The Dating List (30 page)

"Oh my, what's wrong with me? I forgot my special
pumpkin pie. Colin would you mind getting it? It's on the front
hall table in our house…door's unlocked," Carrie aid.

She turned pleading eyes on him. He had nothing
better to do, so he agreed without giving it any thought. He
shrugged into his jacket and went out the front door. The cold air
revived him as the bright light from the street lamps, appearing
brighter against the blackness of the night, stabbed his eyes. A
burst of energy propelled him quickly through the frigid air.
Hurrying to get into the warmth of Grey and Carrie's house, Colin
wrapped his fingers around the brass door jamb, opened it and
slipped inside then spun around quickly to close the door. Behind
him, he heard a throat being cleared. The sound stopped him while
he was facing the door. Slowly he turned, there she was.

Leah.

****

Leah's pulse kicked up, her heart was beating out of
her chest as the door opened to admit Colin. He turned so quickly
to close the door, he didn't see her standing there in her fur
coat, white wool beret and high-heeled black suede boots. She
cleared her throat to alert him. He stopped dead, turning slowly to
face her.

"Leah?" His voice was almost a croak.

She smiled, emotion swelling in her throat,
preventing speech. Tears burned her eyelids. Rapid blinking kept
them at bay. Her breath came in short rasps.
God, he looks so
good!
Two deep breaths restored her voice.

"Colin?"

"It's really you!"

He closed the distance between them in two long
strides arms open, but then he stopped abruptly.

"What are you doing here? Someone die?"

She shook her head, restraining her urge to jump into
his arms.

"Explain?"

"I'm here to see you," she choked out.

"To tell me you're going to marry Jean Pierre?"

"What? No!" She chuckled.

"Why is that so funny?" He bristled.

"Jean Pierre is gay. I thought you knew."

Colin released a huge breath of air, a smile slowly
spread across his face.

"What about you? That girl, Cathy? You went to
football games with her?"

"She's just a friend."

"Really?" Leah cocked an eyebrow at him.

He chuckled. "You're jealous of Cathy? She's engaged.
Her fiancé is getting his Ph.D. at Indiana University. We were
catching a game or two together, two lonely souls. That's all."

"Good."

"What happened to your job?"

"I was too miserable, missing you… I…"

Before she could finish, he lunged across the space
separating them, pulling her into his embrace. He closed his arms
around her, burying his face in her hair.

"You've come back to me?"

"Yes."

His lips sought hers for the most tender of kisses
that became passionate quickly. They kissed and kissed and kissed.
Leah slipped her coat off her shoulders, letting it fall to the
floor. Colin pulled one arm then the other out of his coat, also
leaving it on the floor. He grabbed her waist, forcing her right up
against his chest. She sighed as they came together.

"So what happened?" Colin asked, plaiting his fingers
through her hair, gazing into her eyes.

"Well, I was working hard, coming up with new
designs. Madame Jeanne sold my first three designs right away. She
had people waiting for more. I traveled…but my heart wasn't in it.
She saw that my other designs were not as good, they were missing
the heart…the
romance
she called it. She could tell I was
unhappy, missing you. So we made a deal. I get to work from here
for ten months out of the year and travel for her in Europe the
other two. I jumped at the chance."

"You can be here and work for her?"

"Yes. As soon as she made me that offer, she said she
saw a huge improvement in my designs. I must confess when I knew I
was coming back to you, I captured the
romance
again and it
showed in my work. But I didn't know if you were still single.
Through my travels the last few weeks I haven't been able to be in
touch with you and that Cathy…well, she had me worried."

"You're actually coming back but still designing for
Madame Jeanne?"

"Weren't you listening?"

"Guess I didn't hear anything beyond you were coming
back to me."

She smiled at him. "If you still want me."

Colin dropped to one knee and pulled out a small
burgundy colored velvet box. He kept the box with him all the time
because it was almost like having Leah at his side. Fingering the
box reminded him he had a woman he wanted to marry, bringing a
secret smile to his lips. He snapped it open to reveal a beautiful,
shiny round cut diamond ring.

"Will you marry me, Leah?"

The tears she had held at bay burst forth, streaming
down her face. Her pulse beat wildly.

"Well? Will you? Why are you crying?" He pushed to
his feet.

"I will. I will marry you. I'm crying because I'm
happy."

She flew into his arms, hugging his chest with all
her might.

"I love you so much… I missed you, Colin," she
breathed.

"I missed you, too, baby…Every day…I thought about
you every day."

Again his mouth came down on hers hard. He demanded
her surrender and she happily complied, melting against him,
opening her lips to him. He took her mouth and his hand closed
possessively over her breast, making her moan.

When he lifted his head, he stared into her eyes.

"I can't believe it's real. You'll be living here,
with me, as my wife, designing for Lady Jeanne…"

"I guess I am lucky, I'm getting both my dreams at
once."

"So am I."

He took her hand, leading her to the stairs.

"There's a guest room upstairs…"

"Won't your family miss you?"

"I have a feeling they already know all about this.
Did Grey pick you up at the bus station?"

"Didn't he tell you?"

"Said he was going out for milk…it doesn't matter.
You're here."

They climbed the stairs to the second floor.

"I saw a
for sale
sign on a beautiful farm
house with twelve acres of land. Looked like it needed a little
work but…"

"A farmhouse?" Her eyebrows shot up.

"Four bedrooms…plenty of room for our family."

"Family?"

"Kids…I thought you wanted to have kids?"

