A Girl's Best Friend

by Jordan, Crystal

  “You work with some weird people.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Says the man who blows shit up for a living.”

  “That’s the bomb squad.” He tapped the emblem on his shirt. “I’m SWAT.”

  “Okay, who shoots things for a living.”

  “There you go. That’s better.” He grinned at her.

  She laughed, and Edith looked up at them from where she was petting his dog with a coquettish smile. “She’s perfect. What a beautiful doggie. What’s her name?”

  “Diamond,” they chorused.

  “Oh, I must have her now.” Edith’s laugh tinkled out like a bell. “How on Earth did you come up with that name?”

  Tyrone shrugged. “My mother did. She said dogs are a man’s best friend, and diamonds—”

  “Are a girl’s best friend.” The older woman beamed. “Precious. Just precious.”

  Lorna cleared her throat. “Edith Carraway, this is Tyrone Forrester.”

  He leaned forward to shake the lady’s hand. “You want to use my dog for a jewelry ad?”

  “Yes, of course.” She gave a breezy smile, turned back toward the warehouse, and shooed Diamond ahead of her. “Come on, pretty girl. We’re going to play for a few days.”

  “Days?” He glanced down at Lorna. She threw a desperate look over her shoulder at him, and he sighed. “You owe me.”

  She nodded so hard her ponytail bounced. “Yes.”

  “And you’re going to pay up…in any way I see fit.” He ran his gaze down her body so she had no doubts about what he meant.

  All the color leeched from her face, making her light smattering of freckles stand out in stark contrast. “I—you’ll be paid for letting us use Diamond. All the pet owners are compensated.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not the kind of payment I’m talking about, baby.”

  Her eyes closed and she swallowed. “I know.”

  “Are the two of you coming? Mr. Forrester needs to fill out paperwork.”

  “We’re right behind you, Edith,” Lorna called back, a bright, professional smile on her face.

  “Oh, I’ll be right behind you, baby.” He dropped his voice so he couldn’t be overheard. “You like it that way, don’t you?”

  “Please, Tyrone.” Her tongue slid out to lick her lips. He had to grit his teeth at the sight.

  “Begging is good. After this morning, you have a lot to make up for.”

  They entered the warehouse, which was set up with various props and filled with a dozen or more animals in kennels. Everything from Persian cats to beagle puppies. Photographers positioned costumed models and pets wearing jewelry. He shook his head—animals in diamonds was just odd. But if it made Lorna’s clients happy, and thus made Lorna happy, he wasn’t about to argue.

  A model in a black bustier, fishnets, and thigh high boots stepped out of a dressing room. Tyrone touched Lorna’s elbow and tilted his head toward the leggy woman. “You would look amazing in that.”

  “Are you insane?” Her eyes went wide as she looked at him. “Women my size do not wear things like that.”

  “I’ve seen big girls in outfits like that.”

  She snorted, flushing. “Not this big girl.”

  “No, I’ve seen you in a lot less. Just this morning, in fact.” And if he kept thinking about that, he’d have a raging hard-on so huge he’d embarrass them both in public.

  “And who is this? Someone I’ll be posing with today?” The model approached, a pretty smile on her face as her gaze swept down his body. Lorna stiffened, and her green eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. So, she was jealous. For some reason that made him grin.

  Stepping aside, Lorna tried to leave him alone with the model, but he caught her hand and hauled her back to his side. No way in hell was she abandoning him in this zoo. Insecurity flashed in her gaze when she met his eyes. She ran a hand over her hip, brushing at invisible lint on her dress. Ah, she was worried about her weight. He never understood it when she made comments about how she was fat and ugly. Lorna was one of the smartest and most beautiful women he’d ever known. Some airhead model couldn’t compete with that.

  “No, ma’am.” He answered the taller woman’s question while she winced at the ma’am. “I’m not a model.”

  “So…you really are in SWAT? It’s not a costume?” Her eyes took on the greedy gleam some women got when they found out what he did for a living. Not that he hadn’t taken advantage of a groupie a time or two, but the thought left him cold today.

