She nodded distractedly as if her heart was working over time to justify what her brain wanted to reject.
“I would certainly have taken precautions to protect you if I had been in his shoes. Think about it, Doc. He cared about you. You were and still are a valuable asset to the Agency.”
Her eyes met his then and something passed between them, a sense of understanding.
“I’m certain you would have, Hennessey.” She inhaled a big breath and then let it out slowly. “But you see I’ve been lying to my self for a while now.” She offered a halfhearted shrug. “I guess it made me feel less gullible.”
Joe tightened his hold on her fore arm, but carefully avoided pulling her closer as he would very much have liked to do. “Some times we believe what we want to believe, Doc, even when we know better.”
She searched his eyes for so long, he shifted in hopes of breaking the contact. Didn’t work.
“Are you really any different from him, Agent Hennessey?”
He wasn’t sure how to answer the question.
“I mean,” she frowned in concentration, “if having sex with a contact would garner you the information you needed, would you go that far?”
When she put it that way, it sounded like the worst kind of sin. “I wish I could say no, but I’d be lying.”
An “I see” look claimed her expression. “Well, at least you’re honest.”
“I won’t lie,” he told her in hopes of making the point crystal clear, “un less there is no other way, Doc. Lying is not something I enjoy, but it’s part of my job more often than not.”
She stared up at him then, puzzled. “Did you know I would give you the information you needed with out your having to seduce me?”
“Doc, this situation isn’t the same. You came into this knowing the mission.”
Her gaze narrowed ever so slightly. “Did I really?”
He had to smile. “To the extent you needed to know, yes.”
“But you didn’t answer my question,” she countered, refusing to give an inch. “Would you have resorted to seducing me if necessary?”
“I had my orders, Doc, and seducing you wasn’t included.” When she would have turned to leave, he caught her wrist once more and drew her back. “Had I not been restrained by my orders, I can’t say I wouldn’t have tried. But the effort wouldn’t have been about the mission.”
She searched his eyes again…as if looking for answers to questions she couldn’t voice. He wanted to lean down and brush his lips across hers. Just for a second, just long enough to feel the softness of hers.
But she walked away before he’d mentally beaten back his deeply ingrained sense of duty and did just that. He closed his eyes and cursed him self for the fool he was. He should have kissed her, should have shown her what a real kiss was like. Not some egotistical bastard’s sloppy attempts.
He’d had that moment and he’d let it slip away. Part of him had felt certain for just a fleeting instant that she wanted him to kiss her.
“Oh.”
He looked up, discovered her waiting at the door as if she’d only just remembered something of utmost importance and had decided to tell him before she forgot.
“I suppose I should tell you that you might have a bit of a problem with the female contact.”
Confusion joined the other tangle of thoughts in his head. “What kind of problem?”
“I believe I would avoid making love to her if at all possible, otherwise I’m certain she will recognize you as an imposter.”
His delayed defensive mechanism slammed into place. What the hell was she trying to say? “You noticed a difference between Maddox and me?” he challenged. He knew where this was headed. She’d gotten a good feel of him fully aroused. He wondered if she would actually have the guts to cut him off at the knees, which was, in her opinion, what he imagined he deserved.
She nodded somberly. “I’m afraid so, Agent Hennessey. David was consider ably—”
He held up both hands, cutting her off. “I don’t think I want to hear this.” And here he’d been feeling sorry as hell for her.
“I was just going to say,” she went on as she planted one hand firmly on her hip, “that David was way, way smaller than you and I doubt any woman still breathing would fail to notice.”
Chapter 8
Elizabeth lay in bed that night and considered what Hennessey had told her. Her initial response had been to deny all of it. But she had known he was telling the truth. If she’d had the first reservation, his genuine regret would have allayed any and all.
Joe hadn’t lied to her. He’d tried to protect her.
She closed her eyes and remembered the way he’d looked at her as she’d given him the details of her intimacies with David. That the connection had made her restless to the point of becoming moist in places she’d thought on permanent vacation startled her. Just watching him react to her words had set her on the verge of sexual release.