She Does Know Jack
Read She Does Know Jack Online
Authors: Donna Michaels
“And you should
be happy.”
His gaze
narrowed into a deep frown. “Happy? Why?”
“I’m obviously
making someone angry, and you know what happens to people when they get angry,
don’t you?”
Begrudging
admiration filled his eyes. “They make mistakes.”
“Exactly.” She
nodded with a smile. “And if we play our cards right, we’ll catch the offender
in no time.
“We?” He shook
his head and grasped her shoulders. “Oh, hell no. There
is
no
we
,
Ms. Bennett. This isn’t a game.”
“Yes—
we
,”
she corrected, lifting her chin. Heat seared her skin from under his grasp, but
she applauded herself for resisting the urge to press closer. “As I see it, I
have two choices,
Mr. Anderson
. I can either cower and leave the show,
or stand my ground. I’m much better at standing.”
His gaze darkened
to a smoky blue before dropping to her mouth. Ah, heaven help her. Not that
again. Her heart did an impromptu fire drill—stopped, dropped, then rolled.
All thoughts of
the show, threats and suspects clouded as her body responded to Jack’s
nearness. That pressing-closer urge grew stronger. Much stronger. She only had
to lean forward and they’d be heart-to-heart, body-to-body.
Good parts to
good parts.
She
Does Know Jack
By
Donna
Michaels
SHE
DOES KNOW JACK
Copyright © 2013 Donna Michaels
Cover Art by
Ramona Lockwood
© 2013
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this
book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage
and retrieval system-except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a
review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the web -without
permission in writing from the author. For information, please contact the
author via email at
[email protected]
All characters in this book have no
existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever
to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired
by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure
invention.
ISBN: Not Assigned.
License Statement
This ebook is licensed for your personal
enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If
you would like to share this book with another person, please download an
additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of
this author.
they’re saying…
About HER
UNBRIDLED COWBOY:
“As
always, I love Ms. Michaels’ voice and she knows how to hook her readers in from
the very beginning. I love how she develops her characters and makes them so
believable that you feel as if these are real people you could become friends
with. I highly recommend this second novel in the Harland County Series and I’m
eagerly looking forward to book three and four. Don’t pass this series up!”
—Night Owl
Reviews,
Reviewer Top
Pick
About CAPTIVE HERO
(Time-shift Heroes
Series-Book One):
**2013 Reader’s Choice
Finalist—Contemporary**
**2012 RONE Awards Nominee for Best
Time Travel**
“Captive Hero” is a compelling story about two star crossed
lovers. They make an amazing couple. Their banter, chemistry and the deep
love that is obvious in their interactions make them a true pleasure to read
about! The story is full of twists, unexpected revelations interwoven with
moments of peace and love. It’s an amazing adventure that will tug at the
reader’s heartstrings and refuse to let go!”
—InD’tale Magazine,
Awarded Crowned Heart of Excellence
“Ms.
Michaels has outdone herself yet again by writing another story in which her
readers can’t help but fall in love with her characters.
This is
another great story by Ms. Michaels that I enjoyed from cover to cover and I’m
eagerly awaiting the next book to be released in this Time-shift Heroes series.
Well done!”
—Night Owl
Reviews,
Reviewer Top
Pick
~Novels~
Captive Hero (Time-shift Heroes
Series-Book One)
The Spy Who Fanged Me
Her Fated Cowboy
Her Unbridled Cowboy
~Novellas~
Cowboy-Sexy
Thanks for Giving
Ten Things I’d Do for a Cowboy
Vampire Kristmas
~Short Stories~
The Hunted
Negative Image
The Truth About Daydreams
Holiday Spirit
~Do-Over Series~
Valentine’s Day Do-Over
Valentine’s Day Do-Over Part II:
The Siblings
UPCOMING
RELEASES:
~Harland County
Series~
Her Uniform Cowboy (Book 3/Kade)
~Time-shift Heroes
Series~
Future Hero—Book Two
~Dangerous
Curves Series~
Locke and Load—Book One
Thank you for purchasing She Does Know
Jack. This was truly a fun book to write. Several years ago, okay…*cough* eight
years ago…I was flipping channels on the TV when I came across a bachelor-type
reality show and immediately thought,
What if…the heroine was undercover as
a contestant to protect the bachelor?
But the hero wouldn’t be the
‘bachelor’. Too cliché. And, viola…
Meet Your Mate
was born. I sold the
story to The Wild Rose Press, and this past spring, I received the rights back
and went to work on updating the storyline.
Now, over 22,000 words later, I’ve upped
the heat level to
Hot
, added several new scenes, including a prologue
and love scene, and changed their relationship right from the beginning which
spiraled throughout the book. To round out all the updates, I grabbed another
wonderful Jimmy Thomas cover and changed the title to SHE DOES KNOW JACK.
