Dead to the Max (35 page)

Copyright 2012 Jasmine Haynes

Cover design by Rae Monet Inc

Previously published in 2006

Three years ago, Lou Jackson, eldest son, died in a work accident. And nothing has been the same since for the Jacksons. They lost their heart and soul the day Lou died, even as matriarch Evelyn tries to keep them together. But things are changing and the family will either find their way back to each other. Or they’ll be torn asunder.

Widowed three years and the mother of two, Taylor Jackson is starting to feel that life as a woman is passing her by. Always somebody’s daughter-in-law, somebody’s mother, or somebody’s sister-in-law, Taylor longs to be somebody’s secret lover.

Taylor was his brother’s wife, and now his brother’s widow, untouchable yet irresistible to Jace Jackson. When he discovers her secret fantasies, Jace swears he’ll be the one to make them reality.

But can his family ever accept another man in Taylor’s life, let alone the black sheep of the family? Or will their grief and pain destroy any chance Jace has of being more to Taylor than her secret lover?

Excerpt

The woman looked like Taylor, his brother Lou’s wife. But this woman’s lips were painted a deep shade of red, where Taylor always wore pink. The tight spandex top hugged her full breasts, and her leather skirt revealed endless, captivating legs encased in shimmering nylon. Taylor didn’t own a leather skirt, and to her, spandex was for jogging. Fuck-me high heels rested on the bottom rail of the bar stool. Taylor abhorred high heels.

The look-alike flipped her auburn hair over her shoulders, the locks sparkling with golden highlights in the flash of the strobe on the dance floor.

Jace Jackson cooled himself off with a slug of beer, his one and only bottle for the night.

Then she laughed. He shouldn’t have been able to hear it over the voices, the semi-drunken laughter, or the beat of another country western ballad, but he felt it in his gut, the way he always felt Taylor’s laugh, hard as he tried to ignore it.

Holy hell.

The woman didn’t just look Taylor. It
was
Taylor.

Jace slammed his beer down on the table, ignored his drinking buddies’ raised eyebrows, and rose to his feet when the guy Taylor was flirting with put his hand on her knee.

***

Taylor Jackson knew she’d made a huge mistake the minute the man put his hand on her knee. She couldn’t remember his name, Buddy or Bubba or Bucky or something, although Bubba seemed to suit him best

It didn’t seem right to be planning to seduce a man whose name she couldn’t remember. Not that Bubba needed much in the way of a come-on from her.

She hadn’t dated since Lou died. In fact, she hadn’t been out on a date since she met Lou back in college. Not that she’d call what she was doing now dating.

Planning a seduction had been the easy part. Dressing for it even easier. The hour between dropping off the kids at her mother-in-law’s house and finishing her final primp in her bathroom mirror had been like playing dress-up with her mom’s makeup when she was a little girl. Of course, when her mother caught her, she’d blistered her butt. Taylor had started feeling jumpy on the drive over, out of Willoughby to the outskirts of Bentonville, the next town over, and home of Saddle-n-Spurs, a rowdy country western joint.

She’d chosen the bar because she wouldn’t be recognized. No one she knew would come to a place like this. It wasn’t a PTA/soccer-mom kind of place.

Jumpy or not, Taylor had climbed out of her minivan and headed inside. Her head had begun to pound with the din before she’d even taken a seat at the bar. She’d ordered wine to calm her full-fledged nerves and probably would have bolted before the bartender poured it if Bubba hadn’t taken the stool beside her and paid for her drink.

She shouldn’t have let him do that. Not that she felt like she had to sleep with him because he bought her a glass of wine. This wasn’t how she’d planned it. In fact, the whole seduction plan seemed suddenly idiotic. If she hadn’t felt so desperate, so needy, so out of control, she never would have considered picking up a guy in a bar for a night of casual sex.

It had seemed like forever since she’d felt a man’s touch. For months after Lou died, maybe a year, she hadn’t given sex a thought. She’d been too busy getting out of bed in the mornings, accepting the monumental changes his death wrought, wondering if she could handle things on her own, and helping Brian and Jamey cope with the loss of their dad.

Somewhere along the way, in that second and third year alone, she’d started remembering she was a woman. With needs. She didn’t want a new father for the boys or a boyfriend or husband for herself. She only wanted the embrace of a man for a little while.

Bubba wasn’t her idea of a dream lover. Reality didn’t match the erotic fantasy she’d spun through-out sleepless nights. Now, she wasn’t quite sure how she’d get rid of him, or for that matter, get herself out of the bar.

“Get your damn hand off my wife’s knee.”

Oh Lord. It couldn’t be. She glanced up and almost choked on her sip of wine. It was her brother-in-law. And Jace didn’t look like a happy camper.

Look for
The Jackson Brothers
coming soon.

Somebody’s Lover
, Book 1

Somebody’s Ex
, Book 2

Somebody’s Wife
, Book 3

Have you ever wondered about past lives, reincarnation, life after death? Did you love the film
Dead Again
? If you’re a fan of contemporary romances with a dash of paranormal, then try Jasmine’s new Reincarnation Tales, sexy stories about love that never dies.

Twisted by Love

Reincarnation Tales Book 1

Copyright 2012 Jasmine Haynes

Cover design by Rae Monet Inc

A love that spans lifetimes, an evil that has followed them through the ages...

Bern Daniels doesn’t believe in ghosts, UFOs, or reincarnation, but when he sees Livie Scott, it’s as if he’s known her forever. Now he can’t get her out of his mind. He wants her in his bed and in his life. For keeps. He’s even starting to believe they’ve lived past lives together.

Will jealousy out of the past come back to destroy their future?

