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He studied her for four slow creaks of the swing before stepping around the sedan door, closer to her "Tag insists it’s because of the Rokowsky--cow--in ross Is that the truth?"

"Maybe Maybe not" He leaned one shoulder against the tree "Then there are those who say it’s a package reference"

"Package?" Oh, my He couldn’t actually mean She forced her eyes not to drop lower

"As in, I’htly crooked teeth sure did charm her as much as his smile "Uh-huh So which is correct?"

"All of them around the squadron None of them in reality It’s a takeoff froone by Bo for so long, nobody even remembers my real name"

"And it is?" She needed to know Because he’d kissed her? Or because she wanted to be different from everyone else?

His jaw flexed in time with a low roll of thunder in the distance "I was na before I joined the Air Force"

Her heart ached for hi his parents

"And his naently

Winds encircled in a band sorowing stronger until it seemed to create a vortex with the-deal air "Boyd, which I shortened to Bo I’"

"Okay, Bo it is then" Thunder cracked again, followed by a distant snap of htened fro with one hand "We should probably get away frouess so" She stood, bringing their faces close again, much like when they’d kissed on the porch

Thunder pounded Or was that her pulse ha? Another second and she would hop into the car with hi with her? She considered herself a healthy woes, but she didn’t like the prickly heat stinging her skin with an out-of-control need

She sidestepped hih the dusty yard thirsty for the rain By ain

"Honey" Bo’s voice rode the wind to stop her

Huh? He couldn’t mean She turned on the bottom step "What?"

He stood by the open door of his white rental "You asked me to name the puppy, and I chose Honey because of the color of her fur"

Bo ducked into the sedan and slaainst the porch post while taillights faded into the night A raindrop splatted on her nose He’d reht of her, wanted to name the puppy, and that stirred an unwelco faster, thunder increasing to announce the i storh rain dampened her hair

If she expected to survive the next teeks with her sanity intact, she needed to clear the air about this explosive attraction attacking their hormones And definitely no ht his sensitive words would be as te as his kisses?

Chapter 8

"Crap!" Bo sar storing his dae wasn’t open yet so he could pick up soe’s for the day He scratched the rising bite buy after new puddles to nest andhis cruuy No dreae’s quivering chin when he’d done a si like nauy boffed in a haystack

Blinking against the bright sunlight outside the shadowy hangar, he slapped his neck

Mako’s singing taunt followed hiuy launched into a second chorus of the old seventies tune, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon," the oak tree reference catching hi, pretty and te he wanted to protect her all theinside to Mako, "Hey, dude, have you ever considered voice lessons?"

Jet engine parts littering the concrete floor around hio plane "This old gal likes h as it is"

"Then she needs a new hearing aid," Bo razzed right back on his way across the tarhthe would be bunking out at Paige’s place With her brothers And a kid under the roof Sheesh Talk about chaperones out the wazoo

Hadn’t ht crews lived to razz each other

They played hard, joked hard, lived hard, because you never knehen the missile hit was a second away A reality he understood well frouaranteed to sink his mood into opaque territory

And he still didn’t knohat he planned to do with the rest of his life At least he had a firly frustrating one

The kiss the night before only proved the obvious He eak as hell around this woman A vulnerable look fro questions and he was ready to jump her bones He’d barely ear stowed in the trunk, he pulled off onto the two-lane road leading to Paige’s house At least he would be flying with her brother today, ency calls

He slowed behind thethe driveway

--where Kirstie still stood holding her mother’s hand What was up with that?

Bo turned onto the dirt driveway, cruising to a stop under as quickly beco his least favorite tree in the state He stepped out of the car and popped the trunk to unload his gear "No school for you today, Cupcake? Are you sick?"

Kirstie stayed<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>