Best Friends, Secret Lovers (The Bachelor Pact Book 1)

by Jessica Lemmon

  “Is my mouth intoxicating, Sabrina?” He nipped her bottom lip.

  “You’re making fun of me.” She shoved his chest.

  “I’m not. I promise I’ll try anything in that book.”

  Her eyebrow rose even as her cheeks stained a darker shade of pink. “Promise?”

  He trusted her not to find a section where the hero was kicked in the balls. He raised a hand and took the oath. “I swear.”

  “In that case.” She flipped through the book, back and then forward, before relocating her bookmark and handing it over.

  He scanned the page quickly and smiled over the cover before tossing the book onto the couch. “I had no idea you liked that sort of thing.”

  She shrugged one shoulder, adorable and tempting. He couldn’t refuse her.

  Bending at the waist, he threw her over his shoulder and started up the stairs. Her laughter warmed every part of him and chased away the chill from the wet, rainy night. He set her on her feet at the door of his bedroom.

  Then he kissed her, skimming one hand under her shirt and tracing his fingertips over her bare belly. Her breaths shortened as he kissed and tongued her neck. He moved his hand higher, higher still until he reached her nipple, thumbing the tender bud. When she gasped, he caught it with his mouth, their tongues battling as he drank in her flavor. He used his other hand to cradle the back of her head as he walked her toward the bed.

  He took off her shirt and soaked in the sight of her gorgeous breasts before lowering his mouth to sample each one. And when her fingernails raked over his scalp, his jeans grew uncomfortably tight.

  “I don’t remember what came next in the book,” he murmured in between kisses.

  “You’re doing great.”

  He smiled against her skin, and her belly contracted with her laughter. Rising to capture her lips with his, he stole a kiss before undressing her further and pushing her to her back.

  He liked her like this, naked and sighing his name. With Sabrina he lived in the present rather than in the future—where work trials awaited—or in the past—where the people he loved the most had betrayed him.

  There was only the feel of her heated mouth on his neck, and the way they moved together.

  She was the perfect distraction, but a part of him insisted that she was much more than that. A part he ignored since he couldn’t imagine a scenario where they could live happily ever after. No one did. Of that he was certain.

  He cast aside the thoughts as he thrust into her, making love to her in the lazy rhythm he set, and doing his level best to match the fantasy that’d been brewing in her head.

  * * *

  “Hmm.” Her limbs vibrated pleasantly from her last powerful orgasm, one that’d had her shouting Flynn’s name as she clutched his shoulders and ran stripes down his back.

  She smoothed her fingers over the raised skin on his back and winced. “Sorry for the scratches.”

  “No.” He lifted his head from where it’d been resting on her chest—he’d worked hard—and speared her with an intense blue-flamed glare. “Never apologize for sex injuries. Those are bragging rights.”

  Her cheeks paled.

  “Not that I’d brag.” He gently slipped free of her body and climbed out of bed. “I don’t kiss and tell, Douglas,” he called over his shoulder as he padded to the bathroom.

  When he stepped back into his bedroom she admired the full view of him naked. The rounded shoulders, muscled limbs, narrow waist and hips. He truly was a work of art.

  “Are we going to tell?” she asked. “Eventually?”

  His brow crimped.

  “We’ll be back to work soon. Reid and Gage already assume you and I have done more than kiss. Other people will probably notice that we act differently around each other.” How could they not? She doubted she’d be able to keep a flirty smile under wraps or resist standing close to him, or touching him. “Come to think of it, HR might ask us to disclose our relationship.”

  She’d been enjoying herself and their break together, but reality was creeping closer. Their relationship had changed—drastically—and while her original goal was to help Flynn remember who he used to be, she had to wonder if there was more at stake.

  Sabrina needed Flynn’s friendship. He was a constant, made her day better. Made her life better. He made her feel valued. Important. She saw now how badly she’d needed his attention after being sidelined during his marriage.

  If sex risked their friendship, well...that wasn’t an option.

  “Let me worry about HR.” He kissed the space between her eyebrows and climbed into bed.

  Veronica had warned Sabrina that this was a rebound. As much as Sabrina hated to admit it, there was a large part of her that wondered if Flynn’s ex was right.

  If there was one outcome Sabrina refused to accept after their brief affair, it was losing Flynn entirely. She’d not risk their friendship for the sake of sex—no matter how much she was enjoying herself.

  Under the blankets, Sabrina snuggled with Flynn and squeezed her eyes closed. He wrapped his big body around hers, an arm over her middle. She pressed one of his hands beneath her cheek—her mind spinning.

  She’d never imagined Flynn being hers. He’d always seemed meant for someone else. Now she wasn’t sure if her hesitancy was a premonition or worry that’d she’d potentially ruined what they had.

  She’d moved from the girl at his side to the girl he was inside, and the shift was significant. Veronica had been wrong about Sabrina envisioning her future with Flynn or imagining what their kids or wedding would look like. But Sabrina was planning some sort of future with him if she was wondering how they’d handle being around each other at work.

  But why?

