Last Virgin In California (Mills & Boon Desire) (25 page)

It wasn’t until she turned around that she saw him.

Standing alongside the Mustang parked in her driveway, Davis, in full uniform, stood watching her. It was the first time she’d ever seen him in his marine uniform and she had to admit, he made quite a picture. Tall, muscular and so handsome, he took
her breath away, he looked like a recruiting poster for the corps.

And she was reading a lot of hope into his coming to see her.

She walked down the driveway and stopped a few feet from him. “Hi,” she said, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I know.” He nodded abruptly, then turned toward his car. “I have something for you.”

Confused, Marie watched as he dragged a live Christmas tree—a two-foot pine in a terra-cotta pot—from the back seat of the Mustang. A huge red bow was attached to its tip and the ends of the ribbon fluttered wildly in the breeze. Davis staggered under the potted tree’s weight as he carried it up the driveway. He set it down in front of her and Marie looked from the pine to him.

“What’s this about?” She fought to slow down the rapid beat of her heart, but lost the battle. Just being close to him was enough to send her system into overdrive, and she’d just have to accept it.

He braced his feet wide apart, folded his arms across his broad chest and said simply, “It’s a Scotch pine.”

“I can see that,” she said with a small smile. “Why is it here?”

A slightly disgusted look crossed his face briefly as he admitted. “It’s here because I couldn’t find a
Douglas fir.” He shook his head in frustration. “Went to three nurseries before I settled for this one.”

He had gone looking for a Douglas fir? Why? she wondered, even as a ribbon of hope began to stream through her insides.

“Uh-huh,” she said softly. “And you’re bringing me a tree because…”

He unfolded his arms and scraped one palm across his face as he searched for the words he needed so desperately. “Because I thought the blasted thing could be like a visual aid.”

“For what?” She hoped he knew where he was going with this, but Marie wanted to hear him say it.

“To show you that I’m ready for roots.”

A bubble of excitement blossomed in her chest. She took a hard grip on it and said, “You are?”

“Yeah.” He looked deeply into her eyes and she read so many wonderful things in those familiar blue depths, Marie wanted to shout. But she kept still as he went on. “I want to plant this tree with you and decorate it every year.”

“Every year?”

“Yes.”

Afraid to believe, afraid not to, Marie stared at him and realized all of her dreams were hanging right there, within reach. “I…don’t know what to say,” she admitted.

“Don’t say anything, Marie,” Davis said, and
felt his hopes rise as her features softened into the incredibly loving expression he’d missed seeing so much. “Just listen. The last three days I’ve been a miserable bastard.” He paced off a few steps, then walked right back to her. “I’ve shouted at everyone and made everyone’s life hell all because I’m an idiot.”

She didn’t argue the point. Was that a good sign or a bad one?

He didn’t wait to find out. Rushing on with everything he wanted—needed—to tell her, Davis kept talking. “You’d probably be a hell of a lot better off without me, but I’d be in damn poor shape without you.”

She smiled. Okay, that was definitely a good sign.

“The last few days without you have been terrible, but they made me realize something. Something I’ve known all along but was too damn scared to admit.”

“What’s that, Davis?”

He reached out and laid both hands on her shoulders. Her soft yellow sweater caressed his palms as he looked down into her incredible eyes. “I’m tired of being alone, Marie. I’m tired of pretending it’s enough. I want to belong. I want a family.” He paused, searched her features for a long moment, then added, “I want
you
.”

She didn’t say anything. She just blinked at him as her throat knotted.

Say it all, he told himself. Take a risk. Take a chance.

“My enlistment is nearly up,” he said, his words tumbling over each other in his hurry to tell her everything he’d been thinking about—planning—the last couple of hours. “I don’t want to sign up again. I want to leave the corps and stay here, in Bayside. With you.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You do?”

“Yeah,” he said on a smile. “I do. I’d like us to expand your shop. Do the restorations we talked about. Be partners. In everything.”

“Davis…”

“I know we haven’t known each other long, Marie,” he said quickly, “but I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

She reached out and laid one palm on his chest. He accepted it like a benediction, feeling her warmth spiral through him in such a tide of love that he knew he’d never feel the cold again. “I feel that, too,” she said softly, and Davis’s whole being was swept by relief. He wasn’t too late.

His fingers tightened on her shoulders, then he released her and reached into one of his pants pockets for the small, dark blue box he’d brought with him in hope. Opening it up, he held it out to her and said, “I want to marry you, Marie.”

She looked at the diamond-and-emerald ring for what seemed forever before she lifted her gaze to his again. “Davis, if this is because you’re worried about the possibility of a baby—”

“No!” He interrupted her quickly, as vehemently as he could. “No, this is about us. He grabbed her left hand and held it tightly. “If there is a baby, that’s a bonus. What I want—what I
need
is you.”

“Oh, Davis,” she said on a soft sigh, “I want to believe you.”

“I love you, Marie.”

She blinked, clearly surprised.

He smiled. “I’m not afraid to say it anymore. The only thing that scares me is the thought of living without you.”

