The Marine Meets His Match

by Cathie Linz

  “What total stranger?”

  “That cop that was eyeing you.”

  “He was not eyeing me, he was just doing his job.”

  “Oh, he was eyeing you, alright. Trust me, I know.”

  “I’m sure you do.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “That I’m sure you’ve eyed plenty of women.”

  “So?”

  “So, you have your nerve accusing that poor police officer of something you do yourself at every opportunity.”

  “Are you accusing me of eyeing you at every opportunity?”

  “I meant you eye other women.”

  “What other women?”

  “Never mind. You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here in the middle of the night.”

  “I’m moving in.”

  “Where?”

  “Where do you think? Into the apartment upstairs.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s empty.”

  “So get a renter. Put an ad in the paper.”

  “Why, Serena darlin’,” he drawled. “If I didn’t know better I’d think you didn’t want me to move in.”

  “You’re right. I don’t want you moving in.”

  Her words stung. “I own the building. I don’t need your permission to do anything.”

  “You may own the building, but you don’t own me!”

  She slammed the door in his face. Or tried to. His outstretched hand stopped the door from closing.

  “What are you so mad about?”

  “You! I’m mad about you.” Wait a second, that hadn’t come out right. “I mean I’m angry with you.” Then, because she was tired and fired up, she added, “You’re just like my father.”

  “Hold on a second. Where did that come from?”

  “Go away!”

  “No, I’m not going away until you explain this to me.”

  Serena was so upset she had to walk away. Unfortunately, that left the door open for him to walk through.

  “Did your dad hit you? Is that why you’ve got this thing—”

  She angrily turned on him. “I don’t have a thing. And I already told you he didn’t hit me any more than any dad would. He didn’t have to. His words were as powerful as a punch. He was a control freak. Everything had to be done his way or else. I’ve already told you that I don’t like being bossed around, but you do it anyway. I ask you to leave, but you ignore me. You don’t listen. Just like him. He never listened either.”

  “Wait a minute…” Rad protested.

  “No, I’m not waiting. And I’m not letting anyone else ever control me again. I’d like you to leave now.”

  To her surprise, Rad did as she asked. But he warned her, “This isn’t over.”

  By eleven o’clock the next morning, Rad realized he may not have handled things very well. He saw no resemblance between himself and the man Serena had described her father to be. He should have picked up on her issues, but they’d been so wrapped up in his family lately that he hadn’t thought about Serena’s.

  Her dad had clearly left scars.

  Being ordered around was a red-hot button for Serena. He supposed he could understand that.

  Everyone had their triggers, something that set them off. That didn’t mean it was logical, however.

  One thing he did know, he’d gotten jealous when that young cop had eyed Serena last night. He’d wanted to stake a claim on her, to tell everyone she was his.

  Okay, so maybe that made him a caveman throwback.

  In his view, it just made him a guy.

  But it was Serena’s view that mattered here, too.

  So maybe he needed to adapt his battle plan. Maybe he needed to sway her over to his way of thinking, that they were good together.

  And he definitely needed that ring on her finger, pronto.

  And so it was that Rad came knocking on her door at eleven o’clock on Sunday morning, with a sack of freshly made doughnuts in hand. A peace offering from the bakery down the block.

  He had a hard time reading her expression when she opened the door, but she did seem interested in the doughnuts. And she let him in—surely that was a good thing?

  Rad started off by apologizing. Women loved that. “I’m sorry I scared you last night. I meant to tell you after dinner that I was moving in, but you fell asleep.”

  “You put me to bed?”

  “That’s right. I didn’t think you wanted to spend the night on the couch.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time.” During those weeks when she’d first opened the store, Serena had fallen asleep studying spreadsheets of expenses and income.

  “Do you accept my apology?”

  She nodded and finished the last bite of her doughnut. She was only having one.

  “Good. Then we’ll head out now.”

  “Wait a minute. Head out where?”

  “To get the engagement ring.”

  “I can do that myself.”

  “You could, but you didn’t. So we’re going together.”

  Anger flashed in her green eyes. “There you go, ordering me around again.”

  “Stop trying to get out of our agreement.”

  “I am not doing that.”

  “And I am not being bossy. I simply do whatever is necessary for my mission to have a successful outcome.”

  “So the end justifies the means? No matter who gets hurt in the process? Just collateral damage, right?”

  Rad frowned. “How did we go from buying a ring to collateral damage?”

  “Because you have no regrets about ordering people around. But then, that’s what you do for a living, isn’t it. Give orders. But guess what? That doesn’t work with me. I’m an independent woman with a mind of her own.”

  “Who wants what? A fancy invitation to go get this stupid ring? Can we just get this over with?”

  “I’ve already told you that you don’t have to come with me at all.”

  “And I’ve told you, I’m coming. So let’s go.”

  She rolled her eyes at him.

  Rad reminded himself of his new plan, the one that he’d forgotten in the heat of the male-female battle. “Let’s go…please. Does that make you happy?”

