Cinderella's Sweet-Talking Marine Read online

“I thought Earl checked him out for you and said he was a good guy. No arrests or stuff like that.”

  “He feels sorry for me.”

  Latesha frowned. “Earl?”

  “No, Ben. That’s why he proposed. Because he promised my brother he’d look out for me,” she repeated to make her point.

  “So you’re saying there’s absolutely no chemistry at all between you and Ben?” Latesha returned to her earlier question.

  Ellie blushed.

  “Aha!” Cyn’s grin was triumphant. “I thought so.”

  Ellie hurriedly tried to recover lost ground. “Chemistry isn’t everything.”

  “Maybe not, but it sure counts for a lot.”

  They were interrupted by the arrival of their boss.

  “You girls got nothing better to do?” JayJay demanded. “Get a move on. Move your butts on out there, I’ve got customers waiting!” Latesha and Cyn hurried off but Jay-Jay stepped in front of Ellie, preventing her from following them. “Not you. Get in my office. I want to talk to you.”

  “What about the waiting customers?” There were only two people in the entire place, but Ellie was in no hurry for a one-on-one with JayJay. The slight slur in his voice told her that he’d already started drinking, even though it was still early afternoon.

  “If you want to keep your job you better not give me any more lip unless you’re French kissin’ me.”

  She reluctantly followed JayJay into his small office.

  The place was a mess. But that was normal. He had piles of papers covering his desk, while the walls were covered with naked pinups of busty women from calendars. Since JayJay was a chain-smoker, the room was filled with a blue haze. That, mixed with the powerful scent of his too-generous application of cheap aftershave, combined with the ever-present smell of onions that permeated the place was enough to turn her stomach.

  But it was the lascivious look in his eyes that really made her feel ill. She’d managed so far to keep her distance from his roving hands, but she had a sinking feeling her time to avoid his groping was up.

  “Sit down.”

  She shook her head. “That’s okay…”

  “I said, sit down.” His voice was harsh.

  She sat.

  Instead of going to the chair behind his desk, he perched on the corner, effectively pinning her in the straight plastic chair between his open thighs. “Ever since you started working here, you act like you’re above everyone else.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way.” Her voice was ultra-polite.

  “I don’t think you show me the proper respect you should be showing your boss. A woman like you, dumped by her husband, with a snotty-nosed kid to support, you’d think you’d be more appreciative of the favor I did you by letting you work here.” He reached out to wind a strand of her hair around his finger.

  Ellie tried not to shudder in revulsion even as she leaned as far away from him as she could. “I do appreciate this job.”

  “Then act like it.” He grabbed her chin and raised it. “Show me a little appreciation. You’re a good-looking woman.” He lowered his hand to her shoulder. “You’ve got assets.” His hand moved to cup her breast but she shoved him aside and leapt to her feet.

  “This really isn’t appropriate, Mr. Lange!”

  “You mean because I’m married? Don’t worry about it. What the little woman don’t know won’t hurt her.”

  “I mean because you’re my boss. And this is sexual harassment. It’s illegal.”

  “You think I care? My brother is the police chief. If I say you came on to me, he’s going to believe me. So don’t try using that high-and-mighty voice with me. I’ve had it with your uppity ways. The way I see it, you’ve got a choice here—” he yanked her into his arms “—you can mend your ways and be a lot nicer to Jay-Jay or you can get another job.”

  Ellie desperately evaded his groping hands and foul-smelling mouth. He held her so tightly that she was sure she’d have bruises. “Let me go!”

  “I like a feisty woman,” he slurred, his wet lips slobbering across her cheek. His hands had a choke hold on her throat.

  She reacted instinctively, instructions from a free self-defense class she’d attended at the local public library coming back to her. She shoved his pinky fingers away from her, before lifting her knee to hit him where he was most vulnerable. Then she stomped down on his foot for good measure.

  His howl of outrage was enough to send Earl racing in. “What’s going on in here? You okay?” The bartender’s worried gaze rested on Ellie.