  Because you love him, her mind accused.

  Of course she loved him. He’d been her best friend since college.

  You’re in love with him.

  No I’m not, she argued silently. A chill streaked down her spine despite Flynn, the human heater, blanketing her back. She wasn’t in love with him. She cared about him. She loved him as a friend.

  It’s more than that. Think about it. You can’t wait to open your eyes and find him next to you every morning. You go to bed next to him every night, dreading the end of this break. You’ve been silently hoping your apartment’s plumbing is never fixed so you can live here for good.

  Fear joined the chill in her body and she shivered. She’d never been in love before and certainly hadn’t planned on falling in love with Flynn. And because she knew him as well—better—than herself she also knew the last thing Flynn wanted was for her to be in love with him. After Veronica he’d sworn off love permanently, and who could blame him?

  Which was why he slept with you.

  Sabrina wasn’t clingy. She was familiar. She made him M&M cookies. Everything he wanted in a friend with all the benefits of a lover.

  The word rebound danced around her head like a demented performer.

  She was in love with Flynn Parker. Her best friend.

  Your lover.

  He was also the last man on earth she should give her heart to.

  So she wouldn’t.

  They’d abandoned their snifters of Sambuca on the kitchen counter to indulge in a different sort of nightcap, but she could use that drink now.

  She eased out from under Flynn’s arm—his low snore signifying he wouldn’t wake anytime soon. Feeling around in the dark, she found her thong and pulled it on before snagging the first T-shirt she found—his. It took more rooting around blindly before she found her own. It felt wrong to slip into his clothes after her personal revelation.

  She walked down the stairs as silent as a soft-pawed cat and grabbed one of the snifters before curling into a ball on the couch. Blanket over her legs, she listened to the rain pound and watched as it streaked the windows and muddied the amb
ient city lights.

  She’d fallen in love with him and she could fall back out. It was as simple as that. How hard could it be? She’d been his best friend for over a decade and his lover for only a few weeks. For the remainder of this hiatus, she’d find a way to separate her feelings of friend love and true love.

  For both their sakes.

  That would hurt, but she was a strong woman. She would get through this. They both would. Nothing would ruin their friendship together, especially a bout of great sex they could chalk up to timing and proximity.

  She sipped her liquor and studied the three coffee beans in the pale light from the city lights outside.

  Health, wealth and happiness.

  Two out of three wasn’t bad.

  Nineteen

  Sabrina and Flynn had been back at Monarch for a little over a week. There was plenty to do, so at first she barely had time to think about anything other than her burgeoning email inbox.

  Last week the landlord had called her to let her know the plumbing had finally been fixed in her apartment. In addition to a hectic work pace, she’d been cleaning up the plumber’s mess and unpacking.

  She didn’t enjoy having the space to herself as much as she’d anticipated.

  She’d focused on laundry and preparing meals and definitely did not read any of the new romance novels Mrs. Abernathy had dropped off. Sabrina had also dodged a few questions from her well-meaning, prying neighbor about whether or not she and Flynn were in love. Mrs. Abernathy took Sabrina’s silence as confirmation, rather than assuming the relationship had imploded.

  Not that Flynn knew things had imploded. Sabrina hadn’t exactly stated anything for the record.

  Since they’d returned to work, the distance between them had come naturally. Flynn was doubly busy after his month off, staying at the office some nights until eight or nine.

  She’d told herself that this was a good thing—that it was her chance to slot him back into the friend zone where he belonged. They could write off the last four weeks as a fling, and go back to normal.

  Instead, she’d thought about how Veronica was right about Flynn’s new love being Monarch Consulting. Why did that hurt so much when she’d done exactly what she’d set out to do? Flynn was no longer stomping around like an angry ogre and the senior execs at the company were more accepting of him. Everything was back to normal.

  Except for her.

  She’d tasked herself with reversing the mistake of falling for him, but her heart wasn’t cooperating. Every night she lay in bed alone, her mind on Flynn and the way his mouth tasted. Missing the comfort of his body, big and warm and wrapped protectively around hers, or hearing his light snore in the middle of the night whenever her eyes snapped open and her mind was full...

  “Hey.” Flynn’s low rumble brought her head up from her laptop. He stood in her doorway, dressed in an expensive suit with a silver-blue tie bisecting a crisp gray shirt. His jacket was buttoned, his shoes were shiny and he was the most delicious vision she’d seen all day.

  There used to be a time she could look at him and think, “Hey, there’s my friend, Flynn.” Now she looked at him and thought about touching him and being close to him. Touching him and watching the raw heat flare in his eyes. Which made working directly across from him and keeping her hands to herself pure, unadulterated torture.

  “What’s up?” She was aiming for casual, but the greeting sounded forced.

  “Finally managed to poke my head out of the water. I thought Reid and Gage were supposed to handle my email, but I came back to about a million of them. Lazy bastards.”

  That made her smile. “Yeah, nobody took care of mine while I was gone either.”

  A heated smolder lit his eyes that was 100 percent intriguing and 1,000 percent out of place at work. He ducked his chin and stepped deeper into her office. “I’ve missed you.”

