Praise for USA TODAY bestselling author

Maureen Child

“Maureen Child is one of the foremost names

in Americana romance.”

—RT Book Reviews

“Maureen Child is one of the stars in the

ascendant…poised for the next big step.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Maureen Child has written a beautiful,

heartwarming tale of family tragedy, redemption

and love in this passionate tale. A keeper!”

—RT Book Reviews on Expecting Lonergan’s Baby

“Filled with heart-wrenching emotions

and an unforgettable hero.”

—Rendezvous on And Then Came You

“The ever entertaining Maureen Child

warms the cockles of our heart with this sensitive,

touching romance.”

—RT Book Reviews

MAUREEN CHILD

is a California native who loves to travel. Every chance they get, she and her husband are taking off on another research trip. The author of more than sixty books, Maureen loves a happy ending and still swears that she has the best job in the world. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two children and a golden retriever with delusions of grandeur. Visit Maureen’s website at www.maureenchild.com.

Last Virgin in California
Maureen Child

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Contents

Last Virgin in California

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

Marine Under the Mistletoe

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

Last Virgin in California

Chapter One

“You’re marrying who?”

Lilah Forrest winced and held the phone receiver away from her ear so that her father’s voice wouldn’t deafen her. Honestly. A lifetime in the Marine Corps had given Jack Forrest such range, he could probably wake the dead if ordered to.

“Ray, Daddy,” she said, when she pulled the phone close again. “You remember him. You met him the last time you came to visit?”

“Of course I remember him,” her father sputtered. “He’s the little guy who told me my uniform would look less intimidating if I wore an earring.”

Lilah smothered a chuckle she knew darn well her dad wouldn’t appreciate. But really, just the thought of her oh-so-proper, career Marine father wearing a tidy gold hoop in his ear was enough to cultivate bubbles of laughter that weren’t at all easy to subdue.

“He was kidding,” she said when she could speak without a smile in her voice.

“Right.” He didn’t sound convinced.

“I thought you liked Ray.”

“I didn’t say I don’t like him,” he said tightly. “But what do you see in those artsy-fartsy types, anyway?”

Artsy-fartsy, Lilah thought. Translation: Any man who wasn’t a Marine.

“What you need,” her father was saying, “is a man as stubborn as you are. A strong, dependable type. Like—”

“A Marine,” she finished for him. For heaven’s sake, she’d heard this speech so often, she could give it for him.

“What’s wrong with a Marine?” he demanded, clearly defensive.

“Nothing,” she said, wishing they weren’t having this conversation…again.

Lilah sighed and plopped down onto her overstuffed couch. Curling up into a corner of the sofa, she cradled the receiver between her ear and her shoulder and tugged the hem of her dress down over her updrawn legs. “Daddy, Ray’s a nice guy.”

“I’ll take your word for it, honey,” he said grudgingly. “But do you really think he’s the right guy for you?”

No, she didn’t. Ray’s image rose up in her mind and Lilah smiled to herself. Short, with nearly waist-length black hair he kept in a thick braid, Ray was an artist. He wore diamonds in his ears, favored tunic shirts and leather sandals and was absolutely devoted to his life partner, Victor.

But, he was also one of Lilah’s closest friends. Which was the only reason he’d agreed to let her tell her father that they were engaged. Victor wasn’t the least bit happy about it, but Ray had been an absolute doll.

And seriously, if she hadn’t been about to go spend a few weeks with her father, this never would have happened. But she simply couldn’t stand the idea of having another parade of single officers thrown at her feet. She didn’t much like the idea of lying to her dad, but really it was his own fault. If he’d quit trying to get her married to some “suitable” Marine, she wouldn’t have to resort to such lengths, would she?

“Ray’s wonderful, Daddy,” she said, meaning every word. “You’ll like him if you give yourself a chance.”

He grumbled something she didn’t quite catch and a twinge of guilt tugged at her heart. Jack Forrest wasn’t a bad man. He just never had been able to understand his daughter.

As her father changed the subject and started talking about what was happening on the base, she listened with half an ear as her gaze drifted around the living room of her tiny, San Francisco apartment. Crimson-red walls surrounded her, giving the small room warmth. Sunlight streamed through the unadorned windows, painting the old fashioned, deeply cushioned furniture with a soft golden glow that shimmered on the polished, hardwood floors. Celtic music drifted to her from the CD player on the far wall and the scent of burning patchouli candles filled the air with a fragrance that relaxed her even as her fingers tightened around the phone in her hand.

She hated lying to her father. After all, lying wasn’t good for the soul. Besides, she had a feeling it caused wrinkles, too. But as soon as her visit with him was over, she’d call and tell her dad that she and Ray had broken up. Then everything would be fine.

Until their next visit.

But she’d burn that bridge when she came to it.

“I’ll have someone pick you up at the airport,” he said and Lilah’s attention snapped back to him.

“No, that’s okay,” she said quickly, imagining some poor Private or Corporal delegated to driving the Colonel’s daughter around. “I’ve already arranged for a car. I’ll be there sometime tomorrow afternoon.”

“You’re uh…not bringing Ray along, are you?”

She almost laughed again at the discomfort in his voice. Oh yeah. She could just see Ray on base. What a hoot that would be.

“No, Daddy,” she said solemnly, “it’s just me.”

There was a long pause before he said, “All right then. You be careful.”

“I will.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing you, honey.”

“Me, too,” she said wistfully, then added, “’Bye, Dad,” and hung up. Hand still resting on the receiver, she stared at it for a long minute and wished that things were different. Wished for the zillionth time that her father could just accept her—and love her—for who and what she was.

But that would probably never happen. Since she was the daughter of a man who’d always wanted a son.

“I’d consider it a personal favor, Gunnery Sergeant,” Colonel Michael Forrest said, planting his elbows on his desk and steepling his fingertips together.

Escorting the Colonel’s daughter around base a personal favor? Well, how was a man supposed to get out of something like that? Kevin Rogan wondered frantically. Sure, he could turn the man down. He wasn’t making this an order—hell, Kevin wasn’t sure he could. But then again, he didn’t have to. Making it a “favor” practically guaranteed Kevin’s acceptance.

After all, how was he supposed to turn down a request from a superior officer?

He bit down hard on the words he wanted to say and said instead, “I’d be happy to help, sir.”

Colonel Forrest gave him a look that clearly said he was under no misconception here. He knew damn well Kevin didn’t want to do this, but would, anyway. And apparently, that was all that mattered.

“Excellent,” the Colonel said, pushing up from his desk to step around the edge of it. He walked across the floor of his office and looked out the window onto the wide stretch of the base two stories below.

Kevin didn’t have to look to know what the other man was seeing. The everyday hustle and bustle of a recruit depot. Troops marching. Marines. Squads. Drill Instructors shouting, calling cadence, trying to whip a bunch of kids into something resembling hard-nosed Marines.

May sunshine blasted against the window, splintering like a prism as it poured into the room. A wisp of ocean air swept beneath the partially opened window and carried the faint sounds of marching men and women. The distant rumble of a jet taking off from the San Diego airport sounded like the far-off stirrings of thunder.

“I don’t want you to misunderstand, Rogan,” the Colonel said. “My daughter is a…remarkable person.”

“I’m sure she is, sir,” Kevin answered politically, though inside, he wondered just how remarkable a woman could be if her own father had to practically force a man to keep her company for the month she’d be in town. He slanted a glance at the other man’s desk but found no framed pictures on the cluttered surface. No help there. Already, he wondered just what he’d gotten himself into. Was she nuts? Obnoxious? A one-eyed troll?

But even as those thoughts went through his mind, he reminded himself that he knew exactly what she was. The Colonel’s daughter. And because of that, Kevin would do everything he could to see to it that she had a good time while she was here.

Even if it killed him.

Dammit. A Gunnery Sergeant in the Marine Corps, reduced to being a glorified baby-sitter.

Lilah sat in her rental car just outside the gates and told herself she was being foolish. But it was always like this. One look at what she thought of as her father’s stronghold and her stomach started the ugly, slow, pitch and roll that felt far too familiar.

She slapped her hands against the steering wheel then gripped it tight. Her stomach did the weird little flip-flop that she always associated with seeing her dad for the first time in too long. But then, she should be used to it, right?

“Wrong,” she murmured and let her hands fall to her lap. Unconsciously, she plucked at the soft folds of her emerald-green muslin skirt, then lifted one hand to toy with the amethyst crystal hanging from a chain around her neck.

As she fingered the cold, hard edges of the beveled stone, she told herself she was being silly. “This visit will be different. He thinks you’re engaged. No more ‘suitable’ men. No more lectures on finding ‘stability’ in your life.”

Right.

Like any Forrest would give up that easily.

After all, she hadn’t quit yet. All her life, she’d been trying to please her father. And all her life, she’d failed miserably. You’d think she’d surrender to the inevitable. But no. Lilah Forrest was too stubborn to give up just because she wasn’t winning.

And she’d inherited that hardheaded streak from the man waiting for her just beyond the gates.

A flicker of movement caught her eye and she saw one of the Marine guards move out to give her a hard stare. “Probably thinks you’re a terrorist or something,” she muttered and quickly put the car into gear and slowly approached the gate.

“Ma’am,” he said, though he looked younger than Lilah. “Can I help you?”

“I’m Lilah Forrest,” she said, and lifted her sunglasses long enough to smile up into hard, suspicious eyes. “I’m here to see my father.”

He blinked. Too well trained to show complete shock, the Marine just stared at her for a long minute before saying, “Yes, ma’am, we’ve been expecting you.” He took a look at her license plate number, jotted it down on a visitor sticker and slapped it onto the windshield of her car. Then he lifted one hand and pointed. “Go right on through there and watch—”

“My speed,” she finished for him. “I know.” She should know the rules well enough. She’d been raised on military bases around the world. And the one thing they all shared was a low threshold of appreciation for speeding drivers. Creep up above the twenty mile an hour limit and you’d get a ticket. Private or General.

He nodded. “The Colonel’s house is…”

“I know where it is, thanks,” she said, and stepped on the gas. Waving one ring-bedecked hand at the young Marine she left in her dust, she aimed her rental car and headed off to do battle.

She wasn’t at all what he’d expected.

And definitely not a one-eyed troll.

Kevin shifted on the dining room chair and covertly eyed the woman sitting opposite him. If he’d had to pick the Colonel’s daughter out of a group of assembled women, he never would have picked this one.

First off, she was short. Not munchkin short, but a good six inches shorter than both he and the Colonel. Kevin had never gone much for short women. Always made him feel like a damn giant. But even he had to admit that Lilah was round in all the right places and her compact body was enough to make a dead man sit up and take notice.