  He shook his head. “I’m just here with Lorna.”

  “Not with me, with me though. His dog is going to be in the shoot today.” She gestured to Diamond, who was still being fawned over by Mrs. Carraway.

  “Oh, what a cute puppy.”

  Tyrone ignored the model and looked down at Lorna. “Don’t be shy now, baby. You know you’re with me in every way a woman can be with a man.”

  His thumb rubbed circles on her palm, and she shuddered, blushing and stammering to the model. The woman grimaced at them and wandered away to find someone who would drool over her good looks. He pulled Lorna to the table Edith was standing beside. “I have some paperwork to fill out?”

  “Yes, of course. Roger can help you with that.” She grinned at him. “Lorna, what do you think of this ring for the 1920s set?”

  “I have the documents for you, sir.” While a skinny kid who couldn’t be more than twenty spread some papers out at the opposite side of the table, Tyrone watched Lorna deftly maneuver the bouncy older woman and a pissy photographer into making decisions when they wanted to vacillate and argue. She was damn good at her job, but it didn’t surprise him. She was one hell of a woman.

  “So this one?” Edith showed them a fancy ring with a huge stone in it.

  “Yes,” Lorna and the photographer chorused. Someone else came along, scooped up the ring, and scurried over to give it to a blond model posing with a poodle.

  “Which one is your favorite, Lorna?” Edith turned back to Lorna, and Tyrone propped his hip against the table, taking the opportunity to stare at his voluptuous redhead.

  Lorna’s brow arched. “Which ring?”

  “Yes.” The older woman nudged the case toward Lorna.

  She reached in to pluck out a ring with a spray of tiny stones embedded deep in white gold. Edith wrinkled her nose. “It’s not very big.”

  “I like the filigree on the band. It’s very Art Deco.” Lorna winked at the older woman. “But that’s why you make so many rings, right? So everyone can get what they like.”

  Edith’s teeth flashed in a toothy grin. “Right.”

  “Just sign here, sir.” Roger’s finger tapped the paper in front of Tyrone. He grunted and scrawled his name on the last of the documents.

  “You’ll bring Diamond by my house tonight when you’re done?”

  Lorna nodded and blushed when she met his gaze. Then she hurried off to say something to the photographer.

  He sighed and turned to head back to his SUV. He had no idea how this thing between Lorna and him was going to work. He didn’t want to hurt her and getting in deeper with her would do that, just as his brother had so bluntly pointed out, but Tyrone couldn’t walk away from something that felt so damn right. It was one hell of a mess he’d landed in.

  * * *

  How many times had she been to Tyrone’s home over the years? He’d bought it for a song back when the housing market tanked. Lorna had gone house hunting with him until he’d found just the right one, and then had been there with her family and his to help him move in. She sat in her car looking at it now, but the place looked the same as it always did. Neat yard, big trees for shade, blue shutters, his black SUV backed into the driveway so it faced the street. Everything was the same and none of it was.

  Tyrone and she had been an unlikely pair from the beginning, but something inside her had always pulled her toward him, even as a teen. Underneath the chemistry, they had compatible personalities. Would that easy comfort they
shared be gone now? Would it feel as if the enormity of what they’d done last night sat like a huge elephant in the corner of the room? Her stomach knotted tight as she shut off the engine.

  Diamond barked when the front door opened and Tyrone stepped out. He propped a shoulder against the doorjamb and hooked a thumb through the belt loop of his jeans. His gray T-shirt stretched across his broad shoulders and chest. She’d run her hands over that chest last night. There wasn’t an inch of each other they hadn’t explored, kissed, sucked, bitten. She shuddered and squeezed her thighs together over the painful ache that bloomed there. Cream coated her panties and she felt her pussy lips swell. God, this was going to be a long night fantasizing about her time with him. Not that she hadn’t fantasized about him before, but now she knew what it was like to touch all that chocolate skin. She shuddered.

