Touch Me (3 page)

“Dude, you know what the military family is like.”

He sighed. “I do. Just with the Santinis, I seem to have more family members these days.”

She laughed. “Ain’t that the truth? I need to get going or the girls might really injure Leo. Love you, idiot.”

“Love you, too,” he said, turning at the sound of his gate.

Hannah was standing there, smiling and looking fresh. And sexy. She’d unfortunately changed into regular clothes and no longer had that sensual rolled out of bed look. Although, in his mind, she always looked that way.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt.”

He shook his head as he set his phone down on the table.  “No worries. Just dealing with my sister.”

Her brow seemed to ease as she walked closer to him. The sun was fading in the background leaving the sky bright orange. It was the perfect backdrop for Hannah.

“It smells good,” she said, looking over at the grill. It gave him enough time to come back to earth and deal with reality.

“Thanks. Would you like a beer or something else to drink?”

“Water would be great just in case I get called back in tonight.”

Jack nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

He went to the kitchen to grab a couple of bottles of water. It was best he stayed off the beer, because he needed to keep his head straight with that woman around. If he didn’t, there was a good chance he would do something stupid.

She sipped on her water and watched Jack flip burgers. He was the stereotypical man with the grill. He was in charge of it and she wasn’t supposed to touch a thing.

“So, the son of a general and both your brothers are in the military?” she asked.

“Yep,” he said as he sipped at his beer as he unwrapped the cheese slices. “My sister was the only one who broke ranks.”

She snorted.

“What?”

“I was just thinking that growing up with the four of you, she was probably sick of being ordered around. A father who is paid to bark orders and three brothers destined for the same thing. I pity her.”

“For your information, she paid no attention to our orders. The only person who could keep her in check was Nonna.”

“What about your mother?”

Then again, she realized, she was being overfamiliar. “Sorry, that was rude.”

He shook his head. “Not a problem. Mom died when we were young. Dad tried to keep it going on his own, but he threw in the towel and called Nonna.”

The way he said his grandmother’s name softened her heart a bit. Lord, was there anything as endearing in a man who had a soft spot for his Nonna?

“So she moved in with you?”

“Yeah. Dad couldn’t handle being a Marine and being a father to what he claimed was the worst of the lot. On top of all of that, MJ married out of the family business.”

“I thought you said she was married to someone in the Army.”

He frowned at her. “Exactly.”

For a moment, she didn’t catch on, but when she did, she said, “Oh, for goodness sake, you Marines are all the same.”

“You sound like you know a lot of us.”

She shrugged. “This
is
a military town. I have a lot of military customers.”

He glanced at her then picked up a plate for the burgers. “I also know you offer a discount to military.”

She shrugged, ignoring the way her heart had turned over at the warmth in his tone. He waved at the table he had set up on his patio, then waited for her to take a seat.

“I could get used to this. I don’t think I’ve had a man cook for me since college.”

He blinked. “You make that sound like it was a long time ago.”

“I’m about to turn thirty-three so yeah, it was a few years back.”

He set his burger down and stared at her.  After a few seconds of absolute silence, she could feel the back of her throat tickle. Having his razor sharp gaze zeroed in on her was a bit disconcerting.

“What?” she asked.

“You just don’t look that old.”

She snorted again. “Yeah, I still get carded. Not that thirty-three is that old. But, the baby face and springy hair make people think I am younger.”

He stared at her for a moment longer then dug into his food. “So, you didn’t get Hercules as a puppy?”

She laughed. “No. His owner gave him to me for safe keeping.”

“And just never came back?”

She shook her head. “He was deployed.”

His nod told her he understood. It didn’t take military folk long to figure out what that meant.

“So, what do you do out there at Pendleton?”

“I teach at the Amphibious Assault School.”

“That sounds kind of…well confrontational.”

He laughed. “Kind of the business I am in.”

She bit into the burger and hummed. “Oh, God, that is good.”

