Tease Me (12 page)

The curtain opened quickly and he
found himself face to face with her again. Well, face to chest
because she was so much shorter than he was. And in that short
minute, he couldn’t think. She was looking up at him with those
amazing eyes and his brain just stopped functioning. Her mouth
opened slightly in surprise and all he could think was that he
wanted a taste.

She recovered faster than he
did.  “Make a hole, Santini.”

She barked the order like a drill
sergeant. Years of being raised by a Marine and years in the
military came raring up and he acted immediately. Once he did, he
noticed she let out a slow breath.

“Markinson will be back in about
forty five minutes if he isn’t too much of a wimp today. Come on,”
she said and marched out the door.

“You don’t have to wait around,
Santini,” Jeff said. “I’m not that much on company when I get
back.”

“Do you have any physical therapy
tomorrow?”

Jeff chuckled and looked up at the
orderly who answered. “No, you can avoid Maryanne
tomorrow.”

Then, he wheeled Jeff out the
door.

“She’s not as bad as she seems,”
Smith said.

Leo nodded, his brain still clouded
with the scent of her. What the hell had that been
about?

 “
You need
anything?”

Smith smiled and shook his head.
“Naw, my mamma lives just outside of San Antonio. She makes sure I
have everything I need.”

Leo still gave him his cell number
and told him to call if there was anything he or Jeff needed. Then,
he decided it was time to get back to work. As Leo walked down the
hall, his mind went back to the physical therapist. It might seem
silly, but he wanted to make sure that she was as good as they said
she was. He owed Jeff a lot and he wanted to make sure that he was
taken care of. And while his body might be attracted, he couldn’t
let that get in the way. Jeff was on his own since his divorce.
Both his parents were gone and he had been an only child. Someone
had to look out for him.

Leo knew he owed the man at least
that much for saving his life.

“I know you said he’s okay, but I
wanted to make sure I didn’t push him too hard,” Maryanne said into
her cell phone as she tried to pull a basket free. The little
plastic seat was stuck between two buggies. She jiggled it a few
times before giving up and moving onto another one.

“He’s fine, MJ,” Freddy, her
supervisor said. “He’s tired, but you did right by him today. He
needed to be pushed. He’s getting a little lazy. I have a feeling
someone has conflicted feelings about going back in the
field.”

She had seen it too many times to
count these past few years—even with her own brothers. She didn’t
blame any of them for questioning if they wanted to go back in the
field, but the truth was, she couldn’t have Markinson get too lazy.
He wouldn’t be able to recover properly from his surgery if he
didn’t continue to move forward.

“Okay. Well, I’m going to pick up
something for dinner here at HEB and then I am going to head
home.”

“You need a life, girl,” Freddy
said. “And a social life.”

“Don’t I know it, but I work for
some pain in the ass at BAMC.”

“I will ignore that because I love
you. I know a great guy I could set you up with.”

“I doubt you know a man who would
be interested in me, Freddy.”

“No, I promise, I have it on good
authority that this one is heterosexual.”

Freddy was the sweetest gay man
with the worst gaydar. The last setup had been with a man who was
more flamboyant than Liberace.

“No. No more setups. Call me if you
have any issues with Markinson.”

She clicked off the phone before
Freddy could retaliate with guilt and pushed her way into the
grocery store. It was already dark outside and she wanted to get
home. She had stayed late to keep an eye on Markinson. Plus, she’d
had a lot of paperwork to do. Before she knew it was after eight on
a Friday night. Freddy was right, she thought as she looked around
the produce section.  She needed a life. She couldn’t remember
the last time she had a real date, let alone any kind of sex. Maybe
that should be her mission for the summer. The mission for
booty.

She chuckled to herself. She would
settle for a nice night out with an attractive man. If she could
find that, Maryanne was pretty sure Freddy would get off her
back.

She started going through the
oranges and her mind went back to Markinson. He seemed like the
perfect soldier but she knew there was something holding him back.
If she could figure it out, then she might be able to help him
more.

Normally, the first person she
would ask would be Santini, but that wasn’t an option. The moment
she had seen him, her body had reacted. Those wide shoulders, the
buzz cut, the bigger than life presence.

She shivered.

From the time she was a teen she
had a thing for military men. Military brats often went one way or
another. They wanted nothing to do with the military or they were
enamored with every sexy military man they could find. She wished
she hadn’t been in the latter category.

 
She was not going down that
path again. Military men were not for her. Still, when he’d focused
those golden brown eyes on her, she had lost all ability to think
for a second or two. And that was saying a lot. Hell, she had to
fight the urge to fan herself right now thinking about him. All
those muscles, that bright smile, and he was tall—at least six
feet.

He was in good shape thanks to his
job. Markinson had told her Santini was a medic he had served with
in Iraq, and that definitely showed in those massive arms. She
shivered. They were the kinds of arms that made a woman feel
safe.

No. No. No!

