Forbidden Touch: A Best Friends To Lovers Romance - Iona Rose (free ebook reader .txt) 📗

immediately filled my eyes again. What could I say without sounding like I’d lost my mind? “Nothing.”

He pulled a lounger nearer to me. “Come on Brooke. I know you better than that. Something must have upset you. This isn’t like you.”

He was right. This wasn’t at all like me. I didn’t recognize this person who got jealous when her best friend hooked up with a girl. But nothing could make me come clean, not even a stab in the face with a shrimp fork. “I got a headache and just needed some quiet,” I said and accidentally sniffled, a dead giveaway that I had been crying.

Blaze did not pursue it.

“I’m fine, you should go back. I’m sure Terry will be wondering where you are,” I said.

“She can wonder all she likes. I’d rather be here with you. I’ll go get a beer. Can I top that up for you?” Blaze suggested.

I nodded and he took my glass with him. Pleasure enveloped me. Suddenly, my world which had become dark and grey brightened up. I didn’t want to analyze myself anymore, knowing that I wouldn’t like the results.

Blaze returned moments later with his beer and my wine. As he handed it to me, his masculine fingers curled around mine and time stood still.

Pure raw need raced through me. My thighs trembled with need. My body turned into liquid.

Then he took his hand away.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

“To us,” Blaze said, raising his bottle of beer. “And to an unforgettable vacation.”

It was unforgettable all right. I clinked my glass with his bottle. “To an unforgettable vacation,” I said.

I was determined to make it unforgettable. My way.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Blaze said. “Did I make a mistake in booking a condo away from everyone else?”

“God, no!” I said, his words jarring me to the present. “I love it here. You know how long it takes me to be comfortable around strangers.”

He smiled. “I thought so. Hey, Jack and Amelia have organized a mini cruise for tomorrow afternoon. He said to tell you not to miss it.”

“Sounds like fun,” I said, mentally putting my plan into action. There had to be other hot guys on the cruise apart from Caleb. He did nothing for me. As much as I needed a one-night stand, it had to be a guy I felt wildly attracted to. I would wear my hottest bikini.

A thought crossed my mind. “Will your mom be there?” As much as I loved Jack and Blaze’s mom, she would definitely cramp my style. For starters, I couldn’t wear my Brazilian bikini if she were there.

Blaze chuckled. “No, it’s for the younger guests. You should have heard her complain when she found out that her generation is not invited.”

“I can just imagine,” I said with a laugh.

Blaze’s mom was the fun-loving type of mom, the kind who willingly did everything with her kids, no matter how stupid she looked.

“Yeah, but Jack hooked them up with a boat tour, so that sort of placated her.”

After that, conversation flowed and Blaze became my best friend, rather than the guy who made my panties melt with a single touch.

Chapter Eight

Blaze

Brooke and I had a long relaxing breakfast at the restaurant downstairs. We fed each other strips of bacon and scrambled eggs. It didn’t escape my notice that we were behaving like a couple in love, almost like Jack and Amelia did.

Did she notice it, see how seamlessly we fit into each other’s lives?

“That was too much food for a morning,” Brooke groaned and stretched.

“How about we walk it off on the beach?” I said.

“You might have to lift me up from this chair,” she said. “I feel as big as a whale.”

“You look as beautiful as you always do,” I said.

She laughed. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“No, just the special ones,” I said and got to my feet. I offered her my hand.

Brooke seemed to think about it before placing her slim hand in mine.

Hawaii seemed to be turning my Brooke into a stranger. Usually, I could read my best friend’s moods but since coming to the island I felt confused where she was concerned.

I sneaked a look at her as we walked.

Sensing my stare, she turned to me and smiled.

I felt so relieved the previous night when the haunted, sad look left her face. It had been stupid of me to spend so much time with Terry. I wasn’t in the least bit romantically interested in her. I only had eyes for Brooke. No woman could ever come close to what I felt for her. It had been a bad idea but had seemed brilliant at the time. A way to fast track things between us. Get Brooke a little jealous and maybe… she would inch away from seeing me as Mr. Best Friend.

She had been jealous all right but Jack had torn into me. Told me he couldn’t believe how stupid and juvenile I was. He’d even gone as far as saying that I didn’t deserve Brooke.

He was right. It had been a stupid strategy and at the end of it, it had hurt me more than it had hurt Brooke. Seeing her trying to hide her tears and knowing she was hurting because of something I had done? That had just about torn me into pieces.

I vowed it would be the last time I’d ever knowingly hurt her. I had a lot of making up to do. Some of the blunders I kept making were because romantic Brooke was a grey area to me. I searched for memories of us talking about her dates and came up with nothing.

She didn’t talk about dates except in passing. Now I wished I’d paid more attention. Asked more questions. That way, I would have had a head start. “What do you like to do on dates?” I asked her now.

“You mean with guys?” she said.

“I hope so,” I said with a grin.

She laughed softly.

I