Read Corpsman and the Nerd for Free Online Page B

sugar around his mouth that also dotted
his beard.
    Max’s smile turned totally
private and incredibly sensual and KC went breathless as something
responded deep inside. Where on earth had
that come from?
    “ Unlike you morons, I don’t
kiss and tell.” Max’s voice turned complacent while for some reason
he looked right at her. She had never entered that closet with him.
Max had never invited her. Deep inside, something she couldn’t
identify ignited as she thought of the possibilities if he ever
did. KC smothered it before it could turn into an inferno before
she refocused on the conversation swirling around her
kitchen.
    “ Lainy tormented me with
that closet the entire time I was in Kuwait. I couldn’t wait to try
it out with her,” Mitch said with a grin.
    “ Yeah, and look where it got
her.” Rick, husband to Melly, another sister, hooted.
    Mitch’s smile was lazy and very
masculine. “She’s not complaining.” He took another sip of coffee
and KC experienced a little wistfulness at that satisfied, loving
look in his eyes. If her wish had come true the way she wanted,
maybe some man would look at her like that...
    The men finished their coffee with
more jests, and soon dug in to work. Her furniture disappeared
through the door, and into the waiting trucks. The project didn’t
take them long, as many of them worked together like they had done
this often in the past. Not surprising because their mother said
they had.
    When the last box had been placed
carefully into the trunk of her car, KC sent Ryan with Max and then
completed a final walk-through of the place she called home for six
years. Sadness reigned as she thought of leaving here, but when she
returned from Kuwait, she would look for a house. Ryan needed a
bigger yard to play in with Spuds and she wouldn’t mind a larger
kitchen.
    Whistling for Spuds, she pushed away
the tantalizing little voice that whispered, “Max’s kitchen is the
perfect size.”
     
    She pulled up in front of Max’s house
and watched for a moment while her furniture was carted inside. The
light gray stone farmhouse had caught her eye when she first moved
to Hershey. Even in need of extensive repairs, the rambling
structure had been out of her price range. When Max bought the
place, she’d been ecstatic. KC decreed it needed white trim,
country blue shutters and faded yellow doors and Max agreed. She
and Max had also spent plenty of Saturdays refitting the new
windows, painting the multitude of rooms, and planting the shrubs,
flowers, and trees that now dotted the gorgeous lawn.
    Behind the house stood a matching gray
stone bank barn that Max used for storage. Altogether, the
showplace comprised five acres. There was a stream at the edge of
the property and plenty of mature trees to keep Ryan happy. He was
going to adore living here. So would she, for that matter. It was
surreal to think of living in this gorgeous house, even though she
spent a lot of time here. Maybe this odd feeling stemmed from the
thought of moving in with her business partner who would care for
her son while she was deployed.
    You didn’t really know a
person until you lived with them. Max would
see how neurotic she really was.
    Spuds made doggy-nose smudges on her
windows and barked in her ear. KC sighed before shoving her door
open. Spuds ran over her and into his new home as though this was
all perfectly normal.
    For that matter, Ryan didn’t seem to
be having difficulty adjusting to their move, either. Only she
displayed second thoughts, and third and fourth. Even Max was
happily directing his family in the placement of her things. He
appeared to be completely fine with her moving in and invading his
home.
    Just as that thought
interrupted, Max glanced up and grinned at her. That same heated
sensation tried to overtake her. What was
happening to her? Was this what insanity felt like?
    “ Thanks for the furniture.
And it’s great making these doofuses work,” he told her and
directed the