Chapter 5—Time on Ice

Vi pulled into Matt’s circular driveway. The trees on either side hid the two-story house from view. His property was a kids’ paradise with all kinds of places to run and play. Nothing like the depressed town she’d grown up in with its potholed streets, heroin problems, and people barely scraping by in single-wide trailers older than dirt.

She parked her car next to the winding walkway of his stately home. The place didn’t fit Matt’s stay-out-of-the-limelight personality, and she’d bet his mother picked it out. Despite the stuffiness of the outside, the inside wasn’t too bad. The comfortable furnishings made the place feel more like home and less like a spread in Better Homes & Gardens, though the rooms could sorely use some splashes of color to liven them up and give the home character. Everything was too monochrome for her taste.

Matt stood in the doorway, and Vi’s heart rate picked up considerably. She’d been oddly nervous driving over here, almost as if this meant something more than sex, when she knew it didn’t. That little girl who’d once hoped for the rich prince to rescue her resurfaced at the most inopportune times. She’d matured well beyond childish expectations of a white picket fence, three kids, and a dog. Guys like Matt didn’t have long-term relationships with women who’d been where she’d been and stripped for a living, even if she was only doing it to work her way through college.

Vi didn’t need that shit anyway. She was an artist. A free spirit. Spontaneous and in the moment. Introspective Vi wasn’t allowed a vote in this life or her future.

Fucking Matt would be fun, hot, and memorable.

That’s all she needed or expected.

He smiled at her. She winked at him.

“You should smile more often. You have a nice smile.”

He blinked a few times in surprise. He’d probably expected an insult, not a compliment. “Uh, thanks.” He stood back to allow her to pass.

Vi walked into the two-story entry with its conservative chandelier. She’d have added a mobile in bright colors rather than this gold monstrosity.

“Would you like a glass of wine?” Matt asked, his voice stilted.

“Yes, please.” She followed him into the den where he had a small bar, and waited while he poured them both a glass of red wine. Vi took it and sipped. She didn’t like red wine. She was a white wine or beer girl, but her usual outspoken self had retreated and left this stranger who worried what others thought of her.

This was starting to get awkward.

Vi couldn’t fathom why. She was the queen of casual sex. It was the only type of sex she did. She hadn’t had a serious boyfriend since—well, for a long time. She’d been another person living another life, one she’d left behind when she reinvented herself.

She met Matt’s gaze. He stood a few feet away eyeing her warily, as if he wasn’t sure having her over was such a good idea after all. She needed to reassure him before he bolted.

“It’s just sex,” she said.

“I know,” he answered in a husky voice that spoke to her lady parts.

Vi was never one to sit back and watch the world go by. She participated fully, even if her participation bit her in the ass later. She walked toward Matt, one step at a time. His gaze dropped to her feet as she moved closer. Their bodies were inches apart. He didn’t move, didn’t twitch a muscle. She reached up, put her hands on his shoulders, and searched his gaze.

His eyes slid from her feet up her body to her face.

“You’re not going to back out, are you?” She narrowed her eyes at him with mock sternness.

“Fuck, no,” he said; a chuckle softened his features, made him more approachable.

“Good.” She leaned into him, and he looped his arms around her waist. “Now, where were we?”

“I think we were here.” He lowered his mouth to hers, slid his tongue across her lips, and slipped it inside. Her world dissolved, leaving only the touch, scent, and taste of him. Their tongues mated in an explosion of pent-up lust. She’d been going through a bit of a dry spell lately, not as long as his but long enough. He pulled her against his erection, and a throaty moan escaped from her lips.

“I want you inside me as soon as possible. We can bother with foreplay later.”

“Good idea.”

“Did you just say I had a good idea?” Her fingers deftly unbuttoned his fly.

“Even you get lucky once.”

“I’m planning on getting lucky way more than once.” She slid down his zipper and grabbed his waistband and tugged on his jeans. He helped her a little, kicking off his shoes and leaving the jeans in a heap on the hardwood floor. A second later his sweatshirt joined the jeans.

Vi took a moment to enjoy the pure maleness of his ripped body, his shredded abs, his well-defined pecs. He was one fine specimen, and tonight he was all hers. She’d been with a lot of men over the years, but she couldn’t recall any of them having a body like this man’s. He had a skater’s ass and thighs, largely muscled and powerful. The bulge in his boxers was beyond impressive. A thrill of excitement coursed through her body, causing a shiver. On his right arm was the usual Sockeyes tattoo. All the men on the inaugural team had them.

“Your turn,” he said, his dark eyes glittering with lust and his body strung tight with anticipation.

Vi stepped back and pulled the peasant dress she’d worn to work that night over her head. For a split second she hesitated, momentarily self-conscious about her inked body, but she shrugged it off. This was her. Take her or leave her.

