21 Marine Salute: 21 Always a Marine Tales (96 page)

“Everywhere except the ER.” It was their mantra, a code to live by. Messes came to them. They cleaned it up. Life might be messy, but not in the ER. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”

It took a few days after the news sank in and the morning sickness passed for her to realize she wasn’t upset. Shocked? Absolutely. A little embarrassed. Definitely. But excitement threaded her nerves each time she touched her tummy or noticed some subtle change.

And they were all subtle changes at the moment. Except for her boobs, which hurt.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I wanted to start training you for a supervisor position, groom you as it were. We’re going to cut back your hours on the floor as much as I can within reason. You can run labs, regulate patient flow, process charts, and handle the rotation of the student nurses.”

Lillianna lifted her brows. “You know that suspiciously sounds like a heck of a lot more work.”

“Yes and you can do a lot of it sitting down. It’s less hours on your feet.” Jodi rose and gave her a quick hug. “But the student nurses are a pain in the ass and that’s your punishment.”

She couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing and squeezed her in return. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Eat, and get back to work. I’ve got stuff to do. Keep me in the loop, okay? We can get through this.” She didn’t wait for any response, hustling out of the locker room.

Glad for the reprieve, Lillianna wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. Her mother used to tell her everything happened for a reason. Believing the thought helped.

The buzzing of her phone dragged her back to the present. Pulling it out, she stared at the screen. Rebecca’s name popped up with a simple message.
We have to do lunch. Get some time off or I’m coming to find you
.

Her good mood evaporated. Could she see Becca and not tell her?
No
. If she told her, wouldn’t she tell Luke who would tell Paul? She’d put off telling him for four weeks.

Do I really have the right not to tell him?
Guilt nibbled at her. She looked at the message again and typed.
Lunch Saturday? I have to talk. Private
.

She didn’t have to wait long for Rebecca’s response.
Where and when?

***

“A baby? Oh, my God.” Rebecca stared at her, wide-eyed and smiling. And then she behaved like a proper friend, leaping up and squealing. She threw her arms around Lillianna and hugged her. “I’m happy for you....” She pulled back abruptly. “I am happy for you, right?”

“Yes, you’re happy for me.” She didn’t even try to contain her own grin. They collapsed together in another long hug. “Thank you for being happy for me.” It was the first time she got to squeal about it.

Reclaiming her seat, Rebecca leaned forward and grabbed her hands. “Okay, tell me everything. Who is he? When do I get to meet him? When are you due?”

“Um....”
Tackling the hard stuff right away
. “You know him.”

“I do?” Her former roommate blinked. “Who?”

“Paul Torres, I met him at your wedding.” She braced for her response.

“Torres.” Rebecca frowned, as though trying to place him. “He must have been one of the Marines who came in for the wedding. I don’t know all of them, I mean I met them, but….” she made a face. “I didn’t really have a chance to talk to everyone that much. But I saw you dancing with your escort, one of Luke’s groomsmen.”

“Guilty.”

“That’s wonderful. Urk.” Rebecca made the leap and if it weren’t so serious, Lillianna would have laughed at the instant expression of ‘urk’ on her face. “Was it a four weddings and a funeral kind of hookup? Lots of hot sex and no phone calls after? Oh, I swear, I’ll have Luke kick his ass.”

“No.” Lillianna squeezed her hand. “He didn’t seduce me…well, he did, but it was a pretty mutual seduction, and he didn’t call me because I didn’t give him my number, or a note, or anything else for that matter. I left before he woke up.”

“Was it that bad?”

“No. God, Rebecca. I’m not going to give you the blow-by-blow and before you ask, no.” She pulled her hands free and lifted her glass for a sip of water. They were tucked into a comfortable corner of a bistro in Frisco. It was a favorite of Lillianna’s and quiet during the weekend lunch hour—vital for delivering such news.

“So have you seen him at all since?”

“No, and again not his fault. He had new orders, I think he deployed overseas.”
To Germany if I recall correctly, but then I wasn’t focusing on his PCS
.

“Do you want to be in touch with him?”

