Below the Belt(18)

He glanced over the railing by the stairs to see a parking lot full of SUVs, motorcycles and pickup trucks, almost all with the Eagle, Globe and Anchor sticker on the back. No Marine’s vehicle was complete without the EGA somewhere. “Probably true.”

She walked to a door with a doormat out front. In bold black letters, the mat proclaimed, “Oh, no, not you again!”

She caught his chuckle and glanced down. “Yeah, housewarming gift from my dad. He’s got a warped sense of humor. But it’s also why he can put up with my mom like he does.”

“She seemed like fun—the kind of mom you can have a good time with as an adult.”

“She is. It was a little embarrassing as a kid. She’s a strong personality,” she added with a wry smile. “But now, I appreciate the ability to treat her like a friend as much as anything.”

He watched her dig through the large purse she’d brought—or was that a duffel bag?—and come up with a key ring with about forty keys on it.

“Do you moonlight as a security guard or something?”

“What?” She glanced up as her fingers flipped through the stack of brass, silver and gold keys. “No, half of these are for stuff in the gym I need to get to. The main gym door, my training room, storage room, offices, more storage rooms. Then the apartment, the key to the twenty-four-hour gym, my storage locker here, my parents’ place . . .”

He stepped closer, just for a moment, while she was distracted. He couldn’t help himself. Away from the scents of the restaurant, he could appreciate her clean, cool fragrance. Like laundry and the ocean breeze mixed together.

She glanced up suddenly, startled at seeing him closer than she expected and dropped the keys to the concrete ground with a clang. Her fingers clench into fists, as if fighting the urge to shake.

Her eyes watched him, like a rabbit watched a chained dog in the backyard. How long was the dog’s rope?

Even he wasn’t sure, all of the sudden. Because in an instant, he wanted to kick down her door, throw them through the entryway and slam it shut with her back against it and him pressed into her like they could melt into one person. He leaned down just an inch, then she ducked.

Or rather, bent over to grab the keys, smoothly stepping two feet back when she popped back up. Her laugh was a little brittle, but she didn’t look at him again as she continued to flip through the keys. “Stupid things. I do that once a day at least.”

Wake up, Romeo. There’s your sign.

“Here it is.” She held it up, as if he needed verification, then inserted it into the lock and opened her door a crack. “Thanks for walking me up, and the company.”

Rabbit running scared. He had the most absurd urge to let out a soft Woof. “Yeah, sure, no problem.” His foot itched to block the door’s closing, as if that would prolong the evening rather than have her calling the cops.

Time to go, Romeo.

“Have a good night.” Hands in his pockets, he stepped back, gave her a nod and watched the door close.


*

MARIANNE’S fingers lost their grip on the clip hook key chain and forty billion keys and let them tumble to the entry laminate with a sharp thump and jangle.

Oh. My. God.

Had she honestly been that socially awkward just then? She turned, rested her shoulders against the door then thumped her head back against the closed door once, hard. Maybe some sense would rattle back in place.

“Marianne?”

She froze, staring into the dark living room.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Brad. He hadn’t left yet. Why hadn’t he left yet? She could ignore him. Pretend she hadn’t heard him calling out.

Except he must have just heard her drop her keys and bang her head against the door. So that would only make her look like the coward she was and create even more problems later on. With dread, and more than a little confusion, she turned and opened the door sheepishly. Just enough to stick her head out. “Yeah?”

He watched her, and she got the vague sensation that he was mentally searching for signs of trauma.

“What did you need, Brad?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Just heard a really heavy thump. I worried you’d fallen or something.”

“I’ll press my Life Alert button if I can’t get back up.” At her snappish tone, he raised a brow. She sighed. “Sorry. Yes, I’m fine. I just dropped my keys and . . . hit my head against the door.”

Not really the full story, but it was technically all true.

He smiled a little. “Those keys seem pretty slippery.”

“Sure are.” When he didn’t move, she looked around the breezeway. “Did you need something else?”

“No, I . . .” He huffed out a laugh. “No.” Then his face changed as he watched her, and she knew instinctively what he was thinking. Just as he leaned in, he whispered, “Yes.”





CHAPTER


6


There was that half second, that bright flash of awareness just before he bent down when Brad knew he could still pull away. It would have been awkward, and he would have been embarrassed, but he would have done it. Almost did.

Except for that moment when Marianne’s eyes brightened, her head tilted up and her lips parted in complete acceptance. And then the moment to pull away was a distant memory.