Livie is unaccountably drawn to the tall, dark stranger. He literally sweeps her off her feet. And she’s oh so willing to let him. But her sister Toni is planted firmly in her path to happiness. Livie has been forced to choose between a man and Toni before; is she destined to play the same twisted game with her sister over and over?

Livie and Bern soon discover there are shadows lurking from their past, past lives that is, which threaten everything they believe in, everything they want. And even their lives.

Excerpt

Livie buried her arms elbow deep in hot, soapy water. She enjoyed doing the dishes by hand. The water warmed her down to her toes. She loved a clean kitchen. She loved order and neatness and everything in its proper place. She loved an established routine and—

Something hit her on the cheek with a splat, slid down her face, and landed with a plop in the water, sinking before she actually saw what it was. She brushed her cheek with a wet hand, soap suds settling close to her eye. She wiped them off on against shoulder, then skimmed her hands through the water searching for what had struck her.

Something slimy slithered across her fingers and skittered away. She jerked, suds splashing over the edges of the sink. In the kitchen doorway, her sister giggled, a girlish giggle laced with malice. Another watery splat, this time on the back of her head, and the thing, whatever it was, slid down her neck into her blouse.

Just then, the one in the sink poked its head above the water. A snake, a slimy, horrible, fat snake with huge fangs that sank into the soft flesh between her thumb and forefinger.

Livie started screaming when she felt the snake down her blouse wriggle and slither all over her...

* * * * *

Toni parked her car on the street and let herself into Livie’s condo on the fifth floor of the building. Toni preferred apartment living, where she could pick up and move whenever it suited her. But Livie liked roots and ownership, even if it was a tiny condo in a big complex in Belmont.

What a day. She felt like crap, and she looked like last month’s leftovers.

Where was Livie? It was after nine. Toni threw her overnight bag on the bed, hung up tomorrow’s skirt and sweater so they wouldn’t wrinkle, tossed the stuff she’d borrowed this morning in the hamper, then set her cosmetics out on the counter in Livie’s bathroom. Her sister used the cheap stuff, which couldn’t be good for her skin.

Livie was pretty, but, without a conceited bone in her body, Toni knew she was prettier. It wasn’t conceit to admit to better bone structure and curvier curves. She also knew how to best enhance what God gave her. Her hair, for instance, was a honey-gold which went much better with her coloring than plain old reddish-brown. Livie should live a little and dye a little. Not to mention that contact lenses changed muddy irises to a brilliant jungle green, or anything else a girl wanted. What the heck, Livie was Livie. She didn’t care much about her appearance as long she was considered neat and professional. She would never have purchased that short dress and hot pink blazer she’d worn this morning if Toni hadn’t goaded her into buying it months ago. It still had the tags, for God’s sake.

Now, what would Livie have in the refrigerator besides low-fat yogurt and fruit? Toni was starving. She hadn’t been able to eat all day over that terrible episode with Reese. She’d picked up the phone a thousand times to call him, but really, a man had to learn how to crawl a little when he’d made a mistake, especially since he hadn’t answered any of her messages from yesterday. She wasn’t done with him yet. She knew the man had huge potential in bed, and she would make sure she got him there. Oh yeah, she’d make him beg first, but she’d definitely take him back when she felt he’d shown the proper contrition.

A key jiggled in the front door.

Livie already had her jacket off and folded over her arm. She’d dropped her keys on the entry table and set her briefcase and purse on the floor before she saw Toni standing in the kitchen doorway.

“Hey.” After a moment’s pause and not a single expression on her face, Livie headed into the living room, a shopping bag dangling from her fingers. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah.” Toni shrugged and leaned against the wall. “I didn’t want to be alone. You don’t mind, do you?”

Livie draped her jacket over the back of the sofa without turning around. “Of course not.”

She probably did, but Livie wouldn’t say. Which was usually a good thing for Toni. She got away with murder if she acted first and asked later. “What’s in the bag?”

“A book. I ran out of things to read.” Livie pulled it out, set it on the coffee table, and wadded up the bag.

“What is it?”

“
The Fountainhead.
” She examined the receipt in her hand. “Someone at work mentioned it, and I’ve never read it. It’s some sort of classic written in the forties.”

Sounded boring. Weird that Livie was late because she’d stopped to buy a book. Ah, but Livie loved to read in the tub. It relaxed her. Tonight, though, she had Toni to entertain instead. What fun for them both.

“Did you eat?” Livie slipped past her into the kitchen and bent to peer into the refrigerator.

“I was hoping you’d feed me.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Livie answered without turning.

“Then what have you got?”

Shuffling a few things around, Livie surveyed the contents. “How about scrambled eggs on toast?”

Great comfort food. Their mom used to scramble eggs on cold winter nights when Dad was out of town. They got to eat in front of the TV and stay up an hour later than usual. Of course, there’d be a ton of carbs in the toast. Comfort, carbs, comfort, carbs? Comfort won. “Yeah. That sounds great.”

Livie put the eggs on the counter, then pulled out bread, margarine and milk. From the drawer beneath the oven, she retrieved a frying pan and set it on the stove. “I’ll change, then start dinner.”

“You want me to break the eggs or anything?”

“No, I’ll do it.”

“Thanks, Livie, you’re great.”

Livie smiled and patted Toni’s cheek as she passed, grabbed her discarded jacket, and headed into the bedroom.

Yeah, Livie was great. And guilt was a beautiful emotion. Hmm, was it actually an emotion? Whatever. Livie had it in spades, and Toni didn’t mind playing on that guilt when she really, really needed to. She deserved a little payback after the terrible things her sister had done to her.