Before the Mission Begins (When The Mission Ends)

This book is for
anyone who’s ever fallen in love within twenty-four hours.

Sometimes there’s no denying amazing chemistry, even when life tries to get in the way.

True love will win out in the end.

Thank God for that.

In 1991, my now-husband and I found this out when we were dating.
  He was active duty military and I was in college.  Separation is tough on any relationship, but especially a new one.

I love you, Ben.

I’m glad you stuck with me.

To my readers, you all are absolutely the best. From the moment I started with Julie and Chris’s story, I’ve been terrified. Theirs is not an easy story to tell.

I hope their story lives up to your expectations.
I love how much you all have embraced them and all the characters from this series.

As you all know, this is just the beginning. The conclusion to their story will be found in Operation: Endurance, releasing April 30, 2013.

When the Mission Ends Trilogy

Book #1: Operation: Endgame

September 2012

Book #2: Operation: Endeavor

January 2013

Book #3: Operation: Endurance

April 2013

Book #.5: Before the Mission Begins

Valentine’s 2013

Dedication
Acknowledgments
Books In This Series
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Author's Note
About
the Author
 

Lights flashed through the darkened night as another rugged, sexy fireman rushed across Julie’s yard in front of her townhouse. She smothered a hysterical giggle. She really should call Penelope. All this fabulous man-candy was wasted on her. She’d proven that she had no idea what to do with a hot guy, but Penelope would know how to take advantage of the situation.

She sank down on the curb
, taking deep breaths trying to curtail the rush of tears. She could really use a pen and paper. She needed to make a list.

So far, all the men rushing around had ignored her in favor of getting the fire in her kitc
hen under control. Once they’d ascertained the house was empty and that she wasn’t going anywhere, they’d urged her to stay out of the way. But Julie couldn’t sit here quietly any longer. She needed some paper. Now.

A
police officer stood by his car, watching the scene unfold. Studiously ignoring the curious glances from her neighbors who had braved the cold to come out and gawk at the circus her life had become in the last hour, she headed toward him. It was hard to see his features in the deepening darkness until she got close. Younger than she expected, he turned toward her with a concerned glance.

“This is your place, right?” At her nod, he continued. “Are you okay? Do you need a blanket to stay warm?”
His eyes trailed leisurely over the too tight Texas Tech t-shirt straining over her bra-less chest to her flour covered jeans with the holes at the knees to her bare feet. Blood rushed to her face. How humiliating. She hadn’t planned on leaving the house tonight. There was no need to dress up just to stand over the oven all evening, working to perfect her latest recipe. She wrapped her arms around her waist hoping to disguise the tightness of her t-shirt.

Honestly, she hadn’t even noticed the cold
, although she knew it was closing in on the lower 30’s. She just needed to work on her list. “No, I’m okay. I was wondering if maybe you had a pen and a piece of paper I could use.”

A frown marred his forehead as he looked at her curiously.
“Um, sure.” He reached into his car and pulled out a spiral notebook. After ripping a sheet of paper out of it, he handed her the paper and pen. “Here you go. Are you sure you don’t need anything else? Do you have someone coming to pick you up?” He glanced back over to the townhouse still swarming with firemen. “I don’t think they’re going to let you back in the house tonight.”

She nodded at him and
gave a tight smile, although her fingers thrummed with the need to start writing. “No, it’s fine. My brother and sister should be here soon. I’ll be sitting over on the curb if anyone needs me.” She pointed to the place she’d just vacated and tried to ignore the look from the cop. She wasn’t crazy. She just needed order in her life. No need to call the guys with the white jacket and van to haul her off to the sanitarium. Not yet, anyway.

She settled back onto the cold cement of the curb and squinted down at the paper tryi
ng to see the lines from the glow of the emergency vehicles. She started writing:

1.
       
Buy a fire extinguisher.

2.
      
Take a fire safety class.

3.
      
Call insurance.

4.
     
Ask fireman how long before can go in townhouse again.

5.
      
Ask fireman if someone can get her purse for her.

6.
      
Ask fireman to get car out of garage.

7.
      
Ask Penelope if she ever dated a fireman.

8.
     
Look up physical requirements of becoming a fireman in Lubbock (thinking they must be rigorous from the physique of these guys.)

