Once a Marine (35 page)
It occurred to BD that neither she nor Rafi had a car. “Maybe I can rent a car here, drive Rafi home, and drop it in LA.”
“You won’t need to do that. His partner, Joe, is flying here day after tomorrow to pick up the two of you. All you’ll have to do when he calls is take a cab to the airport. Great service, right?”
BD nodded. “Yes, there are some definite advantages to owning an airline. But all Rafi’s things are still in Jackson. I wonder what he’s planning to do about retrieving them.”
Kelly stopped at the door to the room. “Go on in. His parents are leaving soon.” She continued down the hall in the direction of her husband and son.
Rafi grinned when BD entered the room. “Morning, Beautiful. Mom and Dad are leaving in a few minutes, and I’m out of here this afternoon.” He opened his arms.
BD kissed him. “I heard. Kelly gave me the good news.” She stood back to get a good look at him. He sat in a chair next to the bed. “You’re sitting straighter. How does your back feel?”
He flexed his shoulders. “Still stiff, but better. I can lie on my back and turn over without whimpering.”
BD was positive she wouldn’t live long enough to hear Rafi whimper, but went along with the joke. “About time. I was getting bored with your crybaby antics.”
Before she knew what happened, he’d reached out with both arms and pulled her onto his lap. “I’m a crybaby, huh?”
His parents laughed as he planted a kiss on her ear.
Rita turned to her husband. “I don’t think we need to hang around here any longer.”
Tony and Rafi clasped hands. “Yes, it’s time for us to be on our way. Could you save one kiss for your mother?”
Minutes after his parents took their leave, an intern and a nurse came to change Rafi’s dressings.
The doctor raised her eyebrows at BD. “Mrs. Cruz? Glad we found you here. We’d like to show you how to take care of your husband’s wounds. You’ll need to change the dressings every day until your family physician gives other instructions.”
Wide green eyes flashing, BD shook her head. “I’m not—”
The nurse chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry. It’s easy.”
From the corner of her eye BD noticed Rafi’s amused smirk.
He gave a quick tilt of his head. “Come on, Mrs. Cruz. You can do it.” He was enjoying her confusion.
Out of sight of the doctor and nurse, she gave Rafi a cross-eyed scowl. “OK, honey, I think I can manage.”
The nurse directed her to step behind Rafi’s chair. “First loosen the tape a bit all around, and then lift carefully in this direction.”
BD gasped when the larger of the two dressings revealed livid rows of bird-track sutures across his upper back and shoulder. “Oh, Rafi, your beautiful back.”
He twisted in his chair to see her face. “Pretty ugly, huh?”
Her sigh was mournful. “I’ll say. You have more nasty scars added to your collection.” Her chest constricted at the damage done. “I’m glad Rita left before she got a look at this.”
He gave a barely discernible shrug. “Mom’s used to me being banged up.”
She pursed her lips with skepticism. “I doubt moms ever get used to seeing injuries on their kids.”
She was probably right about that. The nurse and doctor finished giving Beautiful the drill and handed her a plastic bag sporting the hospital’s logo, packed with enough supplies to carry a Marine medic through a battlefield. Once they were alone, he stood, stretched, and grimaced. “Take a walk with me? I’m going nuts not getting exercise.”
Silently, she took his hand. They went into the corridor and walked the longest stretch before turning around. Nurses, doctors, and other hospital personnel passed them in both directions. BD stepped in front of him and put her arms around his waist. She rested her head on his chest. “I hate when you get hurt. It scares me.”
He couldn’t think of an intelligent response, so he hugged her and stroked her back. It hurt, but he lowered his face and kissed the top of her head. “Sorry, sweet cheeks.”
She pushed slightly back, put her hands on his shoulders, and shook her head. “What are we going to do about that?”
* * *
BD stood next to Rafi in the cargo terminal, watching the shiny business jet with the bright orange Cruz Aero logo on the tail taxi in their direction. Surprised to see Jill in the co-pilot seat, BD stood on tiptoe, grinned and waved.
She cast a questioning look at Rafi. “I didn’t know Jill could fly.”
