A Marine of Plenty by Heather Long Page B

understanding this part of his life and, at the same time, I’m glad I do. It sounds crazy. I guess I sound crazy.”
    “No. You don’t.” Explaining a tour or deployment to someone who hadn’t been in the sandbox or the mountains or anywhere near the hell the last ten years brought to the region was hard. Only those who’d shared the experience truly understood. His father served in Vietnam, his grandfather in Korea, but the men had rarely discussed their tours with the family.
    They’d talked about it with others—old friends, brothers in arms, men who understood those wars. At least Charlie had brothers both in blood and in arms. Holding his hand out to her, he waited, palm facing up.
    Slowly, too slowly, she placed her hand in his and interlaced their fingers together. “I do and I don’t want to go home.”
    “Yeah. But you’re going home.” He couldn’t make it plainer. She would get on that plane if he had to hogtie her and carry her on board. “You’re going home, back to school, and you’re going to build a life. And it will to be great.”
    “How do you know?” Unshed tears coated her words.
    “Because you’re great. When I get home, I’m going to come visit, and you’re going to show me this life you’ve built.” He only had a few months left on this tour—maybe it was the time to reconsider post-operational life as they scaled back their presence overseas—provided another war didn’t start up. “Until I can get there, we’ll write.”
    “You’ll really come see me?” The skepticism in her voice rankled.
    “Yeah.” He eyed her, but the vulnerable sadness in her green eyes deflated any offense he might have taken. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
    “Of course I don’t mind, but it will be different there.”
    Sliding an arm around her, he gave her a squeeze. “Different doesn’t mean bad.” He wished he could offer her words to make it better.
    “Charlie?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Do you think we could go on a date sometime?”
    Triumph chased relief through his blood. “That should have been my question.”
    “Yes, but since I asked it first….”
    Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he murmured, “I’d like very much to take you on a date sometime.”
    “Groovy. Can I write you naughty letters?” She gave him a watery smile and leaned her head against his shoulder.
    “You can write me anything you want.” Content to simply hold her, he rested his chin on her head. It had been a long, emotionally exhausting day.
    She stayed quiet long enough, he suspected she’d fallen asleep so her whisper surprised him. “Charlie?”
    “Hmmm?”
    “Do you have any more condoms?”
    His body stirred. “Yes, ma’am.”
    Her silence returned, and he leaned away to get a look at her. She stared at him solemnly, and he raised his eyebrows in question. Maybe he’d interpreted her inquiry wrong.
    A smile flirted at the corners of her mouth. “You said asking for a date should be your question. I’m not sure if I should ask about sex again so soon after I seduced you the first time.”
    Amusement flared and he grinned. “Jana, you can ask me for sex anytime you want.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Oh yeah, but I don’t think you seduced me.”
    “No, I’m pretty sure I did.” She bit her lower lip, tempting him.
    He covered her sweet mouth with his and kissed her until they were both breathless. “I don’t recall it that way at all.”
    “Huh. Well if you did the seducing, why don’t you show me how it’s done?”
    The Marine understood a challenge when he heard one. “Gladly.”
    He’d never shied away from a challenge.

 
     
     

Epilogue
     
     
    Saying good-bye to Charlie sucked. She barely noticed the landscape on the way back to the airport or the chipper conversation of the Marines in her escort. Desperate to memorize every nuance of his features, she couldn’t take her gaze off her companion. Too soon, they were back at the air base they’d picked her up from. Even sooner she