Page 72 of An Indecent Longing

“No, but feel free to start.”

She shook her head, but continued to smile. “You don’t have to wait for me.”

“I want to. Let me.”

After a few seconds, she nodded and it was his turn to smile. “Okay.”

He didn’t say anything else, didn’t want to chance her changing her mind.

The building security guard, different than the night before, gave him the once-over before greeting Dorrie with a quiet, “Night, Ms. Haverstick.”

She acknowledged his greeting with a nod, but her hand clenched on his for a split second. And when they got to the elevator, Ben took a second look at the guard.

Nothing stood out about the guy and maybe he was reading too much into something that meant nothing. But he got paid to notice everything so he’d stick this guy’s face in a mental file and go back to focusing on Dorrie.

“So how is Blank? I thought you said he was doing well.”

Waving a keycard in front of the reader then punching the floor button, she ran her hands over her hair, smoothing the strands as if she thought they were out of place.

“He’s doing fine but…I still need to check on him.”

Because that’s the kind of person she was. Unwilling to simply let someone tell her everything was okay. No, she had to check for herself.

She and Ian had a hell of a lot in common.

“He going stir-crazy?”

“Of course.”

“Guys like him don’t handle forced confinement well. Or at all”

“Guys who were in the service with you?”

“Yeah. But Blank’s never been in the service, has he?”

“No. He’s actually a former cop.” She looked over at him. “Does that surprise you?”

It did, considering who she worked for. “A little, yeah. So you want to tell me why you don’t like the front desk guard?”

Now she looked at him with wide eyes. “Why do you say that?”

“Just a hunch.”

The elevator dinged and the door opened on her floor, but she didn’t move right away. “He just makes me uncomfortable. I’m probably seeing something that’s not there—”

“Never doubt your gut with this kind of stuff.” Stepping out of the elevator, he couldn’t help but case the dark hallway. “Better safe than sorry.”

When he turned back, he saw her shaking her head, a bemused grin on her face.

“What?”

“Are you always on the lookout for danger?”

“Well, yeah.”

With a shake of her head, she followed him out into the hall and headed for the door to her office suite, only a few steps away.

“Are you ever afraid of anything?”

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