Marie curled her fingers around his and squeezed. “You don’t have to, Davis. I love you, too.”

He released a pent-up breath and grinned, feeling the power and strength of that smile right down to his soul. “Then you will marry me?” he asked as he took the ring from the box and held it just at her fingertip.

“I will,” she said, and he slid the ring home, feeling a sense of satisfaction like nothing he’d ever known before.

Pulling her into his arms, he held her tightly to him, resting his chin on top of her head. Burrowed in close, Marie said, “You know, if you hadn’t come
here today, I’d already planned on going to the base tomorrow to hunt you down.”

He pulled back slightly and smiled down at her. “A recon mission?”

“You bet,” she said, and slid her arms around his waist. “And you know the saying…I Always Get My Man.”

Davis laughed and shook his head. “That’s the mounties, not the marines.”

“Who cares?” she asked, going up on her toes.

“Not me, lady,” he said and kissed her, promising them both a lifetime of love. And Davis knew the moment his lips touched hers that he had, at long last, found home.

Christmas Eve, afternoon

D
avis sat on the floor of Marie’s living room, surrounded by what looked to be ten thousand numbered pieces of plastic. And somehow, in the next few hours, he’d have to fit them all together into the space station that Jeremy expected to find beneath the tree tomorrow morning.

“What’s the matter, Sarg?” Marie asked from the bedroom doorway. “Giving up already?”

He grinned at her and shook his head. “Marines don’t quit.”

“Yeah,” she said as she walked across the room to him, “but you won’t be a marine much longer, will you?”

When she was close enough, he pulled her down onto his lap and gave her a squeeze. “Nope,” he said, and didn’t feel the least bit sorry about his decision.

One part of his life was over, but a new and even more interesting part was about to begin.

Marie reached up and cupped his cheek. Smoothing her thumb across his skin, she marveled again that they had found each other. She was happier than she’d ever been, and come New Year’s Eve, she’d be a bride. And to top that, she had a very special Christmas present for her soon-to-be husband.

“Davis,” she said softly, “there’s something I want to tell you—”

Footsteps pounding up the stairs outside the apartment interrupted her and they both turned as one when the front door opened and Gina stormed inside. Marie tried to scoot off Davis’s lap, but he held her in place.

“What’s wrong with you?” Marie asked, settling into the curve of Davis’s arms.

“I’m so mad, I could spit,” Gina snapped, flashing an angry look at Davis. “This guy in my ballroom dance class? Today he practically dragged me across the floor, and when I told him he was doing everything all wrong, he told me I should just shut up and let the man lead.”

“So?” Not that Marie wasn’t sympathetic, but she had some plans of her own here.

“
So
I told him that if he had the slightest idea of
how to lead, I wouldn’t mind at all. And he called me a waste of valuable space.” She jammed both fists on her hips and tapped the toe of her shoe against the floor. “Do you believe that? I mean, I’m paying for those lessons. He shouldn’t get to insult me like that.”

Davis snickered. Marie heard him.

“What do you want us to do about it?” she asked her sister.

“He’s a marine, just like
him!
” Gina waved one hand at Davis. “So I figured maybe Davis could have him shot at dawn or something.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said. “What’s his name? Maybe I know him.”

“Nick Peretti,” Gina snapped. “He’s some kind of sergeant or something.”

“Gunnery Sergeant,” Davis provided.

“That’s it! So you
do
know him.” Gina’s eyes flashed with sparks of vengeance.

“I’ve…run into him a time or two,” Davis hedged.

“With your car?”

“No.”

“Too bad.” Then, just as quickly as she’d arrived, Gina turned for the door again. “The next time you see him, you tell him he’d better watch out before ticking off a Santini.”

“Oh,” Davis said over the slam of the door, “I’ll warn him.”

In the sudden stillness, Marie shook her head and looked up at him. “Are you absolutely
sure
you want to get involved with this family?”

He laughed.

“I mean it, Davis,” she said, one corner of her mouth curving into a smile, “this is your last chance to retreat.”

“Marines don’t retreat.”

“Good,” she said, and leaned into him before giving him his present. “In that case, there’s something you should know.”

“Yeah?” he asked, reaching past her for section A1 of the space station.

“Gina’s going to be an aunt again in about eight months or so.”

“That’s good….” He stopped dead, slowly turned his head to look down at her, and when he saw her smile, he stammered. “Are—are you sure?”

“I’ll see the doctor to be sure. But trust me. We’re pregnant.” Marie told him, reaching up to touch his face, his mouth.

“Then we’re going to have a—”

“Baby.”

“Baby,” he repeated, awestruck. His right hand drifted to her flat abdomen and rested there lightly, reverently. When he looked at her again, Marie was sure she saw the shimmer of dampness in his eyes, and her heart turned over.

“I love you, Davis,” she whispered.

“I love you, Marie.”

Then, pulling his head down to hers, she said softly, “Merry Christmas.”

Just before his lips found hers, he added. “And a happy new life.”

ISBN: 978-1-474-02721-2

© 2010 Maureen Child

Published in Great Britain 2014
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited,
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