Off-Season Stud Read online

  She looked him up and down. Unlike Nicholas, who talked a lot about making money, Matthew seemed more focused on getting rid of money. Honestly, she couldn’t decide which was a better quality.

  “What exactly do you do that makes you want to part with money?”

  Certainly, generosity was better. But it bordered on careless, which bothered Gretchen, as she had to watch every penny to make sure the business was making enough money to pay the mortgage.

  “Aside from being a professor, I’m also a seasonal government contractor. I can’t really go into it, but it’s an obscene amount of money for gut-wrenching work that I’d rather not talk about right now.”

  She nodded and stared at him. “Well, you’re very kind. Thank you for the iPad. I’m going to go for a swim, so…”

  The way Matthew was staring at her made her words trail off. She met his gaze, and it was so intense, she had to look away.

  Something in his eyes was making her heart beat faster. And she knew exactly what that something was. She liked him looking at her body, and it made her want to stare back at him. And all of it made her feel guilty as sin, which made the staring back and forth even more of a turn-on.

  Matthew was here. He was ridiculously hot. He was kind and generous and more laid-back than she had previously judged.

  But he was not for her.

  She bit her lip as Matthew said goodbye and left.

  As she changed into her swimsuit, she would not have been one bit surprised to see her pajama bottoms singed from the heat she had felt in her crotch.

  6

  Matthew

  Watching Gretchen curled up on that old sofa, sipping coffee and watching TV, her nipples poking through her white pajama top, her legs crossed and thin pink pajama bottoms riding up to her groin, Matthew had to stand behind the kitchen island to hide his boner.

  Gretchen’s bed-mussed hair pulled up in a messy bun with waves framing her natural face, her eyes still a bit puffy from sleep, all of it signified a simple and normal life. And it made him long for her.

  Matthew envisioned himself curled up next to her on the sofa, kissing her neck. He didn’t give a shit about Good Morning America. Would really rather not have it on at all. But, like her, he enjoyed morning rituals.

  And if she were waking up next to him, they’d be having a morning-wood ritual before coffee time. Followed by a mid-morning boning session on the sofa. Followed by a run and a swim that would end in a hot shower together, where he would tongue between her legs until her knees buckled.

  That was the life he wanted.

  With someone, but not Gretchen, he reminded himself. She was taken. She had mentioned a boyfriend in Detroit.

  But still. He was here. Her boyfriend was not.

  Matthew would never make a move on her while she was someone else’s woman.

  But why wouldn’t a man be here to claim her, to protect her from the likes of Matthew?

  He bit back his desire to tackle her warm little body and show her what he could do for her that her boyfriend couldn’t.

  It was time to go.

  Matthew awkwardly said goodbye and backed out of the office, muttering about getting started on his run.

  Moments later he was in his running shoes and shorts, stretching outside the cabin. The fact that he was not wearing a shirt was his deliberate choice. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was teasing her.

  Sure enough, she exited the office moments later, and he watched out of the corner of his eye as she paused briefly to watch him stretch.

  But the joke was on him.

  When Matthew looked up and waved, she waved back and he saw it.

  She was not wearing her usual sporty one-piece suit.

  Gretchen had changed into a two-piece, lacy string bikini. It showed off her tan.

  And with her messy hair down around her shoulders, she looked like a goddess.

  And when she walked away toward the dock, the view was even better.

  “Fuck me,” he whispered, noting that half of her little ass cheeks were exposed by that tiny piece of fabric, and her ass was equally as sun-kissed as the rest of her body.

  Gretchen looked back over her shoulder and caught him staring.

  He waved, smiled and began his ritual morning run.

  But he only got about a tenth of a mile when he realized he was not going to get the image of Gretchen and that lacy bikini out of his head anytime soon.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck me!” he roared, making a sharp U-turn and heading back into the cabin.

  And it wasn’t his work cabin. It was his sleeping cabin he headed for. Inside, he stripped down, sat on the edge of the bed, and gripped his rock-hard cock.

  He closed his eyes as he pleasured himself, the image of Gretchen’s curvy little tits and ass heading out to the water. But he also had thoughts about her in her pajamas. About her annoyed voice on the phone. About her furrowed brow when he made demands about the cabin. Her citrusy lavender scent. Everything about her filled his senses, as if she was right in the room.

  He fell back on the bed and stroked, up and down, slowly at first, in no particular rhythm. He lay there, luxuriating in the thought, the wish, that she could be doing these things to him in real life. Her hands, her lips…just the idea of any part of her body touching him made him that much closer to coming.

  He felt no shame. He was doing the right thing by getting himself off. He had to, in order to get her out of his system. She was another man’s woman, and he had no business lusting after her.

  After several minutes of self-massage, he licked his hands and stroked with urgency. If he wasn’t going to go for a run, then it was time to get to work.

  But first, Gretchen.

  Would she ever touch him like this?

  Would she let him explore her pussy with his mouth?

  The thought of her scent, and knowing how much more intense it would be if he could bury his face into her, had him toppling over the edge in seconds, spilling his seed all over his stomach.

