Page 13 of An Indecent Longing

Ben huffed at the dry wit in her tone. Maybe he should be the one wary of being charmed.

He hadn’t really known what to think of Dorrie, had only seen her in doctor mode so far. Physically, yeah, she was a looker but that didn’t always do it for him. He had to be attracted to a woman’s mind or he got bored. Fast.

He didn’t think he’d be bored around Dorrie.

You’re forgetting about your cousin.

Yeah, for a second he had forgotten about Ian. And he was beginning to think Ian might have a lot more invested in this woman than his cousin would ever admit.

“You seem to have held up pretty well.” Ben gave her another once-over, noticed how she looked down at her hands as if avoiding his gaze. “You did what you needed to do to save those people.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shrug. “It’s what I’m trained to do.”

“So what kind of doctor are you?”

“GP and Trauma. How do you know Ian?”

He should’ve expected the question, but she’d lulled him into a false sense of security. Whether on purpose or not, he wasn’t sure. But he heard something in her voice, something that sounded…tentative. And, from what he’d seen so far, this woman was not tentative. Quiet, thoughtful, and maybe a little shy. But not tentative.

“We’ve known each other for years. Go way back. Spent some time together in the military.”

All true. Just missing a few details. Like the fact that they’d grown up together, sometimes lived in the same house with their grandmother if Ben’s mom went on a bender or Ian’s dad ended up in prison.

“What branch?”

“Army.” At least, they’d both started there.

“Special forces?”

He’d caught her attention now, but the military was a door Ben didn’t want to open. Too many land mines.

“Yeah. Ian had a head start on me. What about you? You look kinda young to be a doctor with your own practice.”

Another shrug. “I’ve always been an overachiever. I graduated high school early, got my pre-med degree in three years, and passed my boards a year ahead of schedule.”

“And that big fancy office? Where’d that come from? You must’ve done a hell of a lot of babysitting in your spare time to afford that.”

For the first time, she actually looked uncomfortable but the expression passed quickly and her voice held steady.

“Family money. It came in handy.”

He waited a beat for her to elaborate, but when it became clear she wasn’t going to, he forged ahead.

“Well, you made good use of the money. Did you always want to be a doctor?”

“Yes. Except for a short time when I wanted to be a paleontologist.”

“Is that the one that hunts for dinosaur bones?”

He glanced over to catch her quick smile and… Holy fuck, when she smiled…

Yeah, he had no doubt Ian wanted this woman. What he hadn’t figured out was what had happened between them to make Ian treat her like a leper. And something had definitely happened.

“Yes. What about you, Ben? What did you want to be when you grew up?”

“Useful.”

He felt her gaze on him like a laser. “That’s an interesting response.”

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