Coach Maddie and the Marine (9 page)

“How come I can never keep anything from you?”

“It’s not that difficult. I can just look at you and tell that you are only a couple steps away from being totally in love. I felt like that once. It seems like yesterday. The first time I met my Thelma, I knew she was the one for me. There was no question in my mind that she was mine, and from that dreamy look in your eyes, I’d say that you’ve met the one, too.”

...

David drove from the field in an adrenaline haze. It was great to be around the game again, even if it was the PeeWee Division. His love of football and his sixth sense of what plays might work against the other team came back like he’d never been away from the field. And then there was Maddie. If today’s win was like a charge of static electricity, Madeline Westerfield was an electrical storm that didn’t leave a cell of his body unsinged.

Just the sight of her, or the sound of her laughter, or the cute way she twirled a curl that hung behind her left ear every time she got nervous was enough to make him hard.

Today’s game had been such a nail-biter that he was looking forward to a little downtime in his apartment before his date. Maybe he could catch a college game before it was time to shower and get dressed.

As if he had the attention span to watch a game.

She was doing something to him. Something he couldn’t put into words. Hell, he couldn’t even put it into rational thoughts.

He shivered involuntarily.

Maybe getting involved with her wasn’t the best decision for either of them but he couldn’t seem to help himself.

It was way too early to start getting ready for the night so he grabbed a beer from the fridge and clicked on the television. He flipped back and forth between two games, but his mind wasn’t on either one of them. All he could think about was his date tonight so he gave up after less than a quarter of play and decided he’d make sure his clothes were squared away.

He pulled a pin-striped suit from the closet and took off the dry cleaning bag. He took his time selecting a tie, finally deciding on one with sedate navy and green stripes.

After getting dressed and checking the mirror, he made a decision.

He was going all in.

He grabbed the keys to the convertible from the dresser and headed out the door.

...

As steaming water filled the tub, Maddie dug in the cabinet under the sink for some bubble bath. Since Andrew had been living with her, she’d had very little time to luxuriate in scented bubbles. Today, she planned to stay in the tub until her toes wrinkled up like prunes. Behind a can of hairspray and beside a bottle of hair dye she’d been meaning to use for ages, she found a bottle of sandalwood bubble bath that smelled fabulous. She moved over to the claw-foot tub and poured it liberally into the bath water. Soon the bubbles reached the rim of the tub.

She put a CD of ocean waves crashing onto a beach into the player and slipped out of her white cotton terry-cloth robe. She groaned as she sank into the water.

The heat began to relax her back and neck muscles. All the jumping and running she’d done on the sidelines this morning had made her neck so stiff she could barely turn it to the side. And she hoped that all the passionate screaming and shouting wouldn’t give her laryngitis. She wanted to be able to talk to David over dinner and really learn more about him.

She wanted to know him inside and out, backward and forward. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm the jitters flitting around in her stomach. Today had been a red-letter day, all right, and the best part, she hoped, was still to come.

After nearly an hour in the tub, she emerged from the foggy bathroom and padded down the hall to her bedroom. She looked into her closet and sighed. Even though, earlier in the week, she’d tried on everything in her closet that might be suitable for dinner at Merrimon’s, she still hadn’t decided which was the most flattering. She had narrowed her options down to three: a sultry red dress with a low V-neck, a short black skirt paired with a jewel-tone, silk, printed blouse, and a long, flowing floral print dress. The floral print was definitely a “girly-girl” dress. The soft pink and greens flattered her chestnut hair and green eyes. Decision made, she placed it on the bed and began looking for her shoes.

After assembling her dress, lingerie, and jewelry on the bed, she tackled her curls. She swept them back into a loose bun held by a silver clasp Callie had bought for her in Morocco. She plucked a few curls loose to frame and soften her face. With her hair in place, she went back into the bathroom and pulled out her gigantic makeup organizer. It was jammed full of eye shadows in every shade, lipsticks of every color, and at least six tubes of mascara.

She chose a light pink blush for her cheeks and neutral browns for her eyes. She tried to control the shaking in her hands long enough to apply her eyeliner. After half an hour of working with various brushes, tubes, and tubs of makeup, she studied her appearance in the mirror. She’d done a good job—the colors she’d chosen had opened up her green eyes, making them bewitching. She tugged the dress over her head and slid her feet into the four-inch heels.

Almost an hour later, when she heard the smooth purr of an engine pulling up to the curb in front of her house, she took one last look in the mirror and tweaked a couple of curls. She peeked through the starched white Battenberg lace curtains on her front window to see a sporty two-seater convertible.

Just as she was wondering who the car might belong to and why it was parked in front of her house, David got out of the sleek black convertible and slammed the driver’s side door. He walked around the back of the car to the passenger side where he grabbed a large bouquet of colorful mixed flowers from the seat. Closing the passenger door, he balanced them in the crook of his arm and walked up the sidewalk to the front door.

