Read Falling for the Marine (A McCade Brothers Novel) (Entangled Brazen) Online

Authors: Samanthe Beck

Tags: #private practice, #lover undercover, #erotic, #lovers unmasked, #military, #marine, #contemporary romance

Falling for the Marine (A McCade Brothers Novel) (Entangled Brazen) (16 page)

BOOK: Falling for the Marine (A McCade Brothers Novel) (Entangled Brazen)
13.91Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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“In here.”

He stepped into the living room and blinked. She sat on the sofa in her little purple robe, with her hair tied into a bundle at the top of her head, and something that looked like mint-green frosting slathered over her entire face except for her eyes and mouth. Her feet rested on the coffee table, amidst a war chest of…products. Tortuous-looking toe spreaders separated her freshly painted toenails.

“Flower delivery for Chloe Kincaid.”

She beamed, which caused her frosting masque to crack, and held out her hands for the bouquet.

He pulled the flowers out of her reach. “Not so fast. I’m going to need some proof of your identity.”

Her smile turned a little wicked—or maybe that was just the green gunk working on his mind—then she stood, turned around, and flipped the back of her robe up to flash him her tattoo. She turned back around, still grinning. “Does that work?”

He handed her the bouquet and discreetly adjusted himself so his dick wasn’t straining against the seam of his pants. “I’ll accept that as preliminary ID. Later, I’m going to need to see it again and make a closer inspection.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

He shrugged. “It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it. You don’t want to get me in trouble, do you?”

“Heaven forbid.” She buried her face in the big blossoms and breathed them in. “These are beautiful. How did you know peonies were my favorite?”

“Lucky guess. They reminded me of you—pretty and exuberant.”

Her eyes shifted to his face, and lingered. He had a funny feeling she was blushing under the frosting and gave himself a mental high five.

“What’s the occasion?”

“I was thinking about you. Hoping your first day at the new job went well.”

“Really well. Thanks. Let me put these in water.”

“I’ll do it.” He took the flowers and headed to the kitchen. “Tell me about your day,” he said as he dug in a cabinet for a jar to put the flowers in.

“The staff is awesome. The place is busy—I had a steady stream of clients all day—and I made great tips. Veronica and a couple of the other girls took me to lunch at this amazing taco place down the street.”

He wandered back into the living room to discover her removing the green mask with some kind of clear liquid and a cotton pad. He put the “vase” on the coffee table. “Sounds perfect.”

“Yeah.” The wistful note in her response hung in the air as she finished wiping her face and then leaned forward and started arranging the flowers, unconsciously giving him a view down the front of her robe.

Speaking of perfect
.

He caught himself drumming a nervous beat on his leg and forced his hand to still. “Want to celebrate a triumphant first day?”

“Sure.” Before he could guess her next move, she stood, slipped out of her robe and walked over until they stood mere inches apart. “Is this what you had in mind?”

“I was thinking dinner,” he admitted, before he leaned down and kissed her.

“Dinner can wait. I can’t.”

Chapter Sixteen

“I don’t want to freak you out, Chloe, but I have to mention the L-word.”

Chloe used her shoulder to hold the phone to her ear and finished typing a note into a client file in the Veronica’s Oasis database. The low hum of conversation flowed around her as she sat in front of the computer at the spa’s front-desk area. Not loud, by any means, but she wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly. “What?”

Lynne laughed. “I checked in with Veronica earlier today and, it’s official. She’s in love with you.”

Chloe smiled, and waved to a departing client. “I’m awfully fond of her, too.” Three days on the job, and the spa already felt like…well…like home.

“No problems? No concerns? No funny business with your time cards?”

“None. Everyone is easygoing, but professional. This place runs very smoothly. It’s not a one-man operation, like Sempler’s clinic.”

“Good to hear. Now that I know the assignment is under control, let’s get to the really juicy stuff. How’s the rest of your life going?”

A memory of Michael bending her over the sofa and inspecting her “identification” popped into her mind and her heart did a tap dance in her chest. “Can’t complain. Michael brought me flowers Wednesday to celebrate my—”

“Oh! Oh…!”

