She’d made no secret of it. Just another indicator that she wasn’t one to hide her feelings.
“Aren’t you hungry, Agent Hennessey?” she asked, drawing his attention back to the table.
Dawson’s scrutiny was now on him as well. He wasn’t happy with the situation at all. The more Allen pushed for information on Elizabeth, the more dissatisfied Dawson grew. Joe regarded the other man a moment and would have bet his life that the guy had a little crush on the good doctor. Of course Dawson was married with two kids and as faithful as they came in this business.
Joe pushed his plate aside. “I’m good. Let me know when you’re ready to get started again.”
It wasn’t like he could take a walk, but he could go to his room for a few minutes before the next session of alone time with her.
He closed the door to his room and walked over to the dresser. He stared at his face, the one that looked nothing like him and more and more like David Maddox.
In a few days the swelling and redness would be all but gone. Then he could move to the next step.
His colored contacts had already been delivered. Probably by tomorrow he would need to start getting accustomed to wearing them. He doubted it would be a problem. He’d done that part before. It was the drastic change in his face that gave him pause.
He’d been mimicking Maddox’s speech and movements for weeks before this. But—he reached up and touched his face—this was different.
The counseling hadn’t fully prepared him. He’d thought he would be fine with it, but the more Maddox’s face emerged the less prepared he felt.
Nothing had ever affected him this way.
That the worst was likely yet to come didn’t help.
He had to find a way to prod intimate details from Elizabeth. How Maddox kissed…how he made love to her was essential to Joe’s success. He couldn’t go into this with out being fully prepared on every level.
The only question that remained at this point was how he would get the answers he needed with out hurting Elizabeth with the ugly details.
A knock at his door told him his time for soul searching was up.
“Yeah?”
The door opened and Elizabeth strolled into his room. “I need to understand what’s going on here, Hennessey,” she demanded. “I get the feeling you’ve been hiding something from me.”
Well, here was his opportunity.
Question was, did he have the guts to take advantage of it?
Only one way to find out.
“Here’s the thing.” He moved to ward her, locked his gaze with hers and let her feel the intensity. He needed her off balance. “One of the contacts Maddox had is female. I can’t be certain how close they were, considering his relationship with this group preceded the two of you.” That part was a flat-out lie but he was improvising here in an at tempt to save her the heart ache.
A frown furrowed a path across her brow. “How is that possible? He worked as my handler for a year prior to our…relationship. I thought the operation came later, after he’d gone back into field duty.”
This is where things got slippery.
“One of the contacts in his last operation was someone he had known for years.” He shrugged as if it was no big deal. “An on-again, off-again flame who unknowingly provided him with useful intelligence from time to time. She’s my only safe way into this.”
Elizabeth wasn’t convinced. Far from it.
“Why haven’t you mentioned this before?” The frown had given way to something along the lines of out right accusation. “No one has mentioned any thing about a woman.”
“You know the drill, Doc,” he said, careful to keep the regret from his tone, “need to know. The golden rule we live by every day. You had no compelling need to know this part until now.”
“If your superiors told you that excuse would make me feel better about this new information, they were wrong,” she said in a calm voice but the turmoil of emotions in her eyes be lied her unyielding statement.
“We can move back downstairs to have this conversation,” he suggested in deference to her comfort. He felt reasonably certain she didn’t want to talk about certain details in the room where he slept.
Her expression hardened—the change was painful to watch. “Don’t be ridiculous, Hennessey. I’m a doctor. Nothing you say or ask about the human body or the act of procreation will make me uncomfortable in any setting.”
With that point driven straight through his chest like a knife she strode over to his bed and plopped down on the end. “What do you want to know?”
The grim line of her mouth and the cool distance in her eyes telegraphed all he needed to know.
Too late not to hurt her. He’d already done just that.
Regret trickled through him, but there was nothing to do but pursue the subject. He needed the information and the damage was done. Holding back now wouldn’t accomplish a damned thing.
“We can start with pet names.” He shrugged. “Did he usually call you any thing other than Elizabeth?”
“What does this have to do with the other woman?”