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

my go-to flower shop and organized for flowers to be sent to Brooke. She would know they were from me.

I was soon lost in work as I attempted to clear my inbox. I received a myriad of emails every hour of the day, most of which were applications I had to process into our systems.

An hour later, a slight knock came on the door. “Come in.” I looked up.

Brooke slipped through the door like a spy and shut it. She leaned on it and smiled at me. Her face was glowing and I felt glad to have sprinkled some cheer into her day. A buzz of something inside me heightened into a crackling, pulsing energy. Brooke did that to me.

“Thank you for the flowers,” she said. “They’re beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you are,” I said, meaning every word.

“Thank you,” she said softly. She moved from the door towards me.

I swiveled my chair away from my desk.

She came and sat on my lap. Then wrapped her hands around my neck and kissed me softly on the lips. She teased me with her tongue, tracing my lips with it and then nudging my mouth open.

I was soon in a lust-filled bubble as our tongues moved against one another. My hands caressed her thighs over her pencil skirt. My cock swelled in my pants as we made out like wild teenagers. Still, I wasn’t complaining at the impromptu make out session. I lifted my right hand to her breasts and flicked my thumb over a taut nipple pressing against the fabric of her blouse.

Brooke moaned softly into my mouth. I loved how responsive she was.

Footsteps broke into our bubble and Brooke jumped from my lap. She walked to the door as she straightened her clothes.

I swiveled my chair back in place to hide the swell of my cock.

At the door, Brooke blew me a kiss and left as swiftly as she had come.

It took a couple of minutes before my heartbeat returned to normal and I could focus on my work.

I left my office half an hour later to get some water and stretch my legs. Too late, I thought as I spied Daphne at the water cooler.

She saw me before I could turn back. She turned to me and smiled. When I reached into the cooler to grab a bottle of water, she came to stand too close to me. “I was about to come to your office for some…” she let her voice trail off suggestively and rested a hand on my shoulder possessively.

I smiled and turned to beat a hasty retreat back to my office.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Brooke

I blew out a shuddered breath as I watched Daphne and Blaze by the water cooler. She placed a hand on his shoulder and said something that made him smile. My heart contracted. Was I a fool? Would I always have to deal with Blaze flirting with some woman?

I didn’t wait around to watch as I returned to my office and sat down heavily. You’re jumping to conclusions, a voice in my head said. I inhaled deeply in a bid to force oxygen into my brain for clearer thinking. I needed to be rational about it and not allow emotions to rule me.

Easier said than done. Everything in me longed to march to Daphne and let her know Blaze was mine. But was he really? I hated how I was feeling. I hated the insecurity.

I couldn’t think clearly no matter how much oxygen I inhaled into my lungs. I forced my mind back to work. Work helped and by the time lunch time rolled around and Blaze came to get me, I was in a better mood.

I’d decided not to let Daphne sour my mood. She was known in the office as a flirt and a bit of a slut to be honest. I was sure Blaze would not be interested in someone like her.

“Ready?” he asked as he peered into my office.

“Yes.” I got up. Before leaving, I sniffed at my gorgeous arrangement of jasmine flowers. “Thanks again,” I said to Blaze.

Flowers were another first. The losers I’d dated before usually gave me flowers on Valentine’s Day and even then, they would be a last minute buy. Not to mention they would be wilted by the time they got to me.

It did feel nice to be out of the building and walking outside in the warmth of the sun. We made for our favorite coffee house that served lunch as well. We sat at our regular table by the large windows looking out to the street.

My tummy rumbled loudly at the delicious smells of food. I grinned at Blaze. “Can’t help it, I’m starving.”

“That’s what I love about you. Your healthy appetite,” Blaze said.

“More like an elephant’s appetite,” I replied as a waiter brought over the menus.

Blaze and I were pretty predictable when it came to lunch. Menus were wasted on us as we always chose grilled chicken sandwiches and water.

“The weather today reminds me of Hawaii,” I told him.

“We should make it our next vacation destination,” he said.

I went still. “We’ve never gone on vacation together,” I pointed out.

“That’s because we were not dating. Now, we are,” he said. “It would be fun, even better than Jack and Amelia’s wedding.”

Butterflies filled my belly at the thought of spending weeks together, just the two of us. It was too much to take in. “It would be nice,” I said breathlessly.

“Does that make you nervous?” Blaze asked. He knew me too well.

“A little,” I admitted.

I felt grateful when Blaze did not pursue it by asking why. I had no answers myself.

“Hey, what ever happened to Winky?” Blaze said.

Winky was my white-haired cat with the most gorgeous icy blue eyes I had ever seen on a cat or human. “He left home and never came back,” I said.

I’d been sad for close to two years after Winky disappeared. I’d put up posters everywhere as well as pictures of him. No one had seen