Page 23 of An Indecent Longing

“Look, you’re not wrong, okay? I want her.” His jaw clenched. “You see her. She’s hot. I want to fuck her until I can’t see straight but… There’s just too much baggage. And not all of it’s mine.”

Ben took a deep breath and nodded. “Fine. Then I’ll take her home.”

Ian should’ve said yes immediately. “How much did she drink?”

“Not enough to make her pass out. I think the stress and the fatigue just caught up with her.”

Ian took another deep breath and then another. And made a really bad decision. “Leave her. Blank’ll have my ass if I let her go home like this.”

Ben’s gaze sharpened. “How well do you know her bodyguard?”

“Well enough to know if he’s incapacitated, he’d want someone he trusts watching her back.”

“And he trusts you.” Ben stopped as if waiting for an explanation, and when Ian didn’t provide one, Ben sighed and shook his head. “Why the hell does she need a bodyguard anyway? Who is she?”

Not a question he wanted to answer right now, but Ben needed to know who he’d gotten himself wrapped up with. “She’s Antonoff’s pet physician.”

Ben’s eyes widened. “Fuck. Seriously?”

“You think I’d lie about that?”

Ben’s gaze snapped back through the door. “No, it’s just… Shit. Well, that explains a hell of a lot. When did you find out? Before or after you slept with her?”

Ian shook his head. “I haven’t slept with her.”

“But you considered it. Before you knew.” Ben snagged his gaze again. “Christ. I fucked this up royally, didn’t I?”

Ian shook his head. “No. No, this is me being an ass. I’ll…sleep downstairs. You did the right thing. Just…make sure she gets home tomorrow.”

Eyebrows raised, Ben stared at him. “You don’t want to take her?”

Fuck, yes.“No. She probably doesn’t want to see me anyway.”

Ben huffed. “Yeah, right. You obviously don’t see the way she looks at you.”

How?“She thinks I’m a prick.”

“No, she really doesn’t.”

Ian couldn’t stop himself from looking back into his room. She still lay curled under the quilt his grandmother had made for him twenty years ago. All alone in that big bed.

She shouldn’t be alone.

And he shouldn’t be standing here watching her sleep. He should do what he’d said, go downstairs. Away from her.

So why the hell couldn’t he do it?

Behind him, he heard Ben sigh. “I’m going to bed. Don’t…make any rash decisions.”

Ian wanted to growl. “I’d never hurt her.”

“I don’t think that. But Ian… maybe you’re punishing her for the wrong damn reason.”

Ian didn’t see Ben walk away but he heard his cousin’s footsteps on the stairs going up to his suite.

And when he finally heard the door at the top of the steps close, effectively shutting Ben upstairs, he leaned against the doorjamb and watched her breathe.

He didn’t know how long he stood there, but it was long enough for his thigh to give a twinge. He’d taken a bullet there a few years ago. It didn’t usually give him trouble but if he stood in one place long enough, it let him know it was time to move.

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