Forbidden Love with the Marine(14)

The shame of what he had stooped to made him sick. He had let Olivia down and her family by giving in to his basic needs.

His upcoming mission would be one of the toughest he’d ever been placed on. There was zero leeway for slip-ups – they had to succeed. Innocent lives were at stake.

It didn’t help that this was to be a small team – just three of the best in his platoon. And he would be one of them.

There were so many times in the past week he’d keyed in Olivia’s numbers, just to hear her voice, to know she was okay. But she’d been ignoring his calls for weeks, and practically cold-shouldered him whenever they met at the house. And ever since Molly and he hooked up again, getting in touch with Olivia had proved impossible.

He hoped she’d be there at the house tonight. For a reason he couldn’t explain, he wished to see her before he left early the next morning. This was the first time he had a bad feeling about a mission. Maybe because it was so dangerous and they couldn’t take more than three team members on the assignment. A covert ops mission sanctioned by the president himself, it was going to be the most daring feat ever, requiring razor-sharp precision. Nothing could go wrong.

It was good he’d have a few hours of relaxing during dinner to put his mind off the upcoming mission. Martin and his sweet wife, Martha, were waiting with welcome, encouraging words. Olivia was nowhere around when Ivan arrived, and when he asked, Martha said that Olivia would try to make it but wasn’t sure.

A few minutes before dinner was to be served, Olivia arrived. Just like that, Ivan’s heart lifted. Seeing her appear looking so feminine and beautiful in her demure green dress draped over her gorgeous figure made the stirring in his heart give him cause to worry. It wouldn’t do to let her know how he really felt...

She was less distant to him than before, but he could still sense her tension. He figured she knew about him and Molly. Ivan now felt like an idiot for taking Molly back when the redhead had come begging a few weeks ago. Telling him she’d always loved him but hadn’t been happy with his detached attitude to her feelings. This time, she’d promised, she’d give him the space he needed in their kind of relationship. Ivan felt guilty now for using her, but all she really was to him was a kind of foil to keep him from missing Olivia. And to keep Olivia from having any ideas about changing his mind.

And yet now...sitting close to her at the table – catching the faint waft of her sexy scent and seeing the way her long black hair tossed silkily over her bare shoulder...It was so easy for Ivan to see that he just might be missing his chance with the one woman who’d ever drawn out the fire in him.

It was too late now anyway. He’d pushed her too far away and she probably wanted nothing more to do with him. Which was just as well, he decided. With him going on a mission tomorrow, one that left a twist in his gut at the chances of him making it back in one piece...Maybe it was best not to have any distractions. Olivia would never really be his and he had to keep reminding himself of that fact.

Dinner was perfect, as usual, so much so because no one really alluded to the fact that he’d be leaving tomorrow. Once the meal was over, Olivia made her excuses, saying she needed to catch a cab home. Without thinking, Ivan offered to drop her off. He could see she wanted to refuse, but seemed to reconsider it. Perhaps, she didn’t want to make her parents think there was any friction between the two of them.

Ivan didn’t really care about the reason. He simply knew he’d be glad for the few extra minutes around her before he had to go home alone, and sleep things off before he had to make it on base by nine am the following morning.

As he expected, she wasn’t very communicative on the drive to her place. Ivan’s gaze was drawn to her lovely profile more times than he could count. If he’d thought his attraction to her would have waned over the past weeks, he was so wrong. With her just inches away, it was all he could do not to reach for her and just bury himself in her sweet smelling embrace.

At last, they arrived and almost at once, she said a hasty goodnight and made to leave. Ivan said quietly, making her pause, “You know I’m going off on a mission tomorrow?”


He couldn’t be sure in the shadowy confines of the Jeep, but he thought he saw a pained wince cross her face. “Yeah. I guess...well, I hope you’ll be okay,” she said, shrugging jerkily.

“Me too, trust me,” he rejoined, suddenly chuckling. His hand reached out before he could stop himself, and he tucked a strand of her glossy hair behind her ear. She seemed to start at his touch, and he withdrew slowly, reluctantly. Damn. It would be hard leaving and driving home to his empty apartment.

Every part of him wanted to be with Olivia, just to be close to her presence which seemed to have the most calming effect on him. Around her, everything seemed balanced. She brought a peace to his soul at this point in his life that he was beginning to realize how important the little things were.

“So...I’m hoping you’ll miss me, little dove. If just a little bit,” he teased.

Her beautiful eyes flashed up at him suddenly. “Oh, I’m sure you have enough people out there to miss you. Your dear Molly, for example.”

The jealous tone in her voice made his heart surge with delight. She still cared. That felt good; fleeting though the pleasure was.

At last, he sighed deeply. “About Molly and I...we’re simply going through a trial phase,” he finally confessed honestly. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this...but I haven’t...well, I’m not sleeping with Molly. We haven’t taken our reunion     quite to that stage yet.”