Some of the juice dripped on her fingers and she licked it away. She glanced at him and realized he was staring at her again. Oh, not good. Her heart did that little dance; she almost choked on the tickle that seemed permanent in her throat. He wasn’t looking at her, but at her fingers as her tongue worked over them.

Classy, that was her middle name. She set the burger down and wiped her fingers off with a napkin. It took a lot but she finally swallowed her burger.

“You know how to cook a burger.”

Then slowly, his mouth curved. “That’s what they all say.”

Her face heated. “Stop that.”

“Okay, I’ll behave, for now.”

She didn’t know if that was a warning…or a promise.

*  *  *  *

They talked of nothing really all that important while cleaning up the kitchen. It was too hard to deal with thinking when she was this close to him. There wasn’t much to clean up, but the kitchen was kind of small and they kept bumping into each other. Each time they did, his body reacted. With her natural scent filling his senses and with little to no blood in his brain, he was lucky he hadn’t passed out.

He wanted to get her out of there, but he wanted her to stay. He was a sick bastard.

They had the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and she was about to leave, and he was relieved and feeling slightly sick at the thought of her leaving him.

Not him. Damn, what the hell was the matter with him? He didn’t want to lose the intimacy of the night. With it dark around them, he decided he would use his last chance to spend time with her.

“I’ll walk you home.”

She looked at him. “Why?”

“It’s dark.”

“And I live next door and will be accompanied by Hercules.”

“It’s kind of a thing my father drummed into me since the age of ten.”

She sighed. “Okay.”

Her tone told him she wasn’t happy with the situation, but she would indulge him. He should be relieved, but for some reason, it irritated him. Sure, they weren’t on a date, but what the hell was wrong with him walking her to her door?

 “So, my petunias,” he said, trying to fill in the silence.

“I know that he wasn’t out there. Not that night. I lock the doggie door when I go to bed.”

“You didn’t today.”

“I fell asleep on accident.”

“Anyway, it isn’t his first time.”

They stepped up on her front porch. “Listen, I paid for the tomatoes, and the other things, but I know for a fact he did not sit on your petunias. I know he didn’t. And it irritates me that you blame Hercules for everything.”

She unlocked the door and Hercules looked at her. “Go in, I’ll be fine.”

The dog looked up at Jack with what could only be a warning shot, then stepped into the house.

“If you are that upset over some flowers, I will pay you for them.”

“It isn’t a matter of that. It’s a matter of him being out and uncontrollable.”

Her spine straightened and the cute, curvy woman he had spent his night with stepped close to him.

“You listen to me, Marine. Don’t you even think of pulling that line with me. I can control that dog. He got out twice. Twice! I am paying for the flowers this time because you seem to be extraordinarily attached to them. But understand that I am not going to deal with your attitude much longer and I don’t deal with intimidation tactics that well.”

Her eyes were sparking with fire and there was such determination on her face that it sent his heart racing as heat tripped through his blood and over his nerve endings. Damn, the woman was amazing when she was mad. It was too much to ignore the way she was looking at him, or the fact that she had stepped so close he could feel her breasts against his chest. Everything in his head was telling him to walk away, to ignore the lust that was now crawling through him. Instead, he pushed good sense aside, grabbed her by the arms, and slammed his mouth down on hers.

Hannah didn’t react. Couldn’t. The fact that Jack Johnson was kissing the hell out of her apparently kept her mind from functioning.

She should have pushed him away but instead, she slipped her hands up his chest to his shoulders. He traced her lips with the tip of his tongue. She didn’t even hesitate. She opened her mouth and accepted him inside. He was backing her up against the door when a car horn beeped and someone yelled, “Get a room!”

Jack paid no attention, but it brought her back down to earth. She pulled away and he followed her, his eyes still closed.

“Jack.”

Slowly, oh so slowly, he opened his eyes.  “What?”

“We have to stop. This is stupid.”

He blinked. “I don’t think so.”

