Nerd and the Marine (11 page)

Bentley and the kids, and what
appeared to be a gaggle of dogs, all dug under the covers to reach
her. Lainy tried valiantly to stand beneath the attack of twenty
wiggling kids and who knows how many dogs, but even her best
efforts were squashed. She peeked out from beneath the covers and
Mitch didn't miss the glee in her eyes. She appeared to enjoy the
morning every bit as much as the kids.

“
What do you guys want?”
She sounded grumpy, but her voice didn't fool Mitch and he doubted
any of the kids, either.

“
Let's go play,” the kids
shouted back, bouncing on the bed and generally disrupting the calm
of the morning.

One of Lainy's eyes stared back at the
kids from around the sheet she hid behind. “How many bowls of
sugared cereal have you kids had this morning?”

“
Ten
.”

“
Lots
.”

“
I can't count that
high
.”

“
More than Mom said we
could have
,” came the chorus of answers and
Lainy groaned.

Without warning, she erupted from the
bed and small bodies flew everywhere. Shrieks of laughter and much
giggling later, Lainy stepped primly to the side.

One redheaded child popped her head
out of the ruckus and stated, “See, Aunt Lainy, since you went
as’eep in your workout c’othes, you can p’ay with us.”

Lainy laughed and rustled the red
curls on her way past. “Hey, poppet, I always sleep in my work out
clothes,” she said while Mitch peeled his tongue off the
floor.

He lost the thread of conversation as
he leapt forward to pause the scene and nearly sent the bite of
cookie he'd just eaten down the wrong tube. Gasping and groping for
a drink, he found an old bottle of water under the bed and gulped a
hasty sip.

Eyes focused on the woman on his
screen, he blinked a couple of times to make certain she really was
there. Clad in a sports bra, halter top, and spandex shorts, Lainy
could be a cover model for a fitness magazine.

For all of Lainy Morrison being an
electronics engineer, she certainly had the body of a fitness
freak. She possessed curves and valleys he wanted to explore. And
to think he'd been first attracted to her brain and beautiful soul.
But her body was most definitely worth his efforts, too. She'd been
hiding beneath shapeless clothes and one piece racing swimsuits. At
least other men would be deprived of knowing about her amazing
figure and Mitch thought this was good.

He rewound the clip a bit to catch the
rest of the conversation and wished he hadn't.

“
Uncle Sam says you don't
need to work out, Aunt Lainy,” another little girl told her aunt
solemnly.

“
Yeah, he said your body is
nice now,” another one popped up from beneath the scattered bedding
to add.

“
Who's Uncle Sam?” Mitch
saw confusion etched on Lainy’s face. He'd like to know who Uncle
Sam was, too.

“
You know, Uncle Ben's swim
guy.” A nephew huffed a breath out and dove into the pile of
squirming bodies nearly obliterating Lainy's carpet.

“
Uncle Ben's swim buddy?” A
frown formed between Lainy’s eyebrows.

“
Yeah, you know him, that
really big guy.” Another boy, this one skinny and freckled, made a
pro wrestling stance that sent half the room into raucous
laughter.

“
Why don't you all clear
out and give Lainy a chance to catch her breath and have some
coffee,” another voice, adult this time, said from the
doorway.

The cameraman swung to the door and
Mitch recognized Melly Lytle in the doorway.

“
Aw, Moms” and “Aunt
Mellys” rounded the room, but the woman pointed a firm finger
behind her and the kids trooped out, most of them
grumbling.

When the kids had departed, Melly
turned to Lainy, “They're right you know.”

“
Right about what?” Lainy
asked absently, as she bent over the bottom drawer of a dresser in
the corner.

“
Sam definitely noticed you
and your female attributes, if you will.”

“
Who's Sam?” Lainy asked
again, and she stared at the ceiling, a shirt hanging limply in her
hand.

Melly let out an exclamation and
turned exasperated eyes on her sister. “Hello? Where were you last
time Ben came to the lake? He brought his swim buddy, you know, the
guy who went through the SEAL training with him? They had to do
everything together or something like that? He was a total hottie
and you don't remember him?”

“
Melly, that time Ben came
to the lake, I had just finished the Gearson contract
remember?”

Melly frowned. “That's right. You got
lost and had to call for someone to come and get you. You've never
gotten lost in your entire life.”

“
And we've been coming up
here since we were born. I know this area better than some of the
animals who live here,” Lainy agreed, bending to retrieve another
shirt from the floor.

“
But you got lost.” Melly
nodded. “Of course. You barely knew your own name. Didn't you
forget to bring a suitcase, too?”

Lainy laughed. “All I had was my purse
and an empty briefcase.”

“
I don't suppose you would
remember Sam, then, but the two of you had some interesting
conversations about some sort of new weapon technology. I think you
knocked his socks off. He'd probably be crushed if he found out you
can't even remember him.” Melly laughed and bounced on the end of
Lainy's bed.

“
His reply would be,
Lainy who
?” Lainy shot
back, not seeming in the least bit alarmed that this guy wouldn't
remember her. “How did the kids hear the stuff he said about
me?”

“
They were spying in the
bushes. Ben and Sam had no idea they were there, or they wouldn't
have discussed you, I'm sure.”

“
Right,” Lainy replied.
“Well, it's a shame I don't remember him, but anyway-”

“
-You really don't
care.”

“
Nah, I guess not. What do
I have to offer a man?”

Melly gaped at her, and Mitch figured
he probably did too. It was a shame Lainy couldn't see his face
along with her sister’s.

“
Hello? What planet did you
just arrive from?”

Lainy stared at her sister, eyes
blank. As though her sister had begun speaking Martian. Mitch
frowned.

