LITMIR.BIZ

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I wish,” Joe muttered. “But last time I checked there was no law against getting stuck with a spoiled, sexy teacher who has it in for me. Nor is it illegal to be called on to fill-in for a public affairs officer who needed emergency surgery and couldn’t lead this weekend excursion himself. The order isn’t illegal, just a pain in the butt.”

      “Did you mention that you haven’t been posted down there in North Carolina very long—”

      “Affirmative,” Joe interrupted him to confirm. “Tried that approach. Unsuccessful.”

      “You said the daughter wasn’t fond of you. Did you—?”

      “Point that out? Affirmative,” Joe again interrupted. “Deemed irrelevant by the C.O.”

      “Then I guess you’re stuck.”

      “Gee, thanks, that was real helpful, Blackwell,” Joe said sarcastically. “I’m so glad I called you.”

      Curt laughed. “Hey, anytime I can help, I’m just a phone call away.”

      Joe’s growl didn’t need translating.

      “You’re stuck, Wilder,” Curt said. “Make the most of it is my advice to you. Semper Gumby, buddy. Be flexible.”

      “Yeah, right.” Frustrated, Joe flipped the cover on his cellular phone and stared at the bag he had packed while talking to Curt. A Marine was always ready to leave, never knowing when some situation might require him to defend his country.

      What about defending his sanity? Joe wondered caustically, furious with himself for feeling the way he did. What was the procedure for that?

      He was a Marine, by God. There were no foxholes in the Marines. Foxholes are for those who want to hide. In the Marines they had fighting holes. There was no hiding in the Marines. He’d been trained to fight.

      His father and his grandfather had been Marines. He was part of a proud tradition—the few, the proud, the Marines.

      Joe glanced down at his watch. His allotted hour was almost up. Falling back on years of conditioning and training, he willed his misgivings away and completed packing with ruthless efficiency. The sooner he got started on this idiotic assignment, the sooner it would be over with.

      Joe Wilder was late. Prudence couldn’t believe it. Marines were rarely late. Commissioned officers or enlisted men—it didn’t matter. They tended to work with military precision. Especially those in her father’s command.

      Maybe Joe had chickened out? Yeah, right.

      Or maybe he’d come up with someone else to take his place? Yeah, right. As if he’d disobey an order.

      Or maybe that was him over there talking to Sinatra…

      Yes, it most certainly was.

      So why hadn’t Joe alerted her to his presence instead of letting her stand around like a doofus waiting for him? There was just something about him that set her teeth on edge.

      From the moment he’d walked into that conference room and flashed his confident smile at her, she’d known that this was a man used to getting his own way where women were concerned. She’d seen the type before.

      Yes, he was better looking than most men. And, yes, he had incredible blue eyes. But there was no way she was going to be swayed by a man in uniform. She’d been down that path before.

      Joe Wilder might not have been at the base very long, but already he had the reputation for being a heartbreaking daredevil. At one point his wild ways would have appealed to her, but she’d grown up since then and those days were long gone.

      Being stuck out in the wilds on the North Carolina mountains with a sexy Marine was one of her worst nightmares. That and spiders. She’d always been a sissy about spiders. Snakes and other bugs didn’t bother her one little bit. But spiders gave her the willies.

      Even a sexy Marine was better than getting stuck with spiders. Besides, the bottom line here was that she was immune to the charms of any man in a uniform. She’d been played for a fool once by Steven Banks, who had professed to love her but had really been looking to pay back her father. Steven, a commissioned Navy officer who’d gone to Annapolis, hadn’t appreciated the lukewarm performance evaluation her father, an enlisted man and a Marine to boot, had given him. So he’d gotten even by going after Prudence behind her father’s back.

      Prudence didn’t intend to make the same mistake twice by getting involved with another military man. She was currently dating a very nice teacher named George Rimes. He was quiet and studious. A birdwatcher. He’d wanted to accompany her this weekend but had had to return home to Iowa for a family wedding.

      And so she was stuck with Joe Wilder—who was as far off the high end of the masculinity spectrum as you could get from shy George.

      “Sergeant Wilder, are you ready to go?” Her voice reflected her impatience.

      “Yes, ma’am.”

      His words didn’t sound too convincing to her, although they were delivered in a Marine’s clipped voice. “Good.”

      She’d already run through the detailed checklist she had on her clipboard twice, covering everything from sleeping bags to sunblock, to make sure that none of her students had forgotten anything.

      She also had signed parental approval forms from everyone. She’d wanted to include a parent for the outing, but none had volunteered or even been willing to be drafted. Which left her and Joe Wilder as the only adults accompanying the five students. Of course, Joe was a Marine so that meant he probably counted as two adults…as least as far as he was concerned. Marines were nothing if not confident. “Then let’s get in the van, everyone.”

      Joe quickly stowed his gear in the back of the van, which was already packed tight, and then headed for the driver’s seat.

      “I’m driving,” Prudence informed him.

      “She’s a good driver,” Sinatra told Joe reassuringly. “For a teacher.”

      “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sinatra,” Prudence said. “Sergeant, you no doubt remember Sinatra, Rosa and Pete from the tour we took a short while ago.”

      Joe nodded. Sinatra was the one who’d taken pity on him, Pete was the whiz with facts and figures and Rosa was the one with the unusual questions. He didn’t recognize the other two kids, though. One was an Asian kid with a short buzz haircut and a silver earring in his left ear. The other was an African-American girl who was eyeing him with blatant skepticism while proudly wearing an I’m Mean And Green T-shirt. But then he hadn’t really been paying attention to the entire herd of kids. After the first minute or two their faces had blurred as he’d focused on maintaining his control.

      “This is Keishon Williams,” Prudence said, putting her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “And this is Gem Wong,” she added, turning to the boy with the earring.

      “Nice tattoo, sir,” Gem noted with a nod at the eagle on Joe’s upper arm.

      “Nice earring,” Joe said in return.

      The kid grinned, the flash of sunlight off his silver braces nearly blinding Joe. Time for more aspirin. His post-hangover headache was coming back. And the thought of being in the passenger seat while the sexy but infuriating teacher drove the van didn’t help improve his mood any.

      “I can drive,” Joe said, hoping against hope that she’d give in.

      “I’m sure you can,” she replied. “I heard about your motorcycle racing escapades.”

      “You race motorcycles? Awesome,” Pete asked.

      “You don’t trust me, ma’am?” Joe asked her.

      She sidestepped answering that one. “It’s my van. I’ll drive. That way, while we’re en route, Sergeant Wilder can give you some wilderness tips for our weekend.”

      “When

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