Forbidden Bad Boys (Small Town Forbidden Romance Box Set) Read online

  “I do. I guess it’s like freelancing,” I said, pointing to her laptop. “You can work anywhere.”

  “I like that aspect. I’ve been thinking about going to live in Costa Rica. It's warmer and cheaper.”

  My heart jumped again at the idea of her leaving. This was really a bad sign.

  “I can make a place for you here if you need a place to work. I mean, while you’re here.” Jesus, I didn’t want her to think I was asking her to move in.

  “This table is fine unless you need it for something else.”

  “Nope. It’s all yours.” I jerked my thumb toward my office. “I’ll be there if you need anything.”

  “What time do you want dinner?”

  “Whenever. I’ll probably go for a run this afternoon, so after six or so?”

  “After six.”

  I watched her for a moment but then worried I was gawking. I went to my office and got to work, checking my email and delegating it to my assistants. I looked over orders and then reviewed analytics and reviews. Along with my own fitness workouts, I produced workouts that were sent to me from half a dozen other people ranging from cardio dance to yoga. The best-seller was the Lean-to-Machine program, which was essentially what I’d done in high school to go from a 99-pound geek to 160-pound soldier. Today, I was six foot two and one hundred and eighty-five, with eight percent body fat. I was proof the program worked.

  I worked for a couple of hours and then changed into shorts and running shoes. Willa was still at the table, tapping away on her computer.

  “Do you think you should be running with all the smoke still in the air?” she asked.

  She had a point. I pulled out my phone to see the smoke index. It was high. Damn. I was needing a hard run around the lake.

  “I have a treadmill. I’ll do that. By the way, I have a hot tub out back as well. If you feel the need to relax.”

  “Good to know.” Her hazel eyes drifted down over my chest like they had when she saw me first thing in the morning. Her eyes seemed to appreciate the physique I had built while I was in the military. Wyatt’s wasn’t bad, but if Willa wanted buff, I was her man.

  “I’ll just do ten miles or so,” I said.

  “I’ll just do ten miles,” she repeated in a sing-song voice. “I’d have to be chased by a bear to run ten miles.”

  I’ll chase you, I thought, and then I did a mental facepalm at my own silliness. “That could happen. Bears are everywhere around here.”

  “I’ll just work.”

  “Do you exercise at all?” I asked. “I have a bike and a rower. Or I have videos.”

  “I used to walk a lot, so I never worried about it.”

  “If you’re still here when the smoke clears, we can go for a hike up to Eden Falls. That’s the other side of the valley where the fire didn’t get to.” The minute I said it, I wondered if I should be inviting her for a hike. Ten years ago, before our falling out, we hiked a lot. It was one of the few things we could do together and not be seen by anyone. But now it felt different.

  “That sounds like fun,” she said. “I always liked that walk.”

  “It’s a date—ah deal. It’s a deal.” Heat flashed on my cheeks, a sure sign of blushing. “Be back in an hour or so.”

  “Ten miles in an hour or so. Cripes. You must run like the wind,” I heard her say behind me as I made my way to my exercise room, which was off of the office.”

  I didn’t run like the wind. I ran like a man who was trying not to jump the woman who’d once been my best friend. Sexual frustration was a bitch, and, as it turned out, running didn’t do much to quash it. I ran my ten miles and then lifted, hoping I’d burn the edginess off. I thought I had until I came through the kitchen and saw Willa in a pair of shorts and a tank top singing and wiggling her ass as she cooked.

  My dick thickened, and my heart made the wish it had ten years ago when I wanted to ask her to be mine.

  “Oh, hey—” Her smile faltered. “Are you okay?”

  “Ah…yeah.” I rushed through the kitchen before she caught sight of the erection threatening to peek out of the waistband of my shorts. “Gonna shower.”

  “Oh. Dinner will be forty minutes or so. Take your time.”

  “Okay,” I said, making a b-line to my shower. I turned it on cold. Surely that would work. The shock had my dick recoiling, but it didn’t deal with the agitation vibrating in every muscle fiber.