Okay, that wasn’t going to help her. His tone was rough, as if lust had deepened his voice. God, she needed to hear that voice against her ear in the middle of the night, feel his body next to hers—

Lord.

“We are next door neighbors.”

She disentangled herself from his grip. Jack hesitated for only a second or two, then he let her go. “Yeah?”

“Getting involved like this is stupid. Really, really, really stupid.”

“Really?”

She didn’t like his tone.

“Hey, I am trying to save us both. I can’t get involved with anyone, let alone my neighbor.”

Jack shook his head as if trying to clear his mind. “Okay. I get that.”

“So, everything is okay?”

He nodded, but said nothing else.

“Are you going to stand there all night?”

His expression lightened. “Only until you go in and lock the door.”

Her heart sighed a little. It had been so long since someone had looked out for her.

She did just as he said then listened to his footsteps as he walked away. Hercules was staring at her as if she were insane.

“Listen, he’s hot, but I’m not stupid enough to get involved with a man. Not now. And I don’t care how much you’re in love with him, messing around with the man who lives next door is a very big mistake.”

And if she could remember that, she would be a happier person. Her life didn’t afford her to be reckless. Not anymore.

“Let’s check on the patient again and then get some more sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”

*  *  *  *

As he walked down the hallway to his office two days later, Jack was still irritated with the situation. More, he was pissed at himself. He should have never let things go the way they did that night with Hannah. She was right. Getting hot and heavy with his neighbor was just insane. Still, he couldn’t stop thinking about her in those off times when he had a moment or two to think.

“Hey, Johnson,” Major Smith called out as Jack passed his office door. He backtracked and stepped inside.

“Yes, sir?”

“I let someone in your office. Said he’s family in a way. Since he’s a Santini and one of them is married to your sister, I figured it was okay.”

He nodded. “No problem.”

When he reached his office, he found a rather large individual sitting in front of his desk. He had captain’s bars so they were the same rank, and he was blond, like Gianni.

“You must be the Santini my sister told me about,” he said walking into the room.

The guy stood up and towered over Jack’s six-foot frame by at least four inches.

“That’s right. Dante Santini.”

“I didn’t meet you at the wedding,” Jack said, sitting behind his desk and waving the other man to the chair again. Dante sat and leaned back.

“Yeah, I was deployed at the time. Can’t believe all of them are married now or that Leo is a dad.”

“Been by to see him?”

He smiled and Jack saw it there. All the Santinis had almost identical smiles. “Yeah. Those girls are going to be heartbreakers, just like their mama.”

“You’re with First Division.”

He nodded. “Just got in last night and decided to stop by. MJ would get onto me if I didn’t stop by.”

“Where are you staying?”

“I rented a house, but I am staying at a hotel for the next two weeks until it is ready.”

That seemed wrong and while he was overly private about his house, he couldn’t let family stay at a hotel.

“Why don’t you bunk at my place? I have a three bedroom with lots of space.”

“You don’t mind? I can sleep just about anywhere, so the hotel or VOQ is fine with me.”

VOQ might be fine for him, but if MJ found out Jack let a Santini stay at the Visiting Officer Quarters, she’d never shut up about it.

“No problem. We can go right now if you want.”

“I can entertain myself if you have work to do.”

Jack shook his head. “We just had a class graduate and because of a snafu in funding, we have to wait two weeks to start the next class. I am just tying up ends and planning the next quarter of classes so it doesn’t happen again.”

Dante nodded. “Sounds great. I need to get my stuff from VOQ.”

“I’ll give you a ride over, then you can follow me home.”

Maybe with a buffer at the house, he might stay away from Hannah.

Hannah was just getting home when Jack pulled up in his driveway. She would have made it into the house before him if she hadn’t stopped to talk to Mrs. Flagg down the street and check on her cat.

She had avoided him for two days, but it seemed that her time was up.

Before she could pretend not to see him, another car pulled up behind his. It was a sports car of some sort and, apparently, it had another sexy man driving it.