She wasn’t wearing any underwear, and Matt swore in French under his breath, reminding her that he was French-Canadian, after all. It was sexy as hell.

“You have a veritable garden on your body. It’s—it’s—”

“Too much for your conservative eyes?”

“No, no.” He shook his head vehemently. “It’s incredible and beautiful. The roses are so colorful and intricate.”

“I like roses, and my body is my canvas. I designed my tattoos, and it’s still a work in progress. I can only afford a little at a time.”

“Roses might be my new favorite flower.”

He bent his head to cover her nipple with his mouth. Vi’s sharp intake of breath was following by a surprised gasp. She hadn’t expected him to move so quickly, but she loved it. She grasped his underwear and pulled it down to his thighs, getting her first sight of his magnificent cock. It was long, thick, and incredibly hard. He was everything she’d imagined in her nastiest fantasies.

“You’re beautiful,” she whispered.

“So are you, right down to your purple hair.” He lifted her onto the counter, his mouth wildly mating with hers. “No foreplay? Are you sure?”

“I want you to fuck me with that big dick of yours and make me forget we don’t like each other.”

“I can manage that, just don’t expect me to like you in the morning.” His mouth quirked in a half smile.

“Never.”

He placed his hands on her knees and spread her legs apart, stepping into the V of her thighs. “Oh, crap. Condom.”

Vi watched as he ran from the room and came back shortly, rolling a condom on his dick. He resumed his position.

“I’m wet. I’m ready. Fuck me hard.”

“You don’t know how much I’ve wanted to hear those words.”

“Say fuck me in French,” she begged, her voice a sultry whisper.

His smile smoldered on his lips. “Baise-moi, méchante fille. Fuck me, naughty girl.”

If she were the swooning type, she’d have swooned—that accent, those filthy words spoken so softy but with such masculine authority.

“My vagina bows to the master. Fuck me, Mathew. Hard. Deep. Make it filthy. Real filthy.”

“Merde.” His nostrils flared and his eyes dilated.

She lifted her legs above her head and opened wide for him. Matt didn’t wait for a second invitation. Positioning his dick at her entrance, he met her gaze, his own burning through her and leaving not one cell in her body unscathed. With one savagely brutal motion he drove into her wet core. He grabbed handfuls of her ass and pushed hard, burying himself deeper. Glorious pain reverberated through her as her body sought to adjust to his size. She shuddered as needle-sharp discomfort faded to raw, pulsing desire. He held himself there for a moment, biting her shoulder, causing her to moan.

She gripped his arms, and the muscles bunched under her hands as he gathered himself and pounded into her, each thrust harder, deeper, more intense until she was certain the next one would surely kill her. No mortal being could survive such overpowering ecstasy. She’d never felt anything like this, and she’d felt a lot in her life, but not this. Never ever like this. This man was everything she craved, every fantasy, every dream all rolled into one hard body, intense gaze, and supersized cock.

Vi closed her eyes and let the emotions overwhelm her in a sweet bliss of exploding colors. He filled all the empty places and left nothing but wicked bliss.

Being with him was heaven, absolute pure heaven.

* * * *

 

“Matt, we’re back. Had to leave early. Wait until you hear—”

Despite being glazed with lust, Matt’s eyes managed to focus on his mother standing at the entrance to the kitchen. Her eyes were like saucers. Her mouth open and closed like a guppy’s.

“I—oh, I’m sorry. I—” she stammered, something she never did. She whipped around just as his boys came around the corner, blocked their view, and ushered them down the hall. He heard their feet scrambling up the stairs a second later.

He was still buried deep inside Vi. His irresponsible dick begged him to keep going for a second round, but it was going to be sorely disappointed.

“Fuck,” he said.

Vi blinked several times and stared up at him in confusion. “What just happened?” She hadn’t seen his mother or heard her.

He allowed himself the luxury of taking a brief moment to appreciate her nakedness. A gorgeous garden decorated her body, so real it looked as if an actual gardener had planted it. Pink petals radiated out from her sinfully erect nipples to form a fully bloomed rose on each of her breasts. Past the array of flowers, vines trailed down her belly and piercing, disappearing under the patch of now-wet-with-desire purple hair between her legs.

She was fucking hot. He didn’t want to stop. He wanted to take her hard and fast, slow and sensual, blistering and dirty, until they both passed out from exhaustion.

“Matt?” Her voice slowly penetrated his lust-fogged brain.

“Yeah?”

“What’s wrong?” Her blue eyes were filled with real concern, as if she might be worried she’d disappointed him somehow. Such a ludicrous thought made him chuckle.

“My mom just walked in on us,” he said.

