Free The Marine's Red Hot Homecoming by Christine Glover

often. He had a strong suspicion that the vegetarian, organic stuff she insisted on feeding Jason was the culprit.
    “Wonderful.” She swallowed hard before speaking again. “How much notice will you need before I schedule my night out on the town?”
    The word date rocked Caleb’s equilibrium. The sand beneath his feet felt like it might suck him down quick as liquid silver. He didn’t want Hannah to go out on a date. Still, he had no right to stop her. Nor would he win any points with her if pushed the issue. They weren’t a couple—yet. They certainly weren’t going to become one no matter how much he wanted her. Not as long as she had a strict no-more-military-men policy.
    But despite what his brain dictated, Caleb had to fight the sudden desire to go all-caveman on her. The only man he wanted to see dating her was him. How the hell was he supposed to change her mind about him if she found someone else first?
    ###
    “Okay, if you’re going to have a night out on the town, you’ve got to do it right,” Kennedy said as the guys cleared the patio table.
    Caleb picked up her plate and his muscular forearm corded with tension.
    “There’s a right way to go out on the town?” she asked, watching the sun slip behind the Smoky Mountains, turning the wisps of clouds vibrant shades of orange and yellow with a hint of red blazing at the edges. “When did that happen?”
    “Listen to her,” Shannon said. “It’s been far too long since you’ve gone out on a date.”
    “The last guy…” she didn’t finish explaining how tedious her last night out had been to her mother. Not with Caleb standing so close.
    “That was months ago. Time to give another man a shot.” Shannon stood, cradling Jason who had fallen asleep on her lap only minutes earlier. “I’ll put him down in the port-a-crib in the spare bedroom while you girls talk. Then I’m joining Kennedy’s parents in the living room for coffee.”
    “Ditto that,” Michael chimed, his fancy mechanical voice box speaking for him. “Hold the door, Mom. I need to talk to Zach about my next fund raising gig in New York.” He backed out of his seat area, maneuvering his cherry red riding wheelchair with finesse.
    Hannah waited for her mother and brother to exit the deck while Caleb moved around the table to gather the last of the dirty plates and platters. Why the heck didn’t he go inside with all the guys? Instead he lingered close to the table, pausing to look her way, and listening to Kennedy’s plans. Well, if he wanted to overhear Kennedy’s matchmaking attempts for her—and she was sure there were plenty of guys in her best friend’s mind about how to get her back into the dating game—then let him.
    Maybe a dose of reality would force him to realize that he shouldn’t have walked out on her two years ago. She’d moved on. Goodness knew her reawakened libido needed an outlet. Still, she doubted any man could live up to the standards Caleb had set in stone two years ago. Not after the few guys she’d dated failed to bring about any sparks.
    But there had to be someone out there for her. Someone stable like an accountant or a doctor or a nice banker. Not someone dangerous who had the risk of bringing constant fear back into her life. She sure as heck wasn’t going to cave to him. Not like she had two years ago when she’d tried to convince him to stay in Sweetbriar Springs. And certainly not now.
    “So there are rules,” she said resolutely. “Spill.”
    “A.” Kennedy enumerated her point by ticking it off on her fingers one at a time. “You can’t go out alone.”
    “That’s no problem.” She leaned back to make room for Caleb to remove her plate and cutlery. The heat of his body, so close and so tantalizingly tempting, suddenly made it very difficult to string two coherent thoughts together. “I’ll call Terry. We’ll check out that new bar that opened up a month ago.”
    Kennedy shook her head. “B. You have to go out with a