An Indecent Longing Read Online Free PDF

branch?”
    “Army.” At least, they’d both started there.
    “Special forces?”
    He’d caught her attention now, but the military was a door Ben didn’t want to open. Too many land mines.
    “Yeah. Ian had a head start on me. What about you? You look kinda young to be a doctor with your own practice.”
    Another shrug. “I’ve always been an overachiever. I graduated high school early, got my pre-med degree in three years, and passed my boards a year ahead of schedule.”
    “And that big fancy office? Where’d that come from? You must’ve done a hell of a lot of babysitting in your spare time to afford that.”
    For the first time, she actually looked uncomfortable but the expression passed quickly and her voice held steady.
    “Family money. It came in handy.”
    He waited a beat for her to elaborate, but when it became clear she wasn’t going to, he forged ahead.
    “Well, you made good use of the money. Did you always want to be a doctor?”
    “Yes. Except for a short time when I wanted to be a paleontologist.”
    “Is that the one that hunts for dinosaur bones?”
    He glanced over to catch her quick smile and… Holy fuck, when she smiled…
    Yeah, he had no doubt Ian wanted this woman. What he hadn’t figured out was what had happened between them to make Ian treat her like a leper. And something had definitely happened.
    “Yes. What about you, Ben? What did you want to be when you grew up?”
    “Useful.”
    He felt her gaze on him like a laser. “That’s an interesting response.”
    He shrugged. “Guess I’m just an interesting guy. Get to know me a little better and maybe you’ll think so, too.”
    She fell silent again but they’d reached his townhouse. Driving around to the alley, he parked in the garage, silently breathing a sigh of relief that Ian’s car wasn’t there already.
    Ben had a vague outline of a plan, and it hinged on Ian not being home first. He just hoped like hell that he wasn’t throwing gasoline on an already flammable situation. And if he was… He’d figure something out. He always did.
    They fell silent again as she followed him through the small backyard and into the house. He almost expected her to balk at the back door, but she walked straight through when he opened it.
    “Let’s go into the living room.” He didn’t wait for her to follow, just led her through the kitchen and dining room to the front of the house. “What can I get you to drink?”
    She didn’t answer right away. She’d stopped in the middle of the room, taking everything in with those sharp eyes.
    He wondered what she thought of the bare, sky-blue walls. He and Ian had never gotten around to decorating. Mainly because they didn’t really care if there were pictures on the wall or not.
    Hell, it’d taken them three months to settle on a color to paint the walls, mainly because it’d been pretty much an afterthought. He couldn’t imagine trying to pick out artwork.
    If it’d been up to Ian, the walls would be floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. And they probably would be eventually. They just hadn’t gotten around to installing them yet.
    So far, they’d done nothing more than fix the holes in the walls, make sure the plumbing worked, and pull up the carpets so they could install hardwood flooring.
    And since Ian had a thing about strangers being in their home, they’d done all the work themselves.
    “Do you live alone?”
    “No. I live with my cousin. We’ve got scotch, bourbon, rum, tequila… We’ve got pretty much anything. What can I get you?”
    “I’ll have bourbon on the rocks.”
    “Good choice. My cousin stocks the bar and he’s a bourbon drinker so you’re in luck.”
    Ben walked to the vintage Art Deco bar Ian had found in some secondhand store in England and had paid some ungodly amount to have shipped over here. But Ben loved the damn thing, scars and all. It gave the room character.
    “How long have you lived here?”
    Glancing over his shoulder, he found she’d