Temporary Duty

by Kandle, Tawdra

  Now I turned to Kristi and Samantha, smiling as I retrieved the pink roses Kade had brought me this morning. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

  The three of us walked down the hallway to the kitchen. At the sound of my heels on the linoleum, Kade, resplendent in his dress blues, pivoted to face me. His expression when he took in the whole package that was me as a bride—as his bride—was the most wonderful thing I’d ever seen.

  “Leah. God, babe, you’re . . . breathtaking.” He reached to draw me nearer and bent his head to kiss me.

  “Ah, ah, ah . . . none of that. Save something for the honeymoon.” Samantha giggled. “Come on, you two. Time to get hitched.”

  We’d foregone music since the entirety of the aisle would only take a few steps. When the back door opened and Kristi stepped out, the murmuring of our small crowd of guests came to a sudden stop. She took her place at the front of the group, and both Samantha and Jacey moved to stand near the minister.

  And then it was our turn. Kade offered his hand, and I slid my fingers between his. Together we made our way down the few stairs, through our friends to the front, where we were flanked by Jacey, Samantha, Max and Shaw. Glancing behind us, I saw only happy faces, including my midwife Gwen, the one person I’d invited for myself. She beamed at me, and I felt her affectionate approval.

  “Dearly beloved . . .” The minister began the service.

  “My dearly beloved,” Kade murmured in my ear.

  “Forever,” I echoed in a whisper.

  My almost-husband brushed a light kiss over my cheek as we listened to the eternal words that would join us together as a couple and seal us forever as a family. Between us, within me, our daughter wriggled and kicked, and Kade, feeling her movements against him, smiled into my eyes and repeated the words we’d chosen as our vow.

  “Two become one, now and for all time. As long as I live, I belong to you.” He slid the ring onto my left hand. “Ever yours.” He lifted our joined hands and kissed my fingers. “Ever mine.” He laid one hand on the bump that concealed the living evidence of our love for each other.

  “Ever ours.”

  The End

  Hitting the Silk: Career Soldier Book 3

  These are the men of the 94th ID. They fight with honor, they defend their nation and their brothers fiercely, and when they love, they do it with single-minded passion.

  Once upon a time, Delia Rollins was an Army wife, until the unthinkable happened. Now as a young widow and school teacher, she’s vigilant about protecting her heart. Her number one rule for the future? No more military men in her life. She can’t handle the risk.

  Army captain Shaw Kincaid is addicted to taking risks. He lives to challenge himself, whether it’s in physical training or in pushing the safety envelope. But when he meets Delia, he realizes winning her heart might be his most daunting task ever.

  No matter how hard Delia works to push Shaw away, she can’t deny the intense chemistry between them . . . or how much she’s growing to actually like him. And for Shaw, the more time he spends with the irresistible Delia, the deeper he falls for her.

  For the danger ranger and the gun-shy widow, love may be the riskiest—and the sweetest—leap they ever take.

  Hitting the Silk: Career Soldier Book 3 is coming March 28th! You can preorder it here.

  A sneak preview of

  HITTING THE SILK

  coming March 28

  Delia

  It was a rare day when I left school before five in the afternoon, even though teachers were technically off the clock by three-thirty. As I locked my classroom door behind me on the way out, I had a guilty sense of playing hooky, as if I were sneaking out when I was meant to be still working.

  But it was a beautiful day, and I’d done the nearly-impossible by catching up on paperwork during my free periods. I had no meetings or calls to make, and there was nothing to keep me inside. Today was the perfect afternoon to finally start training for that pesky half marathon that was looming in front of me.

  I dug into my purse to find my car keys, biting the corner of my lip as I felt around for them, making a mental note to clean out the dang handbag when I got home. Walking as I searched, I nearly ran into the bumper of a black Jeep parked two spots over from my own sensible sedan.

  “Whoa there.” A warm and vaguely familiar voice startled me. “You better watch where you’re going, or you could end up roadkill.”

  Frowning, I squinted at the tall figure leaning against the Jeep, although I was beginning to have a sneaking suspicion about who it was. Regulation Army fatigues stretched over broad shoulders? Check. Short black hair? Check. Piercing blue eyes? Hmmm. Impossible to see behind the tinted sunglasses, but I was going to assume they were there. Impossible smirk on those full lips? Oh, yeah, check.

  The little spring of happy that had been bubbling up in me suddenly went dry.

  “What are you doing here?” I hadn’t meant to sound quite so hostile and accusatory, but there it was. “Please don’t tell me you were waiting for me. This is bordering on stalker now.”

  Shaw Kincaid slid his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose a little way, just far enough for me to be able to see his quirked eyebrow.

  “Feeling a little self-important, are we, Delia? Did you ever think there might be another reason I’d be out here?”