  Her heart hammered against her ribs as she anticipated what he would say next. Would he ask her out? Invite her over? And how was she going to say no if he did?

  How could she possibly say anything but yes when what she wanted was to be with him more than her next breath? Not only tonight, but the night after that and the one that followed...

  Definitely, she was terrible at breaking up with him.

  “How’s the plumbing?” he asked. “I’m talking about your apartment, not your person.”

  “Har, har. I see that your sense of humor hasn’t improved.”

  “Well, you can’t expect a month off to work miracles.”

  “Thanks to you, my apartment is perfect.” Except that you’re not in it with me.

  Those were the kinds of thoughts she shouldn’t be having about him and yet they boomeranged back no matter how hard she threw them.

  Last night she’d sat down to add a female partner to the chickadee painting, her mind on Flynn and their conversation about those philandering little birds that were together only for the sex.

  What a metaphor for how things had ended up. She couldn’t look at the chubby, charming, whimsical birds without thinking of what she’d lost.

  Except Flynn wasn’t looking at her like he’d lost anything. Or like he wanted to change anything. More proof came in what he said next.

  “What do you say we carve out some time for each other?” His eyebrows lifted in the slightest way, his sculpted lips pursed temptingly. “Tonight?”

  “Tonight?” Her brain jerked to life and provided a handy excuse that happened to be true. “Sorry. Can’t. Luke is coming over. I’ve been ignoring him lately, so I promised to cook him dinner. You know my brother. He rarely indulges in any food outside of his gym rat diet, so when he’s ready for a cheat day, he calls me.”

  “Later this week, then.”

  She didn’t say anything to that since it wasn’t a question.

  He lingered at her desk, running his eyes down the royal blue dress she was wearing. “I’d like to get you out of that dress. Sure you can’t reschedule with your brother?”

  Never had an offer been so tempting and terrifying at the same time. She could say yes and blow off dinner with Luke. Then she and Flynn could have wine, and make love on the couch or the bed. He could carry her up the stairs or they could walk up hand in hand, side by side. An entire choose-your-own-adventure scenario unfurled itself like a red carpet leading to a night of absolute indulgence.

  Out of her dress and into his arms sounded perfect, but that wouldn’t help her fall out of love with him.

  “Rain check,” she muttered, but couldn’t help adding, “I can always wear this dress again.”

  He leaned over her desk, coming closer, closer until his lips nearly brushed hers. Then he turned his head and pretended to study the screen of her laptop, his minty breath wafting over her cheek when he said, “I like the sound of that.”

  A thin breath came out in a puff when he straightened and walked out of her office. She’d made the wrong decision for her heart, but she’d made the right decision for their future. As much as she wanted to believe that they were meant to be, she had an uneasy feeling that they weren’t. Their fun new pastime would soon grow old and wither on the vine.

  She refused to let that happen—to risk losing him completely when having him forever as a friend was well within reach. There was time to put Jack back in the box. To corral the loose horse into the barn. To cork the genie’s bottle...

  Horrible metaphors aside, she was going to make this right.

  Their friendship deserved no less.

  * * *

  “So let me get this straight. You’re not dating Flynn, but you’re trying to think of a way to break it off with him?”

  Luke lounged on her sofa, scrolling through his cell phone. She’d spilled her guts at dinner and told him everything. Well, almost everything. He was still her brother and she would never be comfortable sharing sex st
ories with him.

  “How can you say we’re not dating?” she called from the kitchen as she rinsed the dishes and loaded the dishwasher. “I lived with him! We shared a bed. That’s dating.”

  Luke winced when she said the word bed. He set his phone aside and shoved a pillow under his head, regarding her patiently.

  Dish towel in hand, she stepped into the living room and collapsed into a chair. “What? Tell me.”

  “It sounds like you went on some dates. That’s dating. The other stuff... I don’t know what the hell that is. Not dating.”

  “Of course it’s dating. What else could it be? It’s more than a hookup.”

  “Have you at least admitted to yourself that you’re in love with Flynn Parker?”

  She let out a sigh of defeat. “Yes. I have.”

  “Any reason in particular you’re not sharing this news with him?”

  “If you had a girl as a best friend for nearly half your life, would you want her to profess her love for you when you knew it wouldn’t last?”

  “First off,” he said, pushing himself into a seated position, “I would never have a girl who was a friend for that long without attempting to get into her pants.”

  She frowned. “That’s unsettling.”

  “It’s also true. Second.” Luke held up two fingers. “How do you know he thinks it won’t last?”

  “Because of the pact. The bachelor pact. Or whatever they call it.”

  “That’s stupid.”

  She used to agree, but now she wasn’t so sure. “He didn’t reinstate it lightly. Which makes me the biggest rebound of all rebounds.”

  “He’d better not think of you as a rebound or I’ll kick his ass myself.”

  She didn’t know if Flynn felt that way, but it was good to know Luke had her back.

  “I don’t want to see you hurt, Sab.”