To Love a Soldier (5 page)

I Followed My Heart

Mandy

Taking a final look in the bathroom mirror, I was finally finished with my hair and makeup and almost ready for John to pick me up for our first official date. It had been exactly two weeks since I first saw him and we had become pretty much inseparable since then. He had gotten himself involved in every aspect of my life and I liked it, a lot. I’d because I’d never spent so much time with a guy like I had with John. I really liked him, too. Not only was he incredibly hot, but he had turned out to be one of the sweetest guys ever! He listened when I talked and he was actually interested in what I said.

When I was working, he would sneak me thoughtful little gifts. It wasn’t hard to see that he was falling for me, but trying not to be overly obvious about it, especially in front of his family. I had never personally known anyone in the military and never
actually gave a thought to dating someone in active duty. Knowing what happened with Liz’s mom and the pain and struggle she still lived with after her husband was killed, I don’t think I would date a soldier by choice. Unfortunately, my heart wasn’t giving me a choice. I couldn’t help but follow its lead. There was no denying that I was indeed falling quickly and madly in love with this guy. He was only home for six weeks, and there was only a month left before he would be going back. From the moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he was special and ever since he’s been proving to me why.

Clearly my heart was about as shy as I was… which wasn’t at all. I put on my sexiest matching bra and panties, just in case he played his cards right. Deciding that, since he was coming in his dress uniform, I would spruce it up, too, I pushed a bunch of hangers out of my way and picked out a knee-length, plum-colored dress. It was my go to dress for special occasions because it showed off all of my assets, but was classy at the same time. I was overflowing with anticipation waiting to see John in his dress uniform.

I finished getting ready half an hour before he was supposed to pick me up and decided to have a glass of wine to calm my nerves while I waited. I sent Liz a few harassing texts, letting her know the dirty things I had planned for her brother. She was a good sport, even though I totally grossed her out.

When the doorbell rang, I checked my cell for the time. Figures; he was 15 minutes early. I gulped the remaining wine in
my glass, leaving a kiss mark with my lipstick. Feeling giddy about spending a night alone with him, I hustled to the door, where he stood at attention. In one hand, he held a dozen multi-color roses; in the other, he had a five pound Hershey bar. He knew Hershey bars were my weakness and had given me them all week as little gifts. He waved the giant bar around and smiled. He looked so fucking incredible - tall and strapping, and of course, not a wrinkle on his clothes.

Medals pinned to his dress jacket gleamed in the light.
His shoes had no scuffs and were perfectly waxed. I didn’t even want to go out anymore; I wanted to grab him by the jacket and fuck his brains out in and incredibly unladylike manner.

“Mandy.” He smiled. “You look outstanding. You’re beautiful.”

I felt my cheeks warm. “Thank you, handsome. You look amazing, John.”

“We better get going.” He handed me
the flowers and chocolate bar. “I wanted to catch an early movie with you, because I made dinner reservations downtown at Julian’s.”

“Oh, that sounds good.” I had always wanted to go there, but any past boyfriend I’d ever had was too cheap to take me
, and it wasn’t exactly a place to go with just friends. “Let me go put these in water and we can leave.”

He waited for me by his car. When I got closer, he rushed to the passenger side and opened the door. I can’t say I had ever had a date night with a true gentleman, so I was looking forward to the night.

We got on the highway and headed toward the movie theater. “Would you mind if we went to see
Mercs
?” John asked.

“Isn’t that
the movie about army men or something?”

“Sort of.” He laughed. “It’s about mercenaries and…”

I interrupted him, giving him a warm smile. “It’s fine. You seem to have the night planned down to the minute, so I’m probably safe to assume you planned this movie’s time with the dinner reservation.”

“Damn, I need to remember that it’s not easy to get things past you.” He laughed again, keeping his eyes trained on the road. Something about his smile and his laugh filled my soul with adoration for him. I felt drawn in and feared going back to my old life after he went back.

“You’d be best to remember that, soldier,” I quipped. “Honestly, I don’t care what we see, as long as it means I can spend time with you.”

He smiled. “Okay, since we’re being honest, I guess I should tell you that, while I do want to see that movie, the real reason I want to go is because it’s going to be packed with dudes,
and I want to enjoy seeing all of their faces when I come walking in with you on my arm.”

I playfully smacked his arm. “You’re sweet, John. An ass, but sweet, nonetheless.”

He just smirked as he drove onto the mall drive. We circled until we reached the theater. He got out and ran to my side to open my door for me before I could. He reached in and helped me out of the seat.

“You know you don’t have to keep that up all night,” I told him.

“Keep what up?”

