Read Online An Indecent Longing by Stephanie Julian - Free Book Online Page B

had cost. Which meant Ben and his cousin weren’t hurting for money.
    “What does your cousin do?”
    “We work in the same field.”
    “Does he work for Adam and Tristan, too?”
    “Hmm. So you wanna be good and have strawberries? Or do you want chocolate chips in your pancakes? I’m feeling like chocolate. Wanna be bad with me?”
    Her eyes widened because she couldn’t misunderstand him now. He was flirting with her.
    And now she was frozen like a deer in the headlights.
    Come on, you idiot. Say something.
    “I think…I’d like that.”
    Now his smile turned wicked and there was definitely a look in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
    “Glad to hear it. Chocolate it is.”
     
    Ben watched emotions flow over Dorrie’s face for a few seconds before he tore his gaze away.
    He didn’t want to embarrass her or make her uncomfortable.
    No, what he wanted to do was reach across the island, wrap a hand around her nape, and pull her close enough to kiss. The temptation was so strong, he found it hard to concentrate for several seconds and nearly messed up the pancake batter by adding way too much vanilla.
    Luckily, she hadn’t noticed his distraction or she was choosing to ignore it.
    He was betting on the first because she definitely looked a little shell-shocked. Like she didn’t know how to handle his teasing.
    Was she really that awkward with men? Or was she just that stiff?
    Again, he was going with the first.
    “Have you checked in on your guy? How’s he doing?”
    Her head popped up from her examination of the counter. Or had she been watching his hands as they mixed and chopped? Was she wondering how his hands would feel stroking her body? Or was that just wishful thinking on his part?
    “He’s fine.” Her tentative smile made his gut clench. “Thank you again for staying with me last night. Blank’s so damn stubborn, I’m afraid he would’ve bled out before letting on how badly he was hurt.”
    “Glad to hear he’s gonna be okay.”
    She paused and, for at least a minute, silence held as he whisked the batter.
    “So…how well do you know Ian?”
    Damn, he’d been hoping she wouldn’t go there because he didn’t want to lie to her.
    “We’ve worked together for a few months now.” Totally true. And then his curiosity got the better of him. “How do you know Ian?”
    Her gaze dropped immediately. “We’ve met. A few times. Can I give you a hand with those?”
    As he’d expected, she backed off but Ben was a little pissed. Mostly at his cousin. He still didn’t know exactly what had happened between them, but he knew why Ian had dropped her when he’d discovered who she worked for.
    Ben supposed he should feel the same.
    He couldn’t.
    And he realized the reason Ian had such a strong reaction to her was because he couldn’t hate her either.
    “Do you like working with Tristan and Adam?”
    “Yeah, I do. It’s been an adjustment but I know I made the right decision to leave the service.”
    Her eyes widened in surprise. “I didn’t know that.” Then she grimaced. “Which is a stupid thing to say. We don’t know each other at all, do we?”
    Ladling batter onto the electric griddle, he tried to dissect her tone. Did she want to know him better?
    “No, we don’t. But I’d like to change that.”
    A hint of a sweet smile on her lips. “Aren’t we doing that now?”
    “How about we do it tonight over dinner, too?”
    She blinked and her lips parted as if she were shocked. Why the hell was she so surprised that he wanted to go out with her?
    “Dinner? Together?”
    Laughing, he nodded as he flipped the pancakes. “Yeah, it’d help if we were together when we try to get to know one another.”
    A faint blush colored her cheeks and she sank her teeth into her bottom lip, nibbling at the flesh until he wanted to groan.
    Yeah, she worked for Antonoff, but no one could claim their hands were completely clean in this world. Hell, Ian had blood on his hands, just like Ben.