Jeff watched Lisa as she perused the menu at the small neighborhood Italian restaurant he’d chosen. He wanted somewhere nice, but not intimidating, someplace they could talk, get to know each other. He’d nearly swallowed his tongue when she’d opened the door. The woman he’d thought was pretty but sad was sexy as hell out of her school teacher clothes. The red sweater hugged every curve, the black knee-high boots made her legs look a mile long. Her thick, wavy hair was piled on her head in some sort of updo, and all he really wanted was to figure out what the hell kept it up so he could remove the fastening and watch it all spill down over her preferably naked shoulders.

“Jeff?”

He blinked, realizing she’d been talking to him.

“Yes?” he asked. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

Her eyes narrowed for a moment then she shrugged lightly. “I wondered if you had anything you’d recommend. I assume you’ve been here before?”

“I have. Are you a vegetarian or anything?”

“No, I’m not a big fan of eggplant but other than that I’m easy.”

“The ziti is fabulous, and so is the manicotti.”

She nodded then looked back at the menu.

He watched as her gaze shifted from one page of the menu to the next. Her lashes were long and luxurious, a silky fringe that framed her soft gray eyes.

She rolled her lips together in thought and Jeff felt things south of his waist spring to life. No, that wasn’t what this was about. No matter how lovely she was—and she really was—sex wasn’t part of the deal. He’d told her it was a marriage in name only. No consummation. He needed a promotion. She needed money. It was that simple. Sex was not part of the arrangement, nor should it be.

“Did you decide?” he asked to distract himself from images of her soft eyes looking up at him while those lips did other things to his skin, his chest, his cock.

“I’m going to go with the manicotti,” she said, laying the menu down and smiling at him. “How about you?”

“The same,” he answered. “It’s my favorite.”

“So…Jeff…” she paused, her gaze dropping to the table for a moment, “you seem to already know everything about me, maybe you should tell me about yourself.”

He topped her wine glass off with the bottle the waiter had left on the table. “What would you like to know?”

“The basics—where you grew up, how you started in the military, brothers and sisters, all that sort of thing.”

“I grew up in Arkansas. My mother left us when I was young, so it was just my father and I, no brothers or sisters. I went to the University of Arkansas and paid for it with a ROTC scholarship like a lot of poor southern kids do. Difference was I made it my career.”

“Never married?” she asked as her fingertip drew a circle on the tablecloth.

“No. Married to the job, I guess. How about you? How did you meet your ex?”

She chuckled bitterly. “A bar. Which should have been my first warning sign.”

He grinned at her. “I have to admit, the Sergeant is a real douche.”

She smiled back at him. “He is.”

They grinned at each other for a moment.

“Earlier—yesterday—you said you were going to make sure he suffered appropriately for how he treated me. What exactly does that entail?”

He smirked. “Do I detect some bloodthirstiness?”

“No…” She paused. “Well, maybe. I don’t want him hurt physically, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him made uncomfortable in some other ways.”

His voice dropped as he leaned forward. When he did he could smell her perfume—light, teasing, lavender and vanilla. It made him want to lick her all over like an ice cream cone. “Let’s just say his commanding officer will ensure the Sergeant gets all the absolute worst assignments and no promotions—ever. Also, every one of the Army’s worst posts. And trust me, we have bases in some really shit hole places.”

She laughed, her cheeks turning pink. It was charming, and Jeff had to remind himself again that sex with your pretend wife wasn’t a good idea. In addition to the fact she hadn’t yet agreed to become his pretend wife.

Dinner was ordered and delivered and they ate, alternating between comfortable silence and cursory questions.

After dinner they walked outside to discover the snow had finally started falling, dusting the streets and sidewalks with a layer of fluffy white.

“I can get the car and bring it around if you don’t want to walk in this,” he said, holding her elbow as they stood under the awning in front of the restaurant.

“Are you kidding?” she asked, slipping out of his grasp and moving toward the sidewalk. “It’s the first snowfall of the season, we have to walk to a coffee shop so we can get hot chocolate.”

