Nerd and the Marine (17 page)

If you mind showering with
a wet dog, you might not want to try this. He isn't exactly a neat
bather, but he means well. I don't like the wet dog
smell, either. He's a stinky dog sometimes. I'd love a whiff of
even that, but no worries, there are enough stinky men here to last
a lifetime of bad odors for me. I'd probably take them over dead
fish and skunk, though. Al will get a kick out of that story. He
thinks everything Bentley does is wonderful. Proud uncle, I
guess.

Oh, we got another
shipment of cookies, and we thank everyone responsible. Our supply
was low, and these should last until we ship out. Sometime next
week, I imagine, but one never knows. Could be ten minutes from
now. Which I'm hoping against since your cousin will be visiting.
There's a lot of talk about some SEALs coming. A bit of a rivalry
going on. And if you believe it's a BIT you're .... ahem
....naive?

All for now. I have some
work I need to finish. I'll save the last video for when I really
need it. They do brighten my days, and Al's. He's shown your
detouring one to some of the guys. They're still talking about
it.

(If you get any odd
e-mails let me know. They think you're hot, so I imagine you will.
I do my best to stop the craziness, but so long as it's harmless, I
think the guys need it.) Seeing a beautiful woman brightens our
day.

And it certainly doesn't
hurt what I believe is a tiny ego on your part. You are special
Lainy. Don't ever believe less than that. You're intelligent, but
also beautiful - really incomparable, and so sexy. Please don't
believe anything else. I get the impression you don't think much of
yourself, and I find that a shame. If I've stepped out of line,
tell me. I told you, I feel pretty comfortable with you.
Obviously.

I need to get back to
work. Think about what I said, please? Don't sell yourself short.
You're amazing.

Yours,

Mitch

Chapter Eighteen

Lainy clicked on Mitch's
e-mail. She smiled at his response to Bentley's debacle, and then
blinked a few times as she reached the bottom. He thought she was
amazing.
But he barely knew
her
, something inside protested.

Yet, that wasn't exactly true. Because
she felt like she knew him very well, too. She'd had that feeling
from the beginning. She wanted this man as more than a friend. And
it almost sounded like he felt the same way. How could that be?
Relationships could offer so much pain. Especially when they didn’t
work out.

But Mitch? She couldn't
believe he actually believed her to be attractive. He had seen her
in action. Thanks to Ed and his videos. But still.
Her
? Lainy Morrison, nerd
personified? A handsome Marine thought she, a complete geek, would
make him a good candidate for a girlfriend. Or at least, from what
he said in the e-mail, she needed to not put herself down so much.
Her sisters had been telling her this for the past ten
years.

If she ignored this request of Mitch's
would it be another ten years before another man came along and
considered her datable? Shuddering at the thought of losing Mitch,
Lainy stared at the screen. If Mitch wanted her, she wasn't going
to mess this up. Because she wanted him. Very, very badly. She'd
have to think about what he said before she sent him a
reply.

Could she have him? Or would the Ice
Princess, designed to protect her, show up and ruin her
chances?

*****

When he awoke, Mitch remembered Ben
Morrison would be on base sometime today. Lainy hadn't supplied him
with much information about her cousin, so he was nervous about
this meeting. What if he screwed up? With little experience of this
family stuff, Mitch knew he’d be on shaky ground. Ben would be his
first true ambassador into the Morrison family.

He contemplated the visit as he
showered and brushed his teeth and still when he went to breakfast.
He needed Ben to approve of him. Lainy was too
important.

“
Captain Monahan, you've
got a visitor,” a call came through late afternoon, and he was
relieved. He'd worked through most of his paperwork and could
concentrate better on Lainy's cousin. Rather than thinking about
the work piled too high for comfort.

Show time.

“
Thanks,” he said and
pushed away from his desk. He'd take Ben to the mess hall for some
coffee.

He left his office and looked over the
chairs, none of them holding a man who looked like a Morrison, but
a tall, lean African-American man stood. He offered his hand to
Mitch and said, “Captain Monahan?”

“
I am,” Mitch responded,
automatically shaking the man's hand.

“
I'm Lieutenant Ben
Morrison.” Mitch could feel the man assess him, and hoped his
judgment was fair. He still had a hard time comprehending this man
could be a Morrison. The SEAL reminded him of a whip. Long and
deadly if used correctly.

“
Welcome. Call me Mitch,”
Mitch offered, liking the man even though he hadn't formed the
correct image of him at all in his imagination.

“
Thanks, Mitch. I'm Ben,
and I take it Lainy didn't mention I'm adopted?” Ben’s grin was
easy.

“
No, she didn't, in fact.
But I imagine she forgets that little fact. She just said you were
the best Morrison for me to meet first. Want some coffee?”
Something about the man's casualness and easy familiarity with
Lainy relaxed him.

“
I'd love some coffee,” Ben
said with what sounded like heartfelt gusto.

“
We can get some from the
mess hall then go back to my quarters. The bakers sent another
package and my best friend is off base, so there's
plenty.”

“
Please tell me there are
some chocolate chip in your supply.”

“
There's almost every type
of cookie you could imagine. I'm partial to the sugar
ones.”

Ben smacked his lips. “Mmmm, those are
good, too. Lead the way.”

*****

The men poured their coffee then found
their way to his quarters where Mitch retrieved his latest cookie
stash. Ben dug into the container with enthusiasm.

“
They sent me some, they
swear, but the package hasn't caught up with me yet,” Ben explained
around a mouthful of chocolate chip cookie.

“
That's a shame.” Mitch
laughed and bit into a sugar cookie.

“
So, you and Lainy getting
to know each other pretty well?”

