About the Author
----------------
A New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling and
award-winning author of more than 100 romance titles, Brenda
divides her time between family, writing and traveling . Readers
may write Brenda at P.O. Box 28267, Jacksonville, Florida 32226,
by email at WriterBJackson@aol.com or visit her website at
brendajackson.net.
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
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"Stern, what can a woman do to make a man want her?"
Stern Westmoreland, who had been looking through the of his
hunting , jerked his head around at the unexpected question,
nearly knocking the cap off his head.
He glared at the woman beside him who was staring through the
of her own . When a rang out, expletives flowed
from his lips. "Dammit, JoJo, you did that on purpose. You asked
me that just to ruin my concentration."
She lowered her and frowned at him. "I did not. I asked you
because I really want to know. And if it makes you feel better, I
missed my target just now."
Stern rolled his eyes. So what if she had missed her now?
Nothing had stopped her from taking down that huge elk yesterday
when he had yet to hit anything, not even a coyote. On days like
this he wondered why he always invited his best friend on these
hunting trips. She showed him up each and every time.
Lifting his and looking through the again, he drew in
a deep breath. He knew why he always invited JoJo. He liked
having her around. When he was with her he could be himself and
not a man trying to impress anyone. Their comfortable
relationship was why she'd been his best friend for years.
"Well?"
He lowered the from his eye to look at her.
"Well what?"
"You didn't answer me. What can a woman do to make a man want
her? Other than jump into bed. I'm not into casual sex."
He couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm glad to hear that."
"What do you find funny, Stern? It's okay for you to be into
casual sex but not me?"
Stern stared at her in astonishment. "What in the heck is wrong
with you today? You've never been into drama."
JoJo's expression filled with anger and frustration. "You don't
understand, and you used to understand me even when nobody else
did." Without saying anything else she turned and walked off.
He watched her leave. What the hell? JoJo was being
temperamental, and in all the years he'd known her she'd never
been temperamental. What in the world was going on with her?
Deciding he wasn't in the mood to hunt anymore today, he followed
JoJo down the path that led back to his hunting lodge.
After a quick shower, Jovonnie Jones grabbed a out of the
refrigerator, pulled the tab and took a refreshing sip. She
needed that, she thought as she left the kitchen to sit outside
on the wooden deck and enjoy the picturesque view of the Rocky
ains.
A few years ago Stern had stumbled on this lodge, an old,
dilapidated place that sat on more than a hundred acres of the
best hunting land anywhere. In only two years, with the help of
his brothers and cousins, the building had been transformed into
one of beauty. It was a perfect hunting getaway. It offered black
bears, deer, fox and other wildlife, but this was mainly elk
country.
The lodge had been a good investment for Stern. When he wasn't
using it, he leased it. It was a huge two-story structure with
eight bedrooms, four full bathrooms and wooden decks that wrapped
all the way around the house on both the first and the second
floors. The common area included a huge kitchen and dining area
and a sitting room with a massive brick fireplace. Plenty of
floor-to-ceiling windows provided breathtaking views of the
Rockies from every room.
She eased down in one of the outdoor cedar rocking chairs. Even
after her hot shower and cold , she was still feeling
frustrated and angry. Why couldn't Stern take her seriously and
answer her question? It should work in her favor that she was
best friends with a man most women believed to be the hottest
thing on legs. Stern got any woman he wanted. If anybody ought to
know about a woman's appeal, it should be him.
JoJo chuckled, remembering. In high school, girls would
deliberately pretend to befriend her for no other reason than to
get close to Stern. It never worked for long because once Stern
learned the truth he would drop them like hot potatoes. He
refused to let anyone use her. To him, friendship meant more than
that. If those girls didn't want to be her friend because of who
she was, then he wanted no part of them.
In truth, most of the girls she'd known in high school, and even
some of the women she knew now, preferred not to hang around with
someone who wasn't very girly.
JoJo preferred jeans to dresses. She liked to hunt, practiced
karate, could shoot a bow and arrow, and knew more about what was
under the hood of a car than most guys. Of course, that last
skill set had come from her her, who had been a professional
mechanic. And not just any mechanic—he had been the best.
