Ben peeled off his soaked T-shirt and all Ellie could do was stare.

“I’m sorry about that.” She dabbed at his bare chest with a paper towel, her fingers brushing against his muscular flesh. “I meant to warn you that Amy was playing with that soda can before putting it in the fridge.”

“It’s okay.”

But it wasn’t okay to be feeling what she was feeling when she touched him.

Yet she didn’t seem to be able to step away. Not yet. Her hands remained poised on his warm skin, her fingers splayed. His heart beat beneath her open palm.

Her gaze lifted to his. Standing this close she saw a faint scar running along the right side of his jaw. “How did you get this?” She ran her fingertips along his skin, noting the seductive friction caused by the roughness of his morning’s growth of beard.

“I fell when I was sixteen. Hit my jaw on the edge of a table and needed stitches.”

“You must have fallen pretty hard.”

“A bad habit of mine,” he murmured huskily. “I don’t fall often, but when I do, I fall hard.”

Dear Reader,

If you can’t beat the summer heat then join it! Come warm your heart with the latest from Silhouette Romance.

In Her Second-Chance Man (SR #1726) Cara Colter enchants us again with the tale of a former ugly duckling who gets a second chance with the man of her dreams—if only she can convince him to soften his hardened heart. Don’t miss this delightful story of love and miracles!

Meet Cinderella’s Sweet-Talking Marine (SR #1727) in the newest book in Cathie Linz’s MEN OF HONOR miniseries. This sexy soldier promised to take care of his friend’s sister, and he plans to do just that, even if it means marrying the single mom. A hero’s devotion to his country—and his woman—has never been sweeter!

Talk about a fantasy come to life! Rescued by the handsomest Native American rancher this heroine has ever seen definitely makes up for taking a wrong turn somewhere in Montana. Find out if her love will be enough to turn this bachelor into a husband in Callie’s Cowboy (SR #1728) by Madeline Baker.

Lilian Darcy brings us the latest SOULMATES title with The Boss’s Baby Surprise (SR #1729). Dreams of her handsome boss are not that strange for this dedicated executive assistant. But seeing the confirmed bachelor with a baby? She doesn’t believe it…until her dreams begin to come true!

We hope you enjoy the tender stories in this month’s lineup!

Mavis C. Allen Associate

Senior Editor

Cinderella’s Sweet-Talking Marine
Cathie Linz

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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Acknowledgments:

Special thanks to pun-meister Bill Phillips for his invaluable input on the fairy tales that my hero tells. You are brilliant as always!

Special thanks to my best friend De Patch for the drawing at the front of this book.

Books by Cathie Linz

Silhouette Romance

One of a Kind Marriage #1032

*Daddy in Dress Blues #1470

*Stranded with the Sergeant #1534

*The Marine & the Princess #1561

A Prince at Last! #1594

*Married to a Marine #1616

Sleeping Beauty & the

Marine #1637

*Her Millionaire Marine #1720

*Cinderella’s Sweet-Talking

Marine #1727

Silhouette Books

Montana Mavericks

“Baby Wanted”

Silhouette Desire

Change of Heart #408

A Friend in Need #443

As Good as Gold #484

Adam’s Way #519

Smiles #575

Handyman #616

Smooth Sailing #665

Flirting with Trouble #722

Male Ordered Bride #761

Escapades #804

Midnight Ice #846

Bridal Blues #894

A Wife in Time #958

†Michael’s Baby #1023

†Seducing Hunter #1029

†Abbie and the Cowboy #1036

Husband Needed #1098

CATHIE LINZ

left her career in a university law library to become a USA TODAY bestselling author of contemporary romances. She is the recipient of the highly coveted Storyteller of the Year Award given by Romantic Times and was recently nominated for a Love and Laughter Career Achievement Award for the delightful humor in her books.

Although Cathie loves to travel, she is always glad to get back home to her family, her various cats, her trusty computer and her hidden cache of Oreo cookies!

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter One

Ben Kozlowski was a Marine with money. But it hadn’t made him a happy man. The inheritance from his wealthy oilman grandfather had made him feel somewhat guilty when he’d first heard about it. After all, he’d done nothing to deserve it.

But that guilt was nothing compared to the guilt that had driven him into this honky-tonk just off the North Carolina Interstate, in a town called Pine Hills. He wasn’t there to drown his sorrows in the bottom of a bottle of whiskey, tempting as that might sound. No, he was here looking for a woman.

And not just any woman. He was here to find Ellie Jensen.

A neighbor at her apartment building said she was at work and had given him the name of this place.

Ben had been in plenty of bars during the course of his adult life, from cantinas in South America to exotic dives in Asia. Each had their own unique smell blended with the customary tobacco smoke. This particular place seemed to specialize in the scent of burnt onions. A big chalkboard on the wall proclaimed that Al’s Place made burgers the way you wanted them—hot and juicy. And apparently dripping with onions.

The place was crowded, with country music blaring from a jukebox in the corner. Guys wearing jeans and T-shirts pressed their beer bellies against the bar, barely able to fit onto the stools provided. They sported a variety of baseball caps advertising various brands of their favorite malt liquor beverage.

The rest of the room had booths around the perimeter and tables placed wherever they’d fit, not leaving much room for the servers to get by.

Which seemed to suit the clientele just fine.

Ben could understand the appeal. The females—and all the servers were female—were dressed in short, tight denim skirts and skimpy tank tops. The closer the servers got, the easier it was for the customers to cop a feel.

Ben tugged out the well-worn photo and fingered the sweet face displayed there. John Riley had been one of Ben’s closest friends and Ellie was John’s sister, his only family.