He returned Joe’s salute. “She can fly if she has to, but I doubt she could land.” He chuckled. “That’s the really important part.”
The passenger stairway deployed as the door opened. Jill stepped out with Joe following close behind. Very pregnant, she approached them with an exaggerated, comical waddle. “I almost couldn’t fit in that seat. They weren’t designed for pregnant women.”
Beside her, Joe had his arm around her shoulder. “Glad to see you’re in one piece, cap.”
The two men shook hands as the women embraced.
Joe pointed to the small pile of luggage. “That all your gear? You had more than that when you left.”
Rafi leaned forward to kiss Jill on the cheek. “That’s all BD’s. They’re shipping my stuff. I left the villa rather abruptly.”
“Yeah, we saw it on the news. Let’s load up and get out of here.”
Jill shook her head and touched Joe’s arm. “Not till I find the ladies room.” She winked at BD. “I’ve been spending a lot of time in there lately.”
By the time Jill and BD got back to the parking apron, Joe was ready to button up. Rafi waved from the co-pilot seat and adjusted his headphones. Joe gave the women a hand up the stairs. He secured the door and made sure they were seat-belted before he stepped into the cockpit and left the door open. Within minutes they were lifting off the Idaho Falls runway.
Jill smiled and reached for BD’s hand. “I’ll bet you’re glad to be on your way home after all that’s happened.”
BD nodded and swallowed. Tears brimmed in her eyes. “It was horrible. I was so afraid Rafi would die. I love him so much. How can you stand it when you know Joe is deliberately putting himself in jeopardy?”
Jill squeezed BD’s hand. “Let me tell you something about Joe and Rafi.” She offered BD a tissue. “Once a Marine, always a Marine. They’re real live warriors with a deeply ingrained warrior ethos. The quest for honor and brotherhood is in their DNA. They truly believe they must be on the front lines protecting good and eliminating evil. If you love him this is something you must come to grips with. Otherwise, you can never have a life together.”
BD sighed and dabbed at her eyes. “Don’t they have any fear?”
“Oh yes, they have fear. It’s the most primal emotion. The difference between them and ordinary men is—they have greater qualms about shame than of fear. It would never occur to them to put their personal safety ahead of taking action they felt necessary in order to maintain a civilized world.”
BD recalled the rollercoaster of emotion she’d endured. It began the moment she saw Rafi at the controls of the helicopter, ready to save her brother and nephew, until she learned they’d all got out alive. On the one hand, the sight of him there, when she most needed him, sent her spirits and her love for him soaring. On the other hand, waiting, watching and fearing he would die, dropped her into the depths of despair. “I don’t know how you stand it, Jill. I’m not sure I can.”
Jill patted her hand. “Well for me it’s this…every day with Joe is a gift beyond price. I can have him, his fierce love and deep loyalty, along with a whopping dose of dread now and then, or I can’t have him at all. It’s simple, really. When I came to that realization it was a no-brainer.”
“Yes, I see what you mean.” BD sighed deeply, her smile tremulous. “It was Rafi’s aura of danger and confident masculinity that attracted me to him in the first place. I know in my heart I can always depend on him…trust him.”
Rafi’s voice intruded on them. “What are you two conspiring over?” He took the seat across from BD. “You’ll get a kick out of this, Beautiful.” He handed her a copy of the
Los Angeles Times
.
BD took the paper and looked at the picture next to Rafi’s finger. She gasped, jerked upright. “Oh, my God, I don’t believe it! No, it’s not possible.”
Jill bent her head closer to the paper. “What is it?”
She moved the paper so Jill could see the article and photo. “My old boss has married my old boyfriend.”
She read:
“Ms. Shari Grayson, internationally known as “The Face of Grayson,” the fashionable upscale clothing company, was married today at her parent’s estate in Bel Air, to Mr. Nicholas Manson. The groom, lately of Sinclair Advertising, has recently joined the Grayson Company as international sales manager.”
BD smacked the paper. “That worm got my job!”
Rafi chuckled, his shoulders bouncing with silent mirth.
“What’s so darn funny, Rafi?”
