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  Dare had a sudden painful image of Andrea the way he’d seen her at chapel when she was all of what—thirteen? fourteen?—in that ridiculous, frilly dress. Had she been trying to please the father who could never be pleased? Had she given up finally, burying the hurt deep inside, and gone her own way, thinking she couldn’t please any man, that she was a failure as a woman?

  He had no difficulty imagining Andrea even younger, five or six maybe, with her freckles and pert face, being hollered at because she was dirty, or because she’d been playing with the boys. Because she wasn’t Charlie Burke’s notion of a female.

  “Andrea,” her name came out hoarsely, torn from some place deep inside him, “you won’t disappoint me.”

  “You don’t know that, Dare.”

  “Sure I do.” He tried to keep his tone light enough that she wouldn’t pull away from the depth of the feelings she’d just drawn out of him. Rolling onto his back, he pulled her with him so that she lay on top of him and hugged her so tightly she squeaked a protest. “You can make me mad,” he said, “and you can make me hurt, but you can’t ever disappoint me.”

  Andrea told herself it was because she was so tired, but tears sprang to her eyes and dropped onto Dare’s chest.

  “Andrea, honey, don’t cry. You’re worrying me.”

  “I’m just tired,” she said, sniffling forlornly. “It’s one of those stupid female things I do sometimes.”

  What could he say to that? Not knowing what else to do, he kissed her soundly.

  “Now sleep, darlin’,” he said, once again tucking her securely into the curve of his large body. “I’ll wake you in time to get you back.”

  Andrea woke at the first sound of Dare’s alarm clock in the morning. Still tucked against his shoulder and side, she waited while he cursed softly and felt around his night table. The buzzing stopped, and he relaxed back into the bed with a sigh.

  “Andrea?” His voice was hushed. “Time to get you back.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Five.”

  She snuggled closer. “How about a quickie, cowboy?”

  “I was going to feed you breakfast.”

  “I’ll eat at the O’-Club.”

  “A quickie, huh?”

  “Very quick,” she said, nuzzling his nipple. “I can’t believe I climbed into bed with you last night and slept. Not when all I’ve been able to think about all week…”

  With a growling laugh he rolled over onto her. Moments later he was sheathed in her moist warmth. “That quick enough for you?”

  Andrea rolled her hips suggestively. “Not quite, cowboy. You forgot the rest of it.”

  “The rest of wha—” The words died in a groan as she tightened herself around him. “Now you’ve done it, woman,” he growled. “Now I’m going to—” He whispered the rest of the words into her ear, very earthy words. Andrea might have giggled except that he was doing exactly what he’d threatened, and it felt so damned good….

  “You can talk dirty to me any time you want, sir,” Andrea told him breathlessly a few minutes later. “Just as long as you follow through.”

  Dare was still chuckling when he drove her back to the BOQ.

  Nickerson knocked on her office door almost before she settled into the chair behind her desk.

  “Oh hell, what now?” she asked on a sigh as she watched him close the door and come to stand in front of her.

  “The fire marshal called me at three this morning, ma’am. I thought you’d want to know what he said.”

  Andrea was silent, thinking the only thing she really wanted to do was curl up in some cozy corner and enjoy the glow Dare had left her with. He always left her feeling good, she realized with a dawning sense of wonder. He always made her feel good about herself.

  “Ma’am?”

  Nickerson’s voice called her back to the present with a thud.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I guess I’m not really awake yet.” Looking up at Nick, it suddenly dawned on her that he had probably tried to raise her as soon as the fire marshal called him, but she’d left her radio on her desk because Dolan had taken the command, and she hadn’t been in the BOQ to answer her phone. Her cheeks began to heat, and the oddly wooden expression on Nickerson’s face didn’t help.

  “What did the fire marshal say?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t notice her rising color.

  “The fire was definitely arson, Captain. Merle says it was started by a homemade electronic fire starter that was hidden behind the instrument panel in the cockpit. He also said that whoever built and hid the ignition device has a fairly sophisticated knowledge of electronics.”

  “You could say that about half the airmen on this base, Nick. This is the high tech Air Force, remember? Anything else?”

  Nick shook his head. “That’s the big development. Not real helpful.”

  “I’m beginning to think this is one case where we’ll have to make our own breaks.”

  “Ma’am?”

  Andrea waved her hand dismissingly. “Just thinking aloud, Nick. Never mind.”

  When Nick had gone, she found her thoughts straying away from business again and back to Dare and the warm glow he’d left her with. Maybe she was in love with him.

  The thought trickled into her mind almost casually, forming fully before it really registered. When it did, shock caused her heart to slam. Love? Why that, of all things? In all her planning and dreaming for her future, that was one contingency she’d never considered, one possibility she’d never reckoned on. She didn’t want to be in love, for crying out loud! But the more the word turned in her mind, the more realistic it sounded.

  If she was in love with Dare now, then she had certainly been in love with him even before Christmas. Maybe, she thought with a reluctant smile, ever since the moment he’d come marching up to her at gunpoint the night her cops had brought him in for loitering near the weapons depot. Maybe since the moment he’d told her that he would be grateful if she wouldn’t go around addressing people as “cowboy.” Certainly at least since he kissed her at Thanksgiving, because after that he’d begun to seriously preoccupy her thoughts.

  And what difference did it make exactly when it had happened? There was a deep certainty in her that it had, happened and for the worst possible person at the worst possible time. Her departure for Minot had been looming unpleasantly for some time, but now it yawned before her like a step into a black pit. She didn’t want to give up her career, and she wasn’t certain any longer that she could give up Dare.

  What now?

  Dare spent the day in a considerably more optimistic frame of mind. SAC might be breathing down his neck for a resolution to the problem, OSI might be crawling into every nook and cranny on the base, but his night with Andrea had persuaded him that he was winning on that front. She had finally confided her fears to him, a sign of trust he valued fully. She’d wept in his arms, slept in his arms, and played this morning with a blossoming confidence in her womanhood. What more could he ask?

  A commitment. The word nearly made him break into a cold sweat, and his confidence took a sharp dip. She’d certainly given him no indication that she no longer considered their relationship temporary. For all he knew, she was still planning to leave for Minot free as a bird and without a backward glance. How could he possibly persuade her that he was capable of giving her the freedom she needed for her career while nailing her down to permanence in a relationship?

  Because he wanted that kind of permanence. All his life long he’d wanted it, except for a brief spell after his first marriage. He could have had it a half-dozen times over, too, except that he was particular about things like companionship and friendship. And love? If the day ever came when he was sitting in a rocker and leaning on a cane, he wanted to be with someone he liked, not someone he tolerated. And, by God, he liked Andrea. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt in his mind that she would still be zinging him when he was ninety.

  It was too soon, he decided with a sigh, to press for a