Her long, blond hair hung halfway down her back in a tumble of wild curls that made a man want to reach out and tangle his fingers in it. She had a stubborn chin, a full mouth that smiled often, a small nose and the biggest, bluest eyes Kevin had ever seen.

She also wore silver stars on her ears and ropes of crystals around her neck. She was wearing some soft-looking dress that seemed to float like a cloud of emerald green around her legs when she moved and her bare feet displayed two silver rings on her toes.

Who would have guessed that the Colonel’s daughter was a latter-day hippie?

He half expected her to fold her legs into the lotus position and start chanting.

So now he knew why the Colonel wanted his daughter escorted all over creation. He probably didn’t trust her to come in out of the rain on her own.

“My father tells me you’re a Drill Instructor,” she said and Kevin’s attention snapped up from the purple crystal lying just above the line of her breasts.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said and told himself to pay no attention to the small spurt of interest that shot through him. It was nothing special, he thought. Just the normal reaction of a healthy male to a pretty woman. And she was pretty. In an earth mother, hug-a-tree sort of way.

She waved one hand and he swore he heard bells ring. Then he noticed the tiny silver chimes attached to the bracelet around her wrist.

Figured.

“I thought you agreed to call me Lilah?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

“Isn’t this nice?” the Colonel asked, looking from one to the other of them like a proud papa. “I knew you two would hit it off.”

Then the phone rang and the Colonel pushed away from the table and stood up. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said. “I have to get that.”

He left the room and silence dropped like a stone in a well. Kevin leaned back in his chair, let his gaze wander the elegantly appointed dining room and wished himself anywhere but there.

“Did he order you to be here?”

Guilt charged through him. Kevin shot her a quick look, darted a glance at the empty doorway, then turned back to her. “Of course not,” he said, then asked, “what makes you say that?”

Lilah picked up her fork and used the tines to push a stray brussel sprout across her plate. Leaning an elbow on the table, she cupped her chin in her free hand and stared him right in the eye. “It wouldn’t be the first time Dad’s assigned some poor Marine to ‘daughter duty.’”

He shifted in his chair again, but kept his gaze fixed with hers. Hell, he didn’t want to embarrass her, but if she was used to this kind of treatment from her father, then who was he to deny it? “All right, I admit, he did ask me to escort you around base while you’re here.”

“I knew it.” She dropped the fork with a clatter and leaned back in her chair. Crossing her arms beneath her admirable breasts, she huffed out a breath and shook her head hard enough to send that fall of blond curls swinging. “I thought this time would be different.”

“From what?”

“From the usual.”

Just how many Marines had been “requested” to take charge of her over the years, anyway? Curious now, in spite of himself, he asked, “What exactly is the usual?”

She shot a quick glance at the empty doorway through which her father had disappeared, then looked back at him. “Oh, he’s been throwing you guys in my path ever since I hit puberty.”

“Us guys?”

“Marines,” she said, giving him a look that clearly said she didn’t think he’d been paying attention. “Dad’s been trying to marry me off to a Marine for—well, forever.”

“Marry?” Kevin repeated, then lowered his voice as he leaned over his now empty plate. “Who said anything about marriage?” He hadn’t signed up for that. He didn’t mind showing her around and in general looking out for her interests while she was in town. But as to marriage…well, he’d been there and done that. And no thank you very much. He’d pass.

“Geez, Sergeant,” Lilah said, her big eyes going even wider. “Relax, will you? Nobody’s sneaking you off to Vegas.”

“I didn’t—”

“Your virtue’s safe with me,” she assured him.

“I’m not worried about my ‘virtue.’”

“I just said you shouldn’t be.”

“I’m not—” He stopped, inhaled and blew out the air in a rush of frustration. “Are we arguing in circles?”

“Probably.”

“Then how about we call a truce?”

“It’s all right with me,” she said, jumping out of her chair to pace the room. Her bare feet made almost no sound at all on the polished wood floor, but her bracelet jingled enough to keep time as she stalked. “But you might as well realize now, that my father won’t quit trying. He’s obviously chosen you.”

“As what?” he asked, even though he had a terrible idea of just what she was about to say.

“As a son-in-law,” she said, making a sharp about-face to pace in the opposite direction.

“No way,” he said, standing up, not really sure whether to fight or run.

“Yes, way,” she said, shooting him a look over her shoulder. “And apparently, the fact that I have a fiancé hasn’t changed Daddy’s plans any.”

“You’re engaged?”

“Daddy doesn’t like him.”

“Does it matter?”

“It does to him,” she pointed out all too reasonably. “He likes you, though.” The blonde who would soon be starring in his nightmares gave him a brilliant smile. “And in the Colonel Forrest rules of the Universe, who he likes is all that matters.”

“Lucky me,” Kevin said and wondered if it was too late to volunteer for overseas duty.

Chapter Two

Lilah watched her father’s latest attempt at finding himself a suitable son-in-law and couldn’t help at least admiring her dad’s taste.

Kevin Rogan was tall, broad shouldered and his uniform fit him as if designed with him in mind specifically. He looked like a recruiting poster. Perfect. Too perfect, she thought, glancing from his dark brown hair to his strong, square jaw, lips that were now just a grim slash across his face and narrowed green eyes.

She had to give her father points. At least this one was way better looking than the last few he’d thrown her way. But, she reminded herself, handsome or not, he was still a Marine. And therefore out of the running, as far as she was concerned.

Of course, there was no one in the running, but that was a different story.

His hands fisted at his sides and she had the distinct feeling that what he wanted to do was bolt from the house and disappear into the fog—or maybe punch a wall. She couldn’t really blame him. After all, he was new to the Colonel’s husband hunt.

This was old hat for her.

“Really,” she said, shaking her head. “You ought to try to relax. All of that tension can’t be good for the spirit. Or the digestion.”

“Thanks,” he muttered, shoving both fists into his pockets, “but I like tension. Keeps me on my toes.”

Well then he should be happy to be around her. Because Lilah had the unenviable talent of making most everyone tense. It was her special gift.

Ever since she was a kid, she’d managed to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Still, no point in making him any more miserable than he already was. “Don’t take this so personal,” Lilah told him and was rewarded with a steely glare.

“I shouldn’t take it personal?” he asked, incredulous. “Your father, my C.O., sets me up and I shouldn’t take it personal?”

She waved her hand just to hear the sound of the silvery bells on her bracelet again. Very soothing. “It’s not like you’re the first,” she said. “Or the last for that matter. Daddy’s been lining men up in front of me since I was seventeen.” Just saying it made her want to cringe, but she curbed the impulse. “You’re just the latest.”

“Some consolation.”

“It should be,” she argued.

“And why’s that?”

“Well,” she pointed out, “it’s not as though he isn’t picky when he’s looking for a man for me. He only chooses from the best. I am his daughter, after all.” Not the son he’d always wanted. Just a daughter with a penchant for crystals and toe rings rather than rule books and sensible shoes.

“So I ought to be flattered?”

“Sort of.”

“I’m not.”

“I’m getting that.” She leaned in and studied his fierce expression. “You know, your mirth chakra probably needs work.”

“My what?”

“Never mind.”

“I don’t get you.”

“Join the club.”

“Are you always this strange?”

“That depends,” she said. “How strange am I being right now?”

“Oh, man.”

“Sorry about the interruption,” the Colonel announced as he walked back into the room. Both of them turned to face him, almost in relief. They certainly weren’t getting anywhere talking to each other.

He stopped just over the threshold and looked from one to the other of them. “Is there a problem?”

“Yes,” she said.

“No, sir,” he said at the same time.

Lilah turned and fixed the man opposite her with a hard look. The furious expression was gone, replaced now by the professional soldier’s blank, poker face. To see the man now, you’d never guess that only moments before he had looked angry enough to bite through a phone book. A thick one.

“Now’s your chance, Gunnery Sergeant,” she said, urging him to speak up and get them both out of this while there was still time. “Tell my father what you were just telling me.”

“Yes, Gunnery Sergeant,” the Colonel said, “what exactly were you saying?”

His gaze shot from her to her father and for one brief, shining moment, Lilah almost hoped that Kevin Rogan would stand up and say “no thanks.” Then he spoke and that hope died.

“I told your daughter it would be an honor to escort her around the base for the duration of her visit, sir.”

She sighed heavily, but neither man appeared to notice.

“Excellent,” the Colonel said, smiling. Then he walked across the room, gave her a kiss on the forehead and turned to face the other man. “I have some work to catch up on,” he said. “Lilah will see you out and you two can make some plans.”

When he left again, Lilah folded her arms across her chest, tapped one bare foot against the floor and cocked her head to one side. “Coward.”

He actually winced before he shrugged. “He’s my C.O.,” was his only explanation.

“But you don’t want this duty.”

“Nope.”

“So why—”

“I didn’t want to go to Bosnia, either,” he said tightly. “But I went.”

Well that stung.

Still and all, it was almost refreshing to talk honestly with one of her father’s hopefuls. Usually, the men he handpicked for her were so busy trying to win his approval that they were willing to tell Lilah outrageous lies just to score a brownie point or two. At least Kevin Rogan was honest.

He didn’t want to be with her any more than she wanted to be with him.

That was almost like having something in common, wasn’t it?

“So,” she asked, “I’m like Bosnia, huh? In what sense? A relief mission or a battle zone?”

A flicker of a smile curved his mouth and was gone again before she could thoroughly appreciate just what the action did for his face.

And maybe, she thought as butterflies took wing in the pit of her stomach, that was for the best. She was only in town for a few weeks. Besides, she already knew that she did not fit in with the military types.

“Haven’t made up my mind yet,” he said. “But I’ll let you know.”

“I can’t wait.” Sarcasm dripped from her tone, letting him know in no uncertain terms that she knew exactly what his decision would be. She could see it in his eyes. He’d already come to the conclusion that this duty was going to be a pain in the rear.

And a few days alone with her would only underline that certainty.

“Look,” he said, crossing the room toward her so he could lower his voice and not be overheard. He stopped just short of her and Lilah caught a whiff of his cologne. Something earthy and musky and what it did to her insides, she refused to think about.

She blinked and tried to focus on the words coming out of his mouth, rather than the mouth itself.

“We’re going to be stuck with each other for the next month,” he said.

Okay, that helped. How charming. “And your point is?”

“Let’s try to make this as easy as possible on both of us.”

“I’m for that,” she said and inhaled deeply again, enjoying the woodsy fragrance that filled her senses and weakened her knees. She looked up into those green eyes of his and now that they weren’t scowling at her, she noticed the tiny flecks of gold in them.

Then promptly told herself she shouldn’t be noticing anything of the kind. Marine, she reminded herself. Handpicked by her father.

“You’re engaged,” he said, “whether your father likes the guy or not.”

