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The Marine's Kiss
Shirley Jump
Report Card for "Student": U.S. Marine Nathaniel Dole "
Teacher": Jenny Wright
SKILLS
Reading: The children have this tough soldier wrapped around their little fingers. It's obvious the children hang on his every word. What more could a womaner, a teacher, ask for?
Speaking: Nate's knack for downplaying his heroic past makes him even more fascinating for the childrenand their teacher.
AREAS THAT NEED IMPROVEMENT
Interaction with Others: It's clear that he's nearly healed, but Nate continues to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself. Perhaps he needs after-school tutoring and a little TLC?
Physical Education: What's a woman got to do to get one little kiss? Maybe after the tutoring sessions…
“Are you telling me you aren’t interested in me anymore? Not at all?”
“No.”
“Liar,” Nate said.
“Do you remember why we broke up?” Jenny’s voice was nearly a whisper in the busy hallway. “Because we were from totally different worlds. If you can tell me that’s changed, that you want to settle down in Mercy and make this your life, then maybe I’ll change my mind.”
Nate leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “Or maybe you’ve just made up that little condition because you’re afraid.”
“Me? Afraid? Of what?”
“Of getting involved. With me. Or anyone else. You’re not married. Or divorced. Or dating anyone that I know of. That tells me you’ve either become a recluse or you’re afraid of getting involved.”
She frowned. “This is neither the time nor the place to discuss this.”
“I agree. So let’s pick a time. When we can be alone.”
Dear Reader,
Working with talented writers is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job. And I’m especially pleased with this month’s lineup because these four authors capture the essence of Silhouette Romance. In their skillful hands, you’ll literally feel as if you’re riding a roller coaster as you experience all the trials and tribulations of true love.
Start off your adventure with Judy Christenberry’s The Texan’s Reluctant Bride (#1778). Part of the author’s new LONE STAR BRIDES miniseries, a career woman discovers what she’s been missing when Mr. Wrong starts looking an awful lot like Mr. Right. Patricia Thayer continues her LOVE AT THE GOODTIME CAFÉ with Familiar Adversaries (#1779). In this reunion romance, the hero and heroine come from feuding families, but they’re about to find out there really is just a thin line separating hate from love! Stop by the BLOSSOM COUNTY FAIR this month for Teresa Carpenter’s Flirting with Fireworks (#1780). Just don’t get burned by the sparks that fly when a fortune-teller’s love transforms a single dad. Finally, Shirley Jump rounds out the month with The Marine’s Kiss (#1781). When a marine wounded in Afghanistan returns home, he winds up helping a schoolteacher restore order to her classroom…but finds her wreaking havoc to his heart!
And be sure to watch for more great romances next month when Judy Christenberry and Susan Meier continue their miniseries.
Happy reading,
Ann Leslie Tuttle
Associate Senior Editor
The Marine’s Kiss
Shirley Jump
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To all the men and women who serve our country with honor, giving their lives to protect the freedom we all cherish. And especially to my father and husband, two military heroes who make me proud every day.
Books by Shirley Jump
Silhouette Romance
* (#litres_trial_promo)The Virgin’s Proposal #1641
* (#litres_trial_promo)The Bachelor’s Dare #1700
* (#litres_trial_promo)The Daddy’s Promise #1724
Her Frog Prince #1746
Kissed by Cat #1757
* (#litres_trial_promo)The Marine’s Kiss #1781
SHIRLEY JUMP
spends her days writing romantic comedies with sweet attitude to feed her shoe addiction and avoid housework. A wife and mother of two, her real life helps her maintain her sense of humor. She swears that if she didn’t laugh, she’d be fatally overcome by things like uncooperative llamas at birthday parties and chipmunks in the bathroom. When she isn’t writing, Shirley’s either eating or shopping. Or on a really good day, doing both at the same time.
Her first novel for Silhouette, The Virgin’s Proposal, won the Bookseller’s Best Award in 2004. Though she framed the award, it didn’t impress the kids enough to make them do the dishes more often. In fact, life as a published author is pretty much like life as it was before, except now Shirley conveniently pulls a deadline out of thin air whenever the laundry piles up.
Read excerpts, see reviews or learn more about Shirley at www.shirleyjump.com (http://www.shirleyjump.com).
Should I or shouldn’t I get involved with U.S. Marine—and homegrown hero—Nathaniel Dole?
PROS
Gorgeous!
Sexy!
He makes my heart beat superfast whenever he’s around
Loves children
Didn’t make fun of me for kissing a pig…will I ever live that incident down?
Stood up for me at school in front of administration—he is a hero!
Loves his family—a1nd they live here, too
CONS
Keeps his feelings hidden…then again, so do I, sort of…
Can’t tell how he feels about me, but I think he really likes me
I’m afraid he’ll break my heart when he leaves again…
Contents
Chapter One (#ufba9c6d6-117d-59bc-a9fd-952ab5fca82f)
Chapter Two (#ucfcd05c9-80ed-56c1-a9b6-b17d5312ac44)
Chapter Three (#u006c6bd1-041a-53d2-a8fc-f041fe5705a6)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One
The pig refused to cooperate, creating a problem bigger than Green Acres and Big Valley put together. Jenny Wright needed to kiss this piece of pork in the next two and a half minutes so she could usher her third-graders back inside—before the principal caught her necking with a mammal on the school lawn on a Friday afternoon.
