by Marie Harte
“Apparently, he was on float. Because he’s back.” Good Lord, is he. Olivia’s cheeks heated as she remembered how she’d responded to Kyle when she’d thought him a dream. She couldn’t forget how very large he’d felt against her ass or how much she’d wanted to feel him inside of her, replacing those talented fingers.
“Olivia?” Maria gave her an odd look, the one that said, I can read your mind.
“The man is living here and will be for the foreseeable future,” Olivia said quickly, groaning at Maria’s knowing smile. “We agreed to talk today about the living arrangements.”
“What’s to talk about?” Maria wiped her hands on her apron.
“What’s to talk about? It’s his house. And he’s the one Becca warned me about. Tall, dark, and noncommittal, remember?”
Maria snorted. “Yeah. She’s also the jackass who left you in the lurch with an invalid lease. Didn’t Kyle say she cheated on him? That’s not what Rebecca claimed happened. You ask me, she’s a liar and a slut.”
Olivia couldn’t help grinning. “You never did like her, did you?”
“No. I used to watch her ogle half the men who entered the shop. She had snake eyes, small and beady. The one time she flirted with Mike, I almost lost it.”
“As if your husband would ever cheat on you,” Olivia scoffed, knowing how her brother felt about Maria.
“Yeah, well, you can only push a man so far. You know most of them think with the wrong head.” She chuckled, and Olivia’s laughter soon followed.
“That’s the truth. Just look around town at any given time. The unbalanced ratio of males to females around here is mind-boggling. An easy case of too many Marines, not enough eligible women.”
“Yeah, but the odds are in our favor. Then again, you wouldn’t know about that, would you?” Maria shook her head. “You need to get a life—a social life, Olivia. You’re too centered on business and profits. What you need is a nice man. No, change that. What you really need is a good fu —”
“Mike, how nice to see you.” Olivia hastily changed the subject as her brother entered with raised brows. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Obviously,” he said dryly and glanced at his wife. “I know the sign says closed, but I wanted something to start the day.”
Maria handed him a bagel and a kiss. “Now get to work. It’s almost zero six!”
Mike rolled his eyes. “You can say six A.M., honey. I tell you, Livie, Maria should have been the Marine, not me.”
“Well, I do like to play ‘General’ at home.” Maria winked when his face reddened. “Now get to work and leave those muffins alone! They’re for the counter.” She laughed at something he whispered in her ear and escorted him out the back door of the kitchen.
Olivia watched the interaction with a smile. Having her best friend marry her brother had been a dream come true. Now she finally had the sister she’d always wanted.
And her new sister did more than even-out the male influence in the family. She worked part-time in the mornings at Cava’s Java. Maria helped Olivia open the coffee shop and assisted in the baking.
It was hard to imagine life in the shop before Maria. The woman had tons of energy and a mouth that wouldn’t quit. Speaking of which...
She scowled as Maria rejoined her. “I cannot believe you were going to say I need a good fuck in front of my brother.”
“I didn’t see him, so sue me. The truth is the truth.” Maria calmly cleaned the counters and began itemizing the disposable coffee cups and lids. “This situation with Major Hunk might just turn out for the best.”
Major Hunk. The perfect description.
“Cute, Maria.”
“I notice you aren’t arguing the man’s attractiveness.”
“I’m not interested,” she lied. “But I’m not blind.”
Maria gave her an overly sweet smile. “Well then. Enough said, hmm?”
Olivia spent the rest of her morning and afternoon unable to get Major Hunk out of her mind, not that Maria would let her.
His eyes were so green, not a light shade, but a deep forest green that hinted at hidden depths. Used to the Marine way of life, Olivia preferred short hair on a man. His cropped chocolate-brown strands would be soft and thick, and she wanted nothing more than to run her hands over his hair while she kissed those hard, uncompromising lips.
A customer interrupted her thoughts, and she chatted and made change. Her teenage help, Emma, soon arrived, signaling the end of the school day and giving Maria her cue to leave. Emma gave Olivia plenty of time to work on her books in the back, and to think more on Kyle Waters, just what she didn’t want to do.
After futilely refiguring the same numbers again, she sighed and leaned back in her chair. Closing her eyes, she once again recalled Kyle’s dangerous magnetism.
His sheer physical strength had surprised her. When she’d first seen him over a year ago, she’d tried not to stare since he’d been holding hands with Becca Morris. He regularly visited in the mornings and on and off in the evenings, always friendly but slightly aloof, especially if he was with Becca. He’d come dressed casually in a collared shirt and jeans or in uniform, which had her drooling like nobody’s business.
His forearms and legs were sculpted with muscle. It had been difficult not to ogle the man. He had masculine features, too rugged to be called handsome but too striking not to draw notice. Unfortunately, his association with Becca put him beyond her reach, if not beyond her fantasies. One rule Olivia strictly adhered to—thou shall not poach.
Becca had complained about him when she’d given her lease to Olivia, though at the time Olivia hadn’t put landlord and ex-boyfriend together as the same man. One remark that had struck her, one she typically noticed in the men she herself had dated, was that Becca’s ex had no desire for a permanent relationship. Becca had made other negative remarks in a tone Olivia could only classify as bitchy. Not wanting to pry and make Becca feel worse, Olivia had kept her thoughts to herself.