An image of Ray filled her mind and she had to smile. “True,” she agreed and mentally crossed her fingers at the lie in a feeble attempt to ward off karmic backlash.

“And I’m not interested in changing that situation.”

“Good.” One fake fiancé was about all she could handle at any given time.

“So,” he was saying, “we strike a bargain.”

She stared at him for a long moment, trying to figure out just what he was up to. “What kind of bargain?”

He folded his muscular arms across a chest that looked broad enough to be a football field. “We play the roles the Colonel wants and at the end of the month, we say goodbye.”

Hmm.

“Sounds reasonable.”

“I’m always reasonable,” he said and darned if she didn’t believe him.

He looked so straight-arrow, gung ho Marine, he wouldn’t know a bend in the road if he fell on it. Completely the wrong kind of man for her. Exactly the kind of man she’d avoided most of her life.

In short, he was perfect.

They could get through this month and make her father happy and neither of them miserable. She smiled again as she considered it. For the first time, she and a Marine could be honest with each other. They could form a friendship based on mutual distaste.

This idea actually had merit.

“Well?” he prodded, apparently just as impatient as her father. “What do you say?”

“I say you’ve got a deal, Gunnery Sergeant,” Lilah told him and held out her right hand.

He enveloped it in his much bigger one and gave her a gentle squeeze and shake. Ripples of warmth ebbed through her, much like the surface of a lake after a stone’s been tossed into it. She blinked and held on to his hand a moment longer than was necessary, just to enjoy the sensation. Tipping her head back, she thought she noticed a like reaction glinting in his eyes, but she couldn’t be sure.

When he released her, she still felt the hum of his touch. And she was pretty sure that wasn’t a good thing at all.

Twenty minutes later, Kevin was gone and Lilah was sitting in the living room alone when her father walked into the room.

He moved straight for the bar and poured himself a short drink, then asked, “Would you like something, honey?”

“No, thanks,” Lilah said as she studied her father. A tall, handsome man, he had streaks of gray at his temples, smile lines at the corners of his eyes and the solid, muscled frame of a much younger man. Not for the first time, she wondered why he’d never remarried after her mother’s death so many years ago. But she’d never asked him. And now seemed like as good a time as any. “Dad, why have you stayed single all these years?”

He set the decanter down carefully, studied the amber liquid swirling in the bottom of his glass, then turned and walked to the couch. Sitting opposite her, he took a sip, then said, “I never met another woman like your mom.”

Her mother had died when she was eight years old, but Lilah still had a few memories. Snatches of images, really. A pretty woman with a lovely smile. A soft touch. A whiff of perfume. She remembered the comforting sound of her parents laughing together in the darkness and the warmth of knowing she was loved.

And then there were the lonelier years, when it was just she and her father and he was too busy to notice that his daughter had lost as much as he had.

She shifted, curling up in a corner of the overstuffed love seat. “Did you try?”

Again, he looked for answers in his glass before saying, “Not really.” Another sip. “I just decided I’d rather be alone than be with the wrong person.”

“I can understand that,” she said, meaning every word. In fact, she thought that if they’d had this conversation a few years ago, she might have been able to avoid the series of matchmaking attempts he’d been foisting on her regularly. “But what I don’t understand is,” she added softly, “if it’s all right for you to be single, why is it so important to you that I get married?”

Her father sat up, leaned forward and set his unfinished drink on the table in front of him. Folding his arms atop his knees, he looked into her eyes and said quietly, “Because I want you to be settled. To find someone to—”

“Take care of me?” she finished for him and felt a spurt of frustration shoot through her veins. To him, she’d undoubtedly always be his slightly flaky daughter. But it might surprise him to know that in some circles, she was actually pretty well thought of. “Dad, I’m a grown-up. I can take care of myself.”

“You didn’t let me finish,” he said and stood up, looking down at her with a fond expression on his face. “I want you to have what I had. What your mother and I had for too short a time.”

Hard to be angry at something like that. But it was his methods she objected to.

“If that’s what I want, I can find it myself,” she pointed out and gave herself points for not raising her voice. After all, he meant well.

“I’m not so sure.” He looked at her bare ring finger and Lilah curled her hands under the hem of her shirt. Blast, she should have bought herself a ring to wear. Lifting his gaze to hers, he said, “You picked Ray, didn’t you?”

“What’s wrong with Ray?”

“Probably nothing,” her father allowed. “But he’s the wrong man for you.”

In more ways than one, she thought, but only asked, “Why?”

Her father reached out and cupped her cheek. “Honey, you’d run him in circles inside a week. You need a man as strong as you are.”

“Like Kevin Rogan?”

“You could do worse.”

“I’m not interested, Dad,” she said, preferring not to think about the flicker of attraction that had licked at her insides when Kevin Rogan was too close. Rising, she stood up straight, though she was still nowhere close to being on eye level with him. “And neither is he.”

One of his eyebrows cocked up and then he played his ace in the hole.

“He’s a little down on women right now.”

“Gee, then thanks for setting him up with me.”

He smiled at her. “You’ll be good for him, honey. His ex-wife cut quite a swath through his life a couple of years ago.”

Instantly, Lilah felt a tug of sympathy she didn’t want to feel. And she knew darned well her father had been counting on her natural inclination to want to mend broken hearts. “How do you know?”

“Gossip travels on base as easily as it does in the civilian world.”

True. Hadn’t she been the subject of enough base gossip to know that for a fact?

“So take it easy on him, huh, honey?” he asked, and bent down to kiss her forehead.

Before she could answer, he left the room and she was alone. Wrapping her arms around her middle, she wandered over to the wide front window and stared out at the encroaching fog. Despite the fact that she didn’t want to care, Lilah couldn’t help wondering just what Kevin’s ex-wife had done. And what she, Lilah, could do to help.

Bright and early the next morning, Kevin reported for “daughter duty.” He parked his car in front of the Colonel’s house and turned off the engine. Silence crowded him, as for a few minutes, he just stared at the place.

Windowpanes gleamed in the morning sunshine. The lawn was neat, the house tidily painted. And inside, waited a woman who was, he knew, going to be the bane of his existence for the next few weeks.

There was just something about her, he thought, remembering that almost electrical charge he’d felt when he shook her hand the night before. He hadn’t been expecting it, and for sure hadn’t wanted it. But damned if he hadn’t felt something inside him tighten up and squeeze.

Hell. He’d been too long without a woman, that was all. Obviously. If one touch of a hippie’s hand could send his hormones into overdrive, he was due for some R and R. Fast.

But, for the next month, his personal life was officially on hold. Although, he admitted silently, his personal life wasn’t exactly jumping, anyway. Except for stopping by his sister’s house to visit his niece, Kevin pretty much centered his life around work.

Concentrating on his job and the recruits in his charge made for a nice, orderly life. He’d learned the hard way that he just wasn’t the “relationship” type. He liked his world to proceed in a precise, military fashion.

And a woman was the surest way he knew to blow that all to hell.

His back teeth ground together and he swallowed the bitter taste of bad memories. It was over and done, he told himself, his hands tightening on the steering wheel until he wouldn’t have been surprised to see it snap in two. Deliberately, he forced his grip to relax and reminded himself that ancient history had nothing to do with today. Except of course as a warning to not repeat it.

A flash of movement at one of the front windows caught his attention and as he watched, the curtains were pulled back. Lilah’s face appeared and she gave him a quick smile before dropping the curtains back into place and disappearing from sight.

He didn’t much care for the jolt of awareness that stabbed at his gut, so he ignored it. Taking the key from the ignition, he opened the car door and got out just as she stepped out onto the front porch.

Today, she was wearing a deep crimson shirt that hugged her curves, tucked into a brown suede skirt that hit just below her knees. A silver chain draped around her narrow waist and dangled about halfway down the front of that skirt. As she waved, the silver swayed and caught the sunlight, flashing in his eyes like a warning beacon.

Warning, he told himself. Good thing to keep in mind.

“So?” she called out, her voice carrying to him on the morning stillness, “do you want some coffee before we head off?”

“No thanks,” he answered. Hell, he didn’t need coffee. He needed a drink. Or his head examined. “You ready to go?”

She set both hands on her hips and cocked her head to one side as she watched him. That hair of hers fell like a golden curtain to one side of her body and drifted lazily in the soft wind. Kevin’s insides did a slow lurch before he had the chance to remind himself that this was the Colonel’s daughter for God’s sake.

Not only that, she was completely the wrong kind of woman for him even if he was interested.

And he wasn’t interested.

Dammit.

He kept telling himself that as he watched her walk across the lawn toward the car. That long skirt swayed around her legs and even though he knew damn well that he shouldn’t be thinking the things he was thinking, he couldn’t seem to stop. His gaze moved over her, from that incredible smile right down to the tips of her black, low heeled, slouchy boots.

Want dug into the pit of his stomach and he did his best to ignore it.

Stepping up alongside the car, she planted both hands on the hood and leaned forward. “My dad’s already left for his office.”

“Not surprising,” Kevin said, deliberately keeping his gaze locked with hers. Way safer than looking at the rest of her. “Half the morning’s gone.”

She glanced down at a silver-and-turquoise watch strapped to her left wrist. “Gee, you’re right. It’s almost seven forty-five. Practically afternoon.” Lifting her gaze to him again, she said, “Early rising is definitely something I don’t miss about living on base.”

“I’ll remember that,” he said. Tomorrow he’d pick her up a little later. The less time spent with her, the better. Hell, at this point, he’d take anything he could get.

Chapter Three

“You cold?” he asked.

Lilah nearly jumped, startled at the sound of his voice. For the last hour, they’d been walking aimlessly around the base and he’d hardly said more than a word or two. And she was pretty sure that if he’d been able to get by with a grunt, that’s what he would have done.

“No,” she answered a moment later, “I’m fine. You?”

He looked at her like she was crazy.

“Sorry,” she said, lifting both hands, palms out. “I forgot, Marines don’t get cold.”

His lips quirked, but otherwise, there was no shift of expression. It was like taking a walk with a mobile statue. Any sympathy she might have been feeling for him last night dissolved in the bubbling stew of frustration simmering inside her. Not being one to suffer silently, Lilah, as usual, let it erupt. “What’s the deal here, Gunny?”

“What?” he gave her another look, then absently took her elbow and steered her around a parked car.

Lilah ignored the flash of warmth that the slightest touch from him ignited inside her. On top of everything else, she didn’t need the distraction of fluttering hormones. Plus, at twenty-six, she was a little too old to be developing crushes that were destined to go nowhere.

Besides. They’d had a deal, hadn’t they?

“Excuse me,” Lilah said, flipping her windblown hair back out of her eyes, “but aren’t you the guy who just last night offered me a bargain?”