“
We are.” Mitch kept his
answer short and sweet.

“
Lainy's special,” Ben
began and Mitch figured where he was going with that. Leaning
forward he retrieved his laptop and the herd video and combined
them.

Ben watched and a grin creased his
face, causing his teeth to look extra white against the darkness of
his skin. “Ah, yes, the standard Morrison wake up call. Poor
Lainy,” he commiserated as he watched the kids clamor on top her.
“They're all so big.” He jabbed a finger at the screen, “This is my
cousin's kid, Jason. And this is Becca, Will’s daughter. And
there's Sophy, she's one of the cousins. Now wait, she’s one of
Lainy's sister’s kids.” Ben stroked his chin as he thought. Mitch
thought he remembered Lainy’s grandfather doing the same
thing.

“
I'm glad you all have some
difficulty keeping everyone straight because I don’t have a
clue.”

Ben laughed. “Yeah, the kids grow
fast. When you don't see them for a while, they do look different.
It's a shame I have to be away so much.”

“
Do you live near
Hershey?”

Ben shook his head. “I've got stuff at
my folks place and Lainy's, she and I grew up together, so we're
close. Right now I don't have a home base. After I got called up, I
let the lease on my apartment in California run out.”

Melly entered the room on the video
and Mitch directed Ben's attention back to the screen.

“
This is the part I think
you should see,” he said, and then remembered Sam. “Not because of
your swim buddy, but because I wondered if you knew how Lainy
thinks of herself.”

“
I know.” Ben’s voice
turned grim while his mouth tautened as he watched the ensuing
conversation between Lainy and Melly.

When they mentioned Bobby Crenshaw’s
name, Mitch cracked his knuckles, not able to help himself and
caught Ben's humorous glance.

“
We all want to take Bobby
Crenshaw out. Well, actually, most of us have.” Ben’s sheepish
admission cheered Mitch.

“
Excellent.” Mitch was
pleased the men in the family had already taken the loser down a
notch or more.

“
I wish I knew who the
others were, because I'd have taken care of them, too.” The grim
lip line was back. “But she won’t talk about them. We know the high
school guy, but not the college one.”

“
You and me, both,” Mitch
muttered, wanting to crack some heads. Men could be true
idiots.

“
So, you already know about
Lainy's lack of self-confidence. I see Ed's up to his
usual.”

“
He's sent videos to other
men?” Mitch contained his anger, barely.

“
No, he's never sent anyone
videos, this must be a new camera he's trying out. It reeks of him.
No one else but Ed could manage a camera like that.”

“
We figured Ed and Lainy
were the experts. Of course, you're a Navy SEAL, so that must mean
you're pretty good, too,” Mitch offered, feeling like credit should
go where due. SEALs were well known for their electronic
expertise.

“
Yeah, I do pretty well,
but I'm a novice compared to those two.” Ben flicked a hand at the
screen.

They both sat in thought for a few
moments, and then Mitch asked about Sam. “You try to set up Sam and
Lainy, or was that coincidence?”

Ben laughed. “I just took Sam to the
lake because he lives close, and I’ve talked about it so much, he
wanted to experience the lake. Lainy does go into Ice Princess mode
when eligible men are around. Melly was right about
that.

“
So, I was surprised she
was so...
warm
to
Sam. That she doesn't remember him comes as no surprise. Her
behavior that weekend was pretty alien for her. She's not usually
so friendly, so I wondered if she was out of it or on drugs or
something. Allergy medication knocks her out.”

“
What about Sam, does he
still think about her? Does he remember her?” Mitch had to
know.

“
Yeah, he asks about her
from time to time, but he's got his own woman issues. I don’t think
he was interested, but even if he did decide he wanted Lainy, she'd
freeze him out with her princess mode,” Ben replied and turned a
contemplative look on Mitch.

“
What?”

“
Probably the best way to
get past Lainy's defenses is exactly the way you've done. E-mail
her, be across the world from her, entice her out of her shell,
then nab her. That's wise, Mitch.” Ben delivered a light punch to
Mitch's arm.

“
I didn't know she existed
until she wrote she had my dog.”

“
Oh, yeah, that's right.
Not like you planned this.” Ben scratched his chin. “It's funny how
things work out, isn't it?”

“
I'd say so.” Mitch
contemplated the merits of two different cookies in his
stash.

“
You got plans for my
cousin Lainy when you get home?” Ben asked, not belligerently, but
with some definite big brother attitude.

Smiling, Mitch nodded.
“Definitely.”

Chapter Nineteen

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: My
self-esteem

Hello Mitch,

Thanks for your e-mail and
your concern for my self-esteem or lack thereof. I suppose it's not
very high, but there is a reason. I do tend to avoid attractive
men, mostly as a defense, I guess. I'm wondering how you picked up
on this? I don't date because the two times I did so I got really
burned.

I can't say those
experiences have contributed to a higher self-esteem. Or
self-confidence. The one man who I would normally find attractive,
and did apparently respond well to, I don't remember. Ironic, I
guess.

Well, all of that until
you. We've never met face to face, but I feel as though we've been
friends for years. You're very special to me and you make me feel
that way. Thank you. No man's ever been able to make me feel like
you do so effortlessly. Had I met someone who could, I probably
wouldn't have given him the time of day. I tend to close up. Which
is not good, but a part of me.

My family calls me the Ice
Princess whenever there are attractive men around. I suppose I
earned the title. The ingrates. It's not like they've ever done
anything to help my problem.

They tease me, but then
after a time tell me not to pay any attention to them. Sometimes
they have no idea they’ve gone too far. I don’t talk about my past
relationships, so they don't know. They couldn’t. I can’t talk
about what happened.