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Love Me Before Dawn
Lindsay McKenna
Tess Hamilton met Shep Ramsey under purely social circumstances, but it was a matter of national security that provided the real basis for their relationship. Tess was working on a prototype airplane, and Shep was the man chosen to test its wings.For months her work on the plane had obsessed her, but now Shep had entered her heart and she was facing one frightening fact: If there were even one mistake in the plane, the man she loved would forfeit his life.
LINDSAY McKENNA is proud to have served her country in the U.S. Navy as an aerographer’s mate third class—also known as a weather forecaster. She was a pioneer of the military romance subgenre and loves to combine heart-pounding action with soulful and poignant romance. True to her military roots, she is the originator of the long-running and reader-favorite Morgan’s Mercenaries series. She does extensive hands-on research, including flying in aircraft such as a P3-B Orion sub-hunter and a B-52 bomber. She was the first romance writer to sign her books in the Pentagon bookstore. Today, she has created a new military romantic suspense series, Shadow Warriors, which features romantic and action-packed tales about U.S. Navy SEALs. Visit her online at:
www.LindsayMcKenna.com (http://www.LindsayMcKenna.com)
www.twitter.com/lindsaymckenna (http://www.twitter.com/lindsaymckenna)
www.facebook.com/eileen.nauman (http://www.facebook.com/eileen.nauman)
“My Life Seems to Revolve Around Work.”
“Spoken like an over-responsible woman in a management position,” Shep drawled. “Don’t you see that because you’re a female in a male-dominated company you’re working twice as hard as any man? You’re trying to prove you’ve earned the right to be part of this project. You don’t need to prove a thing, Tess. Don’t look for approval in other people’s eyes, only in your own. Do the best you can and be content with how you feel. And don’t give your weekends to the company. Save them for yourself. Save them for me.”
Dear Reader:
There is an electricity between two people in love that makes everything they do magic, larger than life. This is what we bring you in SILHOUETTE INTIMATE MOMENTS.
SILHOUETTE INTIMATE MOMENTS are longer, more sensuous romance novels filled with adventure, suspense, glamor or melodrama. These books have an element no one else has tapped: excitement.
We are proud to present the very best romance has to offer from the very best romance writers. In the coming months look for some of your favorite authors such as Elizabeth Lowell, Nora Roberts, Erin St. Claire and Brooke Hastings.
SILHOUETTE INTIMATE MOMENTS are for the woman who wants more than she has ever had before. These books are for you.
Karen Solem
Editor-in-Chief
Silhouette Books
Love Me Before Dawn
Lindsay McKenna
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Also available from Lindsay McKenna and HQN Books
Down Range
High Country Rebel
The Loner
The Defender
The Wrangler
The Last Cowboy
Deadly Silence
Deadly Identity
Shadows from the Past
Dangerous Prey
Heart of the Storm
Beyond the Limit
Silent Witness
Enemy Mine
Firstborn
Morgan’s Honor
Morgan’s Legacy
An Honorable Woman
Series Booklist:
Selected books by Lindsay McKenna
Mills & Boon Romantic Suspense
@ (#litres_trial_promo)His Duty to Protect #1691
@ (#litres_trial_promo)Beyond Valor #1739
Course of Action/“Out of Harm’s Way” #1775
Silhouette Romantic Suspense
Love Me Before Dawn #44
^ (#litres_trial_promo)Protecting His Own #1184
Mission: Christmas/“The Christmas Wild Bunch” #1535
@ (#litres_trial_promo)His Woman in Command #1599
@ (#litres_trial_promo)Operation: Forbidden #1647
Silhouette Nocturne
* (#litres_trial_promo)Unforgiven #1
* (#litres_trial_promo)Dark Truth #20
* (#litres_trial_promo)The Quest #33
Time Raiders: The Seeker #69
* (#litres_trial_promo)Reunion#85
* (#litres_trial_promo)The Adversary #87
* (#litres_trial_promo)Guardian#89
DEDICATED TO
Colonel William T. Cooper, U.S.A.F. Public Affairs B-1 Office, truly an officer and a gentleman…
and
Doug Benefield, chief test pilot, Rockwell International, one hell of a guy and one hell of a pilot…
and
Lt. Lowell “Brad” Peck, PA, K.I.
Sawyer AFB, Michigan—one of the finest when it comes to media relations—thank you!
