A Dangerous Engagement

UNITED STATES MILITARY

TOP SECRET MISSIONS

Navy Lieutenant Anna Shale:

Penetrate the inner workings of infamous Panamanian drug lord Luis Ortiz…her very own cousin. Anna’s connection to Luis makes her the perfect candidate for the job. Be sure not to let the sexy undercover Delta Force major get in the way of her work…or her future.

Delta Force Army Major Tom Wild:

The ideal man to bring down Luis Ortiz. Also out for justice since his fellow soldier was killed at the hands of Luis. The Delta Force major is dangerous, but he’s on our side. Warn him against getting too close to Anna Shale…no matter how impossible resistance might be.

Dear Reader,

This is a month full of greats: great authors, great miniseries…great books. Start off with award-winning Marie Ferrarella’s Racing Against Time, the first in a new miniseries called CAVANAUGH JUSTICE. This family fights for what’s right—and their reward is lasting love.

The miniseries excitement continues with the second of Carla Cassidy’s CHEROKEE CORNERS trilogy. Dead Certain brings the hero and heroine together to solve a terrible crime, but it keeps them together with love. Candace Irvin’s latest features A Dangerous Engagement, and it’s also the first SISTERS IN ARMS title, introducing a group of military women bonded through friendship and destined to find men worthy of their hearts.

Of course, you won’t want to miss our stand-alone books, either. Marilyn Tracy’s A Warrior’s Vow is built around a suspenseful search for a missing child, and it’s there, in the rugged Southwest, that her hero and heroine find each other. Cindy Dees has an irresistible Special Forces officer for a hero in Line of Fire—and he takes aim right at the heroine’s heart. Finally, welcome new author Loreth Anne White, who came to us via our eHarlequin.com Web site. Melting the Ice is her first book—and we’re all eagerly awaiting her next.

Enjoy—and come back next month for more exciting romantic reading, only from Silhouette Intimate Moments.

Leslie J. Wainger

Executive Editor

As the daughter of a librarian and a sailor, it’s no wonder Candace says her two greatest loves are reading and the sea. After spending several exciting years as a U.S. naval officer sailing around the world, she decided it was time to put down roots and give her other love a chance. To her delight, she soon learned that writing romance was as much fun as reading it. A finalist for both the coveted RITA^>® Award and the Holt Medallion, as well as a two-time Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee, Candace believes her luckiest moment was the day she married her own dashing hero, a former U.S. Army combat engineer with dimples to die for. The two now reside in the South, happily raising three future heroes and one adorable heroine—who won’t be allowed to date until she’s forty, at least.

Candace loves to hear from readers. You can e-mail her at [email protected] or snail-mail her c/o Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279.

For my aunt Pat,

who reads it all and still encourages me. And for Diane, woman of great strength and courage.

As always, thanks to the following for bailing me out of my ignorance: Captain Norton A. Newcomb, U.S. Army Ret., Special Operations Intelligence Special Agent Dennis P. Leahy, ATF Ret.; LTC, U.S. Army Ret., Special Forces Ms. Helene Phillips Beharry, RN

I’d also like to thank my editor, Allison Lyons, for not fainting when I pitched this one. As always, a special thanks to my awesome critique partner, CJ Chase, for putting up with me.

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

There is no road of flowers leading to glory.

—Jean de La Fontaine

Her past had finally come back to haunt her.

She’d always known it would. She just hadn’t thought it would happen quite like this. Anna reread the final, damning assessment in her cousin’s psychological evaluation and closed the file. The claustrophobia returned even before she dumped the folder beside the others splayed out on the conference table, but this time, the noose tightened with a vengeance. Desperate to loosen it, she shot to her feet, kicking her chair away as she strode across the room. She stopped short at the potted palm and spun around. Unfortunately, the stifling claustrophobia was still there…and so were the files. To anyone else, the drab brown folder to the far left of that mug of coffee would have seemed innocuous enough.

But it wasn’t.

For one thing, it was too fat. For another, it had her name, rank and serial number stenciled along the tab. Still uncomfortable with the intimate details she’d just read about her cousin’s childhood, a childhood painfully entwined with her own, Anna shifted her gaze to the final folder. To the red one. The one marked Top Secret. The only one she’d yet to open.