A deep lump clogged her throat. It was hard to believe he had
passed away two years ago. He'd suffered a massive heart attack
while doing something he loved—working on a car. Her mother had
died when JoJo was eleven, so her her's death had left her
parentless. She'd inherited the auto mechanic shop, which had
given her the rtunity to come out of the classroom and get
under the hood of a car.
After she had gotten the teaching degree her her had wanted
her to get, she'd obtained a graduate degree in technical
engineering. She had enjoyed being a professor at one of the
local community colleges, but owning and operating the Golden
Wrench was what she truly loved.
"So are we still on speaking terms?"
Stern placed a tray of tortilla chips and salsa on the table
beside her. He then slid into the other rocker.
"Not sure if we are or not," she said, reaching over and grabbing
a chip to dip into the salsa and then sliding the whole thing in
her mouth. "I asked you a question and you didn't answer me
because you assumed I wasn't serious."
Stern took a sip of and glanced over the can at her. "Were
you serious?"
"Yes."
"Then I apologize. I honestly thought you were trying to mess
with my concentration."
A smile touched her lips. "Would I do that?"
"In a heartbeat."
"Well, yes," she admitted, trying to hide her amusement. "But I
didn't today. I need information."
"On how a woman could make a man want her?"
"Yes."
Stern leaned forward in his chair and pierced her with a dark,
penetrating gaze. "Why?"
She lifted a brow. "Why?"
"Yes, why would you want to know something like that?"
She didn't answer right away. Instead she took a sip of her
and looked out at the ains. It was a beautiful September
day. A red fox flashed through a cluster of pine trees before
darting between a patch of woods to disappear.
After she'd gathered her thoughts, she turned back to Stern.
"There's this guy who brings his car to the shop. He's sexy.
Oh…is he sexy."
Stern rolled his eyes. "I'll take your word for it. Go on."
She shrugged. "That's it." Stern frowned. "That's it?"
"Yes. I've decided I want him. The question is, how can I get him
to want me, too?"
As far as Stern was concerned, the real question was, had JoJo
lost her ever-loving mind? But he didn't say that. Instead, he
took another sip of his .
He knew JoJo better than he knew anyone, and if she was
determined to do something then that was it. He could help her,
or she'd find help somewhere else.
"What's his name?" he asked.
She slid another chip into her mouth. "You don't need to know
that. Do you tell me the name of every woman you want?"
"This is different."
"Really? In what way?"
He wasn't sure, but he just knew that it was. Using the pad of
his thumb, he rubbed the tension building at his temple. "First
of all, when it comes to men, you're green. And second, for you
to even ask me that question means you're not ready for the kind
of relationship you're going after."
She threw her head back and laughed. "Pleeze, Stern. I'll be
thirty next year. Most women my age are married by now, some with
children. And I don't even have a boyfriend."
He wasn't moved by that argument. "I'll be thirty-one next year
and I don't have a girlfriend." When she looked over at him, he
amended that statement. "Not a steady one. I like being single."
"But you do date. A lot. I'm beginning to think that most of the
men in town wonder if I'm really a girl."
He studied her. There had never been any doubt in his mind that
she was a girl. She had long lashes and eyes so dark they were
the color of midnight. Those eyes were staring straight ahead
now, looking out over the thick woods. She had her bare legs
lifted in the rocker with her arms wrapped around them. Her pose
emphasized the muscles in her limbs. He knew she did a lot of
physical work at the shop, but the two of them also had
memberships at a gym in town.
She had changed out of her hunting clothes and was wearing
cut-offjeans and a short top. She had gorgeous legs, long and
endless. But he knew he was one of the few men who'd ever seen
them. She opened the shop at eight and closed after five. It
wasn't unusual for her to work late if she had a car an owner
needed. And during that whole time, she wore an auto-mechanic's
uniform splattered with grease. A number of men would be
surprised how she looked wearing something other than that
uniform.
"You hide stuff," he finally said.
