Jack
A Second Chance Marine Romance
Lisa Carlisle
LisaCarlisleBooks.com
Contents
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About Jack: A Second Chance Marine Romance
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
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Acknowledgments
About the Author
Book List
Jack
Copyright 2020, 2016 Lisa Carlisle
Originally published as Dress Blues in 2017 - expanded for this release
Cover by Book Cover Kingdom
The right of Lisa Carlisle to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please do so through your retailer’s “lend” function. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
To obtain permission to excerpt portions of the text, please contact the author at [email protected].
All characters in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.
Find out more about the author and upcoming books online at lisacarlislebooks.com, facebook.com/lisacarlisleauthor, or @lisacbooks.
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About Jack: A Second Chance Marine Romance
By Lisa Carlisle
When Vivi Parker volunteers at a fundraiser for a cat shelter, she’s stunned to run into Jack Conroy, the one man she couldn’t have, but had never forgotten. While they served in the Marines, any relationship between them was off-limits. Years later in Boston, the rules have changed.
But so have they.
Chapter 1
Vivi
The royal blue gown swished around Vivi’s ankles as she walked down the hotel hallway. She added more swing to her step to make the satin swirl. She’d skipped heels; that might have been a challenge with her leg, but the black shoes she’d chosen had a wedge she could manage.
When was the last time she’d worn anything this fancy?
Not since before she’d enlisted. Ugh, that was sad. The last time she’d been excited about dressing up was for her senior prom. A time when she’d been so naïve about—well, everything. Amazing what a few years in the Marines and a deployment that had ended her military career could do to snap someone out of wide-eyed innocence.
She glanced at herself in a gold-framed mirror. She’d scored a great deal on this dress at a consignment store. A woman from Beacon Hill or Brookline had likely paid a fortune to wear it once before tossing it in the donate pile. Vivi had pinned up her hair with a silver comb, and loose curls framed her face. She even wore makeup, something she didn’t bother with when volunteering at the cat shelter, as she often came home messy. Her lips curled into a smile.
“You clean up well, cupcake,” a man spoke.
Ryan walked toward her from the open doorway to the ballroom. He was the manager of the Boston Feline Rescue Shelter, where she volunteered twice a week.
“Cupcake?” Vivi raised her eyebrows before cracking a grin.
Few people could get away with calling her that, and Ryan was one of them. Now that she was a civilian, she attempted to relax more. The pressure to prove herself had eased. That part of her life was over, and she was in college now, not on a deployment. She was like everybody else. At least, that’s what she told herself, although the evidence on her leg indicated otherwise.
“I almost didn’t recognize you all dressed up like a princess,” Ryan said with a nod of approval.
“That’s because you only see me in clothes that I don’t mind getting dirty. My volunteer shirt rarely lacks a fine coating of cat hair.” She assessed Ryan in his suit, so different from his every day shorts, T-shirt, and floppy hair, which
was now combed back. His beard appeared freshly trimmed. “You don’t look half bad yourself.” She paused and quipped, “Cupcake.”
Ryan laughed and rubbed his hand over his freshly trimmed beard. “I’ll take that description—sweet and yummy. Yeah, once a year, I get decked out for this shindig.”
Although she’d never seen Ryan outside of the shelter, she couldn’t picture him fussing too much about clothes. Not with his laid-back nature.
“I’m excited.” Vivi glanced toward the ballroom, but couldn’t see much besides champagne-colored walls with electric sconces casting a soft light through the doorway. “It sounds so fancy.”
“It’s fun. A lot of people will be donating big bucks tonight.” Ryan rubbed his index finger against his thumb.
“Sadly, as a college student on limited funds, I won’t be one of them.”
“That’s all right.” Ryan put his hand on her lower back and steered her toward the ballroom. “Your time helping out here tonight is just as valuable.”
She nodded, glad she could do something of use. The shelter had become her sanctuary since moving to Boston to finish her degree. No matter how stressful her life became, she felt more tranquil after visiting the cats. Forget yoga. Petting a purring ball of fur was the best relaxation technique out there.
As they entered through the open door, the scents of spices made her mouth water. Volunteers moved with haste as they prepped for the evening’s gala. They’d set out various items for the silent auction on white cloth-covered tables and arranged trays of appetizers on others.
A few volunteers checked in with Ryan about the tickets, auction process, and other tasks.
After they scurried off, Vivi said, “I might not be the best person to balance trays of food.” That might be an issue for her due to the slight limp, a morbid souvenir of her final deployment. The limp wasn’t that noticeable, but the scars were. The length of her satin dress covered them tonight. From now on, all her dresses would be long.
“I had something else in mind for you.” He raised his index finger and his eyes twinkled with whatever he had planned. “Don’t worry. It’s easy.”
He led her to a table with dozens of photos of cats perched on stands inside mason jars.
“Voila.” He waved toward the table. “The Cutest Cat Contest. All you have to do is encourage people to vote by putting a dollar in the jar.”
Get people who love cats to vote for cute cats? Nice. She’d scored the easiest gig in the place. “Sounds like fun.”
“Voting ends at nine.” He gestured around the venue. “Then you’re free to wander around, eat, drink, mingle.” He brought his gaze back to Vivi. “Which is what I plan to do.” He smiled. “Steve is coming later.”
Ryan lit up when he mentioned his partner’s name. Ah, it must be nice to be in love. Her future might be as an old lady living alone surrounded by cats, but that was fine. Life would be less complicated that way.
