Stern

Yes, he knew. Back in high school, when her father was alive, he and JoJo had been hired out to do odds and ends in the shop. He had enjoyed learning from her father and Beeker and all the other guys. And Wanda had been a hoot. JoJo’s father’s death had hit him as much as it had hit her. Joseph Jones had been a man Stern had looked up to, a man he had respected, a man who’d spent a lot of time with him.

Stern had spent as many days and nights with JoJo and her father as he had at home. He’d gone on hunting trips with them. Mr. Jones had taught him the proper way to handle a gun and Beeker had taught him and JoJo how to shoot.

“You want to take in a movie tomorrow night?”

She glanced up at him and he wondered why, in all the years he’d known her, he had just realized how mesmerizing her eyes were.

“A movie?”

“Yes.” They’d gone to movies together a number of times, too many to count, and never had they considered them dates or anything more than two friends hanging out. Why did he suddenly feel that this invitation was different?

“What’s playing?” she asked, eyeing him suspiciously. “The past couple of times we went to a movie we saw ones that none of your girlfriends wanted to see. So you took me. Must be one of those blood and guts flicks.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle because she knew him so well. “There is this new action movie that came out this weekend. Riley claims it’s good.”

“And the reason you can’t find a date for tomorrow?”

“Not trying to find one. We still need to talk.”

“About what?” she asked, checking her watch.

“About that request you asked of me at the lodge.”

She stopped walking and hung the clipboard at its designated place on the wall. “If I remember correctly, you didn’t want to talk about it.”

She was right. The more he thought about the makeover, the more he thought it wasn’t a good idea. If a man only cared about outside appearances, then he might not get to know the JoJo that Stern knew from the inside out. She had a heart of gold, and she was cheating herself if she pursued a man who would only zero in on her looks.

But he knew JoJo and she had made up her mind about this guy whose name she refused to give him. The thought of this unnamed man made him mad, and then madder each and every time he thought about him. So Stern decided that the best thing to do was to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn’t get into trouble or into any situation she couldn’t handle.

“Well, I do want to talk about it now, and I’m thinking a makeover might not work after all.”

She frowned. “Why?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Your mystery man won’t get to know the real you.”

She rolled her eyes. “He can get to know the real me later. First, I need to get him to notice me. So I think the makeover will work, and you did say you would help me. Don’t try wiggling out of it now.”

“I’m not.” He paused. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Hurt?” She glanced around as if to make sure none of her employees were within hearing range. “Are you saying you don’t think that a makeover will help me? That I’m so much of a reject that even a makeover wouldn’t do me any good?”

“No, that’s not what—”

“Well I’ve got news for you, Stern. I’ve seen even the ugliest of women and men become beautiful and handsome. So there’s no reason to believe a makeover can’t do wonders for me, too.”

“That’s not what I was insinuating, JoJo.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll show you,” she said, then walked off toward the first car she would be working on.

He rubbed his hand down his face in frustration. What was going on here? He and JoJo never fought or argued about anything, and now they seemed to be bickering back and forth about every damn thing.

All he’d said was that he didn’t want to see her hurt. Why would she think he’d meant that a makeover wouldn’t help her? In truth, he knew it would help her and that’s what he was worried about. Men would be coming on to her for all the wrong reasons.

He glanced over at her as she leaned over the car to look under the hood. He couldn’t help noticing how her work pants stretched tightly over her backside. Her perfectly shaped backside. Damn, why was he checking out JoJo?

He drew in a frustrated breath. “I’ll call you later.”

“Whatever,” she mumbled without even bothering to look up.

Stern left, feeling as if he’d made the situation between them worse instead of better.

Three

“Here’s the information you wanted on that Carmichael dude.”

JoJo looked up into the face of a petite blonde who didn’t look her age. A copy of Wanda’s birth certificate in her employment file indicated she was nearing sixty, but if you asked Wanda she would swear she wasn’t even fifty yet. And since she had the face and figure to back it up, no one had dared to call her on it.

JoJo picked up the card Wanda had tossed on her desk. “He lives in Cherry Hills Village.” The Village was one of the most affluent suburbs in Denver.

“You’re surprised? Look how he dresses. Look at the car he drives. Not to mention what he does for a living.”

JoJo nodded. “He’s thirty-one, the same age as Stern. And according to what you’ve found out, he’s not in an exclusive relationship.”

“Also like Stern.”

JoJo shifted her gaze from the card to Wanda, who was pretending to peruse JoJo’s bulletin board. She’d known Wanda long enough to recognize the smile the older woman was trying to hide. “Well, yes,” JoJo admitted. “Like Stern.”

Wanda tilted her head and met JoJo’s gaze. “Come to think of it, there’s a lot about this Carmichael man that would remind a person of Stern. Is there a reason for that?”

JoJo decided she didn’t want to hold Wanda’s gaze any longer. The woman was sharp. “What do you think?”

JoJo couldn’t resist watching Wanda out of the corners of her eyes. She saw Wanda look thoughtful for a moment before she said, “Do you really want me to tell you what I think, Jovonnie?”

JoJo tried to ignore the tension building at her temples. Whenever Wanda called her by her full name JoJo knew Wanda would go into “it’s time I tell it the way I see it” mode.

“Don’t you have a switchboard to cover? You are on payroll,” she reminded her.

“Don’t try pulling rank on me, young lady. This is my lunch break, and need I remind you I am entitled to one?”

“No you don’t have to remind me, but I’m working through mine, so if you don’t mind, I—”

“I do mind,” Wanda interrupted, resting her hip on the edge of JoJo’s desk. “And the reason I mind is because I think you’re making a big mistake.”

Seeing that she wouldn’t be getting any work done until Wanda had her say, JoJo tossed her pen on her desk and leaned back in her chair. “Evidently, you want to get something off your chest.”

“I do.”

JoJo nodded. “All right, you have the floor.” She placed the card down on her desk.