Читать книгу: «Stranded With The Sergeant»

Chapter One

“So, Wilder, I hear you jumped off another bridge this weekend.” Joe Wilder’s commanding officer pinned him with a steely-eyed glare. In his late forties, his military haircut tipped with gray, Sergeant Major Richard Martin had a drill instructor’s voice and a warrior’s demeanor. He reminded Joe of his own father.

“Actually I bungee-jumped, sir,” Joe corrected him with the utmost respect, trying to ignore the way the North Carolina sun bounced off the bright white walls of the Sergeant Major’s office. The glare made his head pound. He’d woken at 0600 hours with the mother of all hangovers. Joe knew he was in bad shape when merely looking at white wall paint made his head hurt. “I was attached to the structure with a cord.”

“I don’t care if you were attached to the structure with superglue,” Sergeant Major Martin growled. “You still jumped off. And I don’t approve. The

United States Marine Corps has spent a lot of time and money on your training, Wilder. I’d hate to see it all wasted with you splattered on a slab of concrete or some rocky riverbed somewhere. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“If you like jumping out off things that much, you should become a paratrooper.”

“Understood, sir.”

“I certainly hope so, Wilder.” Sergeant Major Martin tapped the folder on his desk impatiently. The sound was amplified tenfold by Joe’s hangover, but he showed no outward sign of his discomfort. A Marine never showed signs of discomfort. Honor, courage, commitment. These were the Marine Corps values. Not discomfort. Not guilt.

“Since you’ve been under my command your off-duty antics have gotten wilder and wilder,” Sergeant Major Martin continued. “Why is that?”

Because the risk-taking made Joe feel alive. That’s why he did it. To get away from the ever-present nightmares that seemed to be eating him up inside, to escape from the pain and the guilt.

Not that he’d ever tell Sergeant Major Martin that. Not that he’d tell anyone that. Everyone thought Joe was just a wild thrill-seeker. Wilder. It wasn’t just his name, it had become his attitude.

Which was fine by him. But apparently not fine by his commanding officer. “Your aforementioned wild behavior stops as of right now,” the older man ordered in a clipped voice.

“Yes, sir.”

“You’ll be turning over a new leaf. Starting immediately. I’d like you to escort my daughter’s sixth-grade class for a tour of the base here.”

Joe blinked, certain he couldn’t have heard correctly. “Sir?”

“You heard me.”

“I am not that familiar with the base yet, sir,” Joe felt compelled to say. He’d only recently been assigned here to Camp Lejeune in coastal North Carolina after completing an overseas deployment he’d rather not think about. Ever. “I’m not sure I’m qualified to give a tour.”

“I think you’re qualified, Wilder, and that’s all that matters. I did plan on having Sergeant Brown do the honors, but he had to have emergency surgery last night on a ruptured appendix. So you’ll be taking his place.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And after you give them the tour, you’ll be going with them this afternoon on a weekend field trip up into the mountains.”

“A field trip, sir?”

“That’s right, Wilder. Why the look? Surely after your Marine training, not to mention your love of extreme sport activities, you’re not telling me you’re afraid of a bunch of kids?”

“No, sir.” That much was true. Afraid didn’t even come close to the feelings churning in Joe’s gut. Panic would be a much more accurate description.

“Glad to hear it. The class is waiting for you down the hall in conference room 1013. Once you’ve completed the tour, you’ll have one hour to gather the necessary equipment, sleeping bag, etc., that you’ll need for a weekend camping trip. The route is already laid out for you, following the Sunshine Trailhead in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A three- or four-hour drive to the other side of the state. Here.”

Joe willed his hand not to shake as he reached out to take the topographical hiking map.

“My daughter, Prudence, is my little princess, my only child. So I don’t want anything ruining this field trip for her. Do you have any questions, Wilder?”

Thousands of them. Why me? Why now? But he bolted those questions down and instead said, “No, sir.”

“Good. Glad to hear it. Get a move on then. They’re waiting for you, Wilder. Dismissed.”

Kids. Why did it have to be kids? Joe stared at his pale reflection in the men’s bathroom mirror.

It was only one weekend. Surely he could handle one weekend. He’d handled worse things. He’d…survived.

Joe rubbed the ache between his eyes before reaching into his pocket for the two aspirins he’d meant to take before seeing his commanding officer. He felt like a wimp for taking the analgesic, but he needed to dump this headache so that he could think of a way to dump this assignment.

Of course there was no way he’d refuse an order from his commanding officer. He was a Marine through and through. He’d never willingly be derelict in his duties.

What about that day two months ago? a little voice in his head said. If you’d done your duty two months ago and gotten on that helicopter, another man wouldn’t have died in your place.

Gritting his teeth, Joe willed the memories away. He needed to keep his act together here. One step at a time. First he’d locate his commanding officer’s daughter.

The walk down the hallway from the men’s room to the conference room was one of the longest he’d ever taken. To his relief there was another adult in the room. A woman. A good-looking woman. The teacher.

Ignoring all the sixth-graders, he focused his attention on her. Dark brown shoulder-length hair, chocolate-brown eyes, lush mouth, good figure showed off in a pair of well-fitting if conservative khaki pants and white T-shirt. She had a colorful scarf jauntily tied around her neck. She looked to be in her mid-to-late twenties. And she was definitely attractive.

