by Cathie Linz
She hadn’t referred to that unbelievable kiss they’d shared. He wondered if she ever thought about it. He sure did, as much as he tried not to.
Amy tugged on his hand, returning his attention to her. “Can we go to Pirate’s Palace today? I’m dressed like Lady Blush. See?” Amy twirled around in her princess costume. “Please, please can we go to Pirate’s Palace?”
“Sure.” Ben wasn’t sure what Pirate’s Palace was, but it sounded like some kind of amusement park.
“Yeah!”
“Don’t shout,” Ellie said, joining them from the kitchen.
Ben thought she looked great in a pair of jeans and a white peasant top with some kind of red embroidery around the edges. He especially appreciated the amount of pale skin displayed by the top’s neckline.
“We’re going to Pirate’s Palace!” Amy did a happy dance, the skirt of her pink dress billowing out around her. “Ben said so.”
“He did?” Ellie eyed him warily.
Amy gazed up at him with those big brown eyes of hers. “Tell her, Ben. Tell her you said yes.”
“Uh, what is Pirate’s Palace?”
“The miniature golf place across from the supermarket.”
“Miniature golf?” He repeated, trying not to sound as horrified as he felt.
Ellie nodded. “Do you have a problem with that?”
Of course he did. Real men didn’t play miniature golf. But he’d already agreed to take Amy, so there was no way he was going back on his word. “No, no problem at all.”
“So, Ben, have you played much miniature golf?” Ellie asked.
“Enough to get by.” Which wasn’t a lie. Even though he’d never stepped foot on a miniature golf course or whatever they were called, it couldn’t be hard to figure out. He managed complex battle strategies so he was sure this would be no problem. “How about yourself?”
“Never.”
Thank heaven. Then she wouldn’t know if he was doing something wrong. Outstanding. This was working out just fine.
“Amy hasn’t, either,” she added.
Also outstanding. It wouldn’t do to be shown up by a five-year-old.
“But she’s been wanting to ever since she first saw the place and the castle they have.”
“It’s not as big as Sir Guy’s, I bet. Are we going now?” Amy took each of their hands in hers and tugged impatiently.
“We sure are.”
“I like this,” Amy announced, beaming up at them.
“I like it, too,” Ben said. And he meant it.
“Outstanding,” Amy said, using one of his phrases and further stealing his heart in the process.
Ten minutes later Ben stared at the outlandishly tacky environs of the Pirate’s Palace with an expression of disbelief. The place was built into a hillside and had dragons, a pirate’s ship, windmills, fountains and lots of green indoor-outdoor carpeting tying all the visually clashing sections together.
“Does Sir Guy’s castle look like that?” Amy pointed to the garishly painted, multi-turreted facade that was the centerpiece.
“I sure hope not,” he muttered.
“What, black and purple aren’t your colors?” Ellie teased him. “A friend of mine from work loves them.”
“Cyn?” he guessed.
“How did you know her name?”
“I think I ran into her at the video store when I stopped there the other day. She told me she was a friend of yours.”
“What else did she say?”
“Not much.”
Ellie wasn’t buying that for a second. “That doesn’t sound like Cyn. She always has something to say. Usually something outrageous. What aren’t you telling me?”
“That your swing needs some work.” Ben stepped closer until he was right behind her. “Here, try holding the club like this.”
He reached around her, bracketing her with his arms. He’d rolled up the sleeves on his light blue shirt to reveal his muscular forearms. She could feel his body heat radiating from his chest to her back. He cradled her hands in his, his fingers wrapped around hers.
The swivel of his hips as he practiced the swing further cupped her bottom against him. She was so distracted that when she finally stepped away to try it on her own she dropped the golf club entirely. Despite the fact that she was battling her Halloween princess costume that kept getting in her way, Amy was still doing better than Ellie was.
But then Ellie was coping with a major distraction supplied by one terribly sexy Marine named Ben. Even though he wasn’t in uniform he still carried himself with a powerful self-assurance that was as much a part of him as his hazel eyes.
