The Heat Between Us

Love’s sweet refrain?

Appointed to head Atlanta’s first-ever jazz festival, go-to marketing guru Michael “MJ” Jane sets out to create an annual event to rival New Orleans. Even if that means hiring her irresistible crush Jamal Carver to run security... The former marine with the killer smile and amazing abs also happens to be her best friend’s husband’s confidant. But despite their sizzling attraction, she refuses to become the playboy’s latest conquest.

The driven, desirable bachelorette makes the decorated marine long to hang up his own bachelor status. It’s getting harder for Jamal to keep things strictly business between them—can’t MJ see they’re creating a passionate tune of their own? Just as Jamal starts to earn MJ’s trust, their relationship is threatened by a relentless, still-in-the-picture ex-girlfriend. Will a downbeat melody end their romance before it truly begins? Or can love keep Jamal and MJ in harmony...forever?

“Ready to be surprised?”

She rolled her eyes. “I guess I have to be.”

“You’re going to love it,” he said. He kissed her on the cheek, then led her into the backyard. Michael was all smiles when she saw the fire pit glowing and the food on the table. But it was the telescope that caught her eye.

“What’s this?”

“Some people call it dinner.” Jamal’s arms went around her waist. “Shrimp, grilled peppers and hush puppies. Because I know you love them.”

“Really? I can’t lie—they are pretty awesome. And I have dessert. Shoot, I left it in the car.”

“We can have it for breakfast.”

“Breakfast? You assume I’m spending the night?”

“Not assuming, just stating a fact. I plan to keep you up all night.”

Michael blinked and her mouth fell open. Images of her body pressed against Jamal’s naked one flashed in her head. “I didn’t come here to sleep with you, and if...”

“Whoa, little red Corvette, slow down. While I would never kick you out of bed, tonight isn’t the night.” Jamal pointed to the telescope. “Tonight I’m going to give you the universe.”

Dear Reader,

Sometimes you never know what you need until she or he smiles in your face. Jamal Carver didn’t know he needed one woman to love until Michael “MJ” Jane came into his life. Convincing her that he’s willing to give up his playboy ways will take some effort, because MJ will not be played, no matter how much she finds herself falling for this sexy former marine.

Writing about two people who were looking for anything but love was a fun journey, and I hope you will enjoy the heat.

Always,

Cheris Hodges

The Heat Between Us

Cheris Hodges

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHERIS HODGES was bit by the writing bug early. The 1999 graduate of Johnson C. Smith University is a freelance journalist and always looks for love stories in the most unusual places. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she is trying and failing to develop a green thumb.

This book is dedicated to my readers. Without your support, I’d probably be wondering what to do with all of these stories floating around in my head. Thank you for allowing me to share them with you!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

Michael Jane, also known as MJ, yawned as she leaned back in her office chair while reading over the latest edition of the local newspaper. It wasn’t that the story was boring—she just hated Monday mornings, and this one was particularly difficult. Mimi had talked her into a three-mile run, and then a green smoothie for breakfast.

No wonder the caramel beauty was tired and ready for a power nap. MJ looked at her reflection in her compact mirror. Her light brown eyes were sparkling and her auburn curls were actually in perfect form today, despite her run this morning. MJ was often complimented on her full lips, especially when she smiled. It was the one trait she’d got from her mother that she appreciated. Her lips and the beauty mark near her bottom lip.

“Miss Jane,” her assistant said. “You have a visitor.”

“Who is it?” Michael stifled another yawn. She knew she didn’t have any appointments this morning, which was the only reason she’d allowed Mimi to talk her into that crazy run.

“Nicolas Prince.”

Michael groaned and tugged at her auburn tresses. “Send him in.”

Before the door opened, Michael smoothed the corners of her mouth then sat up straight in her chair.

Nicolas Prince used to be the man of her dreams, the man she’d seen standing at the altar on her wedding day. Now he was simply the client she wished she’d never signed to her marketing company. Nic, who’d always had a healthy dose of confidence, leaned on the strength of their friendship to show up without an appointment. It wasn’t a good look.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said as he walked in and took a seat in front of her desk.

“What do you want, Nic?” She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. MJ played with her bouncy curls when she was annoyed. Nic’s unannounced visit was very annoying. Granted, there was a time when seeing Nic would’ve sent her heart fluttering and made her smile. She’d even gone so far as to fantasize about a future with him. But that was before he’d made it clear that he didn’t have the same feelings for her that she had for him, leaving her crushed. Nic had used her to get what he wanted and she vowed that she’d never be used by another man again. Mimi Collins-Daniels, MJ’s best friend, had tried to warn her that Nic was a player, but Michael had wanted to see the best in him. She wanted to believe that she could be the one to bring out the love in him, like a princess in a fairy tale. Unfortunately, life wasn’t a fairy tale and neither was her one-sided relationship with Nic.

