Her Sexy Marine Valentine(2)

"That's my fault," Mari said. "It's so new between us, and I got out of  a really bad relationship not that long ago. Like horrifically bad. So  we haven't been telling people, until, well, today. We just ran in to my  ex."

"Awkward," Brody said in a singsong voice. That didn't sound like him  at all; it caught him off guard. Maybe he'd be the one winning the  award. And if this charade of theirs kept the CO's daughter from hitting  on him in the future, he'd owe Mari for life. "I kind of wanted to  punch his lights out for hurting my Mari." That part was true. He'd  never wanted to smack a guy so bad. "But at the same time, if he hadn't  been so dumb, Mari and I would never have met."

"Huh." Carissa gave them a weak smile. "Well, my dad will be glad to  hear you're putting down some roots finally. In fact, you should bring  her to the picnic on Saturday. It will be good for you to socialize, get  to know more people. Dad's still trying to build camaraderie and  teamwork hopefully by bringing folks together off base," Carissa said to  Mari. "He's mentioned several times that Brody seems to be a bit of a  loner."

Why would the boss be discussing him with Carissa? Brody wasn't happy to hear that.

He'd forgotten about the team-building events. He didn't understand why  simply doing the job wasn't enough anymore. They were Marines. Being  smart and self-reliant were the important qualities to have. Not  worrying about connecting with others and all that stuff. You interacted  with one another, sure, but everyone had to focus and do their own job.

He glanced down at pretty Mari. Shoot. The last thing Brody needed in  his life was a woman. A relationship only meant complications. Once you  cared about someone-

"Babe, you promised we could lay wood," Mari said, with a giggle and a  sexy smile on her lips. Parts of his body reacted. This woman was  definitely dangerous if merely her laugh could make him hard. "Sorry.  What I mean is we're supposed to put the wood floors down on Saturday."

He gently tugged her ponytail. "You're a bad, bad girl." She was funny  and quick, as well as beautiful. Yep, a wicked combination. "I always  keep my promises, but maybe we can figure out how to do both." He leaned  down and kissed her cheek. He had to, she smelled so good, looked so  good and...right, Carissa was watching. He knew there was another  reason. He admitted it was hard to think when Mari was smiling up at him  like that.

"You've got that look again." She rolled her eyes. "But I can never tell if you want food or-"

Her. Naked. In his bed.

What was that? His imagination was in overdrive.

Food. He needed to eat, or maybe it was the headache. It was causing him to hallucinate.

"You. Babe, when it comes to a choice between food or you, it's always going to be you."

"Uh, right. Well, I believe that's the sign for me to leave," Carissa  said, "but you two might want to get a room. The grocery aisle isn't the  place for that sort of thing, and I'm pretty open-minded. So we'll see  you both on Saturday." With that she sauntered off.

Finally. He relaxed. But then he realized he was still holding on to Mari's shoulders. He reluctantly let go.

"That was fun. We should start a theater group or something." She chuckled.

"It was. Thanks for coming to my rescue. She's been asking me out since  I arrived at the base. I do a lot of stupid stuff, I confess, but  messing around with the CO's daughter is not on the list."

"I can tell she's used to men saying yes, so you must be quite the challenge. She's superattractive, though."

He shrugged. "Not my type. You have no idea how grateful I am to you right now. She's too much, a real piece of work."

"I should be thanking you," Mari said. "In fact, let me make you  dinner. A man cannot live on tortilla chips and salsa alone." She  pointed at his cart. "And I was making tacos anyway. We could combine  our resources and have a great meal."                       
       
           



       

A home-cooked meal didn't sound so bad. It had been a while. He could cook, but doing it for one person always seemed a waste.

Though sharing a meal with Mari might not be the best idea. In just the  few minutes they'd spent together, he'd become very attracted to her.  And that was not a good thing. Better to let her down easy. "You don't  have to do that, we helped each other out."