Dr. Margaret Davis was from the old school and didn’t think Jenny’s rewards program for her students’ achievements did much more than waste time. Everyone in town knew the principal was hoping to be appointed superintendent next year, so she’d been cracking down on anything that made her—or her school—look bad. Jenny doubted Dr. Davis would like the pig much.
Heck, even she didn’t like it much right now, and she’d hired it to be her pucker partner.
“Come on over here, Reginald,” she whispered to the rotund pink animal. “One quick kiss and then you can go back to the farm. Nice bowl of slop waiting for you, I hear.”
Reginald grunted, plopping down onto the new spring grass. He heaved a sigh and closed his eyes.
The circle of third-graders around Jenny began to laugh at the recalcitrant swine. Kissing a pig as a challenge to the kids to read one hundred books before the end of spring term had sounded like a great idea two and a half months ago, when Reginald was wallowing on a farm far away. But now that the pot-bellied three-hundred-pound beast was actually here, he didn’t look very appealing.
She’d never be able to eat bacon again, that was for sure.
“Go on, Miss Wright, kiss him!” Jimmy said.
“Kiss the pig! Kiss the pig!” The chant spread through the twenty-five kids like a verbal wave. The April breeze carried it across the school lawn, into the open windows, bringing a few heads out to see what was happening.
She’d made a promise and she’d stick to it. If there was one thing Jenny Wright did, it was keep her promises. Especially to her students.
She tamped down the wave of nausea in her stomach, then came around to Reginald’s face, got down on her knees in her black capris and, before she could think about what she was about to do, pressed her lips to Reginald’s velvety snout.
He snarled, jerked awake and backed up quickly. Then he let out a squeal and dashed toward the bright pink “Animals Where You Want ’Em” truck. His handler, Ed Spangler, a tall man in overalls and a straw hat, laughed and helped Reginald up the ramp and into the back of the truck. He shut the door, then circled to the front. “Old Reginald hasn’t moved that fast in ten years. Must be one heck of a pucker you got there.”
“Gee, thanks. I think.” Jenny dug her check out of her pocket. “Here you go.”
“Oh, no need to pay me, ma’am. I haven’t laughed that much in ages. Plus, the paper got a snapshot of your date with Reginald. I’d say that free publicity makes us about even.” Ed gestured toward a young man holding a camera and standing across the street. “I thought this might make a good story, so I called the Mercy Daily News myself.” He thumbed the strap of his overalls and nodded.
“This is going to be in the paper?” Oh Lord, her career was over. Might as well start scouring the Help Wanted section now. If there was anything Dr. Davis disliked more than Jenny’s unconventional teaching methods, it was publicity about Jenny’s teaching methods.
A tension headache began to pound in her temples. She pressed her hands to her head, then tucked her hair behind her ears. She would deal with this later. Preferably after a lot of Tylenol and a huge platter of nachos.
Stuffing the check back into her pocket, she spun on her heel and flapped her arms at her class like a mother goose. “Come on, children, back inside.”
“Miss Wright, what’d the pig taste like?” Jimmy Brooks asked.
“Yeah, was he all boogers and slime?” Alex Herman had a fascination with all things nasal. He’d even fashioned a nose for his clay project in art class.
“Eww, Alex. That is so gross.” Lindsay Williams made a face and took a step away from him. “Miss Wright wouldn’t really kiss a slimy pig anyway. She has taste.”
“In what?”
Lindsay shrugged. “I dunno. In animals, I guess.”
Not in men, Jenny thought. As far as love lives went, she’d be willing to bet Reginald had better luck than she did. Finding a man wasn’t high on her priority list right now anyway, not while she was so consumed with her class. All relationships did was complicate her life. Jenny had had enough complications to last her until she was eighty.
“Okay, that’s enough. We need to get back to work.” Jenny pulled open the outside door to her classroom and led the children inside. They took their seats, amid a steady stream of pig chatter and chair squeaking. Then she moved to the front of the room and clapped her hands. After a moment, the children quieted down and faced her. As always, a small thrill of triumph ran through her when her class ran like clockwork. To Jenny, a civilized and orderly class proved she was doing a good job. “Now, you all have done a wonderful job on the first level of the reading challenge. But, we still have a ways to go.”
The class let out a collective groan.
“I’m willing to make it fun,” Jenny said. “If you’re willing to put in the work.”
“Are you going to dye your hair green this time? I really liked the pink,” Jimmy piped up.
“Uh, no. Not this time,” Jenny said. Dr. Davis had nearly gone into cardiac arrest when she’d seen the fuchsia hair Jenny had sported as a first-quarter class incentive.
“How about making us another giant ice cream sundae?” Lindsay rubbed her belly. “I didn’t eat dinner at all that day.”
Lindsay’s mother hadn’t been happy about that either. She’d called Dr. Davis to complain, resulting in another black mark on Jenny’s teaching record. “Er, no, no sundaes.”
“Well, what then?” the class asked.
Jenny put on a bright, work-with-me smile. “We could read just for the fun of it!”
