Nine Marines' Shared Property - Nicole Casey Page 0,30

pull me in for a kiss. But in the distance I saw Manny and Taylor walking our way. I pointed. “Reinforcements.”

I hadn’t gotten around to telling Gwen about our upcoming deployment. I didn’t know how. Taylor didn’t waste any time. After saying hi and giving her a kiss, he came right out with the news.

Gwen took it better than I’d expected—at least outwardly it appeared she was taking it well.

Manny softened the blow by telling her about a Halloween party he’d been invited to, that we’d all been invited to. He must have just been invited that morning because it was news to me. ‘A fancy masquerade ball this weekend,’ was how he put it.

Gwen accepted the invitation immediately. She asked if she could invite her roommate. Manny said he’d have to check with his friend, but he didn’t think it would be a problem. Unfortunately, I had to get back to the base.

I kissed Gwen goodbye. “I’ll see you soon,” I said.

“This weekend,” she replied with a smile. “At the masquerade ball.”

I jogged back to the base with the taste of her lips still lingering on my tongue and the excitement of seeing her this weekend coursing through my entire body.

13

Gwen

When Travis texted me saying Holly was welcome at the masquerade ball, I phoned her with the good news.

“When? This Saturday?” she asked.

“Yes. Please say you’ll go with me.”

“A costume party with plenty of hot guys: I’ll have to think about it,” she said.

“Well, get back to me when—”

“I’ve thought about it,” she interrupted. “I’m definitely going.”

“Great! It’s going to be so much fun. And you’ll get to meet my Marines.”

“Looking forward to it.”

As excited as I was, I still found something to worry about—old habits die hard. “We only have three days to get costumes.”

“Leave that to me,” she said.

I could practically hear her grinning over the phone.

Saturday afternoon was generally a busy time for the cafe. But with Holly leaving for Mexico soon, and with the masquerade ball that night, I decided I was going to take the weekend off. Jenny had a friend who was looking for work. Perfect timing. Business was booming. I could use another girl. I hired her sight unseen.

When Holly, late riser, finally got up that Saturday morning, she was surprised to find me in the kitchen.

“Good morning,” she said. “Not going to the cafe?”

I shook my head. “Brunch at home with my roommate!”

“Smells great. Do we have everything we need?”

“I’m making French toast. We have fresh fruits, bacon, eggs, honey. All good.”

“Orange juice?” she asked.

“Check.”

“Champagne?”

I frowned. “No champagne, I’m afraid.”

“It’s not brunch without mimosas,” she said. “I’ll run to the store. Do we need anything else?”

I turned in circles, opened the refrigerator and took another look inside. “No, we’re all set.”

“I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”

Her timing was perfect: twenty minutes on the dot. And in that time, I’d set the table on the balcony and had prepared all the food—too much food, perhaps. I was in the habit of getting carried away with the cooking when I was excited. And I was definitely very excited that morning.

Holly poured the orange juice and champagne, and we raised our glasses. “To Gwen and Holly,” she said, “may their lives be easy and their men hard.”

We clinked glasses. We drank and ate, drank some more and ate some more.

“So have you made any progress with your trust concerns?” asked Holly.

I chuckled. “Trust concerns is a generous way of putting it.”

“Let me rephrase that then. Have you made any progress regarding your raging jealousy and paranoia-fueled anxiety issues with your Marines?”

“That’s more like it,” I said. “And yes, I’m happy to report, I have, in fact, made progress.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Do tell.”

“Well, they are heading off on a six-month deployment.”

She frowned. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. It’s actually a good thing. We can have fun. And when they leave, well, that’s my ‘out’.”

She furrowed her brow. “Do you want out?”

“I don’t know, honestly. But that’s the good thing about their deployment, I don’t have a choice.”

“And not having a choice is a good thing? I don’t follow.”

“It will give me time to think. You know. We can have fun for the next few weeks, and then they’ll be gone, and I’ll have time to put things in perspective.”

Holly didn’t look convinced.

“Look,” I said in my matter of fact tone of voice, “I don’t know if I want a relationship; I don’t know if