by Lori Avocato
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Highland Press
www.highlandpress.org
Copyright ©2009 by Highland Press Publishing
First published in 2009, 2009
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NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.
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CONTENTS
Holiday Op
The Stocking
Acknowledgements/Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Epilogue
Tied With A Bow
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Christmas to the Rescue
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
All I Want for Christmas Is a Marine
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Mission Mistletoe
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Praise for Highland Press Books!
Now Available from
In HOLIDAY OP, it’s a pleasurable duty charged with love.
THE STOCKING by DC DeVane
Marcy Grayson had been in love with Paul Callahan for years. She’d dreamed of a proposal, a ring, and a happily-ever-after since the day she first met him. The winter holidays always brought out the romantic in her, and in him, but how could she possibly have guessed that love—and a ‘Proposal Paul Style’—would involve a dog, a rubber raft, and the Army Rangers.
TIED WITH A BOW by Anne Elizabeth
According to EOD Specialist Captain Devin Walds, love and bombs have a lot in common. First, it is vital to know the inner and outer workings of both. Second, understanding when and how to get the job done is absolutely crucial. Third, believing it is worth risking your life is mandatory. For Kathryn Marie Pente, he would do anything. From the first moment he saw her, he knew she was extraordinary. It wasn’t just her unusual artistic talent or her daring beauty, this was a woman who fought for what was right, and she was worth living … and dying for.
CHRISTMAS TO THE RESCUE by Lia DeAngelo
Petty Officer Annabelle Foster lives her job as a Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer stationed in Kodiak, Alaska. Until she meets the most delicious sugar cookie snowman ever created, and its equally decadent creator, Food Service Specialist, Tony Lombardi. Little does she realize that one snowy mission on a patrol boat decked in lights and holly will lead to one romantic treat after another, and the sweetest rescue of all—her own.
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A MARINE by Tara Nina
Locate, identify, observe, and report. That’s what Staff Sergeant Mitch Sinclair’s squad of Force Recon Marines did best. When the objective shifts, it becomes an extraction of a hostage Mitch will never forget and it’s up to him to fulfill her Christmas wish.
MISSION MISTLETOE by Lori Avocato
When an Air Force nurse falls out of a helicopter (don’t even ask!) she thinks that’s the worse that could happen. That is, until the paratrooper who parachutes into the desert to save her is none other than the cocky-as-hell guy with jet black hair, Newman blue eyes, and teeth she’s convinced are Da Vinci porcelain—because no one was born with such a perfect smile—she’s been calling “Slick.” Sure, he’s a damn good looker, but he’d been following her around the base for weeks—and now falls from the sky with a sprig of Mistletoe in his pocket!
Patty Howell, Senior Editor
Holiday Op
A Christmas Romance Anthology
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An Original Publication of Highland Press Publishing—2009
The Stocking (C) DC DeVane
Tied With A Bow (C) Anne Elizabeth
Christmas to the Rescue (C) Lia DeAngelo
All I Want for Christmas is A Marine (C) Tara Nina
Mission Mistletoe (C) Lori Avocato
Cover Copyright (C) 2009 Charles DeVane
Printed and bound in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system-except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the Web-without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information, please contact
Highland Press Publishing,
PO Box 2292, High Springs, FL 32655.
www.highlandpress.org
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author (except where specifically stated) and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names, save actual historical figures. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
ISBN—978-0-9842499-2-3
PUBLISHED BY HIGHLAND PRESS PUBLISHING
A Wee Dram Book
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The Stocking
A Proposal Via Inflated Raft
DC DeVane
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DC made her debut in the Highland Press Spec Ops Military Anthology, OPERATION:L.O.V.E. with her story B&B BIVOUAC. THE STOCKING: A PROPOSAL VIA INFLATABLE RAFT marks her second story for Highland Press. You can look for her in the soon-to-be-released Highland Press Intelligence Community Romance Anthology: FOR YOUR HEART ONLY coming in February 2010. She writes the gamut from sweet to sexy but her favorite genres are spicy romantic suspense and sweet and funny military romance. And she is a member of the Heart of Dixie Chapter of the Romance Writers of America.
DC was born on Keesler Air Force Base and is the daughter of a lifer Air Force Master Sergeant father and a career Civil Service mother. Over the years she has supported the USO and multiple Veteran’s organizations with her time and donations … and adopts several soldiers each year, keeping the post office in business shipping FRB’s to Iraq and Afghanistan APOs. Her cookies and care packages are legendary (or is that infamous?).
A former evolution in her life saw her working for Porter Novelli, Omnicom’s Public Relations arm, and McKinsey & Company Management Consulting in Los Angeles. She is experienced in the various facets of managing events and enjoys the wonderful world of marketing and promotion.
