A Major Connection (8 page)

“But what about sex?”

“You don’t need a relationship for sex.”

He shook his head. “Try again, Miss I’ve-Been-Celibate-for-Two-Years.”

She flushed. “Okay. So I need to be committed before doing a guy.”

They both paused as the ramifications hit them.

“So are you saying
we’re
committed?” he asked slowly, not wanting to jinx what he wanted to hear.

“Um, well, I don’t know if I’d say that.”

He wanted to go out on a limb and tell her what
he
wanted—for them to try a real relationship. But she’d already said she was leaving in a few weeks. How stupid could he be to admit to liking her more than he should? Not only would she reject him, he’d be putting pressure on her to end their relationship before it had to. Damn, but Thorn wanted to be with her for as long as he could. So they’d go their separate ways before long. So what? They could enjoy each other now.

He suppressed the pain at thoughts of her leaving and cleared his throat. “I don’t want to scare you or anything, but…”

She frowned. “What?”

“But I’m not a sex toy to be used and thrown away so easily.” He faked a tear, saw her relax in her chair, and put on a teasing front. “What we have, Miss Major, is an amazing physical chemistry that we’d be foolish to ignore.”

“Foolish, huh?”

“Yeah, and my momma didn’t raise no fools.”

“
Any
fools, you mean.” She shrieked when he grabbed her foot and nearly tugged her out of her chair. “Easy, Conan. I agree with you. We connect on that level, no question.”

“Yeah.” He grew hard just thinking about what else they could do that they hadn’t yet.

Her eyes widened when she noted his erection. “Not again.”

“What can I say? You put out some potent pheromones.”

“You’re such a sweet talker, Thorn.”

He tickled her foot. “Bobby. You’re such a sweet talker,
Bobby
.”

She tried to wriggle her foot away, still laughing. “Let go.”

“Nope.” Not now. Not ever.

Don’t I wish
.

A week and a half later, April didn’t know how he’d done it, but Gunnery Sgt. Bobby Thorn had gotten under her skin in a big way. The sex was off-the-charts hot, but she liked just being around him too. She should have spent her time basking under the sun getting a tan, riding the waves in the ocean, or hanging out with a few friends not lost in kids and husbands.

Instead, she found herself drawn to Bobby. God, she even thought of him more as Bobby now, especially when she kept growing all lovey and emotional.

Stop with the love nonsense. He’s just a fun diversion, nothing more.
She reminded herself that he wasn’t that nice. Just the other day he’d raced and beaten her in a run around the block, then rubbed his victory in her face. What she’d been planning to do, but he’d ruined it by winning. Or when she argued with him about the Packers being a superior football team over the Panthers and he’d dumped water over her head. She’d retaliated of course, but she had further proof he’d never be easy to manage or a “nice guy.”

There, he was Thorn again, as in, a thorn in her side. Of course, when she’d told him how she sometimes thought of him, he’d laughed at the analogy and agreed with her. Which made her like him all the more.

I’m in so much trouble with him.

His body made hers sing. The sight of his bright blue eyes made her breathless. And the thought of no longer being around him made her want to cry.

She’d been in relationships before. Granted, her last had been a few years ago, but she’d never been so into a guy as she was with Thorn. The whole of him—mind, body, and spirit—spoke to her on every level.

They both liked to play to win and loved gloating when victorious. She would have gotten angry over his bowling triumph a few days ago if she hadn’t bested him hours before at miniature golf, then made him literally bow down to her, at the putt-putt place, because she’d won. He’d taken his loss with grace…then made her pay for it later that night.

She sighed as she took Lobo on his evening walk.

Her sister had phoned earlier in the day to inform April that she planned to arrive the next morning, a full week early. Apparently their mother had driven Jane up the wall, and being pregnant, Jane couldn’t drink their mother’s nagging away, so she’d done the next best thing and cut her vacation short.

Not that April could blame her.

“Yo, sexy. Wait up.” Thorn jogged to meet her, looking totally doable in swim trunks and a tank shirt, exposing his drool-worthy upper body. How did he get his arms that big? She did push-ups but she’d never managed more than stringy biceps.