“Nothing. Never mind.” I backed out of the conversation feeling
guilty that I thought he was only pretending to be a gentleman. I should really have known better, even in this short span of time. “Let’s get inside. Apparently, I have a show to put on for the moviegoers.”

He put his large, heavy arm over my shoulders and pulled me in while we walked through the main doors. I unstuck myself from under his arm so we could fit in between the rope line that was set up to herd the customers to
the register. John grabbed me and pointed towards the movie usher.

“Well, since you already figured me out, I guess I should come clean again and tell you I already bought the tickets.”

I followed his lead to where the teenage usher was collecting ticket stubs. John towered over him as he handed him our tickets. The usher’s hands shook as he ripped the tickets in half and handed John back the stubs.

“Theater 9 on the right, sir.”

“Thanks, buddy,” John said back as he casually slipped a tip into the usher’s coat pocket.

We moved past the usher and got right
on line at the concession stand. “You know you don’t need to tip an usher, right?” I asked.

“I know. I don’t have to tip anyone,” he answered.

Seriously? That was his answer? I wasn’t satisfied
. “So, I’m curious,” I said with a smile. “Why exactly did you tip him?”

“No particular reason. I just know what it’s like in a job that pays shit
, and every little bit helps.”

“I guess that’s true. I should know, being a waitress and all.”

“If I have the extra money on me, I give it out. I guess it just makes me feel good.”

“That’s really kind of you. Now go give some more out and get me some Razzles.”

John got me my Razzles and bought himself popcorn and water. We took a straight path from the stand to theater 9. Normally, I’d be weaving in and out of the crowds and getting bumped around, but when I was under John’s arm it was different. The crowd seemed to divide around him as he walked, almost like Moses parting the Red Sea. It was amusing, but disappointing at the same time. It was strangers’ perceptions of John. He was certainly very big and formidable, but underneath it, he was the absolute gentlest man I’d ever known.

As we walked into the actual theater, John stopped me before we got around the corner to enter the seating area. “You know we really don’t have to watch this movie if you don’t want to.”

“John, I said it’s fine,” I assured him. “Come on, we better go in. It sounds like the previews are ending.”

“Okay, then, time to show you off.” He wrapped his arm around me again, prominently displaying me like a trophy to the entire theater. As we cornered the wall to come in view of the seats, he let out a loud cough, clearly to get everyone’s attention. I was sort of embarrassed and raised my eyes to scan for a seat.

I let out a roaring laugh at the sight. The theater was completely empty.

“What the fuck?”

“Epic fail, Johnny boy,” I said. “At least we’ll get a good seat.” I poked him in the ribs and ran up the stairs towards the top of the rows of seats.

He followed
and the movie started within seconds. We sat down, and I wrapped my arm inside his and leaned my head against him. About 45 minutes into the movie, though, I didn’t think I could take much more. John kept whispering about all the things the Army dudes in the movie were doing wrong. It was constant. “They wouldn’t do that” or “That would never work.” It was kind of starting to grate on my nerves.

I turned my head and him a look.

“I guess you wanna go, right?”

“Only if you do.” I tried to be polite, but if he’d said no, I probably would’ve dragged his ass out of the theater. I really thought I could handle it, at least just for him, it was such a boring and just
downright stupid movie that I couldn’t take any more.

“Thanks for trying.” John laughed as he got out of his seat. “Come on, I have a plan B. It was more about getting to be seen with a hottie like you anyway.”

Giving me his charming smile, he pulled me out of my seat and escorted me down the dimly lit staircase.

Test of Character

Mandy

We left the theater and drove about 100 feet, until we reached the mall parking lot. John pulled into a spot and shut off the car.

“I’m taking you shopping,” he said.

“Come on, John,” I said, feeling embarrassed. “You don’t need to do this.”

“I don’t have to do anything, babe. I want to. Just consider it payback for the movie.”

John always seemed so selfless. It was clear that helping and giving to other people truly did make him happy. The more time I spent with him, the more head over heels I felt for him.

After walking around the mall for a bit, I realized there was no way I was just going to let him take me shopping and pay for anything. However, I did let him buy me cinnamon pretzel bites from Twists. They
would probably ruin my appetite, but I could never resist them.

John continued to bug me about getting something
nice for myself, except for when we passed stores showcasing lingerie. Then he was dead silent and picked up his pace. I continued to decline, knowing it was most likely futile. The lingerie thing had me laughing inside, though; this big guy was clearly intimidated by it. Or, in true John fashion, it was probably just that he didn’t want to imply or offer to buy me that sort of thing because he was a gentleman. In true Mandy fashion, of course, I couldn’t resist…

“I want to get something from Victoria’s Secret.” I purposely bit my bottom lip, just to make it that much more uncomfortable for him. His handsome face began to redden and he kept looking around, like a child nervous about being caught for something.

