Married to a Marine

by Cathie Linz

  Justice couldn’t believe it. The place had been practically deserted two minutes ago and now people were coming out of the woodwork—from the boat dock, from the backroom. All of them slapping him on the back, hailing him as a hero.

  He hated it. Hated living a lie. Sure he’d saved a kid’s life, but he was no hero.

  Because the question that he kept hidden in that dark place inside him was, Would he do the same thing again, knowing he might risk his future with Force Recon? And the answer that was eating him up inside was that he didn’t know. He didn’t know if he’d do the same thing again.

  Ask him if he’d risk death by deploying out on a dangerous mission with Force Recon tomorrow and the answer was an immediate and heartfelt yes. He’d risk death. For the greater good. The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few.

  That began in boot camp, where the words I, me or mine were deleted from a new recruit’s vocabulary. Yet wasn’t he betraying that philosophy by worrying about his own future with the Marine Corps?

  Justice had always been a man who saw things in black and white, never shades of gray. Now it felt as if he were quagmired in grays, bogged down and unable to maneuver.

  He wanted to shout at them all that he was no hero, that men like Earl who’d fought for their country in the Korean War, men like the rescue workers at the World Trade Center—they were the real heroes. But he couldn’t say a word. He could only stand there like a wooden figure, while the words flowed around him.

  Kelly noticed his rigid stance and the muscle ticking along his jaw. He was the epitome of controlled emotion. Clearly something was going on inside his head, and just as clearly he was doing everything in his power to hide it. This was more than discomfort at being called a hero. He’d practically recoiled from the use of the word.

  Not that his state of mind was apparent to anyone but her. But then she was looking at him through the eyes of a woman…A woman, what? she asked herself. You better not have been about to say a woman in love. Because that is not on the agenda here. You are not allowed to go down that path, no matter how tempting he might be.

  For once Kelly ignored that sensible voice inside and instead kept her focus on Justice. Quickly gathering up the groceries, she dumped them on the front counter and said, “Well, we’ve got to get going now. Could you add this up for us, Earl?”

  “It’s on the house,” Earl proclaimed. “No way I’d charge a hero.”

  “And there’s no way Justice can accept your gracious offer,” Kelly said. Leaning closer to Earl, she smiled and said, “You know how these Marines are. Not wanting to be in anyone’s debt, very proud and all that.”

  Earl nodded knowingly and whispered conspiratorially. “You’re right.” A little louder he said, “Okay, it’s not on the house, but I’m tossing in a box of chocolates for you two newlyweds. No arguing now.”

  Kelly would have corrected Earl about his misconception that she and Justice were a couple, but that would have meant staying longer and she got the definite impression that Justice wanted out of there ASAP. So she held her tongue, accepted the chocolates, paid the money and smiled at Earl as Justice took both bags in his good left hand.

  “Sorry about that,” Kelly said once they were out of earshot of the store.

  “I told you I didn’t want to go there,” Justice growled. “And I’ll pay you back for the food as soon as we get to the beach house.”

  Knowing he was upset, she didn’t challenge his rude tone of voice and instead kept pace with his fast march forward. She waited about five minutes before saying, “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Talk about what?”

  “About why being called a hero upsets you so much.”

  “Drop it.”

  This time his curt order did irritate her. “What was I thinking? Of course a big bad Marine wouldn’t want to talk about his emotions. He’s not supposed to have any, right?”

  By this time they’d reached a turn in the path shaded by a stand of palmettos.

  “Emotions? You want emotions?” Justice dropped the plastic grocery bags onto the soft sand. “I’ll show you emotions.” Snagging her with his good arm, he kissed her.

  Unlike the last time, he initiated this embrace. Just like last time the touch of his mouth on hers created instant heat and undeniable temptation.

  But there was a new element as his tongue traced the outline of her lips before hungrily parting them to dip inside, exploring the inner softness with expert thoroughness. There was rawness here, a well of powerful emotions that caught her up and propelled her into the turbulent passion of the moment.

  Held tightly against his body, her breasts were pressed against his chest. The thin cotton of his shirt and her T-shirt couldn’t hide the warmth of his body, or the immediacy of her response. Her nipples tingled as she felt the hardening of his lower body beneath the placket of his jeans.

  He was devouring her, eating her up with deliciously wicked thrusts of his tongue, heating her up with deliciously wicked thrusts of his hips. She ached deep inside, wanting him so badly it hurt.

  Then Justice broke their embrace off as suddenly as he’d initiated it.

  She blinked at him, her gaze still clouded with passion. “What was that all about?”

  “Forget it.”

  “I don’t know what to say to that.”

  “That would be a first,” he muttered.

  The passion was clearing now, and Kelly wasn’t about to allow history to repeat itself. “This is the second time you’ve kissed me and expected me to act as if nothing happened.”

  “You kissed me when we were fishing.”

  “Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to stand here and argue like kids about who kissed who first.”

  “Good. Because I don’t want to argue with you.”

  “You just want to kiss me and then have me forget about it.”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Well, dream on, Marine. I like talking about things.”

  “Yeah, I noticed that. And I don’t like talking about things.”