“Here I stand.”

“Uh-huh.” Did he ever, she thought, with a purely feminine glance of admiration. Well over six-feet tall, he looked like a khaki brick wall. With gorgeous green eyes. And that had absolutely nothing to do with anything, she told herself firmly. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “So, what happened to the part about how we’re going to get along and get through the month without making each other miserable?”

One dark eyebrow lifted into an arch.

Impressive.

“You’re miserable?”

“Gee, no,” Lilah told him, sarcasm dripping from every word. “So far, this is better than Disneyland.”

He stopped walking, heaved a dramatic sigh and turned to face her. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem, Gunny, is that I might as well be by myself, here.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning,” she snapped, “you could actually speak occasionally. Or were you ordered to keep quiet?”

A cold blast of air swept past them, ruffling the hem of her skirt, lifting her hair into a tangled mess and sending goose bumps racing up and down her arms. And it was still warmer than the chill she saw in his eyes.

But in a moment or two, that coolness was gone, replaced with a frustration she understood all too well. Heck, she’d been seeing it most of her life. She never had fit in and once again, that was being pointed out to her.

He shook his head, lifted his gaze to a spot inches above her head and stared out into the distance. From overhead, came the distinctive roar of a jet taking off and the sun slipped behind a bank of clouds.

“No,” he said, lowering his gaze briefly to hers. “I wasn’t ordered to keep quiet. It’s just—”

“I know. You don’t want to be a tour guide.”

“Not particularly,” he admitted, and looked directly at her.

“Well,” she said, “that’s honest, anyway.”

“It’s not your fault,” he muttered, “but this whole thing really goes against the grain.”

“Tell me about it,” Lilah said, shoving her hair back out of her face. “You think I enjoy being handed off from one Marine to another? I’m like a human hot potato!”

“So why do you put up with it?”

“Have you ever tried to say no to my father?”

“Can’t say that I have,” he said.

“I don’t recommend it.” Not that her father ever lost his temper or anything. But he just sort of steamrolled over a person’s objections. Especially, she told herself with just a touch of shame, when you didn’t speak up and be honest. Heck, she’d called Kevin Rogan a coward for not telling the truth. Yet she hadn’t either, when given a perfect opportunity. She pushed that thought aside for the moment. “Don’t get me wrong,” she added, “Dad’s terrific. He’s just…how do I say this?”

“A Marine?” he inquired wryly.

“Exactly,” she said.

Kevin stared at her. That smile of hers should be classified as a weapon. Top grade. It had the wattage of a nuclear bomb and probably had the same results on most men. Able to leave them flat and whimpering.

He, however, was a different story. Oh, he wasn’t blind. And since he was most definitely male, he could appreciate her package. Just like he’d appreciate a beautiful piece of art. That didn’t mean he wanted to take her home and hang her on his walls.

And he’d been down this route before, he reminded himself. He’d taken one look at a woman and seen everything he’d wanted to see and nothing he didn’t. He wouldn’t be making the same mistake again.

“I don’t really need a tour of the base anyway, you know,” she was saying and he told himself to pay attention. He had a feeling that not paying attention around Lilah Forrest could be a dangerous thing.

“Why’s that?” he asked. Not that he minded cutting the tour short.

“Because,” she said, shrugging, “all bases are pretty much the same.” Turning in a tight circle, she lifted one hand and pointed as she counted off, “Headquarters, Billeting, Provost Marshall, beyond that, the PX, Post Office, Commissary. And,” she said, turning back to him with another one of those smiles, “let’s not forget the theater, rec center and oh, yeah. There’re the clubs, enlisted, officers and Staff NCOs, and last but not least, the all important Recruit Receiving.”

When she was finished, she looked up at him and gave him another one of those smiles. “Same church, different pew.”

She was right, of course. Hell, she’d been raised on bases around the world. She probably knew her way around as well as he did. Which led him back to the one question that was flashing on and off in his brain like a broken neon light. Before he could stop himself, he asked, “So what are we doing here?”

“You’ve got me.”

A simple phrase. So why did it snake along his spine like a red-hot thread? Because having her implied all sorts of things that his body clearly approved of wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, though, there would be no having of any kind. Not only was she the Colonel’s daughter and Kevin’s responsibility for the next few weeks…but she wasn’t the one-night-stand kind of woman and he wasn’t the happily-ever-after kind of man.

So that left them square in the middle of “no touch” land.

Then she touched him. A simple touch, she leaned into him and laid one hand on his upper arm. Heat skittered through him, but he drew on every ounce of his formidable will and told himself to ignore it. It wasn’t getting any easier, though.

“It’s weird,” Lilah muttered more to herself than to her strong, silent type companion.

“What is?” he asked, but she had the feeling he didn’t really care.

“Being back on a base.”

“How long’s it been?”

Not long enough, she thought. But all she said was, “A year or so.”

“Why’s that?”

She slanted a look up—way up—at him. “Do you always talk like that?”

“Like what?”

Lilah sighed. “In short, three-to-four-word sentences. I mean you don’t say much and when you do, it’s almost over before you start.”

“You talk enough for both of us.”

She did tend to babble when she was nervous, she admitted silently. Which brought up the question of just why she was nervous. It wasn’t being on base. Or being around her father. Those things she was used to dealing with. She just plastered on a smile and went out of her way to point out her unsuitability herself to avoid having others do it for her.

An old trick, Lilah had been using it for years. Rather than wait for someone else to make fun of her, she poked fun at herself. Then everyone was laughing with her. Not at her.

So, if she wasn’t nervous about where she was…she must be nervous about who she was with.

Uh-oh.

“Hmm. Talk too much. Where have I heard that before?”

“From everyone you’ve ever met?” he asked, one corner of his mouth lifting.

“Wow.” Lilah stared up at him. It was truly amazing what that smile did to his face. No wonder he didn’t do it often. The bodies of women would be littering the parade deck. But she didn’t have to let him know that. “A smile. This is a real moment. Too bad I don’t have my journal with me, I could make a note of it.”

“Funny.”

“Thanks.” She laid one hand on his forearm and felt that jolt of heat again. Okay, she hadn’t counted on that. Instantly, she let her hand drop again and took a step back, just for good measure. Couldn’t hurt to keep a little distance between herself and the surprising Gunnery Sergeant.

“Well,” he asked, “if you don’t want the tour, what would you like to see?”

Before she could answer, someone shouted, “Gunny! Hey, Gunny!”

Kevin turned around and Lilah looked past him at the man hurrying up to them. Judging by his Smokey the Bear hat, he too was a Drill Instructor. He came to a stop in front of Kevin and spared her a quick glance.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” he said, “but I need to borrow the Gunny for a minute.”

“Sure,” she said.

Kevin frowned slightly. “Staff Sergeant Michaels, this is Lilah Forrest.”

The Marine’s gaze widened in surprise. “As in Colonel Forrest?”

Lilah nearly sighed. Happened every time she met one of her father’s troops. They looked at her, imagined him, and just couldn’t seem to put the two of them in the same family. But she’d long ago quit trying to be what everyone else expected her to be, so she just smiled at him. “He’s my father, yes.”

“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” he said. His gaze swept over her and as he took note of the crystal around her neck and the silver chain around her waist and her boots, she could almost hear him feeling sorry for her father. A moment later though, he was all business, and turning his gaze on Kevin.

“I need your help tonight.”

“I’m off for the next couple of weeks,” Kevin told him and Lilah noticed for the first time how rough and gravelly his voice sounded. Must be from all the shouting the D.I.’s did at the recruits. But whatever the reason, it scraped along the back of her neck and felt like sandpaper rubbing against her skin.

“I know that,” Sergeant Michaels said. “But Porter’s wife is in the hospital. Their first one’s about to be born and I’ve got a busload coming in tonight.”

“A busload?” Lilah asked.

“Recruits,” Kevin told her with a glance over his shoulder.

“Ah…” Of course. She’d been around the Marine Corps long enough to know that when new recruits arrived at the depot, they arrived in the middle of the night. Bringing them in on a bus in the dark was sort of a psychological thing, she supposed. Kept them from knowing exactly where they were. Enforced the feeling that they were all in this together. Made them start looking to each other for comfort, for strength.

Because that was the whole point of boot camp. To take individual kids and build them into team player Marines. The military wasn’t exactly big on individualism. Which is exactly why she’d always had such a hard time fitting in.

Free spirits in the Marine Corps? She didn’t think so.

“You won’t have to do anything,” Michaels said, talking faster now, “just be there as backup.”

She’d never seen the recruits arriving and as long as she was here, it seemed like a good idea. “Can I come, too?” she asked.

Both men turned and glared at her.

“No.”

She pulled her head back and stared at them. “Why not?”

“You said you didn’t want a tour,” Kevin reminded her.

“That’s not a tour. That’s just observing.”

“No observers allowed,” he said.

“Staff Sergeant Michaels just asked you to be an observer.”

“He asked me to be backup.”

From the corner of her eye, she noted that Sergeant Michaels was watching the two of them with fascination. But she paid no attention to him. Instead, she concentrated on the huge man glowering at her.

“And if you’re not doing anything but being backup,” she pointed out, “what exactly will you be doing?”

“Watching.”

“Ah-hah.” She folded her arms across her chest, leaned back and gave him a victorious smile. “In other words, observing.”

She watched him grind his teeth together. Every muscle in his jaw clenched and unclenched several times before he trusted himself to speak.

“Whatever I’m doing, it’s my job,” he said. “These kids don’t need an audience.”

“Hardly an audience. One woman. In the background. Watching.”

“No.”

“Look,” Michaels interrupted, apparently sensing that there was going to be no time limit at all to this argument, “all I need to know is if you can do it.”

Kevin, still scowling, said, “Yeah. I’ll be there.”

“Good, thanks.” Touching the brim of his hat with his fingertips, he glanced at Lilah and said, “Ma’am, enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you,” she said, but he had already done an about-face and was striding away, leaving she and Kevin alone again.

Before she had the chance to open the discussion again though, he was looking at her. “Forget about it,” he said tightly.

One thing Lilah had never been able to stand was being told what to do. Another reason why she’d never have made it in the military.

“I could pull rank on you,” she said.

“You don’t have a rank,” he reminded her.

“My father does.”

“He’d be on my side.”

Hmm. She suspected that was true. Her father was a stickler for the rules. Poor man.

“What harm could it do?”

“None, ’cause you won’t be there.”

“You know,” she said, walking again, headed across the grounds toward a patch of grass where several squads were drilling, “I don’t need your permission.”

“Actually,” he said, falling into step beside her, “yeah. You do.”

“What?” She looked up, and her hair flew across her eyes. She clawed at it, then reached around, grabbing a handful of hair and holding it in place at the nape of her neck. Hard to argue with a person when your own hair was working against you.

