Lorna Malone is having a day from hell. She had a one night stand with her best friend, SWAT officer Tyrone Forrester, and had to sneak out before he woke up. Her wild night is making her late to a photo shoot for her advertising agency’s biggest client, Carraway Jewelers. On the way, she has to stop at a gas station and manages to lock her keys—and a small fortune in diamonds—in her car.
Tyrone is furious when he finds Lorna left him after their amazing night together. He’s wanted her for years, but he got burned in his last relationship. His ex couldn’t handle his dangerous job, so now he doesn’t do serious, he doesn’t do permanent, and he doesn’t play for keeps. But with Lorna, one taste is all it takes to convince him that he’s met his match—if he can help her see that her luscious curves make her desirable.
While he’s willing to rescue her, it comes with a price. And he’s going to make sure she pays up.
Note: this book has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.
Sacramento, California
God, he was tired.
Tyrone Forrester backed into his driveway and groaned, rubbing the muscles at the nape of his neck. As much as he usually loved his work in SWAT, today had not been his best day. It had been a long shift—some douchebag kidnapped his daughters and held them hostage, threatening murder-suicide unless his ex-wife agreed to give him joint custody. Apparently, if he couldn’t have his children, no one could.
READ MOREIt had been a slow, grueling negotiation process that, in the end, failed to get the guy to stand down. Ty’s SWAT team had been sent in. The guy had killed himself, one of the girls was in intensive care, and the other was likely traumatized for life. But…the kids were alive, so that was something. It wasn’t much, but some days were like that.
Tyrone blew out a breath and tried to talk himself into going inside his house. His father was throwing a huge surprise party for his mother’s birthday, and Ty had agreed to host it. Dad would be arriving with Mom in about twenty minutes, which meant Ty’s place was already crammed full of almost every relative and family friend he had.
A figure moved at the corner of his vision and he glanced at his side mirror to see his best friend slipping around the back of the house to approach his SUV. Lorna Malone’s bright red hair bounced around her shoulders, and she wore one of those maxi dresses that hugged her generous breasts and then draped to the floor. He knew she was self-conscious about her weight, and the dress was her way of hiding her body, but all that cleavage on display was more than enough to rev him up. As always, his body stirred when he saw her, but he pushed the arousal away.
How long had he watched her and known she wasn’t for him? Jesus, it had been fifteen years. Since the day her family had moved in next door to his, when they were both sixteen. He’d always burned for her. From the moment he met her it had been that way. She was pure, fiery temptation, and the chemistry between them was something they’d acknowledged and agreed to ignore. She was a forever kind of girl, and since his last relationship blew up in his face, he’d been a one-night stand kind of guy. Add that to the fact that they were best friends, and it was a temptation he had had to resist. Her friendship meant far more to him than any lay could.
She grinned and opened the passenger door, sliding into the seat next to his. “Bad day?”
“Yep.” He offered no further explanation, and he knew she wouldn’t be annoyed by that. One of the many reasons she was his best friend. Just having her near made his tension begin to ease, and he settled back into his seat with a sigh.
“Figured that was why you were hiding out here.” She held up a couple of bottles emblazoned with the logo of his favorite local microbrewery. He smiled—the first one to cross his face for most of this godawful day. Leave it to Lorna to remember what he liked best. He dug into one of his many pants pockets for his Swiss Army knife, handed it to her, and she used it to pop the lids off. “Since your aunt and uncle are already at each other’s throats, and the shindig hasn’t even started yet, we’re both going to need these.”
“Outstanding.” He accepted his bottle, tapping it against hers. He took a deep swig, savoring the cold, bitter brew. Ah, yeah. That was the good stuff.
She downed a quick gulp, and waggled her eyebrows at him. “I made your cousins run interference before I came outside. It’s their parents misbehaving, after all. Those three big, bad boys all but cowered at having to manage their mother. She raised them well, clearly.”
He snorted. His aunt Simone could be a scary woman when she wanted to be. Almost as scary as his own mother. There was a reason the two women has been close friends for years, and they counted Lorna’s mother in their circle of cronies. None of their kids had been able to get away with anything growing up.
Though they’d certainly tried.
“Did my brothers and cousins all make it?” His older brother was a doctor, his younger brother was an ex-Navy SEAL turned security consultant for the state capitol, and one of his cousins was a firefighter. Getting unexpectedly called away for work was a matter of routine with the Forresters.
“Amazingly enough, yeah.” Lorna shrugged. As an honorary member of Forrester clan, she knew the drill. “No one’s had an emergency crop up. Yet. Here’s hoping that lasts, at least until Marion gets here. Once the birthday girl is onsite…well, everyone’s put in an official appearance. Good enough.”
He rolled his head against the headrest to look at her. “Have I thanked you yet for organizing this party?”
COLLAPSE