Take care of my sister. Promise me you’ll take care of my sister. Ben had held John in his arms as he lay mortally wounded by friendly fire and he’d sworn he’d take care of his friend’s sister.

So here he was.

And there she was. He spotted her across the smoke-filled room. She was struggling to balance a tray filled with heavy beer mugs while avoiding the unwanted advances of a customer.

Ben was at her side a second later. “Let the lady go.”

His tone of voice, that of a Marine who meant business, got the customer’s attention despite the fact that he’d had a few too many brews. But it didn’t make him obey the order. “Who’re you?” the guy slurred.

“I’m the man who’s going to make you sorry you were born if you don’t let her go right now.”

This time the guy not only paid attention, he obeyed. Holding up his hands in the international signal of surrender, he said, “Hey bud, I didn’t mean nothing by it.”

Ben ignored the man and instead focused his attention on Ellie. She’d hurried on to another table, depositing the beers as quickly as she could before returning to the bar for another order.

She had incredibly long legs and a graceful way of moving. Her dark hair was pinned up as if she’d tried to get it out of her way, but one strand had come undone, drawing his attention to her nape. Her skin was creamy pale, not tanned. The line of her back was as rigidly upright as that of any private in the Marine Corps standing at attention.

She clearly didn’t belong in a place like this. So what was she doing working here?

Ellie was aware of the man staring at her. She’d noticed him the moment he’d walked in. He was that kind of guy. The kind you noticed. He had dark hair and was alarmingly handsome with light hazel eyes that caught her attention even from across the smoky room.

She also was aware that, given his short haircut, he was probably military. Which would explain his lean but muscular build and the tense and dangerous aura he projected. Camp Lejeune, one of the major Marine training bases, was almost an hour away. Not right in their backyard, but close enough to get an occasional visitor.

Ellie was grateful that the stranger rescued her from the huge bear of a drunk who’d been pawing her. But that didn’t mean that she was looking to start anything with this newcomer. Gratitude only went so far, and she’d learned early on that it didn’t pay to count on anyone but yourself.

She’d forgotten that lesson when she’d fallen in love with her ex-husband, Perry Jensen. She’d let him sweep her off her feet with his sweet-talking, charming ways. No good had come of it, except for her daughter, Amy. Amy was the reason for Ellie to get up in the morning.

That was especially true now that Ellie’s brother, Johnny, was dead. She still couldn’t believe that he was gone. She liked to think that he was still serving the Marines someplace overseas. But the arrival of the representative of the Marine Corps had been all too real when he’d told her the news of Johnny’s death, and conveyed the appreciation of a nation and the regret of the entire Corps.

Friendly fire. Under investigation. She’d only registered part of what the uniformed representative had said six weeks ago. Johnny had been buried with full military honors. She’d been given a folded flag as an official remembrance.

But Ellie couldn’t think about that now. She had a job to do. She couldn’t afford to give the manager of this dive any excuse to fire her. She needed the money.

The newcomer was still staring at her. She could feel his eyes on her, but his gaze didn’t have the smarmy feel of so many of the others. He wore jeans and a black T-shirt, which was common enough attire in this part of the country. But he wore them with a confidence that stood out. He stood out.

And he was walking toward her.

Great. Now she’d have to deal with him. Well, better to confront before being confronted. Keeping her smile cool and her voice equally so, she said, “Thanks again for your help.”

“I need to talk to you.”

Yeah, right. How many times had she heard that line since she’d started waitressing. Come on, honey, sit down and talk to me. “Sorry, but I’m very busy right now.”

“Ellie,” he began when she interrupted him.

“How do you know my name?”

“Can we go someplace to talk?”

“No.” The intense way he was looking at her made her nervous.

“I’m not here to hurt you. I’ve come to help.”

Yeah, right. “As I said, I’m busy right now.”

“This man bothering you?” Earl, the burly bartender, demanded. A professional wrestler in a previous life, Earl’s smooth head was as buffed as his muscular arms.

The newcomer didn’t appear the least bit intimidated. “Where were you when that drunk customer was bothering her?” he demanded of Earl.

“Serving drinks, that’s where I was. I may have missed that action but I can still take you out if I have to.”

“There’s no need for that,” Ellie said, putting her hand on Earl’s beefy arm, just above the barbed wire tattoo and below the one of a bulldog.

“Former Marine?” the newcomer asked Earl who nodded.

The newcomer then lifted the cuff on his T-shirt to show his own bulldog tattoo.

“Ooh-rah!” Earl shouted, startling Ellie and half the guys at the bar.

“Ooh-rah!” the newcomer repeated, just as intensely if not as loudly before slapping Earl’s outstretched hand in a high five. “Captain Ben Kozlowski,” he said to Earl. “Do you mind if I talk to Ellie here for a few minutes? It’s official business.”

Her heart stopped. “Is it Johnny? Did they make a mistake? Is he still alive?”

She vaguely saw Ben shake his head before the entire room telescoped and went black.

Ben caught Ellie before she collapsed onto the floor. Sweeping her up into his arms, he followed Earl’s hurried directions to the employee’s exit and the fresh air outside. A rush of warmth hit him, rising from the pavement.

Although it was only early March, the temperature was already in the low eighties today. The bright sunlight highlighted Ellie’s pale face. She felt so fragile as he carried her.

Ben cursed himself for not having handled things better. But his track record in that department lately was pretty abysmal. He hadn’t been doing much right lately. He wasn’t here on any official business of the Marine Corps, he was here to honor his buddy’s dying wishes.

Heading for his Bronco, Ben shifted her in his arms as he opened the passenger door and gently set her on the seat before reaching for the bottle of water he had nearby. Keeping one arm around her, he dabbed some water on a paper towel he ripped from a roll behind the driver’s seat. Before placing the dampened cloth on her forehead, he felt her neck to check her pulse. Her skin was so soft beneath his fingertips.

