Nerd and the Marine (38 page)

“
Lainy isn't going to
respond well to regular processes, either. You got as far as you
did these past weeks because you didn't scare her. She's not a
regular kind of woman, obviously.”

“
So, what do you propose I
do?” Mitch wasn’t certain what to do, because he couldn't fathom
life without Lainy. But if he scared her at every
turn...

Max handed him a key and a map. “This
is the key to my house, which is finally finished, and directions.
Give yourselves some time apart and think about living without the
other. You're a Marine; you know how to fight for what you want.
Lainy doesn’t. She’ll bury herself in her work and forget about
life. If you don't get through to her, she'll hole up.”

Mitch swallowed.
If he didn't get through to
her
.

How in the world was he supposed to do
that? Nothing in his life had prepared him for this. After his
tour, he thought he should be capable of anything. But this whole
love thing...

He glanced at the map in his hand and
figured he might as well leave now, and give her some of that
needed time. He didn't know what else to do. If he scared her, he’d
lose her for sure. Provided he hadn’t already.

At least her family seemed to want him
to succeed. Mitch still had a place with them. But he wanted Lainy
with the deal. Without her, life would be cold and
empty.

He left the lake, leaving Bentley
behind. That would give him an excuse to return, at
least.

*****

Lainy stared at the ceiling above her
bed, all her tears cried out. She wanted Mitch Monahan, too much,
but she couldn't bear if he suddenly felt all wrong. What if she
started feeling like insects crawled on her whenever he touched
her? What if she resorted to three showers a day? Love shouldn’t be
like that, but what if she screwed it up?

If anyone could screw up a
relationship, it was her.

Sharing this place she
loved with him was a gift she couldn’t begin to comprehend.
Everything seemed magical with Mitch around. He brightened her
world and made her feel beautiful and free. She didn't feel like a
nerd when he was near, but like a woman. A desirable woman.
Something she'd never experienced before. Shouldn’t she trust
him?
Yes, and she did
. But maybe only to a point. Was that the problem?

She’d never expected him to
ask her to marry him. He’d completely blindsided her.
Too soon
, kept running
through her overworked mind.

With a sniff, she rolled off the bed
then crossed to the window. She wanted him so badly. Wrapping her
arms around herself, she didn't want to live without Mitch, but was
afraid. Had she killed the best thing that had ever happened to
her?

*****

Mitch pulled up to Max's house and
carried his bags inside. He rambled through, peering at the place,
stopping to stare with longing at every picture of Lainy. There
were lots of pictures, and he noticed a blonde woman he recognized
as K.C., Max’s partner.

Come to think of it, he’d met her his
first week back, but Max had mumbled she had her one weekend a
month military obligation and then a family function, so he hadn’t
seen her since. Max had seemed a little lost without her, but K.C.
was just his business partner he thought.

But there were also lots of photos
with Lainy. His heart clenched and he instead unpacked some of his
essentials. He had to stop thinking about her. How did you convince
a scarred and scared woman you were in for the long haul? How to
convince her she could trust him? How to show her he was
different?

Not knowing the answer, Mitch went to
bed.

*****

Lainy paced most of the night, but
finally fell asleep around three am. She dreamed of chasing
specters who looked like Mitch. They avoided her grasping fingers
with ease and cackled in glee when they slipped from her
fingers.

When she awoke that morning, Lainy
didn't feel rested.

*****

Mitch stumbled to his bag and delved
around for toiletries. His shaving cream had fallen to the bottom
and when he dug for it, his knuckles grazed the case of his
computer. Mitch dropped the bottle and instead reached for the
laptop. He stood staring at it for a moment.

If you don't get through
to her, she'll hole up and work.

And then she takes in your
dog and sends you an e-mail, a medium with which she's comfortable,
and she opens up to you like she won't with real
men
.

He hurried downstairs, the computer
still in his hand. He thought about the things Lainy was
comfortable with. Computers, electronics, fixing things. Fulfilling
needs.

Mitch booted up his
computer.

*****

Lainy stared at Max in dismay. “What
do you mean he left? Where did he go?”

“
He went somewhere to
think. He left Bentley, but he's gone.”

Blinking, panic welled up within
Lainy.

He'd left her.

He was
gone
.

And she was the cause. She'd made him
leave, because she wouldn't trust him. She'd trusted him when he'd
been overseas, with her darkest secrets, but not herself.
Why?

Because of fear. But they fit
together. He was a part of her soul. Her fears were stupid. He’d
asked her to marry him. He trusted her. She needed to trust him and
how he felt. She’d been disbelieving because he’d asked her for the
commitment out of nowhere, but he knew what he wanted. Did
she?

Mitch wasn't afraid. But brave and
strong and willing to try.

She trailed over to the mirror and
looked at herself. She saw a woman who looked like she’d had a
crying fest, but she also looked like a woman in love.

And a loved woman. Gasping,
Lainy saw she looked... beautiful.
Mitch
had done this
. With a start, she realized
no other man could have caused this transformation. Only a man she
trusted could have accomplished what she saw.

When she thought of herself now, she
felt beautiful, because Mitch thought she was. How many times had
he told her, and she’d seen the sincerity in his eyes? He couldn’t
seem to take those wonderful dark eyes off her.

This man loved her and trusted her
with his heart. He was brave.

