Jo Leigh - Hotshot: Hotshot Going For It

Ten years ago, the passion was ignited

And its only gotten hotter with time!

Join the editors in celebrating
a decade of wonderful authors,
irresistible storiesand great sex!

Look for all six

Special 10 th Anniversary Collectors Editions
from The Original Sexy Six authors .

Check out:

THE BRADDOCK BOYS: TRAVIS
and THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE
by Kimberly Raye

HOTSHOT and GOING FOR IT
by Jo Leigh

UNDENIABLE PLEASURES and YOU SEXY THING!
by Tori Carrington

COWBOYS LIKE US and NOTORIOUS
by Vicki Lewis Thompson

TOO HOT TO TOUCH and EXPOSED
by Julie Leto

EXTRA INNINGS and IN HIS WILDEST DREAMS
by Debbi Rawlins

Harlequin Blaze

Celebrating 10 years of red-hot reads!

HOTSHOT

My deepest thanks to Muna, Jill and Debbi,
and to the Blaze team.

Its been one hell of a ride!

CAPTAIN SARA WESTON was on hold. Still. She left the confines of her temporary office, nothing more than a motel conference room swallowed by her charts and files, to get more legroom in the hallway. Pacing while on hold had become such a large part of her day shed decided two weeks ago to fill the time with some useful exercise. She doubted any amount of walking would ease the tension in her shoulders or make her any less furious.

This was the third call in as many days to the public affairs office at Fort George Mead, where shed been put off, transferred, hung up on, stalled and once, infuriatingly laughed at. She had a situation here and, by God, today she was going to have her solution or heads would roll.

In exactly one week, the Why We Serve college and job fairs western tour would begin. The bookings were set, logistics getting squared away, staff assigned, and motels allotted. The slide shows had been honed to appeal to specific audiences; the talks, with one notable exception, had been rehearsed and finessed.

Today, the notable exception would be handled. If she had to go all the way to the general of the air force, she would. She needed a flyer. An air force pilot whod seen action, who could talk to kids, who had a story worth telling. An active-duty air force flyboy who wasnt on assignment, who could be in San Diego in twenty-four hours.

Captain?

If you transfer me one more time

Captain, Im sorry, but if you want to speak to Captain Alonzo, Ill have to transfer you.

Sara held the phone away from her ear as she deeply inhaled. She was not going to lose her cool, not yet, that was for damn sure. She brought her cell back into range. You do realize Ive been playing this game for three days? That Ive been transferred twice already on this call alone?

Yes, maam, I do realize that, and I apologize for the inconvenience. Captain Alonzo was inadvertently delayed. Hes en route as we speak and Im sure hell be available in moments. Ill transfer you now.

Turning at the end of the hallway, she listened to yet another phone ring, and as she walked she unclenched her jaw, moved her neck, rolled her shoulders. Shed been in the service long enough to know that channels were channels and snafus were standard operating procedure. And that she was far less likely to achieve her objective if she told Captain Alonzo exactly what he could do with his inadvertent delay.

At the other end of the hallway, where her offices and the civilian world met, she saw Master Sergeant Mike OMalley, his back ramrod-straight, his uniform impeccable, his scowl firmly in place, and she felt instantly better.

OMalley looked like a pit bull and bit like one too, but Sara couldnt imagine what shed do without him. He was in charge of logistics, but equally as important, the old goat held the keys to her personal sanity. No one listened like OMalley, and if she didnt get connected to Captain Fred Alonzo in about ten seconds, OMalley was going to need to talk her down before she went postal.

She turned her attention to the phone when she heard a mans voice. Alonzos voice. Finally.

Captain Weston. Sorry for the delay.

Just as she opened her mouth she looked up again, and there was someone with OMalley, blocking him. A man. She could only see his back.

The air left her lungs, her mission left her head, and as she lowered and closed her cell phone, all she could think was, What the hell is he doing here? He couldnt possibly be here. Not here. He was in Bagram, Afghanistan, attached to the 455th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron. It made no sense that hed be standing talking to OMalley in a Victoria Inn off the 405 Freeway in San Diego.

But she knew it was him. Lucas Carnes. No other man on the planet stood just that way, had that exact lanky build, and no one on this planet held his head just so.

Yet, it was a full-body slam when he turned and she saw his face.

Son of a bitch.

SEEING SARA WAS A roundhouse punch to the gut. It took everything Luke had to stay solid, to remember hed planned to smile, act casual. He needed this gig, and Sara could find a way to derail the whole operation before it got started.