Her friend sounded as if she were in the grip of a sharp pain. Chloe pressed the phone to her ear. “Lynne, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing…just a little heart palpitation over the flowers. The last time a man brought me flowers I was in the hospital, recovering from birthing his second oversize baby.”

“Jeez.” She let her breath hiss out. “Very funny. You scared the crap out of me.”

“But the flowers didn’t, which I find interesting. Any big plans with Major Hottie this weekend?”

For some reason she glanced around to make sure nobody was listening. Nobody was. “Not really. We’re just going to hang out. Relax.”

“Sounds cozy.”

“Yeah. I guess so. He mentioned taking me out to dinner.”

“Where?”

“There’s an Italian place he likes in Dana Point. Good food and a great view of the harbor.” She caught herself using her thumb to center her “engagement ring” on her finger. The move was becoming a habit. Funny, she’d never fussed with her real engagement ring overly much.

“So, this would be, like…a date?”

“Yeah right. I don’t date military men. You know this.”

“Hmm.”

“What, ‘Hmm’? What’s ‘Hmm,’ supposed to mean?”

“Okay, Chlo, let’s conduct a reality check. You’ve found a job you like. You’ve found a guy you like—more than like—hell, you’re living with the man and, from all accounts, the sex is off-the-charts amazing. Are you sure you want the New Mexico assignment? It seems like things are working out for you right there in San Clemente.”

Her heart stopped tap dancing because her chest suddenly felt way too tight—almost too tight to breathe. “I’m sure,” she managed and then added in a strained whisper, “The thing between Michael and me…it’s not real.”

“Looks pretty real from where I’m standing. Putting the fake engagement aside, he’s bringing you flowers and taking you out for romantic dinners.”

Sweaty palms made it hard to hold the phone. She swiped her hand down her pink, satin cargo Capris and switched the phone to her dry hand. “He’s being sweet. Yes, we get along, and yes, we’re…enjoying each other…while I’m here, but that’s as far as it goes. That’s as far as it
can
go.”

“There’s more going on between the two of you than either of you wants to admit. Or maybe it’s just you who doesn’t want to admit it.”

“There is nothing to admit.”

“Do you even realize your voice softens when you talk about him? You get very quiet and I can practically picture you sitting there, daydreaming.”

“We’re friends. Okay, friends with benefits. Excellent, but extremely temporary benefits. He knows it. I know it. End of story.” Did she sound panicked? Maybe, based on the concerned look the receptionist was giving her from the other end of the desk. “I’m not ready for anything more.”

“Sometimes exactly what you need comes along, whether you’re ready or not. I remember the first date I went on with my husband. You know what happened a week later?”

“No idea.”

“We got married. Have a nice weekend.”


Michael stared at the computer screen and watched blobs form, merge, and flow like some sort of bizarre black-and-white lava lamp. One minute the image looked like a bat, then a balloon, then a topographic map of the Alps. What it bore absolutely no resemblance to, as far as he could tell, was a human spine.

But apparently Dane disagreed. He tapped his gold pen against his highly glossed cherrywood desk, and stared at the screen. “I am a goddamn miracle worker, if I do say so myself.”

Michael squinted, but still couldn’t discern anything from the abstract images mutating on the screen. “Where’s the miracle?”

“Right here.” Dane froze the image and drew an air circle around an area on the lower part of the screen with the pen. “This is the disc you herniated, but you’d never know it, looking at the site now. No swelling. No bulge. Nothing pressing on the nerve.” He turned to Michael. “You’re not still feeling any twinges, are you?”

He shook his head. “None. Not for days. I feel one hundred percent.”

“Great. I’ll write up a report and shoot it to your CO. As far as I’m concerned, you’re good to go.”

Michael relaxed the shoulder muscles he hadn’t even realized he’d tightened. He sank back into Dane’s guest chair. “Thanks.”

Dane swiveled his computer screen back around to face him. “I can’t take all the credit. You did the exercises and took it easy on your back—sort of. And I’m sure Chloe’s magic hands played an important role too.”

“Yeah,” was all he said. Thinking about Chloe’s magic hands, and every other magic part of her, reminded him that their time together was limited unless he managed to work a little magic of his own. His current battle plan tested his patience, because moving slowly made him all too aware he was working against the clock.

“Uh-oh. Trouble there?”

