Need You Tonight
Authors: Marquita Valentine
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Genre Fiction, #Coming of Age, #Contemporary, #Military, #Multicultural, #New Adult & College, #Holidays, #Multicultural & Interracial, #Romance
Everyone loves Parker Morgan, especially the high society ladies who pay thousands for his
time
. Becoming a male escort hadn’t been something Parker wanted to do, but when his family needed money to survive, he compromised everything he believed in to make ends meet. But there are two things he refuses to do—one, be paid for sex. Two, let himself fall for his beautiful new neighbor. She’s too pure and sweet for him. And that sadness in her eyes…he doesn’t want to know the cause of it. He has too many problems of his own.
Only, as spring turns to summer, Brooklyn begins to sees a new side to Parker—one that makes her reconsider her opinion of him. Sparks fly, igniting a hunger that neither of them can resist.
But are either of them prepared for the consequences, once Parker’s dirty little secret comes to light?
DANCE AROUND
the house, dusting off everything as I move from room to room. Honestly, I hate housework, but I want it to look perfect for Braden, the loveable clean-freak, when he walks through the door. In less than forty-eight hours, he will be home from Afghanistan. In less than sixty days, he’ll be out of the Marines for good.
I glance in the bathroom mirror and throw the dust rag on the counter, making a sexy face while fluffing up my hair. “Wait until you get home, Gunnery Sergeant Reeves.” I stand to one side and shake my butt, pretending that Braden is watching me from the bedroom.
Blowing a kiss with only my lips, I cup my breasts and smile seductively, willing him to come closer. His brown eyes widen, then darken. He’d come up behind me, his hand coming to rest on my hips to slow me down. We’d move…as one. One breath, one heartbeat.
I trail my hand up my stomach, imagining his hand. I touch my face. His lips. The last time we kissed was five and a half months ago, right before he boarded a plane back to—
There’s a knock on the door, accompanied by the ringing of the doorbell. Flustered, I turn the water on in the sink, splashing some on my face. “Coming,” I call out as I towel off my face. Nothing like getting caught fantasizing.
But at least it was about my hot husband.
Smiling, I open the door to find two men on the other side. They’re in uniform, their faces somber. The joy I felt only moments ago rushes out of me, my legs go numb, and I start to fall. The closest Marine reaches for me, holding me up by his strength alone.
“No, no,
nononononono
,” I chant as the other one says the words every wife, mother, sister, father, husband, and brother dread to hear. I cover my ear with my hands and screw my eyes shut, but I can still hear him.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but Gunnery Sergeant Reeves was killed en route—”
“He died protecting his brothers—”
Every sentence is like a shock to my system. My body jerks with each word.
“Thank you for your sacrifice.”
My eyes fly open, and I begin to fight the man holding me, but he won’t let go. “Ma’am, is there someone we can call?”
“Braden!” I scream, tears pouring down my face. For one wild moment, I think if I scream loud enough, he’ll hear me and jump out from the bushes to tell me it was just a joke. A horrible prank that he’ll never play on me again, because he’s home for good and no godforsaken war will ever take him from me. “Braden. Damn you, this isn’t funny. Come out and tell them to leave.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a familiar face striding to us, her face determined but compassionate. “I can take her, boys,” she says softly.
The Marine holding me lets go, and I fall into the arms of my neighbor.
“Brooklyn, my baby girl,” Soon Lin soothes. “Let’s go inside.”
“T-Tell them to leave. They’re making up stuff a-about B-Braden,” I cry.
But she doesn’t listen to me. “Hush…hush. You can’t let the others see you like this.”
“I don’t care,” I sob. “I don’t care. I want him back.” I break away from her embrace and wipe my nose on my arm, sniffing. “It’s a joke, right? You’re in on it, too. Not funny, girl. Not funny at all.”
Running to the side of the house, I begin to tear at the bushes, like Braden’s a hidden Easter egg. “Come out,” I scream, over and over, as my throat grows raw. But I can’t find him; the flowerbed is overgrown.
I drop to my knees, ripping at the weeds I hadn’t gotten to yet. “Braden won’t like these,” I mutter to myself. “He hates weeds and will try to get to work as soon as he gets home.”
I feel a hand on my shoulder. Pausing, I look up at Soon Lin through my tears. “I have to make the house pretty.” Getting back to work, I claw through the rocky dirt until my nails are torn to the quick and bleeding.
“Get up. You are the wife of an officer, and an example to others,” she reminds me.
I don’t want to be the wife of an officer. I just want to be Braden and Brooklyn, two people who met in a bar and fell in love. “Which is why I have to finish cleaning.” I grab a weed, sharp pricks stabbing into my skin. Jerking away, I look at my hands. They are covered in grime, the nails ragged, my fingertips raw.
“Stop this now and stand up,” she says in a commanding voice I’ve never heard before.
Slowly, I rise to my feet, my chin coming up to protect myself. “I have a lot to do before Braden gets home.”
Her brown eyes turn liquid. “Yes, you do.”
Brushing off my shorts, I head back to the house, calling over my shoulder, “Can you make that chicken casserole, Braden loves? I know he’s been dy—wanting to have some.” I gulp. There’s no way I can say the word. Instead, I walk inside with Soon Lin right behind me.
I hear the door shut, and I stop in the middle of the living room. A vase of cheerful flowers sitting on the mantle mocks me. They were delivered yesterday, along with a note from Braden.
She stands there patiently, even as her eyes snap with fire. The daughter of a Four-Star General, Soon Lin Haggerty has never been one to just stand there and take anyone’s flak, least of all a lowly Gunnery Sergeant’s wife.
We face off, even as my body starts to shake. Even as tears gather once more and my nose gets snotty. Even as my heart breaks and breaks until there’s nothing left but dust. Even as my inside turn to ashes.
My lips tremble, and I still stand there. My stomach heaves, forcing up great sobs. Wrapping my arms around my middle, I try to hold it in. I try to keep it together, but I can’t…I’m not strong.
Not like Soon Lin. Not like any of the other wives who husbands had died before mine. Braden’s dead.
Killed. Murdered. A casualty of war.
“He’s really dead?” I whisper, and she nods, coming closer. “What will I tell his momma? His dad?”
“What they need to know. I’ll help you.” She takes me in her arms, and I fall apart. As my knees give way, she follows me to the floor, holding me tight and stroking my head. Soon Lin rocks me, as a mother would a child.
“He was only twenty-three,” I whimper. “He was too young to die. We didn’t have enough time together.”
“Remember the time you did have,” she says gently. I know she speaks from experience. Her own husband was killed during the first Gulf War, and she’d never remarried. “Cherish that. Cherish your memories.”
I stare at a picture of Braden and me on our wedding day. We were laughing as we kissed, full of love and hope. We had so many dreams and desires and plans. So many plans.
Now we have
nothing
at all.