Her Sexy Marine Valentine (14 page)

The CO took a deep breath. “You're an exemplary Marine. But you need to work on your leadership skills. The man who helped that woman create the house of her dreams. The one who led that couple around so that they might hire her later. The one who used diplomacy to get the people who had hurt her out of the house so that she could heal—that's the kind of man I'd consider for command on this post. Do you hear what I'm saying?”

Brody was about to lose it when it hit him. He'd left her alone when she was hurting the most. He should have taken her and held her. Should have soothed her. Should have told her she didn't know what she was talking about.

He loved her. He couldn't live without her. And he wanted forever.

“I'm a fool,” he whispered.

The CO chuckled. “Yep.”

“Sir, there's something I've been meaning to tell you. You're right about me not being fit for command. I lied to you.”

“What do you mean?”

“When Mari and I showed up at the picnic, she wasn't really my girlfriend. She just came so you'd think I'd settled down. And honestly, to get Carissa to leave me alone.”

The CO steepled his fingers and stared Brody down.

Now I'm in for it
.

“I see. I'm glad you were finally honest with me. But Lieutenant, you've looked like a man in love from that first day, and let me be frank with you, you aren't that good of an actor.”

Had he been in love with her since the beginning?

“What am I going to do?”

“I suggest pulling out the big guns.”

“I have to go, sir. I have to fix this.” Brody saluted and made for the door.

“Marine?” Brody turned back around, but he was already halfway into the corridor. He had so much to do.

“Sir?”

“No matter what happens you've got the promotion.”

That should have been the best news ever, but there was something he wanted so much more.

“Thank you, sir. Really.”

Then he was out the door. Pull out the big guns.

He had an idea and took out his phone. Years ago his mother had left him something and he'd never had cause to use it. But he did now.

When his father answered, Brody said, “Dad, I need your help.”

16

O
N
DAY
THREE
of her Brody detox,
Mari felt awful. Head fuzzy from too much wine the night before, she nearly
missed her office chair as she tried to sit down. It rolled with her weight, and
the small movement made her feel nauseous.

Elbows on the desk, face in hands, Mari tried to come to terms
with the fact that she'd made a mistake. Made a mistake in the worst way. And
she didn't know how to make it right.

“What did you do? You look terrible,” Abbott said as she came
in and sat down in one of the white upholstered chairs across from the desk.

“Shhhhh.”

“Nasty. Whatever happened must have been bad. Really, really
bad.”

Mari nodded. She spilled all the details. Every stupid thing
that had happened.

“I can't believe I missed that. I knew I should have stayed in
town.” Abbott whistled.

“Shhhhh,” Mari begged again. “Whisper.”

“Wait,” Abbott said in a loud stage voice. “So he wanted to
make a commitment and even said he loved you. But you decided since your parents
couldn't make it work, there's no way you could ever be happy in a
relationship?”

“When you say it like that it's even more tragic. Daisy has
been pointing it out to me all weekend. He showed up yesterday when I was doing
the walk-through at the Caldwell house. I can't believe I missed him. And Daisy
told him that I wasn't available. I'm sure he thought I was there and wouldn't
see him.

“So then I went to his house and he didn't answer. I called the
base and they transferred me to his CO. He said Brody was now on leave and out
of town. He wasn't sure when he would be back. I asked him twice if he knew
where he was, but he couldn't tell me. I had a feeling he wanted to, but they
probably have rules about that sort of thing. Or maybe he's not really on leave.
Maybe he's just gone and the CO wanted to let me down easy.”

“Oh, no. Do you think he's being transferred?”

Mari felt like she could vomit again. What a fiasco.

“He cares about me. He's a great guy. And I dumped him in such
a rotten way, I don't think he'll ever forgive me.” Why did she let the past
mess with her head?

She had the right to be happy.

Abbott smiled. “Well, I'm not so good with relationships, but
he needs to know that you love him. I'd think that might be a good start.”

