A Girl's Best Friend (2 page)

Digging in her purse, she came up with her compact. The makeup she hadn’t managed to sweat off had run down her face. She washed her face and tried to repair the damage. She had an early meeting to get to, so she wouldn’t be able to go home first.

“Ugh.” She had sex hair. It was all over the place. Plucking a hair-tie from her bag, she yanked it back in a tight ponytail.

Diamond whimpered and scratched at the bathroom door, and Lorna opened it to let her in. “Hush, girl.”

Lorna jumped at every little creak of the house, terrified Tyrone would wake up and catch her before she left. Thank God it was Monday and she had work—she could spare them both what would have to be the most awkward morning after of all time. What would she say to him if he did catch her? She didn’t even know. Ask him to forget it even happened? Could she demand that of him when she doubted she could manage it herself? His touch felt branded on her skin. Her thighs, breasts, and pussy still burned with her need for him.

Her cell phone blared as she stepped out of the bathroom, and she bolted for the back door. Pressing the on button, she picked up the call. “Hello?”

“Oh, thank goodness. Tell me you’re near the jewelry store.” Edith Carraway, wife of John Carraway—owner of Carraway Jewelers—sounded as flustered as she usually did.

Lorna made her voice soothing, letting the demands of her job take over. She could only hope they swept Tyrone out of her thoughts for the day. “I can drive there before I come to the photo shoot. Did you forget something?”

Of course she had. Edith would forget her head if it weren’t firmly attached to her body. This was a little dance they’d done since Lorna had been assigned to the Carraway Jewelers account. As senior advertising executive, she found half her job was to hold Edith’s hand. Which explained why such a big account had been handed to her without so much as a whimper from the other execs. They’d known what she hadn’t. She rolled her eyes. Edith was nice enough, just a flake.

“I forgot three cases of necklaces for the photo shoot.” Edith’s sigh rustled through the phone connection. There were only five cases being used in today’s shoot. This was going to be a long three days.

Lorna unlocked her car and slid into the driver’s seat. A quick twist of the key and a shift of gears and she had escaped from her night of stupid. Now if she could just keep the erotic scenes from distracting her throughout the day. Or week. Or decade. Her body still tingled for his touch. She drew a deep breath, stomped on her hormones, and spoke to Edith. “I’m on my way. I’ll see you soon.”

“Bless you, dear.” The older woman’s girlish giggle sounded through the phone. “Oh, I must run. The photographer needs me.”

“Good-bye.” Lorna merged into morning gridlock on I-5. Thankfully, Tyrone didn’t live far from downtown, so it took less time to reach the jewelers than it would have from her place. She collected the cases of diamond necklaces from Edith’s oldest son, who made her sign her life away to take them out of the shop. She was literally holding a fortune in her hands. It was unnerving.

Tucking the diamonds into her trunk, she hurried to get in the car. She wanted these things in her custody for as little time as possible. The moment she turned the key a light flickered on in her dash and an obnoxious
dinging
noise sounded.

“Damn.” She thumped her forehead on the steering wheel. Running around like crazy for Edith and for Marion Forrester’s party meant that Lorna had forgotten to get gas. Normally, she’d have had her mom to help with the party planning, but her parents were away on a month-long Mediterranean cruise. But now Lorna was going to be late for the photo shoot—she’d never make it across town on the fumes in her tank. “Double damn.”

Pulling into the nearest gas station, she fished in her wallet, came up with her debit card, and hopped out. Remembering the jewels in her car, she hit the lock button on her door panel so the trunk lock stayed engaged. It automatically unlocked when her car did. She shut the door behind her and hurried around to her gas tank, swiped her card, and pumped her gas.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry,” she chanted.

When she was done, she jogged back around her car and lifted the door handle. It didn’t budge. Right, she’d locked it. She patted her dress and realized she had no pockets. Oh,
shit
. Her keys were sitting on the passenger seat next to her purse…locked inside her car.

She let her chin drop to her chest in defeat. Feeling like a total moron, she trudged into the gas station’s mini-mart, but made sure to keep her car in sight. God help her if anything happened to her vehicle with all those diamonds inside. She’d be so screwed.

