Nerd and the Marine (34 page)

Thanks,

Mitch

Mitch sent that message and saw
another e-mail from Lainy.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: Max is
here

Hello Mitch,

You don’t have to send
e-mails to all of my brothers and brothers-in-law. Max is having
his house overhauled, the structure needs it desperately, and we’d
already planned for him to move in with me. Well, the roof
collapsed last night, so he moved in early this morning for an
extended period of time.

No need to call the
guards, since he’s here on a fairly permanent basis. They won’t be
able to do much for at least another two weeks. Somehow a cousin
managed to prevent leaking, but basically the place isn’t
habitable.

Just wanted you to know to
prevent several hundred e-mails on your part. (I appreciate that
you’re worried, but really.) Now, none of my brothers are taking my
word for anything.

“
Well, let’s see what
Mitch says first...” like you’re the final word or something. Did I
miss something here? You’re in Kuwait, and out of communication for
months on end and all of a sudden, they’re all like, “Let’s wait
and see if Mitch has an opinion on this...” So don’t think I
haven’t caught on to the stalling tactic here.

Nice try.

Please come home. (I have
a few things to say to you.)

I still miss you
anyway
,

Your’s,

Lainy

P.S. The young men who
broke into my house were caught breaking into another inventor’s
and leaving with some high clearance military items. Yes, they
nailed Ed, who delayed them until the cops got there and caught
them red-handed. Both men were armed, and since it was military
secret stuff, they won’t be bothering anyone for a long time. (Or
so I’m told.)

Mitch was relieved the men were
caught, and then rereading the body of her e-mail, his lips
twitched. She might be a nerd, but Lainy Morrison was no shrinking
violet. He liked spunkiness in a woman. He liked Lainy.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject:re: Max is
here

Hello Lainy,

I’d tell you to sit on
your hands if I thought it’d do some good, but, as I don’t believe
that’s true, I’ll just beg you to behave? No killing Max while he’s
living with you, okay? Or your other brothers. Your protection is
very important. It’s programmed directly into our Y chromosome. You
can’t change us. That’s just the way we are.

So, remember that I will
be coming home, and you WILL have to deal with me eventually, and
yes, I WILL be angry if you do something to endanger
yourself.

Otherwise, don’t let your
brothers stall on things that need done. I understand how anxious
you are to finish the self-protection devices. However, from what
I’ve learned about Ed through military channels, he does his own
thing, always, and can’t be hurried. You should know this, since
you’re his sister.

Be safe!

I’m leaving in another
day, but this should be my last time in the field. Which looks
hopeful for my return home sometime in June.

I miss you.

Your’s,

Mitch

Lainy read his message in
response to hers and wrinkled her nose. While she felt her
independence slowly melting away as she adjusted to coupledom
without the male in close proximity, she realized his
over-protectiveness didn’t bother her,
too
much
. He was a Marine; it was perfectly
natural.

Sitting back in her chair, she
realized the transition of thinking as a single person to a coupled
person had been so gradual the adjustment hadn’t been all that
difficult. She didn’t make decisions any longer without first
thinking about Mitch.

But would she think this way only to
have it all torn away when he decided he could do better? Mitch was
amazing, he could have any woman he wanted. Right now, he wanted
her. But would his wanting her last? Would she allow him in? It was
one thing to trust him from afar, but what about in
person?

Staring at this e-mail she
understood what was good for her was good for him. She already
realized he didn’t make decisions without first considering her.
Actually, he seemed to put her first often. He didn’t care if she
got upset with him being concerned about her safety. He wanted, no
apparently
needed
her to be safe.

Lainy liked the
feeling.
Very much
.

*****

“
He did
what
?” Lainy hadn’t
planned to shriek at Ed, her voice had just come out that way. She
gripped the phone tighter.

“
He wrote me an e-mail and
told me to go tell the thugs to stay away from you or he’d come
after them. So I did, even though they’re in jail and will be there
for a long time.”

Lainy stared at the wall in
bemusement. “Why did he do that?”

“
Because he’s protecting
you,” Ed replied and she heard the silent, “
Duh
.”

“
But why? I left the patent
papers out, they know they can’t file them now. Plus they’re in
jail, there’s no danger now.” Confusion lurked in her mind, but
slowly replacing that emotion was something warm and fuzzy she
couldn’t set a name to.

“
Lainy, those bozos could
have buddies or they might not stay long in prison, although I
think they will. They might not give up, since one of your patents
or mine could bring in stable money for them. But Mitch sending us,
and us explaining to the jerks that Mitch is bigger than Will
helped.”

“
They know Will?” Her voice
sounded faint. Mitch had cared about her enough to send her
brothers to protect her.

“
Of course they know Will,
he was with us. Now they know Mitch will be gunning for them or
their buddies if they so much as look at you funny. Plus the
government isn’t too happy with them, either, so that’s an added
bonus.” Ed’s voice sounded confident and a little
exasperated.

“
They won’t come around at
all now?” She looked at Bentley. She’d been sure with him around,
the thugs would stay clear of her house.

“
Nope. Even if they get out
of jail, I don’t think they’ll bother either of us again. Max being
there will help, too.”