  “What are you looking at her for?” JayJay shouted. “The slut attacked me! I think she broke my fingers. Call the police. I’m going to have her charged with assault.”

  “I don’t think you want to do that,” Earl said. “Think how it would look if word got out that you’d been beaten by a girl.”

  “You’re right. I won’t press charges. But I am firing you.” JayJay pointed at Ellie, his little eyes dark with malevolence. “Grab your stuff and get off the premises immediately.”

  “Hey, boss…”

  Earl was about to protest but Ellie put her hand on his arm. “Don’t.” There was no way she could keep working here after what had just transpired. She’d have to find another job.

  She was a survivor. She’d manage. Without a knight charging to her rescue.

  “I’m sorry, we’re not looking for any additional help at this time.”

  Ellie had heard the same news, put one way or another, all afternoon as she checked with every restaurant in town. A review of the local newspaper’s want-ad section wasn’t encouraging either. Everything required experience or an education that she didn’t have.

  She picked Amy up from Frenchie’s a little earlier than usual.

  “Everything okay, ma chère?”

  Ellie waited until Amy was busy gathering up her toys before replying. “JayJay and I had a run-in at work. He fired me.”

  Frenchie cursed softly in both Spanish and French. “What are you going to do now?”

  “Find another job.”

  But that proved to be easier said than done. To make matters worse, Amy was upset by Ben’s absence. “Why can’t he tell me my story tonight?” She had her lower lip stuck out, a sure sign that a major pout was imminent.

  “Because he’s busy tonight.”

  “Is he coming to tell me my story tomorrow night?”

  “I don’t think so.” Ellie patted the bed. “Come on, I’ll read you Cinderella.”

  “Don’t want Cinderella. Want Lady Blush and Flamebo.”

  “Well, I can tell you about them.”

  “You don’t know the story, only Ben does.”

  “How about if I draw you a picture of Lady Blush and Flamebo?”

  “I want Ben!”

  Ellie finally got Amy to settle down, but it took a lot of time and energy. The next two days weren’t any better. Ellie had created a storybook of drawings she’d done of Ben’s characters. But they didn’t replace Ben in Amy’s eyes.

  Matters went further downhill when Tiny the Toyota sputtered and died. The battery was gone. Wouldn’t keep a charge at all.

  Ellie didn’t have enough money in the bank to pay for a new battery and her credit card was already maxed out. Worry and lack of sleep were making her groggy. But she couldn’t rest. She had to get a job. She’d been making the rounds all week and nothing. If she didn’t find something soon, she’d have to apply for unemployment benefits.

  To make matters worse, Amy had awakened earlier that morning with a case of the sniffles. She’d been lethargic and crabby all day. Ellie wasn’t sure if it was her cold or the fact that Amy was missing Ben.

  In the middle of that night, when Ellie first heard the sound, she didn’t know where she was for a moment or two. The crick in her neck and the smell of newsprint directly beneath her nose told her she must have fallen asleep while going through the want-ads of other area papers on the kitchen table.

  The noise came again
. The wheezing cough that every parent of an asthmatic child dreads hearing.

  Ellie hurried into Amy’s room. Her daughter’s sniffles had rapidly progressed into something much more, resulting in a full-blown asthma attack.

  When none of the usual treatments worked, Ellie knew what she had to do. She dialed 911.

  Twenty minutes later, Ellie was standing at the emergency room desk, filling out forms and trying not to panic at the realization that she had no health insurance since she was unemployed. Their physician was with Amy now, so she was in good hands. But her condition was serious. The ride in the ambulance had been harrowing. Ellie had to be strong for Amy, she had to hide her own fear and instead be bedrock solid for her frightened little girl.

  There was nothing worse than seeing your child suffering and not being able to do anything to make it better.

  And now here Ellie was, at rock bottom, trying to explain that she had no health insurance and that no, she didn’t have any other means to pay for the care Amy was getting. No job, no working car, no foreseeable light at the end of the tunnel.

