(This is the opening paragraph the editors gave to all five authors:)
"And the last bachelor up for bids is..."
Alex tuned out the auctioneer's voice and wondered for the millionth time how he'd gotten roped into this. A bachelor auction was definitely not his style even on Valentine's Day. But, he reminded himself, this was for a good cause.
Tugging at the collar of his uniform, he shifted uneasily as the auctioneer continued his sales pitch. Should he smile? Pose? He just didn't feel comfortable up on stage with a blinding spotlight shining on him. He hoped he didn't look as nervous as he felt.
The auctioneer was driving up the bids but all Alex could hear was the roar of the crowd as women yelled out numbers and cheered each other on. Squinting into the lights, he tried to make out who was bidding on him, but to no avail.
Then, before he knew it, the gavel sounded. He'd been sold! But to who...?
He left the stage as quickly as he could, then one of the charity hostesses practically dragged him to the table where he'd meet with his new "owner." Dozens of women were crowded around the table, laughing, talking, teasing each other about what they'd be having their bachelors doing for the next forty-eight hours.
"Gunnery Sergeant Alex Harrigan?"
"Here, ma'am," Alex said and stepped forward into the midst of the women. Hell, he hadn't felt this out of place since he was the birthing coach for his sister when she had her last baby. Give him an M-16 and tell him to take a hill, and Alex was your man. Expect him to make nice with a bunch of charitable do-gooders and he was lost.
A middle-aged woman with graying red hair and sparkling blue eyes looked up at him as he approached. "Ah, Gunnery Sergeant." She glanced down at the sheet of paper in front of her, then back up to him with a smile. "You'll be happy to know we got a very good price for you."
He forced a smile and promised retribution against the captain who'd talked him into this. "Great."
"Your owner for the weekend is right here." She looked out into the crowd and smiled. "Helen? Here's your bachelor!"
Alex turned and looked into a pair of familiar green eyes. A short woman with nearly white hair, round pink cheeks and a big grin said, "Hello, Alex. Long time no see."
Helen Donahue. Grandmother of Shannon Donahue, the only woman Alex had ever loved. He'd loved her so much, that six months ago, he'd canceled their wedding two weeks before the ceremony. It was the worst thing he'd ever done. And the most difficult. Walking away from Shannon had taken every ounce of strength he possessed.
Now, what the hell was he supposed to say to her grandmother? Sorry I broke Shannon's heart? Yeah. That'd work. No doubt, she'd be very forgiving. She'd probably forgotten all about how she'd had to cancel a big church wedding and call off a reception. Sure, people didn't hold grudges over small stuff like that. Oh, man. Mentally, Alex plotted a quick retreat. But there was no way out, and he knew it.
"Mrs. Donahue, ma'am." He nodded but kept a wary eye on her. If the older woman's temper was anything like her granddaughter's, it would pay to be careful.
"Don't look so worried," Helen said, taking him by the arm and hustling him toward the door. "No hard feelings between us, honey. You did what you thought you had to do."
"Really." It wasn't a question. Just a reaction.
"Of course. What's between you and Shannon is your business."
"Then why...?" he waved a hand at the stage and the other bachelors being doled out to their "owners."
She shrugged. "I just need my guest room painted and you're the man to do it."
Painting? Okay, that he could do. And maybe, he thought, as he followed the older woman toward the exit, this would be a way of paying off the bad Karma he'd collected while destroying the future he and Shannon had planned.
"No problem," Alex said as he stood in the middle of the big bedroom. The Donahue place, a graceful old Victorian, stood on a hilltop overlooking the ocean just outside San Clemente, California. Shannon had lived here with her grandmother until the wedding was canceled. Then she'd packed up and headed to San Francisco, looking for a fresh start.
Damn it. He couldn't even hope to run into her by "accident." The ache he was getting used to living with knifed through his heart. Then he shut the pain down and reminded himself that he'd done the right thing. No matter what Shannon thought. Nodding, he said, "This shouldn't take me more than a day or so to paint."
