morning, Kevin reported for “daughter duty.” He parked his car in front of the Colonel’s house and turned off the engine. Silence crowded him, as for a few minutes, he just stared at the place.
Windowpanes gleamed in the morning sunshine. The lawn was neat, the house tidily painted. And inside, waited a woman who was, he knew, going to be the bane of his existence for the next few weeks.
There was just something about her, he thought, remembering that almost electrical charge he’d felt when he shook her hand the night before. He hadn’t been expecting it, and for sure hadn’t wanted it. But damned if he hadn’t felt something inside him tighten up and squeeze.
Hell. He’d been too long without a woman, that was all. Obviously. If one touch of a hippie’s hand could send his hormones into overdrive, he was due for some R and R. Fast.
But, for the next month, his personal life was officially on hold. Although, he admitted silently, his personal life wasn’t exactly jumping, anyway. Except for stopping by his sister’s house to visit his niece, Kevin pretty much centered his life around work.
Concentrating on his job and the recruits in his charge made for a nice, orderly life. He’d learned the hard way that he just wasn’t the “relationship” type. He liked his world to proceed in a precise, military fashion.
And a woman was the surest way he knew to blow that all to hell.
His back teeth ground together and he swallowed the bitter taste of bad memories. It was over and done, he told himself, his hands tightening on the steering wheel until he wouldn’t have been surprised to see it snap in two. Deliberately, he forced his grip to relax and reminded himself that ancient history had nothing to do with today. Except of course as a warning to not repeat it.
A flash of movement at one of the front windows caught his attention and as he watched, the curtains were pulled back. Lilah’s face appeared and she gave him a quick smile before dropping the curtains back into place and disappearing from sight.
He didn’t much care for the jolt of awareness that stabbed at his gut, so he ignored it. Taking the key from the ignition, he opened the car door and got out just as she stepped out onto the front porch.
Today, she was wearing a deep crimson shirt that hugged her curves, tucked into a brown suede skirt that hit just below her knees. A silver chain draped around her narrow waist and dangled about halfway down the front of that skirt. As she waved, the silver swayed and caught the sunlight, flashing in his eyes like a warning beacon.
Warning, he told himself. Good thing to keep in mind.
“So?” she called out, her voice carrying to him on the morning stillness, “do you want some coffee before we head off?”
“No thanks,” he answered. Hell, he didn’t need coffee. He needed a drink. Or his head examined. “You ready to go?”
She set both hands on her hips and cocked her head to one side as she watched him. That hair of hers fell like a golden curtain to one side of her body and drifted lazily in the soft wind. Kevin’s insides did a slow lurch before he had the chance to remind himself that this was the Colonel’s daughter for God’s sake.
Not only that, she was completely the wrong kind of woman for him even if he was interested.
And he wasn’t interested.
Dammit.
He kept telling himself that as he watched her walk across the lawn toward the car. That long skirt swayed around her legs and even though he knew damn well that he shouldn’t be thinking the things he was thinking, he couldn’t seem to stop. His gaze moved over her, from that incredible smile right down to the tips of her black, low heeled, slouchy boots.
Want dug into the pit of his stomach and he did his best to ignore it.
Stepping up alongside the car, she planted both hands on the hood and leaned forward. “My dad’s already left for his office.”
“Not surprising,” Kevin said, deliberately keeping his gaze locked with hers. Way safer than looking at the rest of her. “Half the morning’s gone.”
She glanced down at a silver-and-turquoise watch strapped to her left wrist. “Gee, you’re right. It’s almost seven forty-five. Practically afternoon.” Lifting her gaze to him again, she said, “Early rising is definitely something I don’t miss about living on base.”
“I’ll remember that,” he said. Tomorrow he’d pick her up a little later. The less time spent with her, the better. Hell, at this point, he’d take anything he could get.
Chapter Three
“You cold?” he asked.
Lilah nearly jumped, startled at the sound of his voice. For the last hour, they’d been walking aimlessly around the base and he’d hardly said more than a word or two. And she was pretty sure that if he’d been able to get by with a grunt, that’s what he would have done.
“No,” she answered a moment later, “I’m fine. You?”
He looked at her like she was crazy.
“Sorry,” she said, lifting both hands, palms out. “I forgot, Marines don’t get cold.”
His lips quirked, but otherwise, there was no shift of expression. It was like taking a walk with a mobile statue. Any sympathy she might have been feeling for him last night dissolved in the bubbling stew of frustration simmering inside her. Not being one to suffer silently, Lilah, as usual, let it erupt. “What’s the deal here, Gunny?”
“What?” he gave her another look, then absently took her elbow and steered her around a parked car.
Lilah ignored the flash of warmth that the slightest touch from him ignited inside her. On top of everything else, she didn’t need the distraction of fluttering hormones. Plus, at twenty-six, she was a little too old to be developing crushes that were destined to go nowhere.
Besides. They’d had a deal, hadn’t they?
“Excuse me,” Lilah said, flipping her windblown hair back out of her eyes, “but aren’t you the guy who just last night offered me a bargain?”
“Here I stand.”
“Uh-huh.” Did he ever, she thought, with a purely feminine glance of admiration. Well over six-feet tall, he looked like a khaki brick wall. With gorgeous green eyes. And that had absolutely nothing to do with anything, she told herself firmly. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “So, what happened to the part about how we’re going to get along and get through the month without making each other miserable?”
One dark eyebrow lifted into an arch.
Impressive.
“You’re miserable?”
“Gee, no,” Lilah told him, sarcasm dripping from every word. “So far, this is better than Disneyland.”
He stopped walking, heaved a dramatic sigh and turned to face her. “What’s the problem?”
“The problem, Gunny, is that I might as well be by myself, here.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning,” she snapped, “you could actually speak occasionally. Or were you ordered to keep quiet?”
A cold blast of air swept past them, ruffling the hem of her skirt, lifting her hair into a tangled mess and sending goose bumps racing up and down her arms. And it was still warmer than the chill she saw in his eyes.
But in a moment or two, that coolness was gone, replaced with a frustration she understood all too well. Heck, she’d been seeing it most of her life. She never had fit in and once again, that was being pointed out to her.
He shook his head, lifted his gaze to a spot inches above her head and stared out into the distance. From overhead, came the distinctive roar of a