Read One Night With a Santini Online
Authors: Melissa Schroeder
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Genre Fiction, #War, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Military
One Night With a Santini (12 page)
“Let’s go,” she said, grabbing Wendy’s hand. She tugged her into one of the rooms Declan used for private parties.
She released Wendy’s hand and waited for her to talk. But she just wandered around the room saying nothing.
“Wendy.” She waited for her friend to look at her. “What’s up?”
Drawing in a deep breath, she blurted out, “I’m leaving Tuesday.”
“What? Where are you going?”
She sighed. “You know I volunteered to go to Africa. It finally came through.”
Kaitlin shook her head, unable to come to terms with what Wendy had just dropped on her head.
“Wait, you can’t leave. I’m having a baby.”
Wendy shook her head. “I’ll be back for that. I double-checked the dates. Can’t miss that.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kaitlin asked, knowing that she was starting to sound whiney. “I don’t want you to leave me now. How am I supposed to handle all this without you? And why didn’t you tell me?”
“You asked me that twice.”
“Shut up. I’m mad at you.”
But she wasn’t. The terror now icing her veins left her cold inside.
Wendy took hold of both of her hands. “Because this is about you, not me. But, you two are leaving tomorrow and when you get back, I’ll be gone.”
She frowned feeling as if she were close to tears. “I don’t like it.”
Wendy laughed. “I know you don’t, but I want to do this. They need good nurses over there. You know they do.”
She sighed. How could she yell at a friend who was sacrificing so much to help out with the latest Ebola outbreak? It was a sacrifice not many people would make. She admired her more for what she was doing.
“You’ll be back before this one comes?” she asked patting her belly.
She nodded. “I’m going for three months. They had someone who backed out at the last moment because she was pregnant. They put out a call two weeks ago.”
Kaitlin tugged her closer and hugged her. “Please, be safe.”
“I will.” With a squeeze, she released Kaitlin. “I need to go tell your mother. She’s not going to be happy.”
“Have you told your parents?”
Wendy’s smile faded.
“I haven’t talked to them since last March. I’ll send them a postcard. And don’t,” she said. “Don’t tell me I should contact them. They suck.”
Kaitlin smiled as she blinked back tears.
“I love you, Kaitlin.”
“Love you too.”
She slipped out the door. A second later Brando came in. He put his arms around her. He surrounded her with his warmth…his love. The pain she had been feeling seemed to fade.
“I can’t believe she’s going over there.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You know she wanted to.”
She nodded. Then she looked up at him. “Hey, have I told you how sexy you are in your uniform?”
It was nothing but the truth. The moment she had seen him standing in front of the altar wearing his mess dress, she had almost melted into a puddle of lust. Which, if she thought about it, probably meant that she might be going to hell. Lusting in a church had to be a sin.
“No. But I can promise I look much sexier out of it.”
She laughed. “Let’s go cut that cake so we can get out of here.”
He took her hand, kissed her fingers, then led her out of the room and off into the rest of their lives.
ABOUT Melissa Schroeder
From an early age, USA Today Bestselling author Melissa Schroeder loved to read. First, it was the books her mother read to her including her two favorites,
Winnie the Pooh
and the
Beatrix Potter
books. She cut her preteen teeth on
Trixie Belden
and read and reviewed
To Kill a Mockingbird
in middle school. It wasn’t until she was in college that she tried to write her first stories, which were full of angst and pain, and really not that fun to read or write. After trying several different genres, she found romance in a Linda Howard book.
Since the publication of her first book in 2004, Melissa has had close to fifty romances published. She writes in genres from historical suspense to modern day erotic romance to futuristics and paranormals. Included in those releases is the bestselling
Harmless series
. In 2011, Melissa branched out into self-publishing with
A Little Harmless Submission
and the popular military spinoff,
Infatuation: A Little Harmless Military Romance
. Along the way she has garnered an epic nomination, a multitude of reviewer’s recommended reads, over five Capa nods from TRS, three nominations for AAD Bookies and regularly tops the bestseller lists on
Amazon
and
Barnes & Noble
. She made the USA Today Bestseller list for the first time with her anthology The Santinis.
