by Cat Johnson
The best way to heal a broken heart is to jump right back on the horse. So to speak…
Red, Hot & Blue, Book 2
After watching the girl he’s crushed on for years fall for his best friend, the last thing special operative Jack Gordon wants is a vacation. If cooling his heels doesn’t drive him crazy, doing it under his family’s scrutiny will.
But once he’s back home things get more than a little interesting. The new farm hand is cute, sexy—and his instincts tell him she’s got something to hide. Luckily, he’s got the skills and the backup to find out what.
Gordon Equine is the perfect place for Niccolina Campolini. The Gordons pay in room, board and cash. And they don’t ask questions. Perfect for a girl on the run…until Jack shows up. Sexy as hell and far too inquisitive, Jack strikes sparks and suspicions that put both her body and her heart in danger.
Jack knows better than to trust a woman with as many shadows as Nicki, but the heat waves of their attraction are messing with his focus. And when her secrets catch up with her, he’s not sure if he’s protecting her from something, or protecting his family from her…
This book has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.
Warning: This book contains extremely stupid gangsters bearing guns, a bored team of special operatives looking for some action, and one Southern gentleman guaranteed to charm your panties off.
eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520
Macon GA 31201
Jack
Copyright © 2010 by Cat Johnson
ISBN: 978-1-60928-160-1
Edited by Heidi Moore
Cover by Angela Waters
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: August 2010
www.samhainpublishing.com
Jack
Cat Johnson
Dedication
To you, my readers.
Chapter One
Jack Gordon leaned in, about to close the deal on what he hoped would be a mind-erasing kiss, because he could really stand to erase some memories right about now. He was just concentrating on not coughing from the overwhelming cloud of perfume that surrounded her, and now him too, when the blonde’s hand on his chest stopped the downward descent of his head toward hers.
He moved back again, almost relieved she had stopped him. She was right. This kiss was probably a really bad idea. His heart still had the bruise from watching Carly, the woman he’d had a crush on for two years, fall hard for his best friend. That was in addition to the fact that Darlene, the current near recipient of his impending kiss, worked at Carly’s bar as a cocktail waitress.
Darlene held one finger in the air. Sticking two fingers into her mouth, she pulled out a purple piece of chewing gum. He watched with fascination as she stuck the gum on the doorframe of the back entrance to the bar. Then she grabbed the neck of his T-shirt, yanked him to her and shoved her tongue nearly down his throat.
He was still recovering from that surprise attack when her hand reached down and grabbed, right through his jeans, what he considered to be his private property.
Jack jumped back, pulling his violated pelvis with him. “Whoa, there. Wait a minute, Darlene. What’s the hurry?”
The cocktail waitress ran her hands up and down his chest. “But, Jackie. I’ve had my eye on you for years and you’ve never given me the time of day. Now that you’ve finally come to your senses, I’m not letting you get away.”
He backed up, and she stepped closer, pinning him against the railing of the much too small staircase landing. Her mouth was just closing over his again when he heard someone very loudly and obviously clearing her throat. He pulled back and looked down to see Carly standing at the bottom of the short staircase.
“Darlene, are we already closed for the night?” Carly made a show of glancing at her watch.
Jack felt his face grow hot at being caught sucking face behind the building. Darlene didn’t seem to care though. She answered Carly without blinking an eye. “No.”
“Oh? Sorry, I assumed since my only cocktail waitress is out back making out with one of my customers we must be closed.” Carly waited a beat. When Darlene made no move and still had yet to remove her hands from Jack’s chest, she continued. “Darlene. Get inside and back to work.”
Darlene rolled her eyes at her boss. “I’ll see you later,” she said with a wink at him before she sauntered back inside.
Jack’s gaze dropped to the ground. He was too embarrassed to look Carly in the eye. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. From what I saw, you were the one being attacked.” She stepped up and wiped her thumb across his mouth. “Lipstick.”
“Yeah. I can take down a man twice my size in hand-to-hand combat, but they don’t teach us a defense for that kind of assault in training.” He rubbed his mouth and tried to ignore the knowledge that his cheeks were most likely as red as Darlene’s lipstick smeared all over his mouth. He dropped down and sat on the top step, running both hands over his face.
Carly sat next to him and bumped her shoulder playfully against his. “What’s wrong, Jack?”
Jack glanced sideways at her. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”
She shrugged. “You just don’t seem yourself lately and I never in a million years imagined Darlene was your type.”
He smiled sadly. She wasn’t. His type was sitting right next to him, and she belonged to his best friend, Trey. He changed the subject before that still-raw wound opened back up. “What are you doing back here at the bar on your night off? I thought you were over at Trey’s place.”
“I was. Then I remembered tomorrow is the first of the month and I forgot to pay the bills. Figured I better get back here and on my computer to do it quick. I guess I’m not used to having a man in my life. It gets in the way of things like paperwork sometimes.”
