The Marine Meets His Match

“Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh what?”

“Your cat is eating your ice cream.”

“Bella, you little squirt!” Serena picked up the sleek, small gray cat and set her on the floor. “Now you know why I call her Bella-That’s-Mine. She thinks everything in this house is hers. Oshi would never dream of stealing my ice cream.” Serena had found the mother cat and her tiny kitten hidden near the Dumpster behind her building. She’d managed to coax the mom inside once she had the kitten in her hands. To her surprise, Oshi had taken one look around the apartment, walking around the perimeter to check things out, and then curled up on Serena’s favorite area rug and started nursing.

Serena had had the two of them for almost a year now, and had gotten both the mom and her kitten spayed. The two of them provided Serena with some much-needed company and plenty of laughs.

Bella licked her chops, her pink tongue swirling over her black whiskers, before jumping onto Serena’s lap where she curled up and started washing herself.

“Just be careful that you don’t fall for this guy. I know how you are about strays.” Lucy pointed at Bella. “Look at that cat. Living in the lap of luxury.”

“Rad isn’t a stray. He’s a completely self-sufficient Marine.”

“If he were that self-sufficient he wouldn’t have needed your help, now would he?”

“Everyone needs a little help now and then.”

“Help him and then get out.”

“That’s the plan.”

“Good. Just be sure you stick to the plan.”

The next morning Serena tried to focus on the fact that her rent was cut in half for the next year and not the fact that she’d agreed to pretend to be Rad’s fiancée for an indefinite period of time.

Focus on the positive. And stay away from the chocolate. After Lucy had left, Serena had eaten half-a-dozen dark chocolate lemon-cream truffles from her hidden cache in the Shakespeare cookie jar. But then it wasn’t every day that a girl got engaged, even if it wasn’t for real.

The young woman walking into The Reader’s Place in the low-riding jeans and skimpy designer T-shirt was for real, however. And she was looking around with the kind of dismissive attitude that immediately put Serena on edge.

Reminding herself that she was good with people, Serena was about to ask if she could help the woman when she spoke first.

“Does Serena Anderson work here?”

“I’m Serena Anderson.”

Instead of introducing herself, the woman frowned at Serena’s simple denim dress and sandals as if she were a fashion dinosaur.

“And you are?” Serena prompted her before reminding herself that getting aggravated with someone because they were younger, prettier and skinnier than you was not a good thing.

“My name is Heidi Burns. My father is General Burns.”

Yeah, I was afraid of that. “Hi, Heidi. Rad told me about you.”

Her face lit up. “Like seriously? He did? What did he say?”

Serena couldn’t tell the truth of course. “Just that you know about our engagement.”

“It’s kind of sudden, isn’t it?”

Serena just shrugged. It gave her a moment to collect her thoughts. She hadn’t expected Heidi to show up so quickly. When had she and Rad said they’d met? Her mind suddenly went blank. Why hadn’t she taken notes during their dinner last night?

“You’re not wearing a ring.”

“It’s being sized.” Serena had planned on stopping by a few stores later that afternoon to find something reasonable.

“So how did you two like meet?”

“Through a mutual friend.” That was right, wasn’t it? Wasn’t that what they’d finally decided? After the falling in love at first sight nonsense?

“A mutual friend?”

Serena nodded. Surely there had to be some advantage in being older than Heidi? Wasn’t she supposed to have more confidence and stuff like that?

Why, oh why had she eaten that carton of ice cream last night? And the chocolate.

Heidi probably never ate ice cream. She nibbled on lettuce to fit into those size zero jeans.

Or maybe, even worse, Heidi was one of those horrible people with a fast metabolism who could eat like a horse and never gain a pound. If that was the case, then Serena granted herself permission to really dislike Heidi.

At least Serena was taller than Heidi. Big deal. Guys didn’t lust after gawky giraffes, they went for the petite little things with big breasts.

And okay, yeah, Serena could hold her own in the bra-cup division—without any artificial assistance from implants or water bras, thank you very much. But her big breasts were matched with a big bottom. And while Jennifer Lopez might make that look appealing, the star was much tinier than Serena.

Okay, stop it. You cannot have a self-image meltdown in front of this girl. Healthy women have curves. You’re a healthy women with lots of curves. So stop with the criticism, Serena ordered herself.