Page 94 of An Indecent Longing

So as he drove Dorrie and Ben to Fairmount Park for her soccer game, he didn’t contribute much to the conversation. He let Ben do all the talking. His cousin was good at it: never let the silence get too long, never seemed to flounder for a topic.

Left to his own devices, Ian would sooner cut out his tongue than make small talk for hours on end. Of course, he and Dorrie had never seemed to have trouble finding things to talk about. Until he’d discovered her affiliation with Antonoff.

Thinking about that felt like he had something caught in his teeth that he couldn’t get out. But he wanted her too much to let it stop him. Eventually, he figured that would come back to bite him in the ass. Eventually, they’d have to discuss it. Especially if this affair lasted longer than a few weeks.

Do you want it to?

Another question he didn’t want to answer because it required too much thought.

Now he needed something else to focus his energies on, and that would be figuring out who’d tried to snatch Dorrie last night.

Ben was always right about this kind of stuff. The attempt to take her hadn’t been random. That didn’t add up, especially not with her underworld connections.

And if it did have something to do with Antonoff…

Well, that would require a visit that probably wouldn’t end well…for anyone.

Once he’d parked in the lot Dorrie had directed him to, he got out of the car and checked the surrounding area, just as he would for any other job.

At least three playing fields spread out on the grounds of the park, all of them in use.

Why the hell would anyone get up this early on a Sunday to play soccer? Didn’t they know Sunday mornings were meant for lying around reading the paper and drinking coffee, not running around chasing a ball?

Then again, he’d never played organized sports. Had never seen the appeal. When he’d joined the Army, he’d had a team but even then he’d still been a loner, which had served him well in his chosen specialty.

As soon as she got out of the car, Dorrie pointed to one of the fields, swinging her bag over her shoulder, her eyes bright and an actual grin on her face. “I’ll be over there. Gotta go. Late. See ya.”

And she ran off. She’d pulled her hair back in a ponytail that swung as she ran. He had a brief flash of him wrapping his hand around her hair and pulling her head back to kiss her as he took her from behind while she rode Ben.

Holy shit.He needed to keep that under control or he’d embarrass the hell out of himself. And her.

“Guess we’re gonna need to get folding chairs. Didn’t think of that last night.”

Ian turned to Ben with a frown, not sure what his cousin was talking about because he couldn’t get the thought of Dorrie naked and between them out of his brain. “What?”

Ben’s smirk made Ian roll his eyes.

“I said, we should get chairs, you know, like those.” He pointed to a couple walking by with long bags hanging from their shoulders. “So we can sit and watch the game.”

“I don’t sit well.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know that. But I don’t want to stick out in this crowd. And you do. Like a little black rain cloud on a sunny day.”

Ian’s face screwed up in a WTF expression and Ben started to laugh.

“Exactly,” Ben said. “Come on, let’s at least get closer to the field so we can see her play.”

“I think I’m gonna stay back here, watch your backs.”

Ben’s brows rose. “You really think someone would be stupid enough to make a play for her here?”

“Probably not. But you can never be too careful. And maybe we’ll get lucky and I spot someone paying too much attention to her.”

“Yeah, okay. Let me know if you notice anything. I’ll keep an eye out up there.”

“Hey. Tell her to have a good game.”

Ben saluted him with a sardonic smile before he headed toward the field, leaving Ian to prop himself against the hood of his car.

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