No way! No fucking way was she going to fuck us up again with this dumb crap!

I leapt off the bed, glaring down at her, fists clenched and trying not to yell.

“Christ, it’s like listening to an old record, Caro! You always try to think of reasons why we can’t be together!”

Her expression was confused.

“What do you mean ‘always’? I haven’t seen you for ten years.”

“That’s the whole fucking point!” I yelled, my determination to keep calm crumbling. “You used to say this shit to me when I was 17, and you’re still doing it now. We wasted 10 years and you’re worried about a few thousand miles? Hell, we’ve got airplanes, we’ve got email, they’ve invented fucking cell phones. I could even take the shitty option of a billet on recruiting duty anywhere in the US. Jesus, if it comes down to it, I’ll even write you a fucking letter!”

Her mouth dropped open then twisted as if she wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry.

“You write letters?” she asked.

My shoulders relaxed slightly, but I was still angry and determined to force the point.

“I’ll write you on both sides of the fucking paper, Caro.”

A smile quivered at the corners of her mouth.

“How can I refuse such an astonishing offer?”

“Are you laughing at me?” I snapped.

“Are you shouting at me?” she shot back.

“Yes!”

“Then, ‘yes’ to you, too.” She sighed again. “Look, today, tonight—it’s been fun. But like I said to you before, I’m really not looking to get tied down again. I work a lot and I love what I do. I’m still mad at you for screwing up my travel papers. I won’t get paid until I’ve filed a story, and I won’t be able to do that until I get to Leatherneck. All this time, I’m not earning—and I have a very expensive mortgage to finance.”

I let my hands rest on my hips, not caring that I was utterly naked, and I looked her in the eye.

“I’m sorry about the money, Caro, and I’m sorry that I made you mad at me again, but I’m not sorry about what I did. I hoped I’d get a chance to spend some time with you, but I would have done it just to keep you safe.”

She shook her head. “This is getting us nowhere.”

Defeated, I sat down on the edge of the bed with my back to her, letting my head hang down.

Nothing I said seemed to change her mind. I took my final shot.

“Caro, I’ve got 17 days before I ship out. I’d like to spend them with you. That’s all. If you don’t want to see me after that … well, I guess that’s it.”

I turned to look at her over my shoulder.

“What do you say?”

She didn’t reply. I stood up, preparing to dress and leave before she broke me completely.

But then she spoke.

“I’m going to need a cushion to sit on if you expect me to ride on that motorcycle of yours all the way to Salerno.”

She was saying yes?

“Really? You’re sure?”

“Well, to paraphrase you, what the hell.” She paused. “But I reserve the right to fly back if you’re being too much of an ass.”

I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.

“Huh, well, you’d better give me a sliding scale of assaholic behavior, just so I know.”

She raised an eyebrow. “That could be quite a long list.”

“Try me.”

“Okay,” she said, sitting up straight and diving right in. “First, no getting drunk and passing out in my bed; second, no more interference in my career of any kind—that’s a deal breaker; third, no territorial displays of adolescent jealousy; fourth…”

Wow, that list was getting long already.

I jumped on her, pinning her to the mattress, my kisses hard and determined. They weren’t the only things that were hard—just being near her was enough to get the juices flowing, and my dick was fighting its way through her bathrobe. But then she pushed me off.

“What was that all about?” she asked breathlessly.

I shrugged.

“It sounded like a very long list, I thought I’d try to distract you.”

“Diversionary tactics?”

“Yeah, we’re schooled on that in the Marines,” I agreed, my lips twitching with a smile.

“I bet you are! And by the way,” she said, pointing at my dick, “you can put that away—I’m exhausted. Somebody dragged me all over Switzerland and half of France today.”

“Sure I can’t persuade you?” I asked, leaning down to bite her thigh.

She jumped and pulled her robe together tightly.

“Quite sure, thank you. This forty-year-old woman needs her beauty sleep.”

God, that made me furious. She was beautiful—anyone could see it. Anyone but her, apparently. It irritated the fuck out of me that she was still playing the same riff from ten years ago.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that, Caro.”

“Do what?” she asked, blinking in surprise.

“Keep going on about your age. You’re older than me—I get it. And guess what? I don’t give a shit. I never did. I just wish you weren’t so hung up about it. It’s kind of annoying.”

Her mouth dropped open in shock.

“Feel free to say what you really mean, Hunter!”

I grinned at her. “Okay.”

She shook her head and folded her arms across her chest, but I could tell that she wasn’t really angry.

“So, we can go tomorrow?” I asked. “Start our road trip?”

“Well, I suppose so. But I don’t know how we’ll get my suitcase on the back of your motorcycle.”

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll just take what you need and leave it at my place till we get back.” So far, so good. Time to take another step. “So, can I stay the night, or are you going to kick me out into the cold, dark world, all alone in a strange city, where foreign women might try and have their evil way with me?”

Her eyebrow lifted as she stared back at me.

“That’s a sob story, if ever I heard one, although I strongly suspect it’s a highly edited one.”

“Is that a yes?” I asked hopefully.

“It’s a yes, providing sleep is what you had in mind.”

Nope. “Mostly. Good enough?”

She shook her head, capitulating immediately. She really hadn’t put up much of a fight.

“Fine. You want to use the bathroom first?”

“No, go ahead.”

I lay back on the bed, grinning up at the ceiling. Twenty-four hours ago it had seemed impossible that I’d ever be here again. Then I frowned, wondering what the reality was of making this work. I was a Marine: I went where they sent me. But then I figured other guys had wives and families—why couldn’t I? Sure, there’d be compromises, problems, but we’d deal.

I took my turn in the bathroom and let her enjoy the floor show as I strolled around naked. If using my body was going to get her to give me a chance, that worked just fine for me. So, wearing my dog tags and a big smile, I sat down next to her then crawled across her body, dipping down to take a nipple in my mouth.

“Sebastian, what are you doing?” she gasped.

“Taking a shortcut,” I said, then stole another kiss.

She reached up and pulled me deeper into the kiss before pushing lightly on my chest.

“Sleep! Now!”

“Sure I can’t change your mind?” I asked, eyeing the boner that was beginning to make its presence felt.

“Oh, put it away!” she gulped, unable to take her eyes off my dick. “I’m tired.”

There was always tomorrow. And I was a big fan of morning sex.

So I let her win that one, sliding under the duvet on the other side of the bed.

She turned off the light, and in the darkness of the room I sighed in contentment as my hand drifted over her waist. I kissed the back of her neck softly.

“Night, baby.”

As I fell into a deep sleep, I wondered if this time life would bring us back together or push us further apart.

It was barely light when I woke abruptly. Caro was thrashing around in the bed, fighting the duvet, her eyes screwed shut and a terrified wail surging from her throat. Whatever she was dreaming about, it was some scary shit.