“I’m a senior D.I.,” he said and darned if he didn’t look like he was enjoying himself, saying it. “I train the instructors. They answer to me. I look after the new recruits. I say who comes and goes.” He bent down again, bringing his gaze in a direct line with hers. “And I say you don’t go anywhere near the new recruits tonight. Understand?”

Lilah ducked back into the shadows as the bus pulled around the corner and came to a stop. Two in the morning and the faces she could make out through the windows were wild-eyed. “Probably scared to death,” she muttered, then slunk farther back into the darkness as the sound of footsteps rose up from close by.

Staff Sergeant Michaels, with Kevin Rogan just a step or two behind him, headed for the bus. The driver slammed the double doors open with a “thunk” that seemed to echo in the otherwise stillness.

Lilah went up on her toes and wished she was five inches taller. She’d never liked being short. People never took short people seriously. They always thought you were “cute.” Besides, she’d rather reach her own cereal down from the top shelf at the grocery store, thank you very much. But she’d never been as frustrated with her height as she was at the moment.

“Not bad enough I have to hide like a criminal,” she whispered, “but I go to all the trouble of coming down here and now I can’t see anything.”

Sergeant Michaels vaulted up the three steps into the bus and started his long walk down the narrow aisle. She caught glimpses of pale faces and she could only make out the Gunny’s silhouette, but she had no trouble at all hearing him.

“Listen up!” he thundered in a roar that was designed to capture everyone’s attention. “When I give you the word, you will get the hell off this bus. Then you will stand in the yellow footprints painted on the pavement. You will then wait for further instructions. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, sir,” came a desultory answer from only a handful of the kids trapped on that bus.

“From this moment on,” Michaels screamed and Lilah was pretty sure even she flinched, “you will begin and end every answer to every question with “sir.” Is that clear?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” A few more voices this time.

“I can’t hear you.”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

With that, he strode back down the center aisle, left the bus and stood just at the bottom of the steps. “Move, move, move, move…” he shouted and instantly, dozens of feet went into action.

Clamoring to hurry, racing to follow instructions, a bunch of kids who only the day before had only to worry about which hamburger joint to have lunch in rushed toward destiny. Lilah winced in silent sympathy for what she knew they’d be going through soon. Boot camp was rough, but if they made it through, each of those kids would be stronger than they ever would have believed possible. Heaven knew she had never really felt as though she belonged, but she respected what the Corps could do. What they represented. What was possible with the kind of teamwork taught in the Marines.

A flash of pride swelled inside her as she listened to those feet hustling off the bus. They were scared now, but in a few short weeks, they’d be proud.

“I should have known,” a voice came from right beside her and Lilah jumped, just managing to stifle a screech of surprise.

Grabbing the base of her throat, she half turned and looked up into now familiar green eyes. “Good God, you almost killed me,” she said.

“Don’t tempt me.”

She straightened up to her full, less than impressive height. “Hey, I’m not one of those kids, you can’t order me around.”

“That seems pretty clear,” he muttered, then grabbed her upper arm in a grip that told her his temper was carefully leashed. “Why are you here?”

Lilah flashed him a grin. “Because you told me I couldn’t be.”

“You know,” he said, with a shake of his head, “I never thought I’d feel sorry for an officer. But damned if I don’t feel some sympathy for the Colonel.”

“I’ll pass that along for you,” she said.

Chapter Four

“Do you ever do what you’re told?” he asked, voice tight.

“Almost never,” she said softly.

And damned if she didn’t sound proud of that little fact.

Standing here in the dark with her, Kevin wasn’t sure if he wanted to strangle her or kiss her. Either way would only lead to trouble though, so he resisted both impulses.

Still, he felt her warmth, felt it drawing him in. And after being so cold for so long, the temptation to step closer was a strong one. Warning bells went off in his mind, but unfortunately, his mind wasn’t in charge at the moment.

Moonlight barely reached into this one little darkened corner of the base. But even in the dim light, he had no trouble making out her delicate features, the paleness of her skin or that wild tangle of hair lying about her face and well past her shoulders. He caught a whiff of her perfume and it tantalized him, making something inside him clutch up tight and hard. And he damn well resented it.

What was it about this one tiny woman that seemed to be getting past every defense he’d erected over the last couple of years?

“How’d you know I was here?” she asked, keeping her voice low enough that no one else would hear her. Especially over Staff Sergeant Michaels’s shouting.

How to explain that, he wondered. He wasn’t about to admit that he’d sensed her presence. He would cheerfully stand up against a wall and smile at a firing squad before confessing that he’d actually been looking for her. So he picked up her left wrist and gave it a gentle shake.

Silvery music tinkled into the darkness from the chimes she habitually wore.

“Ah,” Lilah said. “I knew I should have dressed a little more covertly.”

“A little more?” he asked, letting his gaze drift down her compact, curvy body. Even in the dark, he could see that she wasn’t exactly dressed for espionage. She wore some light-colored full-length sweater over yet another swirly skirt and a pale blouse. She couldn’t be more noticeable if she were doused in glow-in-the-dark paint.

“So I’m not spy material,” she quipped. “Besides, I don’t look good in black.”

He was pretty sure she’d look good in whatever she wore, but he had no intention of saying so.

“C’mon,” he said, still keeping a grip on her wrist. “I’ll take you home.”

She dug in her heels. “I could just stay here and—”

“Forget it,” he said, glancing over his shoulder to where the new recruits were being hustled in out of the damp fog and into the receiving center. “Show’s over.”

She looked past him, then lifted her gaze to his. “Okay, I’ll go. But you don’t have to walk me. Sergeant Michaels is probably expecting you inside.”

True, he thought, looking from the tiny woman beside him to the well-lit glass doors to his left. But there were more Marines inside who could help out. And he didn’t think the Colonel would appreciate his daughter left to walk across the base alone in the middle of the night.

Decision made, he said, “Wait here.” Then he dropped her hand and marched off to receiving. It only took a moment or two to tell Michaels that he was taking off and then he was stepping back into the damp night, peering into the mists of fog drifting across the yard.

He glanced at the spot where he’d left her with orders to stay put. Naturally, she wasn’t there. Knowing her, she could be anywhere on base by now. “Dammit,” he muttered.

She laughed from somewhere just ahead of him. “Have you ever tried meditation?”

“No,” he said, narrowing his gaze to stare into the fog, looking for her.

“You should. It would help with that temper.”

“You know what else would help?” he asked as he moved forward quietly, scanning the area, searching for a glimpse of that pale sweater.

“What’s that?”

“People doing what I tell ’em to do.”

“Like giving orders, do you?”

“Better than you like taking them, apparently.”

Then she was there. Right in front of him. Materializing out of the fog as though she were a part of it somehow. Mist clung to her hair and body and shone in damp patches on her cheeks. She tilted her head back, smiled up at him and he felt a cold, hard fist close around his heart.

“You should keep that in mind then, huh?”

Oh, there were a lot of things he’d have to keep in mind about her, Kevin told himself firmly. Not least of which was the fact that she was the engaged daughter of the Colonel and only here temporarily.

“Doesn’t it look eerie out here?” she whispered and her voice was softened even further by the heavy mist surrounding them.

“Yeah,” he said. “It does.”

“Sort of like a horror movie.”

He’d never really noticed that before, but got into the spirit of things. “Just before something comes lurching out of the fog?”

She took a step closer to him and let her gaze sweep across the shrouded base. “Okay, bad idea to go down that road.”

“Scaring yourself?” he asked, surprised. Hell, he would have been willing to bet that nothing scared her. Certainly not her father. Or him. But apparently, the boogeyman could do it.

She linked her arm through his as he started walking. He knew this base like his own backyard. Foggy or not, he could get her back home with no trouble.

“Not a big fan of scary movies,” she admitted. “I get too involved, too drawn into the plot, then it’s like I’m the one being chased by a knife-wielding maniac.” She shivered. “Nope. Give me romantic comedies.”

The fog acted like a blanket, keeping them wrapped in a small cocoon of silence. Only their own footsteps sounded out, like twin heartbeats, thumping in time. The grip of her hand on his arm was strong and warm and damned if Kevin wasn’t enjoying it. It had been too long since he’d taken a walk with a woman. And even though this was strictly business, so to speak, that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy it.

“Me,” he mused aloud, “I’m more of an action-adventure movie person.”

“Gee,” she said with a half laugh, “there’s a surprise.”

He chuckled, too. “Nothing better than a few good explosions and a couple of firefights.”

“Ah, the romance.”

“Ah, the glory.”

They walked on in a companionable silence for another minute or two and then she spoke. Kevin had been wondering just how long she could go without talking. Clearly, not very long.

“So what do you do when you’re not being Gunnery Sergeant Rogan?”

“When am I not?” he wondered aloud.

“Vacations,” she supplied, “days off. R and R.”

It had been so long since he’d taken any personal time, he couldn’t remember what he’d done. Of course, before the divorce, he’d had plenty of plans for vacations and even retirement. Maybe buy a boat and run a charter fishing service off one of the islands in the Caribbean.

But then, his neat little world had dissolved and so had the plans.

Her question was still hanging in the damp air between them though, so he found an answer that would satisfy her curiosity. “I go see my sister and brothers. And my new niece.”

Lilah heard the pride in his voice and smiled wistfully to herself. As an only child, she would never get to be Aunty Lilah. And at the rate she was going, she’d never get to be “mom” either. Suddenly, she saw herself thirty years from now, curled up in her same apartment in San Francisco, surrounded by cats and peering through the curtains at the world going on without her.

Not a pleasant prospect, by any means.

“You know,” he said, “when you’re quiet, it’s a little scary.”

She chuckled. “A Marine? Scared? I don’t believe it.”

“Worried more than scared. What are you thinking about?”

Since the image of her older self alone with cats sounded a little too “pity-party,” she said, “Just wondering what it was like to grow up with brothers and sisters.”

“Loud,” he said.

“And fun?”

There was a long pause while he thought about it. Then he said, “Sometimes. Most times, it was work. I’m the oldest, so I was usually left in charge and—”

“So giving orders really comes naturally to you.”

“All right…”

“Sorry,” she said. “Go on.”

“Not much more to tell.” She felt him shrug. “I have one younger sister and three brothers. Triplets.”

“Triplets. Wow. Identical?”

“Oh, yeah. Almost no one can tell them apart.”

“But you can,” she said, enjoying that hum of pride in his tone again.

“Sure. They’re my brothers.”

“And your niece?”

“Ah,” he said, his voice warming, “Emily’s a heartbreaker. And since she’s walking now, she’s driving Kelly, my sister, nuts.”

