Just One Night Read Free Page B

clapped him on the back again
and hurried off to where his parents stood with some friends.
    Go big or go home.
    How many times had they said that to each
other on the playing field?   Too many times to count.
    But Nickie wasn’t a
game to be played.   Nickie was special to him and had been for some time.   Nickie was everything he could ever want in a
woman.   She was bright and
beautiful.   Caring and
honorable.   Incredibly
sexy, not that she seemed to know that.
    And he’d just gotten the green light to go
for it from his best friend.   From a man
he thought of as a brother.   Her brother.
    Slugging back the last sips of his bourbon,
he took a deep breath and rushed toward her.   He had only this one night to make it happen.
    He wasn’t going to waste another minute.   After all, a Marine never backed down from
even an impossible task.
    Not even an incredible and seemingly
unattainable challenge like Nickie .

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 3
    From the corner of her eye, Nickie caught a glimpse of her brother stalking from the
bar at the far edge of the great room and of Jase who
stayed rooted there, looking her way.   His square-cut jaw was tense and his lips were in a firm line.   Dimple-less.   His gaze was so . . . intense.
    A second later, Jase was marching in her direction, purpose in every long and powerful stride.
    He was clearly a man on a mission and her
heart sped up at the thought that she might be his intended target.
    “You must be very proud of your brother,”
said the older gentleman across from her.   He was a business associate of her father's and she forced her attention
back to him, smiled and nodded.
    “We are proud of him and I know Dad is very
excited that Tommy will be joining him in the family business.”
    “He's going for an MBA, isn't he?” the man's
wife asked just as Jase reached them.
    “Yes, yes he is,” she said, but stumbled with
her next words as Jase laid a possessive hand at the
small of her back.   “H-h-a- ave you met Lieutenant Hart?   He's an old family friend.”
    “Thank you for your service, Lieutenant
Hart,” the man said and Jason dipped his head gratefully.
    “Thank you, sir.   I hope you don't mind if I steal Nicole away
for a little bit.”
    Before she could protest, he exerted gentle
pressure at her back and urged her away from the couple and toward the French
doors leading outside.
    “What do you think you're doing?” she hissed
beneath her breath and plastered a smile on her face, trying not to attract too
much attention as he hurried them out the doors and to the large flagstone
terrace that ran along the back of the house.
    It was a beautiful early summer night and
many of their guests were gathered outside to enjoy the weather.   Various tables and chairs had been laid out
on the terrace and at the far end, a second bar had
been set up to serve drinks to the party-goers.   Luckily most people were gathered in that area as Jase led them toward the edge of the terrace.
    “You and I need to talk,” he said and urged
her to the lawn beyond the flagstone, but she dug in her three inch heels and
skidded to a stop.
    He faced her, a determined look on his
features.   He shifted his hand to her
waist and held her possessively.   His
touch punched the air from her lungs and awakened sharp need as she imagined
him urging her closer and closer until . . .
    “What do you think you're doing?” she
repeated to stop those too sexy thoughts.
    He glanced all around the terrace and his
lips thinned into a grim line again.   He
leaned near and whispered in her ear, “Not here, Nickie .   Please come with me somewhere private.”
    He moved his hand away from her waist and
slipped it into hers, twining his fingers with hers as
if afraid she'd pull away.   He tugged
gently, prodding her to follow him as he turned and strode toward the
beachfront.
    It was crazy to go , she thought,
but it was just as crazy not to explore where this night might