Jack raised a brow. Was she unhappy? And what if she was? Trey was head over heels for this girl. Jack could never pursue Carly knowing that. Could he? Against all logic, his heart began to beat faster as hope he shouldn’t—couldn’t—have started to creep into him.
“I heard Trey asked you to move in with him. He told me you said no.” Jack mentioned it casually, thinking a bit of investigation into this situation couldn’t hurt. Strictly for his friend, Trey’s sake, of course.
Elbows on knees, Carly rested her chin on one hand. She tilted her head toward him. “You heard right.”
Jack tried to control his heart rate. Even though he had buried them so deep it would take a backhoe to find them, Jack still had feelings for her. Could she possibly have feelings for him too? Could they both be denying what they felt because of Trey?
“Carly, I need to know something. The reason you won’t move in with him, it’s not because of me, is it?”
Her brow wrinkled with what? Pity? Great. She raised her hand and touched his cheek. “No, Jack.”
The pity part sucked, but besides that, her answer didn’t hurt him quite as badly as he’d feared it would. This was progress. There may be hope for his p
oor heart to recover yet. In fact, he felt a bit relieved. He didn’t know what the hell he would have done if she’d said yes. No man should have to choose between his best friend and a woman.
He grasped her hand and squeezed it. “Then what’s the problem, darlin’?”
“It’s me.” She sighed deeply and laced her fingers through his. “I’m so damn afraid of being hurt again that I’m going to end up driving away a really good man.”
Jack shook his head. “I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you. A stampede couldn’t drive Trey away. I know that for a fact. Just like I know he would never willingly hurt you.”
She looked up at him with glassy eyes. “And what if he has no choice in the matter? What if he goes away on one of his mysterious assignments and just never comes home? I was with you guys on one of your missions, remember? I know what happened to your brother Jimmy. I know what could happen to Trey.”
The fear of every military wife, mother and girlfriend. Jack breathed in deep and considered his answer. “Well, I reckon it will hurt just as bad if that happens whether you two are living together or not. The only thing you can do is try to live the life God gives you to the fullest with no regrets.”
She smiled tearfully. “How’d you get so smart?”
Jack smiled back at her and wiped one tear from her cheek. “My brothers wouldn’t agree with you, but thanks for the compliment, darlin’.”
Still looking incredibly sad, Carly blew out a breath. “You’re all so secretive. Would they even tell me if something did happen? Or would he just disappear and I’d never know why?”
Secrets were a part of military life, especially in the teams. Carly was correct in that. It added yet another difficulty to the already staggering challenge of trying to maintain a relationship.
“I’d never let you wonder. I’d tell you as much as I was allowed. I promise.”
“Thank you.” Eyes filled with tears now, she leaned over and hugged him. Feeling awkward being this close, he still couldn’t resist dropping a light kiss on the top of her head. He breathed in the fresh scent of her shampoo. As he felt his heart tighten, he squeezed her once and then released her. When he raised his eyes, he saw Trey standing at the bottom of the stairs, his expression less than happy.
Carly glanced up at Trey and wiped her eyes quickly. “Hi. I’m sorry. I didn’t even get upstairs to the computer yet to pay my bills. I’ll do it right now. I’ll be quick, I promise.” She hopped up, planted a quick kiss on Trey’s mouth and then jogged up the stairs to her apartment above the bar.
Trey pursed his lips and put one foot up on the bottom step. “So.”
Jack raised a brow. “So?”
He could see some sort of inner turmoil written all over Trey’s face.
“So I know it’s crazy, but I’m jealous as hell of you sitting here talking with Carly.”
Jack broke out laughing. Wasn’t that ironic? Trey was the one who had Carly in his bed every night and he was jealous of Jack? “Trey. There’s nothing going on. You know that. She loves you. She wouldn’t cheat on you.”
“I know that. We’re at it so often she wouldn’t physically have the energy to cheat on me. Sex is not the problem with our relationship.”
Jack covered his face. This was way too much information.
He looked up through his hands as Trey continued, “I’m jealous she talks to you when she doesn’t talk to me. Not about the important stuff anyway. Not even to give me a reason why she won’t move in with me. It’s damn frustrating.”
“Ask her again.”
“What?”
“Go upstairs and ask her to move in with you again. I think she might say yes.”
Trey’s eyes opened wide with hope, then he frowned suspiciously. “Why? What did she tell you?”
Jack shook his head and rose. He already seemed to be deep in between them, and he wasn’t digging his own hole any deeper. He grabbed Trey by the shoulders and steered him in the direction of Carly’s door. “Go.”
Trey glanced back and then smiled. “Thanks, Jack. Oh, and by the way, you’ve got a red smudge right by your mouth.”
That little reminder made up Jack’s mind about what to do next. He had considered going back into the bar for another beer, but the thought of Darlene in hot pursuit sent him in the other direction, into the parking lot to where he’d parked.
