It was Matt, but she scarcely recognized him in his marine dress blues. He looked bigger than she remembered, and heartstoppingly handsome in uniform. His white hat and belt stood out starkly in the deepening gloom, and, as he drew closer, she saw a vibrant display of multicolored ribbons and gold medals on the breast of his dark blue jacket.
She stood, unmoving, as he climbed the short distance to where she stood at the top of the dunes. His face was set, his expression inscrutable.
“Matt…” she breathed. “How—why—? I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I had to come,” he said simply. “You didn’t answer my calls, didn’t return my messages, and there’s something that I need to tell you.”
“How did you find me?”
A smile lifted one corner of his mouth, and Megan felt something in her chest shift. “You told me your parents’ house was on Small Point Beach. Wasn’t too difficult to find.”
“Oh.” She cleared her throat, feeling oddly breathless. “Did you, um, march in the parade today?”
“I did. Then I got in my truck and drove more than five hours to get here.”
He hadn’t even taken the time to change out of his uniform. Megan searched his face, seeing the evidence of strain etched around his mouth and eyes. His jaw was set, and he had the posture of a man prepared to do battle.
“I see.” She gestured toward his uniform. “You look great.”
He didn’t acknowledge her words, but took a step toward her. “I received these in the mail the other day.”
Megan blanched as he pulled two envelopes from his jacket. Even in the indistinct light, she recognized the writing on the outside. They were the letters she’d sent to him after their weekend in California. Recalling exactly what she’d written in those letters, she felt heat wash into her face.
“Matt, I wrote those words right after our weekend together. I was feeling lonely and—and sentimental.”
“So what you wrote in these letters no longer holds true? You no longer think about me all the time, or replay everything we did together that weekend? You don’t miss me at night and wish you could wake up in my arms?”
Megan couldn’t lie, so she kept silent. The truth was, she did think about him constantly and more than anything, she wanted a replay of that amazing weekend.
“Why didn’t you call me, Megan?”
She looked away, blinking. What had Erin said? Just be honest. She drew a deep breath. “I was afraid.”
“Of what? Jesus…what do you have to be afraid of?”
“I was afraid you were calling to tell me that you didn’t want to see me again.”
“What?”
Hearing the astonished disbelief in his voice, Megan sharpened her gaze on him. “That’s not why you were calling?”
“Absolutely not. Although, I figured that’s why you weren’t returning my calls—because you’d decided you were no longer interested in me. But then I had these incredible letters, which completely contradicted your behavior. So I decided that if you’d changed your mind about me, I needed to hear it from you. Which is why I’ve come up here.”
Megan put a hand to her chest, feeling the frantic racing of her heart. “Wait—you came all the way up here so that I could break up with you?”
“No. I came all the way up here to change your mind about ditching me.” Stepping closer, he closed his hands around her arms, pulling her closer. “I came up here to tell you that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. I want you to give us a chance.” He dipped his head to look into her eyes. “In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m crazy about you.”
Megan struggled to make sense of his words. “But you’re going back into the military,” she argued weakly. “I won’t see you for six months, and I’ll be sick with worry that you’ll be shot again, or worse.”
Matt was looking at her oddly. “What? Who said anything about going back into the military?”
“Matt…don’t tease me. Liam told me you were going to reenlist, and you told me yourself that you’ll be gone for six months.”
To her astonishment, Matt began to laugh.
“I’m going to the state police academy, babe, not the military. I took the entrance exam and I was accepted as a cadet. I’ll train for six months beginning in the fall, but I’ll be home every weekend.”
Megan couldn’t help herself; she sat abruptly down in the sand, struggling to absorb his words. Her whole body felt weak with reaction. Matt was entering the state police academy. He wasn’t reenlisting.
Matt dropped down onto the sand beside her, removing his hat and tossing it into the nearby beach grass. He watched her intently. “You thought I was reenlisting?”
Megan nodded mutely, searching his face in the indistinct light and seeing the dawning realization there. “I thought you’d be leaving, and that I’d have to go for another six months without knowing if you were safe, waiting for your letters or your phone calls.”