The doorbell rang, finally prompting her to move from the window to the door.

He wore a perfectly tailored charcoal pin-striped suit. The pale blue of his shirt, coupled with the sedate green and navy striped tie, made him look so handsome. He was so gorgeous that she was afraid he was only a dream. But the woodsy, masculine scent he exuded was not a dream. It was real enough to make her tingle all over.

“You look beautiful,” he said. “It looks like I rated the ultimate girly-girl dress.”

“Oh, thank you. You look very handsome yourself. I’ve never seen you in a suit. Come on inside.”

“These are for you,” he said, presenting the bouquet to her. “I thought about red roses, but then I thought you might like these better.”

She smiled, pleased that in the short time they’d known each other he’d already gotten to know her well enough to select the perfect flowers. She loved mixed bouquets. “I do. I love all the colors and textures. They’re beautiful. Thank you for being so thoughtful. Let me put them in some water and we’ll go.”

“No rush. Our reservation isn’t until eight, so we have almost an hour to get there.”

Maddie took the flowers into the kitchen and laid them on the counter. She walked to the pantry and turned on the light. As she was searching the shelves for the tall crystal vase that had belonged to her mother, David’s arms encircled her waist.

The smell of his cologne flooded her senses. The heat of him felt like an electric blanket spread across her back. Her frame fit perfectly against his. She relaxed, melting into him. She felt his warm breath tickle her bare neck. His full lips teased the little triangle of skin behind her ear.

“Mmmmm, you taste as lovely as you look,” he whispered, putting his hands on her shoulders to turn her around to face him. “I’d better stop or we might not make it to dinner.”

She looked into his eyes and froze. Smoldering heat burned in them, close to the surface. She felt like she was completely naked in front of him and it was a delightful sensation. She wrestled with her self-control. The idea of dinner seemed so far away. All she really wanted was to feel his body pressing against hers.

“I like that look you’re giving me,” he said. “I hope you’ll look at me that way again tonight. But for now, we need to get those flowers in a vase and head to Merrimon’s.”

He grabbed the vase off a high shelf and filled it with water while she trimmed the stems. She stuck the flowers into the crystal vase and took a minute to arrange them. She placed the vase on the table and went to grab her purse and wrap.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Let’s go. I can’t wait to tell everyone that I’ve actually eaten at Merrimon’s. How did you even get a reservation?”

“Simple. I told them I’d met a beautiful woman and I couldn’t wait a whole month to take her on a real date or I might lose her.”

Chapter Nine

The amber glow of dozens of candles glimmering made the restaurant look like something out of a romantic movie. One glance around the gorgeously appointed dining room told Maddie that the place was five-star. Each table was covered with a crisp white jacquard tablecloth with an elegant arrangement of beautiful cut flowers infused with sprigs of fresh lavender placed perfectly in the center. The waiters were dressed in white tuxedo shirts with black cummerbunds. A pianist played a soft melody on the grand piano that sat in the corner of the dining room.

The maître d’ led them to a small table nestled into a huge bay window that looked out onto a flower-filled terrace. Bright red geraniums filled huge clay pots, with smaller clay pots of colorful petunias crowding around them on the tiled floor. Small intimate tables lined the perimeter of the terrace.

When she looked over her menu, she was glad that she remembered at least a few of the French words she’d learned in high school—at least she understood
escargot
and
le steak tartare
—but overall, most of the items on the menu were a complete mystery.

“What strikes your fancy, mademoiselle?” David asked, leaning into the table.

“It all looks great, I mean, at least the dishes that I recognize, but truthfully there are only a couple of those since I never really paid much attention in French class.”

“Then why don’t you let me order for you?”

“That would be wonderful. I didn’t know that guys did that anymore.”

“Guys probably don’t, but gentlemen do.” He winked at her, causing delightful shivers to race up her spine.

When he ordered, she had no idea what she might be served, but if the food tasted half as good as he made it sound, she was in for a treat. The foreign words slipped off his tongue like melted butter and the temperature inside her body inched up a little more.

When the waiter left, she asked, with a suppressed giggle, “So what did you order for me? I’m sure we never learned any of those words in class.”

“We’ll begin the meal with
la salade de chèvre
which is a beautiful, fresh green salad with goat cheese on toast. Then our entrée will be
magret de canard a l’orange
, a sautéed duck breast in Grand Marnier sauce, and then for dessert, well, there are several tempting options. I haven’t quite decided what we’ll have yet. I told the waiter I wanted to think carefully about my options.”

“That sounds…umm…well…”

“Why, Miss Maddie, are you flustered?” he asked, flashing his killer grin.

“No. I mean, I was just thinking about our dinner. This is such a nice place.”

She knew that if she thought about him and dessert in the same sentence for another few seconds, she might jump across the table, take hold of his silk tie and kiss him until tomorrow. Of course he refused to go with her on the change of subject.