He had a deep tan that brought out the vivid blue of his eyes. His thick eyelashes enhanced the color, as did the blue of his shirt. Under the fading sun, his body draped by twilight, he looked almost magical. A sorcerer casting love spells as he walked through the folding sand.

“Hey you. How was your lunch?” she asked, forcing her fantastical thoughts away.

“Great. All the Thorns are back in one place again. Courtney—my oldest sister—is back for another three years.” Her husband had rotated once again to Camp Lejeune.

“I bet your parents are happy.”

“Yeah, they love seeing all their grandkids.”

“How many nieces and nephews do you have?”

“Two. One of each. A boy from my Courtney, a girl from Lila—the middle child. And yeah, she hates when I call her that.”

April tugged on Lobo’s leash when he pulled. “Easy, boy.” To Thorn she said, “Well, that explains why you’re no Neanderthal. At least, not all the time.”

“Oh?”

“You’re actually a pretty decent guy, especially when it comes to handling women.”

“Glad you noticed.”

She laughed at his smug expression. “I could have sworn you were a chauvinist. But since getting to know you, I now understand you’re just an elitist. You hate anyone not Recon.”

“Not true.”

“Oh?”

He winked and grabbed her hand, holding onto it as they walked. “I like you, and you’re a loggie.” Logistician. “I’m all about support.”

“Why do I have the feeling you mean you’re all about anyone you think supports you Recon types? We don’t just work for you, you know.”

“Honey, everyone supports the ground pounders. Admit it.”

“Whatever.”

She liked bantering with him. And walking while holding hands felt special. Right.

He squeezed her hand, and she glanced at him to see him smiling. Walking so close, he seemed much more massive. Yet they fit…in so many ways.

“My sister is coming home early,” she told him.

“Yeah? Everything okay?”

April sighed. “As okay as it ever is with my mother. I told you we’re a tight family, and we are. But my mom…” She groaned. “I love her, but she can be
so
annoying.”

He chuckled. “You sound like my sisters. Courtney butts heads with my mom a lot. They’re too much alike. But not Lila. Lila lives to boss
me
around. Must be why she and Mom get along so well.”

“She sounds terrific.”

“Yeah, you’d love her,” he said sourly, then chuckled to show he’d been teasing. “So with your sister coming back,” he paused, sounding a little too casual. “Does that mean you’re leaving early? You said you planned to go to Raleigh, right?”

“To visit my parents, yeah. I’m not sure what I’m doing with my life—cue the dramatic music—now that I’m almost done with my leave.” And officially out of the military.

“What do you want to do?”

Another thing she really liked about Thorn. He asked her questions and listened for her answers. He didn’t talk to hear himself talk. He genuinely wanted to hear her and seemed to take value in her opinions.

“I wish I knew. I majored in business. I’ve spent the past ten years as a logistics officer. There are plenty of headhunters ready to place me in some corporate job somewhere.” But none of it felt right.

“Is that something you want to do?”

“Not really. Actually, there’s this cute little gift shop downtown that I’ve been eyeing. It could be so much more than it is, but it’s a risk investing in retail.” Yet anytime she thought about what she’d do with her life, she gravitated toward being her own boss.

“Anything worth having is worth taking a gamble, you want my opinion.” He stole a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Thief.”

He grinned. “Think about it, April. What do you like to do? Maybe something will come to you from that.”

“I like swimming in the ocean. Running on the beach. Walking with you,” she said playfully.

He swung her hand to his lips and planted another kiss on her. A simple peck that lit her up from the inside out. “It’s mutual, honey. Or should I say, Ma’am? Wouldn’t want you to think I was getting too familiar or anything.”

“Oh please. You’re all about being
familiar,
especially when you think I’m wearing too many clothes.”

“Hey. My house, my rules. Bras and panties are verboten in the Thorn palace. And that’s an order, Major.”

“Dictator,” she muttered, trying not to smile. Thorn could lighten her burdens just be being him. God, why did she feel like she had to leave and go to some big company to make money? Oh, right, so she wouldn’t turn into her mother, losing herself in a man. Yet the thought of losing herself in Thorn had appeal…

“So you have no plans other than to visit your parents. Will you stay with your sister when she gets back?”

