Waiting... On You (Force Recon Marines) Read Online Free PDF

him.
    At barely fifteen, no one had asked
Hanna to go to her senior prom. She hadn’t expected anyone to. Who wanted to go
with an underage, brainy, tongue-tied, skinny geek? She had thought about
asking Lance, who was only a junior, but she really couldn’t generate any
interest in going and watching Nick spend all evening dancing with the most
popular girl in school.
    But a week before the big event, he
had shown up on her doorstep and shocked her speechless when he’d asked her to
go to the prom with him! Dumbfounded, she’d wondered what had happened to his
date. He’d told her he and his cheerleading hottie had gotten into an argument.
The girl had cancelled their date to the prom. Secretly, Hanna thought the girl
must have had rocks for brains!
    Angry over the whole arrangement for
some reason, Lance later told her that his mother had asked Nick to ask Hanna.
Luckily, the revelation had come after the big event, and while it hurt, it
didn’t diminish her memories of her big date with Nick.
    To her delight, Jessie took her
shopping and bought her a beautiful full-length gown that was stylish enough to
compare favorably with all the other girls’ formal dresses. Jessie had also taken
her to get her hair trimmed and fashionably styled. Then she’d gotten her ears
pierced, something she had wanted to do forever!
    By the time Nick had picked her up,
she hadn’t recognized herself in the mirror. Nick’s reaction had mirrored her
own. He’d been so stunned by her altered appearance, he’d been tongue-tied.
    In the week prior, Hanna had watched
him get repeatedly teased for taking her to the prom. She’d been sure that he’d
renege, or at the very least, ditch her once he got to the dance. But he had done
neither. The entire evening, he had been completely attentive, never once
leaving her side.
    He’d even refrained from complaining
when she’d stepped on his toes while dancing because she’d refused to wear her
eyeglasses. Except at very close range, she was virtually blind without the
thick lenses, but vanity had won out over common sense for that one special
night. Of course, Nick had had to lead her everywhere, but it had suited her
just fine to cling to his arm all night.
    After the dance, she had expected him
to take her straight home. Instead, he’d taken her to the post prom parties
with him. Nick’s feather-brained ex-girlfriend had tried hard all night to get
his attention, but he’d never once bothered with her.
    Then, miracle of miracles, at the end
of Hanna’s magical Cinderella night, he had given her her first kiss. She’d
fantasized about him being the first one to kiss her for so long that she was over
the moon when it actually happened. And oh, it had been everything she’d
dreamed of! Not a quick polite kiss, either. Even in her inexperience, she had
known immediately that it had been full of restrained passion. And she’d seen
how it had surprised him. After twenty years, that kiss was still imprinted on
her memory as if it had happened yesterday.
    The summer after graduation had been a
special one. She and Nick had been particularly close for two and a half
months. It had been an unexpected moment out of time. Then they had gone their
separate ways. Nick had gone off to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland,
and she had moved into a dorm room at the University of Washington on a full
scholarship. Across the country from one another, they wrote often, and that
first year, she had helped him long distance with his academic assignments. As
a first string linebacker for Navy’s football team, he’d had trouble adjusting
to the rigorous schedule of a student athlete.
    In the twenty years that followed,
they had continued to write to one another regularly. They also saw each other
whenever he came home. Except for a brief interlude three years ago, there had
never been enough time together, though. Much to Hanna’s regret, they remained
best friends, but nothing more. Not that she