“That’s the ten-thousand-dollar question.” She’d thought about it. Rethought it. Talked herself into and out of it a hundred times. “I knew him for twelve hours and this isn’t Terminator, we didn’t love each other enough for a lifetime. We used a condom, I didn’t ask him to use one, didn’t have to. He was prepared. He was prepared to avoid pregnancy. I’m pregnant. Thank you for our one-night fling, by the way, we’re having a baby.”

“So? He’s still the father. If anything, he can help you out. Financially. Emotionally. Something. You don’t have to go through this on your own. If he won’t step up, trust me, Luke can do….”

“Becs, please? Let it go. I haven’t decided whether or not I’ll tell him. I know I have to at some point. But, right now, he’s overseas on a duty assignment. He can be redeployed at the whim of the Marine Corps. You forget, I grew up in this life. His life isn’t his own. Telling him simply means he learns about a baby he can’t see. I’m not going to move to be there or change my life for him. He shouldn’t have to change his life for me.” It sounded so rational and utterly cold. Their conversation halted while the waitress delivered their sandwiches and fries.

“Yeah, no one should have to do anything, but maybe he’ll want to. Besides, you didn’t make a baby by yourself.”

“But I’m okay with it. I want this baby.” Opening the ketchup bottle, she squeezed out a helping onto the plate. “I really do. I wasn’t, I never thought about being ready or making plans or even dating a guy for longer than fifteen minutes. But now that I am pregnant? I want the baby. I want the fun and the two a.m. feedings and the lack of sleep and the for-the-love-of-God conversations…I want it all.”

“Okay, playing devil’s advocate here. What if he wants the same things? What then?”

“I don’t know. But it’s not a conversation to have from thousands of miles apart. You know, we’re also assuming he even remembers my name.”

“Oh, he remembers it.” Rebecca glanced at her plate, a flush staining her cheeks.

“How do you know? You didn’t even know who he was.” Lillianna narrowed her eyes, studying her. “What do you know?”

“I know one of Luke’s buddies asked for your phone number. Wouldn’t say why so I wouldn’t give it. Luke said he met you at the wedding and I was going to mention it and then completely forgot about it because of the expansion. So….” Guilt colored her tone. “He did want to get in touch with you. But I think maybe I got in the way.”

“Oh.” Her stomach did another flip-flop. That changed everything. Didn’t it?

“I’m sorry. Right up until this moment I’d forgotten about it and I shouldn’t have.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” Rebecca shook her head and took a bite of her sandwich. They ate in contemplative silence for several minutes. “Do you want his number?”

Did she? She should. Theoretical rejection seemed easier to deal with than the real thing and nowhere near as terrifying as the possibility that he might want more. Lust kindled heat in her blood, and she squashed the lascivious thoughts. It wasn’t about his body or hers, it was about a baby.

A baby they made.

“Yeah, I do. And Becs? If anyone tells him, it has to be me. Don’t tell Luke or let Luke tell him.”

“I won’t lie to Luke, but this is your news to tell the father. Luke will understand that. And if he doesn’t…well, I’ll deal with it.”

“Thank you.”

“I love you, Lillianna. You were there for me and I’ll be there for you. In fact, I think I’m going to throw you the biggest, swankiest baby shower in the world.” And she would. Rebecca planned events for a living. “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl yet?”

Paul leaned back in the chair and studied the thrumming crowd in The Wall. Tuesday was the most popular night at the BDSM club—the equivalent of a Friday night in the states. But the weekend didn’t lack for creative culture or couples and singles getting their kink on. A public scene played out on the main stage and held some of the audience captive, but many made the rounds of the dance floor, headed upstairs for a quieter, private suite or like Paul, kicked back at a table and soaked up the atmosphere.

Berlin served as home to a large number of the sexier clubs, unsurprising considering that prior to Hitler’s ascension, licentiousness made for common currency among the city’s vibrant nightlife. Paul had to wonder how long it took many of these underground clubs to flourish once the wall came down—in fact The Wall club featured an entire section built from the demolished stonework erected when the city was divided.