Once safely in his car, he took a napkin out of the glove compartment. Frowning at the lipstick smudges he saw on his face reflected in the rearview mirror, he wiped hard. The damn stuff was nearly indelible, but after he finally got himself fairly clean, Jack started the car and headed for home. There he could wallow in his lonely misery in private.
At least Trey and Carly were happy. He’d work on getting himself happy later. While driving, Jack considered the best way to do that. Tomorrow, he’d go to the commander’s office and ask to be assigned somewhere, anywhere. A little life-and-death action would do wonders to take his mind off Trey and Carly until the scar on his heart finally disappeared completely. Things had been too slow lately with no missions. Not even a damn field training exercise since the team had returned from Kosovo. Maybe the commander would have an assignment for him if he asked.
The hope for some excitement carried Jack through the night and halfway to the base the next morning. Then, during his drive in, his pager went off. The commander was calling the team in. He was finally about to get his wish for some action. Jack hit the accelerator harder. The Mustang’s engine roared as Jack’s spirits rose.
His good mood lasted all the way until he walked into the meeting room, where the stormy look on the commander’s face was not at all encouraging.
Jack sat and silently waited with the others already in the room until the entire team arrived. Trey was the last one in, looking like he’d just rolled out of Carly’s bed. Great. That was an image he didn’t need burned into his brain. Scowling, Jack swallowed the bitter taste of envy burning the back of his throat.
Only when everyone was seated and quiet did the commander rise from his chair to speak. “Well, boys. The pencil-pushing heads-up-their-asses idiots from Central Command have come up with yet another scheme to mess up our lives. It seems we haven’t been using enough of our time off. So these idiots have decided to institute a forced furlough period for our ‘mental health’.”
BB Dalton frowned. “Furlough, sir?”
“Forced time off, BB. Two weeks, to be exact.”
There was a general grumbling among the team, except for Trey, who leaned forward and whispered to Jack. “I’ll gladly take the time. You were right last night. Carly agreed to move in with me, and I want to get it done before she changes her mind.”
Great. Not only was Jack not getting in on any action to take his mind off things, but he would probably end up using his two weeks of forced vacation helping Trey move Carly into his place. That was just what he needed, to carry a box full of her unmentionables into Trey’s bedroom. He had to do something about this.
Jack raised his hand. “What about any assignments that come up, sir? Who will take care of them if we’re all off?”
“Well, that will just teach those bastards, won’t it? Central thinks they can stagger the different teams’ furloughs and reassign anything that comes up. I think they’re wrong.”
Matt Coleman peered up from behind his ever-present laptop. “Obviously, sir. What if the target from Kosovo requests another face-to-face meeting with Trey? They can’t reassign that. Not after the guy’s already seen him on video and spoken to him on the phone.”
Jack really didn’t need to be reminded of Trey’s last assignment.
“Agreed, Coleman. I’m actually hoping something exactly like that comes up to teach these assholes they should stick to pushing papers and leave the commanding to those who know what the hell they’re doing. But until they learn, you boys are free for the next two weeks. Oh, and don’t make yourselves too accessible. I want you all off the radar. Go home. Visit Mom. Tak
e a transport to Fiji and soak up some sun. I don’t care. Just let the guys up at Central know they really are up the creek without a paddle if they need us on short notice. Dismissed.”
Trey looked like a kid on Christmas morning. “That’s it then. I’m on my way to the grocery store to check the dumpster.”
“The dumpster? Um, why?” Even in his miserable and distracted state, that still caught Jack’s attention.
“For some sturdy cardboard boxes to pack Carly’s things in. You wanna come?”
Since Trey was serious, and seriously happy about his little field trip to the dumpster in the North Carolina heat, Jack tried not to laugh in his face. “No, thanks though. Maybe I’ll meet you at the bar later.”
Once Trey had nodded his goodbye and sprinted out the door in search of used boxes, Jack knocked on the commander’s door. “Sir. May I speak with you?”
“Gordon. Come on in. I’ve been meaning to ask you how Jimmy’s doing.”
“Great, sir. He’s home with Mama recuperating, and she’s driving him batty.”
The commander smiled. “Good to hear. So, what can I do for you, Gordon? Why aren’t you already off enjoying your furlough?” He said the last word like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
“That’s what I want to speak to you about, sir. Is there any possibility of being assigned to another unit just for the two weeks?”
“May I ask why?”
“I…need to be busy, sir.”
The captain seemed to look deep inside him. The man had the uncanny ability to do that and used it too often for Jack’s liking. It was probably what made him a good leader, but it was still annoying.
“I know something’s up with you, Jack. I’m not as blind as everyone thinks I am.”
“No one thinks you’re blind, sir.” Sometimes they hoped he was, when they were breaking the rules. But unfortunately for them, they always found out he wasn’t.
