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

The door swung open and Blaze strolled in.

My heart skipped a beat. I hadn’t seen him in three days but it felt like three years.

“Morning Mason,” Blaze said.

“Good morning,” Mason said and then moved out the door.

“Are you okay?” Blaze asked me while frowning.

“Yeah, I’m good,” I said, my mouth dry. It was only Blaze, why did I feel so nervous?

My gaze dropped from his eyes to his mouth. I recalled how it felt to capture his lower lip between my teeth. Heat enveloped my whole body as floodgates of lust opened. Every part of his body reminded me of something we had done. His big, strong hands gently caressing my breasts, my thighs and his tongue… a gush of wetness dampened my pussy and I squirmed in my chair.

He pulled a chair out and sat down facing me. He looked tired.

My heart squeezed in my chest. Every part of me ached to hold him, to comfort him. I swallowed excess saliva and reminded myself that Blaze’s reaction was expected. I would bet I was the first woman who had ever broken up an affair with him. Blaze was used to doing the dumping. The knowledge did not ease the pain in my chest.

The atmosphere in my office grew heated as we stared at each other.

His gaze dropped to my lips.

All the air left my lungs. I ached with sadness as I looked at him.

He stared back at me with the same look of utter helplessness. He cleared his throat. “How are you?” Blaze asked.

I’m not fine.

I miss you.

I miss your kisses, your strong arms around me, your scent.

I miss waking up with your heavy arm draped across my belly.

I miss you making love to me, making me scream, making me mad with desire.

I miss you with all of my being.

“I’m all right, thank you,” I said. “And you?”

He held my gaze. “I miss you and I want you back. I don—”

“Blaze,” I said, interrupting him. “Please stop. We made an agreement. I don’t want to talk about it again.” I hated the tone I used but it wasn’t fair of Blaze to do this to me.

“Fine,” he said. “Can we talk about the house?”

My heart dropped to my toes. Owning a home meant so much to me but I couldn’t blame Blaze if he wanted to get as far away from me as possible.

“Buying that townhouse with you is the most important thing I’ve done in all of my life,” he said. “I don’t want to lose that. But if you want us to sell it…”

Relief flooded me. I was so happy tears filled my eyes. I’d become an emotional basket case. “No, let’s not sell it. I love having a home and besides, we each have our apartments.”

He looked relieved too. “Good. I’ll come by later to do some work.”

“Okay,” I said softly and watched him leave my office.

Chapter Eighteen

Blaze

As I stripped off the faded wallpaper, my ears were cocked for sounds coming from downstairs. It was quiet even though I knew Brooke was home. Damn… I’d never missed anyone as much as I missed her.

I got distracted by a patch of wallpaper that just wouldn’t come off. As I was scraping at it, I heard the sound of a door opening. My heart leapt. I turned to the door.

Brooke walked in wearing an adorable pair of overalls. She stopped at the doorway and grinned. “I’m ready for work.”

A picture of us together, tangled in the sheets sprung to my mind. My hands on her curves and my mouth trailing kisses on her skin. Cupping her full beautiful breasts and bringing my mouth to her nipples. Sucking them just the way she liked. Her whimper telling me she was close to coming.

“Blaze?” she said,

Her voice jerked me back to the present. “Sorry,” I mumbled, embarrassed at my filthy thoughts.

“Can I help with that?” she asked and scrunched her sweet nub of a nose.

“We need some hot water for the bits that are stuck,” I said.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll go heat some downstairs.”

I ogled after her as she turned to walk away. I exhaled deeply. Was this how it would always be? Lusting after Brooke whenever we were in the same space?

She returned five minutes later, carrying a sprayer.

“Smart girl,” I said. As she handed me the sprayer, our fingers touched and sparks flew, reminding me of the amazing physical chemistry between us.

Removing wallpaper was filthy work and as much as it felt good having Brooke with me, I didn’t want her to do it. I saturated the walls with hot water and the adhesive glue melted away in the spots where it had been stuck.

“Do you have another putty knife?” Brooke asked.

“Yeah, but this is dirty work Brooke. Let me do it,” I said.

“I’m fine.” She shrugged. “Besides, I’ll feel like crap, sitting downstairs enjoying the sunset while you’re here slaving away.”

“You could make us some dinner to make up for it,” I said without thinking. I thought she would say no.

“Deal,” she said. “I removed some steaks for dinner.”

My mouth watered. But not for the steaks. After she left, I whistled as I worked. I thought about my conversation with Jack this afternoon. He and Amelia were still on their honeymoon. They’d gone to Maui for their honeymoon and he’d called to touch base. He’d asked about Brooke and how our relationship was going. I brought him up to date and told him it was over for us. And how Brooke had wanted it that way.

He’d called me a fool. A fool who gave up too soon.

Was he right? I believed in following people’s wishes. I’d hate to pursue Brooke when it seemed clear she wasn’t interested in a relationship with me.

According to Jack and Amelia, Brooke was frightened.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around this. Brooke was the most fearless person I knew. She had pushed us to buy a house for fuck’s sake! She’d taken on the renovation of a two-bed apartment with