  “Fuck.” I planted my palms on the tiles and shoved my head under the stream, knowing there was only one way, well two, but since I couldn’t ask Willa to join me in the shower, I was left with only one choice. I turned the water to hot, and wrapped my hand around my dick, and with pretty Willa in her shorts and tank top searing my brain, I stroked the edge off.

  Chapter 5: Saved by the Bell

  Willa

  I wasn’t sure what to think about the way Mason ran through the kitchen to get to the shower. Or maybe I was just annoyed that I didn’t have more time to admire his physique. I shook my head because Mason was my friend, and I shouldn’t be thinking of him as more than that. Still, I wouldn’t mind being able to see him in the shower. I don't know if I could handle seeing all that hot water sluicing over his chiseled body.

  I groaned and laughed at the same time. Clearly, my reaction was because it had been a while since I’d been with a man. But considering Mason and my complicated history, it would be better for me not to think of him as the sexy-ass man that he was. Maybe I should think about Wyatt. He was handsome. He had a good body. My hormones said, “are you nuts?” They preferred Mason.

  I finished getting dinner ready and was just setting it on the table when Mason appeared. He wore jeans and a t-shirt and was barefoot. His dark hair was wet and slicked back. Even dressed, he was yummy looking.

  “Something smells delicious,” he said, coming into the kitchen. “I have wine. Do you want some?”

  “Wine would be great.” What I needed was a cold shower.

  He pulled out a bottle from his wine chiller. “That pasta looks like it goes with white.”

  “I’ve never understood that. I can drink any color of wine with anything.”

  He laughed. “Thank God. I don’t know the first thing about wine.”

  “I’ve wanted to tour wine country, but haven’t made it up there,” I said, handing him wine glasses I found in his cupboard.

  “Me neither.”

  Ten years ago, before our falling out, I’d have made a comment about us going together. It would have been normal because we were friends, and friends did stuff together. But now, I felt self-conscious about saying we could take a road trip together. In some ways, I felt like I was in high school getting weak-kneed for Wyatt, except now it was Mason that made my blood heat.

  We sat and started to eat in silence, which was awkward too. “So, you’ve been back for a while?” I finally asked.

  “A few years. When I first got out of the military, I was in LA, but I like being close to nature and far from traffic.”

  I laughed. “Oh my God, yes. I can’t believe how I put up with L.A. traffic for so long. I guess you get used to it. Still, I’m not sure I’d want to settle here again.”

  “Oh?” He picked up his wine and sipped. “Why not?”

  “Growing up, I always felt different. I felt mostly ignored and, at the same time, set apart because of my family, except when I was with you.” I smiled at the memory of feeling like the world was off my shoulders when Mason and I were in a secret place just being ourselves.

  “I didn’t have that, I suppose. I mean, there was the whole family feud thing, but your family was the star of the town. I can see how that would be tough. Especially after—” He stopped and gave his head a shake.

  “After my father lost all our money?”

  “Ah…well…yeah.”

  “You know, I mostly felt invisible in school. But when dad went bankrupt, it felt like everyone was talking about me. I hated that.”

  “One thing I’
ve learned since I’ve moved back is that people didn’t think about the Haynesvilles and McLeans as much as you might have thought. At least it was certainly not as much as our families thought.” He ran his bread through the white sauce and took a bite.

  I twirled my linguini on my fork. “Do you think our parents would have had a problem with our friendship like we thought?”

  He shrugged. “Probably, but no one else would have. I suspect some people would have been happy about it. They’re probably sick of the feud. I know I was.”

  I smiled sadly. “We were like Romeo and Juliette, except, of course, without the death.”

  “Or romance.” His dark eyes looked at me over the rim of his wine glass.

  “Right. Or the romance.” In hindsight, it was probably good. I never told him about my crush. It probably would have been harder for us to have become a couple. It was hard enough to hide our friendship.

  He sat back. “If I remember correctly, you had a thing for Wyatt.”