"I know, but I want to and I..." She stared down at her feet as if she were afraid to say whatever was coming next.

"What?" he asked.

"I have a proposition for you."

Brody nearly choked. Had he stepped right into another messy situation?  Granted, Mari was sweet, but the last thing he needed was to  potentially ruin his relationship with a neighbor.

Tell your dick that.

True. He should be alone. Still, that didn't keep him from asking.

"What kind of proposal?" Intrigued, he followed her to the checkout  counter. He only had a few of the items he'd planned on buying, but his  curiosity was piqued and the rest could wait.

She bit her lip. It was adorable and sexy. "I need to work it out in my  head first before I tell you. So come over for dinner in an hour and  I'll explain. Bring your chips and salsa. I'm about to rock your world  with some of the best tacos you've ever had."

She winked at him.

Everything about her was fun. He should lighten up. Besides he couldn't  resist her offer without looking like a complete jerk. Not that he  couldn't be a hard-ass, just ask the men and women he commanded. No  doubt his face was used as target practice on dartboards all over the  base.

"That's a pretty big claim. Tacos are one of my main food groups." It wasn't a lie. He had them three or four times a week.

"Ha! I'm a native Texan," she said with a slight twang that hadn't been  there before. "If I can't make a great taco, they'll kick me out of  here." Then she batted her eyelashes at him.

He laughed. It was a meal, what would it hurt? And they had helped each other out. She'd shown she was a good sport.

"All right. You're on." He wasn't sure he could recall the last time he'd smiled this much, and he was hungry.

As she headed to her car in her short shorts and football jersey, he put his items up on the checkout counter and smirked.

What he needed more than anything was peace and quiet, to focus on  being a helicopter pilot and instructor. He'd been given a great  opportunity for someone his age and he didn't want to screw it up by  losing his drive.

That woman was trouble.

Damn if he didn't want to find out what kind.

* * *

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Mari tossed her groceries into the fridge, which was in the garage.  That's where she'd set up her temporary kitchen while hers was under  construction. How was she going to cook a meal for a man like him on her  tiny hot plate? And where exactly was she going to serve it?

She tapped a finger against her chin. The inside of her house was  chaos. A construction zone with no end in sight. She sighed. She didn't  have time to worry about that now. She had to plan dinner.

One hour at a time she reminded herself. It was how she lived her life now. Otherwise it was too overwhelming.

Inspiration hit. Her back deck. It was clean and she had a great fire  pit to keep her and Brody warm. The hot tub hadn't been installed yet,  but there was a decent table and chairs. She rolled her eyes; she  wouldn't have used the hot tub with her to-die-for neighbor anyway.

Don't go there.

So handsome. So built. No. Not even a possibility. She needed him for  one thing and one thing only-and it was not to satisfy her lust-fueled  thoughts. Although feeling those manly muscles around her shoulders-and  those abs.

Those abs. He must work out every stinkin' day. She shook her head as if to erase the image.

Nope. Not going there. She had a plan, or at least the beginnings of  one, and it did not include having sex with the neighbor. No matter how  terrific he might be.

No. Really. Stop thinking about him that way. Mere moments ago he'd had  to extricate himself from the clutches of his boss's daughter. The last  thing he wanted was Mari trying to seduce him. But it had been so long.  So very long since she'd even felt the urge to-                       
       
           



       

Tacos. She had to get the tacos started.

She switched on the hot place, got out a frying pan and crumbled the  hamburger meat into it. After adding some spices and a bit of minced  garlic, she started chopping vegetables and shredding cheese.

This meal was the least she could do for her white knight of a  neighbor. When he'd appeared out of nowhere and pretended to be her  boyfriend, she'd almost collapsed with gratefulness.

The ex, Gary, had left a soul-crushing mark on her, and she wasn't sure  she'd ever trust another man. He'd made her believe they had a future  together, and then he'd come home one night and said she was boring.  That he'd had an affair at a conference and it helped him realize he  wasn't as into her as he thought he was.