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always
wanted. He would not waste it. At last, he would fulfill his true purpose.
    * * *
    Some of the SF guys were in the equipment room finishing
cleaning their weapons when Ryan came back from hitting the shower. “Aren’t you
guys done yet?”
    “We’re heading for some chow,” Park, the Korean-American medic,
said. “Wanna come?”
    “Nah, but thanks.” He wanted a few hours to himself.
    “Got a hot date or something?”
    Ryan grinned. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”
    The medic chuckled and shook his head. “Yeah, okay then. See
you in isolation.”
    Ryan was halfway to the door when Cam came through it.
    “Hey,” Cam said. “Just get back from the range?”
    “Yeah. You coming or going?”
    “Going, to the USO.”
    “Want to grab a snack first?” Ryan suggested.
    Cam laughed. “Seriously? You just ate, like, two hours
ago.”
    He patted his abs. “Need to keep my strength up.”
    Cam threw him an oh , please look. “I promised Thatcher I’d help him with
the set up for the concert.”
    “For the Thanksgiving thing?”
    “That’d be the one. You in? He’s in line, getting us
coffee.”
    Why not? “Sure.” A jolt of caffeine would be welcome right now.
He pulled on his jacket to ward off the chill and walked out the door. “How’s
Dev doing these days?”
    “Better. Rehab’s coming along, and she’s already got full
extension in her knee. Tibial plateau fracture’s going to take a while to heal
though, because of the pins and that bone’s poor blood supply.”
    “You shoulda been a doctor.”
    Cam only smiled. “Nah, that’s Thatcher’s deal. I’m in this for
the rush and the awesome pay.”
    Ha, weren’t they all. “How much longer until she can fly
again?”
    “Another nine to twelve months or so. If she doesn’t push
things too fast. And if she doesn’t get an early discharge first.”
    “Ah. I wondered how you guys were going to handle the whole
engagement thing.”
    Cam smiled. “Yeah, no getting around regulations. She knows I
want to stay in, so she’s willing to get out early on disability. If she decides
to get out, we’ll tie the knot next year. If she wants to stay in, we’ll
probably elope and keep it on the down low until her enlistment’s up. My CO’s
fine with it. It’s her commanders she’s worried about.”
    “If she requests to leave and it’s granted, will she get out
for good?”
    “Yeah. She’s already got a few civilian job offers.” He
shrugged. “I’ll be honest, I’d rather have her fly as a civilian back home than
out here, where some tool with an RPG can get lucky with a shot at her. Don’t
want to go through anything like that ever again.”
    Ryan completely understood why Cam would feel that way, though
he had to wonder how he’d handle that situation if he were involved with
someone. Say, a certain Spooky pilot he was more and more interested in, for
instance. Damn, he had it bad for her.
    Unfortunately she didn’t seem to reciprocate the sentiment. The
only comfort he had was when he’d caught a glint of female interest in her eyes
a time or two during their encounters. Not that it helped his cause any.
    Jackson was already waiting in line at Green Beans coffee shop
when they joined him. As Ryan stepped up beside the other PJ with Cam, a jolt of
excitement ran through him when he spotted a statuesque blonde second from the
front. Ryan craned his neck around to get a better look at her, hardly able to
believe his luck. It was Candace.
    And this time, she was alone.
    The moment she finally noticed him staring she froze for a
split second before acknowledging him and the others with a polite nod and a
tiny smile he wanted more of.
    Ryan took an automatic step forward and ran straight into Cam’s
restraining hand.
    “Whoa, boy,” Cam said with a laugh. He shook his head. “You
already scared her off once this morning. Give her a break, man. What the hell’s
with you?”
    Grinning good-naturedly, Ryan eased back and