“Get your hands off me!” She shoved him away with surprising strength and he narrowly avoided hitting the back of his head on the dashboard.

“Take it easy,” he said in a soothing voice, holding his hands up as the guy had in the bar earlier. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

She knew better. He’d already hurt her just by being here. And he’d angered her by showing up at her place of employment. She felt like an idiot for passing out the way she had, even if it had only been for a moment. She glared at him. She’d displayed weakness, something she hated, and it was all his fault. Reason alone to want him gone. “Since when do the Marines send someone out of uniform to do anything official? I’m not buying that story for one minute. So you’d better start talking, Captain, and you’d better start talking fast or I’ll have Earl take care of you.” Her words reflected her fury. “What kind of idiot walks into a bar and tells a woman who’s recently lost her brother what you told me?”

“Let’s start over, shall we? My name is Ben Kozlowski. I knew your brother. He was a close buddy of mine.”

“How close? Were you there when he died?”

Ben nodded.

“Then why didn’t you do something to save him?”

His gut clenched. Her unsteady question wasn’t one he hadn’t asked himself a thousand times ever since that awful moment. He’d give anything to have changed the way things had happened.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry won’t bring him back.”

“I realize that.”

Her gaze turned suspicious. “You weren’t the one who shot him, were you?”

“No, I wasn’t the one who shot him.” But he might as well have been. Not that he could tell her that. He wasn’t here to try and clear his conscience. He was here to make good on a promise. A vow.

So Ben slammed the hatch on his own turbulent emotions, and concentrated on Ellie. She was clearly displeased with him and he couldn’t blame her. He hadn’t handled things very well so far.

She was still pale, but she was no weak victim. There was nothing submissive about the tilt of her chin.

He was watching her again. She felt his gaze on her. She met it head-on. She wasn’t going to back away. “Johnny wrote me about you.” She fiercely tried to keep her voice steady. She’d already made a big enough fool of herself by fainting like that. And then by spurning his apology, asking him if he’d shot her brother. She was a mess. Not like her. She had to get her act together. She hadn’t had time to eat that day. Low blood sugar, that’s why she’d passed out. She gathered her thoughts. “You weren’t at his funeral, though.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it. I was still overseas.”

“Is that why you tracked me down? To offer your condolences?”

“I wanted to check up on you.”

“I appreciate the thought,” she said stiffly, clearly indicating that she didn’t really appreciate it at all. “But there’s no need.”

“I think there’s every need. You don’t belong in a place like this.” He jerked his head toward the bar.

“I can take care of myself.”

“It didn’t look that way to me.”

She tugged on the skimpy hem of her skirt before replying. “I don’t need you walking into my life and telling me what to do. What I do need is to get back to work.”

“You just fainted!”

“Because you scared me by saying you were here on official business about Johnny.” It was idiotic of her to think that the military had made a mistake. She’d stood by the grave site. Seen his casket lowered into the ground. But she’d had a vivid dream the night before where her brother, with that crooked grin of his, had told her that his death was a big mistake.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have put it that way.”

“Yeah, well…” She swung her long legs out the open car door, dislodging him in the process.

Standing, he held out his hand to assist her, but she didn’t take his offer of help, preferring to do it herself.

She was taller than he’d thought at first, the top of her head reaching to just beneath his chin. He reached out to smooth the tendrils of dark hair that had fallen across her pale face.

“When was the last time you ate?” he demanded.

“I’m fine,” she insisted, backing up to glare at him.

“You’re not pregnant, are you? Is that why you fainted?”

“No, I’m not pregnant,” she said, highly offended.

“Look, I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on with you.”

“What’s going on is that you are beginning to irritate me,” Ellie retorted. “What gives you the right to walk in here out of the blue and start interrogating me as if I were one of your Marines? I’m not. I’m the responsible mother of a five-year-old. I can handle anything.” She prayed that if she kept saying that often enough, she’d start believing it eventually.

Maybe she could handle anything, but Ben knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t handle the fact that she was swaying on her feet from exhaustion, that she was clearly struggling to make ends meet. “Why do you work here? I thought John told me you were waitressing in a nice family restaurant, some sort of mom-and-pop place.”

“I was, but it went bankrupt suddenly a few months ago. This was the only job I could get. I don’t have a college degree.” She’d left school to work, to support Perry who was getting his degree. Yet another example of how love had blinded her and made her stupid. “I didn’t want my brother worrying about me so I didn’t tell him about my new job. Which reminds me, how did you find me?”

“I had your address. From John. You weren’t there, but a neighbor told me you worked here.” He waved his hand toward Al’s Place in a dismissive move. “Let me help you. I can give you some money until things settle down.”

“I can’t take money from you.” What kind of woman did he think she was? “I don’t need any handouts.”

“John would want me to help you and he’d want you to accept that help.”

His words hit a nerve. “Don’t you dare tell me what my brother would want!” she said fiercely. “I knew him better than you did. We grew up together. Being bounced from foster home to foster home, we only had each other to count on. I knew my brother my entire life. All twenty-five years of it. And now he’s gone. So don’t you try and make me do what you want by using my brother’s name.”

She didn’t even realize she’d been jabbing her finger at Ben’s chest until he cradled her hand in his. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I seem to be messing up a lot today.”

He was certainly messing up her self-control. First fainting like that, and then going ballistic on him.

And now, with his fingers enclosing hers, she felt something new—the stirring of attraction. Her unexpected reaction threw her. The aching need to be held, to be comforted, to be loved threatened to overwhelm her.

