Page 40 of An Indecent Longing

“Your child.”

The hard-ass expression vanished and his smile transformed his face. “Two. She’s great.”

“I’m sure she is.”

Which begged the question, how had he gotten wrapped up with her father? But that wasn’t a question she could ask. That was another one of the rules of the arrangement. No questions.

“You wanna see her picture?”

She couldn’t say no when she saw the way his eyes lit up just talking about his daughter, and when he whipped out his wallet and dug out the picture of a smiling little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, she couldn’t help but grin.

“She’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, she is. And she needs to eat so I need to be able to use my arm. How about some painkillers, Doc?”

Twenty minutes later, her patient and Gens were walking out the door, leaving her alone in a much-too-quiet office. She assumed her nurse was with Blank, who would probably be able to go home tomorrow.

She’d managed to sidestep Blank’s interrogation all day. She knew he wouldn’t discuss personal matters while her nurse was within hearing distance. Blank trusted very few people, and Dorrie’s nurse wasn’t one of them.

But she’d avoided him for as long as she could. If she waited any longer, he’d know something was up.

On her way to his room, she thought about how much to tell him. He’d made a few veiled reference to finding someone else to cover her back while he was out of commission, but she planned to fight that tooth and nail. Even though she knew if her dad had anything to say about it, she’d find herself with another man in her life whose only purpose was to make sure she didn’t have any fun at all.

And that wouldn’t work for tonight. Tonight she planned to have fun if it killed her.

After telling the nurse to take a couple of hours and get some lunch, she took a second for a few deep breaths before she walked into his room.

“So, how are you feeling today?”

Blank’s scowl would’ve made a grown man shrivel. She’d gotten used to him over the years.

“Like I’m going to dissect the next person who asks me that question in that tone of voice.”

It appeared Blank was back to his normal self.

“Glad to hear it. You gave me a pretty decent scare last night. I’d kind of prefer you didn’t do that again.”

His scowl turned into a grimace in a blink. “Shit. Sorry.”

“I’m really glad you’re going to be okay.”

And there was the smile she’d been trying to coax out of her normally stoic bodyguard. “I had no doubt you’d fix me up right. So’d the kid hang around and take you home?”

And there was the first land mine. But he’d phrased it in a way that she didn’t have to lie. “Yes, he did.”

“Good. Now when the hell can I get out of here?”

She laughed and his smile grew. “Tomorrow.” She held up a hand when his mouth opened to complain. “And if you fight me, I’ll make you stay until the next day.”

He scowled. “Now you’re just being mean. And you look tired. You sure you’re okay?”

Pulling up a chair next to the bed, she sat down. “I’m fine. I’m just curious about something. How do you know Ian Keller?”

She didn’t know what she’d expected when she’d decided to ask Blank about Ian, but it hadn’t been this. He looked like he was smiling. Blank barely ever smiled.

“I’ve known him for years, grew up in the same neighborhood. Then he went into the service and I stayed home.”

She could tell there was more to the story but he didn’t continue. So she gave him a nudge.

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