“I think you’re a little rattled. Are you thinking the same thing I am about dessert? That we might want to decide on that when we get back to your place?”

Luckily, the waiter saved her from answering when he brought the wine to the table.

“Monsieur,” the waiter said, holding the wine label toward David.

He nodded and the waiter uncorked the bottle and poured a tiny bit of the deep burgundy into his glass. He sipped the wine and turned his glass thoughtfully. After a solemn nod to the waiter, the waiter filled Maddie’s glass.

When the waiter left the table, he proposed a toast.

“To the most beautiful woman in the South and the best thing that’s come my way in a very long time.” His eyes searched hers and she felt a deep flush creep up her neck and blossom into heat on her cheeks. His eyes never left hers as he took a sip of his wine. It was smoother than anything she’d ever tasted.

“What is this wine? I’ve never had anything quite so silky and velvety. I didn’t know wine could taste like this.”

“It’s a 2001 pinot noir from Chateau Gaillard in Burgundy. I ordered three bottles and had them sent here so that we could enjoy them tonight. We’ll drink one with dinner and take the other two home.”

“How thoughtful of you. Your taste in wine is incredible. And the way you ordered in French was pretty cool, too. I don’t remember you listing French as one of the languages on your impressive résumé.”

“The only French I speak is foodie,” he said with a grin. “No one does food and wine like the French.”

The waiter brought their salads. The crisp greens were artfully arranged on the china plate. Maddie requested some fresh black pepper and the waiter sprinkled it on her plate using a tall shaker. She savored the first bite of hers. It was so good she wanted to moan.

“Did I make a good choice for the first course?”

“Absolutely. This is fantastic. I always see goat cheese in the grocery store, but I’ve never tried it. No wonder it’s all the rave on those cable cooking shows.”

“You watch cable cooking shows? My mom loves to watch that stuff. It’s on every time I walk into my parents’ house. I’m not sure she’s ever cooked a single recipe that she’s seen on there, but maybe that’s not the point.”

“I have to confess I’ve only attempted a couple. Cooking is very relaxing and there’s a sensual element to it as well. All those beautiful, bright-colored vegetables on those interesting plates, all that limitless possibility. It’s like going to the grocery store with an unlimited budget. And that would be like winning a mini-lottery.”

“You actually like going to the grocery store? I hate that chore more than any of the others. We’re going to get along better than I thought,” he said, taking a sip of the wine. “Aren’t you glad I didn’t let you break up with me?”

“Break up with you? I didn’t know we were an item.”

“Think I’d bring just anyone to Merrimon’s?”

She laughed. “Probably not.”

He took her hand in his. “At first, I agreed with you. Neither one of us was in the right place to begin a relationship. But the more time we spent together, the plainer things became. We can’t stop our attraction to each other any more than either of us could stop a freight train with our bare hands.”

He wove his fingers through hers. “I’d really like to see where this goes. I don’t want to throw away what might be the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

She took a sip of her wine and looked into his eyes. “It frightens me to think I might lose someone I love again.”

“You won’t. That’s a promise.” He looked into her eyes, never blinking. She hoped that he couldn’t hear the heavy pounding of her heart, which was certainly only a few seconds from jumping clear out of her chest. Looking into the amber glow of his eyes, she felt a strange sensation pass over her body; a sensation of perfect contentment and warmth, like warm oil seeping into every pore.

“But, I don’t think we…”

“Can you just stop thinking? You’re going to drive yourself crazy. Just relax and enjoy the night. I’ll give you another twenty-four hours to realize that we were meant to be together. If you still don’t get it, then I might have to resort to something else. Something I like to call my guerilla tactics.”

His smile took the tension out of the conversation.

“Twenty-four hours. That’s quite generous. Surely I’ll come to my senses by then. Frankly, the idea of guerilla tactics and romance together is a little strange. What exactly are these tactics?”

“Oh, ma’am, I wish I could tell you, but unfortunately, they’re top secret. But I would strongly advise that you just go ahead and submit to my will before I have to use them.”

The waiter approached the small table, suspending the conversation. He cleared the salad plates and returned quickly with the entrées. He placed the covered plate in front of her and removed the silver dome with a flourish. The bright aroma of the oranges flooded her senses and she took a deep breath, savoring the scented steam rising from the sautéed duck. After serving David, the waiter bowed and left.

“This smells heavenly. I can’t wait to taste it,” she said, picking up her entrée fork. “And look at the presentation. It’s so beautiful I hate to eat it.”

He chuckled. “That’s one of the best things about French dining. Even if the food is terrible, you can’t complain about it because they take so much time in making a plate look like a piece of art.”

Scooping up a bite of food, she tasted it. “Mmm…delicious.”

“I like the sound of that. Maybe our dessert course will have you saying it again.”