When she’s not watching the sun come up over the rim of her laptop, DC enjoys spending time with her rocket scientist husband Charles and their two cat masters, Tiger and Angel. She is an admitted spa addict who is perpetually in search of the perfect massage, rich dark chocolate truffles and, most importantly, the ideal cup of gourmet coffee. She enjoys Fencing Epee with the Huntsville Fencing Club, riding her 800cc Vulcan Classic Softtail motorcycle, horseback riding, shooting, camping, cooking, painting, entertaining friends and family, and all forms of dancing and is working on her scuba certification.
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Acknowledgements/Dedication
To my mom for her wicked sense of humor and all the stories of how she tortured Dad while he was in the military with ‘surprises at mailcall.’ And to my dad for surviving it all wi
th grace and a blush. You guys were the best.
For Glen Kerley … my ‘soldier boy’ from long ago who, when threatened with a teddy bear during bootcamp, made me the ‘counteroffer’ of an 8-man inflatable raft with an auto trigger in return … if I dared. This one’s for you, kiddo.
To Anne Elizabeth for your love, friendship, and support, and for all the incredible hard work you put into these collections. And also thank you for being my teacher on this journey. I’ve learned so much from you about life and about writing, especially about the art of the short story. Thank you for sharing your time, talent, and knowledge with me.
To Leanne Burroughs, our wonderful publisher, for believing in ‘our ongoing mission’ of writing these military and intelligence community anthologies to educate people about our military heroes and heroines. And to Patty Howell, our editor extraordinaire, for keeping my POVs straightened out (NOT an easy task) and for always making my stories so much better. Thank you, Ladies!
To Carl, Ed (K.I.S.A.), Dracos, and Thor for letting me pick their brains on ‘life in bootcamp’ and ‘inprocessing procedures’ for Spec Ops guys, and life in the Rangers.
As always, to my wonderful husband Charles for loving me and believing in me, for taking care of the homefront when I’m on deadline, and giving me the freedom to go into my cave and write without distraction and to follow my dreams. I love you, Dearest, more than you will ever know.
Most importantly, to our warriors and their loved ones. Thank you for your sacrifice and dedication. You give so much to keep us safe. We owe you more than we can ever repay. May this collection of sweet romances bring you a smile and warm your hearts while you’re away from your loved ones and families … especially during the holiday season.
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Chapter One
“Happy Holidays,” said the FedEx guy as he delivered the heavy box onto her front porch, scooted the handcart out from underneath it, and hurried down the walkway to his waiting truck.
“You, too,” Marcy called after him.
He waved without even looking back, stowed the dolly, and sped away.
Marcy Grayson looked at the package for several moments, wondering who in the world would have sent her such a huge, heavy ‘whateveritwas.’ She ran her hands over the box looking for the sender’s return information, but only her name and address were on the top. Curious, she pulled at the twine and tape holding the plain brown paper in place and worried the container loose. After several minutes struggle, the last of the protective outer wrapping fell away to reveal a beautiful red and gold patterned foil package with a big card on top.
‘Love, Paul’
She squealed. A Christmas present from her sweetie! Marcy quickly reached down and pulled the card loose from the package to look at it more closely. Awwww … Paul had signed it ‘Love.’ Funny, there was a string attached to the back of it.
Ahhhhhh unft … ummm pfttt … pant pant pant … umfffft …
“NO!” had been the last intelligible word she’d been able to utter before the air whooshed from her lungs. Marcy was stuck spread eagle, smushed up against the wall and not happy about it in any way, shape, form, or fashion. She pushed at the unwieldy black rubber blob that had become the entirety of her universe. It gave way in some places, pushed back in others. She tried again, only to be thrust back against the wall even harder. Being pinned into the corner of the small enclosed porch of her modest home was soooo NOT how she wanted to spend her holidays. She couldn’t even manage to get her hands down by her sides to work her cell phone out of her pocket and call for help.
Okay, this was becoming less funny by the minute. Not only was it frost-butt cold out there on the porch … never mind that it wasn’t supposed to be this cold in Huntsville, Alabama, winter or no winter … she was tired, and chilled, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe as the enormous rubber raft attempted to wrestle her into submission.
The end of the raft sticking out through the front door kept it open, giving the cold air plenty of room to seep in around its squishy edges. Marcy wondered vaguely why none of her nosy neighbors had come to see what monstrosity was sticking out of her porch door like an enormous hippo butt stuck up in the air. For once, just when she wished they would poke their noses into her business, they were strangely AWOL. Oh well, so much for ‘Neighborhood Watch!’