  “Having this entire thing over with would make me happy.”

  “Pizza and a cold beer would make me happy, as I think I’ve told you before. But hey, we can’t always have what we want. So are you ready to go?”

  “You should have called first.”

  “I brought doughnuts.”

  “That isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card, you know.”

  Too bad. Rad cooled his heels while Serena took her time getting ready. Or maybe it just seemed that way to him. She really only took fifteen minutes.

  During that time she’d pinned her hair away from her face, leaving most of it loose. He liked the way her jeans fit and her READ T-shirt drew his attention to her breasts. He noticed her toenails were painted a racy red and that the heels on her sandals brought her an inch higher than usual.

  Which put her lips in even closer proximity to his mouth as she turned to face him. “I’m ready now.”

  He’d been ready since the first moment he’d spotted her in that crowded gymnasium at the school, standing at the back, wearing that red dress and eyeing him with disapproval. Ready to kiss her, ready to put his arms around her and carry her off to his bed.

  Rad watched Serena get into his car while he held the door open for her. His thoughts remained on her sexy denim-clad legs as he pulled the Corvette into traffic.

  “Heidi is suspicious.”

  Serena’s comment dissolved his fantasy in an instant. “What did she say?”

  “It wasn’t what she said, it was the way she acted.”

  “Obsessive, you mean?”

  “Suspicious.”

  “What did you do?”

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “Is that your way of implying that I somehow messed up?”

  “It’s my
way of trying to ascertain the facts.”

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “Has she been back to the store?”

  “No.”

  “She didn’t come to that sex goddess thing yesterday?”

  “No. Your grandmother did, though.”

  “You didn’t tell me that.”

  “Turn right here.”

  “Why?”

  “Because that’s where the discount store is. They sell rings.”

  Twenty minutes later, Rad finally found a parking space in the crowded parking lot, one that was far enough away that his Corvette wouldn’t get dinged by some stupid shopping cart.

  He reluctantly followed Serena into the mega-store. Shopping. That ranked right up there with dentist visits and athlete’s foot in his book.

  The jewelry counter was located in the middle of the store. Serena was telling the sales clerk that she wanted something inexpensive, when Rad looked up to spot someone he recognized.

  A fellow Marine. Someone in his command.

  “We’ve got to go.” He hustled Serena out of the store.

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not buying a ring in there. And have it spread all over the base that I bought you a cheap ring? No way.”

  “So now what?”

  He almost said We do this my way, but then realized she might take offense to that.

  Instead he drove to a jewelry store they’d passed on the way.

  “Do you want to come in?”

  She shook her head. “This was your idea.”

  He was back in the time it took Serena to play two songs on the CD he had in the CD player—one was called No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem.

  “Here.” He handed her the box.

  She opened it to find a classy emerald-cut diamond ring with two smaller channel-set diamonds on either side.

  “Do you like it?”

  She had to nod. Who wouldn’t love a ring like this?

  “It’s real, no Cubic Zirconias, and it’s fully insured so you don’t have to worry about losing it or anything. Does it fit?” He lifted it from the case and reached for her hand.

  The slide of the ring over her finger, the feel of his hand holding hers, the way he bent his head to watch what he was doing—these were all images from a real engagement, from a man presenting the woman he loved with a token of his intentions to spend the rest of his life with her.

  She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat.

  The ring fit.

  Perfectly.

  Her eyes met his. The intensity she saw there caught her by surprise.

  Then he smiled, that slow smile that made the lines at the corners of his brown eyes crinkle. “Mission accomplished.”

  If his mission had been to invade her heart, it looked like he was succeeding.

  She had to display some common sense here, some caution.

  But all she seemed to be able to do was nod.

  “Good.” He turned and started the car.

  Within moments she realized they weren’t headed back to her apartment. “Where are we going now?”

  “To get paint. Did you know that the previous renter painted the bedroom walls the most disgusting pink color? Marines don’t have pink bedrooms.”

  Serena wondered how many engaged women went from the jewelry store to the hardware store. But then this wasn’t a normal engagement.

  This time she didn’t stay in the car. She went into the huge home-improvement warehouse with him.

  The overhead lights made her ring sparkle and dance with light. She had a hard time keeping her eyes off it and kept glancing down at her left hand.

  Okay, time to get real here, to stop daydreaming. “What color were you thinking of getting?” She pointed to the impressive display of chromatic choices.

  Rad didn’t even bother looking at any of them. Instead he made a beeline straight for a shelf and grabbed a couple of gallons to put in the shopping cart Serena had snared on their way in.

  She looked at the label and then at him. “Wimp.”

  That finally got his attention. “What?”

  “You’re a color wimp. Beige. Bland, bland, bland.”

  “It’s better than pink.”

  “A real man would choose a dark blue or green. But that’s probably too much color for you to handle.”

  Rad put his hands on his hips, a classic Marine stance. “I can handle color as long as it’s a macho color and not some girly pink or purple.”

