act like you don’t hear me, she said as she grabbed his arm and attempted to turn him around.

But at 6’3 and two hundred and sixty pounds, Shawn was built like a linebacker, even though he was one of the best tight ends the New Orleans Saints had. And no mere woman could move his solid form unless he wanted to be moved. Shawn brushed Paris’s hand away from his arm and said, I’m busy.

Everybody in here can see how busy you are. With a smirk on her face, Paris added, We can all see that you’re a low-life, deadbeat daddy who’d rather spend his money on strippers than pay his child support.

Shawn turned hateful eyes onto his nemesis. He threw the dollars he had left, on the floor in front of her. That’s all you’re getting from me.

She laughed at him. In your dreams, sweetheart. When the DNA comes back on Imani, you’re going to need a second career to pay me off… how’s your batting arm?

Terrible, but I won’t have to worry about a baseball career, because when the DNA comes back, it’s going to be game over.

A camera flashed. JoJo quietly said, Man, you might want to lower your voice. Another camera flashed.

Forget that, Shawn exploded. She wants to come in here acting all brand new, when she knows that kid could belong to that senator or that rapper dude she used to date. He snapped his finger and added, Or any of them suckas she was kicking it with on that nasty Bad Girls reality show she got kicked off of.

Say what you want, Shawn, but I know that Imani is yours.

The jury is still out on that one, he said. And I’m not paying one copper penny until Mr. DNA says I have to. This wasn’t Shawn’s first, second or third time at bat. To date, five women had claimed he was their babies’ daddy, one of them had been his brother Isaiah’s ex-wife, but DNA had told the truth. He hadn’t been the daddy of those kids, and he was positive that he wasn’t Paris’s baby’s daddy either. Shawn only had two children that he knew for sure were his. Those children had been birthed by his ex-fiancée, the love of his life, who wouldn’t give him a second chance. Actually, Shawn was on chance number six with Lily when she’d finally decided that enough was enough and left him.

You’re only acting this way because Lily is mad about you having another baby.

Keep Lily’s name out of your mouth. She don’t have nothing to do with what’s going on between me and you.

And I say she has everything to do with it, since you’re taking care of her kids, but won’t do the same for mine.

Is there lint between your ears or something? Did you fail an IQ test? I keep telling you that Lily’s kids are my kids… I know that for a fact, so I handle my business as a father. He scrunched up his noise as if he’d smelled something foul. But you and your kid… are suspect.

Paris snarled at Shawn, When the DNA test comes back and proves that you are the father, I’m going to take your deadbeat behind to the bank. Then you’ll be making it rain in my house.

With balled fist, Shawn said, Ooh, I wish I’d never met your conniving, trifling self.

Oh really? Well you didn’t say that while you were spending that weekend in Paris.

I’ll never go back, believe that. It was the worst weekend of my life. I need my head examined for fooling with a money hungry hooker like you.

Paris slapped him.

Shawn grabbed her hand, pulled her closer to him, so that they were face to face when he said, Don’t ever put your hands on me again. Because you won’t like the lick I give back, believe that, baby. He then shoved her away from him and turned back toward the stage, grabbed a couple of dollars out of JoJo’s hand and continued on with his evening as if Paris had never interrupted him.

With tears staining her face, Paris stalks out of the club.

***

Lily Washington took a quick peek in the mirror before leaving the house. She had on a simple no-name blue jean dress that cut off just above her knees. Since leaving Shawn she no longer went on shopping sprees or stepped foot into Neiman Marcus. She made do with what she had. Lily smiled as she looked down at her shoes… before leaving Shawn she packed up most of her collection of shoes and handbags. That day she was rocking her Jimmy Choo Mock Croc pumps with matching handbag, souvenirs she had held onto.

As she got in her BMW, another souvenir she had taken with her, she almost felt guilty about wearing the shoes and handbag, because they were a part of her old life with a man she truly loved and thought he loved her back. But he turned out to be a jerk who didn’t know how to come home and kept dropping his pants in the presence of other women.

Lily had been heartbroken when