Page 23 of Her Marine Master

But her yearning could come off as needy.She should take a step back.Give him space before she scared him off.

Wasit weird that the fact that Dimples made him ribs turned him on?It fit right in with his 1950's wife fantasy.His little wife working hard to please him while he worked to support the family.

Oh, man.What was wrong with him?This girl had seriously thrown him for a loop.

"Food is ready whenever you are."He swiveled to take in his little doll.She wore a halter top and the jean shorts that made him salivate.Her dark red hair spilled down her shoulders in thick waves.

Fucking beautiful.

He tried the lock again to make sure it worked."Perfect timing.I just finished here.Let me wash up."

He headed to her bathroom, which was in the same place as it was in his apartment—through the bedroom.Pink panties lay on the floor.They were as adorable as Dimples—the very girly kind, with lace trim and satin body.He'd love to pull them down before he spanked her luscious ass.

He gave his head a quick shake.He needed to stop thinking about her that way.A) He was taking advantage of her in a weakened state, and B) He was not exactly great boyfriend material right now.

He washed his hands and headed back out to sit at the table, which she had set with placemats and plates.Like a good little 1950's housewife.A plate piled high with ribs sat in the middle of the table.He reached for one and bit into it.And nearly jizzed in his pants.They were delicious—melt in your mouth tender and full of flavor.

Kaitlyn cleared her throat."I've heard that a lot of service people need jobs that match the stress level they were used to while in tour."

He lifted an eyebrow.Please don't let her start on this shit.

She dropped her gaze to her plate, but persisted."Have you thought about something… I don't know—high energy, or dangerous?Maybe bouncer at a nightclub?"

His stomach felt a little sick.Maybe he'd eaten the ribs too fast.More likely this conversation just pissed him off.He set the last rib bone down on his plate and wiped his mouth with a napkin."I don't want to have this conversation."He stood up.

"Wait—why not?"She surged to her feet, as well."I mean, I'm not trying to pressure you into anything, I'm just opening the lines of communication.Maybe you could tell me what you've been thinking about."

He made a grumbling noise in his throat and moved to stalk toward the door, then changed his mind and faced her again.This was exactly why he couldn't be in a relationship—especially with a do-gooder like Kaitlyn."Listen, Dimples, I'm not your social work case.You have no clue.About anything.So go back to your rainbows and unicorns and stay the fuck out of my shithole life plan."

He expected to see hurt.Instead, she slapped her palm down on the table and made the plates jump.

"My name isn't Dimples, and I've had it to here with your condescension."She sliced her palm through the air at neck height.Her face flushed and her green eyes flashed."And you know what?That's bullshit."

He figured she must be seriously pissed off if she was cursing, because he hadn't heard her curse once before.Well, good.The madder she got, the more she'd keep away from him.This wasn't going to work.

"You figure you know about me.You think I'm too sweet and innocent to understand whatever you're going through—what's happened to you.Well, you don't know me.You don't know what I can handle."

Her words struck him like a javelin to the heart.There she went, talking about him again.And he sure as hell didn't want to talk about what had happened to him.You know what?He wasn't even going to stick around for this conversation.

Her jaw thrust forward and she jabbed a thumb at her chest."I'm strong."

He turned and stalked to the door.

"Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you!"

He stopped, still facing the door, not because he took orders from her, but from indecision.Shewasstrong.She wasn't backing down now.She hadn't fallen apart last night, even though she'd been brutally attacked.He admired the hell out of her resilience.

He leaned against the new door he'd just installed, smelling the scent of oak.He sighed."You're right."He turned to see tears dripping down her cheeks as she silently cried.It ripped open his chest.

"Come here."

If she came, he would stay and figure things out.If not, he would let her go.

She didn't walk over.She fuckingran.

He opened his arms and caught her, his chest growing warm.Her trust in him—which was entirely unwarranted—made him want to work hard not to let her down.Maybe that was what scared him about her.With a girl like her—no, not a girllikeher, with Kaitlyn Lattigard, the beautiful and sweet social worker who lived next door—he'd be all in.There wouldn't be any half-assed relationship going on with her.No casual booty-calls or dating other people.

And yeah, she was in his arms now, her tears dampening his shirt, so he'd say he was pretty much all in.