[ This seems to be some kind of suspense romance novel, titled "Holiday Heat." It's unclear what about it is like, actually holiday-themed apart from the fact that there's a lot of snow in the cover illustration, where Jason and Shrike gaze at each other with a smouldering tension. ]

“Ah, maybe there’s a cot…”

“Nah.” He laughed, and shook his head. “I mean, what were you expecting, with us pretending to be a couple on a road trip to throw them off our trail? Smart, but here’s the downside. I’ll take the floor.”

She turned to look at him over her shoulder and frowned. “Please. I’ll take the floor, it’s my responsibility.”

“I’m bein’ a gentleman. And anyway, you’re the officer, Captain.” Jason set his bag down and started shrugging off his jacket, laying it out on the ground to mark the matter as settled.

She rolled her eyes, and then with surprising suddenness, reached out to grab him by the front of the shirt with both hands to pull him back with her onto the bed. “Compromise,” Shrike said. “Not like we haven’t shared a bed before.”

“Huh,” Jason said, narrowing his eyes at her slightly—searching. “The way you say that makes me think you’re not that concerned ‘bout us actually getting any rest, Captain. Seems a little… irresponsible.” But then, he’d never been that responsible himself, and he was already bending his head toward her neck, exhaling hot breath against her skin. “You might ruin your image.”

“Are you still hung up on that? It’d be about time,” she breathed—and pulled him closer.

***

Shrike’s the picture of the perfect officer: kind, calm, collected, and with that tall, muscular hot body to boot. Jason’s among the few that’s seen her wild side from one very, very hot night years ago, before their falling out and his court-martial for insubordination. So when she shows up in the shop where he now works as a small-time mechanic during the quiet of the holidays, he doesn’t know what to expect.

Jason was once one of the military’s cleverest engineers and demolition experts—and when there’s mysterious sabotage on the base, she knows the one man she can trust to help her solve it before someone gets killed. But it turns out the conspiracy goes far deeper than she could have imagined, and soon they’re both on the run together, holing up to hide from assassins and in very, very close quarters.

Forced to rely only on each other, sparks fly—but will they ignite a fire of passion, or burn everything down around them?