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wireless network from Europe and sent a document directly to our printer.”
    Katie was probably right. Some things were better left unasked.
    “But I think there might be a picture of our potential model there.”
    That sent Emily flying across the room, skidding to a stop and grabbing at the pages waiting innocuously for her there in the printer tray.
    “Damn. There’s no picture, but there is a spec sheet. Staff Sergeant David Hawkins,” she read aloud.
    Mmm. That was a nice name. Emily Hawkins. Emily Price Hawkins.
    She continued reading. “He’s thirty years old and seventy-two inches tall. That’s…” Emily squinted at the ceiling, doing the math, until Katie interrupted her effort.
    “Six feet.”
    Oooo, good. Emily liked tall men. He’d look good next to her five foot five, even if she wore heels.
    “Hazel eyes,” she went on to read. “That’s good. If we put him in Army green, it will bring out any green tint in his eyes for the photos.” Her head spun with the possibilities.
    “Really, Em. I don’t think you should expect too much.”
    Emily frowned at Katie. “What aren’t you telling me?”
    The big sigh her boss released, accompanied by her guilty look, did not bode well.
    “The soldier selected may not exactly be happy about this assignment.”
    “Is that all? You told me BB wasn’t happy when he was ordered to do the recruitment campaign either and that worked out fine.” More than fine. Katie had never been happier since meeting BB.
    Nope. Emily was not about to cancel her dreams of happiness over one disgruntled soldier pouting over a few photo shoots. She’d win him over fast enough and prove to Katie she could handle a big, supposedly difficult, assignment all on her own.
    Big . Mmm. Most likely her soldier was big and muscular, as well as tall and handsome. This day was turning out pretty great and it was still only morning.
    “I just wish there was a picture.” Pouting, she looked accusingly at the printer…and noticed the blinking red light indicating it needed more paper.
    “Oh my god! There are more pages!” Flying into action, Emily nearly ripped off one short pale-pink polished fingernail tearing into a fresh ream of white paper and loading it into the printer tray.
    Tapping her foot while Katie laughed at her across the room, Emily waited impatiently for the next page to print.
    “Come on, come on,” she urged the printer, which was obviously not listening to her judging by how slowly it chugged along.
    Emily glanced up at her boss and spat with frustration, “This is taking forever! We need a new printer.”
    Katie smiled indulgently, but did get up and come over to wait with her as a color photo emerged ever so slowly from the machine.
    Close shorn, dark hair appeared first, followed by serious, piercing eyes, a strong, square chin and then a chest so broad and forearms so thick they could have easily belonged to a lumberjack.
    David Hawkins’ features would never be considered perfect like BB’s, but instead, he was ruggedly handsome and yes, all manly man. BB had chosen for them the quintessential warrior to represent the US Army.
    Emily started grinning before the printing finished. Eyes never leaving the photo, she asked, “When do I meet him?”

    Chapter Five

    First was the humiliation of having to hike down the mountain alongside Task Force Zeta as they relived each and every kill among themselves, sometimes even stopping to enlighten Hawk and his men about what Hawk’s squad had done wrong during the mock slaughter.
    Then Hawk had the pleasure of having to, while still wearing the game-ending paintball stain on his back, meet with Commander Miller once again back at the base camp. Miller apparently had gleefully watched and listened to every step of his golden boys’ victory courtesy of Matt “Call Me Computer God” Coleman.
    And now this, the topper at the end of one hell of a shitty day, having drinks with Zeta, an invitation from Miller for him