He stopped on the second floor. She hugged him.

"You know I do."

"Let's practice , eh?"

He shot her a wicked grin before he pulled her into
the room and closed the door.

****

Across the path, the Andrews family sat down to
dessert.

"Where's Colin?" Bill asked.

Jenna shushed him.

"He won't be joining us for dessert," Grey said, a
little color staining his cheeks.

Mary smiled as she looked down to the end of the
table.

"Good thing I have service for twelve. Enough for all
the in-laws and a couple of grandchildren, too. Hmm, that spot on
the corner will be perfect for Leah."

"You always plan ahead," John said, patting her
hand.

"We're complete now. Ready for the next generation,
John?" She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"With you by my side, Mary, I'm ready for
anything."

THE END

Jean Joachim is an author, married, a mother of two
boys and owner of a rescued pug named Homer. She writes
contemporary romance and has more than a dozen contemporary romance
books published with one more scheduled to be release within the
coming months. Jean has been writing non-fiction for over twenty
years and fiction for three. Her review column, "Movie Choices for
Kids" has been syndicated on parenting newspapers websites for the
past 12 years. A native New Yorker, she still lives in New York
City.

LOVE, LOST & FOUND

Jean Joachim and

Ben Tanner

Copyright © 2012

Chapter One

"PETERSON!" Staff-Sergeant Jacobs yelled.

"Here Jacobs," Peterson replied.

"Major Davis wants to see you STAT!"

"Roger," Peterson said as he rose from his cot, threw
on his utilities, donned his cover, and headed to the Major's
quarters.

"Sergeant Peterson reporting as ordered sir."

"Come in Peterson." The Major shifted in his
chair.

Mick walked into the tent, stood at attention,
waiting to see what this was all about.

"At ease. This is an informal meeting Peterson."

"Yes sir." Mick relaxed his stance a little.

"I saw your reaction to that letter. It was a
Dear
John
, wasn't it?"

"Yes sir." Mick dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Sergeant, you've been an exceptional member of my
group since I got you reassigned to Joint Operations Special Task
Force—JOSTF"

"Thank you sir, I try."

"Quit sir'ing me Mick, I said this was informal.
We've been beating up bullies together since the sixth grade,
pulling Jenny MacBain's hair and harassing Mr. Pratt in science
class...we've both lost some good friends in the past few weeks,
now this...a woman, worse than any bully we faced. After more than
twelve years of all kinds of shit, you'd think we'd seen it
all...all happen to other guys...now you...damn her." The Major
stood up and walked to the window.

"Remember that shack in St. Thomas my grandfather
left me? I'm granting you an emergency two week leave so I can send
you there. Get laid...lie on the beach, get drunk...get her out of
your system. Get your head straight. God knows you're no use to me
or your team this way." He returned to his desk and sank down into
his chair.

* * * *

On the plane in Atlanta, Mick located his seat. Seat
20-A, right next to the emergency exit. A slightly balding,
muscular man, was sitting in 20-B. Upon seeing Mick, he reached out
his hand in greeting.

"The name's David Wilkins."

Mick shook his hand, "Peterson, Mick Peterson."

"Military huh? Marines?"

"Yes sir, about thirteen years now."

"My dad was in the Marines in Korea and Viet Nam. I
joined the reserves after high school to help pay for college."

"Small world," Mick replied. "Nice meeting you…I
don't want to appear rude, but I've been in the air almost
twenty-five hours…haven't gotten much sleep. I am going to
try
to catch up now."

"No problem, not rude at all."

In no time, the plane was in the air for the
four-hour flight to St. Thomas. Mick was asleep within minutes.

* * * *

Atlanta, two hours earlier

The heat of a stare interrupted Tara's thoughts. The
man standing next to her in line at airport security trained his
gaze on her chest. She crossed her arms but he simply moved his
eyes to her rear end.

Tara tried glaring back at him but he grinned at her,
stepping closer, making her more uncomfortable.

God, I hope he's not on the same flight.

"Hi, honey, where you flyin' today?" He leaned toward
her.

Tara turned her back to him.

"Don't be rude. Just makin' conversation."

"I don't know you." Tara's eyes scanned the terminal
looking for a place to escape but finding none.

"I'm Mark." He took a step closer.

"Tara," she muttered.

His gaze returned to her chest.

"Stop staring at me." She folded her arms across her
breasts.

"Hey, honey, if you're gonna show it, I'm gonna look
at it." His ample belly rolled as he shifted his weight.

As soon as she was through security, Tara hid in the
ladies room until it was time to board. Ducking her distinctive
auburn hair down, she blended into the line moving onto the plane.
Once on board, she snuggled into her window seat and lost herself
in a romantic suspense book until she heard him.

"Lucky me! It's beautiful Tara with the big…" He
started as he filled the seat next to her.

"You!"

Fortunately for Tara, Mark flirted with the
stewardesses before the plane took off then fell asleep as soon as
they were in the air. Tara read her book and prayed he'd sleep the
whole trip. He snored a little and shifted in his seat, his head
lolling dangerously close to her shoulder. She squeezed herself
even closer to the wall to avoid contact with him.

When they landed in Atlanta, he awoke disoriented but
still continued to flirt with the stewardesses as they helped
Atlanta-bound passengers leave the plane and passengers bound for
St. Thomas board. When Mark stumbled down the aisle, Tara let out a
breath. She settled back into her seat, closing her eyes, resting
her book in her lap—hoping some hunky guy would claim the seat next
to hers.