Then out of the blue, Olivia suddenly noticed her fantasy man had disappeared. Soon after, Becca moved away from Swansboro. Disappointed, Olivia gradually thought less and less about him until he appeared only in her dreams. She’d convinced herself he hadn’t been that attractive, that his character surely detracted from his overall appeal.
Seeing him last night, his chiseled pectorals and delineated abs, those impressive biceps and sinewy thighs, made her want to forget about his deficiencies. She wanted to touch all of that silken skin.
She flushed, recalling the strong steel that had prodded her backside. His large frame was evenly proportioned, everywhere.
The temperature seemed to rise, and she reluctantly turned back to her books. Plucking at her shirt and waving it against her skin, she sighed with gratitude when Emma knocked at the doorway, interrupting her erotic daydreams.
“John and Tina are here, Olivia. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Olivia waved her off with thanks and glanced at the clock on her desk. Already six and she needed to get home—correction, she needed to return to Major Waters’s house—for that discussion she’d been dreading.
She left the office and locked the office door behind her then let John know she was leaving.
“I have my cell if you need anything.”
John nodded while Tina took care of the next customer. Though small, Olivia’s shop maintained a steady and loyal customer base. Surges came and went, but in the three short years of doing business, she’d struck even. Her books were just beginning to hit the black.
From seven to nine Monday through Saturday, Olivia’s business thrived. In both warm and cold weather, locals and tourists flocked to her shop. She couldn’t have asked for a better location, sitting on the Intracoastal Waterway in historic Swansboro, North Carolina. Minutes from the Marine base and right on the ocean, she’d found the place she wanted to call home.
She stared out the back door at the water. Exi
ting, she inhaled the smell of ocean, the tangy sea air that refreshed her even after a full day of work.
Olivia glanced down the street and saw a laughing couple holding hands as they took an evening stroll. Without warning, Maria’s words rang in her mind, tainting her small moment of contentment. You have no social life.
Olivia turned and took her time walking back to the house. Who cared about a social life when she had a business beginning to thrive? It was easy for Maria to be preachy. The woman had lucked out by marrying a man—and a military man at that—capable of fidelity, compassion, and a deep and abiding love.
One day Olivia would find true love. She knew it in her heart. But right now she had a business to run and no wish to be dragged around the country at the behest of a spouse. Maybe once Cava’s Java made a healthy profit, like in another five years, she’d expand to New Bern or Wilmington. At least in one of those cities she might have a chance at meeting a decent man, preferably a civilian, one who wouldn’t have to move every three or four years.
She kicked at a pebble and slowed even more as the house loomed before her. Olivia loved the Marine Corps. Her father had retired from it, and both her brothers now served their country as Marines. But she’d seen the toll it had taken on her family, the constant moves, the long separations.
Though her father and brothers were decent men, she’d seen too many friends get their hearts broken by wandering warriors. Her mother loved her father dearly but cautioned her about the challenges in loving a Marine. And her brothers fiercely warned her away from any of their friends. According to them, no one on the base was good enough for their little sister.
She trudged up the steps of the porch and wondered what her brothers would think of Major Kyle Waters. Despite Becca’s warning and her own unwillingness to get involved, Olivia couldn’t stop the tingle of excitement that struck her the minute she walked through the door.
She smelled something that made her mouth water and looked beyond the foyer into the small, cozy kitchen. She stared in amazement at the intimate seating for two at the table, at the candlelight and bottle of wine chilling on the counter.
“You’re right on time,” Kyle said from behind the stove. He grinned, and her heart beat double-time.
“Am I interrupting anything?” She stared cautiously from him to the table. Please let him say yes. Let me get the hell out of here before I forget all the reasons I shouldn’t get involved with him.
“No. This is for you. Call it an apology for last night. Besides, it’ll make my suggestion easier to swallow on a full stomach.”
Hearing him say “swallow” sent her mind straight to the gutter, and she prayed he couldn’t read the blush staining her cheeks. Honestly, she was turning into a carbon copy of Maria.
“You really didn’t have to do this,” she protested, secretly amazed the man could cook.
He shrugged, his powerful biceps bunching as he withdrew a baking sheet from the oven. “I wanted to.” He gave her a look she couldn’t decipher. Then he set the tray he held down and walked to her.
“I hope you’re hungry,” he said in a soft voice and led her to the table. He held a chair out for her and waited until she sat. She turned to find him leaning down, his breath fanning her face. He stared at her lips and licked his own. “Because I’m starving.”
Kyle watched Olivia eat, pleased she had no problems appeasing her appetite in front of him. It used to irritate him the way Becca toyed with her food, especially when he’d gone to the trouble of preparing it.
Olivia glanced up at him and flushed. “Sorry, it’s just that it was a long day, and I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
“You work around food all day. How can you not eat?”
She shrugged and snagged another forkful of steak. “I get busy. My mind was on other things today.”
Silence held as they ate, and Kyle wondered what she thought about the previous night, after some time and space away from him.