She glanced over at him, frowning. "I hide what?"
"What a nice body you have. Most of the time men see you in your
work clothes."
Her frown deepened. "Well, forgive me for not wearing stilettos
and a slinky dress while I change a carburetor."
A vision of that flashed through his mind and he smiled as he
took a sip of . "Stilettos and a slinky dress? You don't have
to go that far, but."
He glanced over at her and saw she was pouting. He kind of liked
it when she pouted. She looked cute.
"But what?"
"You would probably gain more men's interest if you were seen
around town after hours in something other than jeans and sweats.
You're a female, JoJo. Men like women who look soft and sexy once
in a while."
She studied the contents of her bottle. "You think that
might do it?"
"Probably." He suddenly sat up straight in the rocker. "I have an
idea. What you need is a makeover."
"A makeover?"
"Yes, and then you need to go where your guy hangs out. In a
dress that shows your legs, a new hairdo—"
"What's wrong with my hair?"
Honestly, he didn't think there was anything wrong with her hair.
It was long, thick and y. He should know. He'd helped her
wash it numerous times over the years. He loved it when she wore
it down past her shoulders, but these days she rarely did.
"You have beautiful hair. You just need to show it off more. Even
now you're hiding it under a cap."
He reached over and took the hat off her head. Lustrous dark
brown hair tumbled to her shoulders. He smiled. "See, I like it
already."
And he did. He was tempted to run his hands through it to feel
the silky texture.
He leaned back and took another sip of his , wondering where
such a tempting thought came from. This was JoJo, for heaven's
sake. His best friend. He should not be thinking about how silky
her hair was.
"So, you think a makeover will work?"
"Yes, but like I said, after the makeover you need to go where
you think the guy's going to be—with a date. Whenever you pull it
all together, I'm available."
She met his gaze. "Not sure that will work. If I'm with someone,
he might not check me out."
"Most people around here know we're best friends and nothing
more."
"He's new to town and probably won't know that."
Stern thought for a moment. "You're probably right. I wouldn't
come on to a woman if I saw her with another man. But you want
him to accept you as you are. The woman who works as a mechanic
during the day and the same woman who can get all dolled up at
night, right?"
"Right."
Stern smiled. "Then I suggest you let him see you with another
man. Makes it obvious that you can be sexy when you want to be
and that other men appreciate you. I bet once he's seen you, even
if you're with me, he'll contact you for a date. And then when he
does see you in your work clothes, he'll look beyond the uniform
and imagine what's underneath."
Stern's smile faded. For some reason the thought of men checking
out JoJo that way, of men calling her for a date, bothered him.
Suddenly, he was thinking that maybe a makeover wasn't such a
great idea after all.
"That's a wonderful idea, Stern! As soon as I get back to Denver
I'm going to get started on the makeover. First, I need to find
out where this guy hangs out. Then I'll find the name of someone
who can make me look pretty."
"You're already pretty, JoJo."
She patted his hand. "Ah, that's sweet of you to say, but you're
my best friend so your opinion of my looks doesn't count. I'll
get in touch with your cousin Megan for the name of her
hairstylist, and it shouldn't be hard to find a makeup artist.
Then, I'll go shopping. I'll get some of your other cousins and
sisters-in-law to go with me because they all like to shop. I'm
excited."
He took another sip of his . "I can tell."
Why did her interest in a man bother him? The only reason he
could come up with was that she was his best friend and he didn't
want to lose their special bond. He didn't want to lose her. What
if this guy found it strange that a man and woman were best
friends? What if he pushed her to end the friendship they'd
shared for years?
His gut twisted. His brothers and cousins had always said they
wouldn't want any girlfriend of theirs to have the sort of close
relationship with another man that he and JoJo shared. What if
this guy thought the same way?
Stern did not like problems, and he always preferred dealing with
them head-on.
Stern frowned. "What's his name, JoJo?"
She chuckled. "You don't need his name, Stern. Besides, you'll
find out soon enough when I set my plans into motion."
Stern took a sip of his . He couldn't wait.
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