Yes, it would. But when would Brody be home? She wanted to text
him, but how would that look? The same with a phone call. No. It had to be
face-to-face. She wanted him to see that she was ready for whatever he might be
ready for.

But first, before she could move on with her life, there was a
special task she had to do. She sat back at her desk and called her mom.

“I wasn't sure I'd ever hear from you again,” her mother said
hesitantly. “At least not anytime soon.”

Mari sighed. “I'm still having a tough time with what happened.
But I wanted to tell you something.”

“Okay,” her mother said.

“I love you.”

There was a sniffle on the other end of the phone.

Mari's eyes watered. Her parents hadn't been able to tell her
the truth, but they'd also given her a wonderful childhood.

“Darling girl, I love you, too. We should have been honest with
you from the beginning. It's, well, there's really no excuse. And we were
terrible to have dumped it on you that night. You've always been so independent,
it never occurred to either of us that you'd idolized our relationship.”

“I did. Daisy and I both did, Mom. You guys seemed so
perfect.”

Her mother sniffled again. “We were friends. We still are. It
took us a long time to figure things out and then even longer to actually admit
it. I know that you said you didn't want us in your life anymore, but please
know that your father and I love you with all of our hearts.”

Mari swallowed the huge lump in her throat. “It's not all your
fault, Mom. You did try to tell me, and I've been so selfish, so wrapped up in
my own drama, I wasn't ready to listen to anyone about anything the last few
months.”

“Baby girl, if you'd let us, we would have been there for you.
Your sister, your father and myself. We only want you to be happy.”

“I know,” she said. And she did. Never once through all of this
had she doubted her parents loved her. “So, Mom, you know how when I was kid I
used to tell you everything? Even stuff you didn't want to hear?”

Her mother laughed. “Uh-oh. What did you do?”

“It's bad, Mom. It's really, really bad.”

* * *

T
HE
NEXT
WEEKEND
,
Mari was at the office trying to drown her sorrows in work. It
wasn't happening. She still hadn't heard from Brody and wasn't sure if she ever
would.

Her phone rang. It was Abbott. “What's up?”

“Where are you?” Abbott asked. “You told me to meet you at your
house this morning. We were going to check the plans for the Campbells'
kitchen.”

She smacked her palm to her forehead. “I came in early to fix
the budget for the Morrison job and totally forgot.” She'd forced herself to get
in her car because she knew she had to stop staring out the living room window
at his house.

Where was he? The longer they were apart, the more her heart
ached.

“Huh. It looks like your neighbor is home.”

She nearly dropped her phone.

“What?”

“Brody's doing something in his garage. He keeps glancing over
here.”

“What are you doing?”

“Standing outside your front door talking to you.”

He was home. And he was looking at her house.

“Abbott, go sit in your car. Whatever you do, do not let him
leave. I don't care if you have to block his driveway with your car. Do you hear
me? If you love me, you won't let him leave.”

“On it,” her friend said.

This had to work. Had to.

Almost an hour later, Mari pulled into her driveway and nearly
crashed her car into the garage. The brakes screeched as she jerked to a stop.
The sold sign mocked her from the front yard.

When did that happen?

Why hadn't Abbott told her?

There had been multiple offers, and she'd asked her agent to
take the highest one. But she hadn't expected it to happen so fast.

She glanced around for Abbott's car. Where was her friend? And
Brody's garage was shut. Was he home?

Tears burned and threatened to fall down her cheeks. Pushing
her way out of the car, she stood and stared at the old Victorian. Sold. She
should be happy. The financial burden would be lifted.

But it hurt. Heart-ripping-out-of-her-chest bad. The house she
and Brody built would now belong to someone else.

It felt so final. This was it.

The grocery bags in her hands slipped to the ground, while the
sobs came fast and easy. She'd screwed up. So much. What if he didn't forgive
her? Making him a meal, which had been her big plan, didn't seem like
enough.

