Page 77 of An Indecent Longing

Ian released a sigh and prepared to do damage control. “You’re right. So tell me what you saw and we’ll figure out where to go from here.”

“There’s nowhere to go from here.” She shook her head but didn’t meet his eyes. “I’ll take care of it.”

Yeah, no. He and Ben exchanged a look and he knew they were in agreement on this point. “You don’t need to do that.”

“And I don’t need you—”

“Dorrie,” Ben broke in. “Do you want to call the cops?”

She immediately shook her head. “No. I told you. I’ll take care of it.”

Ian crossed his arms over his chest, because if he didn’t do something with them, he’d grab her, throw her over his shoulder, and head for the nearest bedroom to fuck her into submission.

And Jesus, when had he become a caveman? He took a deep breath.

“And how do you plan to do that?”

Ian had a feeling he knew exactly how she was going to take care of it. And that just pissed him off even more.

Her eyes narrowed, probably taking offense to the growl in his voice.

“However I damn well choose.” She didn’t look frightened now. She looked pissed. “Just because we shared bodily fluids doesn’t mean you get to make decisions for me.”

His head dropped back. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. That’s not—”

“Oh really?” Practically throwing her glass at the table, she shot to her feet, taking a few steps toward him before she seemed to get herself under control. “No, that’s exactly what you meant. And you have no damn right. Not after—”

She stopped and her lips snapped shut. But he knew what she’d been going to say. And she was absolutely fucking right.

What the fuck was he doing here?

Well, that question was easy to answer. He’d had a taste of her and now he was fucking addicted. She wasn’t going to be able to get rid of him easily.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ben shake his head and close his eyes. But he knew he needed to lay himself out or he was going to find himself on the outside.

And he’d realized on the way over here that that’s not where he wanted to be.

As she glared at him, he took a few steps closer.

“You’re right. But I’m here now.”

Her gaze narrowed. “And that’s supposed to make everything okay? Just erase what you did? Without any explanation?”

He refused to back down now. “No, it doesn’t. I treated you like crap and I’m sorry for that. You deserve an explanation. And you’ll get one. But right now we need to figure out if those men are going to try again.”

Her expression didn’t change. “I don’t need your help.”

“I’m not saying you do.” Even though he knew she did. “I’m saying I—we want to help.”

“Why? Because of last night? Last night was just sex, right? We don’t know each other well enough for it to have been anything more.”

“And that’s all you want it to be.”

“I didn’t say that.” She shook her head. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”

“Then let us help you.” Ben. “Let us see what we can find out about these guys. If we can’t, you can always get someone else involved later.”

Ian bit his tongue to make sure he didn’t say anything else. Ben could smooth things over as long as she agreed to let him and Ben handle this.

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