Capt. Jack ‘Dodger’ Anderson, a former
Army Ranger is tough, capable and miserable. Having been burnt twice by
dishonest women, he doesn’t understand why his younger brother is on a show
ripe with females all lacking the
honesty
gene, especially when written
threats begin to appear. Determined to keep his foolish sibling safe, Jack has
no trouble remaining unaffected by the pretty contestants…until a certain,
somewhat familiar dancer waltzes onto the set. Jack was a very honorable hero
whom I enjoyed revisiting and torturing…hehe
Brielle Chapman is the perfect mate for
Jack. Beautiful, tough, capable, and has trouble keeping the guy out of her
head once she realizes the Ranger is the same man she’d met while in disguise on
a previous undercover assignment. Thanks to a promise she makes to his parents,
she’s unable to reveal to Jack her real reason for being on the show.
Distracted by old memories and new feelings, Brielle has trouble remaining
unaffected by the sexy man.
Attraction, lies and deceit run rampant,
and the two have a lot of obstacles to overcome in order to catch the culprit
and
meet their mate
.
Hope you enjoy Brielle and Jack as much
as I did.
Thanks for reading,
~Donna
To anyone who’s watched reality TV and
thought…
what if?
To anyone in the military, past and
present, and the family and friends who supported you. Thank you for your
sacrifice.
To my husband Michael, my family, JT,
and the HOODS. As always, your support is much appreciated. And most of all, to
my editor Stacy for keeping me on track and
getting
my humor.
D
one.
After three
weeks, Jack Anderson no longer needed to pose as a patron in order to canvas
the exotic dancers, customers or staff at The Limelight. Not a hardship. Hell
no. He was a red-blooded male. Still, his presence at the club had nothing to
do with the nearly naked women who danced and contorted in interesting and
erotic positions around a pole. He’d been working.
“Did you hear
me, sir? You can finally quit and go home,” Detective Ben Morton said through
the phone Jack pressed close to his ear in an attempt to hear over the loud
music.
A few weeks
back, Ben had contacted him asking for undercover help cracking a home invasion
ring rumored to be operating out of the club. Jack jumped at the chance. Not
only to assist the former Ranger he’d led in Afghanistan several years ago, but
also to clear his own ass–his security company had installed the alarms to two
of the four invaded homes.
“The tips we received
from you and some others panned out,” Ben continued. “We caught the culprits in
the act fifteen minutes ago, including one of the dancers.”
Apprehension
rippled through his stomach. God, he hoped it wasn’t Ariel. The sexy girl from Paris with her long red hair, big blue eyes, and throaty accent dancing to support herself
through med school managed to get under his armor. A feat no woman had
accomplished since…what little trust he had left had been blown apart by
another sexy girl.
“It went down
clean, too. Without casualties,” his buddy reported, bringing his mind back to
the matter at hand.
“Good.”
The rash of
invasion had become increasingly violent. Last week, one of the victims ended
up in the hospital with a concussion, broken clavicle and lacerated arm. Working
undercover, Jack had suspected two of the customers when the men would sit back
and study the
patrons
, not the dancers. His suspicions increased over
the fact they’d never once tipped a dancer, leered, jeered, let loose with a
catcall, or displayed any kind of reaction to any of the nearly naked, gyrating
women. Why go to an exotic dance club if not to stare at the dancers?
Hell, his visits
to The Limelight had nothing to do with the women, but even
he
tipped
and ogled enough to blend in. No. Something definitely hadn’t added up with
those two. So, he’d taken their picture with his phone, followed them out one
night and wrote down their license plate to forward to Ben.
Simple cut and dry
case.
Or was it?
Dragging in a
deep breath, Jack tamped down his apprehension and voiced the question he
loathed to ask. “Any connection to my company?”
Over the past
two years, he’d busted his ass, doing damage control to fix the reputation of Anderson
Security due to his lack of judgment on a former girlfriend. For twelve months
now, his company had been golden, reaffirming their good name and standing. The
last thing his company needed was another blemish.
“No, sir,” Ben
replied, his tone positive, yet firm.
Thank Christ.
Jack exhaled and
leaned against a wall vibrating with the rock beat blaring from the speakers.
“Only a
coincidence two of the homes had your alarms, sir,” Ben continued. “Both times,
the victims stated the systems had not yet been turned on for the night.
Apparently, the dancer screened the marks, picking out targets for her partners
to follow home.”
Jack nodded as
if his buddy could see him. “That’s a relief.” A big relief. “Thanks for
calling, Morton.”
“Of course, sir.
Thank you for your help.”
“Anytime.” After
hanging up, he shoved the phone in the front pocket of his jeans.
Not his fault.
Anderson
Security wasn’t
to blame.