Her startled gaze met his. This close to him she could see flecks of green in his hazel eyes, could see the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes, could see a faint scar along the right line of his jaw.

The warmth from his fingers sent treacherous longings through her. It had been so long since she’d felt this powerful tug, this whirlpool of dangerously seductive sensations.

She couldn’t give in. She had to be strong.

But that was hard to do given the fact that her emotions had been dangerously close to the surface ever since her brother’s death. More and more she felt as if she were being buried alive beneath a pile of problems too insurmountable to overcome.

She knew she couldn’t give in, she knew she couldn’t give up. She had Amy to think of.

Just thinking about her little girl gave Ellie strength. Amy was the best kid on the face of the earth. And Perry was the scum of the earth for not realizing that and cherishing and protecting his little girl, instead of abandoning them when he found out two years ago that Amy had asthma.

No, Ellie, had to be strong, not just for herself but for Amy. She couldn’t be distracted by sexual chemistry.

Belatedly tugging her hand from Ben’s, she repeated her earlier statement. “I have to get back to work.”

“Why won’t you let me help you?”

Because then I might become dependent on that help and when you leave, the situation would just get worse. Been there, done that. Aloud, she said, “Because, it’s best that I stand on my own two feet.”

“So you’re telling me that you have so many friends, that you can’t use another one? You can depend on me, Ellie. I didn’t just track you down to say hi, and then walk away. I’m here for the long-term.”

“You’re a Marine, Ben. You don’t stay anywhere long-term. Your life belongs to the Corps.”

“I’ve got a new deployment relatively nearby, at Camp Lejeune. So I will be nearby. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

His smile was charming, his tone of voice encouraging. But she’d heard it before. Perry telling her she could count on him, that he’d always be there for her. Talk was cheap.

No, she had to be strong, she had to rely on herself only.

As if to prove that he was just as determined as she was, Ben stayed at Al’s Place until her shift was over. He held the door open for her as she left, and insisted on walking her to her car, which looked like it was held together with baling wire.

The ten-year-old Toyota certainly wouldn’t win any beauty contests—not with its multicolored body, a majority of which was green, except for the passenger doors which were silver. A friend of a friend knew someone who did cheap body work, and when someone had slammed into her car while it was parked in the supermarket lot, she didn’t have the money to get it fixed. Contacting her auto insurance company was out of the question because that would only raise her premiums, which she barely scraped out now.

“How many miles do you have on this thing?” Ben asked, as if suspicious it couldn’t go another mile without falling apart.

There were mornings when it refused to turn over that she wondered the same thing. “The odometer stopped working at 199,999 miles. It may not look pretty but it gets me from point A to point B.”

“Are you headed straight home?”

She nodded. She was too tired to argue with him anymore.

“What about dinner?”

“What about it?” she countered.

“Would you and your daughter join me for dinner tonight? My treat. I hear there’s a great steak house near here.”

Being strong only went so far. She was down to her last package of macaroni and cheese and one oversized generic-brand can of green beans, which was what they’d had for dinner last night.

Tomorrow was payday so she’d be able buy more food then. But tonight…

Steak? When was the last time she’d had steak?

What was the harm in going out with Ben just this once? Amy would get a good dinner. Surely it wouldn’t hurt.

What would hurt would be to believe that Ben would still be here a week from now, or two weeks. To believe his charming words, to fall for his sexy good looks. That would be a huge mistake. One the formerly weak Ellie might have made when she still believed in happily-ever-after.

But the new Ellie knew better. No matter how good his hands had felt on her, no matter how seductive the chemistry might be, the only thing she could count on was that Ellie had to take care of Ellie. And take care of her daughter.

That was the bottom line, that was where her focus was and would remain…no matter how attractive Captain Ben Kozlowski was.

Chapter Two

“So what do you say?” Ben’s voice was coaxing. “How about dinner? Will you and your daughter join me?”

Ellie was tempted, so tempted. She wavered. Macaroni and green beans again for dinner…or steak. Saying yes didn’t have to mean giving in. It didn’t have to mean that she was weak. It could mean that she was being strong enough to look at this situation realistically, objectively. Having one dinner with Ben was not going to change her, wasn’t going to make her a believer in happily-ever-afters.

“Come on. I could really use the company.”

He made it seem like he was the needy one. She wondered if that was a deliberate tactic on his part. Trying to make it seem as if she’d be doing him a favor by saying yes instead of making it seem like he was taking pity on a charity case.

Which would make Ben more empathetic than she’d expected. But then there had to be something okay about Ben if her brother had liked him. Johnny had been a pretty good judge of character most of the time. Like her, he didn’t trust easily. But he’d trusted Ben.

Thinking about Johnny hurt so much. But Ellie refused to show it. She’d played a weepy wimp enough for one day. It wasn’t a customary role for her. She’d had to be tough to survive the foster care system and not let it grind her up. Being tough included learning how to keep her emotions under wraps, how to hide her pain.

Ellie had few vulnerabilities. Her brother and her daughter. That was it.

And now her brother was gone. Which meant Ellie had to work even harder to do the right thing for Amy. Ellie’s stomach growled, reminding her that she had to take care of herself or she wouldn’t be any use to Amy. “Okay. I accept your invitation.”

Ben smiled. “Outstanding. I’ll follow you home and then we can leave from there.” Standing beside his big burly black Bronco, he stared at her means of transportation with distrust.

But Tiny the Toyota had always been there for her. She’d had the car since she was in college when she’d bought it used. Her husband had come and gone, but her trusty vehicle was still with her. Ready to take her wherever she needed to go, provided it wasn’t too far. Capable of holding groceries, of moving furniture, of playing loud music from the radio that still worked on at least three stations. Dependable, reliable…okay, sometimes a little temperamental.