“Here, let’s try that again.” He stepped closer and once again she was encircled by temptation. “Remember—aim, swing, release. Only don’t let go of the club this time.” He doubted any of that was proper golf terminology But hey, Ben figured he was doing pretty well here, all things considered. And the chance to hold Ellie in his arms was an unexpected benefit.
The top of her head was just beneath his chin. He could smell the lemony shampoo she used on her soft hair. The sexy feel of her denim-clad bottom pressed against him was enough to drive him mad.
“I’ve got it now,” she said. “You can let me go.”
He did so reluctantly. He felt a surprising sense of loss without her in his arms.
“Watch me, watch me!” Amy squealed.
“Be careful,” Ellie said. “Don’t swing the club too much or you might hit someone. Just put it in front of the ball.”
When they’d first started out, Amy thought the club was some new version of a baseball bat, like the one she’d seen kids playing with in the park across from their apartment building. Ben had been the one to convince her that the ball was supposed to stay on the ground and that she was supposed to tap it with the club.
Ellie was struck yet again by how incredibly good Ben was with Amy. She wondered if he had nieces and nephews that made him so good with kids. She’d been dying to ask him but hadn’t wanted to seem too nosy.
“Great shot!” Ben congratulated Amy. “Give me a high five, Lady Amy. Way to go!”
Amy’s grin was huge. “I did good.”
“You sure did.”
“Outstanding.”
“Yeah, outstanding.” He and Amy shared a grin as he reached down to ruffle the little girl’s hair. “Now let’s see if you can hit the ball into the dragon’s mouth.”
“Does Lady Blush have a dragon scarin’ her?”
“I guess we’ll have to see when I tell you more of the story tonight. Do you think she should have a dragon scaring her?”
“Only if her mommy or Sir Goodknight can save her right away. You never told me about Lady Blush’s mommy. Where is she?”
Ben scrambled for an answer. “Uh, she’s away on business.”
“Oh. My mommy never goes away.” Amy gazed up at him with solemn eyes. “’Cept when she has to work and then I stay with Frenchie. But even when I gots to go to the hops-ital sometimes, my mommy always stays with me. Then I’m not so scared. Mommies are good at that.”
“Good at what?”
“At making you feel better.”
“Yeah, my mom makes me feel that way, too.”
“You’re too old to have a mommy.”
“Ouch.” He winced before laughing.
“If mommies are good at making you feel better, kids are good at putting you in your place,” Ellie noted with a grin. “You don’t have any kids of your own?”
“No. Never been married, never had kids. But I plan to.”
“You’re good with them,” Ellie said. “Do you have a lot of nieces and nephews or something?”
“It must be ‘or something,’ because only one of my brothers is married. Striker. And he’s only been married a year. No kids yet.”
Finally, a time when the discussion of his personal life came naturally and didn’t seem too invasive. “Do you come from a big family?”
“I have four brothers. Al
l Marines.”
“It must have been nice growing up in a big family. Johnny and I only had each other.” She bit her lip as a wave of emotion hit her, as it often did at unexpected moments. She’d hear the phone ring and think it might be her brother; she’d check the mailbox and wonder if there might be a letter from him. And then she’d remember. There wouldn’t be any more calls or letters from Johnny. He was gone.
It was still so hard for her to accept. Most of the time she just pretended he was still overseas, doing his thing, loving his life as a Marine.
Denial for sure. But sometimes it was the only way to make it through a day.
She’d done the same thing when their mom had died in a car crash. She and Johnny had pretended that they were only temporarily staying in a foster home until their mom came back for them. In reality they knew that would never happen, but some days denial made reality easier to cope with.
Eventually the emotions caught up with you, though. She knew that. It usually happened at night, when Amy was asleep. Then the panic would hit, the realization that Ellie was alone in her responsibility for her daughter. Sure, Perry was out there someplace. And his mother played a small part in Amy’s life. But basically Ellie was on her own.
