Page 52 of An Indecent Longing

Her gut clenched as that grin grew. “No. It wasn’t supposed to be a secret. And I had no idea you and Ian knew each other until last night.”

Last night seemed so far away right now; so much had happened since she’d heard that first shot fired. She felt like a different person, someone tired of who she’d been before.

“Did you know I slept in your bed last night?”

She saw the shock in both men’s faces, knew they hadn’t been expecting her to ask so blunt a question.

Ian’s jaw clenched. “Yes, I knew.”

She swallowed hard before she asked her next question. “Were you there last night?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ben go still, his gaze slicing back and forth between her and Ian. But she couldn’t take her eyes off Ian. He sat so still, watching her like a cat watches a rabbit just before pouncing.

Holding her gaze, he nodded. “Yes.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “You were in bed with me last night.”

The muscle in his jaw twitched but he didn’t back down. “Yes.”

She switched her attention to Ben. “Is that why you took me home? For your cousin to humiliate me again?”

“Dorrie, no—”

“Goddammit—”

She held up one hand and they fell silent. Satisfaction gave her the courage to continue.

“Then why?”

Ben immediately answered. “Because I wanted to get to know you better. And yeah, curiosity. Because you’re the first woman Ian’s looked at in years.”

“Ben.”

Ian’s sharp tone felt like a blade, but it wasn’t directed at her. He was glaring daggers at Ben, whose attention never wavered from her.

“I have no idea what happened between the two of you. Ian wouldn’t say a word. But he’s the one who told me not to leave your side last night. Maybe we should ask Ian why he did that. Don’t you want to know why? Because I certainly do.”

Her breath hitched as she switched her attention back to Ian. “Why would you do that? I thought—”

She stopped, not knowing what to think.

“What did you think?” Ben prompted when she fell silent, still staring at Ian.

“I thought I’d done something to make you…dislike me.”

“You don’t want to have this conversation here.”

Ian’s ice-cold tone made her draw back, but Ben grabbed her hand and squeezed. She couldn’t believe the comfort she got from his touch, which counteracted the frostbite she felt from Ian’s stare.

But even in his stare, she thought she saw desire.

No, that couldn’t be right.

“Then let’s go back to the house.”

Amazingly, Ben’s suggestion made perfect sense at the moment because she had a few things to say to Ian, and she didn’t want to do them in public.

Sliding out of the booth, she stood, looking back at Ian and Ben, who both appeared shocked.

---