Star-Spangled Bride

'I kept seeing your picture everywhere and it made me feel-' She stopped, searching for words.

'What?' he asked, intrigued.

'Safe.'

'Safe?'

She could tell he didn't like the description, but there was nothing she could do about that. It was the truth. She nodded. 'I'd never seen anyone who looked as strong and sure of himself as you did. And I'd already heard how you took care of your people and I liked that too.'

'Good God.'

'What's wrong now? For heaven's sake, you act as if I've insulted you.'

'You have a father fixation on me.'

She blinked. 'Nonsense. I already have a father.'

'Oh, yes, this Evan,' he said grimly. 'Tell me about Evan. When do I meet him?'

'You don't. He's no longer in Said Ababa.'

'He left you alone? It appears this father of yours isn't at all protective.' His lips tightened. 'Well, I'll be damned if I'll take his place. For Lord's sake, I'm only thirty-seven. I'm not ready to adopt a thrill-crazy kid who wants to-'

'Are you nuts? I'm not asking anything of you but that you don't do anything stupid and get us killed.' Her voice turned fierce as she went on. 'And I'm not a kid and Evan is already more father than I can handle. Why should I want another when he's always-'

'Okay. Okay.' He grimaced as he held up a hand to stop the barrage of words. 'You stung my ego, but I don't have any right to condemn your motives when you've saved my life. I apologize. Can we forget it?'

She couldn't forget it. For some reason the accusation bothered her. 'For Pete's sake,' sheburst out, 'there's nothing wrong with liking someone's face.'

'Nothing wrong at all,' he said wearily. 'I suppose I shouldn't complain. No one has liked this ugly mug of mine enough to risk their neck for it before.'

What did she really know about Gabe Falkner? Perhaps it had been more than his ego she had hurt. She instinctively rushed on to soothe the wound. 'Your face isn't ugly. It's not pretty, but it has… character.'

'And positively exudes safety. Now that's a word boring enough to please even your Jed.'

There didn't seem to be anything she could do to repair the damage. She sighed. 'I wish Fatima would get back with our clothes.'

'Why? I'm beginning to become accustomed to being nude in your presence. Or don't I present the proper paternal image for you?'

She chose to ignore the goad. 'You wouldn't let me shoot you without clothes.'

'Shoot?' His gaze went to the pillow hiding the Magnum. 'I didn't think our little contretemps was that serious.'

'Very funny. You know I mean with my camera.

I want to get some pictures while we're here at Fatima's. I haven't taken any footage since you started down the Street of Camels.'

His eyes widened. 'You were shooting footage just before the escape?'

'Of course. But I had to stop right away. Everything was moving too fast.' She shook her head. 'Pity.'

'I suppose I should be glad you thought my life was worth sacrificing a good picture.'

'Don't be silly. I have my priorities straight.' She continued wistfully: 'Still, it would have been wonderful. All that action… Oh, well, I'll get more while we're on the road.' She shrugged, then took the camera out of her bag. 'And here.'

'Not yet,' he said. 'I prefer to be clothed in more than my dignity before you indulge your passion.' He smiled crookedly. 'However, if we could come to terms about indulging my own passion, I might be persuaded to give you your way.'

She felt color heat her cheeks. 'I'll wait.'

He repeated her own word softly: 'Pity.'

The tone of his voice, the attitude of his naked body were suddenly charged with sensuality. She could feel her breasts swell in response beneath the thin cotton sheet draped over them. Cripes, what was wrong with her?

'Come off it,' she said gruffly. 'I know I hurt your feelings, but you'll get over it. I don't know why men feel that every argument with a woman has to be settled in bed.'

'I actually prefer that they be settled before bed, but the other way can be exciting too.'

She made a face. 'You see, you're like all the rest.'

'And just who are the 'rest' of the men in your life?'

The edge was back in his voice, she noticed. 'You're not really interested.' She made a vague gesture with her hand and changed the subject. 'This is a great camera. I've had it for four years and the lenses are-'

'I'm sure your camera is superb and I don't give a damn about your lenses.' He forced her to meet his gaze. 'I'll let you back away from this confrontation, but I want to make a few things clear. First and foremost, I am not your father and I have no intention of acting like one. Second, I am not in the habit of going to bed with women 'to take the edge off' or to try to win an argument. I've always thought sex was the purest form of pleasure and should be performed with the greatest thought and skill and drive. I haven't had a woman in over a year and I'mhorny as hell, but I don't want one of Fatima's women. I'll wait until I can have the partner I do want.' He paused. 'Shall I tell you what's going to occur when I have that partner?'

She couldn't seem to look away. The intensity in his face was holding her mesmerized. Her heart was beating like thunder.

'A celebration,' he said quietly. 'One hell of an erotic celebration.' He glanced over her head. 'Hello, Fatima.'

She hadn't heard the door open behind her, but her relief at the interruption was so strong it almost made her dizzy. She jumped to her feet and whirled to face Fatima, who stood in the doorway, her arms piled high with garments. 'Oh, clothes. That's great.'

'Speak for yourself,' Gabe murmured.

'Will you lie down?' Gabe asked impatiently. 'You've been striding around the room for the past hour. You're going to wear a hole through those floorboards.'

'Evan paid Fatima enough so she can afford to replace them.' She continued to pace. 'I'm restless.'

'Obviously.'

'And you won't let me take any more shots of you.'

'You've taken enough footage already to paper Radio City Music Hall.'

'Well, you never can tell when you're going to lose a cassette. Once in Kuwait I lost an entire camera bag full of film. If I hadn't stashed a few tapes away in another place, I would have been up a creek.'

'How did you lose your bag?'

'Iraqi military. They caught me shooting something they didn't want filmed.'

'Military emplacements?'

She shook her head. 'Torture of civilians.'

'My God, were you crazy? Those pictures would have been like a loaded gun pointed at die head of every officer on the squad.' He paused. 'And there's no way they'd simply let you walk away.'

She shrugged. 'I was lucky. They just shoved me into prison. The war started a month after that and they kind of forgot about me.'

'You're lucky they didn't take you out and shoot you. Where was Jed? Having another baby?'

'Don't be silly. He hadn't met Ysabel then. He was in Washington. He didn't even know Iwas in Kuwait. I told you I was free-lance. This was my job.'

'I didn't see any of that film on Jed's program.'

'I didn't send them to Jed.'

'Why not?'

'That wasn't why I was- Why are you asking me all these questions?'

'Why didn't you send him the film?'

He wasn't going to give up. 'Because I sent it to the Human Rights Commission to use as evidence. I was afraid if it appeared on the air, it might lessen the value to the prosecution at a war trial.' She burst out, 'And I