  “Yeah, I noticed that,” she shot right back. “Tough noogies.”

  He lifted a dark eyebrow. “Tough noogies?”

  “A physical therapist never swears,” Kelly stated primly. “It shows a lack of discipline.”

  He had to smile at his own words being tossed back at him. “You’re really something, you know that?”

  He said it with some admiration, which made her have to ask, “What kind of something?”

  “There you go again. Asking questions.”

  “And there you go, clamming up.”

  “Speaking of clams, maybe we should go clamming this afternoon.”

  She waved his words away. “Don’t try to distract me with seafood. Were you complimenting me or insulting me by saying I’m really something?”

  “Complimenting.”

  “Like you’d admit if you were insulting me,” Kelly muttered.

  He shrugged. “Hey, it was your question.”

  “Right. Let me rephrase it then. Or ask an entirely different question. Why did you kiss me?”

  “You get right to the point, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” She met his stare head-on. No way was she letting him off the hook here. “Want me to repeat the question?”

  “No. And I don’t want to answer it, either.”

  “Tough—”

  “Noogies,” he completed for her. “Right. Okay, you want to know why I kissed you? Because you’re an incredibly sexy woman and I wanted to. Are you happy now?”

  Chapter Seven

  Was she happy now? Stunned was closer to the truth. Justice wanted to kiss her? Kelly didn’t know what to say. “Oh.”

  “That’s it? Just ‘oh’?”

  The man was mocking her. She should do something about that. The only problem was she couldn’t think clearly at the moment because her brain had turned to mush. And not by his kiss but by his words. You’re an in
credibly sexy woman and I wanted to kiss you.

  He had to be kidding. Men didn’t call her incredibly sexy. Cute was the term they usually used.

  Unless Justice had said that to throw her off track? That sounded like something he’d do. Much more likely than him actually believing she was incredibly sexy. “Oh, I get it. Clever, Justice, real clever, trying to throw me off track by saying I’m sexy.”

  “Why would that throw you offtrack?”

  “Why would you think I’m sexy?” she countered. “Come on, I’m not a foolish teenager ready to be bowled over by fancy words.”

  “I didn’t think they were all that fancy,” he denied. “In fact, I thought they were pretty straight-forward.”

  “So you expect me to believe that you kissed me because you found me so sexy that you had to drop the groceries and kiss me on the spot? Why now? Wasn’t I this sexy thirty minutes ago when we left the beach house?”

  “Actually you were sexier then,” Justice replied, “because your lips were all wet and shiny in the sunlight.”

  His words stopped Kelly in her tracks before she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “You’re making that up. You kissed me because you were aggravated with me. Why can’t you admit it?”

  “I’m always aggravated with you.”

  “Gee, thanks. I’m always aggravated with you, too.”

  “Creates some powerful sparks between us, doesn’t it?”

  “Aggravation?”

  “No, attraction.” Justice picked up the discarded groceries and strolled away, leaving Kelly standing speechless beneath the swaying palmettos.

  Justice had dropped a bombshell and then just walked off. For the next twenty-four hours he didn’t mention their kiss again or the attraction he’d referred to. But it was like that story about the elephant in the middle of the living room—there, even if no one referred to it.

  She felt the increasing sexual awareness in the way she responded to touching him, in the way he responded to her touch during their physical therapy sessions. Touch was a powerful thing. And touching Justice was a downright mighty thing—mighty dangerous.

  He was such a dynamic man. And a complicated one. She still wasn’t totally buying his claim that he’d kissed her because he was attracted to her. It was a tempting thought, though.

  But even more than that, she wanted to know what was eating away at him, what angst was simmering inside. Because as much as he tried to hide it, she knew something was going on inside this tough Marine of hers.

  Wait a second, she sternly ordered her thoughts. Justice is not your Marine. Let’s not get too possessive here.

  Too late, another internal voice warned. You’re already hooked like that fish in the creek the other day.

  That possibility made her cranky. The fact that Justice was in a similarly cranky mood was bound to create trouble sooner or later during their therapy session. Things came to a head later that afternoon.

  “I’m sick of these stupid, wimpy exercises. I’m not making any progress. I can’t even hold a stupid lightweight fishing pole properly, how the Sam Hill am I supposed to hold an M-16?”

  “I’m assuming that’s not a fishing pole?”

  “It’s a rifle.” He said the words as if speaking to an ignorant idiot.

  “I told you that there was no instant miracle cure for your injury. The shoulder is a very complex piece of machinery, made up of three bones, the scupula which is the shoulder blade, the humerus which is the upper arm bone and the clavicle or collarbone—”

  “Spare me the medical lecture,” he said, interrupting her, not even attempting to hide his impatience.

  Okay, now her aggravation was really reaching dangerous levels. She felt as if she were in a boxing ring. Aggravation versus attraction. In this corner was aggravation—with a stubborn Marine who hated showing any sign of weakness, be it physical or emotional. And in the opposite corner was attraction—to a man who made her hormones zing and her heart sing.

