Diana Palmer - True Blue & Carrera's Bride - True Blue / Carrera's Bride

She caught her breath and stepped back quickly. She looked up into his searching eyes and stood very still, like a cat in the sights of a hunter. She couldn’t even think of anything to say.

Rick was feeling something similar. She smelled of wildflowers today. Her skin was almost translucent and he noticed that she wore little makeup. Her hair was caught up in a high ponytail, but he was certain that if she let it down, it would make a thick platinum curtain all the way to her waist. He wanted, badly, to loosen it and bury his mouth in it.

He stepped back, too. The feelings were uncomfortable. “Better get back to work,” he said curtly. He was breathing heavily. His voice didn’t sound natural.

“Yes. Uh, m-me, too,” she stammered, and flushed, making her skin look even prettier.

He started to open the door for her. But he paused. “Someone told me that you like The Firebird.”

She laughed nervously. “Yes. Very much.”

“The orchestra is doing a tribute to Stravinsky Friday night.” He moved one shoulder. He shouldn’t do this. But he couldn’t help himself. “I have two tickets. I was going to take Mom, but she’s going to have to cater some cattlemen’s meeting in Jacobsville and she can’t go.” He took a breath. “So I was wondering…”

“Yes.” She cleared her throat. “I mean, if you were going to ask me…?” she blurted, embarrassed.

Her nervousness lessened his. He smiled at her in a way he never had, his chiseled mouth sensuous, his eyes very dark and soft. “Yes. I was going to ask you.”

“Oh.” She laughed, self-consciously.

He tipped her chin up with his bent forefinger and looked into her soft, pale green eyes. “Six o’clock? We’ll have dinner first.”

Her breath caught. Her heartbeat shook her T-shirt. “Yes,” she whispered breathlessly.

His dark eyes were on her pretty bow of a mouth. It was slightly parted, showing her white teeth. He actually started bending toward it when his phone suddenly rang.

He jerked back, laughing deeply at his own helpless response to her. “Go to work,” he said, but he grinned.

“Yes, sir.” She started out the door. She looked back at him. “I live in the Oak Street apartments,” she said. “Number 92.”

He smiled back. “I’ll remember.”

She left, with obvious reluctance.

It took him a minute to realize that his phone was still ringing. He was going to date a colleague and the whole department would know. Well, what the hell, he muttered to himself. He was really tired of going to concerts and the ballet alone. She was a fed and she wouldn’t be here long. Why shouldn’t he have companionship?

Gwen got back to her own office and leaned back against the door with a long sigh. She was trembling from the encounter with Rick and so shocked at his invitation that she could barely get her breath back. He was going to date her. He wanted to take her out. She could barely believe it!

While she was savoring the invitation, her cell phone rang. She noted the number and opened it.

“Hi, Dad,” she said, smiling. “How’s it going?”

“Rough, or don’t you watch the news, pudding?” he asked with a laugh in his deep voice as he used his nickname for her.

“I do,” she said. “I’m really sorry. Politicians should let the military handle military matters.”

“Come up to D.C. and tell the POTUS that,” he murmured.

“Why can’t you just say President of the United States?” she teased.

“I’m in the military. We use abbreviations.”

“I noticed.”

“How’s it going with you?”

“I’m working on a sensitive matter.”

“I’ve been talking to your boss about it,” he replied. “And I told him that I don’t like having you put on the firing line like this.”

She winced. She could imagine that encounter. Her boss, while very nice, was also as bullheaded as her father. It would have been interesting to see how it ended.

“And he told you…?”

He sighed. “That I could mind my own damned business, basically,” he explained. “We’re a lot alike.”

“I noticed.”

“Anyway, I hope you’re packing, and that the detective you’re working with is, also.”

“We both are, but the general isn’t a bad man.”

“He’s wanted for kidnapping!”

“Yes, well, he’s desperate for money, but he didn’t really hurt anybody.”

“A man was killed in his camp,” he returned curtly.

“Yes, the general shot him for trying to assault Gracie Pendleton,” she replied. “He caught him in the act. Gracie was bruised and shaken, but he got to her just in time. The guy was one of the Fuentes organization.”

There was a long silence. “I didn’t hear that part.”

“Not many people have.”

He sighed. “Well, maybe he’s not as bad a man as I thought he was.”

“We want him on our side. He has a son that he didn’t know about. We’re trying to get an entrée into his camp, to make a contact with him. It isn’t easy.”

“I know about that, too.” He paused. “How’s your love life?” he teased.

She cleared her throat. “Actually, Sergeant Marquez just invited me to a symphony concert.”

There was a longer pause. “He likes classical music?”

“Yes, and the ballet.” Her eyes narrowed. “And no smart remarks, if you please.”

“I like classical music.”

“But you hate ballet,” she pointed out. “And you think anybody who does is nuts.”

“So I have a few interesting flaws,” he conceded.

“He’s also a military history buff,” she added quickly. “World War II and North Africa.”

“How ironic,” he chuckled.

She smiled to herself. “Yes, isn’t it?”

He drew in a long sigh. “You coming home for Christmas?”

“Of course,” she agreed. She smiled sadly. “Especially this year.”

“I’m glad.” He bit off the words. “It hasn’t been easy. Larry’s wife calls me every other night, crying.”

“Lindy will adjust,” she said softly. “It’s just going to take time. She and Larry were married for ten years and they didn’t have children. That will make it harder for her. But she’s strong. She’ll manage.”

“I hope so.” There was a scraping sound, as if he was getting up out of a chair. “His commanding officer got drunk and wrecked a bar up in Maryland, while he was on R&R,” he said.

“Larry’s death wasn’t his fault,” she replied tersely. “Any officer who goes into a covert situation knows the risks and has to be willing to take them.”

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