At least she’d learned her lesson. She’d never make the mistake of falling for a player again.

“What’s up with the attitude this morning?”

“Why are you here without an appointment? Mondays are busy days for me.” She raised her right eyebrow. “You could’ve at least brought coffee and bagels if you were going to come in here unannounced.”

Nic shook his head. “Well, I apologize, but I have an amazing idea and I need your help to make it sizzle.”

MJ sighed. “I’m listening.”

“Are you?” He rolled his eyes. “Stayed out partying last night?”

Michael gave him a look. “Get on with it. I have another appointment.” The sooner he said what he had to say, the quicker she could get him out of her office. “And how I spend my nights aren’t your concern. What’s your idea?”

“The Great Atlanta Jazz Fest. A two-day citywide event to spotlight the growing scene here and give New Orleans a little competition.”

MJ perked up in her seat. “Go on.”

“Of course my spot would get the most publicity because I’d be a main sponsor and host all of the after-parties.”

Michael gave him an icy glance. “Yeah, I imagine you would expect that. What about the artists?”

“I have a few ideas. A few of the groups I’ve had at the club would be great headliners. But we need some big names.”

“Okay, so how are we going to work this event and get the city on board?”

Nic nodded. Michael turned to her computer and pulled up her internet browser. “We need to make sure we don’t have any of the same artists who were in New Orleans headlining here. We want Atlanta’s jazz fest to be different, our own thing.”

Even if this festival was Nic’s idea, MJ knew having her company attached to a successful event like this would put her business at the top when it came to landing multimillion-dollar accounts. She needed this to work, even if it meant working with Nic.

Nic slapped the edge of her desk with excitement. “And this is why I came to you. I knew you could make this work. You’re one of the only other people I know who can take an idea and make it as big as it needs to be.”

“Me and my staff...”

“No, MJ, I’m only working with you on this. I know your people are sharp, but you’re the best.”

“Everyone here is capable of making this a stellar—”

He interrupted her. “We have a contract, remember? It says that we—”

“Clearly, I know what it says,” she snapped. “Give me a couple of days to get a proposal together. Then we can start firming up plans.”

“Miss Jane,” her assistant said over the intercom. “Mimi Collins is here for you.”

Nic rose to his feet. “My cue to leave. I’ll call you to make an appointment so that we can go over this in more detail.”

“Please do,” she replied as Mimi walked in.

There was no love lost between Michael’s best friend and Nic. Ever since they were undergrads at Spelman and Morehouse, Mimi and Nic had butted heads. MJ could never put her finger on why, and at this point she’d chalked it up as one of life’s unexplained mysteries.

“Ooh,” Mimi said, giving Nic a cool glance. “Am I, hopefully, interrupting something?”

“Hello and goodbye, Mimi. I was just leaving.” Nic strode to the door.

“Don’t let me stop you.” Mimi took the seat that Nic had vacated.

“Guys, this is my office, not the quad,” Michael said. “Nic, we’ll talk soon.”

Mimi made a face and crossed her legs as Nic walked out the door. “Please tell me that was about business.”

“It was and you’re rude!” MJ broke out into laughter. “I don’t get you two.”

“Whatever. Are you in as much pain as I am?”

“Not you, Miss Marathon Queen.” MJ rolled her eyes. “Let me just go on record and remind you that this morning’s run was your idea.”

Mimi yawned. “Well, I had a bit of a workout last night with my loving husband, so three miles was a bit much this morning.” Mimi stretched her left foot out. “And these heels are murderous. But I had to show up at the Blog-Her conference looking like a million bucks.”

“Umm, TMI, Mimi! How’s the conference going so far?” Michael asked, quickly changing the subject. MJ had watched her friend rise to fame and infamy with the power of the keystroke as the creator of the Mis-Adventures of Mimi blog. After her public spat with the online dating website Fast Love, Mimi had fallen in love with her attorney, Brent Daniels. Michael had hoped their real love story would’ve made her friend a little less controversial on her blog. It hadn’t and that was why the public loved her. Mimi still wrote about relationships and real life issues.

Her last post had been about women not waiting for a man’s potential to kick in while dating. The post had gotten over seven million hits.

“I think I might have started something positive,” Mimi said with a smirk.

“Why does that statement scare me?”

“Because you’re nuts. I met a web designer who wants to make a site that celebrates women. Highlights our trials and tribulations. Falls from grace and comebacks. There are a few sisters looking to create some dating apps that aren’t just about your looks and can match couples by the books they’ve read.”

“That does sound positive. I could see myself logging on to an app like that.” MJ smiled. “And what else has been going on at the conference?”

Mimi smiled and excitement sparkled in her eyes. “A lot of good ideas in our early sessions. There’s even talk of a No More Mistresses website that would list all of the married men pretending to be single on dating websites.” Mimi kicked off her shoes. “Enough about me. Why was Nic here?”

