Page 2 of An Indecent Longing

Prepared for what, exactly, she didn’t know.

“You don’t look fine.” Anton Blankenship’s gruff voice rumbled in her ear. “Is there something going on I need to know?”

She glanced up at her personal security guard, appropriately nicknamed Blank. For the past two years, Blank had been in charge of her safety and they’d gotten to know each other well.

Sucking in a deep breath to stave off completely unwarranted tears, she nodded.

“There’s nothing wrong.”

“Bullshit. Who do I need to punch?”

Her lips curved in a completely spontaneous smile as she turned to face him.

“I don’t think we need to go there. But thank you for the offer.”

He fell silent again as she continued to the door to the back room though she knew he had more to say. Luckily for her composure, he didn’t.

She only wanted to be away from Ian’s stare, which she swore she felt like a heat lamp against the back of her neck.

As she stopped at the door, she put her hand on Blank’s forearm and squeezed, a silent thank you for caring. “I’ll be about two hours. Have some dinner. You look like you’re wasting away.”

She’d hoped for a smile. Instead, he grimaced. “Dorrie.”

With a sigh, she shook her head. “I’m fine. Really. It’s been a long week. I need to unwind a little.”

After a few seconds scrutinizing her face, he nodded. And she attempted a small smile.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she found Ian still watching her. For a brief second their gazes caught and held, and she swore the room spun around her.

Then he deliberately turned away. Making sure she understood he was snubbing her.

Bastard.

Part of her wished she was home in her sweats in front of the TV with a drink in one hand and a bowl of popcorn in the other. She was in the middle of a Supernatural binge and, damn, but Jensen Ackles was one fine-looking man. And safe. She could lust after him in peace.

“Then you should go home.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Blank she didn’t need another father, but the problem with that statement was, in the eyes of the rest of the world, she didn’t have a father to begin with.

Only five people in the world knew who her father was. Blank wasn’t one of them. Although her dad did pay his salary.

Oh, what a twisted web…

“I won’t be late.”

Holding out a keycard, she waited for the guard at the door to swipe it. She’d been here before, but no one, not even the owner, got through this door without having his card swiped.

The guard opened the door immediately after confirmation and nodded as she stepped through, leaving Blank on the other side.

Blank hated leaving her side, especially in a place like this, where criminal elements rubbed elbows with blue bloods. Of course, sometimes the line between the two was a thin one.

But she was safer back here than she was out there. And Blank was not a stupid man. He probably knew exactly why she had nothing to fear back here.

As the door closed behind her, she headed down the short hall toward the last room on the left. Nodding to the familiar man standing at the end of the hall, she walked through the door.

“Jesus, I thought you were never going to get here! What took you so long? Did something—oh my god, you did it! You colored your hair. I love it, of course. You always were more suited to be a brunette.”

The gorgeous blonde who’d been sitting alone at the dining table in the middle of the spacious room rose from her chair, threw her arms around Dorrie’s shoulders, and hugged her tight. Dorrie returned the hug just as fiercely.

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