Page 41 of An Indecent Longing

“Did you keep in touch? Are you still friends?”

Blank leaned back in bed and she didn’t notice any sign of discomfort. “We were never really friends. I’m three years older than Ian, and he didn’t have a lot of friends back then anyway. Always pretty much a loner, except for Ben. Kept to themselves pretty much. They lived with their grandmother and she was pretty old so she relied on them to— Hey, what’s wrong? Dorrie?”

Her brain had started misfiring and it must have showed on her face. “Did you say ‘their grandmother’?”

“Yeah, Ben and Ian are cousins. Why?”

“I just didn’t…realize they were related.”

Now Blank’s gaze narrowed. “And that’s a problem, why? What happened?”

She shook her head, forcing a wry smile for the man who could read her a little too well. “It’s not a problem. You know I met Ian a while ago and I just don’t see a resemblance.”

She wasn’t sure Blank was going to let her explanation slide as he continued to stare at her. But finally, he shook his head. “True. So what are you doing tonight?”

Apparently, she was going to dinner with the cousin of the man she still had erotic dreams about. And then she remembered that Ben had told her he was living with his cousin.

“I’m going home. I’ve got a date with a bottle of wine, a bag of chocolate-covered pretzels, and two hot guys.” When Blank’s eyebrows drew down in a hard frown, she actually found she could laugh. “I’m watching a TV show about two brothers fighting monsters.”

With a sigh, Blank shook his head. “I don’t know whether to be glad you’re staying in or worried that you’re not going out.”

Sliding off the bed, Dorrie patted Blank’s arm and made for the door before she made some stupid comment and he knew something was up.

“It’s just another night, Blank. You have a good one and tomorrow you can sleep in your own bed.”

“Dorrie.”

She stopped in the doorway and looked over her shoulder.

He looked like he wanted to say something but then thought better of it. “Don’t get too comfortable on that couch. You might never leave the damn thing.”

And maybe she was safer there.

“Sure, Blank. See you later.”

She was able to make it to her car before the anxiety set in. But when it hit, she could barely breathe.

Sitting in the driver’s seat of her car in the parking garage beneath her office building, she gripped the steering wheel with white-knuckled hands and forced herself to breathe deeply.

Did Ben know about her and Ian? He’d been deliberately vague any time she’d asked about his cousin and—

Holy shit.

They lived together. And she’d slept in Ian’s bed last night.

Her heart began to race so fast she thought she might actually stroke out.

What if—

No. No, he wouldn’t have done it. Ian wouldn’t have slept with her. He hated her.

Jesus. What the hell did she do?

Should she cancel?

What if it turned out Ben knew nothing about her and Ian? What if it was all just a huge cosmic joke that the first man she’d been attracted to after being dumped by Ian was his cousin?

What would Ian think when he found out she was dating Ben? Should she even care what Ian thought?

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