Colonel Jake McAllister doesn't doubt that Maura Phillips has the qualifications and the know-how to handle a spot on his all-male, high-tech team at Elgin Air Force Base. As the test pilot in charge of top secret stealth weapons development, he's more worried about what's going to happen when her "free spirit" is introduced into the project's touchy pressure-cooker environment.

He'd been expecting to meet a buttoned-down engineer in a severe blue suit, which is why he's not exactly sure what to make of the leggy California girl with riotous curls, funky clothes and clunky jewelry who comes flying through his door. He soon concludes the lady is deadly serious about her job-and a deadly threat to his self-control.