A skinny man behind the counter smiled at her. “Can I help you?”

“Um, yeah.” She smoothed her hands down her skirt and hoped she didn’t look too wrinkled under the glaring fluorescent light. “I locked my keys in my car. May I use your phone?”

“Sure.” He reached behind him and came up with a cordless handset.

Dialing information, she connected to AAA, who said she’d have a forty-five minute wait because she wasn’t in immediate danger. “Just forget it, then. Thank you.”

She punched the off button with more force than necessary. Her stomach pitched and roiled as she realized what she’d have to do. She didn’t want to call him. But the only person she knew who could Slim Jim her car door sooner than AAA was Tyrone. He kept one in his SUV—she’d seen him use it when his mom locked herself out of her car last year.

What would he say? What would he
do
? Her hands shook as she turned the handset back on. Her palms felt slick on the plastic as she dialed his cell number.

“Forrester.” His deep voice filtered through the phone, and it stroked over her like a physical caress. Goosebumps broke out down her arms. She clutched the phone tighter. Anxiety ran through her, but it warred with the automatic comfort she found in hearing his commanding tone.

She spoke in a breathless rush. “Tyrone. It’s—it’s me. Lorna.”

A long pause greeted that announcement before he spoke in a harsh tone. “What can I do for you now, Lorna?”

“You’re pissed.” She blinked, surprise filtering through her. What did he have to be mad about?

He snorted. “I think I have a right to be, don’t you?”

“No, not really.” She glanced at the eavesdropping gas station attendant and blushed. Hunching her shoulder, she turned away. “We did what we did, Tyrone. We both knew the score and we’re both adults. And I think we both know it was a mistake.”

Anger and hurt flared in his voice. “I disagree. And even if I didn’t, what the hell were you thinking, running out on me like I was some kind of rapist?”

She winced and her own building irritation deflated. When he put it that way, it did seem like a bad idea to leave without saying anything to him. “You knew I had work today, and I thought you’d be eager to—”

“Pretend it never happened? Well, you were wrong. How big of an asshole do you think I am to think
my best friend
would be just an easy lay?”

Her eyes went wide, and her skin tingled as all the blood drained from her face. “That’s not—I didn’t think you were an—”

Cutting her off again, his voice took on a biting snap. “And just what the hell was I supposed to think when I woke up and found you gone?”

She pulled in a deep breath. She’d gone about this all wrong, but sleeping with her best friend was way outside her realm of experience. She had no idea what to do to get them back to the status quo, and she desperately needed to regain her balance in this crazy, messed-up situation. “I knew it would be weird between us, waking up together. I wanted to spare us both, but you’re right. I should have had the guts to face you.”

“You say that like it’s a chore. You sure didn’t have a problem with it last night.”

Heat flooded her cheeks, but her stomach gave a sickening lurch. “I—I know. I’m sorry.”

He made an impatient noise. “You didn’t call me to apologize. What do you need?”

“Help.” She kept it short and simple.

“That’s not something I’ll argue with.”

Her eyebrows arched, and her fingers tightened on the plastic of the phone until it creaked in protest. “Hey. That’s way out of line.”

“Feels like shit the morning after, doesn’t it?”

“Fine, you can punish me all you want, but I locked my keys in my car and I need you to come Slim Jim my door.” What sounded like a dozen dogs barked in the background. “Where are you?”

“I took Diamond to the park after I woke up
by myself
.”

She winced at the direct hit. “Point taken. Will you just come get me?”

“Where are you?” He sighed and she could imagine him rubbing his hand over the back of his neck.

“At the gas station near the corner of 16
^th
and H.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you.” She handed the phone back to the gas station attendant and hurried out to her car to lean as casually as possible against the trunk.
Nothing to see here, move along now
.

Her insides had twisted themselves into tiny knots by the time his big, black SUV pulled up behind her car. Diamond hung her black-spotted head out of the passenger window, tongue lolling. Tyrone’s tall, muscular form unfolded from the driver’s seat. God, he was a beautiful man. He’d gotten his mother’s smooth cocoa skin tone and his father’s laser blue eyes. His gaze swept over her, and a tingle followed in its wake. Crossing her arms over her chest, she tried to hide the fact that her nipples had tightened to hard points. She squeezed her thighs together, but it did little to ease the damp ache between them.
Why
did it have to be her best friend who did this to her? It just wasn’t right.

