Marine Ever After (Always a Marine) by Heather Long Read Free Book Online Page B

Freezing, she stole a glance over her shoulder and waited until he settled, before slipping out from beneath the covers and off the bed.
    Finding her bra and panties took a bit of work. The first sat on the dresser, but the other turned out to be under the bed. She felt a bit ridiculous, her hose was still on, but she’d apparently ripped one sometime between stripping for him and his delicious assault on her senses. Shivering with desire, she sighed.
    Crawling back into bed and waking him up sounded so good.
    Bad idea. Get your clothes and go. No muss. No fuss. No awkward morning-after conversations . The sensible thing to do, particularly when their one night was just that. A one-night stand—an erotic, sensual, fantastic one-night stand she would remember with a smile. Wedding fever—it happened to everyone.
    Okay, it’s never happened to me, but I’ve certainly seen these hook-ups enough to put it into perspective . Dragging her gaze away from the man candy in the bed, she found her dress and scanned the room. Her purse and shoes were by the front door. She climbed into her dress and zipped it in the living room. Finger combing her hair would suffice, especially while fighting the craving to dive back into the bed and explore. Again.
    It was just after eight in the morning. Her chances of running into other people rose with every passing minute. Unclipping her garters, and stripping off her hose, she stuffed them into her purse, grabbed her shoes and hesitated at the door.
    Should she leave him a note? In college, one-night stands ended with one or both darting out for class. There really wasn’t time for social protocol. Did that change in adulthood?
    How sad is it that I have no idea? Guilt nibbled at her. It didn’t seem right to leave without a word, but if she did say or write something, wouldn’t that imply she wanted him to stay in touch? Or some kind of expectancy? She tossed the idea back and forth.
    “Screw it,” she muttered and glanced around his living room. It was pretty barren of personal objects, but then he mentioned being on leave and borrowing the apartment for the duration of his stay. How personal could he make it? And unless she wanted to open drawers and be nosy, she didn’t see anything resembling a pen and a pad of paper.
    Text message . That would be the simplest solution. She fished her phone out of her purse and scowled. She didn’t have his number. His uniform lay neatly on the back of a chair where he’d set it after stripping. Poking through his pockets was not an option. Okay, no easy way to leave a note, so…gotta go .
    She let herself out of the apartment and glanced around to get her bearings. He’d carried her all the way in the dark. Heading right, she followed the path toward the greenbelt. They’d come right through one from the reception hall. Sure enough, she found the parking lot and grimaced at the rough pavement under her bare feet.
    Her car, parked by its lonesome, stuck out like a sore thumb. She’d left it there prior to riding to the ceremony with the other bridesmaids because she needed a way to get home. Fortunately, no one witnessed her quick escape and she was on the road minutes later.
    First stop, Starbucks. Second stop, her apartment and a much-needed shower and change of clothes. Her phone rang while she waited in the drive-thru and she glanced down at the screen.
    The hospital.
    Lillianna groaned. Ignoring the temptation not to answer, she answered the cell. “Hansen.”
    “Lillianna, it’s Jodi.” The clinical nurse specialist in charge of ER scheduling. “I know I promised I wouldn’t call and you had the wedding….”
    “It’s okay.” Not really, but she wouldn’t snap at Jodi. Lillianna had all of fifteen hours off shift, it wasn’t the other nurse’s fault that she got less sleep than planned or spent the night having wild monkey sex with the talented and way-too-attractive Marine. “What’s up?”
    “We’ve got three more