The Marine Meets His Match

“My brother Striker met his wife when they had to work together,” he continued. “And my brother Ben met his wife through her brother.”

“Neither scenario would work in our case. I’m telling you, we should go with mutual friends. It’s the simplest thing.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Did he really have to sound so doubtful when he said that? “And how did you romantically propose to me?” she asked. “Did you get down on bended knee?”

“How about the beach?” He nodded at the view out the window where the surf washed in. “I proposed to you on the beach at sunset.”

“Only one problem with that. From here, the sun rises over the Atlantic ocean, it doesn’t set over it. See, it’s details like those that are going to get us in trouble.”

He raised a dark eyebrow. “You’d rather I proposed to you at sunrise?”

“No.” She refused to allow her heart to beat a little faster at the thought of him really proposing. She’d regained control of her wild inner-female self and she planned on keeping her locked up indefinitely. Serena Serious was in charge now. “We’ll stick to your proposing on the beach. We don’t have to say when.”

“Heidi is gonna want to know the juicy details.”

“Who says we have to tell her?”

“I do. Or she’ll get suspicious. So here’s the story. We met through mutual friends and I proposed on the beach here on Topsail Island while the sun set over the sound, not the ocean. You’re an only child, you went to UNCW and got your degree in…?”

“Business administration,” Serena replied.

“Before opening your own bookstore, you worked at…?”

“Various jobs, including the district manager of a large bookstore chain.”

“You moved here to coastal North Carolina…?”

“Two years ago. Before that I lived in Raleigh, and before that I was in the Boston area, and Virginia Beach before that.”

Rad continued his questions through dessert and the drive home. It wasn’t until Serena walked into her apartment later that evening that she realized that while she’d practically supplied him with her résumé, and even confessed her love of dark Belgian chocolate, Rad hadn’t told her anything about what he did in the Marine Corps. Other than the little he’d told her about his family, he hadn’t said much about himself at all.

That’s when she remembered another trait of middle children. They can be secretive.

Chapter Three

“You what!”

Serena winced at her best friend’s shriek and held the phone away from her ear for a second. Needing someone to talk to, Serena had curled up on her couch and called Lucy as soon as she’d stepped inside her apartment. She returned the receiver to her ear in time to hear Lucy say, “Start over again.”

“The Marine who came to Becky’s school’s Career Day bought my building. And I’m engaged to him.”

“To Bossy Marine Man who scared my little girl?”

“Yeah.” Serena’s voice sounded freaked even to her own ears.

“Is he there right now?”

“No.”

“Then get out the Pistachio Pistachio ice cream, I’m comin’ right over.”

“Thanks, Lulu.” Serena used the nickname she reserved for special occasions, and this one sure qualified.

She and Lucy had become friends as freshman college roommates at UNCW. Lucy had gotten pregnant and married after that first year, but she and Serena had remained very close.

By the time Serena cleared the junk mail from her pine dining table and got the ice cream out of the freezer and the bowls out of the cabinet, Lucy was knocking on her door.

The first thing she did was put her hand on Serena’s forehead. “You don’t feel like you’re running a high fever.”

“I’m not.”

“If you’re not delirious with a high fever then why would you say you were engaged to Bossy Marine Man?”

“His name is Rad Kozlowski.”

“That doesn’t sound like a Marine name to me. The Marines I know have solid, tough American names like Harry or Bud.”

“His name is the least of my worries.” Serena dug the red plastic scooper into the ice cream and dumped a sizable portion into Lucy’s dish and then another huge scoop into her own.

“What did he do to you?”

“He bought my building and then offered to cut my rent in half if I’d help him.”

“The rat buzzard. What did he want you to do? As if I couldn’t guess.”

Serena withdrew the spoon she’d just offered Lucy. “Before I tell you anything else, you have to swear you won’t leak a word of this to anyone.”

“I swear.”

“Not even your husband.” Serena waved the flat-ware for extra emphasis.

“What if we need him to beat up your Marine?”

Lucy’s husband Alec was built like a linebacker, because he was one. He’d played that position in college. “We don’t need Alec to beat up anyone. Now swear, on this carton of Pistachio Pistachio, that you won’t tell a soul what I’m confiding in you.”

Lucy solemnly placed her hand over the Ben & Jerry logo. “I swear. Now tell me what the rat buzzard wants you to do. Wait, let me eat a bite of ice cream first….”

Serena quickly did the same.

“Okay,” Lucy mumbled around the cold dessert. “Tell me.”

“He wants me to pretend to be his fiancée.”

Lucy frowned. “Is he gay?”

“Thank you.”