Last Virgin In California

Stepping up alongside the car, she planted both hands on the hood and leaned forward. “My dad’s already left for his office.”

“Not surprising,” Kevin said, deliberately keeping his gaze locked with hers. Way safer than looking at the rest of her. “Half the morning’s gone.”

She glanced down at a silver-and-turquoise watch strapped to her left wrist. “Gee, you’re right. It’s almost seven forty-five. Practically afternoon.” Lifting her gaze to him again, she said, “Early rising is definitely something I don’t miss about living on base.”

“I’ll remember that,” he said. Tomorrow he’d pick her up a little later. The less time spent with her, the better. Hell, at this point, he’d take anything he could get.

Chapter Three

“You cold?” he asked.

Lilah nearly jumped, startled at the sound of his voice. For the last hour, they’d been walking aimlessly around the base and he’d hardly said more than a word or two. And she was pretty sure that if he’d been able to get by with a grunt, that’s what he would have done.

“No,” she answered a moment later, “I’m fine. You?”

He looked at her like she was crazy.

“Sorry,” she said, lifting both hands, palms out. “I forgot, Marines don’t get cold.”

His lips quirked, but otherwise, there was no shift of expression. It was like taking a walk with a mobile statue. Any sympathy she might have been feeling for him last night dissolved in the bubbling stew of frustration simmering inside her. Not being one to suffer silently, Lilah, as usual, let it erupt. “What’s the deal here, Gunny?”

“What?” he gave her another look, then absently took her elbow and steered her around a parked car.

Lilah ignored the flash of warmth that the slightest touch from him ignited inside her. On top of everything else, she didn’t need the distraction of fluttering hormones. Plus, at twenty-six, she was a little too old to be developing crushes that were destined to go nowhere.

Besides. They’d had a deal, hadn’t they?

“Excuse me,” Lilah said, flipping her windblown hair back out of her eyes, “but aren’t you the guy who just last night offered me a bargain?”

“Here I stand.”

“Uh-huh.” Did he ever, she thought, with a purely feminine glance of admiration. Well over six-feet tall, he looked like a khaki brick wall. With gorgeous green eyes. And that had absolutely nothing to do with anything, she told herself firmly. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “So, what happened to the part about how we’re going to get along and get through the month without making each other miserable?”

One dark eyebrow lifted into an arch.

Impressive.

“You’re miserable?”

“Gee, no,” Lilah told him, sarcasm dripping from every word. “So far, this is better than Disneyland.”

He stopped walking, heaved a dramatic sigh and turned to face her. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem, Gunny, is that I might as well be by myself, here.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning,” she snapped, “you could actually speak occasionally. Or were you ordered to keep quiet?”

A cold blast of air swept past them, ruffling the hem of her skirt, lifting her hair into a tangled mess and sending goose bumps racing up and down her arms. And it was still warmer than the chill she saw in his eyes.

But in a moment or two, that coolness was gone, replaced with a frustration she understood all too well. Heck, she’d been seeing it most of her life. She never had fit in and once again, that was being pointed out to her.

He shook his head, lifted his gaze to a spot inches above her head and stared out into the distance. From overhead, came the distinctive roar of a jet taking off and the sun slipped behind a bank of clouds.

“No,” he said, lowering his gaze briefly to hers. “I wasn’t ordered to keep quiet. It’s just—”

“I know. You don’t want to be a tour guide.”

“Not particularly,” he admitted, and looked directly at her.

“Well,” she said, “that’s honest, anyway.”

“It’s not your fault,” he muttered, “but this whole thing really goes against the grain.”

“Tell me about it,” Lilah said, shoving her hair back out of her face. “You think I enjoy being handed off from one Marine to another? I’m like a human hot potato!”

“So why do you put up with it?”

“Have you ever tried to say no to my father?”

“Can’t say that I have,” he said.

“I don’t recommend it.” Not that her father ever lost his temper or anything. But he just sort of steamrolled over a person’s objections. Especially, she told herself with just a touch of shame, when you didn’t speak up and be honest. Heck, she’d called Kevin Rogan a coward for not telling the truth. Yet she hadn’t either, when given a perfect opportunity. She pushed that thought aside for the moment. “Don’t get me wrong,” she added, “Dad’s terrific. He’s just…how do I say this?”

“A Marine?” he inquired wryly.

“Exactly,” she said.

Kevin stared at her. That smile of hers should be classified as a weapon. Top grade. It had the wattage of a nuclear bomb and probably had the same results on most men. Able to leave them flat and whimpering.

He, however, was a different story. Oh, he wasn’t blind. And since he was most definitely male, he could appreciate her package. Just like he’d appreciate a beautiful piece of art. That didn’t mean he wanted to take her home and hang her on his walls.

And he’d been down this route before, he reminded himself. He’d taken one look at a woman and seen everything he’d wanted to see and nothing he didn’t. He wouldn’t be making the same mistake again.

“I don’t really need a tour of the base anyway, you know,” she was saying and he told himself to pay attention. He had a feeling that not paying attention around Lilah Forrest could be a dangerous thing.

“Why’s that?” he asked. Not that he minded cutting the tour short.

“Because,” she said, shrugging, “all bases are pretty much the same.” Turning in a tight circle, she lifted one hand and pointed as she counted off, “Headquarters, Billeting, Provost Marshall, beyond that, the PX, Post Office, Commissary. And,” she said, turning back to him with another one of those smiles, “let’s not forget the theater, rec center and oh, yeah. There’re the clubs, enlisted, officers and Staff NCOs, and last but not least, the all important Recruit Receiving.”

When she was finished, she looked up at him and gave him another one of those smiles. “Same church, different pew.”

She was right, of course. Hell, she’d been raised on bases around the world. She probably knew her way around as well as he did. Which led him back to the one question that was flashing on and off in his brain like a broken neon light. Before he could stop himself, he asked, “So what are we doing here?”

“You’ve got me.”

A simple phrase. So why did it snake along his spine like a red-hot thread? Because having her implied all sorts of things that his body clearly approved of wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, though, there would be no having of any kind. Not only was she the Colonel’s daughter and Kevin’s responsibility for the next few weeks…but she wasn’t the one-night-stand kind of woman and he wasn’t the happily-ever-after kind of man.