Unfortunately this was one of those times Tiny decided to be difficult. Muttering under her breath, Ellie yanked on the hood release and hopped out of the vehicle to lift the hood and jiggle a wire.

“What are you doing?” Ben was at her side.

“Working magic.”

He could believe that. She’d already worked magic on him. She wasn’t anything like he’d pictured. He’d imagined a sweet young woman. Sure, she had a child, so he knew she wasn’t innocent. He just hadn’t expected her to have a will of steel. And a basic knowledge of the workings of a car. He’d never met a woman who popped the hood on her car and went to work on it herself.

“That should do it.” Ellie was startled when Ben lowered the hood for her as if she were a delicate flower. She wasn’t accustomed to being looked after. Her ex-husband had opened doors for her and pulled out chairs when he’d been courting her, but had stopped after they were married. It hadn’t happened overnight, but had been more of a gradual thing.

Ellie took a deep breath and kicked Perry out of her thoughts. She needed to stay focused on the here and now. Thankfully, Tiny behaved this time and obediently started up. There were no further exhibits of the car’s temperamental nature on the short drive home.

The two-story brick apartment building didn’t look like much from the outside, but it was across the street from a small park. It also had hardwood floors in the living room and two bedrooms, which made things easier with Amy’s asthma. And it had Frenchie Sanchez.

In her early sixties, Frenchie didn’t look like anyone’s idea of a grandmother. She wasn’t tall and willowy, but she moved as if she were. She was proud of the relatively few wrinkles on her face. She had short cropped hair which she frequently dyed when she got bored. Last month she’d been a platinum blonde, now she was a redhead. She had brown eyes, a loud laugh and a fondness for huge earrings. She wore flowing dresses and pants in colors like papaya and lime.

Frenchie attributed her colorful appearance to marrying a Cuban trumpet player in the early fifties and then moving with him to Europe. She had a Parisian woman’s flair for scarves and a dancer’s graceful confidence. She also had a heart of gold.

Ellie knew how extraordinarily lucky she was to have a neighbor like Frenchie to help out with Amy, to watch her while Ellie was at work. Frenchie resisted taking any money from Ellie, saying that Amy was wonderful company for her and prevented her from getting lonely. But Ellie had insisted, and had paid her what she could, which wasn’t anything near what the older woman was worth. But then Frenchie Sanchez was priceless.

She greeted Ellie with her customary wide smile. “How was work today, ma chère?”

“Mommy, Mommy, look what I drewed!” Amy waved a piece of paper at her. At five, she was small for her age. She had Ellie’s dark hair and brown eyes. Today she was wearing one of her favorite shorts sets, the T-shirt with a cat’s face complete with rhinestone eyes.

Gazing down at her, Ellie felt her heart expand with emotion. It didn’t seem like that long ago when she’d given birth and held a newborn Amy in her arms, marveling at her perfectly formed tiny fingers and nails, awed by the intensity of her love for her child.

Where had the time gone? Her baby had become a little girl. She knew it, but every so often it hit her again. Her daughter would only be small a short time, and Ellie hated missing a moment of the new discoveries to be had at this age.

“Let me see.” Ellie bent down to hug her before looking at the artwork. “That’s a beautiful drawing.”

“It’s a cat.”

“I can see that.” Well, she couldn’t really. It looked like a circle with eyeballs to Ellie. But because her little girl drew it, it was beautiful.

“Who’s he?” Amy pointed at Ben.

Ellie had been so distracted that she’d forgotten to make the introductions. “He’s a friend of Uncle Johnny’s. His name is Ben.”

“Uncle Johnny is in heaven now.” Amy pointed skyward.

Ellie’s throat tightened. “That’s right.”

“Are you from heaven?” Amy asked Ben.

“I’m from the Marines.”

“So you’re not an angel?”

“No.”

“That’s too bad. I thought you could take a message to my Uncle Johnny for me. And show him my drawing.”

“I wish I could.”

Ellie noted the strained expression on Ben’s face.

Frenchie helped ease the moment with her usual skill. “Welcome to my home, Ben. Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, thank you, ma’am.”

“Call me Frenchie. All my friends do. I got the nickname from all those years of living in Paris with my musician husband.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Frenchie.” Ben’s voice had regained its customary tone. It sounded deep and very male.

Ellie looked down at her daughter, smoothing her hair away from her forehead. “Honey, Ben has invited us out to dinner tonight.”

“So we don’t have to eat beans again tonight? Yeah!” Amy quickly gathered her backpack. “I’m ready now.”

“We have to go home so I can change out of my work clothes,” Ellie reminded her, hoping her blush wasn’t too obvious. Amy’s enthusiasm made it seem as if she’d been eating beans for a month.

“Okay, but change fast, ’kay, Mommy? Are we going to have a Happy Meal?”

A meal at a fast-food place was a special treat as far as Amy was concerned. “No, we’re going someplace even better.”

“I didn’t know there was any place better.”

“Would you like to join us, Frenchie?” Ben asked the older woman.

“How sweet of you to invite me, but no thank you. The cable station is running an Antonio Banderas movie marathon. I can’t miss that.”

Ellie hugged her. “Thanks again for taking care of Amy, Frenchie.”

“It’s nothing, ma chère. Enjoy your evening out. You deserve it.”

Amy raced across the hall to the door to their second-story apartment. Ben picked up her backpack and held the door open for Ellie after she’d unlocked and opened it.

“I…uh, I’ll just be a minute or two. You’re welcome to sit down and watch TV while I change.” She gestured toward the couch and tried not to imagine how the place looked to Ben. Not that Marines were that interested in interior decorating. But he probably noticed that there wasn’t much furniture. “I won’t be long. Come on, Amy.”

