Coach Maddie and the Marine

by Edens, Blaire

  “You actually like going to the grocery store? I hate that chore more than any of the others. We’re going to get along better than I thought,” he said, taking a sip of the wine. “Aren’t you glad I didn’t let you break up with me?”

  “Break up with you? I didn’t know we were an item.”

  “Think I’d bring just anyone to Merrimon’s?”

  She laughed. “Probably not.”

  He took her hand in his. “At first, I agreed with you. Neither one of us was in the right place to begin a relationship. But the more time we spent together, the plainer things became. We can’t stop our attraction to each other any more than either of us could stop a freight train with our bare hands.”

  He wove his fingers through hers. “I’d really like to see where this goes. I don’t want to throw away what might be the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  She took a sip of her wine and looked into his eyes. “It frightens me to think I might lose someone I love again.”

  “You won’t. That’s a promise.” He looked into her eyes, never blinking. She hoped that he couldn’t hear the heavy pounding of her heart, which was certainly only a few seconds from jumping clear out of her chest. Looking into the amber glow of his eyes, she felt a strange sensation pass over her body; a sensation of perfect contentment and warmth, like warm oil seeping into every pore.

  “But, I don’t think we…”

  “Can you just stop thinking? You’re going to drive yourself crazy. Just relax and enjoy the night. I’ll give you another twenty-four hours to realize that we were meant to be together. If you still don’t get it, then I might have to resort to something else. Something I like to call my guerilla tactics.”

  His smile took the tension out of the conversation.

  “Twenty-four hours. That’s quite generous. Surely I’ll come to my senses by then. Frankly, the idea of guerilla tactics and romance together is a little strange. What exactly are these tactics?”

  “Oh, ma’am, I wish I could tell you, but unfortunately, they’re top secret. But I would strongly advise that you just go ahead and submit to my will before I have to use them.”

  The waiter approached the small table, suspending the conversation. He cleared the salad plates and returned quickly with the entrées. He placed the covered plate in front of her and removed the silver dome with a flourish. The bright aroma of the oranges flooded her senses and she took a deep breath, savoring the scented steam rising from the sautéed duck. After serving David, the waiter bowed and left.

  “This smells heavenly. I can’t wait to taste it,” she said, picking up her entrée fork. “And look at the presentation. It’s so beautiful I hate to eat it.”

  He chuckled. “That’s one of the best things about French dining. Even if the food is terrible, you can’t complain about it because they take so much time in making a plate look like a piece of art.”

  Scooping up a bite of food, she tasted it. “Mmm…delicious.”

  “I like the sound of that. Maybe our dessert course will have you saying it again.”

  ...

  Maddie picked up her spoon and dipped into the chocolate mousse. Before she could stop herself, she said, “Mmm.”

  “Gotcha. You’re saying that a lot tonight.” He grinned. “I was betting the mousse would make you say it.”

  She laughed in spite of herself. “With food this incredible, I can’t help it.”

  “We still have two bottles of wine left. Maybe after we finish here, we could sit on your back porch and cue up some CDs. I can’t wait to see if we have similar taste in music.”

  “I doubt it. Callie tells me that everything I listen to is weird. Most people have never even heard of most of my favorite musicians. I drive Callie crazy with my eclectic tastes. She’s strictly a top forty kind of girl.”

  “Tell me more about Callie. I know you miss her terribly.”

  She nodded. “In addition to being my sister, she’s my best friend. When she got her orders for Afghanistan, I was crushed. I know that it’s what she signed up to do, but the thought of her being in harm’s way was more than I could stand. The positive side was that I could be here for Andrew. I’m not sure how he would have taken it if I’d still been in Charlotte and he’d had to move and leave all his friends.”

  “Andrew told me that he thinks you’re a pretty cool aunt. Says you let him get away with lots of stuff his mom won’t, like not making his bed every morning.”

  “Are eight-year-olds supposed to make their beds?” she asked, a puzzled look on her face.

  “Of course they should make their beds. If they’re old enough to play football, they’re old enough to make their beds.”

  “You have a point there. Maybe I should toughen up the standards. But he’s so darn cute it’s hard to fuss at him.”

  “He is a great kid and you’re a great aunt. Your sister is very lucky to have you.”

  “I’m very lucky to have the two of them. Since my dad passed away, it’s just the three of us. We really don’t have any other family. We’re really blessed that we have each other.”

  “What about your mother? I’ve never heard you mention her.”

  “I never knew her. She died a couple of years after I was born. Callie has a few memories of her. My dad was crushed when she died. He never remarried. Then when he died, it was just us.”

  “What about Callie’s ex-husband? How come he’s not around?”

  “Callie and Andrew’s dad, Rex, were never married. They were madly in love with each other, and both of them wanted to get married, but his parents stopped the wedding. They didn’t think Callie was good enough for their little boy. A couple of years after Andrew was born, she enlisted, so that she could make ends meet. He bunked with me while she was in Basic. The military turned out to be a good thing for her, though. She really loves her job.”

  “What does she do?”