Lilah enjoyed hearing about his family. Love filled his voice when he spoke about them and as he painted word pictures, she drew their images in her mind. The brothers looked like Kevin, she guessed, although she was willing to bet they weren’t as handsome. After all, what were the odds of having four gorgeous men in one family?

She imagined Kelly and her baby and—

“What’s Kelly’s husband like?” she asked, assuming the woman was married. She couldn’t imagine Kevin Rogan, master of all he surveyed, allowing his sister to be a single mother.

Beneath her hand, the muscles of his arm tensed slightly before relaxing again. Hmm. Not too fond of the brother-in-law, was he?

“Jeff’s a Marine. He’s on duty now. Somewhere.”

“Somewhere?”

“He’s Recon. Kelly doesn’t even know where the hell he is.”

“And you’re not happy about that,” she said.

He shrugged again and Lilah wished she could see his expression, but the fog was still too thick, sliding past them like phantom fingers.

“Marines make lousy husbands, that’s all.”

“Kind of a generality, don’t you think?”

“Personal experience.”

Ah. She remembered what her father had had to say about Kevin’s ex-wife leaving him a mess, so Lilah trod carefully. She didn’t want him to know she’d heard anything about his past. He didn’t seem the kind of man to enjoy knowing that his private life was still being talked about.

“So you were a lousy husband?”

His footsteps faltered slightly, then he went on and if she hadn’t been paying such close attention, she might not have noticed the hesitation at all.

“My ex-wife must have thought so,” was all he said.

“Was she a good wife?” She probably shouldn’t have asked that, but Lilah’s nature was something she couldn’t fight. She didn’t mean to be nosey, exactly. It was simply that she couldn’t keep herself from trying to help. Whether that help was wanted or not.

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

“It might help,” she said. “Sometimes telling a stranger your problems makes them easier to solve.”

“There’s nothing to help,” he said, his voice low and sharp as a knife. “It’s over. My marriage ended a couple of years ago.”

Maybe, she thought. But there seemed to be a part of him that hadn’t let go. Though she doubted he’d admit that under threat of torture. And, since she’d been enjoying herself up until this minute, she let the conversation end. No point in starting a fight.

She stumbled over something in the dark and would have pitched face forward into the dirt if he hadn’t caught her.

His hands at her waist, he held on to her while she steadied herself and Lilah tried not to feel the heat from his hands pouring into her body.

This was ridiculous. She was twenty-six years old. The last living virgin in California. She had a pretend fiancé and absolutely no business being swept away by a good-looking Marine with a bad attitude and a glorious smile.

And yet…

She stared up at him and the mist enveloping them parted, drifting away on the sea air and leaving them in a patch of moonlight. He hadn’t let her go and Lilah felt every imprint of his fingers, right through her sweater and the shirt she wore beneath it. His pulse beat seemed to hammer into her, accelerating her own heartbeat and twisting her stomach into knots.

“This is a bad idea,” he said, his gaze moving over her face as if seeing her for the first time.

“Terrible,” she agreed.

“We have nothing in common.”

“Absolutely zip.” She ran her tongue across her bottom lip and watched his gaze follow the action. Her stomach pitched again as though she were on some high-flying roller coaster and taking the long dip in a rush of speed.

“You’re only here for a month.”

She nodded. “Maybe less.”

“You’re engaged.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“And,” he whispered as he lowered his head toward hers, “if I don’t kiss you right now, I just might lose what’s left of my mind.”

She went up on her toes, rising to meet him. “Can’t have that,” she said on a sigh.

Lilah kept her eyes open and watched him come closer. But when his lips came down on hers, her eyes closed and breath left her body. If he hadn’t been holding on to her, she would have dropped, because her knees gave out the instant his tongue touched hers.

She groaned and leaned into him. His arms came around her like an iron vise, pressing her to him, holding her length along his. His hands swept up and down her back, stroking, caressing.

His mouth tantalized her, his breath dusted across her cheek and she felt the pounding of his heart slamming against her chest. He explored her mouth, tracing the tip of his tongue along her teeth, her cheeks, drawing the last of her breath from her. She gave as good as she got, returning his caresses while she clung to his shoulders in an effort to keep from puddling on the ground at his feet.

Never, she thought wildly, as sensation after sensation coursed through her body. Never had she felt anything like this. It was as if sparklers had been set off inside her. Her blood dazzled and bubbled in her veins as a low down, deep-seated throbbing pulsed to life within her.

He growled. Actually growled. And tightened his hold on her. His kiss deepened until she was sure he was trying to devour her and Lilah was so afraid he wouldn’t.

She wanted more. Wanted to feel his hands on her. Wanted to slide, skin to skin and relish the experience of having Kevin Rogan be the man to finally broach her body’s last defenses.

She felt as though she’d been waiting all her life for this one moment. Here in the moonlight, with the patchy fog drifting like gossamer threads around them, she’d found the skyrockets that all the romance novels she’d ever read had promised.

The question was, what was she going to do about it?

Chapter Five

Reason pushed its way into his brain and instantly, Kevin released her and took a step back. His arms felt empty without her. He still had the taste of her in his mouth and he knew that had been a big mistake. And even knowing that, it was all he could do to keep from grabbing her again and having another taste.

He slapped one hand across the back of his neck and rubbed hard enough to scrape skin off. It didn’t help.

“Wow,” she said softly, her voice reaching out for him as surely as her scent did. “That was some kiss.”

“Yeah,” he muttered thickly and was more than grateful for the sporadic moonlight. In the darkness she wasn’t likely to see exactly how much he’d enjoyed that kiss. But he could for damn sure feel it. And the discomfort was enough to make his tone a little harsher than he would have liked. “I apologize,” he said formally. “That was out of line and—Look Lilah, it’d probably be best for both of us if we just forget that ever happened.”

Silence.

Oh man, she was probably ready to cuss him out, or punch him or best yet, he thought grimly, report this to her father. Great. Just what he needed. What had he been thinking? His Commanding Officer’s daughter. An engaged woman.

A nut.

In an instant, he saw the end of his career, or being transferred to some far-flung, ice-covered base, or being busted down to Private. There was no telling what she’d do once the shock wore off.

“I think my toes curled.”

He blinked. “What?”

“Seriously,” she said. “That was an amazing kiss, Gunnery Sergeant Rogan.”

“Thanks.” What else could he say? Hell, he should have known she wouldn’t react as he’d expected her to. Any sane woman would be either furious or—well, just furious. But then, he told himself, Lilah Forrest didn’t even dress sane.

“I mean to tell you,” she said, admiration clear in her voice, “you could give lessons.”

He didn’t speak. Didn’t trust himself to.

“Forget the Marines,” she added, “you could probably make a bundle being an escort.”

“What?”

“Just checking,” she said with a short laugh that sounded nearly as musical as the bells she wore on her wrist. “You were so quiet there for a minute, I thought maybe you were the first person to ever slip into a coma while standing up.”

“You’re out of your mind, you know that?” Big surprise there, he thought.

“Why?” she asked. “Because I didn’t kick you or run off to daddy to complain? Would you be happier if I was angry?”

“Well,” he said, “yeah. At least that I’d understand.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” she said and started walking toward home again.

He fell into step beside her.

Even without the fog, the air was damp and carried the scent of the ocean. Shadowy clouds scuttled across a black sky, covering and then displaying the stars as if some giant hand were playing hide-and-seek with diamonds.

“Not disappointed,” he said, weighing the words mentally before speaking them, “just…confused.”

“I don’t know why,” she said, drawing the edges of her sweater closer around her. “You kissed me, I kissed you and it was terrific.”

More than terrific, he thought, but didn’t say.

“And that’s it,” he said. “No big deal.”

She glanced up at him and in a snatch of moonlight, he saw the smile curving her delectable mouth. “If you want to run get a sword, I’ll fall on it for you.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said tightly and wondered why in the hell it bothered him so much that she wasn’t bothered.

“Just what did you mean then?” she asked as they came up on the low, three-foot-high brick wall that surrounded the backyard of the Colonel’s house.

He grabbed the regulation cover off his head and ran the flat of one hand across the top of his high and tight haircut. For the first time in too many years to think about, he almost wished his hair was longer. At least then, he’d have something to grab hold of and yank.

“I don’t know what I meant. All I’m sure of is, I don’t get you at all.”

“Ah,” she said and he heard the smile in her voice. “The mystery that is Lilah Forrest.”

“You are that.”

“Because I didn’t swoon or run off screaming into the fog because of one kiss?” Lilah shook her head and stared up at him. Her knees had quit shaking and she was pretty sure her heart wasn’t going to climb out of her throat. But her stomach was still pitching and quivering with excitement and it felt as though every one of her nerve endings was standing up and shouting, “Ooh-rah!”

She shook her head. “If that’s the case, then you think either very highly of yourself or very little of me.”

“Neither,” he said. “You’re just…surprising, is all.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Not sure about that, either.”

“You’ll let me know when you figure it out?”

“You’ll be the first,” he promised. “But don’t hold your breath. You’re only going to be here four weeks and something tells me it’d take years to understand you.”

“And sometimes,” she said softly, thinking now of her father, “not even then.”

A moment later though, she pushed those thoughts aside. They were old aches and there was no need to reexamine them again tonight. Besides, she’d much rather think about what had happened to her only a few minutes ago.

Granted, she wasn’t exactly the most experienced woman around, but Lilah had the distinct feeling that even if she had been, Kevin Rogan’s kiss would have stood out from the crowd. The man was an absolute master at lip manipulation. She ran her tongue across her bottom lip as if she could still taste him there and just the thought of that sent a shiver of expectation shooting down the length of her spine.

She wanted to kiss him again and even admitting that silently, she knew just how dangerous this was. After all, he was career military. A Marine, for pity’s sake. A man, for all intents and purposes, exactly like her father. The two of them were like peas in a pod as far as their views, their goals and no doubt, the kind of woman they approved of. And that kind of woman was definitely not her kind. She’d been the bane of her father’s existence for as long as she could remember. She had no reason to think that Kevin Rogan would be any different.

How could she be interested even slightly in a man hand-chosen by her father? This had never happened before. Every other time her dad had tossed a Marine in her path, she’d either frightened them off or been bored silly.

Wouldn’t you know that the one time she’d come prepared—armed with a pretend fiancé—that would be the time she’d meet a man who set off alarm bells throughout her body? The key word in that sentence being alarm. If she had any sense, she’d go inside and tell her father that she couldn’t stay after all. Then she’d pack up and go home to San Francisco. Back to the world where she felt comfortable and wanted and respected.

But she knew darn well that she wasn’t going anywhere.

Not after a kiss like that.

She wanted another one and then, maybe, another one after that.

