Her Sexy Marine Valentine

A Sexy Marine Neighbor?

Oorah!

The sight of the gorgeous, ripped military man across the street heats Mari McGuire from head to toe—and a whole lot in between. Yes, sir, she definitely has a case of Hot Marine Syndrome. And when First Lieutenant Brody Williams rescues her from an awkward run-in with her ex by pretending to be her boyfriend, Mari can confirm she’s got it bad...

Of course, they’re friends first, and friends help each other out. Mari needs a hand renovating the old Victorian house she just bought and Brody needs a girlfriend to secure his promotion. It’s the perfect temporary arrangement—and then there’s the sizzling chemistry. It’s wickedly racy. It’s addictive. But neither of them expects Cupid’s arrow to aim for their hearts!

Brody grabbed his tools and winked at her.

“Seems silly for you to get cleaned up only to get dirty again...” she said.

Dirty. Why did everything out of Mari’s mouth sound like sexual innuendo?

Because of the kiss and you were tight against Brody’s—

Stop it.

She pushed away the thoughts of stripping off his tank and running her hands across his tight abs. Far, far away.

“Right. Tile.” She gestured toward the staircase, so that he could get started.

“Cool.” He stepped past her and headed on up. “Where am I going?”

“Bathroom. Second door on the right.” The man’s butt as he climbed the stairs was a sight to behold.

No, this wasn’t going to be a bad idea at all...

Dear Reader,

This story, along with the two more in this series, was inspired by a group of Marines I saw in the airport in Dallas one day. They were sitting around—men and women, laughing and giving each other a hard time. Turns out they were heading home (I might have eavesdropped a little). I don’t know where they’d been, but it sent my imagination into overdrive, and I started writing furiously in my notebook.

I also have an addiction to HGTV. And those two things, the Marines and remodeling a house, sort of came together in my head. That’s how Brody came to be the handsome Marine who lives across the street from Mari, the heroine. While he’s far from perfect, he can fix almost anything—maybe even Mari’s broken heart.

I’d like to thank those Marines for inspiring me, and to all of the servicemen and women who put their lives on the line to protect our freedom.

I would love to hear from you. You can follow me on Twitter, @candacehavens, and Facebook, facebook.com/candace.havens.7, or visit me at candacehavens.com.

Candace

Her Sexy Marine Valentine

Candace Havens

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CANDACE “CANDY” HAVENS is a bestselling and award-winning author. She is a two-time RITA® Award, Write Touch Reader and Holt Medallion finalist. She is also a winner of the Barbara Wilson Award. Candy is a nationally syndicated entertainment columnist for FYI Television. A veteran journalist, she has interviewed just about everyone in Hollywood. You can hear Candy weekly on New Country 96.3 KSCS in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area.

Jill Marsal, thank you for your patience and for hangin’ tight. You are awesomeness.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

Extract

Copyright

1

LIEUTENANT BRODY WILLIAMS dumped a bag of tortilla chips in his grocery cart and tried not to wince when the wheels squeaked. The headaches were less intense since the crash, but he still had them daily. That level of pain, paired with the dreams that had him waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, had left him feeling rotten for months. If he took the drugs the doctors gave him, he couldn’t fly, so he ran for miles every day and drank more coffee than any man should.

He added salsa to his cart. A hobby, that’s what he needed, something that would keep him busy and the memories at bay. Fixing up his rented house was almost complete. New projects—that would do it. He was about to turn the corner when he saw the familiar red head.

Shoot. His CO’s daughter was walking down the frozen food section.

Why does she always seem to turn up wherever I am?

He’d met her at a reception his boss threw a few weeks ago. At first, he’d thought she was pretty, but then discovered she was the boss’s daughter. Hands off that one. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to understand that dating her wasn’t even a remote possibility for him. His boss was already an aggravation, he didn’t need to be adding to it by taking out the man’s daughter.

Turning his cart quickly, he headed the opposite way. A woman plus a couple were blocking his escape. He stood off to one side pretending to look at the different brands of coffee.

“Marigold, I’d like you to meet my beautiful fiancée, Annalise. She’s a model,” the man said. “She’s been in a ton of magazines.” His tone was snide and Brody felt sorry for Marigold.

“Fiancée? But we only broke up two months ago,” she said. “I mean, congrats and all, but that’s kind of fast.” The voice was familiar to Brody, smooth and rich like honey.