She Does Know Jack (17 page)

Holly, his
childhood sweetheart, had written explaining she had needs he couldn’t fulfill
from across the pond so she’d married a local college boy. He remembered
feeling like his heart had been ripped from his chest and lay bleeding in the
sand next to the engagement ring that had fallen from the envelope.

One would think
that experience would’ve cured him for good. Nope. He shook his head at the
bottle in his hand before he refilled his glass. Round two was worse.

Caroline.

Blonde,
beautiful, and ambitious—the total opposite of Holly, personality-wise. Caroline
knew what she wanted and took it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Jack she wanted, it
was money. He was just a means to get it. She and her brother had pretended an
interest in his business with the intent to procure the very items his company
had been paid to secure.

He swallowed the
burning liquid. Thank goodness he’d realized and corrected his mistake before
it had cost him his business. Caroline hadn’t loved him, just the houses he’d
had access to. He and his men had caught her and her brother red-handed, then
turned them over to the police. Luckily, the Mastersons hadn’t pressed charges
against his company.

That would’ve
been icing on the cake. His burnt cake.

Jack slammed his
glass onto the bar and watched the remaining alcohol swish in protest. His emotions
shared the same turmoil. Brielle wasn't going to be the final nail in the
coffin of his screwed-up love life. From now on, all feelings for her were to
cease and desist.

Now, he just had
to get his heart and body on the same page as his mind. Yeah, like that would
happen. He had about as good a chance of that as his brother did of finding
true love on the damn show.

T
wo nights later, the limo stopped in
front of Club Terpsichore. Excitement lit Danni’s face, mirroring those of the
other two contestants. Bill had sent an empty limo for the girls. Not exactly
empty. There were cameramen and two of Jack’s men in attendance. As for the
groom and his brother, they were all to meet up at the club. Brielle had to
admit, as nice as it was to go male-less, she was a bit uneasy not having an
eye on Matthew. She knew the club scene. The place would be jammed, loud and
hopping. An absolute horrid scenario for a target.

“This is great.”
Mandy nodded, barely refraining from jumping up and down. “But that sure is a
strange name for a club. I wonder what it means.”

“Terpsichore is
Greek. She was the muse of dance and song,” Brielle explained as she eyed the
glittering entrance.

“I can’t wait to
dance with Matthew.” Mandy’s expression turned dreamy. “We didn’t get to dance
on our one-on-one last night.”

“At least you’ve
gotten a one-on-one with him.” Carla sighed, picking invisible lint off her
sexy green-haltered dress. “I’d take dinner and a show with him any day.”

Earlier that
afternoon, the girls had each received a box with an identical dress, except
for color. The card had said to wear their dancing shoes and be prepared to get
down with Matthew and his brother.

Brielle
swallowed, her stomach suddenly going hollow.
Dancing and Dodger?
How
would she ever survive the night? It would be trying enough with her still
slightly sore muscles, but making her dance in front of Dodger? That wasn’t
good. He’d recognize her for sure. Then what?

 “Okay, let’s go
in. The guys are supposed to meet us here in fifteen minutes,” Carla said,
glancing up from her fancy watch. “Let’s check the place out.”

Following the
others past the crowd and into the club, Brielle acknowledged her apprehension
tonight wasn’t just about Jack. This noisy, public facility screamed trouble
for Matthew. The club was the perfect place for anyone to get to him. She
needed to acquire a feel for location before his arrival.

Thanks to their
television status, they were scooted past the bouncers and ushered into the
club within seconds. Pulse-pounding music vibrated around them as they inched
further into the hopping joint. Gyrating bodies packed the dance floor from
corner to corner while others lounged in circular booths or stood at the
twenty-foot glass bar along a side wall.

“Great, this
place is a nightmare,” she muttered, not worried the others would hear her over
the music. She could barely hear herself think.

Danni leaned in
close and said, “Come on. Let’s loosen up before Matthew gets here,” then pulled
Brielle onto the dance floor.

She hesitated,
ignoring her body’s desire to respond to the beat. The other contestants danced
around her. What was she worried about? At the very worst, Jack would recognize
her. So what? Her shoulders relaxed as her body began to sway. Big deal. She
was a dancer trying to make it in the big city.

Brielle Bennett
the dance instructor would dance, while Brielle Chapman the investigator would
keep an eye out for threats against the groom.

“May we join
you?”

Two heavyset
men, dressed in throwbacks from the seventies, smiled at the girls. The four of
them stopped dancing and exchanged a look before returning their gazes to the
men.

Carla blanched.
“As if.”

The men leaned
in closer to be heard. “Ah, come on,” one of them said, a slight Italian accent
coating his words. His dark gaze bounced around from girl to girl, looking
hopeful. “We just want to dance.”

“It’s just that
we’re waiting for someone,” Danni explained with a gentle smile.

“Yeah, we don’t
want to get in trouble.” Mandy turned her back on them and faced Brielle,
mouthing, “What should we do?”

“Get lost.”
Carla jumped in, looking down her nose at them. “We don’t want any.”

Mandy frowned
and Danni winced, and hope slowly died in the men’s friendly faces. Brielle’s
jaw clenched. The brunette had gone too far. So what if the men were bigger
than normal and their polyester suits and psychedelic shirts did nothing for
their charm? They were human. And under the slicked-back hair and thick glasses
were two endearing men, her intuition insisted.

To hell with the
show!

She didn’t care
if the cameras were on them or that they were supposed to wait for Matthew and
Jack. She knew it had taken a lot of courage for the guys to approach their
group and wasn’t about to disappoint.

 “Don’t listen
to her. She misses her snake.” Brielle gazed into their brown eyes and smiled.
“I’d be happy to dance with you.” Shoving a stone-faced Carla out of the way,
she picked up the music’s beat and began to sway, keeping it simple.