“What?” Vi shoved him off her with such force he almost fell on his ass but caught his balance at the last second. “I thought I heard voices.” She slid off the counter, scooped up her clothes from the floor, and frantically yanked them on. Once again, her inked body distracted him. She moved with a sensual grace even during the simple act of getting dressed.

Prodding himself back into the realm of the safe and sane, he gathered up his own clothes, pulled them on, and hurried after her. She was already halfway to the door and beating a quick retreat.

He called after her, and she broke into a run—away from him. No way could he let her take off like this. Not when there was too much left unsaid.

He caught up with Vi on his wide front porch and grabbed her arm, wheeling her around to face him. He might have been a little rough, because her blue eyes flashed fire. She jerked her arm out of his grasp, threw back her shoulders, and stood up straighter, not that it helped. He still towered over her by several inches. He had to smile. She looked like a female warrior with her badass tats and her take-no-prisoners expression. She’d look damn fine in leather.

“Sorry. When will I see you again?” He hated the desperate croak in his voice.

Her indignation faded. “You—you want to see me again?”

He nodded and swallowed beyond the lump in his throat, irritated with how choked up he was getting over the thought of possibly not seeing her again—naked.

“I work Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays until midnight.”

“What do you do? Bartend or something like that?”

Uncertainty flickered in her beautiful eyes. “Uh, yeah, something like that.”

He filed her response away for later. What she did was none of his business. The less he knew about her, the easier to keep his distance and not get involved on a personal level.

“We could go to your place.”

She shook her head. “That’s not possible. I live with too many people. No privacy.” She hated lying, but she didn’t want him to see the tiny hovel she lived in.

“Oh. We’ll figure something out.” While it seemed sleazy, he wasn’t beyond getting a hotel room for the night.

“Text me,” she said as she hurried to her car with him hot on her heels.

“I will.”

She reached for the car door, and he spun her around. His mouth was hot and demanding on hers. She demanded right back. He couldn’t stop, couldn’t get enough of the feel of her body pressed against his, her wet lips on his mouth, and her talented tongue turning him to mush.

Finally, panting, she put her hands on his chest and gently pushed him away.

“Good night,” she said breathlessly.

“Good night.” He opened the car door for her and closed it once she’d gotten in. “Lock your doors and be sure to put on your seat belt.”

She rolled her eyes and did neither, most likely to jerk his chain. Just as she got to the bend in his driveway, he saw her put on her seat belt.

He grinned and walked back into the house, whistling.

 

* * * *

 

Matt found his mother in the upstairs library landing, thumbing through a book.

“Mom, I—” He shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t fidget.

“No need to apologize. I’m happy you’re finally dating again.” She didn’t look at him but kept her eyes on the page in front of her.

He wouldn’t call what they were doing “dating,” but he decided to keep his mouth shut.

“Next time I’ll warn you if we come home early.”

“That’d be a good idea.”

She finally met his embarrassed gaze and laughed.

“Why are you home early?”

“Joey couldn’t sleep. The hotel had a power outage, which wouldn’t be repaired until sometime late morning, and I was freezing my butt off. All in all, it was a disaster of a trip.”

“I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “No need to be sorry. Are you seeing that woman again?” She flipped the subject right back to his sex life, the last thing he wanted to discuss with his mother.

“Yes.”

“That was Vi, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“I like that girl. She has spunk, and she forces you out of your comfort zone, like I did your father. You’re a lot like him, too staid and intense. You forget to have fun because you get so bogged down in your own responsibilities.”

“You think you’re like Vi?” He couldn’t have been more shocked if she’d told him he had brothers and sisters he didn’t know about.

“A free spirit? I was once. Probably still am. Surprised, aren’t you?”

“Somewhat.” He thought back to his mother dabbling in painting, going to a rally to raise awareness for AIDS, convincing his father to go backpacking across Europe. Stuff like that. Regardless, his mother was nothing like Vi. She was respectable, solid, and dependable with an adventurous streak. Vi was the opposite.

“I can tell by your expression you don’t believe me.”

He shrugged. “Do you ever buy Styrofoam cups?”

She stared at him as if he’d lost his fucking mind. She considered it a change in subject. He knew it wasn’t. “Styrofoam cups?” She wrinkled her brow in confusion.

“Uh, never mind.” He waved off the stupid question.

His mother bit her lower lip, and he held his breath, sensing something big was coming. “Matt, I really want to travel.”

Matt processed this bit of news. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t said this before. At first, he didn’t understand what any of it had to do with him until his mother’s fidgeting and guilty expression clued him in. He could be dense at times when it came to a female’s subtleties, but eventually he did catch on.

“And you want to go soon?”

