Читать книгу The Marine And Me - Cathie Linz - Страница 11

“Wha-at?” Chloe almost choked on the coffee she’d just sipped. “Wha-at…” Cough. “Did…” Cough, cough, cough. “You…say?”

In the blink of an eye, Steve was around the table, patting her back. His hands were large and powerful enough to pound, but they were surprisingly gentle. And they felt surprisingly good. “You’re entirely too easy to set off, you know,” he chided her.

“So you were just kidding?”

“About moving in together? Yeah.”

“I had no idea Marines were such jokesters,” she noted tartly before standing and gathering the beige stoneware. The sharp clinks of the plates indicated her irritation.

“I wasn’t kidding about the rest, though. About making my grandmother think she’s winning the battle. All it requires on our part is spending some time together. Because I’m telling you, she won’t stop. If she doesn’t succeed in hooking me up with you, she’ll just set her sights on someone else.”

“Better the devil you know than the one you don’t?” Chloe asked, setting the dishes on the counter next to the sink.

Steve nodded. “So what do you think?”

“That you’re out of your mind.”

“By that I take it you have a few reservations about my plan?”

“A brilliant deduction. And an accurate one.”

He appeared unfazed by her reaction. “That’s understandable I suppose. Because you haven’t thought the plan through.”

“And you have?”

“Formulating successful mission plans is what I do.”

“And here I was thinking Marines were fighting for home and country.”

“We are. All over the world. But this mission is different.”

“It certainly is. It involves your grandmother.”

“I’m not proposing we lie to her.”

“No?”

“No. We really would spend some time together. Neither one of us wants romantic entanglements, and this is a sure way to avoid them. You and I…we’d both be on the same page.” His grin was a gradual progression from a smile, making it even more potent. “Hey, a book analogy. That should be one you’d appreciate.”

“Yes, well, forgive me if I don’t appear suitably impressed.”

“See, I like that about you.”

“What?”

“That you speak your mind. That you’re not easily impressed. We have a lot in common. Tell me some more about yourself and you’ll see what I mean.”

“What’s there to tell?” She efficiently placed the plates in the dishwasher before closing the door. “You already know that I work at the library.”

“What do you do for fun?” Steve asked.

Chloe was at a momentary loss. Fun wasn’t something she’d actually had a great deal of experience with. There wasn’t time. She had things to do, goals to accomplish. She’d always kept her eye on the ball….

“Do you like watching football?” Steve asked her.

She blinked. “What?”

“That Bears nightshirt you were wearing so well.”

“It was a grab-bag gift from the Christmas party at the library.”

“Okay, so you’re not a big football fan. What else?”

“I enjoy reading. And I do some knitting.”

“And?”

“And…I don’t know. I’ve been too busy to have fun.”

“We can fix that.”

“That’s not necessary. I think it would be better if we simply tell Wanda that this isn’t a good time for matchmaking, that neither one of us is interested in a romantic relationship right now. She’ll honor that.”

Steve just shook his head sadly. “You don’t have much experience with stubborn Polish grandmothers, do you?”

“She’s not my grandmother.”

“Doesn’t matter. She’s mine. And she’s got both of us in her matchmaking sights. I’m telling you, there’s no convincing her.”

“Maybe you just haven’t said the right thing to her. I think we should try talking to her sensibly first.”

Steve shook his head. “Big mistake.”

“I think that what you’re suggesting is a big mistake.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“She’s your grandmother. It’s not my problem.”

“That’s what you think. You’ll see. Until then, I took a look at your car earlier this morning. You need a new battery. I can install it for you if you’d like.”

She blinked at his sudden change of subject. Was he giving up that easily? That was a good thing, right? That meant she’d persuaded him with her logic. Good for her.

The news that she needed a new car battery was not good. It was definitely bad for her. Chloe hadn’t budgeted for auto repairs this month. Librarians weren’t in the profession for the money. Her paycheck would never be filed under “higher tax bracket.”

“I’ve worked on cars and stuff since I was thirteen,” Steve was assuring her. “I spent a summer in Texas with my mom’s father who was totally aggravated with me for being more interested in engines than in the oil and gasoline that goes into them. I’ve always been good at it.”

“At aggravating your grandfather?”

“Well, yeah, that too. I meant at working on engines, repairing things.”

“Is that what you do in the Marine Corps?”

“No. I’m a captain in the Marine Corps. But getting back to your car, you can check with my grandmother if you need a reference.”

“Thanks, but I’ll have it repaired by a mechanic.”

“It’ll cost you. I could get it done in no time and you’d only be out the price of the battery itself.”

She hesitated.

Steve continued, “You’ll pay three times more if you have your car towed to a repair place and have them install it.”

“What would you want in return?” She’d learned the hard way that there were always strings attached to offers of help.

“Hey, it would be great if you’d agree to my plan regarding my grandmother, but I really don’t want anything in return.”

“Nothing?”

“Okay, feed me. That would work.”

“I’m not as good a cook as your grandmother.”

“Few people are.”

“But I do make a mean grilled-cheese sandwich.”

“Sounds great to me.”

Chloe wasn’t sure how it had happened, but somehow he’d managed to insert his way into her day. In no time at all he’d gone to an auto-parts store and returned with the battery.

Chloe sat on the middle step of her back porch and watched Steve work. She had a scarf to complete by Monday for a raffle at the library to support literacy.

