Any Hero Won't Do

By SHE

Three wild nights will have her yearning for a hero...

After ending another toxic relationship, contract specialist, Jennifer Parker decides to do something she has never done before—live recklessly for seventy-two hours. She attends her class reunion determined to draw Air Force Master Sergeant Brant Scott's attention. As a teenager, she secretly lusted after him while Brant barely gave her a second glance, yet in a matter of minutes, he's determined to slip between her sheets. Jayla welcomes his heated touch and intense kisses because once the reunion is over, she plans to walk away without a backward glance. But as the clock ticks and desire escalates, Jayla wonders if she may have served up more than she can handle when Brant turns the table and demands her total surrender.

Back in high school, the track star was interested in his insecure math tutor only he had been too stupid to follow his own heart. Now Jayla is home and the attraction that has always simmered below the surface reignites. Jayla has changed, or so it seems, yet the decorated airman is determined to shed her façade so he can love the woman underneath.  The problem is he only has three days to claim her… forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Writer S.H.E
• Release date: Jan 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781941342398

SHE

S.H.E is a girl with a delightfully wicked imagination, and a weakness for alpha men. Thank goodness she has one of those sexy creatures at home, providing all the hands-on experience she needs. S.H.E is an indie author who runs her own business and loves every exciting moment of her journey. Her ultimate goal is to create naughty tales that leave her readers breathless. S.H.E loves social media and is always around to interact with her readers. Come visit where you’ll find delicious updates on her next sexy tale, or you can email her at [e-mail]

Book preview

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

THIS STORY IS DEDICATED to my closest friends for supporting my work and begging for more.

1

Insufficient funds ?

I don’t think so, Jennifer Parker muttered under her breath as she inserted her debit card into the slot again. Quickly, she removed it then reentered the pin number.  Within seconds, she typed in a smaller dollar amount and waited.

There are insufficient funds to process your transaction at this time, flashed across the screen again.

Her heart was racing as she tossed her debit card back into her purse and peeled away from the ATM machine and around to the front of the bank. It was the lunch hour and the parking lot was ridiculously full, one of the reasons why she had gone to the ATM lane in the first place; the other reason was the long line inside.

With a groan, Jennifer glanced down at her cell phone. She had been in line almost thirty minutes. So much for lunch. There was barely going to be enough time left for her to grab something to eat at her desk.

Next!

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jennifer hurried up to the window and smiled at the short Indian woman standing behind the counter. Hi, I need to check my balance. She handed over her driver’s license and waited as the teller pecked away at her computer.

Which account are we talking about?

Moved up closer to the window, she said softly. My checking. I wasn’t able to access it from the ATM outside.

Her brown eyes rose from the screen to meet hers. That’s because your balance is four dollars and fifteen cents.

"What? There was no way she had heard her right. There should be nineteen grand in there."

She frowned, tapped away at the computer and then frowned some more. Well, there was nineteen grand in there, but it was withdrawn this morning.

Jennifer chuckled. No, that’s impossible. I haven’t set foot in this bank in months. That was the beauty of direct deposit.

Well, someone did. Please step out of line while I get someone to help you. She avoided eye contact and walked away from her station. Jennifer’s eyes followed her as she stepped out onto the floor and over to one of the glass-encased offices where a fiery redhead was sitting behind a desk. Large round glasses were hanging from her nose. The two were talking and Jennifer noticed Red’s gaze traveled over to her before the petite Indian woman handed her a sheet of paper. The woman started typing at her keyboard while Jennifer waited for what felt like forever. Legs shaking, hands sweating. There had to be some kind of accounting error. What else could it be?

Ms. Parker?

She blinked out of the trance in time to see the teller signaling for her to go into the office, while she returned to her window and the line of impatient customers. Jennifer walked into the office, feeling as if she had been sent to the principal’s office.

The redhead sat up a little straighter and smiled as she approached. Please, come on in and have a seat.

I’d rather stand, she muttered, anxious to find out what had happened to her money.