“
Well, good,” she said
inanely. Ed said goodbye and hung up and Lainy sat there and
continued to stare at the wall. Mitch, although thousands of miles
away, had protected her. He’d dispatched her brothers because he
cared.

She had planted a few nasty
surprises for the next housebreaker since Ed was stalling on
helping her. She knew the motivation, or the
motivator
, behind his transparent
tactics. Even though she had long ago thought she’d hate a man
going all protective on her, she finally understood why her female
rellys accepted their men’s craziness. Lainy admitted to herself
she actually didn’t mind that Mitch didn’t trust her skills to
protect herself. He cared and that made all the difference. He’d
eventually learn she had some skills of her own.

*****

When Mitch left for his
last time out in the field,
she
hoped
, Lainy loathed his absence just as
much. Yet, perhaps because there was a definite possibility this
was his last time gone, she didn’t hurt as much. The fear grew
every day, but her ache wasn’t as intense.

The thrill she’d first experienced
from reading his e-mail that it might be his last stint remained,
however. She counted the days for his return. At least for the
first week. She also began work on a phone for him, so he could
call her. It’d be rough in design, but functional.

Then her father had a heart attack.
Her grandfather fell and broke his hip. They spent days in the
hospital. Waiting and worrying and teasing the two about needing
attention. Lainy thought she’d have gray hair by the time both men
were pronounced on the mend and settled at home.

No sooner were both home than one of
Max’s major manufacturing lines quit for no reason and ground
production to a halt. Maintenance couldn’t figure out why. Max
called her and Ed in, frantic to get the line back up. This was
major if he actually called and asked them to come. So they
went.

His partner, K.C., looked as relieved
as Max when they arrived. Lainy managed to rig the line enough to
convince it to finish the run, while Ed tinkered with a part they
both felt caused the problems. It took them a few days to fix the
issue so it wouldn’t happen again.

Plus, spring sports were in full
swing, so she didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on Mitch’s
absence. Spring eased into summer and as the daffodils died and the
girls muttered about prom dresses, Lainy realized June was
approaching faster than she’d ever hoped. Mitch would be home in
about a month’s time.

Then the prom happened, the kids
complained about finals, and her sisters threw themselves into the
annual graduation party preparations. In awe of this, Lainy wept
when she opened her e-mail and saw a message from Mitch.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: I’m
back!

Hello Lainy,

I’m back from my last
field operation. I have some paperwork and debriefings to finalize
here, but for the most part, it looks as though I’m on schedule to
return home in about a week.

A week
. I’ll be holding you in my arms in a week!

The end is in
sight.

Your’s,

Mitch

P.S. We did have some
difficulty on this assignment and I broke some ribs, but they’re
better now. I’ll be fine by the time I come home. They’ve
practically healed already. So don’t think I won’t hug you until
you squeak. What I plan to do after that I won’t
mention.

Anticipation...

Lainy laughed through her tears. She
leapt from her chair and raced to the door. Leaping outside she ran
through the streets to her parent’s home, Bentley bounding after
her.

“
What’s with you?” her
mother exclaimed as Lainy erupted through the door.

“
Mitch comes home in a
week.”

“
A week. Oh, that barely
gives us time for a celebration. Yes, we’ll have a small party for
him.”

Laughing through her tears again,
Lainy hugged her mother gleefully, danced around the table to grab
her father and then took off again. Eager to spread the
word.

Her grandparents rejoiced with her, as
did all her sisters and sisters-in-law. They laughed and cried, and
hugged her and were as silly as she. She stayed with them for a
little while, but then had to return to her computer.

As she popped in the door, the phone
rang. Probably more rellys calling to congratulate her on Mitch’s
safe return.

“
Hello,” she said
breathlessly.

“
You sound happy,” Mitch
said into her ear, and she could hear his grin. That’s right -
she’d sent him the phone prototype last month after she’d finished
it.

“
I am. You’re coming home
in a week!”

His masculine chuckle echoed all the
way through her. She felt like dancing and singing. Instead she
plopped down onto a cushy chair eager to hear his plans to come
home.

“
So I am. Thanks for the
phone.” Warmth wrapped around his voice.

“
You’re welcome. What day?
Do you know yet?”

“
I might not until that
day. I’m already packed though.”

“
I’m so happy you’re coming
home,” she cried again. Excited and fearful and eager.

“
I know. I feel the same
way. Al left yesterday. There’s already someone in his cot. Got
here this morning. It’s amazing. I think they have someone
scheduled for mine, too. Which means I have to leave, thank
goodness.”

“
I thought you liked the
Marines,” she flirted.

“
I do, but not as much as I
like you currently.”

“
What? The Marines...” She
barely managed to sputter, “You might like the Marines better than
me some day?” But this is what she feared. That someone or
something would come before her. That their love would turn dirty
and disgusting. She couldn’t handle that.

Mitch laughed too hard to answer her,
which Lainy took as a good sign. She enjoyed his merriment. She
couldn’t wait to hear his laughter in person. And feel his breath
against her face. To smell him. And maybe even taste him. Would
kissing him be yummy?

“
What are you
thinking?”

“
Nothing,” she yelped, heat
flooding her cheeks. Like she’d tell him that.

“
Come on, Lainy, tell me,”
he cajoled.