by Marie Harte
Table of Contents
Title Page
A Major Connection
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Epilogue
About the Author
Other Contemporary Romance Releases
A Major Connection
by Marie Harte
A Major Connection
All’s fair in love and discipline
Major April Soames is spending her last days as a Marine soaking up the sun and dog sitting for her sister. Unfortunately, the troublesome canine has dug up the garden of the last person in the world April expects to see—sexy Gunnery Sgt. Robert Thorn. The man is a hundred percent male with a body that won’t quit and an aggressive attitude to match. He’s unforgiving, and now the darn dog has made a mess of his tomatoes.
Gunny Bobby Thorn has seen the major hottie on base, but officers and enlisted don’t mix. Then he learns she’s on terminal leave, only a few more weeks until she’s officially a civilian. That makes her fair game, and she’s just what he needs to add a little pleasure to his life. Thorn finds himself falling for her. Hard. Between her sharp wit, snarky attitude, and gorgeous looks, he’s addicted and needing more.
But April has plans to move on with her life, and Thorn’s not all that great when it comes to maintaining relationships. But with a little mastery in the bedroom and some tactical planning, he’s going to find a way to storm her defenses. When it comes to the heart, this is one Marine playing for keeps.
GOOD TO GO
A Major Attraction
A Major Seduction
A Major Distraction
A Major Connection
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and plot points stem from the writer’s imagination. They are fictitious and not to be interpreted as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locations or organizations is entirely coincidental.
A Major Connection
Copyright © October 2014 by Marie Harte
No Box Books
Cover by Tibbs Design
All Rights Are Reserved. None of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations used for reviews or promotion.
http://marieharte.com
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To April Renee Symes, thank you for pushing for Bobby’s story. You were the perfect inspiration to give him his own happily-ever-after. Thank you for being such a great beta reader too. You rock. Semper Fi!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
OTHER CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE RELEASES
Chapter One
Emerald Isle, North Carolina
Gunnery Sergeant Robert Thorn glared at the repeat offender once again digging up his yard. “This is ridiculous.” He ignored the growls and large teeth flashing at him, grabbed the mutt by the collar, and dragged the freakishly large canine away from his garden to the side of the house.
After tying the dog up, where it sprawled in the cool shade as if it belonged there, Thorn stalked inside and dialed the number on the back of the monster’s tags.
Straight to voicemail, but at the end, he was directed to another number, one different from the last one he’d used. After dialing, he received a canned invitation to leave a message. Tired, aggravated, and beyond annoyed at another ruined tomato plant, he barked an order for whoever the hell had let the beast loose this time to come get him. Otherwise, Lobo would be taking a trip to the pound.
After disconnecting, he felt a measure better.
He walked back to the dog and stood staring down at the thing. “Jesus, Lobo, that makes four plants you’ve destroyed since Memorial Day. What the hell?”
Lobo grinned at him, a large pink tongue dangling from a huge mouth. He looked like a weird cross of German Shepherd and Wolfhound and easily weighed over a hundred pounds. A handsome dog, truth be told. But the thing needed discipline.
“Friggin’ Morrow owes me for this.” Captain Morrow, his old Operations Officer, was currently doing a stint in South America, that much Thorn knew. In the weeks he’d been gone, Lobo had apparently bounced from pet sitter to pet sitter. Not one of the morons Morrow had hired to watch the dog had kept Lobo away from Thorn’s garden.
The dog had a hard-on for his tomatoes and beans for some reason.
With a sigh, Thorn unbuttoned his uniform blouse and tossed it and his cover—what his mother still called a hat—onto the patio table. Then he grabbed a spade from the garage and tried to salvage his baby tomatoes. And green beans. And peppers. Damn dog.
Fifteen minutes later, he heard a car drive up and stop, then a door slam.
“I so don’t need this.” A woman’s voice. “What have you done now, Lobo?”
To his surprise, she sounded familiar. Thorn rose from the garden and rejoined the dog.
A blonde with long hair pulled back in a ponytail crouched by the canine, muttering under her breath while she stroked him. She wore running shorts and a light blue tee-shirt, and from what Thorn could see she had a kick-ass body.
“You the dog sitter?” he asked.
She looked up at him, groaned, and rose to her feet.
He laughed out loud. Talk about fate dumping a sexy headache into his lap. He knew this woman with the killer curves and long, long legs. She was gorgeous, a pain in the ass, and she liked to give orders.
He rocked back on his heels and crossed his arms over his chest with a mean smile. “Well, well. Major Soames. What a surprise to see you here at my house. And out of uniform.”
She flushed, and he chuckled, loving the sight of this assertive female on the receiving end of a situation for once.
“Well, hell. It just figures I have to deal with you after my very long day.” She sighed and tugged at her ponytail. He had a sudden urge to touch her hair, to see if it felt as soft as it looked. “Look, I’m sorry for whatever damage demon dog did to your house. God knows he’s already ripped up my sister’s backyard.”