The historical touch really added to the atmosphere. But most of it seemed lost on him. It was his fourth attempt to go out since arriving in the city, but what used to intrigue him merely left him cold.

“You don’t look like you’re having a good time.” Kate Thompson slid into the chair next to him. A field medic with the Navy, she worked at the instructional center right alongside him. They offered key training to internal and external military on serving in the current hot zones. At five foot ten, curvy and muscled, Kate looked like a beautiful Amazon.

And sadly, not his type.

“I’m fine.” He topped off the statement with a swig of his beer, as if to show that he
was
having fun.

“Uh huh.” Kate leaned on the table, chin propped on her hand. “I don’t believe you.”

Sliding a sideways look at her, he sighed. She wore a plunging neckline black dress. It hugged every curve and did nothing to disguise the aroused state of her nipples. She toyed with her glass, tracing her finger around the rim. Suggestive, demure, with just a hint of submission—dammit, she was supposed to be his type. Four months with no word should be enough for his body to get over its interest in one woman.

But no.

“Not going to happen, Kate. Not tonight.”
Not ever
. But that was too harsh a dismissal. He should have been nicer about it, but in his experience it didn’t pay to toy with someone’s emotions. She made a subtle offer; he rejected it. Case closed.

“Okay, but in all seriousness, some of us are worried about you.” She didn’t have to elaborate on who the ‘some of us’ were. Considering their relatively small community on base and at the school, those with a taste for the kink knew each other pretty damn well. His lack of interest or participation had been noticed.

“Nothing to worry about. Seriously.”

“And again, I don’t believe you.” She covered his hand with hers. “Friend to friend, what’s up?” All trace of sexual flirtation abandoned the conversation.

“I met someone on my last leave.”
And I can’t get her out of my head. If only I could get her on the damn phone
.

“Ahh. Okay.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “Understood. Disappointed, but I understand.”

He and Kate never played before, so her reasons for being disappointed must be the missed opportunity. Past her, the sight of another Marine entering caught his attention.
Excellent, David can distract her
. “Looks like you won’t be disappointed for long. Go play with Sparks.”

She grinned and abandoned him to his thoughts without a backward glance. Kate was good people, gorgeous and from what he understood—a very sweet and willing partner. But he hadn’t been able to scrub the sassy smile or playful wonder out of his mind. One night did not a long-term relationship make, but it definitely gave him an obsession.

If he hadn’t already planned to head back to Texas the first chance he got, he would have to. He had to get the woman out of his mind. Particularly if she wasn’t interested in pursuing anything further while he served a few thousand miles away.

He called Luke the week before, trying to fish for information, but the captain avoided answering any of his questions save for a cryptic, “Becca said she gave her your phone number.” The captain didn’t mention when or how long before, but his phone didn’t ring and he had no missed calls.

Maybe I just suck it up and accept that it was a one-night thing for her
.

He hung out at the club for another hour, but the knot of tension between his shoulder blades wouldn’t relax. Kate and her guy were nowhere to be seen as were most of the regulars he knew on sight. Pausing at the bar to pay his tab, he left just before midnight. Back to his rack, grab some sleep and live to teach another day.

***

His phone rang the moment he stepped into his apartment. The foreign number included a recognizable area code. Locking the door, he answered. “Torres.”

“Hi.” Her voice whispered across the cell like a warm breeze.

“Hey.” He smiled. “I owe you an apology, pretty lady. I wanted to take you out for breakfast and give you my number.”

“I’m the one who left, so why would you be the one to apologize?” The intelligent challenge in her voice rubbed him like a caress.

“True, but I find it wise to never ask a lady to apologize when I didn’t need to sleep so late.” Stripping off his jacket, he sat down on the sofa. “But if you want to apologize, I’ll let you.”

Silence first, and then laughter and he smiled again. God, it was pathetic how great her voice sounded on the phone. “So have you missed me, Lily?”
Because I missed you
.

“I wanted to leave you a note. But I didn’t see any pens or paper and…then I thought I would text myself from your phone, leave you a message that way, but I have a moral objection to going through other peoples’ things.”

“There was a third option.” He leaned back and stretched his legs out. “You should have woken me up.”