Free She Does Know Jack by Donna Michaels

with Jack to her bedroom with disappointment souring her gut. Nothing
had been out of place in the three rooms they’d examined. Even Carla’s nail
polish had appeared untouched with not enough missing to warrant the rampage of
Brielle’s clothes. In a nutshell, the search had been a flop.
    The only
surprise had been Carla’s caged, six-foot albino python. Jack had glanced at
her as if expecting an ear-splitting scream to burst from her mouth. But
Brielle didn’t mind snakes. Or lizards or frogs. Now, spiders —w hole
different story. If there had been a tarantula, her barely clothed ass would’ve
been out of the mansion and half way to Canada before he could blink.
    “We’re still at
square one.” He dropped into a chair near her fireplace and expelled a long
breath. “My team, along with some people from DeMarco Investigations, should be
here soon to dust for prints and do a thorough search.”
    “Yes, Bill
explained you were here to keep an eye on your brother while DeMarco
investigated the threats.” She settled into a seat across from him, hoping he’d
share something enlightening.
    He stilled.
“Threats? I never mentioned anything about a threat.” Eyes narrowed, his gaze
bore into hers, watching—waiting.
    “No, but Bill
told me about them when he gave me the choice to opt out of the show. He said
all contestants were made aware of the threats.” Shoot, she needed to be more
careful with her word choices. She tilted her head and changed the focus. “I
wasn’t aware you had a double agenda, though.”
    He sat back
without breaking eye contact. “I'm here to help my brother in more ways than
one.” His gaze dropped to her legs, and her bare skin instantly heated.
    Damn, the man
was potent. Resisting the urge to tuck them under and out of his view, she
eased to her feet to stand behind the chair, instead. “Matthew is lucky to have
such a caring brother.”
    Amusement
crinkled the corner of his eyes and lifted his mouth. Her pulsed kicked up a
notch at the astonishing transformation.
    Dodger.
     “I tell him
that all the time,” he said, unaware of the havoc he caused.
    Her gut sounded
the alarm. This laid-back Jack posed more of a threat than the intense one. She
needed to break the connection forming between them before she did something
stupid, like give into the attraction. Again. Cripes, it was tough to fathom
she’d had a one night stand. She didn’t do that. Didn’t have sex with
strangers. No matter how hot. She wasn’t weak. What had she been thinking?
    That’s just it.
She hadn’t been thinking. Just feeling. The damn sexy Ranger made her feel a
whole lot of things, but mainly one emotion she’d never experienced. Ever.
Lust. And boy did he bring that out in her. In spades. In copious amounts.
Dangerous amounts. The ache, the fierce need was completely new and freakin’
annoying.
    She flicked back
her unruly hair—and matching emotions—then headed across the room. Her mind
functioned much better with distance involved. The man was making himself at
home in her thoughts and it had to stop.
    “I can’t believe
someone did this to my things,” she called over her shoulder, striving to
appear as if she left him in order to re-examine her closet. Which actually,
wasn’t a lie. She did want another look. Hell, she wanted to get to
work. Needed to get to work.
    What was taking
his team so damn long?
    Her palm itched
to process the room. It sucked. She had access to the required equipment, but
because of her promise to keep her identity from Jack, she couldn’t do that
part of her job.
    With her jaw
clenched in disgust, she entered the closet, then stopped when a splash of
yellow caught her eye. Another note. Alarm reawakened adrenaline and her mind
quickly rewound the previous hour. Had Jack been out of her eyesight long
enough to drop the paper? Possibly. The contestants? Definitely.
    “Jack.” She
backed out of the closet and regarded him closely. “I think you’d better