Page 75 of An Indecent Longing

“Still a kid. Don’t think he was fifteen.”

Any time was an awful time to lose your dad, but that must have been horrific for Ian. Is that why he’d cut her off six months ago? Had he found out who paid her bills?

No, it couldn’t have been. Because if he knew, he never would’ve had sex with her tonight. Unless it was all some sort of elaborate way to make her pay for something she hadn’t done.

But that didn’t make sense either.

Did Ben know about the connection between her father and Ian’s? The answer to that had to be yes, considering they were cousins.

What the hell was going on? And did she even want to open that can of worms?

“Dorrie? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just sad.”

Blank wasn’t buying it now. “Something happened between you and Ian. Do I need to crack some heads? Did he say something to you?”

She wasn’t about to share that much of her personal life with Blank. She cared for the guy, thought of him as the brother she’d never had. But there was no way she could tell Blank about what she’d done tonight. Hell, she wasn’t sure she could tell Risa, although her sister would take one look at her and hound her until she spilled everything.

Come on, girl. You’ve been lying to people all your life. This shouldn’t be so hard.

She looked Blank straight in the eyes. “He didn’t say anything. Honestly. I’ve got to go now. I’ll be back around nine to release you.”

For a second, she wasn’t sure he was going to drop it. But then he nodded.

“All right. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She turned and headed for the door but turned when he said, “Hey, Dorrie.”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for what works for you. Got it?”

She managed a smile for Blank before she made her getaway.

Her head filled with too much information and not enough explanation, she made her way back to Ben, whose sharp gaze latched on to her as soon as she opened the door from the back.

His smile didn’t falter though she couldn’t seem to force one.

She had too much on her mind. And, of course, he realized that right away.

“Everything okay? Blank have a setback?”

“No, Blank’s fine.” She sighed and let her true tiredness show. “I’m just wiped out.”

The fact that part of the reason why stood in front of her made her shake her head when he smiled even wider. “Then let’s get you home to bed, hon.”

She hated how much she liked it when he called her pet names. Hated that it made her feel like he cared about her. But how could he?

Instead of saying something inane and making a fool of herself, she nodded and headed for the door.

The trip back to the lobby was quiet, but he kept his hand somewhere on her body. At her elbow, on her lower back, on her upper arm.

It flustered her enough that she barely noticed the lobby guard on the way out. Actually, she barely noticed anything; she was too caught up in her own thoughts.

So when she heard Ben grunt in pain seconds after walking out the door, she had no idea what was going on.

Then a rough hand grabbed her arm and started dragging her away.

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