Читать книгу The Marine Meets His Match - Cathie Linz - Страница 11

“Discipline is a critical part of being a Marine and of succeeding in life. Without discipline there’s chaos. Marines do not like chaos.” U.S. Marine Captain Rad Kozlowski narrowed his eyes, his stare drilling into those few who dared look him in the face. “Chaos indicates a lack of discipline. A lack of willpower. These are not things that will be tolerated in the United States Marine Corps. I want to make that perfectly clear.”

Rad paused for emphasis. “But for those few who can make the grade, the reward is great. Not the financial reward. I’m not talking about money here.” He had an expressive voice and he made good use of it. His inflection was powerful, his delivery one step below barking orders. “I’m talking about being part of a brotherhood with values like honor, courage, commitment. The United States Marine Corps is not for everyone. Because only a few have what it takes to be part of this elite fighting force. Understood?”

The fifth-grade class at Kennedy Middle School nodded solemnly.

“Uh, thank you, Captain Kozlowski.” Mrs. Simpson, the teacher who’d organized the event, sounded a tad nervous. “We appreciate you coming in today for our Career Day and speaking to the class.”

“No problem, ma’am. I was glad to do it.”

Not true. Rad hadn’t joined the Marine Corps to speak to a bunch of rug rats. But when duty called, he always answered. Even when he thought it was dumb and a waste of his time.

“Does anyone have any questions for Captain Kozlowksi? No? Well, then, Captain, thanks again.”

Rad recognized his cue to leave and headed for the nearest exit. He left the gymnasium by a side door. Once out in the Carolina sunshine of a late September day, he paused a moment to take a deep breath.

He smelled her perfume a second before he saw her. The long-legged blonde wearing a red dress. She’d stood at the back during his presentation.

“Congratulations, Captain.” Her mocking comment was not intended to be a compliment. “You managed to scare a bunch of ten-year-olds. Does that make you happy?”

“Deep-dish pizza and cold beer make me happy, ma’am.” Sexy blondes like her also made him happy. Rad completed a quick visual check of her assets—long golden hair gathered up into a ponytail, lush lips, high cheekbones that gave her a ritzy look, big green eyes.

She was tall, just a few inches shorter than his six foot one height, and the dress she wore displayed an incredible pair of legs. A breeze lifted the hemline, granting him a tempting glimpse of her tanned thighs.

Oh, yeah, blondes like her definitely topped his list of things that made him happy. Maybe this day wasn’t a total waste after all.

Rad flashed her a smile.

She tossed him a dismissive look laced with disapproval. “Don’t you think you were a little intense in there?”

“Marines are intense.”

“And competitive.”

“Affirmative, ma’am. And your interest in all this would be?”

“I’m a bookseller.”

“A bookseller named…?”

“Serena. Serena Anderson. I spoke earlier this afternoon for the Career Day event.”

“I’m sorry I missed it.”

“So am I. Maybe then you would have done your speech differently.”

“I doubt that, ma’am.”

“You could have been a little more approachable.”

His smile widened. “I can be very approachable when the situation warrants it. Like now. How would you like to discuss this further over a cold drink?”

“I wouldn’t like that at all.”

“Why not?”

The sexy Marine clearly wasn’t accustomed to having his invitations turned down, Serena noted. He might have intimidated the entire fifth-grade class, but there was no way he was going to steamroller over her.

True, he’d made Serena’s heart beat faster without even trying and now that he was trying, well…He was good, she’d give him that. The gleam in his brown eyes let her know this was a man used to having his way with women.

She could understand why. He was the kind of man who got noticed. And not just because of the impressive Marine dress blue uniform he was wearing, or the confident way he carried himself. Living as she did so close to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, she’d seen plenty of Marines.

But this one was different.

He’d gotten under her skin.

At first she’d told herself it was because of the way he’d talked to the kids as if they were recruits in his command. He was definitely a man accustomed to giving orders and having them instantly obeyed.

Serena was definitely a woman who didn’t respond well to being bossed around. She’d experienced enough of that to last her a lifetime.

Maybe she wouldn’t have reacted so strongly were it not for the fact that her goddaughter Becky was in that group he’d just spoken to. And his forceful voice had made the shy Becky almost dive under her chair in the back row. Serena had been standing directly behind her at the time. Only Serena’s soothing hands on the little girl’s trembling shoulders had kept her in her seat.

So Serena had waited out here to confront him, to tell him that kids needed special care.

Instead of agreeing, he’d stuck to his guns.

That figured. How like a man, especially a bossy man.

“You’re not married are you?” he suddenly asked, his gaze sliding to her left hand.