Jack
“I can’t believe you’re dragging me to this,” Jack addressed his mom and sister as they walked to his truck. “A cat shelter gala? It’s going to be bursting with crazy cat ladies!” he teased and raised his hands palms out.
“Oh, please,” his younger sister, Carrie, said with a dismissive wave. “Like it’s such a difficult sell? You’re a big, tough Marine. A night with a few crazy cat people shouldn’t faze you.”
“I live with a couple of crazy cat people,” he replied, eying her and his mom.
He’d been back home living with them and three cats as he looked into options after serving a tour in the Marines. One of the priorities was to get his own place. He loved being back in the States with them, but living with them? That was too much. He’d been on his own for too long.
“This is a chance for us all to get dressed up and do something together as a family,” his mom added. “And for the cats.”
He couldn’t deny his mom anything. Not after all the worrying she’d had to endure during his deployment to Afghanistan. He’d spent the last couple of years in Okinawa, Japan, which wasn’t as dangerous, but still on the other side of the world.
“I’m going. Have a suit on and everything.” He motioned to the gray suit he’d put on for the event.
His mother beamed and covered her heart. “You look so handsome. My boy is definitely a man.”
“I’m twenty-six, Mom. I stopped being a boy a long time ago.”
“I’m your mother. No matter how old you are, you’ll always—”
“—be my baby,” Jack and Carrie completed at the same time.
“We know, we know.” Carrie laughed.
Jack drove them in his new Chevy Colorado, his splurge with money he’d saved. Since he’d never owned a vehicle as it wasn’t practical during his deployments, this was his baby.
They navigated out of the residential neighborhood and onto Storrow Drive. The lights of buildings along the Charles River reflected in the water. They passed the Citgo sign near Fenway Park, a landmark reminding him he was back home. Finally.
He’d counted down the last nine months. Being back should have provided him with some comfort, but something was missing. Since he’d been home, he’d had as much direction as a bat without echolocation. What the hell was he going to do with his life now?
It wasn’t time to ruminate, so he shoved away that thought for another time. After he took the exit that led through the city and down near the waterfront, he pulled up to the address—some swanky hotel with valet parking.
“I got it,” he told the valet. Turning to his mom and Carrie, he said, “Why don’t you get out here, and I’ll go park.”
“Sir, there’s only valet parking available,” the valet said.
Who couldn’t park their own damn cars? Sure, it was a pain in the ass to find a spot in the city, but come on, they weren’t helpless. Parking lots might cost a pirate’s ransom, but at least someone wouldn’t be touching his things.
“I’ll find something,” he replied.
“But there’s nothing nearby,” the valet said. He motioned toward the waterfront.
He was probably right. They were surrounded by high-price condos that likely only had parking reserved for residents.
“Just give him the keys,” Carrie insisted.
He shot her a look before he relented and climbed out of his truck. “Take good care of her.” He handed over the keys and hesitated before walking toward the entrance with his mom and sister.
“I see that expression, and I know what it means,” Carrie said in a knowing tone.
“Oh really, what does it mean?”
“That you’re being all judgy. Every time you came home on leave, you’d get that look at some point.” She nodded back to his truck as the driver pulled away. “It was the valet parking, wasn’t it?”
“Come on.” He grinned. “How lazy can people get? Why can’t I park my truck in the same spot he’s going to park it? I’d take better care of it for damn sure.”
“Maybe you can’t understand it, big brother, but mom and I have these things on our feet called heels.” She pointed to their mom’s shoes and then her own. “And we also have these gorgeous, yet constricting dresses to deal with while on said heels, so we don’t want to hike to our destination any longer than necessary.”
“I was going to drop you off, but all right, I get it,” Jack replied. “Don’t judge a man before you walk a mile—”
“—in his heels,” Carrie added with a lilt.
Jack laughed. They both looked great. He loved seeing his mom dressed up and excited for a night like this. He wouldn’t let his hang-ups about people touching his things interfere with a wonderful night out with his family.
“Let’s get a drink. If I’m going to spend the night with crazy cat people, I definitely need a drink.” He took them both by the arm. “Or maybe four.”
Vivi
The gala was going swimmingly. Vivi had sampled the veggies sticks and hummus to keep her going through her shift at th
e cat contest table and the spicy flavors lingered on her tongue. Soft jazz played in the background.
She chatted with attendees and other volunteers about the cats and smiled whenever someone oohed and aahed over how adorable they were. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood—and so far, a generous one, too, which was great for the cats.
A man stood out from across the ballroom. She froze. It couldn’t be him.
Not here. Not now.
It could. And it was.
She blinked. She wasn’t fantasizing about this. This was the real, earth-shaking deal.
Her pulse quickened and her feet itched to bolt.
What was wrong with her? Why get so skittish over nothing?
She took a deep breath. On the exhale, she brushed her hands over her dress. After the initial reaction to flee passed, she paused to steal another glance.
Jack was still fine. No, better than fine. In a suit, he didn’t appear stuffy at all; more like sinfully delicious. He stood over six feet tall with perfect military bearing. His chiseled face was no longer clean shaven, as she’d always seen him, but with some facial hair. He no longer sported the high and tight Marine haircut and had let his hair grow in. The longer style and facial hair made him even sexier. Ooh, she could run her fingers through the sandy brown strands…
Sure, his date would love that.
Figured he’d be with some gorgeous blonde. Her pink chiffon dress showed off her killer body. In her spiky heels, she was only a few inches shorter than Jack. Ugh, she probably had legs as tall as the Prudential Tower.
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