  I put my hand on my hip. “Oh, really? And just what would that be? Were you called here on a special mission?”

  He resumed his position against the vehicle, crossing his arms over his chest . . . which, holy God, was probably a work of art, judging by how it appeared even under the loose BDUs. I pulled my gaze away with no small amount of difficulty.

  “It just so happens that yes, I was called here on a special mission. Sandra has a parent-teacher conference this afternoon, and her car wouldn’t start. I happened to be home a little earlier than usual, and I offered to give her a lift. I’m waiting here to see if she needs a ride home.” As if on cue, his phone chimed, and Shaw leaned forward a bit, reaching into his back pocket to retrieve it. He scanned the screen. “Which she doesn’t, as apparently one of the other moms from post is here and offered to drive her back.” He slid the cell phone back into his pants, and I tried hard not to ogle the curve of his ass as the cloth was pulled tight over it.

  “Oh.” I felt horribly small all of a sudden. When had I started being so full of myself that I’d assume a guy who just happened to be in my school’s parking lot was actually there to see me? Before Dane and I had begun dating, I’d been terribly shy, riddled with self-doubt. It had taken years of his love and constant assurance of my worthiness before I’d started to bloom. Apparently now I’d gone the other way.

  “I’m sorry,” I managed to squeak out. “I shouldn’t have . . . it’s just that you texted and I figured maybe you hadn’t taken no for my answer.” I cleared my throat. “Anyway, again, my apologies, and if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to drive home and pretend the last five minutes didn’t happen.”

  “Wait a second there.” Shaw stood up and closed his hand around my arm before I could walk away. “I said I hadn’t come to see you particularly, but don’t you think it’s a funny coincidence that we happened to bump into each other?”

  “Coincidence? Maybe. Funny? Not so much.” I tried to move away from him without making a big deal about it, but Shaw’s fingers were secure on me—not squeezing or hurting anything, just . . . there. Five bands of steel ensuring I didn’t get away.

  He grinned, and I was pretty sure all my nether regions went to mush. Damn. What was it with this guy? If I had a button, he definitely knew how to push it.

  As if he knew what I was feeling, his eyes swept down over my body, lingering on my boobs long enough to admire them without it getting super creepy. When his gaze wandered lower, it was as though I felt the heat of his stare spreading through my veins.

  “I think it’s kismet,” he murmured. “And I think it also means we should go . . . uh, get a cup of coffee. What d
o you say?”

  I sighed, wishing I could tell him yes. I wished like hell that he was an ordinary guy, someone with a nine-to-five desk job, where the biggest risk he faced was a papercut. I wished that the hot body standing in front of me was dressed in anything but a military uniform. As tempting as he was . . . and as much as I wanted to give him a chance, I couldn’t risk my heart on another man who lived for danger.

  “I can’t.” I kept my voice soft but definite. “What I said before still stands.” I smiled at Shaw, just to show that I didn’t have any hard feelings. “Actually, even if you weren’t in the Army and thus off-limits to me, I’d have to take a rain check. I have to do something this afternoon that I’ve been putting off way too long.”

  His eyes narrowed a little, and then he pushed his glasses back into place. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?” He’d dropped his fingers from my arm, and now he stepped away slightly. “Is it, uh, a lady thing?”

  I laughed. “If I said yes, you’d be out of here so fast, I’d be eating your dust, wouldn’t I?” Men were men, no matter how big and hunky they were.

  “Hmph.” Shaw folded his arms again. “No. I can deal.” Still, his lips twitched, and if I were really thinking about pursuing this guy, I’d have totally called him on it.

  As it was, I let him off the hook. “No, it’s not anything like that. I have to start training for a half marathon.”

  He cocked his head. “Uh, okay? Are you a runner?”

  “No. I mean, I never have been. It’s sort of a long story.”

  When Shaw made a rolling motion with his hand, I sighed and went on. “Last fall, one of the other teachers was recruiting people for a team to run this race for charity. She was all excited about the money we could raise for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and I don’t know what got into me, but somehow, I thought it sounded like a good idea for me to do it. It seemed so far away back then. And I kept thinking . . . well, I’ll start training for it soon. And then it was the holidays, and then it was too cold to think about being outside.”

  “Ah. Uh huh. What about going to the gym and running on the treadmill?” Shaw shifted his weight to the other foot.

  I wrinkled my nose and stuck out my tongue. “I don’t belong to a gym, and yuck. Gyms are smelly and gross.”

  “Have you ever been inside a gym?” Shaw inquired. “Or are you making this judgement call based on old television shows?”

  “I don’t need to go inside. Anyway, you’re missing the point, and I’m burning daylight. I need to go. If I don’t start today, I never will, and I’ll be the loser—literally—at the end of the pack, and everyone will be standing there giving me pity claps.”