She nodded. Of course. I’m Anna, she added, then reached over to the small printer on her desk as it spit out a single sheet of paper. Maggie has informed me you know nothing about the money that was withdrawn from your account this morning?

Something was wrong. There was no way. Jennifer frowned. There’s some kind of mistake. No one withdrew nineteen thousand from my account this morning.

Anna held out the sheet of paper. Here is a copy of the check that was presented to the window this morning. Does the name Nicholas Silvers ring a bell?

Jennifer practically snatched the paper from her hand. That’s my boyfriend! she said and gasped when she glanced down at the copy of the check that had been made out to him. Oh my God!

A concerned green gaze stared up at her. Do you need to report fraud? If so I can print the papers.

She flushed and shook her head. No need, she whispered then turned and walked away from her office. Anna called after her but Jennifer ignored her and moved out to her car, almost in a daze. Once in her car, she dialed Nicholas’s number and the knife stabbed her even deeper when she discovered his phone had been disconnected.

She stared down at a copy of the check she had handed to Nicholas this morning. He was supposed to have gone down to pay the property taxes on her car for her. She had signed the check and thought nothing of leaving the rest blank for Nicholas to complete. Now her nineteen thousand dollars, all the money she had saved to buy her first house was gone.

Jennifer stormed into her apartment fifteen minutes later to discover her money wasn’t the only thing gone.

So was Nicholas.

2

Six Months Later

As she stood outside the principal’s office, Jennifer Parker remembered how much she had hated high school.

Catty teenage girls, corny clubs, cliques, and especially the cocky jocks.

Her eyes traveled around the space as she stood poised at the middle of the dusty corridor that led to the gymnasium. Over the last ten years, the walls had been painted a fresh coat of prison-beige paint. But nothing else had changed. There were still rows of metal lockers between classroom doors and large waste receptacles at each end of the hall. The school still had the familiar scent of sweat and Pine-Sol, and with the eighty-degree temperatures outside, the combination was enough to make Jennifer’s already queasy stomach churn.

Had she mentioned she hated high school? And to be even more specific, she hated George W. Dixon High School. If Kat hadn’t insisted, Jennifer wouldn’t have ever set foot in that school again.

Isn’t this exciting? Kat squealed as she hurried to catch up with Jennifer. They’d barely stepped through the double doors when her curvaceous cousin Katherine Jensen realized she had left her cellular phone in the car. Heaven forbid if Kat had gone more than thirty seconds without receiving a tweet or Facebook post.

"Well, being that you had to bribe me to come... exciting isn’t quite the word I would use," Jennifer reminded her.

But we’re going to have fun! And... she paused for dramatic effect. Just wait until everyone sees you.

Well, that was the reason why she had come.

She watched as Kat stopped to adjust her little black dress. If it was any smaller it would have been considered a postage stamp. Glancing down, Jennifer ensured her own dress hadn’t twisted with the sway of her hips, and smiled when she noticed everything was intact. She had opted for a tan dress with crisscrossed straps, which complimented the sprayed-on tan. As her cousin sauntered down the hall in a pair of pink stilettos, she felt a tinge of envy. Kat had always had it easy—curves, beauty, brains, while she, on the other hand, had to work harder and smarter to get what she wanted. But not anymore, she reminded herself. With a roll of her shoulders, she continued down the hall.

As they turned the corner, Jennifer smoothed a hand across a ponytail that brushed the top of her shoulders. She’d opted for the younger look, considering it was essential to the role she intended to play for the next three days.

They followed the heavy beat of music with her high-heeled, lime-green pumps echoing on the concrete floor. The popular song alone was enough to take her mind back ten years to a bleak period she’d rather forget.

When they neared the gym, she noticed former students standing in the hallways, laughing and talking. Jennifer ignored the appreciative male gazes that followed them toward the door. Just any man wouldn’t do, and even then, the last thing she’d be interested in was something romantic. After being scammed by her ex-boyfriend, she no longer engaged in relationships. A weekend fling... that was a horse of a different color.