  “She’s actually Navy, not a marine. She’s a medic, loves helping people. Before she left she was working on her bachelor’s in nursing. Hopefully she’ll finish it when she comes home and then she can apply for Officer’s Candidate School. She’d love to have some bars on her shoulders.”

  “The pay is a lot nicer. But enlisted men and women are the backbone of the force. No officer works any harder or is any more dedicated.”

  “Callie has always been the really smart one, so I would be proud to see her walk across the stage with a degree in her hands. If Andrew hadn’t come along when he did, she could have gone to college then and started out with a better salary. She really thought Rex would eventually stand up to his parents and marry her.”

  “That’s a shame, to miss out on the one great love of your life.”

  “It is really sad. I always thought that once Rex grew up a little bit he would come and find Callie and Andrew, but he never did. He sends child support and he sends Andrew cards and gift cards for his birthday and Christmas. But he hasn’t seen him since he was a baby. It breaks my heart for all three of them. Oh well, enough about my family history. Tell me more about your family.”

  David chuckled. “My parents, well, I guess you can say they’re a little eccentric.”

  “Your mother doesn’t wear a bird’s nest on her head or anything like that does she?”

  “Oh, no,” he laughed, “nothing like that. At least not yet. They live in a small town in Mississippi. The house I grew up in has been in my dad’s family for over a hundred years. It looks like something out of a Southern Living magazine. My dad is constantly repairing something here or replacing something there. My mother, although she grew up in the same small town, is not who you would picture living in that grand old house. She’s a real firecracker—she loves war movies, cusses like a sailor, and drives her little sports car like a maniac. Now, don’t get me wrong, she can play the proper Southern lady when the occasion calls for it.”

  “She sounds like a lot of fun. What about your dad?”

  “He’s a character, too
. He’s spent the last thirty years chasing my mother. She still makes him court her. When I picture love, I picture them. They’ve been in love all these years, for better or worse. That’s what I want—a lifetime of love and sharing with the one woman that makes my blood simmer.”

  “That’s what I want, too.” She looked down at the tablecloth, her sudden boldness making her shy.

  “Let’s go back to your house and listen to some of your weird music.”

  He paid the bill and collected the remaining wine from the waiter. The valet brought the car around to the front of the restaurant, then hurried over to open the door for Maddie. She slid onto the slick leather of the seat. David tipped him and hopped into the car. After revving the engine, they shot off into the traffic moving down Lafayette Street.

  “This is some car,” she said, listening to the purr of the engine. “Is it yours?”

  “It’s mine but I only drive this car on special occasions. It’s too much just to drive back and forth to work. I use the old beat-up sedan for that. This car was built for speed and excitement.” He pulled a baseball cap from the glove compartment. “Put this on and let me show you.”

  As soon as she tugged the cap onto her head, he pressed the button to lower the top. Cool night air rushed into the cab and she breathed in the scents of early fall.

  He took the on-ramp to the interstate. He geared down as they approached the end of the on-ramp. Then, with a flick of his wrist on the gearshift and just the right amount of gas, he urged the car out onto the highway. She loved the incredible vibration of the engine humming through her body. The night air tickled her shoulders and neck. She closed her eyes and leaned back into the form-fitting leather seat.

  “Wow, this is incredible. I’ve never ridden in a car that made me tingle like this one does. It just feels so powerful.”

  “I like it when my best girl can appreciate my car. I also like it when my car makes her tingle. Let’s see how fast we can go.”

  He accelerated and the car sped along the highway, the signs on the road passing like tiny white and yellow dots. The interstate was quiet at this time of night and they had the road to themselves. He turned up the music and they drove, the sounds of rock guitar blaring. Maddie felt like a teenager, free of responsibility and stress, completely present in the moment. She reached for his hand and twined her fingers with his. His hand dwarfed hers, making her feel safe and protected.

  She took off the baseball cap and allowed her hair to fall in waves. The wind took it, making it swirl wildly around her face. She sang along with the music, a song she hadn’t heard in ten years. He looked at her and smiled.

  “I can’t wait to feel that gorgeous chestnut hair of yours tickling my chest.”

  She smiled back, forgetting to blush, and enjoyed the ride.

  When they got back to her house, Maddie put several of her favorite CDs in the stereo and adjusted the volume so that it would be perfect out back on the porch. She grabbed the bottle of wine David had left on the counter, two glasses and a corkscrew. She kicked off her high heels next to the back door and padded outside.

  He had settled in one of the wicker rocking chairs. She handed him the wine and the corkscrew and sat down beside him. He uncorked the bottle and poured her a glass. She took it, enjoying the feel of her fingers wrapped around the cool, delicate stem. The night was ideal, one of those early fall nights that were cool enough for a wrap, but warm enough to enjoy.

  The music drifting from the house gave the night a dreamy feel, like transparent gauze had been draped over the whole landscape. She listened to his even breathing next to her.

  “That really was a wonderful dinner,” she said. “Tonight has been like a dream. I’m afraid that any minute I might wake up and it will all just dissolve into thin air.”

  “It’s not a dream,” he said, reaching across the armrest of his chair and taking her hand. “It doesn’t get any more real than this. I hope there will be at least a thousand nights like this between us.”

