Hot Zone Hero Profiles

Sean O'Callahan Army Reservist, Software Engineer, Military Intelligence

Vital statistics:

Height: 6'
Age: 30
Hair: Close cropped blond
Eyes: Caribbean blue

His photo fell from the envelope onto her lap, and she quickly retrieved it. Oh, oh, man. When Eve had seen the photograph for the first time, it had floored her. Stunned her. Turned her on like no other picture of a man she'd seen before. She'd seen plenty of attractive men in her life, and she'd always thought Sean could be cute in a nerdy way. This picture blew away her conceptions about Sean belonging to geek city. Decked out in desert battle dress uniform pants and boots, but without a shirt, he held an automatic weapon in front of his chest in a rough and ready pose. The grin on his face was cocky but charming. His blue eyes held an intense, badass gaze. His military short, silvery blond hair defined his high cheekbones and made his perfectly cut jaw more prominent. And oh, his chest and arms. Sean owned well-muscled arms and a gorgeous chest sprinkled with dark blond hair that trailed down over his six-pack stomach and into his waistband. Oh, my, my. He was delicious, but in a rough, sharply angled way that shouldn't have turned her on like this. Most women at the office talked behind his back about his tousled messy hair and too-big shirts. Maybe those too large shirts had been hiding this kick ass physique all this time.

He looked dangerous.

Fuckin' seriously hot.

A Peek at Sean's Qualities:

• Geeky. Not!
• Can dance like nobody's business... watch out Thunder Down Under.
• Uses intuition to survive combat.

Keith Wallace Captain - Army Special Forces

Vital statistics:

Height: 6' 2"
Age: 38
Hair: Mahogany Brown
Eyes: Dark Chocolate Brown

As he sauntered toward her, she sighed. The gods could not be so cruel. Or maybe they could. The changes in him had only increased his attractiveness. Boy, oh boy, howdy, he'd matured like a fine Merlot, rich with nuances that made her mouth go dry and her heart do a silly two-step. At thirty-eight he defined disgustingly gorgeous man with a capital G. When she'd left this town twenty years ago, she'd never considered that he'd still have this effect on her. She recalled his attractiveness at eighteen, mature for his age, brooding and intense. At eighteen she'd wanted to date happy-go-lucky guys with uncomplicated backgrounds. Sure couldn't say that about Keith. Still, nature had matured his physique in all the right ways. At six feet and probably two inches, he made her five feet five inches feel small. The navy blue T-shirt stretched over his broad chest and wide shoulders. Muscles rippled in his biceps and forearms. Jeans defined his hips and muscular thighs and made his legs look miles longer. His work boots looked well used and scuffed. Always rugged, his face had matured into angles and planes that screamed danger and forbidden sensuality. His mahogany hair wasn't the tousled boy anymore, but clipped military short. Without strands flopping over his face, nothing hid the thoroughly masculine lines that screamed the proverbial dark and dangerous.

A Peek at Keith's Qualities:

• Knows how to kick ass and take names. Keith and his army bodies stick together through thick and thin.
• Isn't bowled over by beauty, but loves a brainy woman.
• Will do anything to keep the woman he loves safe.

Jake Sullivan Chief Warrant Officer - Army Special Forces

Vital statistics:

Height: 6' 3" or 6' 4"
Age: 30's
Hair: Obsidian black
Eyes: Caramel with green striations

His military short obsidian hair gleamed with blue highlights under the fierce sun. He topped the charts into unbelievably gorgeous. No. Not exactly. Dark and dangerous, a huge cliché, didn't explain the unique mix and match hardness in his features that added up to one handsome visage. Yet dangerous certainly described his aura, a kick butt and don't-bother-to-take-names presence. His angular face defied description-his jaw line formed a solid frame around his hard mouth. His nose was a smidgen crooked. Those intriguing, mysterious eyes didn't hide anything. Did he know how his feelings gleamed so starkly in his gaze? Probably not. Right now his eyes narrowed, as if he wanted to read her mind and excavate answers.

A Peek at Jake's Qualities:

• Stoic until he has something important to say (think of an alpha Mr. Darcy)
• Struggles when he realizes his protective attitude toward the heroine is more than simply male need to safeguard female.
• Loves a challenge, and the heroine is the biggest challenge of his life.

Mitch Gilroy Handyman - or is he?

Vital statistics:

Height: 6' 3"
Age: 30's
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Brown

She registered the heat and hardness of his body. Her breasts mashed to his chest, his hips and thighs pressed along hers. Close up his face held the chiseled hardness of an old west movie hero, without anything fancy to pretty him up. A cut jaw, a nose slightly on the big side. Only his mouth was sculpted, lips just right on a man - not too big, not too thin. He felt so warm, so protective-

Poor fashion sense or not, his voice was to die for.

So was the body pressed along hers. She felt muscles. Lots and lots of glorious muscles. Or maybe the fear had destroyed her reasoning ability and she wanted the man holding her to play the hero. Right now, with a tenderness that put her off guard, he fit the lead part in her adventure movie down to a capital T...

The man was, to put it bluntly... hot. Capital R ripped.

Spread-chocolate-on-me-and-lick-it-off gorgeous.

A Peek at Mitch's Qualities:

• Starts a new life to deny a harsh past.
• Has a tender side he hides.
• Looks like sin on two legs when posing for a charity calendar.

Victor Moore Major, United States Army

Vital statistics:

Height: 6' 3"
Age: 32
Hair: Close cropped black
Eyes: Brown

Lucy's mouth went dry as she took a closer look at the guy. He seemed familiar somehow, but she didn't know from where. The room seemed twice as loud and her vision twice as clear. Though he sat at a slight angle away from her, she could see the breadth of his wide shoulders stretching an emerald green sweater that looked soft and touchable. The sweater managed to enhance his muscles without appearing too tight. He cupped his hands behind his neck. Muscles rippled. His biceps and forearms bunched with sculpted muscles, but he wasn't a body builder in an overdone way. No. He was perfectly symmetrical. Powerful. The man screamed of sex and that primitive, knee-buckling, unable-to-control attraction that hammered a female over the head and made everything inside her return to the cave. This was the kind of man a woman could get crazy with, lose inhibitions and forget her own name.

Jeans curved over long legs consisting of hard thighs and calves and ending in sensible all-weather black boots. She'd bet on a stack of bibles he had a world-class butt. She'd love to photograph him with or without clothes. The man she'd ogled swiveled the bar stool and looked straight at her. Her breath caught. Thick, dark lashes framed piercing brown eyes. Black hair cut short waved close against his head. His features were cut sharply, as if heaven had designed him with a rough hand. He had a long nose, broad but well-sculpted mouth and an almost cruel look that probably scared the hell out of the enemy. He was so-well, he was so not beautiful. Just all.man. Primal female response stood up and noticed. Her body flushed, heated with total awareness of him as a male. Her hormones screamed for attention.

A Peek at Mitch's Qualities:

• Tough but forgiving.
• Honorable as a knight of old.
• Loyal and reliable.