He stared at her for a moment.

“We do?”

“Of course! Don’t you celebrate the first snowfall with hot chocolate?”

“Uh, no. I’ve never celebrated the first snowfall at all. And I don’t know that I’ve had hot chocolate since one of my aunts made it for me as a kid.”

Her eyes widened in shock. “I swear I thought you just said you haven’t had hot chocolate since you were a child.”

“Right.” He raised an eyebrow at her.

She made a sound of disapproval and grabbed his hand, pulling him firmly into the snowfall.

“You poor dear. We can fix that.”

Jeff followed her, amusement washing through him. The bones in her hand were fine and tiny in his grasp. It made him aware of how large he was in comparison to her. He had the sudden urge to wrap her in his arms, protect her, warm her, shield her.

She skipped ahead of him a few steps, then turned, walking backward as she grinned. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

He looked around. “It’s cold, and wet.”

“Oh you man of no imagination.” She grabbed his other hand and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing the few people who were out to move around them. “Look up,” she instructed.

He did. “It gets snow in my eyes,” he said, looking back down at her.

She laughed. “Close your eyes and open your mouth.” She demonstrated, and his heart did something inside him, something that pinched, and burned. He swallowed against the sensation. Her pink tongue came out and she laughed joyously, catching snowflakes on her tongue.

He watched her, mesmerized by every movement, every sound of glee, every tiny thing about her from her black boots slowly getting covered in snow to her dark hair suffering the same fate.

When she opened her eyes she blinked at him. “Did you try it?” she asked softly.

He tipped his head back, opening his mouth and feeling the cold ice crystals fall onto his tongue. When he lowered his chin and opened his eyes, snow stuck to his lashes and she reached out and wiped a thumb under one of his eyes.

“Come on,” she whispered. “The hot chocolate part’s even better.”

They tumbled inside the Starbucks, greeted by the smell of freshly roasted coffee and the holiday music Jeff normally despised but somehow didn’t mind in the moment.

Lisa led him to the counter, not releasing his hand. He held tight, relishing the sensation of her cold, bare skin against his. When they reached the register, she smiled at the barista and Jeff was almost jealous of the other man for getting her joy and attention.

“Two grande hot chocolates with whip,” she ordered.

He leaned over and whispered in her ear while the barista rang up the total. “What’s whip?”

She shook her head and chuckled. “Whipped cream.”

“Is that an essential part of the hot chocolate?” he asked, pulling out his wallet with the hand that wasn’t still clutched in hers.

“Absolutely,” she answered, grinning up at him.

“Well then, I guess it’s good you added it.”

They gazed at each other then, and things skittered in Jeff’s chest as he watched her beautiful eyes take him in. He paid the barista and wondered, what did she see? A soldier? A man who had killed? Someone who would stop at nothing, not even an arranged marriage, to get what he wanted? Or did she see a sad little boy? Abandoned by his mother, raised in a small version of hell, someone not wanted by anyone—except the military. The Army had always wanted Jeff. At first it had wanted his body, he’d been a trained fighting cog in the giant machine of war. But later they’d wanted his mind, his leadership and authority with others. They’d wanted his cunning, and his penchant for getting the job done no matter what.

The Army had wanted him, when no one else in his life ever had.

“Jeff?” Lisa’s voice brought him back from his wandering thoughts.

She held out his cup of chocolate, and he realized she’d also dropped his hand so she could balance the two cups.

He gave her a tight smile and took the drink before they made their way to a table sitting in the front windows of the café.

He looked out at the softly falling snow before turning to find her watching him.

“So is there some special way I need to drink this?” She seemed to have very specific traditions for this whole first snowfall thing after all.

“I’m glad you asked.” Her eyes danced. “You have to eat the whipped cream first.”

He looked down to see if a spoon had magically appeared. “I’ll get us some spoons.” He started to stand but her soft hand on his arm stopped him mid-rise.

“No spoons needed. Just watch.”