She nodded. “Yes. I love the boys, but I need to get on with my life. Maybe Vi would like the job?” She winked at him.

“Vi?” He shuddered at the thought. “No, I barely know her.”

“You seemed to be rectifying that earlier tonight.”

“That wasn’t getting to know her. Not in the real sense of the word.”

His mother’s sly smile said otherwise. “She hung out here for a month while Amelia was your nanny.”

“I still don’t know her. We never have a meaningful conversation unless it involves arguing.”

“About Styrofoam?” she guessed correctly, her eyes lighting up with mirth.

“Among other things.”

“It’s your life, son, now get on with it. I’ve been your crutch for too long, as you’ve been mine. You’ll figure something out.”

“Yeah, I will.” He was already running through his options. Matt never did anything without giving it a lot of thought and analyzing the hell out of every possibility, but Vi was not an option. She was a— He scratched his head. He didn’t know what she was. Definitely not a one-night stand, because just one time with her had whetted his appetite for more of the same. He guessed she was a fling.

And tomorrow night was Saturday night. She didn’t get off work until midnight. He made a mental note of finding out where she worked. He wouldn’t mind sitting in a bar watching that hot body of hers hustle around the tables as she took care of her customers. He pictured her in some upscale, trendy bar where weird was the name of the game, maybe one where all the wealthy Seattle geeks hung out or the artist types with healthy trust funds. He couldn’t imagine her in a sports bar like Hooters or a good ol’ boys’ tavern. Maybe a biker bar.

Regardless, he’d bet his right nut that guys propositioned her all the time. The thought of her going home with some anonymous jerk twisted his stomach, a feeling he most definitely did not like, even though he had no right to feel that way.

Vi was free to do who and what she pleased, as was he. Fuck, they’d only had one night together, if you could call a few minutes of frenzy a night. But it’d been an incredible few minutes. He’d do better next time. He didn’t want her thinking he was always gone in sixty seconds. He could go the distance. It’d just been a long time for him, and he hadn’t heard her complaining. She’d come as hard and fast as he had, so no worries there.

Fretting about his sexual performance was new to him. Probably a by-product of a cheating wife. She’d made him doubt himself in and out of bed. Perhaps Vi would be good for his bruised ego when she wasn’t beating it down with a club. Only Vi’s jabs goaded him into action. She was never belittling or purposely hurtful, just brutally honest.

His mother snapped her fingers in front of his face, jerking him out of his own head.

“Mattie, why don’t you go out tomorrow night? The kids and I can do movies and a pizza.” As usual, she’d read his mind.

“I can hang with you guys for a while. Vi doesn’t get off work until midnight.”

“Whatever works for you. You can spend Sunday with the boys. Take them skating, or if it’s not raining, boating.”

“I’ll come up with something.”

“I know you will. What’d you get Andy for his birthday on Sunday?”

“That video game he’s been wanting and a Star Wars Death Star model.”

“You’re a wonderful dad.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Good night, son.”

Matt waited until she disappeared down the hall to her room. He checked in on the boys, who shared a large room with bunk beds. They could have had their own rooms, but they’d chosen to bunk together. Even if their closeness did cause some fights once in a while, they got along great most of the time.

Matt stood in the door, light spilling in from the hall, and studied his boys. They were snuggled down in the covers. Joey hugged the Spider-Man doll he wouldn’t be caught dead in public with because he was a big boy and didn’t need dolls. Andy was sprawled on his back, covers tangled around his legs, arms spread over his head. He was out. That kid could sleep anywhere at the drop of a puck.

Matt smiled, his heart filling with love and wonder. The older the boys got, the more he saw of himself in their faces. Sometimes, he was scared shitless he’d screw up this single-father thing. The thought of his mother leaving him to be the sole parent terrified the crap out of him. What if he fucked up? What if they became entitled brats? What if they acted out when his mom left the way they had when their mother abandoned them? Anger surged through him at her selfishness. She hadn’t been in contact for almost two years, not even a postcard.

He needed to get serious about finding a partner who’d be a good female role model for the boys, someone like Amelia. Maybe Brick’s fiancée could suggest a viable woman who met his requirements. The candidate had to be above reproach, no skeletons in her closet that might come back to haunt her and put his boys in the spotlight or subject them to all the stuff Matt tried to protect them from. She had to be a warm, loving person, as conservative as he was, and as trustworthy as a Tibetan monk. Of course, she had to be attractive to him and him to her.

But first, he needed to get serious about hiring a nanny, preferably one old enough to be his mother.

And second, he’d arrange to hook up with Vi after she got off work the next night and blow off some steam.

Matt grinned to himself, his step lighter than it’d been since the divorce. He had a plan, and he thrived on knowing where he was going and how he’d get there.