She had too many military men in
her life. Her father was a marine, her brothers were all marines,
and she worked daily with military men.  She knew the only
thing that would come out of any kind of attraction was heartbreak.
It wasn’t like he was going to ask her out. From his reaction to
her, he probably would have some kind of background check done on
her. Not that he would find anything.

She put the bag of oranges in her
cart, turning she ran smack dab into a man.

“Whoa, there, Ms.
Johnson.”

Dammit, she knew that voice. She
would probably think about it when she was…never mind thinking
about that.

She tipped her head back and found
Santini smiling down at her.

“Do you always run around like
you’re hell bent for leather?” His lips curved into a lopsided
smile that had her brain shutting down. “Cat got your
tongue?”

She shook her head and tried to
step back. It was then that she realized he had those massive hands
wrapped around her forearms.  His thumbs were caressing her
skin ever so slightly. This close she could smell the fresh clean
scent of him. All soap and hard, sexy man.

Mother help me.

He looked down at his hands then
back up at her. “Oh, sorry. Wanted to make sure you didn’t fall
down.”

He hesitated then released
her.

She studied him realizing that he
hadn’t changed out of his BDUs.

“What are you doing here?” she
asked.

“Shopping?” he said with amusement
as he tipped his head toward his buggy. She eyed all the fruits and
vegetables.

“That’s a lot of food for one
guy.”

He crossed his arms over his chest
and she tried to ignore the way his pecs flexed—but she failed. She
swallowed—hard—and forced her attention from them to his
face.

“I like to eat.”

She rolled her eyes and turned to
leave. She needed to get away—far away—from the temptation of
Santini. If she were lucky he would leave her alone. His footsteps
behind her told her she wasn’t so lucky.

She stopped and he almost ran his
cart into her. With a sigh she turned to face him.

“What?”

His eyes widened and she realized
that she had raised her voice. A glance around the department told
her she had gained the attention of the few people shopping that
late at night.

Maryanne slipped around his buggy.
“I thought guys like you only shopped on post.”

Something that looked like guilt
moved over his face before he hid it. Great, now he was coming up
with a lie and they weren’t even involved. What the hell was wrong
with her? This is what she found attractive. The perfectly nice
accountant she had dated a few months earlier never lied to her but
she just lost interest, mainly because he was perfectly
boring.

“I had some work, which I’m sure
you did too?” he said, his smile returning.

She did not want him smiling at
her. She needed him pissed at her, being mean to her, and staying
away from her. When he was smiling like that it just made her want
to scream. And kiss him. She really, really wanted to kiss
him.

“And you decided to drive all the
way over here to Universal City to shop at the HEB? Isn’t there one
closer to post?”

He nodded. “This one is closer to
my apartment.”

Oh, so not good.

“Don’t tell me you live at the Live
Oak Apartments.”

“I sure do. Just moved in two weeks
ago.”

She narrowed her eyes as she
studied him. Growing up as the only sister of three older brothers
made her very good at detecting bullshit.

He seemed to be telling the truth,
but there was that moment before that made her nervous. Worse, she
wanted to believe him. Wanted to have him living near her so she
could flirt with him, maybe kiss him…

Dammit.

She had no other choice than to
chase him away.

“Listen, this might work with a lot
of other women, but I don’t like stalkers.” She practically yelled
it. He wore no expression on his face so she decided to get out
before he could retort. Grabbing her cart, she hurried
away.

Damn, she really did need to get a
life.

Leonardo is sold as an individual
title everywhere in digital and in the Santinis Collection in both
print and digital.

Harmless

A Little Harmless Sex



A Little Harmless
Pleasure


A Little Harmless Obsession


A Little Harmless Lie


A Little Harmless Addiction

A Little Harmless Submission

A Little Harmless Fascination

A Little Harmless Fantasy

A Little Harmless Ride

A Little Harmless Military
Romance

Infatuation

Possession

Surrender

The Harmless Shorts

Prelude to a Fantasy

The Santinis

Leonardo

Marco

Gianni

Vicente

The Santinis Collection

Semper Fi Marines

Tease Me

By Blood

Desire by Blood

Once Upon An Accident

The Accidental Countess


Lessons in Seduction


The Spy Who Loved Me

Leather and Lace

The Seduction of Widow McEwan

Leather and Lace—Print anthology

Texas Temptations

Conquering India

Delilah’s Downfall

Hawaiian Holidays

Mele Kalikimaka, Baby

Sex on the Beach

Getting Lei’d

Bounty Hunters, Inc

For Love or Honor

Sinner’s Delight

The Sweet Shoppe

Turning Paige

Cowboy Up

Tempting Prudence

Connected Books

Seducing the Saint

Hunting Mila

Saints and Sinners—print of both
books


The Hired Hand


Hands on Training


Cancer Anthology


Water—print

Stand Alone Books

Grace Under Pressure


The Last Detail


Her Mother’s Killer


A Calculated Seduction


Telepathic Cravings

Coming Soon

Paranormal Hunks: Past, Present and Future
Bundle

A Santini Christmas

Semper Fi: Tempt Me

Semper Fi: Touch Me