Ellie had her daughter sit on her bed with one of her favorite books. Then Ellie grabbed some clean clothes from her own bedroom before returning to the bathroom. The tobacco smoke that clung to Ellie’s skin and hair as a result of working at Al’s wasn’t good for Amy. It wasn’t particularly good for Ellie either, but her requests for a larger no-smoking area had resulted in her boss laughing at her.

Ellie rinsed off the bargain shampoo and turned off the faucet before reaching for a towel. She used the hair blower for about three minutes before turning it off and quickly braiding her still-damp hair into a single braid.

It didn’t take her long to get dressed in the clothes she’d grabbed. Her wardrobe choices were extremely limited. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d bought new clothes. Any extra money was spent on getting things for Amy. Which was fine by her. That was as it should be in her book.

Ellie tugged on a pair of black capri pants and a red knit top. She stuck her feet into the pair of sandals she’d picked up for a song at a discount store in the after-season sales a year or two ago.

A quick check in the bathroom mirror told her that she looked clean and respectable. Good. That’s what she was aiming for. She added just a tad of makeup—a quick swipe of some eyeshadow and lipstick and then she was ready.

“Mommy, are you done yet?” Amy demanded from right outside the door.

“All ready.” Ellie stepped out of the bathroom.

Looking over from the sports segment on the TV, Ben immediately rose to his feet. “You look nice.”

Ben figured his words sounded lame, because the truth was that Ellie looked better than nice. And she smelled like fresh lemons. He got a whiff as she walked past him to get her jacket and purse from a hook near the front door.

“Allow me.” He took the denim jacket from her hands and held it for her to slide her arms into.

She shot him a startled glance over her shoulder.

“Mommy, why do you need help getting dressed? I thought you knew how.”

“I do know how. Ben is just being polite.” She quickly reached back but had trouble finding the arm-holes. Her fingers bumped against the side of his leg. “Sorry about that.” Now he’d think she was an idiot who couldn’t even get a jacket on properly.

“No problem.” He moved closer to smoothly guide her into the jacket. His hands rested on her shoulders for a moment. She felt his fingers brush against her bare skin as he lifted her braid from beneath the denim. Awareness streaked through her entire body starting at the contact point at her nape, racing down her spine and curling her toes. “There. How’s that?”

How was it? Entirely too provocative. She was supposed to be keeping her objectivity here. Not melting.

Ellie didn’t relax until they were seated at a table in the steak house. Amy was gazing at the children’s menu as if she were able to read every word. She’d brought two dolls with her and she had them gazing at the menu with equal intentness.

“Do you want the chicken fingers?” Ellie asked Amy. Luckily her daughter didn’t suffer from serious food allergies the way a lot of children with asthma did.

“I want octypuss,” Amy proudly declared.

Ellie blinked. “What?” There were times when her child said things that came completely from another planet and this was one of them.

“Octypuss.”

“They don’t serve octopus here.”

“Frenchie told me she ate some in Paris.”

“When you’re as old as Frenchie then you can have octopus.”

Amy’s face scrunched up. “I’ll be two hundred by then.”

Ellie tried not to laugh. “No, you won’t. Now do you want chicken fingers or a hot dog?” Maybe a steak house wasn’t that different from a fast-food place, from a kid’s point of view.

“Chicken fingers. But no beans. No beans, Mommy. I don’t like broccoli either. Remember?”

“Yes, I remember.”

After they’d placed their orders, Amy eagerly leaned forward toward Ben. “Do you want to play with my Barbie? I’ve got two.” She offered him one.

Ben didn’t have the heart to tell the kid no.

“My Barbie works at the hops-ital,” Amy declared. “Where does your Barbie work?”

“She’s a Marine.”

“What does she wear?”

“A uniform.”

“Is she going to end up in heaven like my Uncle Johnny?”

His gut clenched. “Not until she’s old and gray.”

“Can she work at the hops-ital with my Barbie?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, then. You go first.” When he looked at a total loss, the little girl added, “Your Barbie talks to my Barbie.”

“Hello.”

Amy frowned. “You have to make her sound more like a girl.”

“Hello.” His voice rose to a higher pitch.

“What’s your name?”

“Barbie.”

“My name is Barbie, too. Let’s have lunch.” Amy sat her Barbie down at the table. “Do you have a pancake maker?”

“No.”

“There’s no mess. No mess at all. Amazing.”

Ellie felt compelled to explain. “She saw an infomercial on the TV early one morning last week and it’s stuck in her mind like glue.”

“The pancakes don’t taste like glue,” Amy said. “And there’s no mess. We don’t like mess. Mess can make my asthma bad. Does your Barbie have asthma?”

“I don’t know.”

“You should see a doctor. Some doctors can be nice.” Amy carefully rearranged her doll’s sundress. “My Barbie is a doctor. That’s why she works at the hops-ital. Okay, now let’s go for a drive. My Barbie drives, yours just rides along.” She kept up a constant monologue, meaning that Ben only had to say an occasional high-pitched “Yes,” or “No.”

“Captain Kozlowski?”

Ben looked up to find a fellow Marine and his wife staring at him as if he’d grown two heads. Ben dropped the Barbie like a hot potato and instantly rose to his feet.

“I didn’t expect to see you here, sir,” Gunnery Sergeant Handley said.

To which Ben replied, “I’m here with friends.”

“I won’t keep you then. Nice seeing you, sir.”

Ben nodded briskly and waited until the Marine and his wife were some distance away and out of his sight line before sitting down again.

“You should have seen the expression on your face.” Ellie shook her head. “It really was priceless.”

