Blaze of Glory Read Online Free PDF Page A

water—did
not
mix.
He
needed
to
get
her
out
of
his
head
and
move
on,
the
reason
he’d
begged
his
butt
off to
be
a
part
of
this
weeklong
mission,
only
to
be
surprised
at
how
easily
the
assignment
came
through.
    Must
be
fate—laughing
at
him,
no
doubt.
    And
yeah,
there
she
was
standing
under
the
wing
of
a
C17
cargo
plane,
sun
kicking
up
sparks
off
braided notches
of
her
champagneblond
hair.
She
could
have
been
one
of
those
WWII
bombshell
poster
girls—
    except
in
camo
rather
than
a
red
dress.
    Well,
he
liked
life
on
the
edge
and
Gracie
certainly
set
him
on
a
razor’s
edge.
She
stepped
from
under
the wing
toward
the
yawning
opening
at
the
top
of
the
load
ramp.
    Gracie.
    Here.
    Hell.
    And
ah…
Nirvana.
    

    

    THE
HELLISH
HEATcould
have
swallowed
her
ability
to
concentrate,
but
Grace
Marie
forced
her attention
off
the
heat—from
the
weather
and
thoughts
of
Bobby—and
concentrated
on
doing
her
job.
Time to
quit
relying
on
her
buddy
Rodeo.
The
C17
contained
shipping
containers
with
dismantled
satellite
dishes, printing
presses,
comm
gear,
all
packed
in
around
her
unit’s
specialty
van
and
a
Humvee.
    A
Humvee
she
would
need
for
a
quick
spin
of
her
own
after
sundown,after
she’d
seen
Bobby.
    She’d
realized
after
a
few
dates
that
Bobby
was
crazy
as
a
loon—okay,
not
exactly
a
technical
description given
her
occupation,
but
then
Bobby
had
a
way
of
jumbling
her
intellect.
    Like
now,
as
he
filled
the
open
side
hatch.
    Dark
glasses
shielded
his
eyes,
not
that
he
let
anyone
peek
inside
even
when
the
shades
were
hooked
on
the collar
of
his
Tshirt.
Nine
months
ago,
he’d
sat
in
that
bus,
knee
jostling,
as
if
he
had
better
places
to
be
than listening
to
one
of
the
toughest
things
she’d
ever
had
to
say.

    Not
that
she
wanted
to
admit
how
difficult
it
had
been
to
break
up,
but
she
refused
to
participate
in
unhealthy relationships.
Of
course,
his
insanely
impulsive
and
dangerous
save
had
wowed
her
and
scared
the
pants
off her
all
at
once.
    He
jogged
down
the
side
steps
and
out
onto
the
cement.
His
jetblack
hair
radiated
heat
as
much
from
the man
as
from
the
broiling
sun
overhead.
Her
hands
clenched
against
the
remembered
texture,
thick,
soft,
with a
hint
of
curl
sneaking
around
her
fingers,
insidiously
tempting
her
through
temptation
to
throw
away
reason.
    Grace
Marie
pivoted
away.
She
couldn’t
do
this
now,
when
her
emotions
were
too
close
to
the
surface, worrying
that
her
unstable
father
had
gotten
himself
into
Godonlyknows
what
kind
of
trouble.
    Derek
stepped
closer,
shadows
darkening
his
chocolatebrown
eyes.
“You
okay,
Grace
Marie?”
    “I
have
to
be.”
She
donned
her
Army
stance
again
like
a
rigid
armor.
“Let’s
check
the
unloading
of
the