“Absolutely not!”

So the blonde had a thing against marriage. Rad could relate. He was no big fan himself. Despite the fact that his two older brothers had gotten tied down with wives, Rad was in no hurry to surrender his freedom. He was in a hurry to get to know her better, however. “What’s the problem then?”

“There are too many for me possibly to go into them all.” Her voice was tart.

“Pick just a few then.”

“You know the things that work for you as a Marine? Traits like being arrogant and bossy?”

The seductive bookseller was trying to push his buttons. He wondered why. “We prefer to think of those traits as confidence and leadership.”

“These are not traits I respond well to.”

“And why is that?”

His direct gaze and calm question flustered her. “I’ve got my reasons, okay?”

“Okay. When you know me better, you can tell me what they are.”

She blinked at him, her dark eyelashes fluttering against her creamy skin. Not that he was a guy who normally noticed a female’s eyelashes, but she had such great eyes. And legs. And breasts.

The sizzle of attraction was strong. Stronger than he’d felt in a very long time. And it wasn’t one-sided. Despite her words, the lightning flashes of chemistry were definitely reciprocated.

Like now, when her gaze got all tangled-up with his. The male-female message was there. The awareness, the temptation. The sparks, the struggle. She licked her lush lips before finally looking away.

“I’m not going to get to know you better, Captain.” Her voice was breathless and abrupt but emphatic. “Goodbye.”

He watched her hurry away, appreciating the sway of her hips. He remembered a song that had been big a while back, something about a Lady in Red. She was like poetry in motion, the way she moved. Southern women had a natural way of doing that, making a man take notice. But he hadn’t detected a local accent when she’d spoken.

Still, if she’d spoken at this school today, she had to live nearby. The tote bag she carried had an open-book design and a bookstore name on it: The Reader’s Place—Home Of Novel Ideas.

He had plenty of novel ideas about her. All of them steamy. He had to get back to the base now, but tomorrow, he’d make a stop at her bookstore. Because Rad was not a man who gave up easily. He wasn’t a man who gave up at all.

He was still thinking about Serena when he returned to Camp Lejeune. Which was why he didn’t see Heidi Burns until it was too late.

The general’s eighteen-year-old daughter was a beauty with her dark hair and big blue eyes. She was also a pain in the keister.

The general’s daughter had been making Rad’s life difficult for several weeks now. Which was how he’d ended up with that school assignment. Not his usual type of mission.

When Rad hadn’t accepted Heidi’s invitation to go out with her, she’d warned him that she’d go to her daddy to get what she wanted if necessary. He hadn’t believed her. Then his CO had given him the school assignment, saying the “request” had come from the general himself.

Rad knew he had to do something about this situation. Heidi had decided she wanted him. Not that he’d ever given her one iota of attention. Well, okay, so he’d smiled at her when he’d first met her. But that was it. She claimed to have fallen in love with him on sight.

Staying out of her way was difficult, because she followed him like a lost puppy. She was daddy’s princess who could do no wrong. Spoiled all her life, she’d always gotten what she wanted.

Now she wanted Rad.

“There you are.” She grasped his arm. “You, like, have to join Daddy and me for dinner tonight.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Her expression warned him that he’d better have a good reason and that no reason would be good enough.

There was only one thing he could think of saying. “My fiancée wouldn’t approve.”

That stopped Heidi in her tracks. For barely a second. Then she laughed. “You don’t have a fiancée.”

“Yes, I do.”

Heidi was no fool. She clearly suspected something was up. “Then why haven’t you mentioned her before?”

“We just recently got engaged.”

“What’s her name?” She shot the question at him with machine-gun speed, rattling him with her dogged persistence.

“Serena. Serena Anderson.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. “She’s a bookseller.”

“The building sold?” Serena looked at the Realtor removing the For Sale sign from the front.

“That’s right. The new owner wants to meet with you later today, between five and six.”

“About renewing my lease?”

“I’m assuming so, yes.”

Serena felt as if she’d swallowed a swarm of bees. Nerves jangled in her stomach.

A yellow butterfly fluttered over the red petunias in the store’s window boxes before floating away without a care in the world. What a life. She wondered what it would be like to be so free of worries, free of debt, free period.

Yes, but butterflies had problems too. They had to be careful or they’d end up splat on some car’s windshield.

First bees, now butterflies. She was clearly on some kind of insect train of thought here. And such cheerful thoughts they were, too. She grimaced.

She didn’t consider herself to be the over-anxious type. If asked to describe herself, she’d say she was good with people, that she’d worked hard over the years to try to find the good in the bad, and that she could be bribed with Belgian chocolate. Dark chocolate.

