My Charming Hero

Thank you to the lovely Jennie Jones for the opportunity to share my delectable hero, Mark Johnson. You met him in Fly Away Peta. He starts a murder investigation in Under the Hood. When will Detective Mark Johnson have his chance at happiness? Well, soon…hopefully.

I recently placed my heroine, Lily Bennetti under interrogation. One of the questions I asked was who the love of her life was. Her reply?

“At this point, I’d have to say my son Luke. But there’s a certain sexy detective who has caught my eye.”

He’d rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt to reveal strong, corded forearms, pumped now from tossing the football. His tie was stuffed carelessly in his pants pocket and the top three buttons of his shirt were undone to reveal a smooth, solid chest. That killer smile alone would have women on their knees. With a will of their own, her eyes followed the line of the buttons to the belt at his waist and she watched slim hips move with a rhythm that had heat surging through her.  Her hand shook a little with the force of it, sloshing the wine over the side of the glass.

But there’s more to Mark than how he fills out his jeans. He has an easygoing personality, a great sense of humour, talks to dogs, enjoys the peacefulness of the hills and it’s second nature for him to serve and protect. He meets Lily Bennetti under the worst possible circumstances.

When Mark Johnson continues his investigation into the murder of Tiny Watts and the involvement of the teenage gang, the Tag Raiders, with sleazy lawyer, Gino Bennetti (Under the Hood), the last thing he expects is to be interviewing Gino’s widow. And it seems she’s in a world of trouble.

With her husband’s blood on her hands, Lily Bennetti has her son to protect and secrets that run deeper than the scars she bears. Mark Johnson is the last person she wants uncovering those secrets. Especially the truth about her son Luke’s involvement in Tiny Watts’ murder.

As the investigation continues and Lily’s scars heal, she finds the gorgeous detective easy to trust and the friendship between them blossoms into more. But the secret Lily holds is placing them in very real danger. She stands to lose her son, the man she loves, her freedom and quite possibly her life.

Mark being the hero and gentleman he is, will give Lily as much space as she needs to heal, but that won’t stop him loving her or putting himself in danger to protect her and her son Luke. Before they can find happiness together, he must first clear her name and put the real bad guys behind bars.

Mark shut the little black notebook and stood. Fresh air. He needed to clear the cobwebs and think this through. Sarge lifted his head off his paws as Mark stepped through the front door of the cabin and into the balmy night. It was dark up in the hills. No afterglow of street lamps lighting up the sky like down on the flats. Here the only light was that of the stars and the big full moon that glowed through the tree tops.

“Come here, boy.” The dog lifted his bulk and stretched, before padding over for an ear scratch. “This puts us in a bit of a pickle.” Sarge eyed him with big, sad brown eyes, a frown creasing his furry brow as Mark sighed and pulled his phone from his pocket.

He dialed and waited until a deep, grumpy voice said, “Do you have any fuckin’ clue what time it is, dude?”

“It’s not like you need your beauty sleep, Princess. I need you to get your lazy arse down to the station.”

“Now?”

“No, next week! Of course I mean now.” Despite Harold’s response, Mark could hear the squeak of mattress springs, followed by the muffled sounds of him hastily pulling on clothes, a woman’s murmur and Harold’s reply.

“Jeannie says it’s time you came over for dinner.”

“Tell her only if she bakes that choc mint mudcake I like so much. Now, I need you to go and start connecting dots for me in Tiny’s diary.”

“I thought that’s what you were meant to be doing.”

“I got a little…sidetracked.”

“Pfft…I bet! Always the fuckin’ Knight in Shining Armour. So how is our lovely widow?”

“In a cesspool of trouble, Jonesy. We have new evidence. Things are about to get ugly.”

Well, I don’t know about you, but if I was Lily Bennetti, I’d want this hero on my side with his arms around me, ready to protect and serve. What do you think?