More Than Friends

Dedication

Thank you, Jennifer. For ensuring this book gets written.

With Thanks

To Fedorah, Dawn & Kelly. (Again.)

Chapter One

Lucy Lawson laid her head back against the bath and let the hot water envelop her restless body. Tension thrummed through her muscles, making her twist this way then that in a useless attempt to get comfortable.

Several deep breaths did not help. Neither did a slow count to twenty. Frustration made her scrunch her nose and clench her jaw.

Once again she tried to ignore the obvious, tried to pretend her feelings hadn’t changed, but all the effort made no difference. For months she’d known everything had shifted for her—although she’d hidden that knowledge as carefully as she could.

Lucy flexed her shoulders, stretching them and pushing her chest upwards in the process. Instead of loosening the tension like she’d hoped, it only increased it. Her breasts jutted through the warmth of the water, making contact with the room-temperature air, and her nipples stiffened and beaded in response.

Blaming something as innocuous as air on her nipple stand was absurd. The temperature of the elements had nothing to do with it. No, Lucy’s breasts responded to the slightest stimulant in the most erotic way because she lived in an almost permanent state of sexual awareness—with no outlet for her frustration.

She ran a palm over one breast, attempting to soothe the ache, but the touch only tightened her nipple further, sending a jolt of desire straight through to her pussy.

Rolling her hips and clenching her thighs did not ease the tension. They sent swirls of warm water churning over her groin, caressing her lower lips and her clit, increasing her arousal.

Lucy sighed, or maybe moaned, and stopped fighting the ache. It would just continue to grow, continue to haunt her. When she headed out tonight, she did not need to be a livewire ready to spark at the slightest provocation.

She trailed the hand on her breast down over her belly and lower, bringing it to rest on her pubic bone. Her breath shortened and her eyes closed. Liquid heat filled her pussy, and she brushed her finger over her hairless mound, seeking her swollen clit.

Contact took her breath altogether, and she pressed down, allowing herself the pressure her body craved.

Relief swept through her. Relief and yearning.

Yes, she touched herself. Yes, it felt good, but no, it wasn’t what she wanted. Wasn’t
who
she wanted caressing her most intimate body parts. Her hand wasn’t the reason she spent sleepless nights tossing in bed, shoving thoughts she shouldn’t be thinking from her mind.

Her hand, helpful as it might be, wasn’t the cause of her endless frustration or arousal. And though it felt good now, rubbing over her clit, manipulating it in just the right way to make her stomach contract, it could not provide what she really longed for.
Who
she really longed for.

Sebastian Blackford.

Marketing executive at a Sydney-based TV ad agency, close friend and all-round cool guy.

His face filled her mind, his eyes so blue they left her dazzled. His nose, slightly crooked from the time he stopped a cricket ball with it, so familiar and so…sexy. And his lips. His full, red lips that curved into his gorgeous smile, one he flashed at her all the time.

It seemed ridiculous that after knowing that face for so long, it now filled her waking thoughts and drifted through her dreams.

It was his hair that had done it. His hair that had changed the whole situation. Once dark, lush and thick, with locks that fell down to his shoulders and over his forehead, now it was the polar opposite—startling in its absence. He’d shaved it off. Vowed never to be one of those men who pathetically held on to their balding tresses, and sheared off every last strand.

Rather than leaving his scalp looking stark and empty, it had given him an edge so sensual, Lucy had struggled to breathe the first time she’d seen the new Sebastian. Struggled to find her center and balance herself.

Usually Seb was her center, her balance. But at that moment, he’d pulled the rug from beneath her feet. He’d shaken her world.

Her hand brushed over her pussy, one finger caressing her nub, another stroking the seam of her lips, letting the hot cream spill out.

It was no coincidence her bikini line remained as hairless as Sebastian’s head. Just like it was no coincidence that every time she touched herself, it was Sebastian’s face that played in her mind. Seb’s smile, Seb’s shoulders and abs, Seb’s…

Just Seb.

Since the day he’d shaved his hair he’d become the focal point of every one of her fantasies and emotions. Fantasies she could not repress—no matter how hard she’d tried. So just for these few minutes, with only the heated water for company, her hand became his.

He neglected her clit in favor of slipping two fingers inside her, burying them deep, stroking her sensitive channel, loving her intimately.

His lips whispered sweet nothings, a silent caress of her imagination.

“Love you, Lucy-Loo.”

“Love you too, Seb.”

He fucked her with his fingers.

“Wanted you for so long, babe. Wanted you forever.”

“I’m yours. All yours.” Her voice came out thready, raspy.

“Prove it. Come for me.”
His speed increased.

Lucy began to pant. A hand cupped her breast, and she arched her back, pushing her nipple into Seb’s roughened palm. Sensation blossomed between her legs, intense pleasure coupled with desperate longing.

“Let go, Loo. Give me everything you’ve got.”

She bit her lip, heard the roar of blood in her ears. Every muscle stiffened in anticipation.

“Be mine, only mine.”
The fingers slid from her channel to press on her clit, rubbing in wanton circles.

Lucy’s desire crested and broke. She came on his fingers, pulses of pleasure throbbing through her pussy and radiating outwards. It was Sebastian’s name that echoed across the bathroom walls as she peaked, Sebastian’s face that filled her mind and love for Sebastian that flowed through her heart.