Together, they stepped into the crowded gymnasium. Classmates were already mingling, and taking photographs with heavy laughter circulating the room. Donnie Wagner whistled as she sauntered past him. Jennifer rolled her eyes heavenward. Ten years ago he wouldn’t have given her the time of day. Instead, she tilted her chin and continued her stride through the doors and over to the registration desk, decorated in the purple and gold school colors, where a very pregnant woman was seated.

Welcome back to Dixon High! she greeted in a high-pitched voice. Names please.

I’m Kat James and this is my cousin Jennifer Parker.

Hi Kat! she squealed. I’m Hannah. We use to have American Literature together.

Of course, she said and then batted her eyelashes, which Jennifer knew was a clear indication her cousin was lying. Kat had a better chance of remembering some gorgeous guy she’d met in line at the supermarket.

Hannah’s blue eyes studied Jennifer before a puzzled frown marred her forehead. Jennifer... hmm, I’m afraid I don’t remember you.

Of course she did.

Quit running in the halls before I have to give you a citation!

Spit out that gum!

Jennifer gave herself a mental shake, then stood off to the side as she waited for her name-tag. She would not allow anything to ruin her weekend. Instead, she would do what she had done the last few years—focused on reinvention and elevation. Dedication and hard work had eventually paid off. And as a result, she was no longer that frumpy hall monitor who lurked the corridors, instead she was the new, beautiful, free-spirited Jennifer Parker.

Jennifer’s eyes traveled around the large space the reunion committee had transformed into a nightclub. Strobe lighting. Two cash bars. Dozens of wait staff working the floor. While looking over at a table in the corner, something caught her attention.

Someone.

Jennifer swallowed. There he was. Brant Scott.

She recognized him immediately. Former track star. Mr. Popular. Even after all these years, he was fiercely sexy, and muy caliente. All it took was one sweep of his dark eyes and heat flooded through her so suddenly she nearly stumbled back. Kat was calling her name, but Jennifer was catatonic and her feet felt glued to the floor. How was it even possible for Brant to be more handsome than before? She wondered. And yet the proof was sitting right in front of her. The years had only intensified his fine qualities. His dark olive features were so mesmerizing, she felt her tongue sliding across her lips.

Brant had eyes black as the midnight sky, a shadowed face with lean cheeks and a strong nose. His hair was dark and thick, cut a little too short for her taste and yet her fingers itched to stroke his head. However, what penetrated into her soul like an explicit dream, were the memories of the deep, accented timbre of his voice when he spoke.

Her nerve-endings were firing in a way she had not experienced before and Jennifer quickly hauled her eyes away. Back in high school, all of the girls, especially the cliques, whimpered with desire when he walked by. Brant was used to girls wanting him, and a little twist of bitterness clenched inside her at the memories. Back then, he hadn’t given a girl like her the time of day.

But now she was a woman. And tonight, all was about to change.

MARTIN WAS GNAWING on a chicken wing when he tilted his head toward the door and said, Yo, Brant, look over there.

Brant looked toward the registration table and his breath stalled. Damn.

Beautiful. There were two of them. Alike and different in so many ways.

The short curvy one was Kat. In ten years she had barely changed. She still wore her haircut shaved close to the scalp on one side, showing off her wide set eyes and huge grin. During high school she had been known as the class clown.

But it was the tall woman standing beside her with the small waist which flared out to a nice ass and hips, that had every man at the table salivating. He lowered the bottle in his hand and leaned forward to get a closer look.

Long, dark hair had been swept up in a ponytail that swayed across her shoulders. Wide hazel eyes twinkled underneath long lashes and a pair of delicious red lips curled in a frown of uncertainty. The tanned beauty was staring off as if she wasn’t quite in the mood for partying, and she wanted no eyes drawn to her. The thought caused his mouth to curve. She was nothing like his ex-girlfriend Serena who insisted on always being at the center of attention.

Brant sat there staring, wondering who she