“Me, too.” Danni
joined her and the two, now grinning men.

“Me, three.”
Mandy squeezed in with a giggle. “I don’t think Matthew would mind. It’s just a
friendly dance.”

Carla scowled,
then turned to the Calvin Klein clad man next to her and smiled. “You’re more
like it.”

Several people
looked on, grimacing at their partners’ clumsy dance moves. Brielle ignored
them and her sore muscles, and concentrated on having fun. It was nice to
forget about the show and her lies for a few minutes.

One of the men
stepped on her toes. “Sorry,” he muttered, a weak smile tugging his mouth.

“It’s okay.” She
grinned and leaned closer. “I only use the bottoms.”

Amusement warmed
his brown eyes as he tried to pick up the beat.

She shivered.
“Have we met?”

He shook his
head and smiled. “No. I think you would’ve remembered someone as big as me.”

Unsure what to
say, she smiled back and continued to dance. Despite the nagging thought that
she knew him, this was the most fun she’d had in weeks.

Two songs later,
Bill appeared and pulled them from the floor. She hid a sigh. Playtime was
over. Time to head back to reality. Literally.

“Matthew and
Jack are here. It’s time to go into the private room.” He ushered them through
the crowd, barely giving them a chance to say good-bye to the men.

But she had
bigger worries, now.

“Hello, ladies,”
Greg greeted as they joined him and two of Jack’s men in a posh, red room
housing a couple of round booths, small dance floor—and a pole.

Brielle stopped
dead.

“Hey!” Carla
bumped into her. “What’s your problem?”

“Nothing.” She
swallowed and proceeded into the room. Her pulse pounded out a heavy beat of
its own. A beat of doom.

“If you would
please sit, ladies, I will explain why I’m here.” The host motioned to a booth
and waited until they were all seated. “As you know, you were supposed to meet
Matthew and Jack for a night of dancing.”

“Where are they?
What’s going on?” Carla asked, her red-tipped nail tapping the table.

“Yeah, are they
okay?” Mandy frowned, concern filling her blue eyes. “I would’ve thought they’d
be here by now.”

Brielle glanced
from the blonde to the host, and did her best to ignore the pole behind him.
The pole wasn’t important, but Matthew was, and why he wasn’t there.

“The men are
fine. In fact,” Greg paused to smile. “They have actually been here all along.”

She swallowed a
sigh. Stupid show and its surprises. Now what? Had the brother’s been in a
private room watching them out on the floor?

“What?” Carla
sat up straight, her brows colliding.

Danni glanced
around the room. “Were they hiding?”

“Oh no.” Mandy
grimaced. “Did they see us dancing with those two men? It was all innocent.
They were really nice. I think they were from France.”

“Italy,” Danni corrected, her gaze never leaving their host’s.

The handsome man
nodded. “As a matter of fact, they did see you, Mandy.” His perfect smile
broadened. “They saw all of you.”

The blonde bit
her lower lip. “Are they mad?”

“I’ll let you
ask them. Here they are now.” He pointed toward the door.

Gasps filled the
air as the two heavy-set men entered the room.

“I’ll be…”
Brielle smiled. No wonder the one seemed so damned familiar. Because at one
time they
had
been so damn familiar with one another. She held back a
snicker. This was good.

“What are you
two doing in here?” Carla asked, distaste wrinkling her nose, obviously
clueless. “Get out.”

“Sorry, but we can’t
do that, Carla,” said the man in blue polyester.

The other spoke
up. “Yeah, we’re supposed to be here. We’re your escorts.”

“What?” The
brunette’s frown turned into wide-eyed surprise as the men took off their
glasses and wigs and dropped them onto a table, followed by their chin and
eyebrow prosthetics.

“Top-notch
disguise, guys.” Brielle gave them a thumbs-up. If it hadn’t been for her
awareness to Jack, she never would’ve had a clue. Incredible. Between their
costumes
,
prosthetics and accents, she had been duped. Well done. She made a mental note
to talk to the head of make-up and find out who had done the work.

“Yeah, well,
your reactions were important to me,” Matthew said as his brother helped him
peeled out of his bulky suit like a peanut in a shell. “I found
them…interesting.” His glance zeroed in on the black-haired beauty while he
helped Jack shed his camouflage.

Carla sat back
and slid down, face slightly pale. Brielle almost felt sorry for the woman.
Almost.

“Well, now that
you know who you were dancing with,” Greg said, regaining their attention.
“It’s time to continue with this group date. Remember ladies, elimination is tomorrow
night.”

The girls
murmured their acknowledgement. Brielle should’ve been watching their
reactions, but Jack’s sexy attire captured her attention. Dressed in a cobalt
blue, buttoned-down shirt and black pants, his hinted-at-form made her mouth
water. After their wrestling the other night, and…up-close-and-personal last
year, her body remembered what it’d felt like to straddle his hard length.

“Matthew, Jack,
if you’ll join me.” Greg motioned to his side and waited as Jack removed his
brown contacts. “The proprietor of this establishment is having a dance contest
tonight, and you’ve both been entered.”

“What?”

They spoke in
unison. Brielle held back a snort. She was going to get to sit back and watch
the guys dance?  Oh hell yeah.

“The producers
thought it would be fun, so now all you need is your partners.” Greg turned his
attention to the girls.

Brielle shifted in
her seat. Oh hell no. 
Don’t even think it.

“In this box I’m
putting colored disks that match the ladies’ dresses.” Greg held up purple,
red, green, and blue circles.

She glanced down
at her red halter dress. “Now I know why we’re color coded.”

“Yeah.” Mandy
giggled, glancing at her blue dress. “I thought they wanted us to look like ice
pops.”

“Well, I feel
like a purple crayon.” Danni smiled. “But Carla just looks a little green.”