Read Online Amanda's Blue Marine by Doreen Owens Malek - Free Book Online
Authors: Doreen Owens Malek
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of a challenge, but she had been dumped on him by his boss and the experience had proven to be very different from what he’d expected.
She surprised him every day. She was open and honest and, this was the big shock, not a snob. He had expected a chilly, well financed socialite and instead he had gotten a real person, a flesh and blood woman who was whip smart and very pretty, true, but also frightened and uncertain. And the biggest surprise was that she liked him a lot and was very attracted to him.
He might not be Einstein, but he was never wrong about that.
The situation was a recipe for disaster. He had taken this assignment while trying to get ahead in his career, but that objective had gone out the window once he met her. She appealed to him way too much. And there was the additional element of wanting to protect her, which was becoming more and more important to him every day.
It didn’t help that she was so…kind. If she had apologized to him once more about her hissy snit in the car, perfectly understandable once he’d heard the backstory, he would have kissed her to silence her. Sophisticated young ladies like her had rarely cared much about hurting his feelings, and the fact that she did care touched him in a way that he knew was dangerous.
He had also told her way too much after her accident. Chattiness had never been his affliction, but he could still hear himself yammering away to her about his tactical class in the Marines and the waitress who was serving them. What the hell was wrong with him? He never talked about his past or his personal life, yet whenever he spent five minutes of free time with Amanda he ran off at the mouth like a pageant contestant at a press conference.
What he didn’t want to admit, even to himself, was that he talked to her because he could feel that she was actually interested in him. She was the audience no one could resist: genuine appreciation.
Kelly edged the car forward when the light changed. He knew he was trapped. Manning would blow sky high if Kelly did the slightest thing to upset the lieutenant’s carefully crafted plan, so he had no choice but to go through with it.
He would have to be very careful, though.
And he would have to ditch the perfumed coat.
* * * * *
Amanda sat on the sofa in her living room and remained there for a long time. It took a while for her hands to stop shaking after Kelly left, and even longer for the residue of his touch to fade from her consciousness. She had noticed that during their time together in his office he was always very careful to touch her as little as possible; he stepped around her gingerly as if she were encircled by a ring of fire. But today he had covered her hand with his at the cafe, and then clasped her to him, too briefly, when they were laughing. And he had touched her hair.
She knew that she was regressing badly when she kept replaying those moments in her mind, as if nursing a junior high crush.
She finally got up and went into the bedroom, moving past the panda picture on the floor. That episode had been pretty funny; she could still feel him shaking with silent laughter, feel the rough cloth of his jacket against her skin.
She sighed. Enough of that. Time to take a shower and put Detective Kelly out of her mind.
If she could.
3
The next week passed unproductively, leaving Mandy feeling guilty again for wasting everyone’s time and Kelly feeling frustrated at his inability to make any progress. They went through the motions of examining records but Mandy could sense a sea change in his attitude toward her. He was distant and preoccupied, still always polite and never impatient, but the personal connection she’d made with him on the day of the accident was gone.
He was pulling back from her, deliberately keeping his distance, probably annoyed with himself for being so open with her.
Mandy knew why he was doing it but she was still hurt. He saw her confusion and puzzlement at
She surprised him every day. She was open and honest and, this was the big shock, not a snob. He had expected a chilly, well financed socialite and instead he had gotten a real person, a flesh and blood woman who was whip smart and very pretty, true, but also frightened and uncertain. And the biggest surprise was that she liked him a lot and was very attracted to him.
He might not be Einstein, but he was never wrong about that.
The situation was a recipe for disaster. He had taken this assignment while trying to get ahead in his career, but that objective had gone out the window once he met her. She appealed to him way too much. And there was the additional element of wanting to protect her, which was becoming more and more important to him every day.
It didn’t help that she was so…kind. If she had apologized to him once more about her hissy snit in the car, perfectly understandable once he’d heard the backstory, he would have kissed her to silence her. Sophisticated young ladies like her had rarely cared much about hurting his feelings, and the fact that she did care touched him in a way that he knew was dangerous.
He had also told her way too much after her accident. Chattiness had never been his affliction, but he could still hear himself yammering away to her about his tactical class in the Marines and the waitress who was serving them. What the hell was wrong with him? He never talked about his past or his personal life, yet whenever he spent five minutes of free time with Amanda he ran off at the mouth like a pageant contestant at a press conference.
What he didn’t want to admit, even to himself, was that he talked to her because he could feel that she was actually interested in him. She was the audience no one could resist: genuine appreciation.
Kelly edged the car forward when the light changed. He knew he was trapped. Manning would blow sky high if Kelly did the slightest thing to upset the lieutenant’s carefully crafted plan, so he had no choice but to go through with it.
He would have to be very careful, though.
And he would have to ditch the perfumed coat.
* * * * *
Amanda sat on the sofa in her living room and remained there for a long time. It took a while for her hands to stop shaking after Kelly left, and even longer for the residue of his touch to fade from her consciousness. She had noticed that during their time together in his office he was always very careful to touch her as little as possible; he stepped around her gingerly as if she were encircled by a ring of fire. But today he had covered her hand with his at the cafe, and then clasped her to him, too briefly, when they were laughing. And he had touched her hair.
She knew that she was regressing badly when she kept replaying those moments in her mind, as if nursing a junior high crush.
She finally got up and went into the bedroom, moving past the panda picture on the floor. That episode had been pretty funny; she could still feel him shaking with silent laughter, feel the rough cloth of his jacket against her skin.
She sighed. Enough of that. Time to take a shower and put Detective Kelly out of her mind.
If she could.
3
The next week passed unproductively, leaving Mandy feeling guilty again for wasting everyone’s time and Kelly feeling frustrated at his inability to make any progress. They went through the motions of examining records but Mandy could sense a sea change in his attitude toward her. He was distant and preoccupied, still always polite and never impatient, but the personal connection she’d made with him on the day of the accident was gone.
He was pulling back from her, deliberately keeping his distance, probably annoyed with himself for being so open with her.
Mandy knew why he was doing it but she was still hurt. He saw her confusion and puzzlement at
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