  I laughed. “For a time, yes. I’m sure he didn’t know I existed.”

  “I doubt that would be the case now.”

  I frowned. “Are you trying to set me up with him?”

  His jaw tightened. “No.”

  “He did tell me about the reunion.” I took a drink of my wine, not sure I wanted to talk about Wyatt. It felt strange since my body clearly had a thing for Mason. “Are you going?”

  He shook his head. “Nah.”

  “Why not?”

  He rolled his shoulders like he knew he had tension and wanted to release it. “I already see most people around town. I don’t need to go to a party to relive how they ignored me growing up.”

  “What about the people who aren’t still here? You’re not interested to hear what they’re doing?”

  “The only person I’d be interested in knowing about is you, and you’re sitting at my dining room table.”

  I smirked. “It could be fun. Especially the part where they all ooh and ahh over how you’ve changed.”

  He tilted his head. “Is that why you want to go? You want people to ooh and ahh about your change?”

  Busted. “I suppose there’s something to that. Isn’t that the cliché? The ugly duckling shows up beautiful, and the formerly beautiful people are now old, bald, and ugly.”

  He laughed. “They’re all still under thirty, I doubt they’ll have changed that much.”

  I shrugged and looked down. “It was nice to be noticed.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Noticed by Wyatt?”

  I gave a little nod. His jaw tightened again, and he stood. “More wine?”

  “Sure.” I had nowhere to go that night. “Who are you seeing?” I asked as we went to the kitchen

  “Seeing?”

  “Dating.” I clarified.

  “No one.”

  “Why not? You’re a catch, Mason.”

  He had a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks as he poured me wine. “I’m still the same on the inside. I’m not that interesting.”

  I made a fffttt sound. “You’re plenty interesting. You were back in high school too.”

  He shrugged. “What about you?”

  “No, I’m not that interesting.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Yes, you are. I meant men. Why aren’t you married to some hot Hollywood actor?”

  “I don’t really like dating. I saw a man for a while, but…” I let the statement drift off. I didn’t want to talk about my ex.

  “So here we are again. Two interesting people alone.”

  I lifted my glass. “I’ll toast to that.”

  He smiled, and it was so stunning in its genuine joy. “Welcome home, Willa.”

  I clinked my glass with his, loving how warm and safe I was feeling. At the same time, my rational mind warned me not to get too comfortable. Mason had always been my safe place, but ten years was a long time to be estranged. Plus, he was settled here, whereas my life was in limbo. I had no idea where I was going to end up, although I felt confident it wouldn’t be at Eden Lake. Sure, it was a beautiful town, and Mason was right in that people didn’t seem to care very much about my family history here. But there was a saying that you can’t go back. Being with Mason, as lovely as it was, felt like going back. It was like finding an old stuffed animal or favorite blanket that brought comfort as a child and expecting it to fix the problems of an adult.

  Our conversation worked its way to my writing and the different stories I’d covered working for the paper in Los Angeles. It was a safe and easy conversation.

  When dinner finished, he took the dishes into the kitchen. “You cooked. I’ll clean up.”

  “I can help,” I said, following him to the kitchen.

  “I’ll wash and you dry.” He tossed me a towel.

  Standing side by side, he washed the dishes in soapy water, and what didn’t go into the state-of-the-art dishwasher, I dried. I laughed when I thought about the face my parents would make if they saw us together. My parents had no specific reason not to like Mason. In fact, if he changed his last name and they didn’t know he was a McLean, they’d probably like him just fine.

  “What’s so funny?” He looked over at me.

  “I’m just thinking my parents wouldn’t know what to make of us doing dishes together.”

  “Are you saying I’m not good enough to do dishes with a Haynesville?” He flashed a mischievous grin as he flicked soapy water on me.

  “Hey!” I jumped back. My eyes narrowed. I reached into the sink and scooped up water, splashing it on him.

  “Oh…that’s how you want to play it!” He pulled out the water sprayer from the back of the sink.

  “You wouldn’t dare,” I said, stepping back as he aimed the sprayer at me.