But her knitting sat in a pile on her lap as her attention strayed from knit one, purl two, to the sight of Steve’s denim-clad backside as he bent over her car.

One of the library’s regular patrons, Mrs. Denallio, had a T-shirt that she’d picked up on a trip to Las Vegas. Girls Go Nuts for Cowboy Butts.

Chloe was no expert on cowboys, but this Marine certainly had a very nice…backside.

She felt naughty for even thinking such a thing. What was wrong with her? She’d certainly never ogled Brad’s posterior. Yet here she was, unable to look away from Steve. His jeans fit him to perfection.

She could tell he kept his wallet in his right back pocket. The denim there was lighter. Not that his wallet was thick or bulging.

Bulging…oh jeez. Now her thoughts turned really naughty.

She blushed. This was ridiculous. She wasn’t an adolescent making cow-eyes at some guy in study hall.

“Hand me that wrench, would you?”

The sound of Steve’s deep voice made her jump guiltily, her knitting needles tumbling off her lap onto the steps with a clatter.

“Sure.” Her own voice sounded as squeaky as a mouse. She came closer and looked at the metal tool-box open on the ground. Finding what she needed, she handed him the wrench he’d requested.

He didn’t look up as he held out his free hand for her to give him the tool. Her fingers brushed his as she transferred the metal object from her grasp to his. A startling hum of awareness traveled up her arm at the simple touch. Not a good sign.

She gathered her tattered self-control. “How’s it going?” Translation—how long are you going to be draped over my car looking like an Adonis and making me drool like an idiot?

“No problems.”

Easy for him to say. She had plenty of problems, not the least of which was her reaction to him. You’d think that her experience with Brad would have short-circuited any possible response to a great-looking man, but no. Not in this case.

She tried looking over his shoulder, as if she knew what he was doing.

“There, that should do it.” Steve stood so quickly he almost knocked her off her feet.

“Oops. Sorry about that.” He caught her, his hands gripping her arms with strength and seduction. The seduction part came from the soothing brush of his thumbs over her bare skin. “I didn’t see you standing there.”

Right. That’s the way she’d wanted it. To be invisible. That was in her comfort zone. This wasn’t.

She stepped away and slid her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose. “I’ll go make our sandwiches then. You can clean up in the bathroom. It’s down the hall,” she added as he followed her into the house.

“Yeah, I know. This floor plan is like my grandmother’s.” But where his grandmother had her knick-knacks all over the place, Chloe only had a few things. She did have lots of books, though. They were on every shelf, every tabletop. Even so, they didn’t make the place look messy.

As he washed up, Steve considered his reaction to Chloe. A knitting librarian who read for fun. She needed someone to show her how to have a good time. Not sexually, he wasn’t the kind of guy to seduce a woman and leave. He was only in town for a few weeks, after all.

It seemed so simple to him. Neither he nor Chloe were looking for any kind of romantic entanglements in their lives. So it made sense for them to join forces.

Now he just had to convince her of that. But the moment he walked into the kitchen, he could tell by her defensive posture that she was ready for him to pitch his plan. Well-versed in tactical maneuvers, Steve decided to do the unexpected, and not bring up his plan.

Instead he made simple conversation, telling her about his drive on his Harley from California, where he was based at Camp Pendleton, to Chicago. She was surprisingly easy to talk to. She asked intelligent questions and was a good listener. She also laughed in all the right places, which pleased him no end.

She really did have the most expressive face. Even though her black-framed glasses occasionally shielded her eyes, the emotions still shone through. So did their sparkling blue color.

She wasn’t frumpy. She wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous either. She was somewhere in between. And she wasn’t obvious. There was real depth here. Not all surface flash.

And she could cook. The grilled-cheese sandwich was as good as she’d promised. He ate two. She’d also added big bowls of tomato soup, complete with those little fancy crackers floating in it.

He could see her relaxing as time went on, making him think this would be a good time to reintroduce his plan into the conversation.

“You see, I’m not so bad, right? So maybe now the idea of our joining forces doesn’t seem such a bad one.”

“I still think being up-front with your grandmother is the best way.”

He could see her getting all prickly again, so he didn’t push it. She had a stubborn streak, and the more he pushed her, the more likely it was that she’d just dig in her heels.

So he changed the subject again, and proved he knew his way around a kitchen by clearing the table and loading the dishwasher.

“You cooked, it’s only fair that I clean up.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “Thank you. Thank you also for fixing my car. I appreciate it.” Her voice was very polite. “But it doesn’t mean I think your idea of us joining forces is a good one,” she felt compelled to warn him.

“I just haven’t convinced you yet. I will.”

Steve was gone before Chloe could contradict his outrageous claim.

His self-confidence really was amazing. Well maybe not, given how good-looking he was.

And, in addition to that, he was a Marine. They were hardly known to be shrinking violets.

Chloe wondered what it would be like to be so sure of yourself. She had no idea. She’d never felt that way.

Or maybe she had before her parents had died. If so, she had no memory of it.

She’d learned to be self-reliant, but it wasn’t really the same as self-confident. Not by a long shot.

The bottom line here was that for some reason, Steve brought out a certain wildness in her and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Not sure at all.

Chloe always did her grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon. Today was no exception. It didn’t matter that her morning had started out with Steve on her front step. It didn’t matter that they’d had lunch together after he’d finished repairing her car. She had a schedule and she stuck to it.