Joe’s panic lessened. Here was one area where he still felt like a pro—the male/female arena. This was something he still excelled at, charming women. Flirting was second nature to him.

It started with his smile. He watched her reaction to it. Surprise and appreciation flashed in her dark eyes. Not for long, but long enough for him to catch it.

“Sorry I’m late, ma’am.” He added a touch of remorse to his expression.

“And you are?”

“Sergeant Wilder. Sergeant Joe Wilder at your service, ma’am. Before we begin our tour, I’ve got a question.” He drew the teacher aside to a quieter corner. “Which one is she?”

The sexy teacher gave him a blank look. “Excuse me?”

“Which one is Sergeant Major Martin’s daughter?”

“Why do you want to know?” She sounded curious.

“Because I’ve been ordered to give her the deluxe tour of the base and I want to be nice to her.”

“I don’t think you should single her out for any special treatment.”

“Hey, I’m just following orders here.”

“Right. Semper fi. A Marine always does his duty.” Her voice held a new edge.

“You don’t sound very pleased about that. I wonder why? Did you date a Marine or something?”

“That’s a safe bet,” she retorted. “Since this base is home to the largest concentration of Marines and sailors in the world, it would be hard to avoid bumping into a Marine in this part of North Carolina.”

“I wouldn’t mind bumping into you,” Joe murmured with a lopsided grin. “Just name the time and place.”

“I no longer date Marines,” she loftily informed him.

“Why’s that?”

“My reasons are too lengthy to go into here.”

“I’ve got time.” He was certainly in no hurry to have to deal with the kids.

“Well, I don’t,” she replied in irritation. The way she tossed her head and flicked her hair away from her face reminded him of a feral cat he’d tamed as a kid. That cat had refused to let anyone touch it, but Joe had slowly and patiently won it over. That same patience had come in handy where women were concerned.

“So tell me later.”

“Why should I do that?” she said.

“Because I’m a nice guy?”

“Who thinks he’s God’s gift to women.”

Ouch. So the little cat had claws. Placing his open hand on his chest, he said, “You wound me, ma’am.”

“I sincerely doubt that, Sergeant. I sincerely doubt any woman has wounded you.”

“Why? Because I’m a big, tough Marine?”

“Because you use your charm to keep them at a distance.”

“Hey, if I’m using my charm to keep women at a distance, then something is definitely wrong with my game plan.”

“Game plan? Don’t you mean your battle plan?”

“As in battle between the sexes?” Joe moved closer, so that he could smell her perfume. It was tart and citrusy.

Shifting his attention to that lush smart-talking mouth of hers, he wondered if she’d taste as good as she smelled. Oh, yeah, he had no doubt she’d taste better than a cold beer after a long hike.

He had to grin at his own lack of poetry. Beer and a long hike…that sounded like something his best friend Curt Blackwell would say about his new wife, Jessie.

Joe and Curt had gone to boot camp together and been buddies ever since. Curt was a brooding loner, but that didn’t seem to stop the ladies from lining up for him. Still, Curt had come to Joe for advice when it mattered, when he’d been reunited with Jessie after years apart.

Joe’s advice was good. Jessie had apparently agreed, because she’d become Curt’s wife last year in a full Marine dress wedding with Joe there as Curt’s best man.

Yeah, this male/female flirting stuff was something Joe could still handle with one arm tied behind his back…although he’d have preferred having one arm around the sexy schoolteacher’s shoulders.

She was narrowing her chocolate-brown eyes at him, as if she were able to read his thoughts and wanted to challenge him on their accuracy. Great. He loved a challenge. Especially one that involved a good-looking woman.

“I take it you consider yourself to be an expert in the battle between the sexes,” she said.

“My motto is make love, not war.”

“I’m sure that didn’t come out of the U.S. Marine Procedural Manual.”

“If you’ve been dating guys who base their romantic approach on the Marine Procedural Manual, then I can understand your dissatisfaction,” he murmured. “And I’d love to have the chance to show you how a real Marine woos a woman.” He leaned closer as if tempting her to kiss him, before leaning away to smile at the startled awareness in her eyes. “After I take care of my duty and give the Sergeant Major’s kid her tour. Which one is she? The one with the pigtails and strange socks?”

“No.”

He scanned the roomful of kids, trying to look for some kind of familial resemblance. “Then she must be the one with the short haircut and glasses.”

“Wrong again,” she said coolly.

“Are we going to play twenty questions all day or are you going to tell me which kid is the Sergeant Major’s?”

“A few minutes ago you told me you had plenty of time.”

“A few minutes ago I did have time until…”

“You wasted it flirting with me?” she countered mockingly.

“Look, cut me some slack here, would you?” he said in exasperation. “I’m having a bad day. Just tell me which kid is the Sergeant Major’s so I can figure out where to go from here with this tour stuff. I’m only following…”

“Orders,” she completed the sentence for him. “Yes, I heard you the first time you said that.”

“So what’s the problem?” Joe demanded.

“The problem is that none of these children are Sergeant Major Martin’s.”

Joe frowned. “But that’s not possible. He told me his daughter’s class was here for a tour.”

“His daughter’s class is here for a tour.”

Joe had a bad feeling. “You mean…?”

“That I’m Sergeant Major Martin’s daughter?” the sexy teacher said with a smug smile that didn’t bode well for him. “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”