Her Marine Prince by Heather Long

Author:Heather Long
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Heather Long

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Hugh never thought of his life as all that interesting, yet Frankie seemed absorbed as he detailed his service. Editing out some of his more dangerous work, he soaked up her laughter when he shared tales about how he met her father and his time working with the Royal Marines. She sat sideways on the sofa, cross-legged with her bare feet tucked beneath her thighs. Dressed in an over-sized t-shirt and pajama bottoms, she seemed to have no idea how adorable she looked. No trace of cosmetics disguised her sunburnt face or the freckles on her nose. Her sleepy green eyes had grown sharper with every minute, as she woke from her sleep-rumpled state.

Every time he’d seen her in the house for meals or in the field, she’d always been put together and very self-possessed. Even filthy from the obstacle course or hot and sweaty, she hadn’t struck him as remotely ordinary. Elegance was not a word he often associated with anyone he trained, yet she’d been exactly that—elegant and graceful even slogging through mud.

Yet, in her cabin, rumpled from sleep and the picture of ordinary, her beauty held him captive. He should have delivered the pizza and beer then retreated to his own cabin. It had been his plan. When she hadn’t shown up for a meal and he confirmed with her security that she hadn’t gone out, worry that she wasn’t eating plagued him until he’d offered to get pizza for all of them. The men had agreed and even given him the specifics on what she liked.

But why was he sitting here enjoying the excuse to hang out with her? It was nearly eleven, and they’d been talking for two hours. Still, he didn’t want to call it a night. “So, after my father’s diagnosis, I came home to see what I could do to help out.”

“And you turned their farm into a camp?” The amazement filtering through her words had him wanting to puff his chest out. “That’s a wonderful thing to do for your family as well as for all the people who come here.”

“It’s what I’m good at…” The admission cost him nothing. “Leaving the Marines was a hard choice to make, but training people and being a Marine are what I know. I’m lucky.”

“Fortune favors the hard worker. You make your own luck.” Determination punctuated her statement. “It’s odd, this is a discussion my sisters and I have had before. We didn’t ask to be born into our family or for all the things that have happened. One of my cousins calls it an accident of DNA, but it shouldn’t define us. Our choices should. Who we are is not just a product of birth but of effort and desire. You wanted to do what was right for your parents, you’re a good son and you’re using the skills you’ve learned to supplement your choices. I think it’s very admirable.”

No one had ever phrased it that way, and her rendering the statement left him speechless.

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