  He caught his breath and opened his eyes. Every one of his sperm seemed to taunt him in his imagination, like they knew they were wasted instead of making her pregnant with his baby—the ultimate promise of a normal life.

  Matthew cursed and punched a down pillow until feathers flew out.

  He showered, mentally noting that they could easily fit the two of them in the shower. Oh, the things he would do to her in here.

  Moments later, he was back at his computer. But it just wouldn’t do. So, he turned to the other box that he’d brought. The heavy vintage typewriter took several minutes to set up, but once he had the paper loaded and started typing, the feel of the keys was much more satisfying to a man lusting after another man’s woman.

  He congratulated himself for getting Gretchen out of his system.

  But as he wrote, he realized he hadn’t.

  How could he?

  She was his soul mate.

  7

  Gretchen

  What had she been she thinking, heading out to swim in a string bikini?

  She knew exactly what she was doing. Her logical brain chided her for teasing Matthew like that, when clearly she knew he was into her. Wasn’t he?

  Really, Gretchen. You know he would not do a damn thing about it, because he is a good guy.

  But the universe always has the last laugh. When she stepped out of her cabin, she spotted Matthew stretching his legs in preparation for his run. In shorts and no shirt.

  Oh, shit.

  Gretchen tried not to stare as she passed by and nodded. But she caught a whiff of his cozy, woodsy scent. It filled her nostrils and then her head. She felt his pheromones knocking on the gate of her off-limits pussy. She instantly soaked her flimsy bikini bottoms.

  She felt Matthew’s eyes on her as she walked away from him, and it was enough to kick her wantonness into overdrive.

  Dammit, she thought. This was the wrong move. I have a boyfriend. I have no business flirting with Matth
ew.

  When she reached the end of the dock, she turned back to steal a glance at him, but he was long gone on his run.

  Gretchen looked all around and saw nobody watching. She bit her lip as she felt her need continue to grow. She knew she was going to get no satisfaction simply by swimming. Not unless it was exercise that involved climbing on top of Matthew and squeezing him between her thighs. Pressing against him. Gripping him. Thrusting with all her might until the beast of desire between them was sated.

  Yeah, her brain went there.

  Gretchen hightailed it back to her bedroom and rifled through her dresser. There it was, her little electric silicone friend. Buzz, as she called him, came in handy whenever she felt too isolated.

  When she closed her eyes and slowly massaged the vibrator between her folds, all she could see was Matthew. It put butterflies in her stomach to think it was his hand, his cock, or—oh god—his lips, working over her most sensitive parts.

  This was wrong. So wrong. And yet she didn’t force herself to try to think about Nicholas. The wrongness was too delicious.

  She told herself it was because her relationship with Nicholas was so new. They hadn’t had sex yet. He wasn’t burned into her brain.

  The heat in her pussy traveled up her pelvis, her stomach, across her ribs, tightening her breath, tingling her breasts. She caressed one of her nipples, moaning, picturing Matthew’s fingers having their way with her hard buds.

  With one hand working over one nipple and then the other, and her other hand gripping and stirring Buzz, she felt herself nearing climax faster than any fantasy had done before.

  And then, in her mind, Matthew’s cock was inside of her, shattering her, filling her up with his cum, marking her for himself completely and putting life into her on the first try.

  The total inappropriateness of the thought sent a sudden shockwave up her spine and back down, wracking her body with a sparking orgasm. She cried out.

  It was the crying out that shocked her the most.

  Because when she cried out, it was Matthew’s name she called.

  It wasn’t supposed to be anybody’s name at all.

  But especially not that one.

  The next few days were spent keeping her distance from Matthew. She chopped wood. Painted rooms. Planted mums along the sidewalks of the resort. Did lots and lots and lots of swimming.

  Anything to keep herself busy. Anything to keep herself away from her little friend Buzz, and the memory of that severely forbidden fantasy.

  Anything to keep her eyes off of Matthew.

  But soon, she was starting to feel better.

  She had spent so much time chopping wood she had enough piled up for this winter and the next.

  And today was a beautiful day.

  It was time to be around people.

  The neighbors to the left of River Rocks Resort were enjoying an early September kayak ride. She waved to them as they paddled by.

  “Beautiful morning,” said her neighbor Regina.

  “It really is,” she said with a smile as she sipped her coffee from the swing.

  “Come on over tonight. We’re having venison steaks over the fire. George is bringing in some northern pike and walleye, too.”

  “Count me in. Want me to bring anything?”

  Regina smirked. “Bring that hunk of burning love you got holed up in that cabin, and I’ll get him drunk and loosen him up.”

  “Regina!” Ike and Gretchen shouted at the same time.

  “What?” she said with an innocent shrug and a wink. “Anything goes for the locals after tourist season ends.”

  Ike loudly whispered, “I think she’s drunk already.”

  Gretchen laughed and waved them on, “Have fun, you two.”

  She sighed as she gazed at the sparkling water and the orange-pink sunrise. Across the channel, George was already setting out for his favorite fishing inlet, Crescent Bay.