She proceeded to stick her finger in the whipped cream that crowned the top of her cup. She ran it through the stiff peak, making a trench. When she put the glob of whipped cream in her mouth, her finger followed it as she expertly sucked the sweetness off.

Jeff’s cock went to half mast immediately, and when she moaned in delight it pushed against his fly, demanding it be allowed to finish the journey to full on hard.

Fuuuck. He grit his teeth and took a deep breath.

“Go on,” she scolded as her finger dipped into the cup again. “Let loose, Colonel. Be a kid for a little bit.”

Jeff couldn’t remember ever being a kid—not really. He knew he had been, at least until he was seven, and there were plenty of moments in his life when he’d behaved childishly, but actually be a kid? Do the carefree things kids did? No, he didn’t think that had happened since he was very young.

So, he felt a bit foolish as he stuck his finger in the mound topping his cup. It was warm and melting into the hot chocolate rapidly, but he was able to get a good chunk. He brought it to his lips, then stuck the tip of his tongue out to test it before he consumed it wholesale.

Lisa laughed. “It won’t bite you. In fact, you’re biting it. Just go ahead, go for it.”

He did, and the rich sweetness exploded on his tongue, bringing back memories of ice cream sundaes at the Dairy Queen in his hometown when he’d save enough money sweeping out the neighbor’s garage to ride his bike and get some in the summers.

His eyes closed involuntarily, and when he opened them her gaze was on him, warm, soft, so very enticing.

“It’s delicious, isn’t it?” she asked.

He smiled as he took his finger out of his mouth and dipped it into the cup again.

“It’s sugary.”

“It’s delicious, admit it, soldier, you may be tough as nails, but you like whipped cream on hot chocolate.”

“I like watching you liking it even better,” he said before he could stop himself.

She froze, a wary expression washing over her features.

“I see why you’re a teacher,” he continued, trying to smooth things over. “You’re a kid at heart.”

She visibly relaxed. “That’s probably true. I love sweets, Harry Potter, and fidget spinners. I fit right in with the second grade set.”

“What’s a fidget spinner?” he asked as he settled into sipping the creamy warm chocolate.

“You’ve never heard of a fidget spinner?”

“Nope.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s a good thing you met me so I could educate you on the truly important things in life.”

He laughed, and thought this might be the best evening he’d had in a very long time.

* * *

By the time they walked back to the car, Lisa had grown relaxed with Jeff. He was the consummate gentleman. Never once doing anything to make her uncomfortable. It had really been like a normal date. But better, because she already knew what he was after. There was no guessing, judging, trying to figure out what he hoped to get out of the whole thing. It was a welcome relief.

As he started up the car, she looked over at him—he was capable, safe, strong. He was also serious, and a little bit sad. And she understood that. She’d been serious and sad for a long time. Doug had done that to her. Taken away her natural buoyancy and spontaneity. But tonight, with Jeff, she’d felt it resurface, and she realized it was because with him she could finally relax. He was so sure, so confident, and in charge, she was freed to just be for the first time in three years.

And maybe that was worth a marriage of convenience. Maybe if she had the financial problems removed she could finally get back to being her.

Maybe Colonel Jeff Thibedeux could help Lisa find herself again.

“I’ll do it,” she said suddenly.

He glanced at her, taking his eyes off the road briefly.

“What are we discussing?” he asked, a small smile on his face.

“The marriage. I’ll do it.”

He did look at her fully then for a moment. His eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

She nodded, determined. “Yes. You might be crazy, but you’re the most rational crazy person I’ve ever met.” She smiled at him and he grinned. “Also,” her voice grew softer, “I felt more like myself tonight than I have in a long time. I realized the stress from everything that’s happened with Doug over the last three years has made me—different. If the financial burden were lifted maybe I could get back to being me sooner.” She paused, her fingers tangling in her lap. “I’m tired. I think I might welcome the help.”