"Good," Helen said, backing toward the door. "There's a cooler in the corner over there. Sodas and sandwiches."
"Thanks." Alex glanced at the cooler. The big room was empty but for the cooler, a twin bed and a narrow chest of drawers. "I'll just go back to the base and change, then " He stopped and listened, cocking one ear toward the closed door on the right. Sounded like someone was in the shower. "Did you hear..."
He turned to face Helen, but the older woman was gone, having closed the door behind her. When he heard a key turning in the lock, he lunged for the door, but he was too late. "Mrs. Donahue?" he called her name, but she didn't respond. Damn it. He turned around to face the empty room and thought about what his friends would say when they found out he'd been kidnapped by an old woman.
He stopped thinking when the door on his right opened and a cloud of steam rolled into the room. And stepping out of that steam was a damp, gorgeous Shannon Donahue, wrapped in the skimpiest towel Alex had ever seen.
Shannon clutched her towel tighter, and stared unbelievingly at the man standing there staring back at her. A chill snaked along her spine. Water dripped from the ends of her wet hair and plopped onto the polished wood floor. Her heartbeat galloped and her mouth went dry. The fact that her hormones stood up and cheered was irrelevant. Not to mention infuriating. She'd spent the past six months convincing herself that she was over him. That she didn't need Alex Harrigan in her life. Humiliating to have her body argue with her. "Damn it, Alex! What are you doing here?"
"I'm beginning to wonder about that myself," he said tightly, shooting a quick glance at the closed bedroom door.
"Well, wonder about it somewhere else," she snapped and stomped across the room. Her bare feet slapped on the floor and she left a trail of water, glistening like wet breadcrumbs in her wake. Grabbing hold of the doorknob, she gave it a turn and yanked. When it didn't open, she yanked again, harder this time. She was pretty sure she'd pulled a muscle, but the door didn't budge. "It's stuck," she muttered.
"I don't think so," Alex said as he walked over to stand next to her.
Every cell in her body jumped up and shouted Hallelujah! just having him close to her. It was just a sense memory, she told herself. It would fade away. Eventually. Shouldn't take more than a century or so. Shannon backed up a step. She pulled in a deep breath to steady herself and instead got a good, long whiff of his aftershave cool and spicy and somehow completely Alex. Damn it.
"Door's locked."
"What?" Oh, God. She shook her head and stared at him. "You're nuts."
"You try it."
She did. Nothing. A sinking sensation opened up inside her. "Gran?" she called.
"I'm right here," a voice answered from the other side of the door. "No need to shout."
No need to shout? Shannon's brain raced. She slapped one hand against the door. Her own grandmother. Her flesh and blood. The woman who'd raised her. "You traitor!" she murmured in a low, furious voice. "You think I'm shouting now?" Her towel slipped, and Shannon snatched at it frantically. Clutching it between her breasts in one tight fist, she absolutely ignored the tall, muscular, gorgeous man standing beside her. "Gran," she said, keeping her voice deliberately calm and rational, though her mind was screaming, "let us out of here."
"Can't do it, honey," her grandmother said in an irritatingly cheerful tone. "You two are stuck in there."
"No way." Shannon's stomach did a slow roll, and her knees went weak as Alex came up close behind her.
"Mrs. Donahue," Alex spoke up quickly, "I can't stay here all weekend."
"Sure you can. You were cleared for the bachelor auction."
"What?" Shannon muttered, looking up at him.
He shook his head. "Later."
"I bought you fair and square," the older woman said. "You're mine for forty-eight hours, and there you're going to stay until you two either kill each other or work it out. Your choice."
"Gran!"
"Love you," the older woman called, and her voice drifted as if from a distance. "Off to bingo!"
"Bingo?" Shannon repeated incredulously. She stared at the door as if she could see her grandmother's cheerful face. This was unbelievable. Her own flesh and blood had sold her out. Locked her in with the man who'd broken her heart. Well fine. They were stuck here, but that didn't mean she had to talk to him.