  She watched as other neighbors were prepping their boats or loading up their four-wheelers into truck beds to go mudding on the Les Cheneaux Islands, or rock collecting along the shore.

  Gretchen wished she had somebody to keep her company and make the most of today. Days like this were going to be fewer and far between soon as the days grew colder in October.

  Surely, she’d gotten Matthew out of her system and she wasn’t at risk of bad behavior. Surely, he shouldn’t have to be alone on a day like this, just because they were out of each other’s reach.

  She knocked on his door.

  When he answered in a towel, long hair dripping, she felt her thighs heat up. She swallowed hard.

  “Good morning,” she said, barely able to keep herself from licking her lips.

  He smiled.

  Oh god, those are nice teeth. I’ll bet he knows what to do with them.

  “Sorry,” she said, feeling the flush reach her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to barge in when you were showering.”

  Matthew grinned even bigger. “I finished my run early; we must have missed each other. We’ve got our routines in sync otherwise, don’t we?”

  “Uh,” she said, focused on a bead of water falling from the end of his curls and cascading down his collarbone, over his bare, jacked pectorals. “Yeah. That. So listen, it’s gonna be a really nice day today and I thought maybe you could play hooky from work, or whatever you’re doing in there and go for a boat ride with me.”

  He winced in regret. “Actually, I really need to plow through a good six thousand words today to meet my quota for the week.”

  “Oh. OK,” she said brightly, feeling a little dejected but refusing to show it. “Well, Regina is having a cookout next door tonight. You should come to that when you’re done…plowing.”

  Plowing. You said plowing. Don’t go there, brain. Don’t you dare go there.

  Matthew nodded. He was studying her face, but she wasn’t sure why. “What time?” he asked.

  “Whenever you see the campfire smoke and hear the noise, come on over. We don’t go by the clock around here.”

  They stared at each other and finally Gretchen excused herself.

  She rushed back to the office, chiding herself. You have a boyfriend, you hussy.

  When she got to the office, she picked up the phone and dialed the aforementioned boyfriend.

  “Babe! How’s that ten thousand bucks?” Nicholas said cheerfully.

  “It’s in an account, the bank is holding it until I figure out what to do with it.”

  “I’ll tell you what to do, you invest in real estate and...”

  She could not be any less interested in discussing real estate at the moment. What she wanted was some dick.

  “Listen, Nicholas. It’s a beautiful day. Why don’t you ditch work and come up and go boating with me? I don’t want to be on the water alone today.”

  “Babe, I got about a dozen distressed properties I need to move on today. The market is out of control right now, you know that.”

  She sighed. She knew she was asking a lot at the last minute. “Don’t you ever just look out the window and decide to play hooky? It’s good for the soul, you know?”

  He muttered something she could not decipher; he sounded full of exasperation. “Babe, come on. We’re grown-ups. Not everyone had the resort lifestyle handed to them.”

  “Ouch,” she said.

  “Look, you know what I mean. I’ve had to work for the life I have.”

  “Yes. But you’re not living it. Meanwhile I’m stuck up here with this really weird man…all by myself.”

  Gretchen swallowed her regret at being this manipulative with him.

  “Well, babe, you keep booking tourists like that rich weirdo and we’ll both be able to retire and we can spend all day sailing. How about that?”

  She bit her lip, knowing she would regret what she was about to say. “Sometimes, it seems all you care about is money.”

  He laughed. “What can I say, I like the hustle.”

  “I’m just a little lonely,
I guess.”

  They said their goodbyes and she hung up the phone.

  She stared at it for a second, trying to remember why she had gotten together with Nicholas in the first place. She had been invited to her friend’s birthday party at the Freighter View Bar, and Nicholas had zeroed in on her. He’d said he’d been out looking at waterfront properties. He was funny and he liked to talk, and he seemed extremely interested in her when she said her family owned a resort.

  They had gone on a few dates and really hit it off.

  When he found out she was a virgin, he was even more interested.

  The fact that she hadn’t yet let him take her virginity was perhaps the thing that kept him interested. He tried and tried, but she just wasn’t ready. He understood no meant no, and she liked that he was respectful.

  Plus, he was very cute and had a crooked bad boy smile that did her in every time.

  As she went over these things in her mind, though, she wondered if maybe there was no more to their relationship than his charm and the land her family owned.

  8

  Matthew

  This is all wrong, but I’m going to do this anyway, he thought.

  Matthew threw on a pair of board shorts and jogged over to Gretchen’s office. The door was ajar, and before he got there he could hear her speaking to someone. He stopped and waited.

  He could not help but overhear the conversation, and he soon realized she was speaking to her boyfriend in Detroit.

  It was by this eavesdropping, Matthew learned that Gretchen was in a relationship with a total fucking idiot.

  After overhearing that phone call, he doubled down on his resolve to not let Gretchen spend the day alone.

  He waited a beat after hearing her hang up and then waited some more before knocking and pushing in.

  “Hi,” he said. “Not sure if I’m supposed to knock since this is the office, but also you live here, so…”

  She shrugged and looked up at him with a guarded smile. “If the door’s not locked, you can come on in,” she said.