“
Lainy?” Melly waved her
hand in front of Lainy’s face.

“
What?” Lainy shoved her
sister's hand aside before stepping around her. Mitch watched the
smooth play of muscles and the gentle sway of feminine curves,
enjoying the view if not the conversation. She selected some socks
from a drawer in the dresser.

“
How can you think you
don't have anything to offer?” Melly demanded in an angry voice and
Mitch cheered her on.

“
What do I have to offer?”
Lainy returned, less belligerently than her sister. She sat on the
rumpled bed and tugged the socks on.

“
I can't believe what I'm
hearing
. You're probably the smartest woman
alive-” Melly began but Lainy cut her off.

“
-Yes, and that's the
problem. I'm intelligent and smart men don't like smart women. Or
at least none I’ve ever dated. They'd rather date a beautiful fluff
brain and I couldn't fake that if I tried.” Lainy sounded
exasperated and frustrated and some other emotion he couldn’t
identify.

“
I wish you’d tell us about
those relationships. I know Tom Caraden, since we all went to
school with him, but what about that guy from college?”

Lainy blew out a breath that riffled
her hair. She shook her head.

Melly looked as exasperated. “Where
did you get the impression men don't date intelligent women?” Melly
sounded much calmer than he felt.

“
I overheard Bobby Crenshaw
and those cheerleaders he hung out with talking about me, on top of
my two disasters. Everyone’s final conclusion was that I wasn't
datable.” Lainy’s voice was muffled as she searched for something
under the bed and spoke into the comforter. “All my experiences
after that proved their theory.”

“
Lainy
,” Melly burst out and Mitch watched her clamp down almost
visibly on her temper. “Bobby Crenshaw and Tom Caraden are the
dumbest people in town. Their girlfriends are easily as stupid as
them. And you thought it was okay to listen to them? People who are
all on drugs now? Complete losers?”

“
So? I overheard other guys
say almost the same thing. It happens all the time. Remember, I
went to college. It’s not like the new experience changed
anything.” Lainy’s mouth pulled down and Mitch loathed every man
who’d ever hurt her. “The last experience being a week ago in a
store after I helped a fellow customer. I overheard the men working
there discussing me.” Lainy frowned and turned away. “They didn’t
say nice things for sure.”

“
Idiots. I think the
problem is the caliber of men you've been associating with. Trust
me, it's going to take a whole lot more than your brain to
intimidate a Navy SEAL or a Marine,” Melly said hotly.

Mitch saluted her.

“
What do you mean?” Lainy
sounded confused.

“
Why don't you start by
listening to those at the top of the food chain like a Marine, or
Navy SEAL, or other military man, cop, or fireman rather than the
bottom dredges?”

Mitch wanted to give Melly Lytle a big
ole kiss for that statement. As a matter of fact, he just might as
soon as he saw her again.

Lainy still looked confused when Melly
left with a hug and then the screen went blank. He wondered about
Lainy’s previous relationships, too.

Mitch opened his e-mail.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: Lainy's
belief...

that she has nothing to
offer a man.

Hello Melly,

Your brother, Ed, sent me
some Morrison Family Treasuries, and one begins with the herd
waking Lainy up and then mentioning Ben's swim buddy, Sam. This all
goes into a conversation about her not having anything to offer a
man.

Thank you for your wise
words to her. You said what I wish I could have. I'm wondering if
what you said got through?

I told Lainy I'd give her
a run-down on what the videos contained, but I hate to tell her
about that conversation Ed filmed between the two of you. Lainy had
some disastrous relationships, is that right? She has no idea she's
worth more than life to me already and I have yet to meet her in
person. How do I tell her this without scaring her off?

Thanks for your help, and
yes, my intentions are honorable.

Mitch

Leaning back in his chair after he
sent the message, Mitch contemplated what he'd do to Bobby
Crenshaw, Tom Caraden, and the other jerks in the event he ran into
the slime-balls on the street. He cracked his knuckles.

Chapter Thirteen

Yawning, Lainy padded downstairs,
Bentley behind her. The smell of fresh brewed coffee enticed her.
She held the door open for him and then poured herself a huge mug.
She turned on her computer and watched Bentley romp in the yard
while the machine loaded.

Another hacking attempt? What in the
world was going on? Her firewall had held, and hopefully the new
virus she’d attached would slow the hacker down, but why, after
that last virus, was someone still trying to enter her system? Now
she’d have to go in and see if she could locate the hacker. What a
pain that would be. Why hadn’t they gotten the message with the
original nasty virus attached to her firewall?

Lainy stood there long after the
cursor blinked for her to begin. She paced back into the kitchen
for a refill before sitting down at the computer again. Thinking of
the work this hacking attempt created for her with some anger and a
lot of frustration.

She finished up Max’s program and
packaged it before she opened her e-mail and sent a message to Max
to come pick up the parcel. A few downloaded, while hers cleared
the server. Grinning when she saw one from Mitch, she clicked on
the line and watched the message unfold. She’d work on the new
security system after she responded to his e-mail.

As she read, Lainy enjoyed his
pleasure in the computer and his willingness to meet Ben. She had
high hopes for that visit. He’d met Melly, but she doubted he
remembered much of the visit.

Lainy felt a little stab at
the thought of Mitch having to take Bentley to an animal shelter.
She was grateful she hadn't been there. She didn't think she could
have born his pain at giving up his pet. She wouldn't have been
able to give Bentley up. But then,
she
wouldn't have had to. Not only
was she not interested in a job with the armed forces, she also had
plenty of family who would take in a pet, or more, if the situation
warranted.