  Ellie was close to collapse as the seriousness of their situation hit home with a vengeance. She’d been going for days on little sleep, worry keeping her awake.

  As a kid, Ellie had once been hit in the head with a baseball bat. That’s how she felt now. Lightheaded and dizzy, as if all the blood were draining from her body…

  “Ma’am, are you okay?” the nurse asked, clearly concerned. “You’re not going to pass out are you?”

  Ellie was hazily aware of a strong arm encircling her, pulling her close to rest against a broad masculine chest. “I’ve got you now.” Ben’s deep voice rumbled in her ear, offering instant comfort. “Everything is going to be okay.”

  “H-how did you know where we were?”

  “Frenchie called me. She saw the ambulance, saw them take you and Amy. I’d given her my cell number in case of an emergency.”

  Ellie knew what she had to do. There were times, and this was one of them, when giving in didn’t mean giving up. Sometimes it was the only way to keep going. “If your offer of marriage still stands, my answer is yes.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Are you sure?” Ben cupped the back of her head with his big hand.

  Ellie nodded.

  “You won’t regret it, I promise.” Ben’s gentle hug was one of tender reassurance. “You’re making the right decision.”

  Ellie couldn’t speak. Emotion clogged her throat.

  Yes, she was tough, and yes she was independent, but surely it wasn’t a crime to lean on someone else for a change?

  She closed her eyes for a second and tried to regroup her strength.

  As she did so, she vaguely heard Ben informing the nurse that he’d be responsible for any financial costs incurred. Then he gently led her to a quiet corner of the waiting room.

  Ellie leapt to her feet as the doctor rejoined them shortly thereafter.

  “Amy is doing better,” he said. “You can go see her now.” It had only been a few minutes, but Ellie felt as if a lifetime had gone by since she’d held her little girl in her arms.

  “You go ahead, I’ll be waiting right here for you,” Ben said.

  “Would your name be Ben?” Dr. Roberts asked. “If so, I think it would do Amy good to see you as well. She was trying to say your name.”

  “What happened?” Ben asked the doctor as he led them through the mazelike hallways in the E.R. to an examining room.

  “This attack was triggered by the congestion of a bad cold. Asthma affects the airways, the tubes through which the air you breathe travels to the air sacs where your blood is oxygenated. Smooth muscles surround those airways and when Amy has an asthma attack, those muscles constrict or spasm, squeezing from the outside. These are involuntary muscles, so it’s not a matter of telling someone with asthma to calm down or relax. Medication is required to stop the spasms and free the airways again. Here we are.”

  Ben saw the little girl, looking so small and frail in the hospital bed, hooked up to an IV and other machines, and his heart just about cracked in two. How had Ellie managed to handle all this on her own?

  He felt reassured by the fact that the doctor said Amy would be fine, and the realization that Ellie and Amy wouldn’t be on their own any longer. From now on, he’d be looking after them. Whatever it took, he’d do.

  Because this woman and her young daughter had marched into his very soul and become a part of him.

  “Hey, big brother, remember that favor you owe me?” Ben was on his cell phone. Several days had passed since Ellie had agreed to be his wife. It was time to tell his family.

  “No,” Striker replied.

  “I’m getting married.”

  “Say that again? We must have one of those static-filled connections because, this is funny, I could have sworn I just heard you say that you’re getting married.”

  “That’s right. That’s what I said.”

  “I see.” Striker had always had the uncanny ability to stay calm in almost any situation, which was one of the things that had served him so well during his time as a Force Recon Marine. “Have you told Mom and Dad?”

  “I thought you could do that.”

  “You thought wrong.”

  “Come on, hotshot. You’re the one who’s good with words. The one who thumbs your nose at Mother Nature, who has a lucky streak a mile wide. Not many guys can brag that they made out with their future wife in a storm cellar while a tornado ripped over their heads. Here today, gone tornado. Isn’t that what you say?”

