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

loved all her different laughs. The soft one like the one which just left her mouth, then she had an outright burst when something was especially funny and then there was the polite fake one. That last one was mostly when we were at work.

“I like going for dinner,” she said. “I like going to the movies and dancing.”

I knew she loved dancing. As she spoke, I realized I knew all that about Brooke, only I knew stuff she liked to do with friends. Turned out, it was the same stuff she liked doing with dates.

“What about you?” she asked and before I could respond, she started to list the stuff I liked to do.

“Correct,” I said, pleased that we knew each other so well.

After the walk, Brooke and I went back to the condo, changed into our swimsuits, grabbed some towels and went to lie on the sand. We talked, dozed and generally chilled out.

At lunch time, we took a walk to the deli down the street and ate sandwiches. Then it was time to get ready for the mini cruise.

“You’re not really going in that, are you?” I said feeling like a father, torn between loving what was on display and a sense of proprietary.

“Yeah, do you like it?” Brooke asked and twirled around.

I grew hard as she turned to reveal her ass cheeks and a flimsy piece of material that left her gorgeous butt cheeks bare. I imagined cupping her gorgeous ass and pulling her against my hard cock. “I can’t see it,” I said when she turned back around.

She made a face and laughed. “Do you want to bet that there will be more skimpily dressed ladies on that cruise?”

I didn’t care about the others. All I cared about was her. But I would be there to keep her safe from predatory men.

She pulled on a pair of tiny shorts and a tank top over it.

A few minutes later, we left the condo and headed to the resort.

I didn’t miss the looks Brooke attracted as we walked. I slipped a hand around her waist protectively. We found everyone in the small van taking us to the marina where the yacht was waiting. A party atmosphere broke out in the van with everyone excited and looking forward to letting loose.

“Is this like the ultimate wedding or what?” someone said and we all cheered.

Jack and Amelia had created a vacation that none of us would forget in a hurry. In the marina, we found our yacht with the uniformed captain and his crew standing at the entrance as we entered.

We were welcomed with glasses of champagne as we made our way to the deck.

“I wonder how long it is?” I asked Jack.

“Fifty feet,” he said.

Amelia let out an exaggerated yawn and turned to Brooke. “Want to explore and leave these men to their measurements?”

Brooke grinned. “Yes, please.”

They went off and left Jack and me alone. There were people all over the deck, some of whom I didn’t know. “Who are these people?”

Jack laughed. “Amelia and I thought it would be fun if we hooked up with another group. The captain organized it. We thought it was a great way to meet new people.”

I shrugged. It didn’t matter either way, what mattered was that we all had fun.

Caleb and a couple of other guys joined us.

I took the moment to slip away to go in search of Brooke, as the yacht slowly navigated out of the marina.

I found her near the helm talking to a guy I didn’t know. I stopped indecisively. I had no right to butt in when she was clearly having a good time. I realized I was scowling as I watched him say something to Brooke and then drape a casual arm around her waist. As if he owned her.

I folded my hands into fists as my eyes saw red.

“Chill out brother,” Jack said, sidling up to me. He gripped my arm with more force than necessary and led me away. “Maybe now, you’ll know how it feels to be on the receiving end.”

“I didn’t do anything with Terry,” I protested. “We sat in the garden and fucking talked. And she wasn’t wearing a piece of cloth that barely covered her body.”

Jack threw his head back and laughed. “You’ve got it bad, don’t you?”

I turned back but we’d moved out of view and I couldn’t see Brooke and the schmuck she was with. “If he tries anything, I’m going to punch him,” I growled. I knew I was behaving like a caveman but I couldn’t help it. Brooke brought out a side of me I hadn’t known existed. She made me want to pee around her to protect my territory like a fucking animal.

“I believe you would,” Jack said in a dry tone.

We joined a couple of the guys and the conversation veered to sports as it inevitably did when guys were alone.

I couldn’t concentrate on the conversation and itched to see Brooke. I told myself it was to make sure that she was safe.

When I managed to slip away from Jack who had appointed himself my bodyguard, I almost lost my mind to find that Brooke had slipped out of her shorts and there were more guys than I could count hungrily staring at her curves.

She saw me and came over. Her face was glowing and she had the look of someone who was clearly in her element. “Are you all right?” she asked. “You don’t look yourself.”

How could I look when every man, well almost every man was ogling my woman? She’s not your woman, a voice inside my head pointed out.

Not yet. But she would be.

Chapter Nine

Brooke

Declan held my hand as we walked off of the yacht and headed to the bar. I’d had an awesome time on the mini cruise but I felt glad it was over. Declan and I had flirted like mad and knowing Blaze was watching had added to the excitement.

It wasn’t