“You can always slap a vest on him and say he’s essential to ease your emotional insecurities, although if that were the case he’s falling down on the job.” He grinned at her outraged expression.
“Why do you have to be such a jerk?”
“Can’t help it.”
What was it about this gorgeous woman who brought out the worst in him? “Look, I apologize. If you’ll back up, I’ll turn my cart around and get out of here.”
She sneered at the contents of his basket. “I hope that unhealthy drek is not what you feed Amber.”
“Considering she’s eleven hundred miles from here, that’s unlikely.” He watched as she pursed her lips and sniffed. “Do you want me to put it back? I will if you’ll cook my dinners, otherwise this is what I eat when I’m on my own. Get over it.”
“Come to my house at seven.” She glared, backed up her cart, and headed down a different aisle.
Dwayne grinned and turned in the direction of the produce section. On the way he picked up a six-pack of Dr. Pepper and a bottle of red wine. He grabbed a large bouquet of flowers and headed for the checkout lane. Ooh rah.
Rushing down one aisle after the other, she finally spotted Charlene. “Char! Char,” she hissed hoarsely. “Come here quick. I need your help to get me out of something stupid I just did.”
Charlene rushed to her side, eyebrows raised with alarm on her usually sunny face. “What happened? Did they catch you with Skipper?”
“No, it’s much worse than that. I don’t know why I did it.”
“Did what? Marla, you’re unnerving me. What?”
“I just ran into Dwayne Dempsey. Literally. I ran my cart right in to him.” She pressed both hands against her burning cheeks.
Charlene gasped. “Is he hurt?”
“What? No!”
“What’s the problem then?”
“I invited him to dinner tonight. I don’t want him to come to my place when Amber isn’t with him. What should I do?”
“Lordy, is that all? Call him up and un-invite him.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Of course you can. You’re always telling everybody what to do and not do. Why does he get special dispensation? Tell him you changed your mind. It’s easy. I do it all the time.”
“I’m not you, Charlene.”
“No kidding.”
Marla’s stomach did flips. Skipper picked up on her anxiety and emitted tiny moans from inside his carrier. She shushed him and fanned her cheeks with the grocery list.
“If you don’t calm down, I’m calling an ambulance. Anyway, I know what to do.”
“Oh, thank goodness. What?”
“Simple. I’ll come to dinner too. I’m sure he won’t think you invited him over for a threesome.” She giggled as if she thought it might not be a bad idea.
Marla took a deep breath. “Thank you, Char. You saved my life.”
“I doubt it, but you owe me. I was planning to talk on the phone to Donovan all evening. I hope he can get more leave soon. I miss him. I’m mad about him.”
“You’re mad about every man you sleep with. For a while at least.”
“This is different. He’s different. If he can’t get leave I might go down to Camp Pendleton to visit him for a few days.”
“How are you going to get time off?”
“I’ll tell them I’m quitting if they don’t give me a couple of days off. I have a lot of accumulated vacation coming, especially after the tax season we had this year. I put in a lot of overtime before April 15th, and plenty after on returns for people who filed for extensions.”
“Okay, we need to figure out dinner. I don’t know what to fix. He’ll be there at seven.”
“I hate to make life too easy for you, but I’ve got a freezer full of leftovers from Dadley’s birthday party. We can do a whole new Mexican dinner. I even have cake left. How’s that?”
Marla sighed and hugged her sister. “You’re the best, Char. Let’s grab a couple of fresh avocados and a bag of grated cheese.”
Dwayne grinned all the way home. So, what happened to his resolve to forget about her, to get away from her, and put any idea of a love life out of his plans? As a gunnery sergeant, he’d possessed a cool head and the ability to plan strategically when he and his men found themselves in dangerous situations. But with this woman, his mind turned to mush. He shook his head to suppress the looming sexual images of him and Marla in bed together.
Determined not to spend the entire day mooning over her, he threw himself into cleaning the house, mowing the grass, and tackling a full laundry hamper. And—he’d left town right in the middle of rearranging his tool shelves in the garage.
He was halfway done trimming the top of the hedge between his house and the neighbor when the guy called to him.
“Dwayne, I’ll do the rest. I was planning on tackling that this weekend anyway.” He sauntered over and wagged a bottle of Kona Longboard. “Want one?”
“No, but if you’ve got anything soft, I’m game.”
“Come over. The wife just put a big tray of sandwiches out on the patio. There’s enough for a regiment. It’s her form of bribery for the afternoon of shopping she’s got planned.”
Dwayne set down the trimmer and ran his arm over his forehead. “Don’t mind if I do. I was about to go inside and rustle something up.”
“Great. I’ve got the Angels game on. They’re about to throw out the first pitch. You can play bachelor while your little girl’s out of town.”
Play bachelor. Yep. That’s what he planned on doing tonight if things went the way he hoped.
At nineteen hundred sharp he rang her doorbell and was greeted by her mouse’s yips. Rolling his shoulders, he took a breath and waited for her to answer the door, taken off guard by the flutter in his gut.
“Dwayne! Marla said you
