A Marine for Christmas (Hearts Ablaze: Men in Uniform) by Makenna Jameison Read Free Book Online Page B

spending the afternoon with Michael.  He’d offered her the tickets to their honeymoon in Hawaii, and after initially yelling at him, saying of course she didn’t want to go, she’d eventually agreed to keep them.  Who didn’t get insurance on a huge trip like that, she wondered.  She couldn’t decide if it was incredibly sad or the perfect revenge to go on their honeymoon without him.  She could bring one of her girlfriends with her.  Or maybe her sister.  They’d live it up and enjoy nice dinners out, long days at the beach, and all the activities she and Michael had already signed up for—snorkeling, a sunset cruise.  Or maybe she should just go alone and hope for the best.  Assuming she was even ready to attempt to move on two months from now.
    Melissa sighed, thinking of how differently the year was ending from the way she’d planned it.   She bit her lip and sank down onto her bed as tears filled her eyes.  She’d tried to put up a good front yesterday—both in front of Michael and later in front of her friends—but despite the façade she’d built up, inside her heart was still breaking.
     
    ***
     
    Jason opened the front door and was surprised to see a plate of cookies sitting on his front porch.  He thought he’d heard the doorbell ringing, but when he’d stopped hammering the bookshelf that he was putting together in his office, the house had been completely silent.  It was only after he stopped for a break half an hour later that he remembered someone may have come by.  A smile came to his face as he realized that the plate of cookies was from Amy.  There was no note—she’d probably assumed she’d find him at home since his car was in the driveway.
    Carrying the plate into the kitchen, he sampled a bite of one before walking back to the front door.  He jogged across the street and rang the doorbell at Amy’s house.  As she opened it, the blast of warm air and scent of cookies overwhelmed him.  Her welcoming little home was a far cry from his own.  He’d been there for months and was still assembling his furniture.
    Amy appeared from behind the front door, wearing jeans and a hot pink tee shirt.  Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her cheeks flushed, and her lips a luscious, rosy shade.
    “Hi,” she said brightly, a smile coming to her face at the sight of him.
    “Sorry I missed you earlier.  I was upstairs putting together some furniture.  I just wanted to say thank you for the cookies.”
    “Oh, no problem.   Thank you for coming to my rescue last night.”
    “Any time.  Well, I don’t want to intrude—I’m sure you’re in the middle of baking.  I just thought I’d run over and thank you in person while I had a chance.”
    “Yeah, I’ve still got more baking to do.  Apple pies are up next.  I think I’ll need to do a lot more running after the bake sale tomorrow,” she added with a laugh.
    Jason glanced down at her slender frame with an amused smile.  She certainly looked amazing to him, but if experience had taught him anything, it was that complementing a woman you barely knew about her looks didn’t usually go over that well.  Not the type of women that he seemed to like anyway.  Amy’s friend Red probably wouldn’t have a problem with anyone lavishing her with complements—whether she knew them or not.  He raised his eyes back up, perhaps letting them linger a moment too long on her firm, full breasts, but quickly met her eyes once more.
    Amy hadn’t seemed to notice, and if she did, wasn’t letting on.  “You’ve been around a lot this weekend,” she commented.  “I don’t usually run into you.”
    “I travel a lot on the weekends,” he explained.  He didn’t add that he was often going to see his young son.  He knew Amy loved children, being a preschool teacher, but it seemed too soon to overcomplicate things by bringing Brian up right now.  “I’m hoping to change that in the future, though.”
    “Oh, okay,” she