“No. Just the opposite, actually. You know how Chloe feng shui’d the apartment, because all the positive energy was getting flushed down the toilet?” He laughed, feeling a little self-conscious, and ran his hand over the back of his head. “Well, suddenly, my back feels better. Next thing you know, she’s got a job at a spa down the street from the apartment, and she loves it.”

“She found a job locally? That’s great…or maybe not,” his friend frowned as he considered the implications. “I guess her sticking around kind of complicates things, given the engagement and all.”

His smile flatlined. “It’s a temporary job. She’s still planning to leave in a couple weeks, when the next travel assignment starts.”
A couple weeks. Tick-tock
.

“Ah. Still got the big, ugly breakup on the horizon.”

Michael stared out the stingily small window in Dane’s office and watched the breeze ruffle the fronds of the nearby palm trees. “Maybe.”

“You know, I don’t want to criticize, but for a guy who just got great news about his back, you look pretty tragic. Want to tell me what’s bothering you?”

He shifted his attention back to Dane. “Thanks, Dr. Freud, but I’ll pass.”

“Oh, come on. I don’t need to be a psychoanalyst to solve your problem. This is an easy situation. Just ask her to stay.”

“It’s not that easy. Chloe’s not looking for a ‘stay’ situation, and, even if she was, she’s not a fan of military life. On top of that, our Grandkid Story sucks.”

“I don’t care what she said in the beginning—okay, I’ll bite…what the hell is your Grandkid Story?”

“Doesn’t matter.” But apparently it did, to Chloe. “All I’m saying is, it’s complicated, and convincing her to stay will require some finesse. This is not a simple, put-my-cards-on-the-table scenario.”

Dane dismissed the information with a wave of his hand. “All those complications will sort themselves out. In the beginning, she didn’t have any reason to stick around. Now she does. Or she would, if you’d man up and give her one.”

Michael stood and shook his head. “I realize you think you’ve got some special insight into the female mind, but you don’t know what Chloe wants.”

“Maybe not. But I know what
you
want, and I know something else, too. If you don’t speak up, you’re not going to get it.”

Chapter Seventeen

Michael woke to the sensation of warm hands sliding down his back. When soft lips and a nimble tongue followed, trailing a line of wet heat along his spine, he cracked an eye open and stared at the alarm clock. Eight forty-three. He’d been thinking it would be a nice change of pace to sleep in this Saturday morning, but, as the sheet around his waist was suddenly jerked away, leaving him covered by nothing but his boxer shorts, he supposed he could make an exception.

“Is this some new kind of massage?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Those lips got busy retracing their path. “Very therapeutic. Works out all the kinks.”

He closed his eyes and lowered his head to his folded arms. “Really? Because I’m feeling a definite kink.”

“Uh-oh,” she said, with mock concern. “Can’t have that. Is it here?” She kissed the spot between his shoulder blades.

“No.” He shifted his hips. “Lower.”

“Here?” She nibbled the small of his back.

“You’re warmer.”

“How about now?” She yanked his shorts down.

“Oh, shit…yeah, you’re warmer.”

Her hand sank between his legs, and up into the V of his thighs.

“Red hot,” he groaned when her fingertips grazed his balls. He flipped over and was about to show her exactly where the kink was, when his doorbell rang.

They both froze. Her gaze leaped to his. “Did you have a gym date with Dane this morning?”

“No, but”—the insistent sound of knuckles on wood echoed through the apartment—“whoever it is seems pretty damn sure I’m home.” He jerked his shorts up. “Let me get rid of them. I’ll be right back.”

He swept his T-shirt off the bedroom floor and pulled it over his head on his way to the door. One look through the peephole immediately sent what was left of his hard-on into full retreat and had him uttering the only words that fit the situation. “Fuck me.” In his peripheral vision he saw Chloe wander into the kitchen, wearing her purple robe and yawning as she headed to the coffeemaker. She paused when she heard him curse and turned a curious look on him.

He squeezed his eyes shut, shook his head, and prayed for deliverance. None came. When he opened his eyes and stared through the peephole again, the same familiar, slightly distorted face stared back at him.

“Who’s at the door?”

“My parents.”

