She Does Know Jack Read online

  “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.

  What 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

  Also by Donna Michaels

  ~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

  Dear Reader,

  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

  www.donnamichaelsauthor.com

  Dedication

  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.

  Table of Contents

  What they’re saying…

  Also by Donna Michaels

  Dear Reader

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

 
Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  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

  Prologue

  Done.

  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.

  Chapter One

  Seven months later…

  I am the biggest patsy this side of the Pacific.

  She’d been played. Expertly. Like a video game controller in the hands of a teenager. And still she’d caved.

  Patsy.

  Calling herself a few other choice words, hard words, Gabrielle Chapman stared out at the ocean from a limo racing toward her future home for the next several weeks. A home she liked to call hell. After all, to her, hell was reality TV.