Which meant Jed was going to have to speak first.
“I care about Elena.”
No comment.
“I care a lot about her.”
Still no comment.
“I realize that getting involved with her wasn’t part of the assignment. It just happened.”
Zero. Zip. Nada. Not even a glare in his direction.
“And frankly, sir, and with all due respect, my personal relationship with her is none of your business.”
That got him a look. The death glare. The others had warned him about the death glare. They were right. That was some scary shit.
“You can stay the hell away from my niece, Templeton.”
“Kind of hard to do, General, since my assignment consists of protecting her and working this case with you.”
“You’re off the case. As of right now.”
“You’re in charge and you have the right to do that. But I won’t stay away from Elena.”
“I can fire you.”
“You can.”
The silence this time stretched into five minutes. Then ten. A muscle in the general’s jaw twitched. “You hurt her and I’ll hunt you down like a rabid dog and shoot you.”
“Okay. But I might be falling in love with her.”
That got him another look. “Might?”
“Never been in love before, General. Not really sure if that’s what this is or not, and circumstances haven’t exactly been ideal for the two of us, if you know what I mean. But yes, I might be in love with her. I’d like to get this assignment over with, get a real relationship going with her and see if maybe she feels the same way.”
“Hmph.”
That was better than the death glare, at least. And the general hadn’t shot him, so Jed would call that progress.
Now they had to find Elena’s mother.
And he couldn’t believe he’d just blurted out he was in love with Elena.
Was he? They barely knew each other. But what he felt was strong, something he’d never felt for any other woman before. When he wasn’t with her, he wanted to be. That meant something.
And how did Elena feel about him?
They needed time together. Time that didn’t involve danger and assignments, where they could just be two people hanging out together.
The general’s niece. He was in love with the general’s niece.
Christ, he sure could fuck up his life, couldn’t he?
Grange drove them to the garage where Elena’s car was housed. He tossed Jed the keys and gave him the address where one of the credit cards had been used.
“We’re going to have to split up to save time. Follow this up. Keep in constant contact. I want to know as soon as you find something.”