Since she was a military brat, she vowed never to marry military. Alas, fate always has her way with mortals. Her husband just retired from the AF after 20 years, and together they have their own military brats, two girls, and two adopted dog daughters, and is happy she picks where they live now.
You can keep up with Mel all over the web:
HARMLESS ADDICTS
-facebook fan group
Keep up with Mel, her releases, and her appearances by subscribing to her
NEWSLETTER
!
Coming in the Summer of 2015, Harmless is getting an exciting new spinoff series! Look for an announcement coming in March, but to make sure you are one of the first to know, join
Mel’s Newsletter
or join
The Harmless Addicts
! She will make the announcement there!
Other Books by Melissa Schroeder
A LITTLE HARMLESS MILITARY ROMANCE
A Little Harmless Rumor
A Santini Takes the Fall
Don’t miss out on any Santini goodiness!
Falling for a Santini
A crush that turned into love
.
Being the only girl in a family with five Santini brothers was never easy on Elena Santini. She always tried to be faster and smarter to make sure they always took her seriously. They were always trying to tell her what to do, and worse, who she could date. That’s why falling for her oldest brother’s best friend wasn’t smart especially when he treats her like a sister. That is, until she gets him alone in her apartment one night.
One night in Heaven
.
NCIS agent Jethro Thomas, known to everyone as JT, has always played it smart. When his admiration turned to attraction a few years ago, he started avoiding Elena. A guy wasn’t supposed to have those kinds of thoughts about his best friend’s little sister. After returning from an undercover assignment, and about to go on another one, he can’t seem to resist the temptation. One night with her and he knows he’s lost, but he has a job to do.
A changed man
.
JT returns from the assignment with a few more scars, both physical and emotional–but he survived for one reason. He’s ready to start a new life with Elena, but a dark cloud hangs over the new love. When small incidents evolve into near death accidents, JT realizes someone from his past is ready to destroy his happiness, even harm Elena to make him pay.
Now enjoy the first chapter!
Jethro Francis Thomas deserved a freaking medal for suffering during battle and not taking his just rewards. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to administer care to a drunken woman, but this one was more than a handful. Elena Santini had the reflexes of a jaguar, even as drunk as she was. There was no doubt in his mind that she was a world class Marine trained to handle adverse conditions. Usually, that made him admire her. Tonight, it was very difficult to remember she was his best friend’s sister.
“Hey, we’re at my apartment!”
He looked at her to see if she was messing with him. She frowned in the direction of her apartment building, then looked at him. Damn, he couldn’t really tell. It was always hard to tell with her. From the time she was a kid, Elena had to think on her feet. JT knew that Elena had a hard time keeping up with her five brothers. At times, though, she appeared to exceed them. It was always as if Elena seemed to come out on top due to something in her nature. Many people called it being pushy. JT knew it was just part of being a Santini.
“You asked me to bring you here.”
She looked at him for a long second. He lost his train of thought. It had been happening more and more these last few years. Since the year she turned twenty-one. It was her birthday and, with a little too much wine in her system, she had leaned over and gave him a big, sloppy kiss.
It had shattered his world.
They were surrounded by her family and friends, which included his best friend. He could still remember the feel of her mouth against his. She had let him go and gone on her way as if she’d kissed one of her brothers. He’d been standing there painfully aroused and feeling like scum.
“I asked you to take me home.”
Okay, maybe she was really drunk. “Yes. So I did.”
She pursed her lips and looked around. He fought the need to reach out and touch her long golden brown curls. They were so silky soft he could just imagine the feel of them against his bare flesh.
When she turned back to him, her eyebrows were lowered in confusion.
“This isn’t your apartment.”
Yep, she was drunk. He decided not to debate the point. Elena could argue with a fence post when she was sober. She was worse with a drink or two in her. All the Santinis were. They all had over the top personalities that were enhanced by alcohol.
“I’ll come around.”
He slipped out of his truck and rounded the hood. JT decided to take his time to cool his hormones. Elena didn’t know what she was doing to him. It was enough that
that
memory kept rearing its ugly head now that she was stationed at Miramar.
Dealing with a tipsy Elena was asking him a bit much. He’d wanted to touch her since the moment he saw her in the bar and grill.
I’ll take her to her apartment. Then, go home.