“Business. He wants to do a citywide jazz fest and I’d be handling the marketing for it. We’re just sketching things out right now. But it sounds like it could be a great idea.”

“I hope it’s successful for your sake. But Nic can hug and kiss my—”

“Got it, Mimi.”

“I forgot to tell you this morning, but Jamal asked about you over dinner.”

MJ smiled and Mimi pointed at her. “What?”

“You and Jamal. What’s that all about?”

MJ sucked her teeth. “Jamal and I are just friends. He’s a foodie, despite the fact that he looks like he eats nothing but protein bars. We were going out Saturday night, but I got a call from a client because of some negative social-media reviews. We had brunch Sunday morning. Then he had to set up security at a venue for a concert or something.”

“So, this thing with you and Jamal is still light and fun or...”

“Stop it. Because for the last time, we’re just friends.” And Michael wondered if they would ever be more than that. If she was honest with herself, she’d admit that she wanted to be more than Jamal’s friend, but she also knew his reputation as a ladies’ man, so she kept her heart as guarded as possible. The last thing she would be was another name on his list of conquests. And she wasn’t about to get her heart smashed again by expecting too much from a man who didn’t know what he wanted.

* * *

Jamal loved his family, especially his grandmother Ethel. Every Monday, she called him to make sure he was taking care of himself—as if he was a teenager away at boarding school. And every Monday, he looked forward to his early morning conversations with his beloved grandmother.

But at this moment, he needed to get off the phone. A blast from his not-so-distant past had just made eye contact with him.

“Gran, I have to go,” he said as he saw a woman walking toward him with a smile on her face. How was it that the one morning he decided to go out for breakfast, he ran into Loony Lu-Lu, also known as Lucy Becker? The wannabe Atlanta socialite couldn’t fathom that Jamal rejected her advances and she couldn’t take no for an answer. And she always seemed to show up out of nowhere like a ghost of bad dates past. Jamal had gone out with Lucy only once. They’d attended a concert where she spent most of the night on her phone Tweeting and taking selfies for Instagram. It was a boring date, and when she outlined her plans for being on a reality show, Jamal knew he’d never go out with that crazy bird again.

Too bad she hadn’t gotten the message.

“Jamal, I do wish you would settle down like Brent. Look at him and Mimi, just as happy as they can be,” Ethel said.

“Gran, how do you know that they’re happy?”

“Because I read her blog! Anyway, go ahead and do whatever it is you said that you had to do and make sure you get me some fresh crawfish for my Savannah boil this year. I know that stuff you brought last year was frozen.”

Jamal chuckled, surprised that his grandmother read Mimi’s saucy blog. He remembered how Brent had gotten all out of sorts when his wife had written about their kiss on that infamous blog. “All right, Gran, fresh crawfish and settle down like Brent. I’m going to give you a call tomorrow.” He disconnected the call and bit back a groan. If Jamal thought he was going to get away from Lu-Lu, he was wrong.

“Jamal Carver,” she exclaimed, “you could’ve invited me to breakfast and I would’ve gladly accepted. Now you had to eat alone and where is the fun in that?”

“Hello, Lucy. Being alone is always fun—best company ever.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin and dropped it on the table. Rising to his feet, Jamal reached for his wallet and left enough cash to pay for his breakfast and tip his waitress. “Well, I’m off to work. Have a nice day,” he said.

“How about we have a nice night, together?”

“I’m good,” he said then headed for the door. Jamal silently cursed himself out for ever going out with Loony. He’d known his lips were dangerous, but he’d kissed her anyway. And she’d fallen head over heels. If only he had that effect on Michael Jane’s sexy ass.

Sighing, he unlocked his Ford Mustang and slid behind the wheel. MJ had been the star of his dreams since they’d met at his buddy’s cookout last year. Despite her masculine name, Michael was all woman, with dangerous curves he wanted to ride like the wind. And those expressive brown eyes. Sometimes, he’d just stare at her to watch the golden flecks in them. MJ’s dimples were another reason why he’d always tried to make the caramel beauty smile.

But she had wanted to keep things light. Normally, he’d be all for that, but something about MJ made him look for more. Was his gran right about it being time to settle down?

When he arrived at his security firm in the heart of downtown Atlanta, he focused on the breakdown in coverage at a concert his firm was providing security for where a deadly shooting had happened. He needed answers and someone was going to lose their job today. Jamal prided himself and his company on keeping people safe. His reputation wasn’t going to be sullied by people not doing their jobs. And then there was always the possibility of a lawsuit.

Better call Brent after this meeting, he thought. Jamal walked into the conference room and looked around at his staff. Three of the men had been with him for a decade, and two of the guys had come highly recommended from his marine buddy, Walter Ramirez.