It was cold, hard fact that pulled her from her high, leaving her lying in a tub of lukewarm water, physically sated yet emotionally hollow.

Seb’s hand vanished, and she stared dully at her own.

Only one thought occurred to her as the last shudders of her orgasm ebbed away.

Her obsession with her friend had continued for too long for it to be a passing fad. The time had come to tell Seb how she felt.

“Okay, if you space out on me one more time, I’m going to start thinking it’s personal.”

Lucy blinked and brought her attention back to the man sitting opposite her. Not that she’d ever lost her focus. Nope, her attention had been on him the whole time. Maybe just not on what he’d been saying.

“Loo, that’s about the tenth time you’ve zoned out. You haven’t heard a word I’ve said in the last five minutes. You gonna tell me what’s going on?” He set his tea down on the table.

She shook her head as she looked at his cup. “You realize you are the only man in Sydney, maybe in the world, who drinks Earl Grey?” The cup seemed small and dainty beside his strong, tanned hand.

He shrugged. “I like it, as you well know. Now forget about the tea and tell me what’s bothering you.”

Her gaze drifted from his teacup to his chest, and she admired the way his T-shirt sat snugly across his shoulders. How was it possible she’d never appreciated the broadness of those shoulders? Had his hair been so long it had hidden their extraordinary proportions?

She sighed. “You wouldn’t believe me if I did tell you.”

Seb shot her a strange look. “When have I ever not believed something you’ve said?” He took a chip from their shared plate, dipped it into tomato sauce and popped it in his mouth. Then he repeated the process, only this time he popped the chip in Lucy’s mouth.

It was all she could do not to close her lips around his fingers and trap them there. But then trapping fingers, a chip and a dollop of tomato sauce in her mouth was hardly sexy, now was it?

She chewed thoughtfully and swallowed, desperate to open up with the truth and admit her feelings, yet paralyzed by the prospect. For the first time ever, she had trouble voicing her thoughts to Seb.

“You know, I’m a pretty good listener.”

She smiled, trying to keep the mood light while her insides were so heavy. “Then why do you always complain that I never stop talking?”

He grinned. “Maybe because you never stop talking.”

“I’m not talking now,” she pointed out.

“Which leads me to believe there is something very wrong, ergo my willingness to listen.” He dipped another chip and offered it to her.

She shook her head. Her stomach was queasy and trembling, and though she and Seb always shared a plate of chips after seeing a movie together, she suspected fried food would do no good whatsoever. “I’m full.”

“Full of shit, maybe. C’mon, Lucy-Loo. Out with it. What’s bothering you? You fidgeted the whole way through the movie and haven’t been able to hold a simple conversation since it ended.” He gestured to the people sitting around them, enjoying a meal or a drink in the trendy little café in Newtown. “Everyone else here is chatting away. The only one not talking is you.”

“Okay, so you talk to me. Tell me how your hot date went the other night.”

The strange look was back on his face. “I spent the last five minutes telling you about it.”

She stared at him, dismayed. “You did?”

Seb nodded. “I did.”

Lucy gave him an apologetic look, staring into his eyes, willing him to forgive her.

Seb said something, but Lucy missed it, mostly because staring into his blue eyes dazzled her senses and once again took her breath away. A feverish flush seeped into her skin, heating her flesh. Just like that, Lucy was lost in a haze of desire, lost in the realization that her body was responding to Seb’s proximity. Being this close to him made her heart pound and her pussy clench. She wanted him fiercely. In a way she’d never desired another man. In a way she’d never desired a friend. In a way she had no place desiring a friend.

She had to say something, had to tell him how she felt. She couldn’t exist like this anymore, couldn’t go on living this way with him. Forever friends, nothing more.

“Lucy!” His sharp exclamation snapped her back to attention.

“I love you, Seb.” It was out before she had a chance to think twice.

“I love you too, babe, but if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m taking you to the closest medical center to have you checked out.”

“No, I mean
I love you
. Like, really, love you.”

He grinned his beautiful grin. “So you tell me every time you get trashed on red wine. You love me and you think I’m the bestest friend in the whole widest world.” He tapped her half-empty wineglass. “Although you surprise me tonight. You haven’t even had one glass. Usually you have to have three or four before you start getting this sentimental.”

She bit her lower lip, sucking it into her mouth before releasing it. “I’m not drunk.”

His grin told her how much he believed her.

“I’m not,” she said again. “Truth is, I’m stone-cold sober. And the reason I haven’t been concentrating is because I’ve been trying to figure out a way to tell you how I feel.”

Seb’s smile began to fade, and his blue eyes widened as he stared at her.

“It’s changed, Seb. Everything’s changed. I’ve changed. My feelings for you have changed.” She took a deep, fortifying breath and the words tumbled out. “Y-you’re not just my friend anymore. You’re…more. I dunno what happened. And I dunno how I never felt this way before, but I…I…” She pressed her hand to her chest. “I have all these feelings for you, just sitting here, pressing on my heart, and I can’t ignore them. Can’t pretend they’re not there or they’re not real.”

Sebastian’s jaw dropped open.

Now that the words had started, she couldn’t hold them back. Didn’t want to. This was Seb she spoke to, and she could tell him anything. Had always been able to, and now was no different—even though everything was different.