“I’m so glad I could provide the comedic entertainment for our meal this evening,” Ben drawled.

“What’s com-dick entertainment?” Amy demanded.

“Comedic means funny,” Ellie replied.

“I can be funny. I can make funny faces. Want to see?” She rolled her eyes and scrunched up her nose.

“Here’s your dinner.” Ellie moved the Barbies off the table and Amy put them on her lap.

The meal went well and Ellie ate every speck of her huge steak, baked potato and fresh grilled vegetables. Amy ate most of her meal and didn’t insist on feeding her Barbies.

“What about some dessert?” their peppy waitress inquired as she cleared their table of the empty plates. “Our specialty is Decadent Chocolate Delight.”

“Sounds good,” Ben said.

When the waitress brought the huge layered dessert, Amy’s eyes almost bugged out. “Can I have the cherry on top?”

“Affirmative,” Ben said.

Amy frowned. “What’s that mean?”

“It means yes.”

“What do you say?” Ellie prompted her as Ben handed Amy the juicy red cherry.

“Thank you, Ben.” Amy gave him an ear-to-ear smile before leaning her head against his arm. “I like you.”

His heart gave a funny thump and Ben knew he was a goner. He’d always been a sucker for those in need. He’d been that way since he was a kid and had seen a frightened kitten in the grocery store parking lot. A bunch of bigger kids had been trying to poke sticks at it as it frantically crouched under the Dumpster. Ben had fought them off and had rescued the kitten, bringing it home under his coat. He could still remember the way the little thing had stopped trembling and rested its head against his chest.

Oh, yeah, he’d always had a thing for rescuing the underdog…or kitten. For helping the smaller or weaker inhabitants on this planet.

Seeing Amy gazing at him with such appreciation at such a little thing as giving her a cherry brought out all his protective instincts. One dinner and already the kid had him in the palm of her hand.

Ellie noted the strange expression on Ben’s face and wondered at the reason for it. She’d been impressed by his ability to recover from his embarrassment at being found playing with dolls by one of his fellow Marines. He’d been incredibly good with Amy all evening.

That didn’t mean that Ellie should depend on him for anything other than his temporary company. If only she could get a little more on her feet financially, then they’d be out of the woods.

On her way out, Ellie discreetly checked to see if the steak house was hiring any more servers, but they weren’t.

The drive back home was uneventful. “Can Ben stay?” Amy asked as they neared their front door.

“It’s already past your bedtime.”

“I want Ben to tell me a bedtime story.” Amy tugged him into the apartment with her, taking him all the way down the hall to her bedroom.

“Honey, Ben probably doesn’t know any bedtime stories. How about I read you Cinderella again?”

“No. I want a new story.”

“Let’s get you into your pj’s first and brush your teeth.” Ellie gently guided her into the bathroom.

“Don’t go, Ben!” Amy ordered before closing the bathroom door.

He waited in her girly bedroom, feeling like a bull in a china shop. The pink comforter had ruffles on the edges. A well-worn stuffed animal had a place of honor near the pillow while a small folded blanket rested at the foot of the bed. It had kittens on it. His gaze moved to the bedside table where a pile of picture books sat.

“Why can’t Ben tell me a story?” Amy demanded as she walked into the room with her mother and hopped into bed.

“Because he doesn’t have children, so he doesn’t know stories.”

“I know stories,” Ben said. Granted, none came to mind that he could relate to a five-year-old kid. But he was a Marine, which meant he was resourceful. Ben stared at the cover of the storybook on top of the pile next to Amy’s bed. “I can do that. No problem. Once upon a time…” All fairy tales began that way, right? “Once upon a time, many years ago in the land of Wonder an evil lord ruled the kingdom. He’d been a good guy once, but then turned to the dark side. His name was…Sir Badlord. And he was feared by all the people in the land.”

“Was he mean?” Amy asked.

Ben nodded solemnly. “Very mean.”

“Hold on a sec, honey,” Ellie said. “I need to speak to Ben.”

“But he’s telling me a story now,” Amy protested.

“Yeah, I know. This won’t take long.”

Ellie tugged Ben off the bed to a corner of the room and leaned close to whisper, “The point of a bedtime story is not to give my daughter nightmares. Kids her age take things literally.”

“Understood. It’s not my intention to scare her. Trust me, okay?”

He returned to Amy’s bedside with Ellie close by his side.

“So what about Sir Badlord?” Amy asked. “What did he do? Blow up the world? Joshua in the reading group at the library is always blowing up the world and making explosion noises. Does Sir Badlord do that?”

“Sometimes. But tonight, he and his gang of dark knights rode out into the night and captured Lady Blush, the daughter of…Guy of Nice. Now, Sir Guy was a nice guy.”

“Was he a good daddy?”

“Yes.”

“Did he love Lady Blush?”

“Absolutely.”

“Mommy says my daddy loves me, but I don’t think he’s a very good daddy.”

Ben wasn’t sure how to respond to the little girl’s confession. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Me, too.” She moved closer. “Tell me more.”

“Well, like I said, Sir Guy was good and people liked him. He did good stuff.”

“Like what?”

“Uh…good deeds. He officiated at jousts, spoke at…baptisms and generally speaking, he ate more chicken than he probably should have, but people liked Sir Guy. A lot better than they liked Sir Badlord. Which made Sir Badlord mad. So he came to Nice castle and took Lady Blush.”

“Was she a princess?”

“Close enough. Anyway, this Sir Guy was beside himself. He knew he had to call on the only one who could get her back—one of the few, the proud. Sir Goodknight.” Ben was really getting into it now. “Goodknight led his squad of knights, squires and pages—known as the Knights of the Black Stone—on many quests in the past. Like the Marines, he valued honor, courage and commitment. So Goodknight agreed to help Sir Guy to rescue Lady Blush. He and the rest of his team gathered to plan the mission and do some recon.”