  He didn’t move, just stood there waiting for her to come to him. He didn’t push even though she knew he wanted to, but he knew she needed to handle it her own way. That was why they were friends. They understood a lot about each other, though she was finding she didn’t know as much as she thought she did. And she wanted to know all of him. But continuing an affair with her best friend would be a foolish mistake. It couldn’t lead to anything but heartache. The friendship could too easily turn to something more for her, and he didn’t do more, so if she didn’t stop now, she was headed for a whole lot of pain and suffering.

  She sighed, stopped her thoughts from chasing themselves in circles, and got out of the car. Diamond hopped out behind her and raced for Tyrone while Lorna followed slowly behind.

  He rubbed a hand over his bare scalp and across the back of his neck, the diamond stud he wore when he was off duty flashing in his earlobe—another diamond his mother had given him. “Hey, baby.”

  She closed her eyes. “Please don’t call me that.”

  “It suits you.”

  Her breath slid out in a sigh. “I told you that last night…what we did…it was a mistake.”

  “Fucked, had sex, made love, screwed.” He arched an eyebrow at her. “Pick a word, baby, because that’s what we did last night, all night. I don’t think my dick’s been that hard for that long since I was a teenager. So don’t go calling something that felt that good a mistake.”

  “Tyrone, please.” She pressed her fingers to her eyes. “Listen to reason.”

  “No.”

  Her eyes opened to stare at him. “Tyrone—”

  “You know what, fine. Let’s compromise. You talk, and I’ll—” He grabbed her arm, pulled his front door closed behind him, and walked her toward his SUV.

  “What are you doing?” She tried to jerk out of his grasp, but he held firm and kept going. He opened the passenger side door and pushed her inside, blocking her exit with his big body. She was no match for his strength and found herself sitting right where he wanted her. She glared at him and folded her arms. “I can always get out when you go around to get in the driver’s side.”

  “But you won’t.”

  “You don’t think so?”

  “No. For two reasons.” He held up two long fingers. “One, you know I can run faster than you and I’d be on you before you got to your car.”

  She tossed her hair, pissed because she couldn’t argue with that. He was right. Damn him. “And the second reason?”

  “Oh, that’s my favorite reason, baby.” He lowered his hand to her bare knee and slid it up her thigh. Her breath seized in her throat as she felt him push forward until he stroked over her panties. Her wet panties. Jesus, she wanted him. He slipped his fingers past the lace that covered her mound to ease into her wet depths. His laser gaze held hers, locking them together in the moment. He stroked inside her, and she jerked her gaze away to stare out the windshield, fighting the bone-deep pull he had over her. When one of the neighbors walked by and waved at them, she gave a weak smile.

  He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “If you set a foot out of this vehicle before I say so, I will take you inside and do all the things you want me to do.”

  “Arrogant jackass.” She closed her eyes and swallowed, but couldn’t keep her thighs from sliding further apart to let him touch her deeper. All thoughts of resistance fled and she just felt. Pure, mindless sensation exploded within her. Her sex spasmed as she skated the very brink of orgasm, danced on the edge between sanity and madness.

  “Maybe so, but I’m still right.” His thumb flicked over her hard, throbbing clit before he pulled his hand away.

  She whimpered and caught his forearm, digging her nails in. Blood rushed through her veins, her heart pounding so loudly she could hear it. Desperate need clawed through her like a wild thing. “Tyrone, I—”

  “Later.” His rich voice was a dark, wicked promise. He dipped forward to capture her lips. She sucked his full lower lip into her mouth, bit down hard. He grunted and shoved his tongue past her teeth to fill her mouth, forcing her to gentle the kiss while he worshiped her with his lips. For all its gentleness, it somehow made her body burn hotter, and her back arched to get closer.

  She tilted her head to deepen the contact, to stroke his tongue with hers. He hummed low in his throat, brought his hand up to bracket her jaw and broke the kiss. He slid his thumb over her swollen lips, and she sucked on it hard. The taste of her own wetness filled her mouth and she quivered, her pussy slicking with hot cream. He stepped away, and she could see his erection straining against his fly.

  An evil grin made his teeth flash white in his darkly handsome face. “Go ahead and run, baby. I can’t wait to catch you.”