"Your grandmother's nuts."
She whipped her long, red hair back from her face, sending a spray of water splattering across Alex's surprised features and the front of his uniform. Poking him in the chest with her index finger, she snarled, "Don't you call her names."
"She locked us in!"
"Not for long," she vowed. She was not going to stay in here for two days with him. No way was she going to put herself through more pain. More tears. Nope. Been there, done that. "I'll just get dressed and climb out the window."
"We're on the third floor."
"There's a tree," she reminded him as she marched to the other side of the bed. Then she stopped dead. "My suitcase is gone." Straightening up, she glared at him. "My clothes are missing."
He crossed his arms over his chest and planted his long legs wide apart. "Well, I didn't take 'em."
"And I'm supposed to believe you?"
"I never lied to you, Shannon."
"No, you just proposed to me, then changed your mind." She waved a hand negligently. "Happens all the time. No problem."
"I didn't want things to end like that."
"Well, that's the chance you take when you cancel a wedding." Pain rippled through her. Old pain, but still sharp and sweet. She'd canceled all the arrangements, sent back the gifts and made the calls to their guests. Alex had gone back to the base and buried himself in work. She hadn't seen him since the evening he'd walked away from this house, taking her heart with him.
He took a step toward her, but she held up one hand and backed up, narrowing her gaze on him.
"Fine." He stopped dead again. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Shannon."
"Too bad," she muttered, "because you did a heck of a job."
"Damn it, Shannon "
She headed for the chest of drawers, closing her heart and her ears to him. She'd just have to wear something old of Gran's. Didn't matter. As long as she was covered. Because in the damp towel wrapped around her, she was feeling a little...exposed. She pulled a drawer open. Then another and another.
"Problem?" he asked.
"They're all empty. All of them." Shannon turned to look at him. "My own grandmother locked me into a bedroom naked with the enemy."
Two hours later, they were still trapped. Gran was thorough, if nothing else. She'd even nailed the window shut. Not that Shannon would actually have climbed down the tree anyway. She'd have gotten stuck in the branches or lost her towel or...
"Cold?" Alex asked from way too close behind her.
"I'm fine," she lied and tried to look dignified while wearing one towel wrapped around her body and another over her shoulders like a terry-cloth stole. He'd tried to give her his shirt earlier, but she'd refused. Her still damp hair hung down her back, wetting the towel just enough to keep her shivering.
"For God's sake, Shannon," he muttered thickly as he tore off his uniform shirt. "You'd stand there and get pneumonia rather than take help from me?"
"Yes. And it's not that cold," she said, stiffening as his fingertips scraped across her shoulders. That single touch inflamed her, reminding her of so many nights spent in his arms. Her dreams were haunted by memories and her body still remembered his touch. "I don't want anything from you. Not anymore."
"Too damn bad." Alex plucked her makeshift cape off, then turned her around to face him. Handing her his khaki uniform blouse, he glowered at her until she pulled it on.
Instantly, she was surrounded by his scent. By the warmth of his skin, still imprinted on his uniform blouse. It was big. Big enough to cover his broad chest. Big enough that the tails of the shirt draped right down to the middle of her thighs.
"Now lose the wet towel and get warm."
Her gaze shot to his. "Excuse me?"
"You're turning blue."
"I look good in blue."
"You look good in anything."
"Don't," she snapped. "You don't have the right to say things like that to me anymore."
"I still want you warm." His voice was a low scrape of sound that slid along her spine like sandpaper. Hell. She still wanted him.
"And I should care what you want why?" She shouldn't. But damn it, she did. She wondered about him all the time. What he was doing if he was seeing someone else. Dreamed about him, worried about him.
A muscle in his jaw twitched. Good, Shannon thought, he wasn't as cool as he was trying to appear. She'd hate to think she was the only one all churned up. The only one to wish It had all been so perfect, she thought. So wonderful. They'd made a terrific couple. Everything had been just as she'd always dreamed it would be when she finally found "the right man."
