“In the meantime your stubbornness could be costing you a good life and a family with a girl who’s set off a spark in you,” his mother persisted.
“But I come by that stubbornness naturally,” he shot back pointedly as he stood and called for Jack to come.
“Jack needs a walk,” he decreed, leaving the colonel to get the dog’s leash before heading for the front door.
Reminding himself along the way of all the reasons he’d formed his marriage policy in the first place and all the reasons he was still committed to it, too.
Reminding himself that he was strong enough to resist the damn attraction he had to Kinsey.
And hoping that last bit was true...
* * *
“I knew it!” the colonel ranted as Kinsey helped the elderly woman get to bed for the night. “If that dog isn’t underfoot then he’s into mischief. Here I was thinking maybe he was behaving because he didn’t bother anyone while Louise was here. But what was he doing? Stealing everything he could find and taking it outside!”
“Sutter is getting flashlights. We’ll go out and bring everything back in,” Kinsey assured.
They’d begun to notice that things were missing during dinner—a dishtowel, the hot pads. Then the colonel hadn’t been able to find the gloves she wore to take her walk with Sol. Or the socks she wore to bed. Or her book.
By then Sutter had realized he was missing several things, too—just as the terrier slipped through the doggy door with one end of a roll of toilet paper in his mouth, unwinding almost the entire roll from the downstairs bathroom through the kitchen to get it out.
That was when a glance through the window over the kitchen sink revealed that the yard and bushes were littered with things that didn’t belong there.
“Jack is a puppy and puppies do get into mischief,” Kinsey said. “But think of how enterprising he has to be to do what he did.”
“And now I don’t have my book to read tonight. He’s probably chewed it to bits out there,” the colonel grumbled.
“I’ll turn on that TV show you like. And tomorrow I’ll stop at the bookstore on my way and get you another copy of the book.”
“Nuisance!” the colonel muttered under her breath.
“He’s so cute and funny, though.”
The elderly woman didn’t deny it. That was a first and Kinsey took it as encouragement.
“Here’s your brandy,” she said, handing the colonel the small snifter. “Your cardiologist asked me about this today. He wanted to make sure we knew it has to be only in moderation. But I told him it was, so we’re still in the clear.”
“Good girl!” the colonel praised as if they were sharing a victory over a fierce adversity. “Now get out of here and go find my things!”
Kinsey laughed, said she’d check back before she went home tonight, and left the older woman’s bedroom.
Sutter was waiting for her in the kitchen downstairs with two flashlights.
“Just in case, I think you should use the sling while we do this,” she told him. “We don’t want you jolting that shoulder if you trip over something in the dark.”
Plus seeing him more and more out of the sling the last few days only made it harder for her to ignore her attraction to him. Like tonight, when he was wearing a navy blue mock-turtleneck T-shirt with a marine insignia riding the well-developed pectoral that would otherwise be hidden behind the sling.
While he put the sling on she kept herself from watching by gathering the trail of toilet paper Jack had left and throwing it away. But she knew better than to hope that ignoring Sutter would keep him out of her thoughts...or her dreams.
The dreams about him weren’t the only things haunting her, though. She’d been struggling since Sunday night. Two simple touches of his hand on her arm, a dumb little kiss on the cheek and she was a mess. Thinking things she didn’t want to think. Wanting things she didn’t want to want. Noticing even more about him that only made it worse.
Monday and Tuesday it had been a relief to not have him around. But at the same time she’d been miserable because he wasn’t around. And missing him, for crying out loud!
It was all just so confusing and aggravating.
So at least put on the sling and give me a little reprieve.
Although it didn’t do anything to blunt the effects of the jeans he was wearing that made his rear end look divine.
Still, it was something...
Once the toilet paper was cleaned up, Kinsey went into the hallway to put on her jacket. It was a short leather jacket that she ordinarily only wore out for dates or special occasions. But she’d put it on today, along with her best jeans and the cashmere sweater set that were hardly work wear either, because she’d known that Sutter would be home.
“Ready for the hunt?” Sutter asked when she returned.
So much for the sling helping anything—one look at that sandy-colored hair and those piercing teal eyes and that chiseled face, and she was still sunk.
It was hopeless.
“Ready,” she answered, handing him a plastic grocery bag and taking one for herself to use for the collection before accepting one of the flashlights.
Jack went out with them, excited to have company in the yard. The puppy proceeded to prance around the debris as if he was proud of his accomplishments.
Until he realized they were picking up his prizes, then it became a game of him trying to snatch things out of their grip and run with them.
They tried shutting him in the house but that only caused him to bark incorrigibly, which they both knew would aggravate the colonel. So the end result was a race to collect all the things Jack had snuck outside before he could steal them and dash out of reach.
In the process, Kinsey said, “So I think today went well—the colonel and Louise seemed to hit it off.”