He was wearing his SWAT uniform already: camo Army pants, boots, a utility belt with his gun attached, and a black T-shirt with the SWAT logo embroidered over his heart. He pulled the slender metal rod that would unlock her car out of his back seat while she stayed where she was. The car was the only thing holding her upright at the moment. He approached, a predator’s grace in his long stride. He set the Slim Jim on her trunk and braced his hands on either side of her. She felt surrounded, trapped—and yet cosseted and protected. The warring emotions confused her, but her body reacted to his nearness with the same enthusiasm she’d always felt for him. He leaned forward until he met her gaze. “Lorna.”

She shivered at the controlled anger in his voice. That was Tyrone. Barely leashed power. And it turned her on to know she’d held all that power in her arms last night. It was like riding out one hell of a storm. And she wanted to do it again and again until she couldn’t move, couldn’t think. She doubted that would sate the craving she had for his big body though. Not even fifty years of nights like she just had could do that.

“Tyrone.” She unfolded her arms and lifted her hands in supplication to press against his wide chest. Mistake. Her hormones went wild at even that light touch. Her breath caught and her eyes slid closed. Memories washed over her in waves. His cock filling her, hard and fast. The two of them moving together on his big, soft bed. The amazing sensation of his palms smoothing over her bare skin.

Stop it
.

She forced her eyes open. They’d had a one-night stand after a few bottles of wine, that was all. Tyrone didn’t do serious. Everyone knew that.
She
knew that going into this. He was just angry because she’d run out like a gutless wonder. No strings attached guy or not, Tyrone wasn’t an asshole. He would have wanted to make sure she was okay with what happened. She winced. Well, she’d answered that question for him in the worst possible way, hadn’t she?

Opening her mouth to apologize again, he beat her to speech. “Don’t ever do that to me again, Lorna.”

Again
? Her mouth snapped closed. Since when did he do more than a night with any woman? Her mind spun with questions, but she didn’t have time to ask them. Shaking her head, she dropped her hands from his chest and brought herself back to the problem at hand. “Okay. I need to get into my car. Thank you for coming.”

“Did you honestly think I’d leave you stranded?” His laser blue eyes pierced her, anger still reflected in their depths.

“If I had, I wouldn’t have called you.” She shook her head, regret crawling down her spine. “I’m really sorry, Tyrone. Running this morning was a stupid thing to do.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw, and she could practically hear his teeth grinding. “Yeah. It was.”

Stepping back, he picked up the Slim Jim and walked around to the driver’s side door.

A car rolled up to the pump next to hers and a teenage boy hopped out. He looked from her to Tyrone trying to break into her car. She gave him a weak grin when his eyebrows rose. His gaze drifted behind her shoulder and she braced herself just before Tyrone’s hand came down on her arm. “You can get your keys out now.”

The teenager grinned while he finished pumping his gas. “The SWAT team came to unlock your car?”

Lorna coughed to smother a giggle at the awe in the kid’s tone. Tyrone’s voice rumbled from behind her. “Just doing our part to protect the citizens of our fair city.”

“Right. Sacramento’s finest.” The kid chuckled before he jumped in his car and pulled away.

Tyrone’s fingers tightened on her shoulder, reclaiming her attention. “So…yesterday you said you had a diamond photo shoot to get to over by the fairgrounds. What are you doing downtown?”

She wrinkled her nose, trying not to think about how very late she was. “I had to stop off at Carraway’s to pick up some of the jewelry my client forgot this morning.”

His gaze sharpened. “You have jewels in your car?”

“A small fortune in diamond necklaces, yep. I really want to get to the shoot location and turn them over to Mrs. Carraway.” She shifted awkwardly under the intensity of his gaze. “Well… Thanks again for coming.”

“I’m following you there.”

Panic flooded her at the thought of her escape plan crumbling around her. “You don’t have to do that. I—”