“I assumed I would. But there’s a plus to her being back—I won’t have to dog sit Lobo anymore.”

“Too bad. He and I are just starting to get along.”

She snickered. “You mean you found that monstrous bone in your garden, and now he won’t dig anymore since he got what he was after.”

“Who knows how long ago he buried it?” They continued to walk along the beach. The sun went down, leaving the clouds bathed in wisps of white over a pink sky fading into burnt orange, and finally indigo.

“What a beautiful evening.”

“Yeah.” He was looking at her as he said it, and her heart raced, as it always did, just being near him. “So I was thinking…”

“Don’t hurt yourself.”

“At ease, Major.”

She laughed.

“I was thinking maybe you could stay with me for a bit when your sister gets back. I mean, she might want her privacy and all. I don’t. I’ll be back at work in another week and a half anyway, and the place would be yours, pretty much.” He shrugged, as if her answer didn’t matter to him.

But she sensed the shift in their quasi-friendly relationship. Personally, she wouldn’t call them friends with benefits. More like
lovers who argue like an old married couple who have hot sex
.

At the word
married
, her biological clock started ticking again. Having turned thirty at the start of the year, she found herself constantly thinking about a husband and children, hence the drive to make a decision about what to do with her future.

She looked up at Thorn, wondering why he seemed to fit her ideal of the perfect man. He annoyed her. He bossed her around, and not always in bed. He had a problem with neatness—could he leave dirty dishes by the sink for longer than ten minutes?—and an addiction to cheese puffs, which she found disgusting. His competitive edge matched hers, and she knew she was a demon when it came to needing to win all the time.

Oh hell. Even trying to come up with things about him that bothered her, she fell more in love with him. And wasn’t that a kick? Falling in love with a man in a matter of a few days?

Her mother would have a field day with that. Mona Soames already considered Jane the black sheep of the family for wanting domesticity more than she wanted a career. April had no plans to take away her sister’s time in the spotlight.

“Well?” Thorn asked.

“Well what?”

“It’s a good thing you’re pretty. You can’t seem to keep a thought in your head.”

“Oh. Right.” She blushed, daydreaming about him when she should have been giving serious consideration to his offer. “So you don’t mind me staying with you, invading your manly space?”

“Not at all. We’ve practically been living together since you jumped me last week anyway.”

“Please. Who jumped who?” She grinned, loving how he took charge in bed. She didn’t have to ask him to give her what she needed. Being dominant came naturally to him, and his preference enabled her to feel comfortable submitting.

“You tempted me with that rack. You know you did.”

“You’re so easy.”

“Sad, isn’t it?” He smiled, but she could see he wanted an answer.

Feeling as if she was agreeing to more than staying with him—temporarily—she answered, “I’ll stay with you if that’s okay. Just for a another week or two while I figure out where I’m headed.”

“Sounds good.” He nodded and seemed to relax. “Want me to help you bring some stuff over?”

“I have a seabag. Easy packing.”

He smiled. “Yeah. You can fit a ton of shit in one of those.”

They finished their walk with Lobo and discussed her possible future careers. Cooking, housekeeping, and sleeping with Thorn as a benefit went out the window, much to his disappointment. But her aptitude for making things work, knowing who to call to get the job done, would be a vital asset to any company. Especially her own.

She did have a few options she’d considered. “I’m waiting to hear back from a placement firm. They work with corporations scattered throughout the country.”

“Good.” He didn’t sound enthused. “Anything around here?”

“I don’t know.”

“What you mean is you don’t know if you’ll like Corporate America. You don’t sound too excited about it.”

“I’m not. I loved the Marine Corps, but I know in my gut it was time for me to leave. I want more.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. A husband, kids. A family. So many of my friends are married. It makes you think, you know?”

He sighed. “I do. Both my sisters are hitched, so my parents are on me to couple up. And like you said, a lot of my friends are married. I’m not against marriage at all. But I want to find the right person. That’s not easy.”