  “I may be the one who’s good with words, but you’re the one who’s always fighting for the underdog. Bringing home strays. Is that what you’re doing here? Is that why you’re marrying this woman? Have you thought this through?”

  “I made a promise, Striker. I can’t go back on that.”

  “You’re a Marine with money now, Ben. There are women out there more than happy to take advantage of that fact.”

  “Ellie isn’t one of them. She wasn’t keen on marrying me at first. I had to convince her. I promised my buddy John as he lay dying in my arms I’d take care of her. I owe him that much.”

  “So this is all about guilt. Not a good way to start a marriage.”

  “You’ve only been married a year and already you’re an expert on the institution?”

  “It doesn’t take an expert to see that you’re asking for trouble by marrying someone you don’t love and who doesn’t love you.”

  Ben’s silence was telling.

  “Or is there something more you’re not telling me? Have you fallen for this woman?” Striker asked.

  “Stop calling her this woman. Her name is Ellie.”

  “Have you fallen for Ellie?”

  “That would not be a wise move.”

  “Why not?”

  Ben loved his brother, but he couldn’t confide even in him. He couldn’t tell him how badly the guilt ate him up inside. He couldn’t tell anyone. They’d dismiss it as survivor guilt, but he knew better. He was the one who relived that night in his nightmares over and over again. “Never mind. I only called you to ask you to help break the news to Mom and Dad. They’re gonna ask questions I don’t want to answer.”

  “When are you getting married?”

  “We’re sort of eloping.”

  Striker just laughed. “We’ll see about that.”

  Their mother was more direct. “No way!”

  “Mom, we want a quiet wedding….”

  “Fine. You’ll have one. But there’s no way I’m not coming to my son’s wedding.”

  Ben recognized the steel in his mother’s normally soft-spoken voice. Others might be deceived by her sweet demeanor but it camouflaged the fact that she was as tough as nails. Angela King Kozlowski needed to be strong to be a Marine’s wife and to raise five sons of her own. Ben and his brothers would walk on hot coals for her.

  “We’ll be down to North Carolina in two days,” Angela said. “Yo
ur dad is just itching to try out that new RV of his.” A year ago his parents had rented an RV and traveled around the western U.S. They’d enjoyed the experience so much they’d purchased their own vehicle a few months ago. “Now tell me about Ellie. I can’t wait to meet this girl who stole my son’s heart. Does she love you the way she should?”

  Ben didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want his parents knowing that this was a marriage of convenience, so they wouldn’t try and talk him out of it. Not that they could, but he wanted to avoid the hassle. And he didn’t want them thinking Ellie had tried to snare him in marriage. So he made it up as he went along. “Ellie is wonderful. She’s tough and strong like you. But she’s also got a big heart. She loves her daughter and is a super mom. Amy is five, she has asthma, but she’s a tough kid.”

  “It sounds like you’ve fallen hard for both of them.”

  “Yeah, I have.”

  Ben had the sinking feeling that that wasn’t a lie.

  Ellie wasn’t sure when she lost control of the wedding plans to elope and tie the knot as quickly, quietly and inconspicuously as possible. She only knew that the situation was spinning increasingly out of control.

  She and Ben had intended to get married at the county courthouse—a quick, no-frills sort of thing. But Cyn had stopped by this morning to check up on Ellie, who once she’d confessed she’d agreed to marry Ben, was a goner.

  “The county courthouse?” Cyn held out her hands as if to ward off the image. “No way! I’ve got a distant cousin who runs a wedding chapel about an hour north of here. It would be perfect.”

  “We don’t want anything fancy and we want to get married this weekend.”

  Cyn had phoned her cousin and minutes later the arrangements were already completed. “She had a cancellation for this Saturday, so you’re in. It’s all set.”

  Latesha had joined them now and both women were gleefully intent on helping her with her wedding trousseau.

  “So we all agree, Latesha and I as bridesmaids will wear purple. And Amy is the flower girl, of course. The wedding chapel provides the music and flowers.”

  “The wedding is the day after tomorrow. What about a wedding dress?” Latesha asked.