Page 48 of An Indecent Longing

If she let him, he’d follow her into bed but he wasn’t going to push. Wasn’t his style.

Didn’t mean he wouldn’t do whatever he needed to make her want him as much as he wanted her.

The smile she leveled at him gave him hope that he wouldn’t be going home until much, much later tonight. And maybe not at all.

“So, I’m not ready to go home yet.” Ben stared across the table at her as the waitress walked off with the check. “Wanna go to Haven Hotel? They’ve got a jazz trio I’d love to see tonight.”

Her eyes lit up like he’d offered up her greatest desire. “You like jazz?”

“I do. I take it you do, too.”

“I love it. I got into it in college because my roommate was a huge Rick Braun fan.”

“My uncle got me into it. My cousin’s a big fan, too.”

And there was the elephant in the room again. The huge, invisible elephant that sat on his shoulders, trying to crush him under the weight of the truth he was keeping from her.

“Ben?”

She watched him with that sharp gaze, and he got the sense she was waiting for him to do…something. Like confess.

“Is everything okay?”

He grinned, loving how her eyes lit up. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Let’s go.”

Haven was a short drive from the restaurant, which didn’t give him time to chew over the hole he was digging for himself. Christ, he really needed to tell her about Ian. What had started as a way to get Ian to admit his feelings for this woman had become something completely different.

Something Ben wanted to explore.

But he didn’t want to do it with this secret hanging over his head.

Goddammit, Ian.

By the time they got to Haven, he’d made up his mind to come clean. He just had to figure out the right time and the right way to bring it up.

The band had already started when they arrived so the lights were dim and there was no way they could hold a conversation. He felt guilty for being relieved. But he was grateful for the time to figure out how to tell her about Ian.

Until Ben saw his cousin tucked into a corner on the opposite side of the room. Ian’s concentration was fixed on the band on the stage at the front so he didn’t think Ian had seen them. If he had, his cousin would’ve disappeared like a phantom. And he was positive Dorrie hadn’t seen Ian; otherwise, that smile would’ve disappeared and the Dorrie he’d picked up at her home earlier tonight would’ve made a return.

Luckily, the club was dark. He led Dorrie to a table on the other side of the room from Ian and seated her with her back to Ian.

Ben knew Ian hadn’t said anything about attending this concert tonight. That didn’t mean Ben’s brain hadn’t made the subconscious connection and had known that Ian would probably be here.

So, smart guy, what are you trying to tell yourself?

He didn’t have a fucking clue.

But now that they were all in the same room…

Yeah, maybe you should have your head examined.

And maybe he wanted something more. Wanted something more for himself and for Ian.

They’d both spent too much time alone. They were long past due for a relationship, a connection. He had the feeling Dorrie was, too.

And maybe, just maybe, they could find that connection together.

The part of Ian’s brain that never stopped assessing his surroundings pinged, dragging his attention away from the band.

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