And giving in to that thought, she looked up at him, went up on her toes and slanted her mouth against his. He went rigid, as if suddenly called to attention. But electricity hummed between them, lighting up Lilah’s insides and pushing her to go for more. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tilted her head to one side, giving him more and silently asking him to return the favor.

Moments ticked past and still she waited for a response. When it finally came, it was more than she had hoped for. His arms went around her middle, his hands fisting at the small of her back, pulling her tightly to him. She felt his need pulsing through her as he parted her lips with his tongue and reclaimed her mouth.

Lilah sighed into him and she heard him swallow a groan that rumbled up from deep in his chest. He yanked her flush against him and instantly she became aware of the rock-hard proof of his desire for her. A flicker of something damp and hot and unbelievably exciting settled and pooled deep within her and Lilah wanted nothing more than to give in to it.

His breath puffed across her cheek, his warmth and strength surrounded her. The silence of the night crept close, making their rapid heartbeats and ragged breathing the only sounds she heard.

Then he tore his mouth from hers and stared down at her with wild-eyed, deep-rooted shock. But despite the denial she knew was coming, he couldn’t disguise the passion she saw in his gaze. Not to mention the fact that his body was telling her all she needed to know about whether or not he wanted her.

“Why’d you do that?” he demanded, sliding his hands from her back to her upper arms. His fingers pushed into her flesh, but in spite of his strength, or maybe because of it, his grip was still gentle. “Didn’t we just say that it would be better if we both forgot about that other kiss?”

“Actually no,” she said, and took a deep breath in a futile attempt to slow down her heartbeat. “You said that.”

“Whatever.”

“And,” she went on as if he hadn’t spoken at all, “I figured if you’re going to forget something, might as well make it memorable.”

“Memorable? If it’s memorable, you don’t forget.”

“Good. I don’t want to.”

“What kind of game are you playing?” he asked, releasing her and taking a long step backward.

“Who’s playing?” she asked and locked her knees to keep them from liquefying.

“Look,” he ground out, “you’re here for a few weeks. You’re my Commanding Officer’s daughter and you’re engaged to some poor guy who probably thinks you’re missing him.”

She imagined Ray, no doubt at home, having dinner with Victor and not giving her a second thought. Ah, the old “tangled web” parable about deception had just risen up to bite her in the rear.

If she told him that she wanted him, then she was a cheating fiancée. If she told him the truth, that she wasn’t engaged to Ray, then she was a liar. Hmm. No way to win there.

Which was probably for the best, she told herself as her blood cooled and her brain cleared. No matter how good a kisser Kevin Rogan was, the plain fact was that there could be nothing between them. He was military and she just didn’t do military very well.

Nodding to herself, she said, “You’re right.”

“I am?”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” she quipped. “Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while.”

“Thanks,” he said dryly.

“So we’re agreed then?”

“On?”

“On the fact that there’s going to be no more kissing between us.”

He nodded shortly. “Yeah, we’re agreed.”

“Okay then.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.” She looked up at him, then shifted her gaze to the house behind her. “I guess I’d better go inside.”

“Yeah, you probably should,” he said.

She was freezing on the outside and bubbling hot on the inside. It just didn’t seem fair. But then, this was probably just punishment for allowing herself to get so turned on in the first place.

After all, she should know better. She’d long ago accepted her unofficial title of the Last Virgin in California.

She sat down on the edge of the low wall, swung her legs over and stood up in the middle of her father’s rose bushes. A stray thorn or two tugged at the folds of her sweater, but she ignored them.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

He took a step back from the wall. “I’ll be here.”

“All right then. Good night.” Lilah turned, paused, then looked over her shoulder at him. In the indistinct wash of moonlight, with the fog stretching out behind him, he looked impossibly gorgeous and as unreachable as the stars overhead. So she couldn’t resist saying, “Just for the record, you’re a great kisser.”

He scowled at her and she headed for the house. She could feel Kevin’s gaze locked on her. Heat blasted through her as surely as if she’d been standing with her back to a roaring fire. It was all she could do not to shiver again.

She was in some serious trouble, here.

So it was a good thing she didn’t hear Kevin mutter thickly, “You’re not a bad kisser yourself.”

One week.

She’d only been on base one lousy week and Kevin’s world was pretty much shot to hell. He wasn’t even getting any sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her face, heard her voice, listened to the faint sound of those blasted bells that were as much a part of her as that long blond hair.

Scowling fiercely enough to keep all but the bravest souls at arm’s length, Kevin stepped into the PX. He nodded to the cashier, then walked straight to the back of the room. He opened the refrigerator door, pulled a soda off the shelf and turned to leave.

“Hello. Gunnery Sergeant Rogan, isn’t it?”

He froze, looked to his right and managed to give the older woman striding up to him a tight smile. If not for Lilah, Frances Holden wouldn’t have known him from Adam. But because the Colonel’s daughter had insisted on touring the child-care facility on base, he was now acquainted with the gray-haired woman in charge of the place.

She had a no-nonsense walk, a twinkle in her eyes and a short, square body that the base children seemed to love to cuddle up to.

“Ma’am,” he said, gripping the neck of his soda bottle in one tight fist, “it’s good to see you again.”

She laughed, a booming sound that he swore rattled some of the glassware on the nearby shelves. “Liar.” She held out her right hand and he took it in a firm grip. When she let him go again, she said, “Right now you’re thinking, ‘what does this old bag want and how long will it take.’”

“No, ma’am,” he argued quickly, though he was wondering if the nursery school teacher did a little mind reading on the side.

“I won’t keep you but a minute,” she said, lifting one hand to wave away his objections. “When I saw you, I just had to say something.”

“Ma’am?”

“The next time you see Lilah, will you thank her for me again?”

“Again?” he asked, before he could help himself.

“Oh, yes,” she said. “I thanked her once, but it just isn’t enough, though she’ll argue with me on that point, I’m sure.”

Oh, he was pretty sure Lilah would argue with anyone about anything, but that wasn’t the point here, was it?

His grip tightened on the soda bottle until he wouldn’t have been surprised if the glass had shattered in his hand. Why was it women talked around something instead of simply spitting out what they wanted to say? Now a man would have stepped up to him, said what needed saying and been on his way.

Much simpler.

The woman in front of him was still talking and to dam up the flow of words, he held up a hand. When her voice trailed off, he asked one question. “What exactly are you thanking her for?”

The older woman blinked up at him. “She didn’t tell you? Isn’t that just like her? Such a sweet girl. The Colonel can be proud of that one, I’ll tell you. So thoughtful and she didn’t have to do it, frankly I don’t even know how she did it, though Lord knows—”

“Ma’am,” Kevin interrupted the flow again and smiled to take the sting out of his cutting her off. “Just what exactly did Lilah do?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” she said, shaking her head, “didn’t I tell you? She went to a local children’s store and somehow convinced them to donate new winter jackets for the children. All of the children. Most of their parents are enlisted and don’t make much money.” The older woman beamed at him. “She really is a wonder, isn’t she?”

Before he could answer, Mrs. Holden was off, leaving him standing there wondering what else he didn’t know about Lilah Forrest.

Chapter Six

“Do you know I’ve never seen you out of that uniform?” Lilah said, giving him a quick look up and down while he stood on the front porch.

His eyebrows shot straight up and she realized just how that had sounded. And though she was intrigued by the notion, she had the feeling he was not.

“I meant,” she said, stepping out of the house and closing the door behind her, “I’ve never seen you in civvies.”

He took her arm and led her down the short flight of steps to the path leading to the driveway. “Yeah, well, I’m more comfortable in the uniform.”

Lilah shot him a look from the corner of her eye. She didn’t believe him one bit. She’d never met a Marine who didn’t wear civvies off the base if he could. A uniform always attracted attention and most Marines would rather blend in than stand out. So it wasn’t comfort Kevin was looking for, here.

It was a barrier.

A fabric wall standing between them.

He probably figured that if he wore that uniform, it would serve as a reminder that he wasn’t with her by choice, but because her father had asked him to be there. As if she needed reminding.

Heck, Lilah’d never exactly been at the top of the dating food chain. Even in high school, she’d been just a little too weird in a world where everyone else was trying to fit in. College had been no better. She’d actually gone to class rather than the latest fraternity bash, so she’d pretty much been on the outs there, too.

Which really explained the whole “virgin” issue.

Hard to lose something nobody wants.

A brisk wind shot across the base and tugged at the hem of her sapphire blue skirt, rippling it around her calves. She wore a knee-length blue sweater atop the white cotton blouse that was tucked into the waistband of her skirt. Pulling the edges of that sweater around her more tightly, she glanced at Kevin and asked, “Don’t you ever get cold?”

“Nope,” he said, his grip on her elbow firm, but gentle. “But if I ever do, you suppose you’ll be able to find me a jacket?”

“Huh?” she asked, watching him instead of where she was going. She didn’t see the rise in the sidewalk and the toe of her boot caught it just right. She stumbled and would have fallen except for the strength of his hold on her. Once she had her feet steady beneath her again, Lilah asked, “What are you talking about?”

He led her to the car, released her and opened the door. Then leaning both forearms atop it, he kept his gaze on her and said, “I just ran into Mrs. Holden at the PX.”

“Ah…”

“She said to say thank you again.”

Lilah smiled. “Tell her she’s welcome.” She gathered up her skirt, preparing to slide onto the front seat.

“Why’d you do it?” he asked.

She stopped and stared up at him. “Do what? Get the jackets for the kids?”

“No,” he said dryly. “Invent penicillin.”

“Funny.”

“Thanks. So…why?”

Lilah shrugged, trying, unsuccessfully, to make light of the situation. “The kids needed the jackets and it was a good deal for both sides. The store gets a tax write-off and is able to do something for the community and the kids get new winter jackets. Everybody wins. Why wouldn’t I do it?”

“Most people wouldn’t have gone out of their way to go and talk some department store into donating clothes.”

She smiled at him. “As you’ve already pointed out more than once, I’m not ‘most people.’”

“Point taken,” he said and watched her as she sat on the seat and swung her legs inside. He closed the door, walked to the driver’s side and got in himself before looking at her again and saying, “All I wanted to say was, it was a nice thing to do.”

Just a little uncomfortable, as she always was when being thanked for something, Lilah pulled her head back and stared at him in mock amazement. “Gee…is this a compliment I hear?”

“Could be.”

“And me without my journal again.”

“You keep surprising me,” he said.

“Good. I do hate being predictable.”

“I like predictable,” he said and fired up the engine.

“Now why doesn’t that surprise me?” she murmured. Quickly, she hooked the seat belt then turned her head to look out the side window. He put the car into gear and backed out of the drive onto the road.