Contents
Chapter 1 (#u34c219a4-5162-5f10-8481-f159be17ed1c)
Chapter 2 (#u8f2786f6-2a45-5d60-b7fa-4740a40504da)
Chapter 3 (#u44cccee3-ef1c-5b43-9a04-82fb25389b2f)
Chapter 4 (#uee096e3b-97ce-58ad-9693-122e07c8b848)
Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1
OCTOBER 15, 1973
I DON’T WANT TO GO, TESS THOUGHT. SHE STOPPED arranging the mass of dark auburn hair at the nape of her neck and studied her strained features in the antique mirror. Why can’t I be enthusiastic? Cy is excited about this party. She avoided her blue-eyed reflection, studying the ivory, high-necked gown instead. Reflexively her slender fingers tucked in the last strands, fashioning a chignon. With the hair pulled back from her square, high-cheekboned face, she looked older than her twenty-four years. As she raised her eyes she saw the anguish clearly written in them. Would he notice it? She sighed to herself. Not likely. As one of the chief design engineers at Rockwell International, Cy Hamilton had eyes only for the B-1 bomber blueprints.
“Darling? Are you about ready?” Cy sauntered into the large, tastefully decorated bedroom. He ran a hand through his graying hair, a paternal smile fixed on his mouth. He came over, giving her a perfunctory kiss upon her cheek. “You look lovely, as usual.”
Tess forced a smile for his benefit. “Thank you, Cy. I’m almost done.”
He stood behind her, his arms crossed against his chest, watching her critically in the mirror. “God couldn’t have created a more provocative creature. I swear, I fell in love with you the first time I saw you at Rockwell.” He smiled wryly. “You were quite a sight, you know. Your blue eyes sparkling with life and your lips,” he leaned over, lightly touching his lips to hers, “sweet temptation.”
Tess felt the heat of a blush rushing upward along her slender neck and into her face. She chided herself for still blushing at age twenty-four. Would she ever outgrow that embarrassing trait? “Really, Cy!”
He chuckled indulgently, retrieving her delicately wrought shawl of old Irish lace from the bed. Her grandmother had given it to her. It was a family tradition to pass the shawl to a deserving member of the clan. At first Cy had tried to discourage her from wearing it to social functions. He wanted her in modern, sophisticated clothes that befitted her position in the company. He smiled to himself: she was such a child yet. Perhaps being pushed three grades ahead in the first years of schooling had affected her emotionally. He arranged the ivory and pale pink shawl around her proud shoulders, giving her a pat on the arm. Looking at Tess with pride, he wondered if others besides himself saw the incredible intelligence behind that delicate Irish face.
Cy remained silent as they drove to the party. Tonight marked another important step in the B-1 bomber project. Right now, the tail section, wings and fuselage lay on the hangar floor. His brow furrowed in thought. “I think,” he began slowly, glancing over at Tess’s clean, delicate profile, “this party is going to be a political shakedown of sorts.”
“How well I know!” It was common knowledge that Senator Stockwell was going to publicly confront his nemesis, Senator Browning, at the party. Tess shook her head. “Cy, you never told me that being your administrative assistant was going to get me involved in so much political intrigue.” Tess had come to Rockwell International as part of the management team on the B-1 project. Although she lacked a degree in aeronautical engineering, her MBA gave her the necessary background to handle all accounting and finances for the drafting section that Cy supervised. Without her keen, creative input, his department would not have run so smoothly. Yes, she and Cy made an unbeatable team. They each thrived on challenges of different sorts. Cy had gathered together the top draftsmen and design engineers in the country to build the long-range bomber. She looked after all the details ranging from accounting to lab tests, making sure Cy was never burdened with minor but often important problems. She placed her hand against her breast. “I wish I was more sophisticated…more—”
“Tess, you’re learning beautifully. I’m very proud of your progress to date. Remember, you only received your MBA from Harvard two years ago. You can’t help it if you’ve been sequestered in school until recently. Education has honed your fine mind, and it’s only natural that your social expertise is less well developed.” He patted her hand, seeing her distress. “You’ll do fine,” he soothed.
“I worry about not saying the right thing the right way,” Tess protested softly. Already her throat was closing up from tension. Oh, God, why couldn’t it just be another chatty, boring cocktail party? Why did it have to be a sit-down dinner for one hundred and fifty of the most influential people involved with the innovative bomber? Not only would top Rockwell officials be there, but key political figures, lobbyists and aggressive, shrewd staffers. And then there was the Air Force. Actually, Tess felt the safest with them. The military and civilian test pilots were harmless in comparison to the politicos.
“Well,” she murmured throatily, “if you find that I’ve disappeared, you’ll know I’ve discovered a secluded balcony away from all the intrigue, Cy. I much prefer the landscape to the lobbying that’s going to go on.”
Cy chuckled indulgently at his young wife. At forty-nine he couldn’t have stumbled into a better living situation. He had been in search for an administrative assistant to help him juggle his load as chief engineer on the aeronautical design project. So impressed was he with Tess, he soon made her his wife as well as his team member. And the arrangement was working well. Tess was growing into her job and performing admirably despite the fact that she was one of the few women in top management within Rockwell. By the time he retired, Tess would be a perceptive, capable diplomat capable of standing on her own within the company.
“I do have matters to discuss with Senator Diane Browning from California,” he said in a by-the-way tone.
“At least it will be a friendly conversation.”