The distant rumble of thunder meant that Serena could cross watering the flowers off her list of things to do today.

Before entering her store, she paused a moment for her daily ritual—brushing her fingers against the lettering on the glass door. This was her dream come true.

Her bookstore, The Reader’s Place, was located on the main floor of the three-story brick building. The second floor had a one-bedroom apartment, which she also rented. Another apartment, exactly like hers, was on the top floor.

When she’d found the location she’d known it was the perfect place, and had signed the one-year leases the same day for both the retail space and for the apartment.

A new owner most likely meant an increase in her rent. The question was, by how much? She was barely squeaking by as it was.

Her stomach shifted and did that buzzing-bee dance thing she hated. Thunder rumbled again just as a streak of sunlight beamed down on her. Find the silver lining. Maybe the new owner would be great. Maybe he’d leave the rents exactly as they were. Maybe he’d buy some books while he was there. It could happen.

“Did you forget your keys?” The question came from Jane Washington. She and her husband, Hosea, owned the florist shop in the building next door. In her early fifties, Jane’s mocha skin had the youthful glow of a much younger woman.

“No, I was just thinking.”

“Better do that inside,” Jane advised. “There’s a storm coming. I’ll let you know if there are any weather advisories.” Jane kept a radio on at all times. “There’s a funny feeling in the air, like something big might happen.”

“Something big did happen. Someone bought my building.”

“Is that good news or bad?”

“I don’t know yet. I’ll find out later today when the new owner stops by.”

“What are you doing standing out here?” This time the question came from Serena’s assistant, Kalinda Patel. The nineteen-year-old college student had long black hair and beautiful dark brown eyes. She also had the look of someone who needed coffee…badly. “The cappuccino machine is inside and I need my caffeine.”

Lightning flashed as if emphasizing Kalinda’s statement. “Okay, okay, I’m going inside.” Quickly unlocking the door, Serena walked into her pride and joy—her bookstore.

While Kalinda hurried to set up the cappuccino machine behind the counter for her morning drink, Serena flipped on the lights and looked around. Serena’s imprint was everywhere. She’d helped build the bookcases alongside the handyman she’d hired. She’d found the pair of comfy reading chairs at a local Goodwill store and had sewn the chintz slipcovers herself. They framed the entrance to the romance section, one of her bestselling areas.

Beyond that was the alcove housing the mystery section. Mock yellow-and-black plastic crime scene ribbons lined the shelves. A vintage movie poster of Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles hung on the wall.

The science fiction section was next, with Star Wars posters and signed covers from authors who had visited her store. Nearby she’d just recently started a young adult section with a variety of selections for adolescents. The area where westerns were shelved was relatively small, but very homey with a twig chair covered with a Native American woven blanket.

The children’s section was tucked into an alcove and featured inviting beanbag chairs and a colorful alphabet area rug. Some of the shelves were lower and many of the books were positioned face out. She changed the posters every month—Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat had the central place of honor at the moment. That still left room for Olivia the Pig to one side and Sandra Boynton’s latest to the other side.

In the far corner at the front of the store was the reading nook where Serena set her author appearances. A right-angled corner pine bench with vintage needle-point pillows appeared to be built into the shelves all around it. She’d deliberately made this area look like a home library, placing classic books like Pride and Prejudice along with framed photos on the shelves.

A selection of handmade gift items, including scented candles and potpourri, were tucked in various nooks and crannies around the store.

The Reader’s Place focused primarily on fiction, although she did carry some of the bestselling nonfiction titles, especially self-help books which were very popular with her customers.

Serena made a mental note that she needed to update the display of mass market paperback bestsellers, and do something with an autumnal theme for the Weekly Spotlight otherwise known as a metal baker’s rack in its previous lifetime. It was also time to place her weekly book order with Ingram’s and to pull returns to make room before the rush of new holiday titles arrived.

“Ah.” The moan of delight came from Kalinda as she sipped her drink. “Now I can face another day. Speaking of days, how did that Career Day thing go at the school?”

“There was a Marine there.”

“I thought you were speaking to fifth-graders.”

“I was.”

Kalinda frowned. “Aren’t they a little young to be recruited in the Marines?”

“He wasn’t there to recruit them, he was there to talk about the Marine Corps.”

“And judging from the expression on your face, you didn’t approve of the way he did that.”

“He was incredibly arrogant and bossy. When I told him that, he claimed to be displaying confidence and leadership skills.”

“Hang on a second.” Kalinda’s dark eyes widened. “Did you say you told him he was arrogant and bossy?”