...

Maddie picked up her spoon and dipped into the chocolate mousse. Before she could stop herself, she said, “Mmm.”

“Gotcha. You’re saying that a lot tonight.” He grinned. “I was betting the mousse would make you say it.”

She laughed in spite of herself. “With food this incredible, I can’t help it.”

“We still have two bottles of wine left. Maybe after we finish here, we could sit on your back porch and cue up some CDs. I can’t wait to see if we have similar taste in music.”

“I doubt it. Callie tells me that everything I listen to is weird. Most people have never even heard of most of my favorite musicians. I drive Callie crazy with my eclectic tastes. She’s strictly a top forty kind of girl.”

“Tell me more about Callie. I know you miss her terribly.”

She nodded. “In addition to being my sister, she’s my best friend. When she got her orders for Afghanistan, I was crushed. I know that it’s what she signed up to do, but the thought of her being in harm’s way was more than I could stand. The positive side was that I could be here for Andrew. I’m not sure how he would have taken it if I’d still been in Charlotte and he’d had to move and leave all his friends.”

“Andrew told me that he thinks you’re a pretty cool aunt. Says you let him get away with lots of stuff his mom won’t, like not making his bed every morning.”

“Are eight-year-olds supposed to make their beds?” she asked, a puzzled look on her face.

“Of course they should make their beds. If they’re old enough to play football, they’re old enough to make their beds.”

“You have a point there. Maybe I should toughen up the standards. But he’s so darn cute it’s hard to fuss at him.”

“He is a great kid and you’re a great aunt. Your sister is very lucky to have you.”

“I’m very lucky to have the two of them. Since my dad passed away, it’s just the three of us. We really don’t have any other family. We’re really blessed that we have each other.”

“What about your mother? I’ve never heard you mention her.”

“I never knew her. She died a couple of years after I was born. Callie has a few memories of her. My dad was crushed when she died. He never remarried. Then when he died, it was just us.”

“What about Callie’s ex-husband? How come he’s not around?”

“Callie and Andrew’s dad, Rex, were never married. They were madly in love with each other, and both of them wanted to get married, but his parents stopped the wedding. They didn’t think Callie was good enough for their little boy. A couple of years after Andrew was born, she enlisted, so that she could make ends meet. He bunked with me while she was in Basic. The military turned out to be a good thing for her, though. She really loves her job.”

“What does she do?”

“She’s actually Navy, not a marine. She’s a medic, loves helping people. Before she left she was working on her bachelor’s in nursing. Hopefully she’ll finish it when she comes home and then she can apply for Officer’s Candidate School. She’d love to have some bars on her shoulders.”

“The pay is a lot nicer. But enlisted men and women are the backbone of the force. No officer works any harder or is any more dedicated.”

“Callie has always been the really smart one, so I would be proud to see her walk across the stage with a degree in her hands. If Andrew hadn’t come along when he did, she could have gone to college then and started out with a better salary. She really thought Rex would eventually stand up to his parents and marry her.”

“That’s a shame, to miss out on the one great love of your life.”

“It is really sad. I always thought that once Rex grew up a little bit he would come and find Callie and Andrew, but he never did. He sends child support and he sends Andrew cards and gift cards for his birthday and Christmas. But he hasn’t seen him since he was a baby. It breaks my heart for all three of them. Oh well, enough about my family history. Tell me more about your family.”

David chuckled. “My parents, well, I guess you can say they’re a little eccentric.”

“Your mother doesn’t wear a bird’s nest on her head or anything like that does she?”

“Oh, no,” he laughed, “nothing like that. At least not yet. They live in a small town in Mississippi. The house I grew up in has been in my dad’s family for over a hundred years. It looks like something out of a
Southern Living
magazine. My dad is constantly repairing something here or replacing something there. My mother, although she grew up in the same small town, is not who you would picture living in that grand old house. She’s a real firecracker—she loves war movies, cusses like a sailor, and drives her little sports car like a maniac. Now, don’t get me wrong, she can play the proper Southern lady when the occasion calls for it.”

“She sounds like a lot of fun. What about your dad?”

“He’s a character, too. He’s spent the last thirty years chasing my mother. She still makes him court her. When I picture love, I picture them. They’ve been in love all these years, for better or worse. That’s what I want—a lifetime of love and sharing with the one woman that makes my blood simmer.”

“That’s what I want, too.” She looked down at the tablecloth, her sudden boldness making her shy.

“Let’s go back to your house and listen to some of your weird music.”

He paid the bill and collected the remaining wine from the waiter. The valet brought the car around to the front of the restaurant, then hurried over to open the door for Maddie. She slid onto the slick leather of the seat. David tipped him and hopped into the car. After revving the engine, they shot off into the traffic moving down Lafayette Street.

“This is some car,” she said, listening to the purr of the engine. “Is it yours?”