Maureen Child - Last Virgin In California

“Now’s your chance, Gunnery Sergeant,” she said, urging him to speak up and get them both out of this while there was still time. “Tell my father what you were just telling me.”

“Yes, Gunnery Sergeant,” the Colonel said, “what exactly were you saying?”

His gaze shot from her to her father and for one brief, shining moment, Lilah almost hoped that Kevin Rogan would stand up and say “no thanks.” Then he spoke and that hope died.

“I told your daughter it would be an honor to escort her around the base for the duration of her visit, sir.”

She sighed heavily, but neither man appeared to notice.

“Excellent,” the Colonel said, smiling. Then he walked across the room, gave her a kiss on the forehead and turned to face the other man. “I have some work to catch up on,” he said. “Lilah will see you out and you two can make some plans.”

When he left again, Lilah folded her arms across her chest, tapped one bare foot against the floor and cocked her head to one side. “Coward.”

He actually winced before he shrugged. “He’s my C.O.,” was his only explanation.

“But you don’t want this duty.”

“Nope.”

“So why—”

“I didn’t want to go to Bosnia, either,” he said tightly. “But I went.”

Well that stung.

Still and all, it was almost refreshing to talk honestly with one of her father’s hopefuls. Usually, the men he handpicked for her were so busy trying to win his approval that they were willing to tell Lilah outrageous lies just to score a brownie point or two. At least Kevin Rogan was honest.

He didn’t want to be with her any more than she wanted to be with him.

That was almost like having something in common, wasn’t it?

“So,” she asked, “I’m like Bosnia, huh? In what sense? A relief mission or a battle zone?”

A flicker of a smile curved his mouth and was gone again before she could thoroughly appreciate just what the action did for his face.

And maybe, she thought as butterflies took wing in the pit of her stomach, that was for the best. She was only in town for a few weeks. Besides, she already knew that she did not fit in with the military types.

“Haven’t made up my mind yet,” he said. “But I’ll let you know.”

“I can’t wait.” Sarcasm dripped from her tone, letting him know in no uncertain terms that she knew exactly what his decision would be. She could see it in his eyes. He’d already come to the conclusion that this duty was going to be a pain in the rear.

And a few days alone with her would only underline that certainty.

“Look,” he said, crossing the room toward her so he could lower his voice and not be overheard. He stopped just short of her and Lilah caught a whiff of his cologne. Something earthy and musky and what it did to her insides, she refused to think about.

She blinked and tried to focus on the words coming out of his mouth, rather than the mouth itself.

“We’re going to be stuck with each other for the next month,” he said.

Okay, that helped. How charming. “And your point is?”

“Let’s try to make this as easy as possible on both of us.”

“I’m for that,” she said and inhaled deeply again, enjoying the woodsy fragrance that filled her senses and weakened her knees. She looked up into those green eyes of his and now that they weren’t scowling at her, she noticed the tiny flecks of gold in them.

Then promptly told herself she shouldn’t be noticing anything of the kind. Marine, she reminded herself. Handpicked by her father.

“You’re engaged,” he said, “whether your father likes the guy or not.”

An image of Ray filled her mind and she had to smile. “True,” she agreed and mentally crossed her fingers at the lie in a feeble attempt to ward off karmic backlash.

“And I’m not interested in changing that situation.”

“Good.” One fake fiancé was about all she could handle at any given time.

“So,” he was saying, “we strike a bargain.”

She stared at him for a long moment, trying to figure out just what he was up to. “What kind of bargain?”

He folded his muscular arms across a chest that looked broad enough to be a football field. “We play the roles the Colonel wants and at the end of the month, we say goodbye.”

Hmm.

“Sounds reasonable.”

“I’m always reasonable,” he said and darned if she didn’t believe him.

He looked so straight-arrow, gung ho Marine, he wouldn’t know a bend in the road if he fell on it. Completely the wrong kind of man for her. Exactly the kind of man she’d avoided most of her life.

In short, he was perfect.

They could get through this month and make her father happy and neither of them miserable. She smiled again as she considered it. For the first time, she and a Marine could be honest with each other. They could form a friendship based on mutual distaste.

This idea actually had merit.

“Well?” he prodded, apparently just as impatient as her father. “What do you say?”

“I say you’ve got a deal, Gunnery Sergeant,” Lilah told him and held out her right hand.

He enveloped it in his much bigger one and gave her a gentle squeeze and shake. Ripples of warmth ebbed through her, much like the surface of a lake after a stone’s been tossed into it. She blinked and held on to his hand a moment longer than was necessary, just to enjoy the sensation. Tipping her head back, she thought she noticed a like reaction glinting in his eyes, but she couldn’t be sure.

When he released her, she still felt the hum of his touch. And she was pretty sure that wasn’t a good thing at all.

Twenty minutes later, Kevin was gone and Lilah was sitting in the living room alone when her father walked into the room.

He moved straight for the bar and poured himself a short drink, then asked, “Would you like something, honey?”

“No, thanks,” Lilah said as she studied her father. A tall, handsome man, he had streaks of gray at his temples, smile lines at the corners of his eyes and the solid, muscled frame of a much younger man. Not for the first time, she wondered why he’d never remarried after her mother’s death so many years ago. But she’d never asked him. And now seemed like as good a time as any. “Dad, why have you stayed single all these years?”

He set the decanter down carefully, studied the amber liquid swirling in the bottom of his glass, then turned and walked to the couch. Sitting opposite her, he took a sip, then said, “I never met another woman like your mom.”

Her mother had died when she was eight years old, but Lilah still had a few memories. Snatches of images, really. A pretty woman with a lovely smile. A soft touch. A whiff of perfume. She remembered the comforting sound of her parents laughing together in the darkness and the warmth of knowing she was loved.

And then there were the lonelier years, when it was just she and her father and he was too busy to notice that his daughter had lost as much as he had.

She shifted, curling up in a corner of the overstuffed love seat. “Did you try?”

Again, he looked for answers in his glass before saying, “Not really.” Another sip. “I just decided I’d rather be alone than be with the wrong person.”

“I can understand that,” she said, meaning every word. In fact, she thought that if they’d had this conversation a few years ago, she might have been able to avoid the series of matchmaking attempts he’d been foisting on her regularly. “But what I don’t understand is,” she added softly, “if it’s all right for you to be single, why is it so important to you that I get married?”

Her father sat up, leaned forward and set his unfinished drink on the table in front of him. Folding his arms atop his knees, he looked into her eyes and said quietly, “Because I want you to be settled. To find someone to—”