And then just like that...it had been over. He'd canceled the wedding. Told her he would always love her, but he couldn't marry her. Then he'd walked away turned his back on her and the life they'd almost had.
"Great. Perfect," he muttered, reaching for the front of the shirt and the long row of buttons. He did them up, one by one, his big hands careful, gentle as they worked. He caught her gaze and held it as he worked. "Punish me by being uncomfortable. That's brilliant."
His fingers brushed her skin, his knuckles dusting her chest, just above the top of the towel, and Shannon's knees threatened to buckle. Her stomach did a quick spin and all parts South came to attention. She sucked in a breath and let it slide from her lungs slowly. Swallowing hard, she said, "I'm not trying to punish you, Alex."
"You should," he said and he was so close now, his breath brushed her cheek. "God knows I deserve it."
"Why?" Shannon tipped her head back so she could stare into his dark brown eyes. "Would it be easier on you if I made you pay, somehow?"
He finished with the buttons on the shirt and took a step back from her. His white tee shirt strained across his broad, muscled chest, and it was all Shannon could do to keep from reaching for him. It had been so long. Six months she'd missed him. Six months she'd tried to get over him. She'd even moved away, hoping for a fresh start. Yet what happens the first time she comes home for a weekend?
He was right back in her life, reminding her of all they'd missed when he canceled their wedding.
"Maybe it would make it easier," he said, reaching up to scrape one hand against the back of his neck. He shifted his gaze from her to the curtained window, blocking the afternoon sun, and back again. Meeting her gaze, he said, "I hurt you, Shannon. I know it. So hurt me back. Take your best shot."
Here was her chance. Make him pay. Or, she thought, with a completely illogical spurt of hope, take this opportunity to find out why he'd called their marriage off and change his mind.
"Hurt you?" she asked, scooping one hand beneath his too big shirt to tug the damp towel free. It dropped to the floor and Alex's gaze narrowed. "That's too easy, Alex," she said, staring up into the brown eyes that still haunted her thoughts, her dreams.
"Shannon..."
She kicked the towel to one side, set her hands at her hips and challenged him. "I want answers, Alex. And since we're stuck here, you won't be walking away this time, will you?"
Alex looked down at her and tried like hell to ignore the fact that she was naked beneath his uniform shirt. But trying to do that was like trying not to breathe because her scent filled his head, his heart and made him wish that things were different. She was just an arm's reach away. And after six months without her, it was all he could do not to grab her, kiss her and bury himself in her warmth and forget the soul-deep cold that had been with him since he'd left her.
But if he did, he'd never be able to let her go again.
And he loved her too much for that.
"You hungry?" he asked, looking for a change of subject as he stalked across the room toward the cooler. "Your grandmother said she left sodas and sandwiches for us."
Shannon grumbled. "A thoughtful kidnapper."
"She didn't technically kidnap me. She bought me."
"Yeah, what's that about?" Shannon sat down on the edge of the bed, then an instant later, she hopped back up as if her behind had been burned.
Alex told her about the auction and watched her as she walked around the nearly empty room. She moved with a quiet sort of elegance that hadn't disappeared just because she was wearing his clothes. Her long hair, nearly dry, hung in thick waves that ended in the middle of her back. It moved and swayed with her every step and he watched it hungrily, needing to touch it. How many times had he fisted his hands in her hair and held her for his kiss?
And how many times in the past six months had he longed to do it again?
"An auction. You know I love her," Shannon whispered, more to herself than to him, "but when I see Gran again "
Tearing his gaze from her, Alex dragged in a long, deep breath and turned toward the cooler. Something cold to drink might help. Hell, anything cold might help. He lifted the lid, stared inside, then laughed shortly.
"What's so funny?"
"Your gran." He glanced over his shoulder at her. "She wasn't taking any chances."
"What do you mean?" Shannon walked closer, looked over his shoulder into the cooler, then sighed. "Wine?"
