Christmas With The Marine. Candace Havens

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      BEN WAS SNIFFING some homemade candles at a booth, and Ainsley could not keep from staring at him. She had to stop ogling poor Ben, or he was going to get the wrong idea. But everything about him... Heck, she’d never been so attracted to a man. Never in her life had she believed in pheromones but it had to be something like that.

      That and he had one of the most jaw-dropping examples of the male body she’d ever seen. Oh, and the fact he was sweet. Taking care of his mom and sister. Putting his life on the line for them, and his country.

      A heart-stopping combo if ever there was one.

      How many times do I have to tell myself no more men?

      He glanced back and shot her one of his devastating smiles.

      At least a hundred.

      “My mom might like this vanilla one. Do you think giving her something like this would be a good Christmas gift?”

      She nodded and smiled. “Everyone loves candles,” she said.

      “What else is on your list?” he asked her.

      Right. Stay on task.

      “I have gifts for two executives I need to pick up. The client wanted something homemade but nice. Classy. Wood sculptures or pens. There’s a man here who crafts things out of old bourbon barrels. I usually buy him out. Those are popular gifts for men and women.”

      Her phone played Ozzie Osbourne’s “Crazy Train.” It was the ringtone for her sister, Megan.

      “Just a second,” Ainsley said.

      “Help!” Megan yelled before Ainsley could even say hello.

      “Megan, breathe.” Her sister was a bit of a drama queen in all things, but she loved her. She was the only person who made worse choices when it came to men than Ainsley did.

      “Sorry. I’m freaking out. The bachelor auction is tonight, and,” she gasped and sniffled, “two of our guys had to cancel because they have the flu. I swear, if they’re faking I will kill them both. Dead.”

      Ainsley thought to downplay the situation and scoffed, “It’s fine, Megan. So you have a couple less bachelors. No biggie.”

      “Yes, biggie. It’s for charity. I promised twenty of the hottest guys in Corpus. What am I doing to do with eighteen? And those guys were my big tickets, the two that backed out. My end-of-show wow factors.”

      “What?” Sometimes Megan talked in riddles.

      “My moneymakers. They were going to push us over the top. I so wanted to beat Stephanie at her own game. She’s been talking behind my back about how she was so much more organized last year. And it’s true. But still. I want to win. And by win, I mean I want the children’s cancer fund to make a ton of money. The most money ever.”

      Ainsley smiled. “You want to stick it to Stephanie in the worst way. Be honest.”

      “Yes. Okay. Fine. But the only way to do that is to get the most donations for these guys, right? So, it’s a win-win, if I can make it happen. But I can’t do that without some hot studly studs.”

      Her sister always had a way with words. “So call your friends. You know hundreds of guys.” Megan went through men faster than she did shoes, and she really loved shoes.

      Her sister sighed. “Yeah, unfortunately, I do. I’ve called in all the favors I could. A lot of my friends already donated the silent auction prizes. They don’t like the idea of being in front of a bunch of drunk women trying to buy them.”

      “I can’t imagine why.” Ainsley had never liked these types of events for that reason. Even though the guys were doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, she always felt it was kind of humiliating. The whole objectifying them, and then there was the women pawing after them on the dance floor. No, she couldn’t imagine why.

      “Please,” Megan begged. “You know everyone. Surely you can scrounge up a couple of super good-looking guys. I’ll owe. Like, my life. Please don’t make me beg more.”

      Ainsley glanced up to find Ben watching her intently. No. She couldn’t. He wouldn’t. But if ever there was a big moneymaker, it was him.

      “Hold on.” She put her phone on mute and gave him her best smile.

      “What are you and Jake doing tonight?”

      * * *

      “I’D RATHER BE in the middle of a war zone with insurgents ready to take me down,” Jake said, messing with his tie for the fiftieth time. Ben and Jake were both dressed in penguin suits for the charity auction. This was the worst idea in the history of ideas. That’s what he got for giving in to a pretty face.

      “Right there with you, brother.”

      When Ainsley had smiled that big, hopeful smile at him, he couldn’t say no. Heck, he’d probably have done just about anything to spend time with her.

      But this. Well, it was definitely beyond the call of duty. Ainsley had talked about kids with cancer, and that was all it took. He couldn’t say no. And he’d coerced Jake into doing it with him by telling him not just about the charity, but that there would be hot women who wanted his body.

      Jake seemed a lot more comfortable with that idea than Ben. He liked things quiet, without so many people. This would be mayhem. The sound of voices was growing louder and louder. The night had begun with free champagne and light appetizers since, as Megan had explained, “We like the women to be slightly tipsy because they spend more.”

      Ben didn’t think that was a nice way to do things, but it was for the kids, which was what he kept telling himself. They’d just finished the video showing why the research needed to be done. There were some sniffles on the other side of the curtains.

      “Sorry, ladies. That video gets me every time,” the announcer said. “But now, let’s turn up the music and have some fun.” The announcer went on to explain how the women could bid.

      His gut twisted. One by one the guys went and strutted their stuff. The screams grew louder every time. When the bidding began for the first guy, Ben never wanted to retreat more than he did right then.

      “We’re Marines. We can do this,” Ben said, more to convince himself than anything.

      Jake turned to face him.

      “Oorah,” they said together and high-fived. The other remaining bachelors laughed and shook their heads. They were pretty nice guys—had to be to do something like this.

      “I bet I pull in twice as much as you,” Jake said. This is what they did—challenged each other. They’d been on two tours together and humor was the one way they all dealt with the horror.