That’s when the loneliness would set in, and the regrets that her daughter didn’t have the life Ellie had planned for her.
Ellie had wanted her daughter to grow up in a secure home with two parents who loved her and each other. So she’d stayed with Perry, and done things she’d regretted like leaving college, because she’d loved him and believed in the dream of their life together.
“Yeah, big families are especially interesting when there’s only one bathroom,” Ben was saying. “My dad had to set up a rotating schedule, and then a strict timetable. We learned very early to take showers the Marine Corps way.”
“And what way is that?”
“Fast and efficient.”
“I didn’t think the Marine Corps actually had a special way of taking showers.”
“Of course they do. All Marines learn it in boot camp.”
“You’re kidding me, right?”
He shook his head.
Amy tugged on his hand. “Ben, it’s your turn to hit the ball into the dragon’s mouth.”
As she watched her daughter, Ellie reminded herself that falling for Ben would be like putting her head in a dragon’s mouth. Not a safe thing to do at all.
“So what do you think?” Ellie asked her friends at work the next day. They were gathered around a table, refilling the red plastic ketchup squeeze containers with the thinned-down mixture JayJay used to save money. Al’s Place wasn’t officially open for another fifteen minutes. “Am I being an idiot?”
Cyn answered first. She eyed Ellie’s tank top. “Well, personally I don’t think that shade of pink goes with that lipstick color you’re wearing.”
“I’m not wearing any lipstick,” Ellie denied.
Cyn squinted at her. “The boss man must have turned down the lights in here again.”
“Or your eyes could be going,” Latesha said.
Ellie waved her hands to regain their attention. “I wasn’t talking about my appearance, I was talking about Ben.”
“Are you being an idiot for being attracted to Mr. Too Yummy for Words hunky-Marine Ben?”
Ellie frowned. “I never said I was attracted to him.”
“Who wouldn’t be attracted to a fine specimen like him?”
“I meant am I being an idiot for letting Amy get more attached to him? She’s so excited whenever he shows up that her face lights up. I haven’t seen her this happy since before her father left. Maybe I should have done more to get him to keep up his visits, to stay in touch with her.”
“How can you do that when you don’t know where he is?”
“His mother must know, although she claims she doesn’t. But I’m sure she sends him money whenever he needs it.”
“If she has money to spare why doesn’t she give it to Amy to help with her care?”
“Because Mrs. Jensen blames me for Perry leaving. In her book, her perfect son can do no wrong. But at least she does call Amy every now and then, and she does do her part to make Amy’s birthday and Christmas nice.”
“Big deal. The woman bad-mouths you every chance she gets. You think I haven’t heard her? She came into Vinnie’s Video to rent a video and I heard her telling some other woman how evil her ex-daughter-in-law is.”
“What was she renting?” Latesha asked.
“The latest Vin Diesel film. It seems she likes that violent action stuff.”
“Or she just likes buffed-up beefcakes like Vin,” Latesha countered.
Cyn nodded. “You can never tell with these uptight blue-rinsed hair gals. They can surprise you.”
Ellie had to laugh.
Latesha grinned. “There now, are you feeling better?”
“Oh, yeah,” Ellie noted wryly. “It’s really reassuring to hear that my ex-mother-in-law is trash talking me behind my back.”
“Would it make you feel better to know that I didn’t let her check out the Diesel video because of outstanding overdue charges I invented on her account?” Cyn asked.
“Won’t that get you into trouble?”
“Vinnie is my cousin. He dislikes your ex-mother-in-law as much as I do. She tells him his shelves are too dusty, which they aren’t and I should know because I dust them every other day. And she says that he should use disinfectant on the plastic video cases. She cleans them with those little pop-up antiseptic wipes before taking them out of the store with her. I think she just likes complaining.”
“Getting back to Amy, do you think I’m doing the right thing in allowing Ben to spend time with us?”
