A light knock on the door and Stark stuck his head in side. “Any chance I could get some of that?”
Before the night was finished all three agents on duty had come in for medication.
At dawn Joe lay on his side watching Elizabeth sleep in the chair not three feet from his bed. She looked more beautiful than any woman had a right to. Her long hair lay against the crisp white of her robe. And those lips, well, they were pretty damned sweet, too. He would give any thing right now to taste her. He would lay odds that she tasted hot and fiery, just like her spirit.
Oh, she tempered the fiery side with that cool, calm facade, but he could feel the hellion breathing flames beneath that ultra controlled exterior.
His gaze traveled over her chest and down to her hips and then to the shapely legs curled beneath her. She worked so hard at everything she allowed her self to do. He wondered if she would work half as hard to be happy.
This was one lady who didn’t fully understand the meaning of the word. He’d read what was available on her childhood. Nice family. Moved around a lot since her father had been military, but there didn’t appear to be any deep, dark secrets. What had made Elizabeth Cameron so hard on her self? So determined not to fail when it came to helping others?
That was the sole reason, in Joe’s estimation, that put her out of the suspect pool. No way would she do any thing to endanger another human being. She simply wasn’t wired that way. No amount of money—if money were even an issue for her—would entice her. He understood that completely.
Maddox was dead and Calder and Allen were directors. Joe had been filled in when he was selected for the assignment. Who else could have accessed those files?
Three months ago when he’d had to step in long enough to save this pretty lady’s skin, someone had broken into her clinic. Had that been the beginning? Were the files the tar get then? Or had the whole exercise been about casting suspicion in a different direction?
There was no way to know. All he’d had was Maddox’s urgent request for backup. Maddox claimed he’d stumbled onto a plan to go after the files of Dr. Elizabeth Cameron. Someone had evidently connected her to the CIA. Of course she had no files related to the Agency.
The only thing he did know for a certainty was how terrified she was that night. He’d held her close to him and she’d trembled. She’d had no idea what was happening, nor did she now. He was convinced. In any event, her safety was one of the Agency’s top priorities.
The idea that someone might be setting her up had crossed his mind. But there was no proof as of yet. There was no evidence of any thing. Only three dead agents. Still, a real player would have known the files wouldn’t be in her office.
Every precaution was being taken to keep the rest of those agents safe, but some were in the middle of dicey operations with higher priorities requiring that they remain under cover.
Those were the ones most at risk.
Joe wished like hell there was a way to speed up this process, except there simply wasn’t. His fingerprints could be altered with a clear substance that formed to his skin in such a way that no one could tell the difference. But his face, that had been done in the only way possible. Surgically. Until the swelling and redness were gone he had no choice but to stay right here.
Not that it was such a hard ship.
He wondered if David Maddox had had the first clue that the chemistry would be so strong between Joe and Elizabeth. Surely he wouldn’t have requested Joe to go to her rescue all those months ago if he’d had any idea that might be the case. Then again, he had known Joe’s reputation, how ever exaggerated.
It was true that Joe dated often and rarely the same lady more than twice. But not all those dates resulted in sex. Not that he was complaining about the reputation. He’d always enjoyed the hype.
Until now.
That thought came out of nowhere, but when he analyzed the concept he knew it was true. Some thing about the way Elizabeth looked at him when she talked about his reputation didn’t sit right.
He wanted her to respect him at least to some degree. Funny thing was, he’d never once worried about that before. He studied the woman sleeping so peacefully. Why was it that what she thought about him mattered so much?
His job performance had always been above reproach. He did what he had to do no matter the cost. Not a single doubt had ever crossed his mind on that score. People respected his professional ability, no question. If any one had ever been suspicious of him personally he hadn’t noticed.
Maybe that was the issue at hand here. Had the doctor’s blatant distaste with his so-called reputation finally made him take a hard look at what someone else thought about him as a man…as a human being?
He closed his eyes and blocked her image from view.
He didn’t want to think anymore. His stomach still felt a little queasy and his face hurt.
Why look for more trouble?
Chapter 7