"Wine," he said, "white and red, sandwiches, candles "
"Candles?" Shannon echoed, then shot a wary look up at the ceiling light. Hurrying across the room, she flipped the switch. "Nothing." Her gaze shifted to his amused stare. "She must have taken the bulb out. She probably took the one in the bathroom, too. Oh, for heaven's sake."
"She's good." Alex nodded in admiration of the older woman's plan. "Well thought-out plan, supplies laid in, trap set. Hell. She could be a marine."
"One marine in my life is enough."
Alex turned, holding the bottle of chilled white wine in one tight fist. "Shannon "
She looked at him from the safe distance a room's width gave her. "I tried to hate you."
"Can't say as I blame you."
"I couldn't." She shook her head and her long, red hair, nearly dry now, swung about her shoulders like a soft, silky cape. A harsh laugh scraped her throat. "I really tried, Alex. Told myself that you'd never loved me. That you walking away from me from the life we could have had together was the best thing that could have happened."
Alex's insides fisted, tightened until he felt as though an iron band was strapped across his rib cage, strangling his heart.
"But I didn't believe it." She pulled in a deep breath that pushed the tips of her breasts against his uniform shirt until the shadows of her nipples stood taut. "Not even when I was more angry than I've ever been in my life, I couldn't make myself believe that you never loved me."
"I never said I didn't love you," he countered.
"No." She pushed her hair back from her face with the impatient swipe of one hand. "You just said goodbye."
"You think it was easy?" he asked, slamming the bottle of wine down on top of the chest of drawers beside him. He crossed the room in four long, angry strides until he came to a stop in front of her. God, her scent surrounded him. The same scent he'd tried to forget. Tried to bury under the assurance that he'd done the right thing.
Alex felt his heartbeat pound into life. Painfully, it jumped in his chest, reminding him just how it felt to be really alive as he'd only ever felt when he was with Shannon. It was as if he'd been born the day they met and he'd died the day he'd walked away. But, damn it, he'd had a reason. The best of all reasons. To keep her safe. To give himself the security of knowing that he'd done what he could to protect her from pain even if that meant he couldn't be with her.
Grabbing her upper arms now, he felt the warmth of her skin beneath his shirt and it rushed into his hands, flooding his veins, bringing heat to blood that had been chilled for too long. He fought against that warmth, not daring to relish it again. He'd walked away once. He wasn't sure he'd be strong enough to do it again. Yet, he couldn't let her go, either.
"You think it was easy for me to call off our wedding?" he demanded. Damned if he'd give up the only woman he'd ever loved and have her think it meant nothing.
"I don't know what to think," she snapped and tried to pull away from his grasp.
Alex wouldn't, couldn't let her go. His fingers tightened on her shoulders and he pulled her a little closer. Close enough that he felt her breath dust his face as she looked up at him. Close enough that if he allowed himself to, he could drown in the deep green of her eyes.
"Whatever you think about me," he muttered, his gaze moving over her features with the deliberation of a man determined to etch that face on his brain. To carve it deep into his memory so that he'd never truly be without her again. "You have to know that I loved you from the minute I first saw you. Never stopped."
Her features softened, her emerald eyes glistened with tears he knew she was too stubborn to shed. "Then why?" she asked. "You at least owe me that much, Alex. Tell me why you left."
Shannon stared up into his eyes and watched as a rush of emotions darted across their dark brown surface. Frustration, pain, anger and hunger each flashed briefly in his eyes and she felt the tension in his body through the strength of his grip on her shoulders. Her own heartbeat thundered in her ears, and Shannon braced herself for what he might say. She'd wanted to know. For the past six months, she'd wondered. She'd tortured herself with hundreds of possibilities. She'd wanted the chance to talk to him to find out why he'd been so willing to give up what they might have had.
But now there was a small, cowardly part of her that wanted to tell him to be quiet to keep his reasons to himself and to hold her. God, she just wanted Alex to hold her again. And how pitiful was that, she asked herself. The man dumped her two weeks before their wedding and all she wanted to do was crawl into his lap and feel his arms slide around her.