A small smile
finally tilted his lips for the first time in days. Jack removed his hat and
ran a hand through his overgrown mop before setting the Dodger ball cap back on
his head. He hated the feel of hair on his neck. A byproduct of the military. The
past few weeks, he allowed his hair to grow for the assignment, having cased
plenty of bars, strip joints and clubs before Ben’s phone call pointed him to The
Limelight.
He preferred a
short, above the ears style, and tomorrow, his unruly mane would finally have a
date with the barber. How the hell Matthew managed to put up with longer styles
boggled his mind. Of course, his brother the artist tended to lose focus on
daily routine when creativity sparked. Since those sparks led to a lucrative,
world famous career, his younger sibling could afford expensive cuts once the
fog lifted from his brain.
“Hi, handsome.”
The familiar,
pleasant voice sounded from the side and brought his mind back to the present. He
turned as Kelsey, the spiky-haired, Goth waitress, look up at him through green
eyes, which would no doubt be pretty if not surrounded by so much caked-on
black goop.
“Want your usual
seat?”
Jack opened his
mouth to decline. His job was done. He didn’t have to observe and report
anymore. If he left now, he’d still catch the last half of the Dodgers game on
TV. So why the hell did he nod and let the waitress lead him to the table due
left of the stage?
Her
, his mind readily
answered.
You need to discover if Ariel is dancing tonight
.
To find
out if, yet again, you were fooled by another sexy woman.
God, he hoped
not. He wanted to believe she actually danced to put herself through med
school. Not only for her sake, but for his, too. He needed to know he still had
the ability to correctly read someone he was attracted to, and restore a little
of his faith in the female population.
All right, instincts
told him
something
was off about Ariel, but he hoped for a minor reason
like she wasn’t French, or in college. No big deal. If she didn’t show up
tonight,
then
it would be a big deal. He couldn’t explain, but he really
didn’t want to be wrong about her. All the redhead needed to do was take the
stage to put his mind at ease…and twist his body into the usual knots as she
contorted around the damn pole. If not, she was the dancer Detective Morton had
arrested. And he was a damn fool. Again.
Kelsey delivered
his beer just as the last strings of AC/DC dissipated from the speakers and the
dancing blonde left the stage in her skimpy, black leather bikini. Jack’s lips
twitched as he lifted his drink. A few weeks of canvassing had uncovered that
one to be a UCLA Physics Major. No surprise. She sure came up with some
interesting angles. As the thought increased his smile, the lights changed
colors.
This was it.
The
moment of truth
. Ariel’s set.
He downed his
beer, his gaze never leaving the stage. The med student usually followed the
physics major, and he only hoped for the same tonight.
A loud, reggae
beat from a Bob Marley song filled the room, along with a bout of hoots,
whistles and hollers the leggy redhead always inspired.
Breath hissed
from his lungs in a gush of relief.
Ariel
. He hadn’t been wrong about
her.
Shimmying onto
the stage in a string bikini with strategically placed seashells, she took his
breath, her blue gaze instantly locking with his, sexy grin tugging her full
lips as her body began to sway to the beat.
Something was
different.
He sat up,
trying to discern the difference, and his heart rocked into his ribs. Hard.
Something had changed. Her regard toward him seemed to have…softened. Not quite
as guarded or reserved.
His whole body
tightened as he gazed at those long, limber legs wrapping around the pole, the
mermaid tattoo on the outside of her upper right thigh, teasing him, twisting
his gut into a knot not unlike the one made by her supple body.
Awareness shot
through him with all the force of a magazine from an M-4 rifle. She righted
herself and danced closer, her gaze open and full of the heat flowing in his
veins.
Jesus
. Her eyes were twin pools of fierce need, and Jack fought
the urge to toss her over his shoulder and carry her off backstage. This was
new. No woman ever sparked Neanderthal tendencies in him before. He clenched
his jaw to keep the growl inside. Thank Christ, because Kelsey chose that
moment to drop off another beer.
“Here you go,
sugar. You look like you could use something to cool you off.”
Only a stroll
across the tundra buck naked at midnight in the dead of winter would cool him
down now.
“Ariel’s something,
ain’t she?” Kelsey waved toward the stage. “Too bad this is her last dance. Her
mama’s taken ill back in Paris, and she’s catching the red-eye tonight. We’re
gonna miss her. She’s a sweetheart.”
Ariel’s leaving?
Damn. His gut
clenched as if Rodriguez, his two-hundred-thirty-five pound right hand man,
punched him. With brass knuckles. Twice. Jack glanced back up at Ariel, and
realization dawned. She was leaving.
That’s
what was different.
That’s
the reason she openly engaged him.
A slow grin
tugged his mouth. Now, he knew exactly how to proceed. Tonight he’d toss
caution to the wind and give himself permission to have a little fun.
Jack sat back
and lifted his beer in a salute to the sexy redhead. He’d make sure Ariel left
the states with a smile on her pretty face.