  Attraction and aggravation. Together they created a one-two punch that was bound to knock out even the most self-disciplined woman. Combine that with Justice’s awesome blue eyes and a mouth to die for and you had a pretty potent package, all wrapped up in a lean, dangerously male body.

  So he didn’t want a medical lecture? Fine. She wouldn’t speak to him at all for the rest of the day. What’s more, she wouldn’t even tell him she wasn’t speaking to him. She’d just go ahead and kill him with silence.

  It did occur to her briefly that this was a man who adored silence, but by then she’d already mentally committed to this course of action. Turning on her heel, she walked out of the beach house and left him to stew in his own juices.

  The stray dog was waiting for her on the deck with a sloppy grin. Here was someone who liked her, someone who accepted her without question, someone who listened and cared what she thought. So what if his ears were too big for his head, if his paws were out of proportion with his body, if said body could use a good wash….

  Twenty minutes later Kelly had hauled a metal washtub from the side of the beach house and filled it with water from the hose she’d attached to an outside faucet. She was going to wash the dog. She was going to accomplish something. The very idea made her feel good.

  The dog didn’t appear to be equally enamored with the plan, eyeing the metal washtub with Justice-like wariness.

  “Don’t even go there,” Kelly warned the animal. “I don’t want to see any of that male distrust on your face. I’ve had enough of that for one lifetime. I’m not going to drown you in a foot of water, okay? Just get in.”

  The dog sighed and cautiously moved forward. Of course, the fact that Kelly was holding a doggie treat in her hand might have been a big motivating factor. She’d tossed them in with the groceries when she and Justice had visited the small store yesterday. She still had no idea why the interaction with the people there had so disturbed Justice. He refused to talk about it.

  Kelly figured it had something to do with them calling him a hero. Was the guy just being modest? She didn’t think so. Justice appeared to have plenty of self-confidence. So why would being called a hero bother him so much? What was the big deal here?

  It was a mystery to her, as was Justice. And it looked like he’d remain that way. The frustrating thing was that every so often she’d see a flash of the man behind the iron wall, the man who would smile at her humor, the man who would admire a stunning sunset, the man who kissed with a sensitivity and passion that was beyond description.

  Yet he’d only let her get so close before pushing her away. It was incredibly frustrating.

  At least the dog was behaving himself, sitting docilely in the metal tub while she soaped him up with a bar of soap she’d filched from the bathroom. Water sloshed over her bare legs and her denim cutoffs but she didn’t care.

  “What a good baby you are,” she crooned as she gently lathered the dog’s back. Although he’d fattened up some, she could still feel his spiny backbone, poor thing. “You’re being so patient, sitting there. Because you know I’m only trying to help you, right? Unlike that big bad Marine in there, who doesn’t have a clue. He doesn’t trust anyone, but you trust me don’t you, boy?”

  The dog licked her cheek.

  “I have to come up with a name for you, besides ‘The Aforementioned Canine.’ Justice calls you that to keep you at a distance, you know. So you shouldn’t take it personally. He treats everyone that way. Keeping them at a distance. Only, sometimes you get a flash of the man beneath the tough exterior and that’s when you get in trouble.”

  The dog whined.

  “Not that you’d be any trouble. You’re so good.”

  He stood and wagged his tail, almost whacking her across the face with his wet tail. “Hold on, we’re not done yet.”

  The dog sat again, splashing soapy water over the side of the metal tub.

  “What I meant about trouble is that when I get a flash of the real Justice, I’m tempted into falling for h
im and I cannot let that happen. I’ve told myself that a dozen times already. And now I’m telling you, a dog. But you’re an especially understanding dog, aren’t you, sweetie?” Using her soapy hands, Kelly rubbed the dog’s ears. “A very good listener.”

  Woof.

  “Okay, I’m ready to rinse you now. Just stay.” Kelly used one hand to reach out and lift the nearby garden hose. “We have to come up with a name for you. How about Chocolate? You’re a dark color and you’re sweet. Chocolate sounds good. A perfect name for you.”

  “It’s a dumb name.”

  Justice’s voice startled Kelly, making her lose her grip on the dog and arcing the water from the hose…right across Justice’s bare chest.

  “You did that on purpose,” he accused her.

  “I did not. Honest. I didn’t even know you were there.” Kelly certainly hoped Justice hadn’t heard her pouring her heart out to Chocolate. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that. Oh, wait, I forgot for a moment. That’s what you do, isn’t it. Sneak up on people.”

  “Only those who have dangerous secrets to hide.”

  “That counts me out then.”

  “I’m not so sure about that.”

  She aimed the hose at him. “That time I hit you on purpose.”

  “Which calls for retaliation.”

  “Now, Justice, you deserved it.” Even as she was speaking, Kelly was backing away from the beach house and hose, trying to get out of range. “You know you did.”

  “And you don’t deserve retaliation?”

  “No, I do not. I was minding my own business washing the dog…”

  “Minding your own business? Hah! You never mind your own business.”

  She made a diving leap for the hose, but he got to it first. “This what you were looking for?” he asked, holding up the hose with his good hand, his expression one of false innocence.

  “No.” She quickly backed up again. “I was merely trying to check on Chocolate.”