As she pushed again with all her might against the solid wall of black blobbiness, the absurdity of the situation set in and her irrepressible sense of humor began percolating up to bubble over. She giggled.
Paul was such a dead man! She was going to kill him when she saw him. He’d threatened her with this if she …
At that last memory. Marcy’s giggle escalated into peals of laughter. Yep … she was just going to have to kill him. No way around it. Kind of like the raft holding her immobile at the moment … an inescapable fact of life.
That straightjacket-tight pantyhose made the derriere look better under a knit dress was an inescapable fact of life. Marcy turned to stare at her backside in the full-length mirror in her bedroom. She ran her hands down over her trim waist and hips, then turned around to enjoy the sight of her well-rounded breasts in the soft, clingy fabric.
She wanted to look especially nice tonight. Paul would be there shortly to take her ‘somewhere special’ for dinner. Since this was their usual date night, she wondered exactly what was up that he was making it into such a big deal. Hmmmmm. Well, there were a few things she could think of that might qualify. She reached over and got the pearl earrings her mother had given her for her twenty-first birthday and carefully hooked them into her ears. Her gaze came to rest on her hand, focusing in on her bare third finger. Was he about to … ? Her eyes widened, the breath catching in her throat as she bit her lower lip and let her heart hope.
She added the matching pearl necklace … just for luck.
Bridge Street Town Center. Conner’s Steak & Seafood on the water by the footbridge. Candlelight dinner overlooking the manmade lake. The full moon reflecting down in the water, smiling back at her from above and below. Good food, good wine … very good company. Even a romantic fire in the fireplace right there in the restaurant. Check. Check. And check. Yessssss. All the elements were in place as Marcy lingered over the gourmet coffee and slice of German chocolate decadence she and Paul were sharing. Any minute now.
She put down her fork and reached over to touch her ring finger. It must be psychosomatic. It had been itching like crazy all night long. Several times she had to consciously stop herself from scratching it right in front of Paul. She smiled to herself. Well, what do you know? Her finger was as excited by the prospect of an engagement ring from Paul Callahan as her heart was.
And her heart had wanted him to be all hers from the first time she’d set eyes on him; back in tenth grade when she’d transferred to the new school and he was The senior stud all the girls were dying over. One look at him and she had almost walked into a wall. He was tall and handsome and had a sexy ‘big man on campus’ swagger when he walked. He was also dating Becky Carter, a girl she had taken an instant dislike to for the completely obvious reasons that she was a sweet, blue-eyed blonde cheerleader who was built like a Barbie Doll … and dating ‘Marcy’s boyfriend.’ The fact that Paul had no idea the flat-chested little sophomore girl with the head full of brown curls was even on the planet at that point was irrelevant. He was hers … or going to be just as soon as he woke up and realized it. She could wait. In the meantime, she had wondered if mojo dolls and stick pins really did work or if the gris-gris woman she’d met when they were stationed overseas had just been pulling her leg.
She hadn’t had long to wait. Within a month Paul and Becky had parted ways—as usually happened with high school romances at the end of the summer—and with no help from Marcy.
Her mind came back momentarily from the past when the waiter brought Paul the check. She watched the face of the man before her and remembered the boy he’d been. While he han
dled the paperwork, she let her mind drift back down the years to that first day—that amazing, life-changing day—when Paul had saved her and ‘They’ had begun.
“She looks like she’s about eight years old. I bet she doesn’t even shave her legs, yet.” The girl’s snide voice caused Marcy to stiffen. As the new girl in school, there was always a brief period of territorial skirmishes to endure, but that usually settled down pretty quickly. This time, this school, it hadn’t. Cherie Serginter had decided Marcy didn’t belong on ‘her’ planet and had made it her ongoing mission to let the new girl know that it would be better if she just evaporated now and quit taking up space. Marcy sighed and kept walking.
“So Mer-cee. Have you tried drinking more milk? Maybe if you poured it directly onto your chest they might get the idea. Or you could just borrow some of your dad’s socks and do some stuffin’.” The hateful girl snickered. “You’re a real pirate’s dream come true … got your own sunken chest.” The other girls laughed. Bullies were the same all over the world. Get a group and pick a victim.
They followed her across the courtyard, as she hurried to her next class, and temporary safety. Almost there. She had the building in sight when things suddenly escalated. A hand in the middle of her back pushed her forward, causing her to lose her balance and the books and papers in her arms to go flying. She stumbled and barely managed to keep her feet. Another shove and she went down to her knees and found herself surrounded. One of Cherie’s gang picked up her purse where it had landed in the grass and started to open it to see if there was anything in there they might want.