“She knows, though,” Sutter said.
“Who knows what?”
“The colonel. She knows I’m trying to get her out into the world and find her some companionship and support. She had to make sure I didn’t think I was ‘putting anything over’ on her.”
“Was she mad?”
“No, she’s going along with it to get me to go back to my unit.”
“Does that mean she won’t keep up with her new friends once you’re gone? That she plans to turn into a hermit again?”
“I don’t think so. I think, whether she wants to admit it or not, she’s discovered that she feels better when she gets out a little and socializes. That’s to your credit, though, because you’re handling her with more finesse than I’ve ever managed and it seems like that’s getting her to see what she needs for herself.”
“So are you getting close to going back?” Kinsey asked, hating how much she didn’t want to hear his answer.
“Closer, I’d say.” He paused as he picked up a sock to put in his bag. “The weird thing is that the colonel is thinking the same things about me that I’ve been thinking about her.”
“That you’re a hermit?”
“That I’m going to end up alone, without anyone in my life.”
“Well, she has a point. Have you thought about that?”
And why was there something rushing through her that almost felt like hope? There was no cause for that. What would she be hoping for?
“I actually hadn’t considered it, no. I guess I have the colonel’s streak of self-sufficiency that makes it seem like I can do everything myself.”
“For what it’s worth,” Kinsey said, “I think your mother is right, but so are you. If you stay married to the military and never marry a woman, who will you have when your career is over? But on your side of it—I haven’t been a wife or a kid left behind for military service, but I am a sister in that spot, and it isn’t easy.”
“And
being fully aware of that, would you sign on as a military wife?” he asked in a purely academic way.
“No,” Kinsey answered without hesitation. “It’s actually a big, fat, firm no for me.”
He laughed. “A big, fat, firm no—no question about it? You’d rather eat worms than marry a military man?”
“You’re joking but the two run about neck and neck for me—”
“Absolutely no chance you would ever even consider it?”
“Absolutely no chance,” she confirmed. Which was why she really was fighting the growing attraction she had for him.
“Even if, say, you get in thick with the Camdens and end up with family coming out of your ears? With plenty of them around to help with anything that ever comes up?” he said as if offering a theoretical scenario. “You still wouldn’t—”
“I still wouldn’t,” she answered before he even finished. But she didn’t want to go into more of her reasons why so she said, “But that’s just me. My brothers run into a fair share of women who want a military man—”
“Any of your brothers married?”
“No. But there have been some hot pursuits.”
“By military groupies? Yeah, they’re around. I don’t know why anyone would want a wife who was only attracted to the uniform and not the person inside of it.”
“But there are other people—like your dad, for instance—who can be happy, content military spouses. Have you ever thought about finding someone who could withstand the absences and would be willing to do what it takes at home with or without you?”
“No, because that goes back to the part where I don’t want to be the one leaving someone else to do all the work. Back to where I don’t want to miss my kid’s birth or first word or baseball games or graduations. I guess the same way you’re sure of what you want and don’t want, so am I.”
And they were exact opposites of each other in what they were both committed to for their futures.
Sutter leaned over to pick up the colonel’s book and Jack came out of nowhere to snatch it and run before his master could get to it. But keeping a joyful eye on Sutter, the terrier ran in Kinsey’s direction, so she lunged to grab him to prevent him from getting away.
“Oh, nice catch!” Sutter cheered.
But he’d spoken too soon. Jack leaped out of Kinsey’s grasp, causing her to overbalance and fall.
“Ja-ack!” Kinsey lamented with an embarrassed laugh.
“Bad dog, Jack!” Sutter reprimanded. But while there was a rebuke in his words, Kinsey could tell he was suppressing a laugh.
And he was still fighting a smile when he came to hold out his free hand to her. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she said.
She didn’t need the help of his outstretched hand and knew without question that she shouldn’t take it.
But there it was and she just wanted too badly to feel his touch again to deny herself. So she slipped her hand into his as if it was meant to be there.
He pulled her up with a little too much strength and she landed against his slinged arm and chest with some force.
“Oh!” she said reflexively, veering back instantly. “Did I hurt your shoulder?”
He was still holding her hand so she hadn’t gotten far away and he was standing tall and rock solid, looking down at her with a full smile this time. “Killed me,” he said facetiously.
“Seriously,” she insisted.
“Seriously,” he lied with the raise of one eyebrow. “I’m in horrible pain. What are you gonna do about it?”
“Amputate?” she countered because it was clear he was just being ornery.
He did laugh at that. “That’s a little drastic, don’t you think?” he said in a voice that had gone deeper all of a sudden.
He was looking into her eyes and somehow the distance she’d put between them closed to a bare inch.
Kinsey could feel the heat of his body and all she wanted to do was melt against him. But she fought it.