“You just said that you haven’t seen Amy happier in years,” Cyn pointed out.
Ellie nodded. “That’s true.”
“What about you?”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. Ellie Jensen.” Cyn pointed directly at her. “What about you? Are you happy to be spending time with Ben?”
Ellie could tell where this was going. “There’s nothing going on between us. I told him that when he kissed—”
Cyn squealed. “He kissed you and you didn’t tell us.” She playfully smacked Ellie’s arm. “You’ve been holding out on us, girlfriend! When did this happen? When you were snuggled against him playing miniature golf yesterday?” At Ellie’s startled look, she said, “What? You think word about that wouldn’t get back to me? When another cousin of mine owns the place?”
“Ben was merely showing me how to play…”
“Ohhh, yeah, I’m sure he was showing you how to play.” Ellie tossed a scrunched up napkin at her, but Cyn expertly ducked out of the way. “So when and where did this kiss take place?”
“Forget when and where,” Latesha countered. “First tell us how it was? Is he a good kisser?”
“Look at her face.” Cyn pointed at Ellie. “It’s written all over it.”
Ellie knew when she was beaten. Her two rowdy friends weren’t going to give her a moment’s peace until she answered their nosy question. “Okay, yes, Ben is a very good kisser.”
“I’m so glad you think so,” he said from behind her.
Chapter Five
Ellie couldn’t believe her bad luck. Of all the times for Ben to stroll into Al’s Place. She had no idea how to extricate herself from this situation so instead of defending herself, she went on the offensive. She added a glare for good measure. “You should announce your presence instead of sneaking around.”
Ben didn’t appear to be the least bit repentant. “Why would I want to do that when this way I get to hear something good?”
“Because it’s the polite thing to do and Marines are supposed to be polite. Isn’t that right, Earl?” The bartender had just joined them after hauling up a new order of alcohol from the storage room in the basement.
“Whatever it is, don’t draw me into it,” Earl calmly said.
<
br /> “Semper fi.” Ben looked mighty pleased with himself.
“The Marines are ganging up against us.” Cyn folded her arms against her chest, a sure sign that she was getting aggravated.
“Earl, honey, how can you take Ben’s side in this against mine?” Latesha stared at him, her lower lip stuck out in a grown-up version of a pout that Amy had perfected at the age of two.
“I wasn’t doing that.” Earl seemed real eager not to let Latesha think badly of him. He even came to her side as if his presence would reassure her of his sincerity.
“I’m so relieved to hear that,” she purred.
Earl shot Ben a look as if to say sorry, you’re on your own, buddy.
Latesha kissed him on his cheek as a reward.
“I’m not a kid to be given a peck and sent along,” Earl growled abruptly. “The next time you kiss me, you’d better mean it.” He stomped away.
Latesha rushed off in the opposite direction.
Ellie turned to Ben. “Now look what you’ve done.”
He blinked. “Me?”
“Yes, you. If you hadn’t walked in when you did, then Earl and Latesha wouldn’t have fought.”
“That was no fight,” Ben scoffed. “It didn’t even qualify as a skirmish.”
“You. Outside.” Ellie grabbed Ben’s arm and yanked on it. “Right now. I want to talk to you.”
“I’m guessing you’re about to discover what a real fight is, Ben,” Cyn called after him.
Ben let Ellie tug him outside. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to. He wanted to talk to her alone. She’d gone out of her way to avoid that the past few days.
He’d forgotten how incredibly sexy she looked when she was all riled up this way. She was wearing a pink tank top today along with her customary work attire of a short denim skirt. Her creamy skin was flushed, her gorgeous brown eyes held the fire of anger in them. Passionate anger. But then Ellie was a passionate woman. He knew that from the way she’d kissed him.
And when he’d walked in and heard her telling her friends that he was not just a good kisser, but a very good kisser, he’d felt ten feet tall. She was trying to cut him back down to size now, but there was no going back from what she’d said.
Ellie put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Are you proud of yourself?”