  “You know I would.” He gave a quick squeeze, and a shot of water flew out, hitting me in the face.

  I screamed as I jumped back. “You’re in trouble now.”

  “Oh, what are you going to do?”

  I looked around the kitchen for some sort of way to get him back but didn’t see anything.

  “Huh…what, are you going to do, Willa?” he taunted, giving the sprayer another quick squeeze.

  “Just wait,” I said, eyeing the sprayer. I wondered if I could get control of it in a surprise attack.

  “I’m waiting,” he said, shooting another spray of water.

  I lunged forward, throwing myself against him, and reaching for the sprayer. He grunted, and his arm wrapped around my waist.

  He held the sprayer up and out of my reach as his other arm banded my body against his. Every neuron inside me started firing at the feel of his hard, hot body plastered against mine.

  “You want this?” His dark eyes swirled with heat, and his voice was husky. Or maybe my vision and hearing were going wonky.

  “Yes.” I looked him in the eyes, wanting to show him he didn’t intimidate me. But instead of reaching for the sprayer, I rested my hands on his shoulders. For a moment we just stood, our bodies pressed together, our gazes holding, and we were panting as we tried to catch our breath.

  “What will you give me for it?” His voice was low, and unless I was mistaken, he was as affected by me as I was him. Although my brain was going haywire so maybe I was mistaken.

  “What do you want?” I managed.

  His gaze drifted down from my eyes to my lips. Did he want to kiss me? Did I want him too? Yes, yes, I did.

  I swallowed hard as his gaze returned to my eyes.

  “I’ll take you to the reunion,” he said.

  That wasn’t what I expected. “I thought you didn’t want to go.”

  “But you do.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “I thought I was supposed to give you something in exchange for the sprayer?”

  “I guess I’m not very good at this game.” He let go of the sprayer, and it recoiled into its hole.

  “Okay. I’d like that,” I said, letting my gaze drift to his lips and wishing he’d use them on me. I wanted his lip
s not just on my mouth, but everywhere. My body burned for it. But he only held me close and held me captive with his eyes. Clearly, I was going to have to take charge of the situation.

  Just when I was going to take the initiative and kiss him, a phone rang. It was the ringtone of my mother.

  Mason released me. “That must be yours.”

  Frustration and disappointment filled me. “It’s my mom.”

  He flinched and then turned to the sink. “I’ll finish up here.”

  With a sigh, I set off to find my phone. I considered letting it go to voicemail or telling her I’d call her back, but the moment with Mason was gone, and I needed to talk to her about the house.

  Perhaps it was for the best that she’d interrupted before anything could happen. It wasn’t smart to indulge in this attraction to him. My reason for staying at Eden Lake now a burnt crisp. Chances were that I’d be on the road to my parents’ house right after the reunion. It would be silly to start something that we’d never be able to finish.

  Chapter 6: Lucky Man or Fool?

  Mason

  I nearly kissed my best friend. Even now, with her in the other room, while I finished up the dishes, I craved those sweet looking pink lips.

  I don’t know what I’d been thinking as I teased her with the sprayer. I guess I wasn’t thinking. Growing up, we had often goofed around and played pranks, but we were young then. We were just kids. Now we were grown up. She was a sexy woman, and I was a man rendered dumb by lust.

  I was sure she was just playing, but the minute her luscious curves were pressed against me, an inferno blasted through my body. It took every ounce of willpower not to strip her and take her right there on my kitchen counter.

  Thank God, her mother called. Who knew what she would have done if I’d acted on impulse and kissed her. She clearly had her sights on Wyatt, so it would have been awkward for her and humiliating for me to kiss her only to have her rebuke me.

  It made me think that Wyatt was the one that should be taking her to the reunion. She’d mooned over him in high school, and now he was taking notice of her. I couldn’t blame her for being flattered by that. I remembered when I started working out with my brother, and people at school finally noticed me. It was nice to be noticed, even though I still thought they were assholes for ignoring me when I was a geek.