“No kidding, I slammed into you,” she said, her own voice slightly breathy for no reason that had to do with anything except being that near to him. “Is your shoulder okay?”
“Perfect,” he answered, this time honestly but with a hint of something in his voice that made it seem as if he was talking about more than his shoulder. Those eyes of his dropped to her mouth for a split second before returning to hold her gaze locked in his.
Something in the atmosphere around them changed and a moment later she realized his good arm had snaked around her. There wasn’t any space at all between them again. In fact, one of her breasts was nestled in the crook of his slinged arm.
Then his expression sobered just before his head bowed slowly toward her and his mouth pressed to hers.
It was a simple, soft meeting but it went straight to Kinsey’s head anyway. Her eyes drifted closed and she kissed him back. Savoring every moment as she melted into him and that kiss that she’d wanted even more than she’d thought. So, so much more...
And then it ended all too soon. There was once again space between them. Only that inch, but he felt miles away.
He took a deep breath, exhaled and shook his head. “That was probably out of line,” he muttered.
“Only if I say it was,” she said quietly.
He opened his eyes and smiled a smile that was more tender now. “Are you going to?”
“I should...”
“Go ahead,” he challenged.
“That was out of line,” she said by rote, clearly not meaning it.
“Court martial offense?”
“Yes. But the judge would likely be biased,” she answered with a nod toward the house where the colonel who had presided over many of those was.
“So just more KP duty?” Sutter concluded.
Or more kissing...
“More KP duty,” Kinsey ordered.
“Worth it,” he said.
Then do it again...
For a moment it looked like he might.
Then Jack trotted over with the colonel’s paperback and dropped it at his master’s feet.
Sutter bent over and picked it up—wet, ragged and needing to be trashed—and when he stood again he was farther away.
No treats for you, dog!
“It’s getting late. If we missed anything out here I’ll get it in the morning when it’s light,” Sutter said as he dropped the book into his bag.
Kinsey nodded and retrieved her grocery sack and flashlight from the ground where they’d fallen.
“You’ve done your exercises?” she asked as they headed for the kitchen. She was no longer handling his physical therapy now that he knew what to do himself.
“Yes, ma’am. Doing them every chance I get.”
“Don’t overdo it,” she said, knowing that it wouldn’t matter. She’d told him to do the therapy twice a day but she knew he had increased that in order to get his shoulder back into shape sooner.
Which helped remind her that getting back to duty was his real goal. To continue on the path he’d just told her tonight he had no intention of veering from. He was a marine and he was staying a marine.
And she didn’t want any part of that.
Regardless of how much she might want a part of him.
Once inside she went upstairs to look in on the colonel, who was watching television and waved her off.
Then she headed for the front door where Sutter was waiting.
Would he kiss her again now? she wondered.
Hoping he would.
Knowing she shouldn’t let it happen.
But no sooner had she reached the entryway and gathered her purse and satchel than the colonel shouted from upstairs, “Damn dog, he has my remote! Get him!”
“I’ll do it,” Sutter volunteered. “Go ahead and go home.”
And that was that, Kinsey said good-night and left while Sutter chased Jack who was headed for the doggy door with his latest prize.
So there wasn’t even a chance for another kiss.
Which was for the best, Kinsey told herself as she left.
But that didn’t stop her from reliving every nuance, every moment of the kiss that shouldn’t have happened while she drove home.
And tonight she knew she would be reliving it in her dreams.
Knowing she should not be fostering these feelings.
And completely incapable of stopping herself.
Chapter Seven
“Oh, Declan, I hope you feel better than you look,” Kinsey said around a lump in her throat, blinking back tears that had come the instant she’d seen her brother.
Conor had arranged a video chat on Friday morning, this time including the injured Declan from his hospital bed in Germany.
As a nurse Kinsey had seen people in bad shape. But those people had not been her brother. And Declan was in some of the worst shape she’d ever seen.
Even logy and weak, one eye swollen shut, the other lid too heavy to lift all the way up, he said in a thick, sluggish, exhausted voice, “Don’t sweat it, twerp, I’m fine. A little rest and I’ll be back to my unit. Don’t think I should even have to come stateside—”
“You do have to spend some time stateside,” Conor put in from off-screen.
Declan made a derogatory noise but he fell asleep halfway through it.
Conor turned the laptop around so that Kinsey was seeing him now rather than their battered brother.
“That’s as good as it’s gonna get, twerp,” Conor said, using Declan’s nickname for her, something he’d begun calling her when he was a teenager and she was an annoying preteen. “He’s on so many meds that he sleeps most of the time.”
“But he’s doing okay?”
“He is. The leg looks all right—circulation’s good, response and movement of his toes are all normal. He’s just pretty banged up.”
The Marine Makes His Match Page 10