Reaching out, Matt hauled her against his body, his arms going around her and pulling her into his embrace. “No wonder you didn’t invite me in that night,” he said against her temple. “You probably thought I was a complete jerk, coming home just long enough to screw you before I headed out again.”
Megan tipped her face up to look at Matt, feeling a smile tug at her mouth. “Well, that did cross my mind. But you don’t know how many times I’ve regretted not inviting you in that night.”
Matt slid his hand along her cheek, caressing her jaw. “Me, too,” he murmured, and then lowered his head to capture her lips in a kiss that was so devastatingly tender that Megan felt tears prick behind her eyelids.
When he lowered her to the sand and followed her body with the length of his own, Megan felt a familiar longing begin to build low in her womb. She wound her arms around his neck, arching against him, telling him without words how much she wanted him.
“Oh, man, I’ve missed you,” Matt breathed against her mouth. “I want to make love to you right here, right now.” He caught the hem of her sundress and dragged it upward, exposing her to the night air. His hand skated over her midriff, caressing her skin.
Megan moaned softly and twined a leg around his, urging him closer. “Yes, yes,” she whispered against his lips. “It’s dark, nobody would see us. Make love to me, Matt.”
“I’ll take care of you,” he said hoarsely. Using his body to shield her from anyone who might venture too close, he slid a hand beneath the edge of her panties and explored her slippery cleft.
“You’re so wet,” he groaned, circling his fingers over her. “I want to make you come. I’ve dreamed of doing this since that morning when I called you on the phone. Do you remember?”
The touch of his fingers against her slick flesh was an unbearable torment, and Megan let her legs fall apart, pushing against his hand. “Yes,” she panted. “I remember.”
Then he eased a finger inside her and Megan’s back arched off the ground. She clenched her teeth hard in order not to cry out with pleasure.
“That’s it,” Matt growled in low approval, and slanted his mouth hard across hers, mating his tongue with her own as he worked magic with his hand. When he circled her clitoris with his thumb, and thrust with his fingers, Megan’s reaction was immediate. Her body clamped down hard as a powerful orgasm crashed over her, shocking her with its swiftness. Brilliant lights flashed behind her closed eyelids and deafening noise filled her ears.
“Talk about perfect timing,” Matt said, laughter in his voice. “That was amazing.”
Megan opened her eyes. Behind Matt’s head, a dazzling display of fireworks lit up the night sky. Matt smoothed her clothing into place before lying back on the sand and pulling her into his arms so that she lay cushioned on his chest.
Another burst of vibrant color shattered the darkness, but Megan scarcely noticed; she was too busy watching Matt’s face.
“I could take care of you, too,” she said softly, tracing a finger down his lean jaw.
“You can spend the night at my parents’ house,” Megan said. “There’s a guest room over the garage that nobody uses. I’ll put fresh sheets on the bed and open the windows, and it should be fine.”
“What about you? Where will you sleep?”
Megan smiled and pressed closer to him, sliding one leg over his thighs. “I’ll bunk with my nieces, at least until they fall asleep.”
“And then?”
“And then I’m all yours.”
“I like the sound of that.” Matt covered her mouth with his and kissed her until they were both breathless. He pulled away first. “So you’re okay with my going to the police academy?”
Megan gave a burst of laughter. “Are you kidding? I’m more than okay with it, Matt. I’m thrilled. For you and for us. But I will miss you while you’re doing your six months of training.”
“You can always send me care packages,” he said, his voice rich with suggestion. “We’ll have the weekends to make up for lost time. And this time, there won’t be anything to distract me. No media blitzes, no parades and no calendar shoots. I turned that offer down, by the way. I’m done being a hero.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Megan said. “You see, you’ll always be my hero.”
Matt smiled and braced himself on one elbow over her, smoothing her hair back from her face. “I definitely like the sound of that.”
Overhead, fireworks exploded in blooms of brilliant color, reflecting on the water and briefly illuminating their bodies, but, entwined together in the dunes, neither of them noticed.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5999-1
BORN ON THE 4TH OF JULY
Copyright © 2010 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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FRIENDLY FIRE
Copyright © 2010 by Jill Shalvis
THE PRODIGAL
Copyright © 2010 by Rhonda Nelson
PACKING HEAT
Copyright © 2010 by Karen Foley
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