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

and Amelia’s, it was now firmly reinforced. I’d almost lost hope that Brooke would ever want anything more than sex from me. Waiting calmly had worked. I wanted to throw a fist in the air, but I felt sure it wouldn’t go down well with the cab driver.

We’d agreed I should go home as it was late and the following day was a work day. I looked forward to moving into the upstairs apartment as soon as it was ready. After that, these partings would come to an end.

The future looked bright and inviting. I kept grinning like a fool when the cab came to a stop outside my rented place. I paid and hoped out. That’s when I saw a figure huddled at the steps.

Frowning, I hurried towards the front door and when I recognized the figure, I let out a sigh of frustration. “Hi Daphne,” I said, keeping my voice even. “What are you doing here at this time?”

She stood up. “I was waiting for you.”

“You could have called,” I said.

“I tried. Your phone is off.” Her tone was accusing.

How had I ever thought Daphne was pretty? She was physically attractive at first glance but I’d come to learn a long time ago that physical beauty did not translate to inner beauty. For a woman to be truly beautiful, she had to have both and sometimes, inner beauty was enough.

Daphne was ugly inside. She was possessive, overbearing and obsessive.

We had gone out on several dates but luckily, I hadn’t slept with her. It hadn’t taken long to realize she had an obsessive personality. We had made out heavily but that had been as far as we had gotten, before I backed off.

I opened the building door and held it for her. I was tempted to tell her to go away but my good manners would not permit me to do so. I grew up knowing women should be protected and refused to change that because a particular one was annoying me.

“What do you want?” I asked her when we entered my apartment.

She folded her arms across her chest as if she was cold. “I just want us to talk.”

We had talked too many times and each time I’d made it clear to Daphne that I wasn’t interested. I used the excuse of an office romance and how uncomfortable it could get blah, blah, blah. It was a good thing she didn’t know about Brooke.

I made my way to the couch and sat down.

Big mistake.

Daphne sat down next to me and placed her hand on my thigh.

I decided to ignore it.

She smiled. “I miss you Blaze. I don’t understand what happened.”

I smiled away my impatience. I was beat after my night with Brooke and I desperately needed to sleep. “I’ve told you this before Daphne, I’m not interested in a relationship.”

“I know but I have another idea,” she said and smiled coyly. Her hand inched up my leg but she could be cupping my cock and nothing was going to happen.

“Let’s hear it,” I said, wanting to get the discussion over and done with. My eyelids were growing heavier by the second.

“I was thinking,” she said and batted her eyelashes. “We could be friends with benefits.”

I stared at her in disbelief and almost burst out laughing, except the laugh would be humorless. It was the second time in a couple of months I’d been offered meaningless sex. What did I look like? A male escort?

Her hand snaked further up my leg. Her suggestion was insulting but Daphne needed careful handling. I couldn’t just say no like I would with another woman. There seemed to be something vulnerable and a little crazy about her. I cursed the day I had asked her out on a date and the subsequent ones.

I should have stayed away. For one, office romances were a disaster. If it didn’t work out and one of the partners refused to accept it, it was hell. I wasn’t worried about that particular aspect with Brooke. She was the most level headed person I knew.

I turned my attention back to Daphne. What a mess. I was paying for my sins now. I covered her hand with mine and then gently pried it away from my leg. “You’ve just sprung this on me, I hope you don’t expect an answer now,” I said as a yawn escaped my mouth.

“Poor baby,” she said. “You’re tired.”

This had been another thing that had turned me off, Daphne loved baby talk in intimate moments. I hated it. It made me feel like a seven-year-old boy and of course that was the fastest way to kill my hard on. I nodded. She was right about the tired bit. I would wait a few days, pretend I’d given it some serious thought and regretfully turn down the offer.

“Okay, I’ll leave you alone to rest,” she said. “Are you sure you don’t want me to spend the night? I could leave early in the morning in time to get home and then to work.”

“Thanks for the offer but I’m too tired. I just need to sleep,” I said and did not have to feign another yawn.

I finally managed to get her to request for an Uber and leave. I really was exhausted. As soon as Daphne left, I turned off the lights and went straight to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Minutes later, I was in bed, texting Brooke goodnight.

Her reply came moments later. She was in bed too and about to fall asleep.

I slept with a smile of contentment on my face.

One of the decisions I’d made was to keep my relationship with Brooke under wraps at work. She had her reasons for wanting it to be down-low and I’d decided to respect that decision. It also worked in my favor because I hadn’t sorted out my issues with Daphne.

Still, there were a few things I could do to make Brooke feel special. As soon as I got to my office, I called