Page 109 of An Indecent Longing

Ian shot Ben a quick glance before responding. Probably because Ben was usually the one to handle this part. The talking part. Not that Ian couldn’t. But when he did, he usually fucked it up. But Ben wasn’t sure he could think of anything to say that wasn’t “Fuck you” or “Fuck off.”

And that wasn’t like him.

“You need a ride back to your place?”

Blank’s mouth actually quirked into an almost-smile. “Nah, I got a ride. But thanks for the offer.”

“Are they waiting downstairs?” Dorrie frowned. “You can’t drive. Not—”

“Dorrie.” Blank stared at her. “I got a ride. I’ll be fine.”

Her lips and her nose wrinkled but finally she sighed. “Fine. We’ll walk you down.”

Ben restrained himself from throwing his hands in the air and crying, “Hallelujah.”

But just barely.

* * * * *

“And they haven’t touched you at all? Not once? All week?”

“I mean, other than brushing against me accidently, no. I don’t have any idea what’s going on.”

On the other end of the phone, Risa went silent but Dorrie could hear her sister tapping her perfectly manicured nails on something hard.

Dorrie looked down at her own hand, currently drawn into a fist and clenched around a pen. She’d been writing reports in longhand, which usually put her in a Zen state.

Not so much today.

“Risa?”

“Hmm. I’m thinking. You’re sure nothing happened? Did you say something that could’ve been misconstrued as you not wanting to have sex?”

“That would mean we’d actually have to have a conversation. I mean, it’s not like they’re ignoring me. They talk to me. They ask me how my day went and what I want to eat for dinner and what I want to watch at night. But then I go to bed at ten and they say good night and watch me walk up the stairs. It’s almost like they’ve decided I’m off limits. But then Ian stares at me like I’m a steak and he’s starving or Ben smiles at me and I think, ‘Oh, good, he’s going to make a move,’ but he never does.”

“Have you made a move on them?”

Dorrie was glad her sister couldn’t see her now, sticking her tongue out at her like a two-year-old. “Of course not. What if they’re done with me? What if they don’t want me anymore?”

Ugh, it even hurt her heart to say the words.

Risa huffed. “No way. It probably has to do with the fact that Daddy hired them for a job. They don’t want to get their hands caught in the cookie jar.”

“Huh?”

“I mean,” Risa dragged that last word out to at least five syllables, “they don’t want to be unprofessional. They were hired to protect your ass, not fuck it.”

Heat flashed through Dorrie and her brain started flashing images from the other night through her head. Then images from a night that hadn’t happened yet. A night she really wanted to happen.

“Dorrie? Did I lose you?”

“No, I’m here.”

“Why do you sound like you’ve swallowed a gallon of drain cleaner?”

She cleared her throat. “I have no idea.”

“You’re thinking about sex, aren’t you?”

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