  For a second, she considered it. Longing rippled through her in building waves until it screamed along her nerves. She didn’t know how long she could last this way—she needed to come so badly. Her numb fingers scrabbled for her seatbelt as one last shred of self-preservation sparked to life.

  “Too bad.” He shook his head and swung the door shut. He loped around the hood of the SUV, and she couldn’t tear her gaze away from him. She didn’t know a single woman who could. Or his brothers, for that matter, but she’d only ever had eyes for Tyrone. He was gorgeous, and he had the kind of confidence and air of command that came from the bones out. It was one hell of a hot package.

  And he wasn’t the man for her. He needed to be with the kind of woman who matched him. Like the model who’d hit on him this morning. If he ever decided there was one woman for him, that was who he’d choose to be with. Not a short, freckle-faced fat girl. Her eyes smarted as the hit slammed directly into her self-esteem.

  She swallowed and looked out the side window when his door opened. He started the SUV and pulled out of the driveway. “You okay?”

  Forcing herself to meet his gaze, she made herself speak with all the frankness her status as his best friend allowed her. “You don’t do relationships, Tyrone. And we already have a relationship, even if it’s not a man-woman kind of relationship. So what the hell are you doing?”

  He grimaced, his long fingers stroking over the steering wheel as he maneuvered through traffic. He was silent so long she was afraid he wouldn’t answer her. “You’re right. I haven’t done permanent since Sherona.”

  Perfect Sherona. Lorna had always assumed that he’d stopped real dating after Sherona left because she was the love of his life. She was the one topic that Tyrone refused to discuss with his best friend. Lorna pulled in a deep breath and broached the taboo subject. “I’m not like Sherona. She was beautiful and talented and…beautiful.”

  He surprised her when he snorted. “Skinny, you mean. You’re just as beautiful as she was. But let me tell you, pretty didn’t help her much…she was a bitch.”

  “You were engaged to her!”

  “And I’m not anymore, am I? I was a stupid kid wrapped up in her good looks when I asked her to marry me—and I ended up hurting both of us by not seeing how bad we were together, and how bitchy Sherona got whenever she didn’t get her way. I’ve grown up a hell of a lot since then.”

  Her mind spun. There’d b
een so many changes during the last twenty-four hours, she couldn’t take them all in. Tyrone wasn’t still grieving over Sherona, and he said she—Lorna—was beautiful. But a tiny part of her debated that, because if he hadn’t been pining for Sherona, why hadn’t he done anything about the attraction between them before now? Because he was just being nice, because he didn’t really think she was pretty. Sexually attractive, yes. But chemistry was a funny thing that way sometimes. Sex didn’t make a relationship, and she was afraid that if they kept on the way they were that they’d lose the relationship they had now.

  She pulled in a slow, steadying breath and changed the subject. “Where are we going?”

  He slanted her a look that said he knew she was avoiding their original conversation. “Santino’s. It’s that little hole-in-the-wall pizza place my mom found out in Rancho Cordova a few years ago. They’re the best.”

  “Oh.”

  “You were thinking I’d haul you to some hotel and do kinky things to you?”

  She blushed to the roots of her hair. “Of course not.”

  “Well, that’s too bad. Because I’m going to do that after dinner. I want to make sure you have enough energy to keep up.”

  Crossing her arms, she narrowed her eyes at him. “I keep up with you just fine.”

  “You think so?” He arched a brow at her.

  She tilted her chin up. “I’m not going to sleep with you again, Tyrone. It’s a mistake. No means no.”

  “I didn’t hear you saying no a second ago. Or last night.”

  “I’m saying no now.”

  His broad shoulder lifted in an easy shrug. “Then I’ll just have to change your mind again.”

  “Why? Why are you doing this?” She lifted her hands and then let them flop down to her lap. “You know this is crazy. We’re friends…why are we trying to ruin a good thing?”

  He reached over and grabbed her hand, twining their fingers together. A shiver streaked through her at even that small contact. The more she touched him, the more she wanted to touch. It just wasn’t fair. How the hell was she supposed to resist this?