“Yes.”

“And you lived to tell the tale?”

“He knew better than to mess with me.”

Kalinda grinned. “Oh, yeah, I can see how a lean mean Marine would be scared spitless by a bodacious bookseller like you.”

“I was wearing my red dress.”

“Oh, well, that’s different. You used your stealth weapon. Your sex appeal. You go, girl!” She gave Serena a high five.

“I did not use my sex appeal.”

“Why not? Was he a dog?”

“No, he was extremely good-looking in a dark, brooding, sexy, gleam-of-wicked-humor, Adrian Paul kind of way.”

“Adrian Paul!” Kalinda shrieked. “You found a guy who looks like Adrian Paul and you let him get away?”

“He was bossy and arrogant.”

“So? Those are fixable things.”

“Not always.”

“You’re thinking about your father, aren’t you?”

Serena nodded. She hadn’t told her assistant much about her past, just that her father was ex-military and extremely controlling. Her parents now lived in Las Vegas and Serena didn’t see them very often.

“I can understand about impossible fathers. Mine is still demanding that I only date Indian men.” Kalinda took another sip of her cappuccino. “Major bummer. Let’s change the subject. Did the new order of category romances come in yet?”

“They arrived late yesterday afternoon after you left.”

The rest of the day passed by quickly as it always did for Serena. A lot of her customers came in two or three times a week, allowing her to get to know them. She heard about their husband’s jobs, their kids schooling, their problems and their triumphs. She also heard which books they loved.

Whenever a new customer arrived, Serena went out of her way to make them feel comfortable, in the hopes that they too would turn into a regular. Handselling was an important part of her job as she worked hard to unite readers with the books they were looking for, even if all she had to go on was, “It’s a mystery with a red cover.”

She deliberately tried to keep the thought of her impending meeting with the new building owner out of her thoughts. But once five o’clock rolled around, she couldn’t help taking note of the time every few minutes.

The storm promised by the threatening thunder earlier in the day had skirted them without raining. Which meant Serena would have to water the store’s window boxes today after all. She grabbed the plastic watering can and filled it with water from the washroom in the back. On Thursdays like today, she closed early, at five-thirty.

The bell on the door signaled her departure into the steamy heat outside. The petunias looked as wilted as she felt. Think positive. Find the silver lining. Get chocolate…Hmm, she did have a secret stash in the storeroom….

Turning, she bumped into a broad chest. “Sorry…” Her voice trailed off as she saw who was steadying her. Rad. Her pulse surged into overdrive, proving the point that her intense reaction to him the other day had not been a fluke. He wasn’t even wearing his impressive dress blues uniform today. His blue jeans fit him to perfection as did the dark blue polo shirt he wore. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to you.”

“This isn’t the time.” She stepped away from him and held the watering can in front of her, as if it could protect her from the sex appeal he radiated. “I’m expecting someone any moment regarding an important business matter.”

“I know. You’re expecting me.”

Jeez, the man was arrogant. “No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.” He followed her inside.

“I’m expecting the new owner of this building.”

“That’s right. That’s me.”

“But you’re a Marine.”

“Affirmative. A Marine with money. Not usual, I know. But I inherited a great deal of the green stuff from a Texas oil baron grandfather I barely knew.”

She tried to make sense of what he was saying. “Why did you buy this building?”

“Because it’s a good investment. And because I need your help.”

“You bought the building because you need my help?”

“Affirmative. But then I always have been the radical one in my family.”

Okay, clearly she needed to close early today. She flipped the sign from Open to Closed even though it was only five twenty-five and the store normally stayed open that night until five-thirty. This wasn’t a conversation she could have in front of any customers. Luckily the store was empty and her assistant had already left for the day.

Serena got right to the point. “What about my lease?”

“I’ll be glad to renew it at the present terms…if you help me out.”

“If I do what you want, you mean?”

He nodded. “You help me and I’ll help you.”

Serena could see where this was going. “Well, you can forget it. I will not have sex with you!”

“Sex? Who said anything about sex? I don’t want a lover, I want a fiancée. Or more accurately, someone who’ll pretend to be my fiancée.”

The mental light bulb finally went on. Serena had heard about the military’s position about sexual orientation—don’t ask, don’t tell. She nodded understandingly. “I get it. You’re gay.”

“Gay?” Rad repeated incredulously. “I am not gay!” he growled before tugging her into his arms. The heat of his body permeated through the Indian cotton dress Serena wore. She was so close to him she could see the sherry-colored flecks in his brown eyes. Lowering his lips to just above hers, he whispered, “Want me to prove it to you?”