  “No pinks or purples,” she promised him, taking his arm and tugging him over to the display area where row upon row of color swatches created a virtual rainbow of choices.

  Rad warned, “I don’t have all day to stand around.…”

  “Here.” She pointed to a rich blue color and then briskly moved the cart down to the area where the paint was custom blended.

  “Contentment?” He read over her shoulder. “What kind of name is that for a paint color?”

  “A positive one.” After placing her order, Serena watched the machine that shook the paint up with the realization that that’s how Rad made her feel. All shook up.

  From the first moment she’d seen him, he’d gotten to her. Even when she’d stood in the back of the school gymnasium, he’d gotten to her.

  She’d chalked it up to aggravation from his gung-ho approach and lack of sensitivity, but now she wondered if she’d just been fooling herself.

  There was no denying that Rad was a man who got women’s attention. Even now, the young female sales clerk who worked the paint area was eyeing him with appreciation, smiling and asking if he needed any help.

  Serena was the one who needed help. The more time she spent with him, the more she was attracted to him.

  She glanced down at the ring on her hand. It felt strange, yet oddly comforting.

  She touched it with her right index finger, as if to confirm that a beautiful engagement ring really did rest on her left finger.

  Serena couldn’t allow herself to get all sappy here. The ring might be real, but the engagement wasn’t.

  A few minutes later, the paint was ready. “Take that wimpy beige out and put these gallons in instead.”

  “I’ll get both,” Rad said.

  “So much for being the radical one in the family,” Serena scoffed. “You need your beige security blanket.”

  He couldn’t remove the paint gallons from the cart fast enough.

  Serena tried not to smile. He was such a guy. Being accused of any sign of weakness got them every time.

  Not that she thought Rad was vulnerable in any way. He was one of the most confident men she’d ever met. It was there even now in the way he held himself, in his regally erect posture, in the strength he projected.

  Two hours later, Serena stood back from the wall they’d painted and nodded approvingly. “That looks really good.”

  “Really good.” But Rad was looking at her, not the wall, when he said that.

  “Oh, yeah, I’m a regular fashion plate in my paint-splattered clothes.” She’d secured her ring on a long chain around her neck—tucked between her breasts, secure against her heart, and safe from paint splatters. The same could not be said about the red tank top and short denim overalls that she’d worn for painting on more than one occasion. “You see this?” She pointed to the cuff above her knee. “That’s from my living room. And this spot up here…” She pointed to her chest. “This shade is in my bedroom.”

  Rad wished he was in her bedroom.

  But she was in his bedroom. So was his bed. Yeah, it was covered with a drop cloth, but it was there, howling his name. He and Ben had carried it up early that morning. Serena was standing right beside it.

  All it would take was a little maneuvering and presto, he could tumble her backward onto the wide mattress and have his way with her. The fit of his running shorts became tight as the mental images he was playing in his mind resembled something out of the Playboy Channel.

  Oh yeah, he’d w
atch as Serena removed the backward baseball cap she had on her head, allowing her silky blond hair to tumble down over her shoulders. She’d slowly slide the strap of her overalls off one shoulder, then the other shoulder until the bib front fell to her waist, revealing her midriff tank top.

  He had no idea if her tank top was midriff, but hey, this was his fantasy.

  She’d give a seductive wiggle of her hips and shimmy out of her overalls, leaving her standing there in lacy-black underwear and a red tank top.

  She’d come closer to him, sidling up to slide her hands up his arms, smiling her pleasure at the size of his biceps. He’d caught her eyeing him earlier, when he’d first changed into the ripped-off sleeveless black T-shirt that he used for workouts. Her hands would move beneath his shirt around his back. She’d run her fingertips over the ridges of his spine until they reached the elastic waistband of his running shorts. He closed his eyes with anticipation.…

  “Are you falling asleep?”

  His eyes shot open to find Serena staring at him with concern rather than passion.

  So much for X-rated fantasies. The woman of his dreams was standing there, showing no signs of starting any striptease routine.

  “No, I was just thinking.”

  “About what?”

  “About you.”

  She grinned at him. “Trying to figure out how I conned you into painting your bedroom Contentment Blue, huh?”

  Trying to figure out how to coax you into my bed.

  “You’ve gone awfully quiet all of a sudden,” she noted. “Everything okay?”

  “You’re painting outside the lines.”

  “Excuse me?”

  He pointed to the blue painters’ tape he’d efficiently placed around the outlets, windows and woodwork. “Look, you’ve got paint on the plastic here. You’re supposed to use the small brush or the foam brush for this detail work. Understood?”

  “Aye, aye, mon capitain.” Her salute was as saucy as her grin.

  “What is that?” he demanded, irritated by the fact that she was in such a good mood when he didn’t have her any closer to falling into his bed. “You think we’re in the French Foreign Legion or something?”

  “You know, I never noticed it before, but you’re kind of cute when you get all grumpy like this.”

  Cute? Cute? Puppies and kittens were cute. Not Marines. Rad was speechless.