Was she? Because she wanted Mitch,
needed him, in fact. Now she had to find the courage to tell
him.

*****

Mitch sent his message. He could do
this. He was a Marine, and knew how to fight for what he wanted.
And he wanted Lainy.

He loped upstairs and packed his
things. Piling them back into his truck, he pointed his SUV toward
the lake.

*****

Thinking fiercely, Lainy sat down at
her computer and called up the icon for her e-mail. She had new
mail, so she downloaded it and waited while the mail processed.
When she saw the messages, one of them was from Mitch. Tears welled
and she blinked them away. Wondering why he wrote, she clicked on
the e-mail. Hoping it wasn’t him saying goodbye.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: I
need...

many things. Perhaps I can
explain...

Dear Lainy,

I need a mate. I need a
wife. I need you.

I don't want to live
without you. I don't think I can. I don't want to try.

I need you.

I trust you.

I love you.

And I'm not going to
change my mind.

I miss you,

Your's,

Mitch

“
The biggest question here,
is, do you trust me?” Mitch asked from the doorway and Lainy jumped
to her feet and into his arms.

“
I do trust you.” She
wrapped her arms tightly around him. “I need you more than I can
say. I was afraid and stupid. I didn’t trust myself.”

“
Sweetheart, you’re not
stupid. Max said I rushed you,” Mitch said and stroked her hair.
“Are you willing to give us a try?” he whispered and kissed her
temple.

“
I am. I can't stand not
being with you.”

“
Will you marry
me?”

“
Yes, yes,
yes
!”

“
Excellent. Perhaps we
could reconvene to Will's cabin and a certain closet
there?”

“
Yes. We should be
safe.”

“
And you'll be inside the
closet again, not outside.”

“
There's always a second
time for everything.”

Mitch laughed and pulled her
closer.

“
Why are you here? Max said
you'd gone.”

“
I always fight for what I
want, baby. I came back to fight for you. I decided I wouldn't
leave until you came with me,” he stated
matter-of-factly.

“
I never stood a chance did
I?” Lainy lips curled into a rueful grin.

“
No, I don't suppose you
did. We Marines stay focused on what we want. I planned to use
Bentley to my advantage, too.”

“
I was planning on
e-mailing, you, too. I’m not very good at communicating face to
face,” she admitted, smoothing his shirt front with nervous
fingers. She loved the firmness of muscle underneath. He was
gorgeous, and hers.

“
We can work on that. Or we
could just e-mail our problems to each other,” he said, the devil
in his voice. Lainy laughed and hugged him. “What were you going to
e-mail me about?” he asked.

“
I wanted to tell you I
want you and trust you to stick around.” Her hands tightened on his
shirt and he tugged her closer.

“
I’m not going anywhere but
with you, baby,” he promised. Lainy pulled his head down to hers.
When they eventually came up for air, she smiled with happiness and
he slid the ring on her finger. She snuggled closer.

“
I love you,” she breathed
against his lips.

“
I love you,” he answered
and his arms tightened around her. Right before his lips touched
hers again Lainy had no doubts this man wanted her and needed her.
She trusted him.

Their lips and hearts finally met as
one.

About the Author

D.R. Grady lives with her husband near
Hershey, PA. She loves gadgets, books, plants, shoes and writing
stories that resonate with others. You can generally find her in
her “office”, a chair in the living room, hopefully writing, but
sometimes playing Angry Birds or Solitaire.

Visit her website for more
information.

http://www.drgradybooks.com

-Coming Soon-

Treasure Me

Book 1 - The Me Series

What does a biology teacher know about
private investigating? Annie Prentice, the biology teacher in
question, is about to find out. She needs to locate her sister’s
killer, so she goes undercover as a housekeeper in Jared McNeal’s
house. He needs to find whoever or whatever is scaring off his
housekeepers so he’ll actually keep one. If Annie and Jared don’t
learn to trust each other soon, even as they’re falling in love,
they might not live long enough to discover who’s after the McNeal
treasure.

Treasure Me

By: D.R. Grady

Chapter One

The sound rumbled through the quiet of
the day, again.

Indefinable, obscure, but
unfortunately enough to send Jared McNeal’s most recent housekeeper
rushing to hand in her notice. Of one hour.

“
I’m terribly sorry, Mr.
Jared, but that noise, it’s not right,” his
soon-to-be-ex-housekeeper exclaimed. “You’re a fine employer and
this is a nice house, but that
noise
.”

“
I understand, Mrs.
Quinn.”

“
It sounds just like that
panther that used to take my pappy’s livestock.” She went on, her
words jumbling together, undoubtedly attempting to justify her need
to leave both to him and to herself.

“
We don’t have panthers in
Hershey, Mrs. Quinn.” Even he could hear the resignation in his
voice.

“
Doesn’t matter.
That
is
what it
sounds like and it’s close, and it’s not safe here.” Mrs. Quinn’s
voice rose another decibel so Jared figured it best to simply agree
with her.

She had lasted four days. Longer than
the previous housekeeper who had stayed for seven hours, and given
notice of ten minutes. He couldn’t deny that the odd noises came
from his property. Neither could he deny they tended to be
ominous.

Jared sighed as he wrote Mrs. Quinn a
check for four days of service with the same questions running
through his brain. Was someone trying to scare him off his
property?

Why
would someone try to run him off?