CHAPTER THREE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

T he ceiling offered no answers to her predicament, yet she stared at it for nearly an hour. As soon as Martin had left, she'd wanted to reach into her bag and pull out her vibrator. The ache between her legs only increased as she warred with herself. If she touched herself in his bed with his scent and his naked image in her mind, she’d never be able to look at him the same again. The friendship line would be crossed, and she was too scared to do that.

Developing a crush on her best friend was the last thing Sylvie had expected to happen on this trip. But she couldn’t stop thinking about all those muscles and inches of creamy flesh. His cock was the perfect thickness to make a woman feel full. It had been so long since she’d felt filled and complete. She squeezed her breast and imagined his fingers rubbing against her nipple. His other hand would lift her dress and discover her soaking wet panties. This was wrong. She quickly removed her hand and shook them out.

Martin would never touch her like that. She wasn’t his type. It was stupid to fantasize and nothing good could come from it. He didn’t date. He fucked women and never looked back. Sylvie had only been with one man and she'd loved Renny with her whole heart. Unfortunately, that love wasn’t enough to keep him home in their bed.

That was the problem. Going from having sex several times in a week to nothing left a sexual void no toy could fill. She clenched her thighs together again, but it didn’t help. She knew Renny wasn’t celibate. The whole break while he was on the expedition was so he could sow his oats and not feel bad. It made her sick, picturing his mouth on another woman; his hands touching someone else. Thinking about her ex doused the fire in her belly.

She rolled over and took in her new surroundings. His bed, like everything in Martin’s place was minimalist. He had two pillows, a plain navy colored sheet set and matching comforter. One tall black dresser against one wall and two bedside tables filled the space. Everything was dark except the walls, which were painted an off-white beige color. No wonder he never spent much time at home, it wasn’t very inviting.

Sylvie checked out the rest of his place and admired the view of the river. The frozen water and snow-covered trees painted a beautiful wintery landscape. She wondered what sights she’d see while she visited and booted up Martin’s laptop. It wasn’t password protected. She’d told him countless times to lock his information. He never listened. As a hacker and all-around whiz with computers, she’d have to lecture him again. The snoop in her wanted to check out his browser history and see what things he searched, but the invasion of privacy stopped her.

A folder on his desktop labeled pictures seemed harmless enough. Within it there were several other folders with various titles and dates. One from their last year in high school caught her attention. She clicked on it and instantly regretted her decision. The memories of happier times flooded in.

The first picture captured a couple smiling at one another; so completely in love, their happiness projected off the screen. Martin and his ex, Marianne, were so beautiful. Sylvie forgot how perfect they looked together. Both had long, lean bodies, dark hair and piercing eyes. They looked like royalty, walking straight out of a fairytale.

The next was a group photo. In the center stood Martin with one arm wrapped around Sylvie’s shoulder and the other hugging his ex. The women couldn’t have been more different. Beside her stood Renny. His short curly hair and devilish smile did not bring tears to her eyes. The anger and the sadness had given way to a new numbness. It surprised her.

She clicked through the entire album and not one tear fell. Progress. She closed that folder and clicked on another album. Pictures of hockey players and a few men she didn’t know filled the screen. Martin played with some attractive men and she wondered how they had so many hotties on the same team. By the time she'd finished snooping another hour had passed and her stomach growled.

Martin had organized and labeled the contents of his fridge. Everything was healthy and portion controlled. Mostly greens and various proteins. Nothing looked remotely appetizing. She didn’t want to spoil her dinner, but she hadn’t eaten since the early morning pre-flight bagel. He might not appreciate her choice, but she ordered a pizza for delivery. Once upon a time, before regiments took over, Martin loved meat pizza with extra cheese.

After placing the order for food, Sylvie went back to the laptop and checked on work. Being self-employed had plenty of perks like being able to work from anywhere. She answered a few emails and touched base with her team. She liked developing websites. Assisting businesses with their search engine optimization and marketing was more fun than work. It paid the bills. Her company had grown over the past year.

Her phone buzzed and a devilish grin and crystal-clear waters flashed across the screen. Renny. For some unknown reason, most likely to torture her, he'd called once a week since the break-up. She never answered, and he never left a message. A week after he left, he sent a selfie with an ocean background. She’d been unable to stop crying since he’d walked out the door, and the dickwad sent a smiling picture of himself to taunt her. She’d saved it as a reminder he was no longer part of her life. Today was the first time she didn’t stare at the screen afterwards for another hour, clinging to the stupid phone like he might offer her some scrap. She needed a drink.

At least Martin had a fully stocked bar and wine in the cupboard. She popped the cork on a Shiraz and poured a large glass. Clicking through another folder helped pass the time. Her face filled the screen far too many times. She expected to find naughty pictures or something to make her blush. But there was nothing unexpected in the folders and she didn’t push her luck.