“What in the hell happened last night?” Jamal demanded.

“J,” Harry Mancini began, “I was in charge last night and I take full responsibility for what happened. Around twelve thirty, the crowd started clearing out and I let two of the guys go home. Then the rest of us had to do security detail for the talent. We had no idea that there had been an argument.”

“How did a weapon get on the premises? We were supposed to be checking cars as well! Did you guys not pat folks down?” Jamal asked, disappointed that he was going to have to let Harry go. But he’d dropped the ball big-time.

“We were, but...”

“No buts, Harry. What happened last night was unacceptable and you were in charge. A life was lost. I have no choice but to let you go.”

Gasps filled the room, but Jamal wasn’t finished. “The rest of you are off duty until further notice. I can’t have people on my team who don’t follow the rules. We’re the First Line of Defense and last night we were worse than rent-a-cops.”

Harry rose to his feet and headed for the door. “Jamal, I’m sorry about what happened, but these guys don’t deserve this punishment.”

“And that’s not your choice to make.”

Jamal waited for the men to file out of the room before he dropped his head on the table. What he did had to be done but it still wasn’t easy to do. Pulling out his cell phone, he called Brent.

“What’s up, Jamal?” Brent asked when he answered.

“I’m in trouble,” Jamal began. “Or potentially in trouble.”

“What’s her name?”

“Bruh, this is serious. First Line of Defense was the security company at that concert over the weekend.”

“Oh, shit. And people are talking about suing you already?”

“No, but it’s only a matter of time. This is America and after the tragedy comes the lawsuit.”

“Yeah, but they will probably go after the promoter and the artist first. That’s where the money is.”

“Still, my guys failed to do their job and I feel responsible.”

“Don’t say that to anyone else. I know you take your job seriously and you have an impeccable reputation, but you can’t save everybody and no one is going to hold you responsible.”

“That’s what you say until someone files a lawsuit.”

“If they do, then you know I got your back. Stop borrowing trouble.”

“You’re right, but I had one of my top guys running the point on this concert and I had to fire him today.”

“Damn, that was harsh.”

“So was not following my rules. But whatever. I’m going to go do some paperwork.”

“Dude, this is not like you at all. What’s the real problem?”

MJ.

“Who said I had a problem?”

“Your actions and your attitude. The last time I saw you act like this was during the... What’s her name?”

Jamal groaned. “It’s MJ.”

“I knew it. I thought you guys were just kicking it and having a good time?”

“And I thought I could handle that,” Jamal said. “Any other woman, I would’ve been good with that, but there is something different about Michael.”

“Yeah, she doesn’t want you. Forbidden fruit is always the sweetest.”

“Says the man who married his former client. I guess you would know.”

“I’m going to chalk that up to you not getting any and being jealous. You know nothing happened between Mimi and me before I settled her case. Not that it matters now, because she’s my wife and whatever I did worked.”

“I know. As a matter of fact, I should send your wife a few dozen roses to get her to help me win MJ over.”

Brent broke out into laughter. “You know if you ask Mimi for help, you might end up fodder for her blog.”

“Umm, I forgot about that. You know my gran reads her blog. Still, I don’t know how and why Michael has gotten under my skin the way she has,” Jamal said. “I feel like I’m one step away from being Loony Lu-Lu.”

“Is that woman still after you?”

“Sadly. Like they say, it’s the ones you don’t want who are always chasing after you.”

“That’s what happens when you have too many ones,” Brent said. “I got to go, but I can tell you this—I might be having lunch with my wife and her best friend at the new Sunshine Café in the West End around one thirty.”

“You might be getting a six-pack of craft beer to relax with this weekend. I’ll see y’all at one thirty,” Jamal said.

After hanging up the phone with Brent, Jamal felt a little better about everything.

He glanced at the clock on the wall and realized that he had too much time on his hands to sit there and think about Michael. So, he logged on to his computer and pulled up his rules-of-engagement document for his employees and printed it out. He didn’t want any more excuses about not knowing what to do.

Chapter 2

Michael and Mimi were still sitting in her office when Brent called his wife. As she listened to Mimi cooing and laughing into the phone, Michael could only shake her head. But she had to admit, love looked really good on her friend. She couldn’t believe she’d ever thought that a narcissist like Nic was capable of making her feel like this. Get over it. Turning to her computer, she googled the lineup for the past New Orleans jazz fest and made notes of the artists who had performed there. She wanted to make sure they didn’t book the same people for the Atlanta event. Then an idea hit her. What if they used local bands? That would really give the Peach City its own thing. The food would have to be amazing as well. She then started searching some of the restaurants that Jamal had introduced her to that she enjoyed. As she thought about her dinner with him last week, she couldn’t help but laugh. They had been sitting on the patio at a new Peachtree Street eatery when a woman walked over to Jamal and threw a glass of water in his face.