“I thought this was Captain Morrow’s dog.” He recalled that Morrow had recently become engaged. Was Soames the captain’s fiancée? The notion didn’t sit right.
She sighed again and planted her hands on trim hips. Thorn had run into her on the base a time or two since they worked in adjacent buildings. But even if he hadn’t seen her, he’d heard about her. All the guys liked to talk about Major Soames. Being a female Marine, and an officer at that, naturally brought attention to her. Add in the fact that she was smokin’ hot and everyone seemed to know of her.
Of course, he’d always seen her dressed in camouflage utilities, her hair braided and tucked away under a cover. Never in her PT—physical training—gear, with her hair in a sexy ponytail. Holy shit, the woman had legs. And breasts. And so much thick blond hair, pulled back from a face he’d thought of far too often for his peace of mind.
“…with him being deployed, Jane can’t handle the dog and the coming baby, so she went back home to see my parents for a bit,” she was saying. “My sister needed help, and I stupidly volunteered to dog sit.”
“So Morrow is your brother-in-law.”
“Technically he’s my almost brother-in-law. They’re engaged.” She frowned. “Weren’t you listening to me?”
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“Yeah.” He just stared at her. What the hell was it about this woman that got on his last nerve and fascinated him at the same time?
“Jesus, Gunny. Take a picture. It’d last longer,” she snapped.
There was that sharp tongue. He’d only once been the recipient of it, and though she’d had just cause to tell him to get his Marines in line, he hadn’t liked it. Thorn wasn’t a big fan of officers in general. Most of them liked to tell him what to do without knowing what the hell they were talking about.
He raised a brow. “Well, now, Ma’am. I’m just not used to seeing you in PT gear, that’s all.” Nothing inappropriate about that, and though he liked rattling her, he didn’t want her crying sexual harassment or thinking he might be that kind of guy. He didn’t hate women in the Corps. Far from it. He respected all women, those who wore the uniform and those who didn’t.
Unfortunately, Major April Soames had landed on his radar months ago and refused to vacate. He didn’t have time for a woman like her, one who’d require his patience, attention, and focus. Yet… She’d prove a challenge, and he’d been bored with life lately. Except her status as an officer made her off-limits. He fought the urge to growl, feeling as temperamental as Lobo.
“Whatever. I’m taking the dog, unless you have a problem with that?”
“No, Major.”
“And you can drop all the major/ma’am stuff. I just started my terminal leave. One more month and I’m a civilian.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I’m out. Done.” She didn’t sound happy about the fact.
Thorn heard an internal click from deep inside him. Major Soames had been unattainable before. The Marine Corps’s policy of no fraternization was a rule Thorn followed to the letter. He’d seen a few friends get burned. Officers and enlisted didn’t mix.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked as she grabbed Lobo by the collar. She untied the rope holding him and handed it to Thorn.
“Keep it. Use it as a leash to take him home.” He found himself smiling, more than pleased when she scowled back at him. Soames didn’t back down from much. She had a reputation as a ballbuster, and he could respect that. Nothing worse than an officer who couldn’t hold his or her rank. Thorn loved confrontation, and he had a feeling he’d be getting into some deep discussions with Soames in the near future.
The major was totally fair game now. He stepped closer and looked down at her, pleased to be a good foot taller. He liked his women smaller, and she stood at the perfect height for a kiss.
“Ah, okay.” She took a hasty step back, still scowling, and tugged Lobo with her. Then she turned on her heel and left, giving him the perfect view of her amazing ass.
He followed her to her car. “See you later…Major.”
“Jackass,” he heard her murmur as she hustled the dog into the backseat.
She drove away, and he let out the laugh building inside him. He now had plans for the weekend, plans that involved a stubborn woman and his upcoming empty weeks of well-deserved time off. Thorn moved back to his garden, strategizing all the way.
“Oh my God. Could you be more of a pain? A cute pain, but still,” she said to the smiling dog as they drove back to her sister’s house. While Jane visited the folks in Raleigh, April had signed on to house sit and take care of the dog. She liked Lobo—or at least she used to—and she needed time to figure out what she planned to do with her life.
A flash of Gunnery Sgt. Robert Thorn replayed itself in her mind’s eye, and she snarled at the dog again. Lobo couldn’t care less, sprawled out in her backseat and hanging his massive head out the window.
God. Thorn had been a literal thorn in her side for months. She’d noticed him right off, of course. Even in a sea of green uniforms, he stood out. The guy was seriously huge. He had the size and build of a pro-wrestler, and he had to be six-three or bigger, because he dwarfed her. The gunnery sergeant had a sneer he wore for officers and authority in general, though from what she knew of his reputation, he could be counted on to get the job done. Force Recon Marines had a natural cockiness due to the rigorous training and sheer will it took to work in that unit, but Thorn stood out even among those badasses.
It didn’t help that his sneer totally turned her on.