“Um, okay then,” he stuttered. “I guess there’s going to be some lucky guy sometime.”

Standing on my tippy toes, I got as close to his face as I
could and ran my hand softly up the back of his neck. I pulled his face towards me, avoiding a kiss, which he desperately wanted.

I whispered in his ear. “Then consider
yourself one lucky guy, soldier.” I stuck my tongue out slightly and slowly ran it up his ear. I continued to whisper to him. “Pick out anything you want me to wear for you.”

I dropped back down off my tippy toes and attempted to lead him in the store. He pulled back and grabbed my pretzel bag out of my hand and quickly held the bag in position over his crotch.

“I need a minute here,” he said, half in humor and half in embarrassment.

I took a finger and pulled the bag forward while peeking behind it. Apparently, I had done a
good job of being a tease because pushing against his dress blues was his little soldier at full attention. Only the bulge was anything but little.

Looking up at his blue eyes, my heart swelled as I smiled. “Sure thing, soldier boy,” I giggled.

I gave him the time he needed to cool down by window browsing. After a few minutes passed, he came up behind me and gave me a hug. I really hoped he wasn’t going to shy away from my offer.

“Damn you for that,” he said, still holding me from behind.

“I’m sorry.” I leaned my head back to talk. “I just couldn’t resist.”

“Well, I’m keeping you to your word.”

“Good,” I teased. “I would never lie to a man in uniform, so let’s go pick something out.”

We walked hand in hand into Victoria’s Secret.
Holy shit, I think this was a big mistake
. Right away, I noticed a bunch of women making their way to whatever section John was closest to. Each time he moved, they followed. From how these women were acting, you would have thought there was a model show going on. I thought I was pretty for the most part and carried myself well, but being surrounded by all these beautiful, sexy women was a real test of my self-confidence. They were sure to visually inspect panties and nighties right in front of him. One woman even held up lingerie to her body to show off. Some would attempt basic eye contact, while others were more extreme and purposely bumped into him, hoping for an opportunity to talk.

I was quickly losing my confidence and self-esteem among the crowd of hot-bodied women that clearly seemed to have a craving for the man I came in with. I had a feeling that John sensed my annoyance because he was never more than two feet from me at any given time. He was sure to keep his eyes glued on me and not let any of those women distract him. That helped to lighten my mood up
, and I quickly gained my confidence back.

“How about these?” I asked as I held up a pair of hot red, lace panties with matching bra set.

“I think anything in here would look great on you,” he said loudly. “But what you’re holding up now is my pick!” he practically yelled as he pointed to the matching set.

I laughed at him, “Okay, relax. You’re being loud and everyone’s looking.”

“I don’t care. They think they’re sexy, but I want them to know what sexy really looks like,” he said as he wrapped his arm around me. By now a third employee scurried over to ask not me, but John, if there was anything she could help
him
with. I took a step back to see how he handled her.

“Actually,” John said, pointing at me, “we’re here for her.”

“That’s fine. Looks like she found something already. So, is there anything you’d like from me, sir?” she continued to press.

Holy shit
, is this a store or the new red light district?
I couldn’t believe how these women were throwing themselves at him and making totally innuendo based comments.
What the fuck?

“Actually, now that I think about it, can you explain to me why it says PINK on the back of those blue sweatpants?”

“Sir, those are NOT sweatpants!” she exclaimed, annoyed. “They’re comfort cool wear. It’s a brand.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know how important they are to you.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” the bitch said, batting her eyelashes. “Are you sure there isn’t anything you’d like me to show you?” She asked in a last attempt to persuade John.

“Nothing at all,” John said, brushing her off and turning towards me. “Unless you can show me how to win this gorgeous woman’s heart,” he finished, wrapping his arm around me.

We paid at the register and got out of the store as quickly as we could.

“I bet your ego is the size of a hot air balloon right about now,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“I won’t lie; it’s nice to feel wanted, but believe me, I have no interest in any of them or their STD-coated offers.”

All those attractive women practically throwing themselves at him and he says he has no interest.
I found it hard to believe, but for some reason, I did believe him.

“Don’t forget,” he said, pointing to his wristwatch. “We have dinner reservations at Julian’s soon.”

Shit. I shouldn’t have eaten those pretzel bites! Now I’m not hungry
.

“Yeah, of course.” I was appetite less, but still excited to go. “I can’t wait.”