Page 32 of An Indecent Longing

Ben supposed he should feel the same.

He couldn’t.

And he realized the reason Ian had such a strong reaction to her was because he couldn’t hate her either.

“Do you like working with Tristan and Adam?”

“Yeah, I do. It’s been an adjustment but I know I made the right decision to leave the service.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “I didn’t know that.” Then she grimaced. “Which is a stupid thing to say. We don’t know each other at all, do we?”

Ladling batter onto the electric griddle, he tried to dissect her tone. Did she want to know him better?

“No, we don’t. But I’d like to change that.”

A hint of a sweet smile on her lips. “Aren’t we doing that now?”

“How about we do it tonight over dinner, too?”

She blinked and her lips parted as if she were shocked. Why the hell was she so surprised that he wanted to go out with her?

“Dinner? Together?”

Laughing, he nodded as he flipped the pancakes. “Yeah, it’d help if we were together when we try to get to know one another.”

A faint blush colored her cheeks and she sank her teeth into her bottom lip, nibbling at the flesh until he wanted to groan.

Yeah, she worked for Antonoff, but no one could claim their hands were completely clean in this world. Hell, Ian had blood on his hands, just like Ben. At least this woman saved lives, not took them.

When she stayed silent for long seconds, he wondered if she was going to say no. She kept watching him, deliberating, and he had no idea what she was thinking.

“Okay.” She nodded. “Sure. I’d love to.”

Then she flat-out smiled.

And holy hell, the impact felt like a punch in the gut. Yeah, he’d been attracted to her before, thought she was pretty. But now…

That smile totally transformed her from haughty cool to warm beauty. This was the woman Ian had fallen for, before he’d discovered who paid her salary.

And maybe that should’ve made Ben cautious, a little less eager to pursue her.

But there was a reason their grammy had called him her mountain climber. If there was an obstacle in his path, he climbed it instead of going around. Sometimes he fell off a few times before making it over, sometimes he got to the top and rolled down the other side.

But no matter what, he made it to the top because he was determined the obstacle wouldn’t stand in his way to getting what he wanted.

He wanted her.

And what about Ian?

Ben knew from experience that Ian could be an immovable force. He also knew his cousin had spent the night wrapped around this woman but had left before she’d woken.

And maybe it was because their new partners, Tristan and Adam, had a three-way relationship that seemed to be working. Or maybe it was just because Ben wanted it to work.

But Ian and Dorrie would get on board with Ben’s plan.

And they’d like it.

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