She responded to an email and sent a quote for new work while she waited for the pizza to arrive. The screen saver displayed Martin and two of his hockey buddies at the beach. All drool worthy; she sent the picture to herself. Martin’s body had filled out nicely since high school. Those four years had gifted him with inches in all the right places.

The pizza came fast, or she’d lost track of time. Either way, she sat down and clicked through more pictures as she ate and polished off her glass of wine. She had always been a bigger girl, but she rocked her large frame. Sylvie didn’t mind being plus sized when she had the confidence to back it up. Her weight had never been an issue and still wasn’t. Her beaten and battered self-esteem was the reason she couldn’t flirt. She hated Renny for making her second guess her own self-worth. It would be wrong to delete all the pictures of him from Martin’s hard drive, but she contemplated it. She also debated tossing the entire device on the ground and smashing it to bits. She didn’t.

Her phone buzzed again. She checked the display and there was her ex, as if he knew she’d been thinking about him. Once again, there were no tears. She felt nothing and that made her smile. Twice in one day was a first for him. She exhaled when he didn’t leave a message. It was better that way. Nothing he could say would erase the months apart. Nothing.

Soon Martin would return and they’d be going out to meet his friends. She couldn’t believe he planned to pick her clothing. She showered and applied her makeup. Not knowing what to expect, she styled her hair in loose curls and went with heavy smoky eyes and false lashes. Martin was unpredictable. He could make her wear anything from a tutu to a ball gown. When she returned to his room, wearing a towel around her torso, she spotted a few stray cards on the floor. She bent to pick them up and noticed a large plastic box under the bed. Her curiosity won out. It was heavy. She lifted it onto her lap and opened the lid.

She gasped and dumped the contents onto the carpet. The magazines spilled out and naked bodies covered the floor. Every guy had a porn collection, that didn’t surprise her. But she had no idea Martin was into big girls with huge breasts. Marianne had been skinny; almost rail thin with small boobs. All the other girls she’d seen him photographed with were all model types. None of them looked like the women bared in these publications.

This secret collection featured women who had her body type. Big beautiful women lined the pages in all sorts of poses. Sylvie flipped through a few and blushed from head to toe. The ache and wetness between her legs returned. Thinking about him skimming these pages turned her on. These women were sexy, sultry and displayed the confidence she’d once had. She had to get that feeling back.

“Honey, I’m home!”

Crap.

He chuckled from the entry as she scrambled to clean up. “I’ve always wanted to say that. Sylvie, where are you?”

She stacked the magazines and stuffed them back into the container. “I’m in the bedroom. There’s pizza on the counter. So, help yourself,” she yelled, shoving the box back under the bed.

As she stood, the towel loosened from her torso and fell to the ground. It must have gotten caught under the box. She reached down and pulled it free just as Martin opened the door. She froze, facing him full on. Her eyes widened with panic, but his were wider, taking in her naked form. She’d seen him and now he saw her. All of her.

She should have been embarrassed, but seeing all those nude women made her proud of what she had. He didn’t take his eyes off her. It seemed as though something passed between them, and she gave him another moment to look just as he had given her. When his stare landed between her thighs he licked his lips and she closed her eyes. “You need to knock,” she said, using the towel to cover herself.

He’d already seen everything. “I’m glad I didn’t. These are for you.” He stepped into his room and presented her with three large plastic bags. “Here.”

“My hands are full at the moment. Put them on the bed.”

Martin smiled and placed the bags next to her. “I can stay and help if you’d like?” His eyes roamed her body again and every inch of her skin heated. He stood close enough for her to smell his clean from a shower scent.

Her nipples puckered when his gaze lingered on her chest. Luckily, the towel hid her reaction because her body was primed for attention. This wasn’t supposed to happen; Martin was her friend. She pointed to the door. “Out. I can dress myself. Are we leaving right away?” The sexual tension filled the air, making it tougher to breathe.

Martin finally moved his eyes away and stared at the ground. “Yeah. Um… Sylvie, about what I said earlier—”

“I’ll wear what you bought. Even if I hate it. And I’ll be my charming self around your friends. We’ll have fun tonight. Now, get out of here so I can put this on and we can get drunk.”

He laughed, and the tension eased. “Okay. I can’t get drunk, but you can. I’ll be in the living room. Don’t keep me waiting too long.” He stepped out of the room but didn’t close the door.

Her legs trembled, and she sank down onto the mattress. She looked over at her bag and cursed herself for not using her vibrator when she’d had the chance.

Since when did they look at each other in that way? If she didn’t know better, she’d think the attraction wasn’t one sided. The wine, the prairie air and lack of sleep messed with her. There was definitely something wrong with her. She needed to get her emotions under control and squash her new attraction before it became an issue.