To break the silence and persuade Olivia to relax the tension visible in her taut frame, he asked her about work. “So how is it you’re home so late? I know it’s your shop, but do you really work from opening to closing?”
“No. We don’t close until nine. I open the shop around five thirty for morning preparations. My friend Maria helps, then Emma shows around three. She’s my afternoon employee. Sometimes she and John work together until closing unless she’s got band rehearsal, like she did today. That’s when Tina comes in, as extra help.”
“So you normally leave at six?” He wanted to ask if she’d been avoiding him but didn’t think he’d like her answer.
“Yeah. I would have been here earlier, but I had a bunch of paperwork waiting for me.”
He let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. Good. She hadn’t deliberately avoided him. His questioning seemed to have worked. She looked more at ease, her face brightening as she talked about her job.
He studied her hair bound in a thick ponytail. The style exposed her delicate ears and slender neck. She had soft, creamy skin that tasted as good as it looked. All too easily he remembered last night, and he had to focus to stifle the heat that burned through him.
“So, Olivia, about the lease arrangements,” he began.
“It’s okay, Kyle. I’ll have my things out of here by the end of the week.”
He studied her, pleased to see she looked no happier than him at news of leaving. “That may be a bit premature.”
She glanced up, her whiskey-brown eyes questioning.
“I think we can work things out if you’re agreeable to the solution I came up with.”
She set down her fork and waited, and he mentally crossed his fingers.
“What I propose is that you continue to live here until your lease is up. You intended to stay until at least February, right?”
She nodded, her gaze wary.
“It’s not your fault Becca was such a…” He paused and ended with, “misleading person.”
Her lips quirked. “That’s a nice way of putting it.”
He grinned. “Tact is something I’ve been practicing. But my point is you shouldn’t suffer for Becca’s lies. There are two rooms in this house. Most of my stuff is in the other bedroom, and they’re mostly things I don’t use. I’ve been meaning to put them in a storage facility, to clean out that room for either a study or spare bedroom anyway. You’re giving me the perfect opportunity to stop procrastinating.”
She looked undecided. “Well—”
“Look. I feel really bad about last night. Not bad about all of it, only the part where I scared you.” He grinned wolfishly, turning on the charm.
She blushed, a becoming shade of rose that made her look extremely kissable.
“I promise not to put my hands on you unless you want them there.”
“An arrogant thing to say, don’t you think?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Her lips fascinated him. He wanted to feel them all over him, on his mouth, his belly, his cock... Then she licked her lips, and he was so aroused he could have poked through the damn table with his hard-on. “You are so pretty,” he admitted, hoping he didn’t sound like a sap.
He thought he saw a mirrored hunger in her expression before she blinked it away and took a deep, even breath. She murmured her thanks for the compliment and took a long drink of water. To his satisfaction, her hand trembled around the glass when she set it back down.
“Come on, Olivia. I think you and I could be great roommates.” He couldn’t help the innuendo that laced his tone, too much in lust to control his tongue.
To his surprise and pleasure, she laughed at him. “Convince me, Romeo. What’s so great about a man, and a Marine at that, as a roommate?”
“I’m neat, I cook, and I don’t snore.”
She chuckled, and he continued on a more serious note.
“I’ll respect your privacy, and you’ll be safe here. Trust me, no one will mess with you w
hile I’m around.” The thought of anyone harming Olivia made him see red.
“I really wasn’t looking forward to moving,” she said slowly. “It’s very nice of you to offer to let me ride out the lease. I’d like to stay.” She paused and blushed a deeper pink. “But about last night. That kind of thing can’t happen again.”
It can, and it will. “I understand.” He changed the subject, not wanting to scare her into changing her mind.
For the remainder of the meal, they made small talk that put them both at ease. To Kyle’s surprise, he felt as though he could tell Olivia anything. She listened to him, and for the first time in a long time, Kyle found himself having fun with a woman. He truly enjoyed her company. Her mind intrigued him as much as her body did, increasing his desire to know all of her. He knew he wouldn’t last much longer without tasting her again.
Once they finished dinner, he stood and cleared their plates. He returned to the table and pulled her chair out to help her stand. Instead of backing off to give her space, Kyle moved closer, so that her breasts brushed his chest. She froze, her lips parting on a breath.
“The kind of thing that can’t happen again. You mean something like this. I shouldn’t do this again.” He leaned down to skim his lips over her mouth. He moved slowly, giving her the chance to say no. She didn’t. “I definitely shouldn’t touch you like this.” He brought his arms around her waist, drawing her deeper into his embrace.
“No, you shouldn’t,” she said on a breath, her eyes wide as they stared up into his. She licked her lips in invitation, and he lowered his head once more.
No holds barred, this woman belonged to him.
Chapter Three
Olivia groaned. Oh hell. He’d shared his home and his food and now offered to make good on a promise his ex-girlfriend had given? He cooked like a gourmet and kissed better than her fantasies. And the muscles under her fingers begged to be stroked.
Thoughts fled as his lips devoured hers. She moaned, unable to stop the desperate gasp for sanity. He tasted sweeter than honey, a drugging combination of sex and tenderness that made her want to consume him.