He shook his head and waved his hands. “It gets better. Keep reading.”
“When asked by a socialite friend why she had chosen not to keep her maiden name, the newly minted Mrs. Manson replied that she was very much in love with her husband and proud to be known as Mrs. Nick Manson.
BD sat back. Laughter built in her chest. She leaned forward and clasped Rafi’s knee. “This is just too funny. They deserve each other if any two people on this planet ever did.”
“You got that right.” He turned to Jill. “How’s Joe Junior? You’re looking sexier every day, gorgeous.”
Jill waved away his remark and pinned him with a determined stare. “Josephine is fine, thank you very much.”
Rafi winked. “Jill’s going to be the mother of a lady Navy SEAL.”
“Fat chance!” Jill smacked Rafi’s arm. “What about you two?”
Eyebrows raised, he pointed to Beautiful. “It’s up to her. She said no when I asked her to marry me, but agreed to move in with me. It’s a start. Gives me a foot in the door.”
BD leaned forward on her elbows. “I’ve been having second thoughts about that, flyboy—seriously.”
“What! Now wait a minute…”
Jill unbuckled her seat belt and stood. “You two don’t mind if I go visit with Joe for a while, do you?”
Neither BD nor Rafi answered.
“I didn’t think so.” She left them alone.
With a tilt of her head, BD explained, “I not sure it’s a good idea for me to live with a man I’m not married to. It didn’t work out so well the last time. He married someone else.”
Rafi leaned forward, his face close to hers. “What man in his right mind
would
marry you?”
Shrugging, BD placed her finger on Rafi’s nose. “I never said the man had to be in his right mind.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. You fit the bill quite nicely in that department.” She pressed her lips together in an effort to appear serious. “There are other aspects of marriage more important to me than your sanity.”
He pushed his forehead against hers. “And what would those be?”
“Well, for instance, the man I choose to marry, if that should ever come about, has to maintain a healthy level of physical fitness in order to satisfy my needs, so to speak.”
“So to speak?” Rafi stood, pulled her to her feet and lifted her till she was on tiptoe. He crushed her in a hug, and kissed her. The kiss had ownership branded all over it.
BD tingled from head to toe in his powerful arms. Desire warmed her lower body and migrated to her chest. She wanted to put her hands on the back of his neck, but knew it would hurt him. She settled for clutching him around the waist. “Put me down before you hurt yourself, Marine.”
He growled in her ear, “I have a strong urge to hurt myself right now. You too.”
“Ooh, you’re scaring me.” She splayed her hands on his luscious muscular bottom, pressing him tight against her. “You haven’t heard my other conditions.”
He ground his hips sensuously against her. “Lay ’em out there.”
She slid a hand under his shirt and caressed his chest. “I was once offered a job as general manager of a small charter airline company. Would you know if that position has been filled?”
“I tell you what, sugar lips, I have a position I’d like to fill right now.”
“You didn’t answer my question, mister.” She tilted her face up, pursed her lips in a sexy pout.
He kissed her again, long and hard. She savored the smile on his lips.
He cocked his head. “About your middle initial, D?”
She shook her head in refusal. “Oh, no, you answer my question first.”
“What was the question again?” He nipped her earlobe.
Hair prickled on her head. “Is that position still open?”
“I have a very strenuous job interview process. It could take hours, days.” He caught her bottom lip between his teeth.
BD teased him with her tongue, dragged her nails lightly across his chest. “When may I submit my résumé?”
“Two minutes after we close my front door.” He checked his watch. “I estimate that to be around fourteen forty.”
She stepped away from him and studied her Timex. “In that case let’s synchronize our watches, captain.” She grinned. “I’d hate to be late.”
~ About the Author ~
Patty and her husband, Larry, have five adult sons between them. The former owner of a travel business and coffee bar, Patty saw 9/11 as a turning point in her life. It was time to change direction and do what she always dreamed of: writing and publishing love stories.
Discover more about Patty Campbell here
email:
[email protected]
http://amazon.com/author/pattycampbell
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Patty-Campbell-Author/536855299661241
~ Also by Patty Campbell ~