She dropped the stack of coffee filters she’d been holding. “Your parents?” A self-conscious hand rose to her hair. The other straightened the front of her robe. “Should I hide?”

Knocking came again, followed by, “Michael? What did you say? Open the door. Your father and I want to see for ourselves that you’re okay.”

He rolled his eyes. “No. Don’t hide. This is what they get for showing up unannounced.” Then he opened the door.

His mom’s sharp brown eyes took in his bed-hair, rough jaw, and wrinkled underclothes. She, conversely, looked perfectly trim and tidy in her white jeans and blue-and-white checked blouse. Not a wisp of her short, sun-bleached blond hair appeared out of place. “Michael, honey, don’t tell me we woke you up?”

After submitting to his mother’s hug and a clap on the shoulder from his dad, he replied, “No, you didn’t wake me up. You didn’t wake Chloe either.” He gestured her over and she approached slowly, looking equal parts amused and embarrassed. “Chloe, meet my parents, Tom and Anita. Parents, meet Chloe.”

“Fortuitous,” his dad drawled and shook her hand, “since I’m pretty sure that’s why we’re here. Nice to meet you.” Michael couldn’t help but grin at his father’s smoothly delivered poke at his mom. His dad was a man of few words, but he hadn’t spent thirty-five years married to Mom without learning a thing or two about how she operated.

His mom had the good grace to pretend to be abashed as she took Chloe’s hand. “Whoops! I see we should have called first. Forgive us, please. This morning Tom and I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to drive down to San Diego for the weekend, and we thought, as long as we were passing by, we ought to stop and see son number two.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Chloe said, and the way her smile lit her eyes made Michael think she might actually mean it.

“It’s wonderful to meet you in person,” his mom replied. “I hope you’ll let us take you two to breakfast to make up for interrupting your morning.”

“Oh…I don’t want to intrude…” Chloe sent him an uncertain glance.

“Nonsense. We’re the intruders. Please join us.”

“Yeah,” Michael added, figuring Chloe’s presence would help defer a breakfast interrogation, “join us.”


Chloe shifted in the cushioned seat and stared at the endless view of the Pacific twinkling in the distance beyond the glass perimeter of the Coastline Café’s shaded patio. She still couldn’t quite fathom how a quiet morning in bed for two had ended up as a table for four at what appeared to be one of San Clemente’s most popular breakfast spots, but she couldn’t complain. The sun was shining, her blueberry pancakes tasted like heaven, and she was getting an earful of Michael and his brothers’ childhood exploits.

“…and I looked up and saw my idiot son, dressed in nothing but socks and Spiderman underwear, hanging from the trellis on the side of the house!”

“The idiot was Logan,” Michael said, pointing a fork at his mother, “and, in his defense, he was five at the time.”

“It was Logan,” his father agreed, nodding so the sunlight picked up the silver strands in his deep brown hair. Even with the hints of gray, it was obvious Michael got his coloring, and his stature, from his dad.

“Yes, but I know who talked him into the whole harebrained idea,” she shot back, giving Michael a hard stare.

He grinned. “Okay, yeah, that might have been me. Hey, he lived!” he added when his mom smacked his arm.

“No thanks to you.” She shook her head. “What can I tell you, Chloe? Raising them was like raising three hyperactive monkeys.”

“Sounds pretty wild.” And fun. As an only child, she’d often wished for siblings to play with. Share secrets with. Get into trouble with. And although his mom made a show of complaining about the crazy antics, both she and her husband clearly looked back on those wild years with nostalgia—nostalgia born of knowing that phase of their lives was safely in the past. They’d raised three boys they were proud of. She found the whole thing incredibly sweet.

Her pancakes were also incredibly sweet. She lifted another forkful to her mouth, and was about to open wide when she saw Michael stiffen in his chair. His smile faded and every last bit of color leaked out of his face.

Was he in pain? She lowered her fork and leaned close to him. “Are you—”

“Michael, Chloe,” a familiar voice rang out from behind her, “fancy meeting you here!”

Now she felt the blood drain out of her face too. Oh, dear God. Even
her
karma couldn’t possibly be this bad…

BOOK: Falling for the Marine (A McCade Brothers Novel) (Entangled Brazen)
13.91Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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