Without a word he reached over and gave her hand one firm squeeze. “You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for,” he said somberly. “There’s nothing wrong with asking for help. No battle is won without a team. I’d be honored to join your team. We can fight these things together.”

She nodded, oddly overcome with emotion, then took a deep shuddering breath, looking out the side window so he couldn’t see her face.

When she turned back to him his jaw was set, his expression fierce. “So how do we do this?” she asked.

“First,” he answered, releasing her hand, “we go see my friend, Teague Roberts.”

“The Supreme Court Justice?” she asked, mouth dropping open.

“The very one.”

* * *

Teague Roberts was every bit as intimidating in real life as he was on television. Luckily, his wife, investigative reporter Deanna Roberts, was very kind.

“She should really have her own attorney,” Teague warned Jeff again, looking askance at Lisa. “I’m concerned with your interests,” he said pointedly, “I can’t promise this is the best deal she can get.”

Jeff scowled at his friend. “I want this to be a good deal for both of us and there’s no reason it can’t be. Our interests aren’t at odds.”

“Still,” Teague cautioned.

“Still nothing. I want to pay her debts and get her a house so she has a solid start on a new life when this is over. She’s promised to attend events with me, host a few dinners, and help settle the new officers and their families when they get transferred to the Pentagon. It’s not complicated. We’re both in agreement—” he looked at her, “—aren’t we?”

She nodded. “Yes. I don’t have any problem with what Jeff’s asking.”

The Supreme Court Justice continued to scowl at her.

“Stop it,” Deanna said. “This isn’t one of your corporate negotiations. It’s Jeff, and the lovely school teacher he’s decided to marry. Just do the prenup and stop being a grump.”

Jeff snorted as he tried not to laugh. Lisa just looked from one face to another, wondering how Deanna dared speak to a man as intimidating as Justice Roberts that way.

However, instead of exploding the way Lisa expected him to, Teague just raised an eyebrow at his wife and asked, “What’s in it for me?”

Deanna rolled her eyes and smacked him playfully on the back of the head. “Write the document.”

He smirked, and Jeff cleared his throat.

“All right,” Teague said, relaxing finally. “I’ll have my clerk do it up in the morning. She’ll need a complete list of all debts and assets for both of you as well as basic details like full names, birthdates, and addresses.”

“We’ll get it all over to you ASAP,” Jeff said, standing.

Lisa stood as well.

“Don’t take him too seriously,” Deanna whispered, appearing at Lisa’s side as the two men continued talking. “He’s very protective of his boys—Jeff being one of them.”

“How did they meet?” Lisa asked.

“I’m not honestly sure, but there’s a group of them that are tight. They don’t advertise it, but they have their own little gang of sorts.” She laughed softly. “Between them they control half the country, but you’d never know it by seeing them. They seem like any other group of guys hanging around watching football on a Sunday afternoon.”

“Well, I appreciate Justice Roberts’ help. I know this must seem odd to you.” She paused. “Marrying someone for money, I mean.” Her voice faded as she realized she hadn’t thought about how she’d explain all this to friends and family. God, her mother was going to kill her.

“I think throughout history people have gotten married for a lot of reasons, most of them having little to do with love. As long as you aren’t being coerced into doing anything you don’t want to, I think your reasons for getting married are between you and your soon-to-be husband.”

Lisa swallowed at how serious that made it all sound.

“But I know you’re not being coerced because I know Jeff and he would never press a woman to do anything she doesn’t want to.” Deanna caught her gaze. “I mean that. You’re safe with him.”

Lisa nodded. “I believe you. I’ve only known him a few days, so it sounds nuts, but I can tell he’s a good man.”

“The best,” Deanna said warmly. “I hope he can meet someone someday—I mean no offense, but someone who’ll marry him for love.”

“I understand what you mean,” Lisa assured her. “And I hope he can too.”

When she lay in bed that night after Jeff dropped her off, she repeated the hope, because Colonel Jefferson Thibedeux deserved to have love. He deserved a real marriage. But until then she supposed she’d do her level best to at least make it look like he had one.