Lilah barely paid attention to the passing scene. Instead, her mind rattled along at its own pace, dredging up one thought after another. She’d been happy to arrange for the new jackets for the kids. It hadn’t taken much effort—if there was one thing Lilah was good at, it was talking to people—and after all, it had worked out well for both sides.

But she never had been comfortable with compliments. She preferred doing her volunteering and then slipping away into the mist—like the Lone Ranger, she thought with an inward smile.

They drove through the main gate, and waited for a break in the cars to join the traffic. Once they were a part of the streaming line of lemmings, Kevin spoke up, breaking the silence in the car.

“At least Sea World shouldn’t be crowded. This time of year and all, there aren’t many tourists.”

Grateful that he’d apparently decided to drop their earlier conversational thread, Lilah looked at him and smiled.

He was right. When they pulled into the parking lot twenty minutes later, they had their choice of slots. The weather probably had something to do with that, she thought. Leaden skies and a cold, wintry wind would keep even the locals away from the park. It was almost as if they’d been given the place to themselves for the day.

Kevin watched her as she studied the pamphlet and decided what she wanted to see first. Something inside him shifted uncomfortably. She was just so damned…tempting.

She always had a rumpled, tousled look that made him think of rolling her around on silky sheets—and as that thought strolled through his mind, it was all he could do to keep from reaching for her. But it wasn’t just what she did for his body. He liked how her mind worked. Even when it frustrated him. Talking to her was like walking in circles and her sense of humor was a little unsettling at times, too. But the sound of her laughter was enough to set off sparklers in his bloodstream.

And now he knew that she was thoughtful enough to arrange for kids to get brand-new jackets. And that she was selfless enough to be embarrassed about it when he found out and faced her with it.

She couldn’t be more different from his ex-wife. Alanna couldn’t see further than her own reflection. She’d tossed him over without a thought, to get the one thing she’d wanted and wasn’t able to get without him.

Entrance to the United States.

Old hurts rippled through him, but he buried their memory into a dark hole in the corner of his heart and hoped they’d stay there for a while. It wasn’t often he thought about Alanna. And he liked that she was becoming more and more a part of his past. Though even he had to admit that she’d influenced his present and certainly his future. Never again would he trust that “head over heels” feeling. Never again would he believe a woman when she told him that she loved him more than life itself.

And most important, never again would he allow himself to be as vulnerable to pain. If that meant living alone, then that’s just how it would have to be.

Grumbling to himself, he pushed thoughts of Alanna aside and concentrated on the woman standing in front of him. Lilah tossed her head to one side, swinging that long, glorious fall of hair back over her shoulder and he studied the line of her throat, the delicate curve of her jaw. Air jammed up in his lungs and he had to fight for his next breath. Not a good sign, he told himself, but didn’t know how to keep from feeling that nearly electrical jolt of awareness.

Especially when memories of that kiss kept plaguing him.

She turned those big blue eyes on him and gave him one of her damn near nuclear smiles. And Kevin knew for sure that he wanted her more than his next breath. His entire body was practically humming with a kind of need he’d never experienced before. Not even with Alanna.

And that fact worried him.

“What time is it?” she asked.

Why wasn’t she wearing a watch? Crystals, yes. Silver bells, of course. But a simple watch? No way.

“Ten hundred,” he said with a quick glance at his left wrist.

“Ten o’clock,” she said and checked the pamphlet again. “Good.” She lifted her gaze to his and dazzled him with a smile bright enough to start a fire. Then she grabbed his hand and tugged at him. “We just have time to make it to the dolphin show.”

Obediently, he followed after, trying to keep his gaze from settling on the curve of her behind or the damn near delicious sway of her hips.

Dolphins.

And that’s how it went all day. They hurried from one show to another, stopping only for lunch. He’d never seen a woman so completely entranced by the little things. She loved cotton candy and hot chocolate. She dipped her French fries in ranch dressing and ordered a diet soda with an ice-cream sundae. She laughed easily and teased him mercilessly and he enjoyed it all.

By late afternoon, Kevin had seen enough fish and sea-going mammals to last him a lifetime. But Lilah showed no signs of slowing down. Damned if she wasn’t as fresh and enticing as she had been at the beginning of the day. With her endurance, she’d have made a helluva Marine.

And she wasn’t about to leave until she’d seen what she laughingly referred to as “The Big Guns.”

Shamu.

The arena was practically empty, but still she insisted on sitting down on the azure benches—despite the clearly painted warning that the first five rows might get wet.

The water was incredibly blue. Nearly as blue as her eyes and as Lilah applauded and laughed and oohed and aahed at the whale and its trainers, Kevin was watching her. Everything she felt registered on her face. Her expressions shifted constantly and he felt as though he could watch her forever.

Such a contrast, he thought. She fired his blood and kept him on his toes when she argued with him. Yet here she sat, as excited as any of the kids in the arena. There were so many sides to Lilah Forrest, he had a feeling that even if he knew her for years, she’d be able to keep him guessing.

Years, he thought and waited for the inward shudder that usually accompanied such thoughts, but it didn’t come. That alone should have worried him.

“Look at him,” she said in an awed whisper. “Isn’t he amazing?”

Dutifully, Kevin tore his gaze from her to look at the huge tank in front of him. The huge black-and-white whale did a quick circuit of its tank, creating waves that crashed and broke in its wake. The trainer was treading water in the middle of the pool, shouting instructions and slapping his open palm on the surface of the churning sea water.

Lilah’s excitement was damn near contagious. Even he got caught up in watching that mammoth creature swimming so gracefully. But a moment later, Kevin saw it coming. Knew what was going to happen the minute the killer whale made its first leap out of the water. On the far side of the tank, it lifted its huge body clear of the pool, then slammed home again, sending a wall of water swooshing over the clear side of the tank and onto the benches.

Before he could grab Lilah and make a run for it though, Shamu was upon them. Again, the whale rose from the depths, seemed to pause briefly in midair, then crashed back into the water. Instantly, a regular tsunami swelled over the lip of the clear tank wall and slammed down onto Lilah and Kevin, drenching them both instantly.

Sputtering and blinking, Kevin stood up and looked down at the laughing woman beside him. Her hair was absolutely soaked, hanging down on either side of her face like blond seaweed. She laughed and the pure, warm sound of it slid down inside him, taking the chill from his blood and lighting up his soul.

Then his gaze slipped from her face to her chest and just that fast, his body went on full alert. Her plain, white cotton blouse had suddenly become transparent. And the white lace bra she wore hid nothing from him. He saw her every curve. Her erect nipples peaked against the fabric and it was all he could do to keep from reaching out and cupping her breasts in his palms. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

His mouth went dry and when he lifted his gaze to hers again, he saw knowledge in her eyes. She knew just what he was thinking. But even better, she seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“You’re all wet,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice sounding rusty even to himself. “You, too.”

She glanced down at her shirtfront briefly, then swung her hair out of her face as she looked back up at him. “Guess you can pretty much tell I’m cold, too.”

“Pretty much,” he admitted, though her being cold was making him hotter than he’d ever been before.

Then she shivered and his hormones slipped a notch. Wrapping one arm around her shoulders, he pulled her in close to his side.

“You’re as wet and cold as I am,” she said, looking up at him even as she snuggled in, looking for warmth.

“Oh, I’m wet,” he said, then muttered, “but cold? I don’t think so.”

He led her down and out of the arena, and instinctively headed for the front gate. The sun was already sinking behind a low-lying bank of clouds on the horizon. Streaks of rose and violet burst along the edges of those clouds and spread across the sky like a spill of paint. A cold, ocean wind blew past them and Lilah pressed herself to his side, wrapping one arm around his waist.

“It’ll only take a minute to get to the car. We’ll get the heater on and thaw out.”

“Heat,” she repeated, her teeth beginning to chatter. “Good.”

His hand rubbed her upper arm, and held her tightly to him and Lilah felt the ice chips in her bloodstream beginning to melt. She ran her hand up and down his back, pretending to help keep warm, but really, she was simply enjoying the feel of his back. Hard, muscled flesh lay just beneath a soaking wet uniform blouse, and Lilah wanted more than anything, to slip her hands beneath that shirt and feel his skin against hers.

A feeling that had been building inside her for days erupted with his nearness and she gave in to it, enjoying the hum of desire pulsing within. There was just something about this man. Something strong enough to have her thinking about him at odd moments, dreaming about him at night and worrying about the dreaming during the day.

A flicker of emotion flashed inside her and Lilah wondered just what it was. More than passion. More than simple desire. This was something she’d never felt before. And rather than try to put a label on it, to try to understand it, she decided to simply nurture it.

He stopped alongside the car and reached into his pocket for the keys. The instant his arm left her shoulders, the cold slipped into her and Lilah hugged the edges of her sodden sweater across her middle.

Glancing at her, he opened the door and said, “Get in. Quick, before you freeze.”

Lilah nodded and slid onto the seat. He closed the door after her and as he walked around the back of the car toward the driver’s side, she told herself that here was her chance. With this man. At this moment. She was finally going to lose her title as the Last Virgin in California.

He climbed in, settled behind the wheel and turned the key in the ignition. Flipping a few dials, he had the blower going and the rush of air quickly shifting from cool, to warm, to positively toasty.

With the engine purring, she turned toward him and found him staring at her. Those green eyes of his looked stormy, dark with a desire she recognized and shared.

A muscle in his jaw clenched and released. He swallowed hard and said, “Get your seat belt on.”

“In a minute,” she said, leaning closer.

His gaze shifted from her eyes to her mouth and back again. He shook his head. “Don’t be starting this, Lilah. We both know it would be a mistake.” He was saying all the right things, but hunger colored his tone and boiled her blood.

“And we both want it anyway.” She tilted her head and leaned in farther, closer to him. She could almost hear his heart pounding.

He reached up, stroked her cheek with the tips of icy fingers and reaction shimmered up and down her spine. Then he speared his fingers into her hair and pulled her to him.

His mouth came down on hers and stole the last of her breath. Her heart hammered in her chest, her stomach did a quick jig and when he released her, Lilah looked into his eyes and knew without a doubt that this was right.

Even if it was wrong.

Chapter Seven

Outside, the wind was cold and fierce. Trees along the highway twisted and danced in the ocean gusts, bending low, their leaves breaking free and pelting the passing cars like oversized raindrops. But inside the car, heat roared into life and had nothing to do with the blast of forced, warm air rushing from the heater.

Lilah’s heartbeat quickstepped until breathing became a near Olympic sport. Her hands fisted in her lap, she kept her gaze locked on the view through the windshield and told herself she was being foolish. None of this made sense. She wasn’t the type to fall for a Marine, for pity’s sake. Hadn’t she proved that over the years with a succession of failed attempts? Hadn’t every Marine who’d ever crossed her path eventually run for the hills?

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