“Mari? Honey, are you okay?” Brody was beside her. His arm
wrapped around her shoulders. “Did something happen? Are you sick?”

He was here. Touching her.

And she couldn't speak. Just shook her head. And then pointed
to the sold sign.

He glanced to where she gestured. “Oh. Yeah. I thought you'd be
happy about that.”

The tears fell again. “No,” she managed to say. “Ours.”

He smiled. Why did he have to be so wonderful? Why didn't she
just let him stay with her? She savored every second she had with him. They
could have had a lot more.

“So you're upset that the house sold? Because it was something
we did together. We made it a home.”

She nodded.

“That's good to know. It makes what I'm about to say a little
bit easier.”

Whatever it was, she didn't want to hear it. He'd probably been
deployed. She might never see him again. Panic tightened in her stomach.

I might never see him again
.

He watched her carefully. “I don't know what's going on in that
head of yours, but I need you to let me say this. Please.”

His smile disappeared.

Whatever it was, it was serious.

“Wait,” she said, hiccupping. “Where have you been?”

He cast his eyes down and then back to her face. “My dad has
cancer. I've been at MD Anderson in Houston with him while he had some
tests.”

“Oh, no. Is he all right?” Now she felt like the most selfish
jerk in the world. His poor dad.

“He will be. It's a tiny tumor on his liver. The docs think
it's benign, but we won't know until they do the surgery.”

“Brody, what can I do? If you need someone to stay with him, I
can get away from work. My job is a little more flexible than yours. And Abbott
can handle the walk-throughs.”

He smiled then and caressed her face. “Always trying to take
care of everyone. I missed you.”

“Brody, I'm so sorry about everything. Most especially, I'm
sorry I took it out on you.”

“I know,” he said carefully. “There's something else I need to
say.”

She could take it. She deserved whatever he dished out.

“I bought the house for you, Mari. It's my gift to you for
showing me what love is. What it can be.” He reached for her hand and held it in
his.

“You...what? How?”

He shrugged. “Someone who loved me a long time ago left me a
gift, and I felt like this was the best way ever to pay it forward.”

“You bought the house?” She sounded silly repeating the words,
but she couldn't fathom it.

“I can't promise that I won't get transferred. And once I'm
back on active duty, I may get deployed. But I do love you. No matter where I
am, you will always be in my heart. Even if you tell me to go right now. Still,
I'm hoping that for the rest of my life you'll be there. There's no greater joy
than seeing your beautiful face every day.”

Choked up, Mari leaned into him. “You don't believe in
forever.”

“No. That's where you're wrong. I didn't believe in forever,
but I do now. I just had to find the right woman. A woman who makes forever
possible, and honestly Mari, I can't imagine living my life without you.”

It was too much. This had to be a dream. It couldn't be real.
“But I'm such a wreck, how could you even think about forgiving me?”

He chuckled. “I'm right there with you, same as you. And
there's nothing to forgive. If anything, this bump in the road showed me that I
will do anything to have you by my side. Please say you'll take this journey
with me. I'm not sure what the future holds, but I do know I don't want any part
of it if we're not together. We can figure it out as we go along. Please just
say yes.”

“Yes,” she cried. “Yes.”

He kissed her then and she wrapped her arms around him.

“Take me home, Marine.”

“We are home, babe. As long as you're in my arms, I'm home. I
love you.”

She kissed him. “I love you. I will follow you wherever you go
because you're right, home is wherever we are together.”

“I'm going to take you inside that jaw-dropping house and make
love to you.”

“Brody?”

“Yeah,” he said as he scooped her up.

“Since it's our house now, I think we should rechristen all the
rooms.”

A slow smile crept across his face.

“I really love the way you think.”

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from
COWBOY STRONG
by Kelli Ireland.

Get rewarded every time you buy a Harlequin
ebook!
Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards
http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyal
ty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010003