  “Okay.” Shaw pushed himself off the side of the Jeep. “When is this race?”

  I swallowed hard. I’d been hoping he wouldn’t ask that. “Six weeks,” I mumbled.

  He leaned down closer to me. “What’s that? I thought you said six weeks.”

  “I did.” I gnawed my lip again.

  “And you haven’t run at all? You’ve never done a race before? Not even, like, a 5K or anything?”

  “I used to do the track thing during PE at school. But otherwise? No. I’m not really an athlete. I’m more of a sit and watch the athletes.”

  “All right.” Shaw rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, it’s not going to be easy, but if you’re committed and stay focused, I think we can do it. I’m not going to promise that you’ll set any records, but you’ll finish.”

  “Wait . . . what?” I stared up at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m saying that I’m going to help you train for this.” He coughed a little. “Actually, you’d be doing me a favor. I could use a little work on my own running. I’ve been slacking lately.”

  Now I had a dilemma. I couldn’t possibly commit to spend time with Shaw Kincaid on a regular basis. It wouldn’t be good for either of us. For me, it would an exercise in frustration. For him, it would be a waste of time.

  But there was no way I could ask him if he was offering his help just to spend time with me—not after I’d made a fool of myself a few minutes ago, assuming he was stalking me in the parking lot. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

  “Delia.” Shaw took off his glasses completely this time and smiled down at me. The expression on his face made me catch my breath as my heart took off, thumping against my ribs. “Come on. This isn’t rocket science. I’ll meet you every day after work, and we’ll train together. That’s it. I don’t have an ulterior motive. I’m just making an offer that works out for both of us. You can’t turn that down, can you?”

  “Not when you put it that way, I can’t.” At least, I couldn’t say no without sounding like a bitch. I tapped my foot on the pavement. “All right. Fine. As long as we both understand—no funny business, no innuendo or flirting, and no pressure. Right? Are we both clear?”

  Shaw nodded solemnly. “I appreciate that, Delia. I feel so much better knowing you’re not planning to flirt or pressure me into some kind of meaningless fling that would only bring us both intense, unbelievable pleasure—possibly the greatest sex of our lives. Thank you for that. I’m relieved you won’t be drooling over me like I’m some piece of meat.”

  I tilted my head and pinned him with a steely, reproving glare. “Shaw. Can you please be serious?”

  He held up one hand with two fingers raised. “I’ll behave myself, Delia. Scout’s honor.”

  Hitting the Silk: Career Soldier Book 3 is coming March 28th! You can preorder it here.

  Other Books

  Career Soldier

  Maximum Force

  Temporary Duty

  Hitting the Silk

  The King Series

  Fearless

  Breathless

  Restless

  Endless

  The King Series Boxset

  The Seredipity Series

  Undeniable

  Stardust on the Sea

  Unquenchable

  Recipe for Death Series

  Death Fricassee

  Unforgettable

  Death A La Mode

  Death Over Easy

  Moonlight on the Meadow

  The Fox’s Wager

  Crystal Cove Books

  The Posse

  The Plan

  The Path

  The One Trilogy

  The Last One

  The First One

  The Only One

  The One Trilogy Box Set

  The Always Love Series

  Always For You

  Underneath My Christmas Tree

  Always My Own

  My One and Always

  Always Our Love

  The Perfect Dish Series

  Best Served Cold

  Just Desserts

  I Choose You

  Keeping Score

  When We Were Us

  Hanging By A Moment

  Days of You and Me

  Acknowledgements

  Oh, hey! Look at that, here we are in the second Career Soldier book. I’m more than a little in love with these characters, and I can’t wait to explore more of the world of the 94th ID as we move forward.

  Thanks again to Meg Murrey for the amazing cover and to Stacey Blake of Champagne Formats for her fast and patient work. BIG, huge thanks and hugs to my Temptress betas: Kara Schilling, Christy Durbin, Dawn Line, Niki Mattes, Ann Sutphin, Yvonne Farmer and Krissy Smith. Love to you ladies! You rock my world.

  To all the wonderful readers who are reaching out to me about these stories—hugs to you, too. I love every single email, message and post.

  Thanks to my amazing family who are so tolerant of my added writing schedule. Hang in there, my loves. We’ll make it!

  about the author

  Photo by Heather Batchelder

  Tawdra Kandle writes romance, in just about all its forms. She loves unlikely pairings, strong women, sexy guys, hot love scenes and just enough conflict to make it interesting. Her books run from Y
A paranormal romance through NA paranormal and contemporary romance to adult contemporary and paramystery romance. She lives in central Florida with a husband, kids, sweet pup and too many cats. And yeah, she rocks purple hair.

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