Forbidden Touch: A Best Friends To Lovers Romance by Iona Rose (best classic literature .txt) 📕

voice rising. “I’m okay. I can handle him. He knows nothing can happen between us. He was just pushing his luck.”

I decided not to push it but I’d keep an eye on him. A man who could not accept a no from a woman was a dangerous person. I would not put anything past the fucker but if he thought he was going to mess with my Brooke, he had another thing coming.

We finished the rest of our breakfast in silence. Any ideas I might have had about taking Brooke back to bed and ravishing her for the rest of the morning had disappeared with the tense atmosphere between us.

“I’ll clean up,” I said and carried the dishes to the sink.

“Thanks,” Brooke said. “While you do that, I’ll vacuum. I haven’t touched that carpet in days.”

We needed to do something out of the house, I mused as I washed up. An idea came to me and my spirits rose. I hated it when tension grew between us or when Brooke seemed frightened or worried about something. Majority of the time, I was the source of her worry.

I didn’t need to be a psychologist to figure out that she was frightened of what she was feeling for me. Hence, the walls she’d put up, shutting me out and placing me firmly in the friends with benefits zone.

I would chip at it until she finally believed she was the only woman for me.

After breakfast, I kissed her goodbye and headed upstairs to begin the work for the day. I looked forward to working hard. I had too much energy to burn in the form of sexual energy. Would a time ever come when I wasn’t aroused while around Brooke?

I doubted it. Brooke’s sexiness did not just come from her perfect curvy body. It had to do with the inside as well. The kind of person she was. I shook my head as I pushed the front door open. Now, I sounded like a complete sap. The inside as well. But it was true.

Brooke joined me a few minutes later, her short shorts teasing me every time she bent over to pick up something.

“Hey, I was thinking we should do something this afternoon,” I said trying to keep it casual.

“Sure,” Brooke said. “What did you have in mind?”

I grinned at her. “The zoo. It’s not too far from here.”

Brooke stared at me quizzically.

The zoo was not your typical date but I liked it. I even went alone. It relaxed me and helped me to get away from my own perspective.

“Really? You want us to go to the zoo?” She always looked so cute when she was confused.

“Yep. What do you say?”

She shrugged. “Okay. I can’t remember the last time I went to the zoo.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Brooke

I’d never been to the zoo and I was looking forward to it. Blaze had surprised me when he suggested we get out of the house and do something fun. It wasn’t a date though. A date suggested a romantic relationship and Blaze and I were definitely not about that.

We were just two friends going out on a Saturday afternoon. Why then had I changed outfits twice? I pushed away the nagging voice in my head. The one that wanted to turn our Saturday day out, into something it wasn’t.

He’d said to dress casual and wear shoes comfortable for walking. That made sense. We were going to the zoo. But walking shoes were not sexy. With a sigh, I slipped into a pair of my cutest sneakers. Paired with white pants and a top, I looked all right. When I was ready, I grabbed my purse and went to wait for Blaze in the living room.

Blaze returned at one as we’d agreed. He looked me up and down appreciatively. “You look gorgeous as always.”

“Thanks, you look hot too,” I said.

He wore a pair of chino shorts and a fitting t-shirt. The perfect outfit for a warm afternoon. “I thought we’d grab a bite to eat before we go to the zoo,” Blaze said.

We decided on a pizza and walked to our local pizzeria. This had been another thing about the house. It was within walking distance of restaurants, the theatre, and other fun places.

We fed each other slices of pizza while the voice at the back of my head went crazy, pointing out that we were on a date. We were not.

After we’d stuffed ourselves, Blaze and I took a cab to the zoo.

“I like the Southern gate,” Blaze said fifteen minutes later as the cab came to a stop at the zoo.

“So, is this something you do often?” I asked him. I’d never heard him mention going to the zoo, ever.

“Sometimes,” he said vaguely as we waited in line to pay for our tickets.

He wouldn’t say any more about that, so I changed the topic. “How are Jack and Amelia doing?”

“Good and back from their honeymoon. As a matter of fact, we’re invited for dinner at their place tomorrow. We’ll be their first guests,” Blaze said.

I frowned. “That sounds like such a couple thing to do and we’re not a couple.” I felt like a bitch saying it but we needed to keep the rules of our relationship at the forefront of our minds.

“They’re your friends too and that’s why they invited us Brooke,” Blaze said. “Relax. You’re becoming paranoid.”

I let out a nervous laugh. Blaze was right. I’d become too concerned about being construed as a couple that I’d even forgotten Blaze and I were best friends. We’d been invited to many places together and I’d never once given it a second thought. I needed to relax. “I’d love to go.”

“Good girl.” Blaze gave me a nod.

Minutes later, we made our way to the tiger enclosure and joined a group of people listening to the guide.

“Tigers have their own special way of communicating,” the guide was saying.

We were both entranced as we listened and stared at the powerful predators. Blaze draped