As a female officer in a world dominated by men, April had always needed to be stronger and tougher just to be thought of as average. She’d once dated a fellow Marine. That hadn’t ended well, so she’d made it a policy not to go out with her peers. She’d certainly never fraternize with those outside of her pay grade, putting her career in jeopardy. Yet as the years passed, she’d felt something lacking. The civilian men she’d dated didn’t cut it. Most of them couldn’t fathom why she’d chosen her job, and the ones that could always felt they had something to prove. True alpha tendencies turned her off, because those men tended to try to steamroll her without regard to her thoughts.
That domineering, take-charge attitude only worked with her if tempered by compassion and respect for her independence. In addition, that toughness had to come from a man physically and mentally powerful. She’d met plenty of the buff types, but mentally she outweighed them all.
The Marine Corps had been a great fit for her. At first. As the years wore on, the constant deployments and long hours took their toll. The sacrifices demanded of her started to feel too heavy. Though she loved her Marines and her job as a logistics officer, when her ten year mark had come around, she’d known she had to make a decision.
It hadn’t been easy, but she knew it was the right one. And so, over a decade after she’d first taken her oath of office, she’d put in her terminal leave papers and made a step toward her uncertain future. She would no longer be Major April Soames. Trying to get a feel for her new life, she now answered to Ms. Soames.
It hurt to let go of a past she’d for the most part enjoyed. But the knowledge she’d never again have to iron a uniform overjoyed her. No more six a.m. PT sessions, where they ran for miles and did unending calisthenics. No more log runs or obstacle courses during heatstroke conditions. No more saluting and dealing with asshole higher ranks. She could now say what she thought when she wanted.
And hopefully she’d have no more lonely nights because she didn’t trust men not to mark her off their “to do” lists. She’d heard the whispers, knew there’d been bets about who could tag the Major Babe. She hadn’t let it bother her. Or at least, she’d tried not to. But the truth was, she wanted to be taken seriously in her job. And damn it, she wanted a boyfriend she could trust who’d understand her. A Marine would have been an ideal companion.
Someone hot, seductive, and demanding who’d give her some much needed sex. No one should have a dry spell lasting as long as hers. Two years was two years too many.
Once again, her thoughts turned to Gunny Thorn. Now that man sparked something inside her. She liked her men on the confident, forceful side. Thorn put the A in aggressive. She had no idea what he was like in his personal life, if he had a girlfriend even. He didn’t wear a ring, so no wife. But for all she knew, he could be a total player. With that square jaw, sky-blue eyes, and rock hard body, he could pretty much have any woman he wanted.
She groaned as she pulled into her sister’s driveway and resolved to stop thinking about him.
“Come on, Lobo. Let’s get you something to eat.” She parked and got out, then opened the car door for him.
Wagging his tail and smirking at her as only Lobo could, the dog leaped from the car and darted to the front door. She let them both in and saw him go straight for the water dish.
“Of course you’re thirsty. You ran half a mile to Satan’s house. What is your deal with him, anyway?” She’d been warned the dog would try to make a break for it by the last sitter Jane had hired. For some reason, Lobo wanted to be near that crabby, autocratic giant of a man. Or at least, near his garden.
April made herself dinner, watched some mindless television, then took Lobo for a leashed walk down the
beach—the one great thing about watching Jane’s place. Jane, like Thorn, lived in Emerald Isle near the beach. Though Thorn’s house had been a street over from the beach, Jane looked right over the ocean. Only a small stretch of sand sat between her and salt water.
As April enjoyed the evening air and the sand between her toes, she ran into Matt Sayers, a handsome vacationer enjoying some time with his parents a few doors down.
“Hey, Major Soames.” He had a nice smile. Short blond hair, green eyes, and a nice enough build.
Oh boy. She’d used the word nice twice to describe him. He hadn’t yet annoyed her or attracted her to distraction, which according to her friends meant she wasn’t into him. But she could be. He didn’t wear rank, didn’t have a girlfriend, and had thus far been respectful in their limited dealings with each other.
“Matt.” She smiled back at him. Perhaps she should go against her usual type and ask him out. Something to stem her summer boredom at least and hold her anxiety about her future at bay. She had so many issues about her life, and—
“You look great, as usual.” He gave her an appraising onceover. “How would you like to go out with a civilian tomorrow night? And by civilian, I mean me. Maybe hit a bar or two?”
The idea held appeal. Something to shake up her normally ordered little world, something different that she could still control. But at a bar where she might run into some of her Marines?
She knew asking him to stay in might send the wrong message. Matt was cute but not someone she planned on jumping into bed with. An image of a sneering Gunny Thorn came to mind, and she hastily wiped it away. “I’d like that, but I’m not really into the bar scene. How about we do dinner and a stroll on the beach afterward instead?”
“Sounds great.” He did have a nice—handsome, not nice—smile.
They walked together before he asked, “So how long have you been in the Marines, Major?”