His hands on her shoulders softened, his fingers stroking her now, rather than clutching at her. "You're right," he said, nodding, as his hands moved up and down her arms as if he couldn't bring himself to break the contact between them. "I do owe you that much. Damn it, Shannon, I never meant to hurt you."
"Meant to or not," she said, despite the tight thickness in her throat, "you did. And I want to know why."
"I'm shipping out." Alex bit the words off and waited, watching her until he saw understanding then worry dawn in her green eyes, and as much as it pained him to admit it, he knew he'd done the right thing.
"When?"
"Two weeks."
"Where are they sending you?"
"I'm a recon marine, Shannon. They'll send me wherever it's the hottest."
Fear ripened inside her. "When'll you be back?"
"That's the thing. I can't be sure I will be back." He released her and took a step back. "That's why I called it off, Shannon. I don't want you getting a telegram from the government telling you I won't be coming home. I don't want you wasting years of your life worrying about me."
"What?" She just stared at him, so Alex kept talking.
"Don't you get it? I can't promise you a lifetime, because I don't know how much of one I have to offer you. I do a dangerous job, Shannon, and there are no guarantees."
A solitary tear eased from the corner of her eye and trailed a silver streak along her cheek. She pulled in a long, shaky breath and let it slide from her lungs in a rush of air that ruffled the curls dangling over her forehead. Obviously, his words had hit home. She'd finally realized the same truth he had six months ago. That by causing her a small pain now, he was trying to protect her from a lifetime of pain. Now at last, she'd understand.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"Huh?" Alex looked down into her eyes and saw with a sudden clutch of wariness that they weren't teary any longer. Those green depths were churning with fury like a storm at sea.
"That's all you think of me?" she demanded and planted both hands against his chest and gave him a shove. "You think I need you to save me from maybe losing you?"
"I'm only trying to do what's right."
"Then love me, you idiot. Love me and let me love you." She grabbed two fistfuls of his white T-shirt and drew his head down to hers. "Honestly, Alex. Do you think so little of me?"
He grabbed her, too, wrapping his arms around her waist and yanking her close to him. "Little?" he managed to grind out. "Shannon, you're everything to me."
"And you prove this by being self-sacrificing and noble?"
"Yeah." He blew out a breath. "I've got a dangerous job and "
"And I could walk out of this house assuming Gran ever lets us out of here and get hit by a beer truck." Reaching up, she cupped his face in her palms and looked deeply into the eyes she'd loved from the first moment she saw them. "It isn't how much time you get, Alex. It's what you do with the time you've got."
His features tightened, but he slowly nodded. "God, I've missed you, baby."
"Prove it." She lifted her face for his kiss and felt her heart quicken the instant his mouth came down on hers. Heat flared between them, sparking like a live electrical wire. His hands moved over her, sliding up and under the shirt she wore until he found her breasts. His palms cupped her, his thumbs tweaked her nipples, until Shannon melted into the warm, solid strength of him.
He picked her up, carried her to the bed, then dropped her onto the mattress. A laugh shot from Shannon's throat as she held out her arms to welcome him home. He tore his clothes off, and in seconds, he was there beside her, touching her, loving her. There was no time for gentleness. It was all need. And love. And hunger.
He claimed her body as he'd claimed her heart. He moved inside her, and her body opened to welcome him home. Faster, hotter. His hands were everywhere. His body was heavy on hers and it felt so right. Tension built, breath mingled and in their hunger, silent promises were born. When the world around them shattered, they clung together, as they were always meant to.
Hours later, a voice from the hall called through the locked door, "Hello? Everyone alive?"
Soft whispers erupted in the candlelit darkness of the room. Alex tickled her, and Shannon chuckled as she called out, "Go away, Gran. I'm not finished with him yet."
"Uh-huh," the woman said. "When's the wedding?"
"Tomorrow work for you?" Alex shouted.
Gran laughed. "It's like I always said. When you need something done, send in the marines."
"Ooh-rah!"
The End