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  Andrea did like that. She grinned. “Yes, sir.” Dare must have had a great deal to do with this, she realized. After all, what would SAC HQ know about her except what Dare told them? Her heart swelled.

  “Andrea, you do realize that your neck is on the block now?” His expression was disturbed. “I made it clear that there are no guarantees this operation will work, but you know how that goes. They want a resolution, and if they don’t get it, they’ll be looking to lay the blame somewhere. When I called OSI in, I took you off the firing line, but now you’re right back in the way of all the flack that’ll fly if this falls through.”

  Andrea’s stomach did an unpleasant little flip, but she nodded serenely. “It goes with the territory.”

  “Yes, it does. We can still call it off.”

  She shook her head. “No, sir. This is how I earn my keep. Risks go with the job.”

  Damn, but he admired this woman! “I wish all my officers were like you, Andrea,” he said gruffly. “I’m speaking as your commanding officer when I say that.”

  Rising, he came around the desk and bent over her. “Speaking as a man, I want another quick kiss before you go. But just a quick one, or I’ll forget you can’t walk out of here with swollen lips, mussed hair, and a rumpled uniform.”

  But oh, how she wished she could, she thought as his lips nestled against hers, caressing gently.

  “I guess you’ll be too busy to stay with me until this is over,” he murmured regretfully. “Thursday night?”

  Andrea nodded. “Thursday night.”

  He smiled and straightened. “Go get him, Captain.”

  Andrea had a few doubts before the day was over, the worst of them having to do with the number of assumptions they’d been making. She was flying on instinct, and she knew it. Assuming Halliday was the culprit was the least problematic of all her assumptions, because they could just as easily catch someone else with this trap as Halliday. A shakier assumption was the notion that their man would move at night, based solely on the fact that she’d been shot at night. What if the incidents were unrelated? What if the guy wasn’t interested in ruining anyone at all? What if he was just a crazy who was striking out in random, pointless ways? What if this bait didn’t tempt him? What if it scared him off?

  Doubts notwithstanding, she sat on the edge of the flight line in her truck at eleven that night while Nickerson positioned the dogs and their handlers. Shivering as much from tension as cold, she waited impatiently and tried not to envision the dozens of things that could go wrong. She had to try equally hard not to think of how she could be lying in Dare’s arms right now if only she weren’t so pigheadedly determined to catch this guy before she left. There just wasn’t enough time!

  At twenty minutes after eleven the passenger door opened, and Nickerson climbed into the cab of the truck with her.

  “Done,” he said, pulling back his hood and blowing a cloud of frozen breath. “You know what really bugs me?”

  “Tell me.” Leaning forward, Andrea turned over the ignition.

  “I just moved fifteen men and dogs past supposedly tight security, and not one damn sentry challenged us.”

  “Well, they can’t sit under the planes, Nick. It’s too cold. You had the advantage of knowing when the patrols would be passing.”

  “True, but it still bugs me. You still planning to come back later tonight?”

  “About 4:00 a.m.,” Andrea confirmed. “Just when everybody’s at their lowest ebb.”

  “Might be the time our guy pulls his pranks. If I was doing something like that, that’s the time I’d pick for it. Do you want me to come get you at MacLendon’s?”

  Andrea paused in the process of shifting into reverse and looked at Nick. How had he known? It was a question she didn’t dare ask. His half smile was evident even in the dim glow of the dash lights.

  “Go for it, skipper,” he said.

  Ten minutes later she stood in front of Dare’s house, watching Nick drive off down the street. The sound of the truck’s engine faded, leaving only the hiss of the blowing snow, loud on the dark, deserted street. Drawing a deep breath of frigid air, Andrea looked up at the starless sky and then turned to face the house.

  Her stomach fluttered nervously as she took in the dark windows and drew another deep breath. What if he was annoyed at her for waking him up? Well, she’d burned her bridge behind her when she sent Nickerson on his way. It was either ring Dare’s bell or take a long, cold walk to the BOQ. Gulping yet another breath, she squared her shoulders and marched up the sidewalk to the front door. Her hand trembled only a little bit when she punched the doorbell.

  Two minutes later Dare, wrapped in his terry robe, opened his front door and peered through the storm door at a not-very-large figure in anonymous survival garb. Andrea? he wondered.

  “Andrea!” Flinging open the storm door, he grabbed her unceremoniously by the arm and tugged her inside as he swiftly closed both doors behind her. “What’s wrong?”

  Pulling back her hood, she smiled uncertainly up at him. “I got lonely,” she admitted in a small voice.

  God, he looked good, she thought. Had it only been twelve hours since she’d left him in his office? His short dark hair was tousled, and there was a crease in his stubbled cheek from his pillow. His eyes were wide awake and alert, however, those wonderful blue eyes that seemed to see right into her heart.

  “I was too lonely to sleep,” he told her, a smile deepening the creases at the corners of his eyes. Reaching out, he began to unfasten her parka, buttons first and then the zipper. “That damn bed feels so big and empty without you. I keep wanting to roll over and put my arms around you. Are you here for the night?”

  “Nick’s coming back for me at a quarter to four.” She pulled off her mittens so he could tug the parka down her arms.

  Dare hung her parka carefully on the coat tree, but then he turned and gathered her into his arms, lifting her from her feet and burying his face in the curve of her neck.

  “My boots,” Andrea protested weakly as he carried her down the hall to his bedroom.

  “I’ll get to them,” he laughed, raising his head and looking down into her eyes. “I intend to get to every damn thing you’re wearing, one piece at a time.”

  “You don’t mind that I just dropped in like this?”

  “Mind? How can you even think that?” Still smiling, he lowered her to the bed, leaving her feet dangling over the edge. He paused to drop a kiss on her lips before turning his attention to the laces of her boots. “Come and go as you like, sweetheart.” He pulled her boots off and dropped them beside the bed. Next he went to work on her snow pants.

  Andrea’s response was little more than a whisper. “I don’t want to go.”

  Slowly his eyes rose to meet hers.

  “I’ve never felt like this before, all confused about what I want to do and where I’m going. Everything seems all mixed up.”

  “Maybe you’re just making things too complicated.” Grabbing the cuffs of the snow pants, he pulled them off and then sat beside her, reaching for the button of her slacks. “It’s really not all that complicated, Andrea, unless you get bogged down in the details. You just have to look at the big picture.”

  “What’s the big picture for you?”

  He paused in the act of removing her slacks. “Enjoying what we have together whenever we’re able to be together.”

  “You make it sound so simple.” And so terminal, she thought miserably. Whatever they had for however long they had it. Until next week was all they had.

  “That’s because it is, when you get down to what really matters.” He stripped away her slacks and reached for the fastenings on her blouse. “Like this. Once you get past all the games, all the worries and doubts, all the false starts and hesitations, it’s really quite simple—two people wanting and needing each other. Me needing to feel your arms around me, your skin against mine. Me needing to hear your sighs and needing to please you as much as you please me. What cou