  Even in the dark, she felt the heat of his gaze. Although she was usually very reserved in declaring her feelings, the need to tell him blazed like fire deep in her chest. She couldn’t wait another minute to tell him what she was feeling.

  “It may be the real thing because I’ve never felt anything like this before,” she said, her voice breathless. “On one hand, I feel like I’ve known you my whole life, and on the other hand, every time I see you my heart races like it’s the first time I’ve ever seen you. I don’t want you to let me go,” she said, leaning her head down. “But it’s so intense that it makes me afraid.”

  “What scares you?”

  “Afraid that you might leave my life as quickly as you came into it.”

  ...

  There wasn’t any space left for words. What he’d wanted to say, what he’d planned to tell her, he couldn’t call to the surface. Couldn’t find the right way to express it.

  He’d just have to show her.

  He took both of her hands and pulled her to her feet. He wrapped his arms around her and they began to move together to the slow rhythm of the soft music floating around them in the still night. The sounds of a lonely blues guitar howling in the night expressed both the excitement he felt holding her in his arms and the dread of leaving her.

  Their hips moved in perfect harmony. She laid her head on his shoulder, and draped her arms around his neck, and he felt her take a deep breath, exhaling into his chest.

  He placed his hand under her chin and gently lifted her head so that he could look into her eyes. When he kissed her, the touch of her lips on his was as light and feathery as butterfly wings. He intensified the kiss and she met his passion with her own. Heat, hard and heavy, began to build deep in his belly.

  There was nothing else in the world except for the connection that pulsed between them.

  He pressed another line of searing kisses along her breastbone and moved slowly up her neck. When he reached her chin, Maddie tightened her arms around him and pressed her lips against his. Liquid fire moved between them. The sultry flavors of orange, wine, and chocolate mixed with the heady, floral scent of her perfume.

  He could think of nothing but her. All thoughts of the outside world fled. The feel of her, soft and feminine and incredibly real, erased everything.

  He paused and said, “Maddie Westerfield, this is a magical evening.”

  Chapter Ten

  Maddie watched the hypnotic motion of the branches swaying in the late-night breeze while David danced with her. The sensual rhythms of Etta James singing the blues floated down around them. The sound reverberated off the wooden deck and made it sound like the band was just behind them, in the living room. The high resonant sound of the trumpet echoed the feelings that coursed through her body.

  When the song ended, he said, “I’m warning you now. This might take the rest of our lives.”

  She wanted to say something, wanted to express how deep her feelings for him were, but she couldn’t find the words. All she could say was, “I hope so.”

  He kissed her, harder this time, betraying his need for her. She met his need and the kiss turned to fire.

  “Madeline Westerfield, I want you to always remember this moment. More than anything, I want to see where we can go. Together.” There was bare honesty in the amber depths of his eyes. He grabbed the two wineglasses and handed her one of them. “Here’s to us,” he toasted.

  She clinked her glass to his and took a long sip of the wine.

  “Aren’t you going to ask where we go from here?” he asked after a few minutes.

  “No. I thought it might be a little trite. They don’t even do that in romance novels anymore. I thought I would at least wait and see if you were going to hang around for the rest of the night. If you’re here when I wake up, maybe I’ll ask then.”

  “Maybe you should ask now. I don’t have any plans to leave until you kick me out tomorrow morning.”

  Her body shivered at the thought of h
im staying the night. “Okay. Where do we go from here?”

  “Is that the most creative way you can think of to ask me that?”

  “Without some practice in the mirror, that’s the best I can do.”

  “Everything I’ve said tonight is the truth. I want to make this work. I want to be with you. Forever.”

  “Are you asking me to marry you?”

  “Not yet, but I will. Since we’re almost out of wine, I’ll need to order some more for the engagement celebration and buy you a big ring for your finger first. But that shouldn’t take very long.”

  “Andrew asked me if I was going to marry you.”

  “He did? He’s a pretty smart kid. What did you tell him?”

  “I told him that I barely knew you.”

  “Are you avoiding the question?”

  “Maybe. I’ll let you know when I see the ring,” she said in a sleepy voice.

  “Smart-ass,” he said, “put that wine down. I want to make love to you.”

  ...

  Maddie awoke to the rich smell of coffee and bright stripes of sunlight streaming through the curtains. She threw back the covers and slipped into the knee-length silk robe hanging on the back of the bathroom door. She snuck a quick look into the mirror. A brilliant smile still lit her face. But her hair was another matter; it was wild, curlier than usual and sticking up in several directions. She ran a brush through it and pulled it back into a loose ponytail. She gave her teeth a quick brush and headed in the direction of that terrific coffee smell.

  David sat at the kitchen table reading the newspaper.

  “Good morning, sleepyhead. I was afraid I was going to have to wake you up for lunch,” he said.

  “What time is it?” she asked as she moved toward the coffeepot.

  “Almost eight thirty.”

  “That’s nowhere near lunch. Actually, it’s pretty early for a weekend morning. How long have you been awake?”

  “Since five thirty. I went on my run and grabbed a paper. Oh, and I picked up these at Jerry’s.” He pointed to the box of pastries on the counter.