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

something while he was working upstairs and I wasn’t there.

It was a warm evening, so I slipped on a pair of shorts and a tank top with nothing underneath. I grinned, remembering that evening in Hawaii when I did the same. It had driven Blaze crazy. I wasn’t averse to the same reaction, but first I wanted to tell him about the job opening.

“You look hot,” he said as I padded into the kitchen.

His gaze moved over my chest and my body instantly reacted. My nipples hardened and pushed against the fabric of my top.

“Dinner is ready,” Blaze said, his voice affected.

“Thanks,” I said and sat down.

“You look so damned sexy,” Blaze said as he sat down facing me.

“In this old thing?” I asked playfully.

Blaze narrowed his eyes. “You knew what you were doing, walking in here braless with your delicious nipples begging to be sucked.”

I sucked in a gasping breath. “You sure do know how to wet a girl’s appetite,” I quipped.

“I have a good mind to throw you over my shoulder and carry you back to the bedroom,” Blaze growled.

I giggled. “What’s stopping you?”

“Dinner,” he said. “I know you’re starving.”

I grinned at him and proceeded to fork a few pieces of chicken onto my plate followed by the salad. “Delicious.” I nodded when I took my first bite.

“You’re welcome,” Blaze said.

“I’m sorry I was late,” I spoke in between mouthfuls, “Thanks for cooking.”

He waved a hand away. “It’s fine.”

I told Blaze about Grace going on maternity leave and not returning to work. “So, the job is up for grabs.”

“Is that why you were working late?” Blaze asked, cutting straight to the point.

“Yes,” I said. “Mason said he was looking for someone who would be willing to put in everything they had to get the job done. I can do Grace’s job with my eyes closed.”

Blaze contemplated me. “I have no doubt that you can. It’s Mason I don’t trust. He’s dangling a carrot in front of you to tempt you.”

I went still. “I’m not a child. I know what I’m doing and besides, it’s not a carrot. The job opening is real.”

“Just take care of yourself is all I ask. I don’t trust that asshole,” Blaze gritted.

“I don’t trust him either.” I nodded. “I’ll be careful.”

This seemed to appease Blaze and the tense look left his features.

I shifted the conversation to less explosive topics, like my parents. My mom had called me earlier in the day and as always, the conversation had revolved around her and my father and what fun they were having in the community facility they lived in. It had always been like that with them. She hadn’t asked me anything about my life but I’d told her anyway. I’d learned to force my way into their lives.

“How are they?” Blaze asked.

I shrugged. “Fine, living their own lives as usual.”

“I used to envy you, Hot Sauce,” Blaze said.

“What for?” I asked as I noticed the chicken was grilled to perfection. “This is perfect.”

“Right from when you were young, your parents treated you like an adult. You had more freedom than anyone I knew,” Blaze said.

I let out a cynical laugh. “Freedom? It’s funny how differently we see things. I would have given anything for my parents to be like yours. Sometimes, I even wondered if they could see me, or I’d grown invisible.”

Blaze looked puzzled.

“They acted like I wasn’t there. As if my being born was an inconvenience to them and that’s how I felt.”

I could see Blaze wrestling to understand. “They loved you. All parents love their kids.”

My throat was closing up. I rarely thought about my past, let alone spoke about it. “Maybe all parents love their kids but there are some, like mine, who didn’t want them in the first place. So, the only way to deal with them is to ignore them.” I refused to blink for fear that the tears in my eyes would flow out.

“I’m sorry,” Blaze said, inhaling deeply. “All along, I thought you had it really easy. It looked perfect from where I stood.”

I smiled wryly. “I know it did. A lot of my friends envied me. We used to sit for dinner and in that forty-five minutes or an hour, neither one of them would speak to me.”

A look of horror came over Blaze’s face. He reached across the table and took my hands into his.

I sniffled. “I used to try and come up with stuff I thought would interest them. They would listen with barely concealed impatience and when I was done, they would continue with their own conversation like I hadn’t even spoken.” I didn’t want to admit all this stuff. It just left my mouth of its own accord. It was as if I were no longer in control of myself. As soon as the first words had formed, the rest just tumbled out like a river that had broken its banks.

Blaze squeezed my hands. “They were the adults, not you. It was up to them to make conversation with you. Ask you questions.”

I nodded. “I always thought something was wrong with me if my own parents found me boring.” I drew in a trembling breath. I’d never made this admission to anyone.

“Nothing is wrong with you. You’re perfect as you are,” Blaze said, his voice harsh. “Come on, let’s go to bed, I want to hold you.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Blaze

I knew I held her too tight, but I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted to protect her from her painful past. I wanted her to know how special she was to me. She’d always been but now more so, because as lovers, we’d grown even closer.

It was the first time I held Brooke in my arms without sex on my mind and intent. We were lying on the bed, fully clothed, talking.

“I never knew,” I said, the regret I felt echoed in my voice.

Brooke playfully hit my chest. “You weren’t supposed to know. It was my deep dark secret. I tried to