Page 111 of An Indecent Longing

It bothered him that he didn’t have access to that security feed on his tablet. So, every now and then, he’d walk down the hall there and take a look into that hall.

He never saw anything suspicious. Or anyone at all, for that matter.

But his neck kept itching.

Since it’d been at least an hour since he’d moved from this chair, he figured he was due to stretch his legs. And check that hall again.

Afterward, he returned to his seat. Ian had told him there’d been a steady stream of patients through the office all morning and Ben had figured it’d be the same this afternoon but around two, he heard the receptionist call two patients to reschedule their appointments for this afternoon.

He’d been keeping track and knew she had two patients in the back. But within a couple of minutes of each other, they left.

Which begged the question… Why did Dorrie need to clear her schedule?

He considered asking the receptionist, a middle-aged woman who rarely smiled and had said fewer than twenty words to him the entire time he’d been there, if he could talk to Dorrie but he figured he’d get a glare and be told to sit and stay.

Fuck it.

He got up, stretched his arms over his head then walked to the desk and leaned against it with a smile. “Would you tell Dorrie I’d like to speak to her? It won’t take more than a couple of minutes.”

The woman didn’t even look up. “Dr. Haverstick is in a consultation. I can’t disturb her and I don’t know when she’ll be finished.”

Bullshit. Total fucking bullshit.

Nurse Ratched gave blank face even better than Ian but she was lying through her teeth.

Christ, had she left through that back door? He didn’t think she’d be so reckless but…

“Look, I don’t know what she told you about why Ian and I are here, but her life is in danger and I want to make sure nothing happens to her. I need to know if she’s still in the back.”

The woman’s expression might have softened a very little bit. “She has not left the office. If she contacts me, I’ll be sure to tell her you’ve asked.”

And short of pushing by this woman and busting into Dorrie’s office, that was the best he could hope for.

Forcing a smile, he thanked her and headed back to his chair. It was comfortable enough but now he felt like he could feel every spring poking into his ass.

Then he gritted his teeth and prayed for patience.

* * * * *

“So how was your day?”

Frowning, Dorrie turned her head to stare at Ben as she sat in the passenger seat of his car on the drive back to his home. Something in the tone of his voice made her stomach clench. And not in a good way.

“It was fine. Why?”

Except it hadn’t been fine. That gunshot wound had been worse than she’d expected, and getting the bleeding to stop had taken much more time than she’d liked. As it was, the guy should be in a hospital but if she admitted him, there’d be questions she couldn’t answer and lies she didn’t want to tell.

“Your receptionist said you had a consult.” He shrugged. “Guess I’m just curious.”

No, he wasn’t curious. He was fishing.

Damn it. He knew something had happened this afternoon. She should’ve realized he was too smart not to notice she’d had no patients but hadn’t come out of her office.

So tell him. He already knows who you work for.

She also knew Ian had a huge issue with her dad. She just didn’t know what that was and she wasn’t sure if Ben had the same issue. Maybe Ben just hid his loathing of her dad better than Ian.

This is the opening you’ve been looking for. Go ahead. Talk to him.

---