Just like that.
His lips felt firm but some how more yielding than she had expected. His mouth was hot…ravenous, as if he was starving and she was dessert. She melted against him, couldn’t help her self. The sweet feel of her body conforming to his made her shiver with a need so urgent she moaned with the intensity of it.
Sensations cascaded down from her face, following the path of his hands as he stroked her cheeks with his long fingers then slipped lower to caress her throat.
Her heart beat so hard she couldn’t breathe…couldn’t think. She just kept kissing him back—kept clinging to his strong body, hoping the moment would never end.
“Elizabeth,” he murmured against her lips. “I’m sorry. I…” He kissed her harder….
She tried to pull away…tried to push against his chest. But she couldn’t bear the thought of taking her hands away from his chest. Even through the cotton shirt she reveled in the feel of the contours of his body. She suddenly wanted to touch all of him. To see if the rest of him was as amazing as his chest and the other part she’d already examined.
His arms went around her and for the first time in months she felt safe in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with professional success or inner strength. She wanted this as a woman…and she didn’t want it to end.
But it had to end.
She couldn’t do this again.
Her hands flattened against his chest and she pushed away from him, not taking her lips from his until it was impossible to reach him any more.
He opened his eyes and her heart lurched.
“I have to leave now.”
She stumbled back from his reach.
“Elizabeth, I can take out the contacts. We can talk.”
She closed her eyes, tried to block the visual stimuli. Told her self to listen to his voice. Joe Hennessey…not David. Not David.
“Please.” She forced her eyes open again. “I need to go now. There’s nothing more I can do.”
He looked away, displaying the profile she’d created. David’s profile. The slightly longer and broader nose, the more prominent chin.
She swallowed. Looked away.
“This isn’t who I am.” He gestured to the face she had sculpted. “You know who I am.”
She did. That was true. He was Agent Joe Hennessey of the CIA. A dangerous man…her gaze shifted back to his…with an even more dangerous face.
“I do know who you are.” The words were strong but she felt cold and hollow. “And I can’t do this with a man like you. Not again. The price is too high.”
She turned her back to him in the nick of time. She couldn’t let him see the foolish tears.
“I’ll let Agent Dawson know you’re ready to leave.”
She heard him walk away.
Finished.
This was finished. No reason for her to stay…to put her self through this.
All she had to do was go home and for get this assignment…for get the man.
Chapter 10
Elizabeth reviewed the day’s messages, her mind on autopilot. That was the way it had been for most of the day. The only time she’d been able to really think clearly and in the moment was when she’d been with a patient. Thankfully three patients who’d been on standby awaiting appointments had been available to fill her day. So far four work-ins were scheduled for tomorrow and then she’d be back on her regular schedule.
Back to her real life.
Her concentration, such as it was, shattered yet again. Elizabeth tossed the messages onto her desk and leaned back in her chair.
This was her life.
Slowly, her heart sinking just a little more, she surveyed her chic office. Clean lines, no clutter. Diplomas and other accolades matted and framed in exquisite detail draped the smooth linen-colored walls. Short pile car pet in the same pale color padded the floor and served as a back drop to the sleek wood furnishings. The rest of the clinic’s decor was every bit as elegant; the treatment rooms equipped with the same spare-no-expense attitude.
The practice shared by her self and two other specialized physicians dominated the east corner of an up scale Georgetown address. Clientele included patients from all over the country as well as a few from abroad. Business boomed to the point that expansion would surely soon be necessary.
All those years of hard work had paid off for Elizabeth in a big way. Professionally she had everything she desired. Everything she’d dreamed about.
But that was where the dream ended.
She’d deluded her self into believing there could be more. That she could throw her self back into a social life. The chances of that doomed plan seeing fruition were about nil—she recognized that now. The cruise had been a last-ditch effort on her part to wake up her sleeping sex life. Not that she’d had any sort of exciting social life in the past. Admittedly she hadn’t. But even dating hadn’t crossed her mind since David’s death. Absolutely nothing had made her want to venture back into the world of the living and the loving.