9.
      
Find a place to live for the next couple of days.

10.
   
Maybe check out if fire station has extra beds.

11.
    
See if fire station could use a physical therapist.

12.
   
If #11 is yes, volunteer services to fire dept.

13.
   
Check restrictions on her hospital contract about offering her physical therapy services elsewhere.

14.
  
Check fire d—

Someone snatched the pen out of her hand. “Hey!” She looked up into the glaring green eyes of her sister, Rachel. “You took my pen.”

Rachel rolled her eyes
and settled her hands on her hips in a pose that Julie knew too well. “Please tell me you are not sitting here making a list while your townhouse burns down behind you.”

Julie winced. Rachel
would lambast her over this. She was sliding down a slippery slope, but so far hadn’t been able to stop it. Her debacle of a last date had just put a nail in her psychological coffin. Her OCD was out of control. She wasn’t sleeping. This wasn’t healthy, but she tried to defend herself anyway. “I’m not. I’m pretty sure the fire’s out, so there’s no danger of it burning down completely anymore.”

Rachel sighed, sat down beside her on the curb, and yanked the partially
written list out of her hands, smirking as she read it over. “Having some fireman fantasies, are we?” Rachel glanced back toward the sexy men in question and simply hummed in concurrence. But that didn’t change the concern in her face.

A noise captured Julie’s attention and for the first time she noticed her brother
, Owen, standing behind Rachel. His lips pinched together as he watched the firemen mill about the yard. He frowned down at her, looking way older than his twenty-six years. “What happened?”

She ducked her head. “I was cooking and it got hot, so I turned on my ceiling fan in the kitchen. I didn’t even think about it…” She trailed off, not wanting to give Rachel any more ammunition. As a licensed psych
iatrist, Rachel really could bundle her up and send her off to the sanitarium.

Rachel
narrowed her eyes at Julie’s weak explanation. “Ms. Hyatt?” Whew, saved by the fire chief.

Both Julie and Rachel stood, and Julie stepped forward to ask, “Is the fire out?”

“Yes, my boys are just making sure there aren’t any hotspots left right now. Someone will be here in the morning to check the structural integrity of the home. It looks like we saved most of it. Your kitchen is gone, but the rest just has smoke and a bit of water damage.” Julie nodded and tried to concentrate on how lucky she was that all of her belongings weren’t ash at this point.

Owen
asked, “Do you know what caused it?”

The Chief nodded
, with a grim look toward Julie. “The stove top was the source. It looks like some papers got too close to the open flame.

Julie closed her eyes in humiliation as
Rachel fluttered the paper with Julie’s list on it still in her hand. “Imagine that…”

She was right. When Julie turned on the fan, the copious amount of lists that were scattered all over
her counter blew into the stovetop flame. So stupid… But the lists kept her sane, or at least, kept her insanity under wraps. At the pinched, tension-filled expression on Rachel’s face, she had to admit that this method probably wasn’t working for her anymore.

Her siblings stepped over to the side while t
he chief gave Julie instructions about how to proceed the next day. She tried not to obsess about the not-so-subtle scowls Rachel kept flashing her while Rachel and Owen discussed something in hushed tones. What were they saying about her? She’d screwed up big this time. The Fire Chief gave her his card and then walked away.

J
ulie took a deep breath and squared her shoulders to face her siblings. She searched their faces. Rachel had her therapist’s face on, completely still and devoid of emotion, but Owen didn’t have that ability. Rubbing the temples of his forehead, he wouldn’t meet her eyes. Her stomach clenched and she wanted to weep. She was stronger than this. She needed to be stronger than this. They wrapped their arms around her and Rachel softly said, “Honey, you’re going to have to make some changes in your life.”

Two months later

Lust flooded his body as Chris Robertson immersed himself into the most incredibly sexy dream he’d had in a long time.

Her
nipple pebbled as he squeezed and massaged the incredible breast under the palm of his hand. Damn, this dream girl was stacked. Warm, soft flesh overflowed from his palm. His cock awakened quickly dispelling the sense that something wasn’t quite right.

He continued to caress
, pulling her tighter until she was flush against his hips and chest. Her moist heat tempted the tip of his now fully erect cock. He was ready and willing to go at a round two with this girl.