Ben didn’t realize that he’d gone into a bit too much detail about reconnaissance and intelligence reports until he felt Ellie’s hand on his arm. “She’s fallen asleep.”

“Some storyteller I am.” Ben’s voice was rueful. “It put the kid to sleep.”

“It was quite creative for a Marine.”

“Marines can be creative when the situation warrants.”

“So Sir Guy ate more chicken than he should have, huh?”

Ben shrugged and stood aside while Ellie clicked off the light and checked the night-light before exiting the room, leaving Amy’s door slightly ajar.

“Where did you come up with names like that?” she asked him.

He smiled ruefully. “My brothers accuse me of being too much of a punster.”

“And do they accuse you of eating more chicken than you should?”

“Not if they’re smart.”

The transformation of his smile into a full-blown grin, complete with the hint of a dimple that would have done Dennis Quaid proud, drew her attention to his lips. She’d never momentarily lost her train of thought just by gazing at a guy’s mouth before. “I…uh…I wanted to thank you for this evening.” She had to look away to regain her equilibrium. “The dinner was delicious.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“And thanks for making up the story for Amy tonight. That was nice of you.”

“I like to think that I can be a nice guy when needed.”

“A regular knight in shining armor, huh? Like Sir Goodknight?”

One chestnut eyebrow lifted in a masculine challenge of her comment. “Anything wrong with that?”

“Nothing. As long as you realize that I’m no Lady Blush. I’m not a damsel in distress.”

“You’re saying you don’t need a knight in shining armor to rescue you?”

“I could use the armor. Not the knight.”

“You don’t see yourself remarrying?”

“No.”

“Why not? You’re young and beautiful. Why can’t you see a happy ending for yourself?”

“Marriage isn’t a happy ending for me. Have you ever been married?”

“No.”

“Well, trust me, it’s not what it’s cracked up to be.”

“Amy said that she didn’t think her dad was a good dad. Why is that?” Ben’s expression darkened. “Did he hit her?”

“No, nothing like that.”

The line of his jaw tightened. “Did he hit you?”

“No.” Perry had never resorted to physical abuse. He hadn’t had to when a sarcastic comment could do plenty of damage. To this day she wasn’t sure if his intention had been to hurt her on any of those occasions, or if he’d simply been so self-involved that he hadn’t cared how she felt. She suspected it was the latter.

“Then what happened?”

“Why do you care?” Ellie countered.

“Because I cared about John and you’re his sister.”

“I already told you that I don’t need anyone looking after me.”

“Humor me, okay? What can it hurt, telling me about your marriage? Unless you’re still so in love with the guy that you don’t want to talk about it.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, but not because I’m still in love with Perry. Oh, I loved him in the beginning. Blindly so. I met him in my freshman English class in college. He asked to borrow my notes and never gave them back. That should have been a clue that Perry was only out for Perry. But he was a sweet-talking charmer. Incredibly good-looking. He swept me off my feet, promised me the world. We got married a few months later and I quit school to support him. Dumb I know, but Perry made it seem like the most responsible plan. He could focus on getting his business degree and then he’d get a great job and I could stay home with the family we wanted. At least I thought we both wanted a family. Perry said he did. He said all the right things. And we were happy in the beginning. Then I got pregnant. That wasn’t part of Perry’s plan. Not until he graduated from college. Even so, he pretended to make the best of things. And I worked until a week before Amy was born.”

“What happened then?”

“Perry acted like he was so proud of his baby daughter. He showed off pictures of her to everyone he met. But there were signs that things weren’t going well. We were always short of money. Perry would come up with one get-rich scheme after another. This time, babe, he’d tell me. This time it’s the real thing. But it never was. He graduated from college when Amy was two. A few weeks later we discovered that Amy has asthma.”

Ellie sighed and sat on the couch, kicking off her sandals to curl her feet beneath her. Talking about her marriage made her feel sad and stupid. “Perry didn’t take the news well. He likes perfection and suddenly Amy wasn’t his perfect little girl any longer. He took off a few months later and we haven’t heard much from him since.”

Ben sat on the couch beside her. “He doesn’t stay in contact with his daughter?”

“No. Not really. I keep telling her that her daddy loves her, and he probably does in his own shallow way. But Perry isn’t really capable of loving anyone other than himself.”

“Is he at least paying child support?”

He could feel Ellie retreating from him even though she didn’t move. “Look, I shouldn’t have gone on about things the way I did. I never meant to. When I’m tired, my mouth gets away from me sometimes.” She leaned forward. “Can I get you something to drink? A can of soda maybe?”

“Relax.” His hand on her arm prevented her from leaping up and retreating to the kitchen the way she clearly wanted. “I’m fine.”

Ben suspected that her refusal to answer his question about child support meant that slimebag Perry wasn’t paying. No surprise there. The guy didn’t sound like the responsible kind. He wouldn’t make a good Marine.

John had never gone into any detail about his sister’s ex-husband, other than referring to him as a dirtbag and much worse. Ben hadn’t pushed him for more information, that wasn’t his way. He wasn’t sure now that John had known the exact specifics. Ben suspected Ellie had shielded her brother from the worst of what had really occurred in her marriage.

Ben’s anger at her jerk of an ex-husband made him lose his focus on diplomacy. “You need money. I’ve got money.” He reached for his wallet. “More than I need or could possibly use. Here.” He held out a bunch of hundred dollar bills. “Take it.”

“I’m not for sale. Not in this lifetime,” Ellie growled, before leaping to her feet and pointing to the door. “Get out!”

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