Page 3 of A Little More Forgiveness

His wide shoulders filled out his jacket nicely too, stretching the bright-red material across his shoulder blades and broad back. He must work out a fair amount to get the definition he had, so he had stamina, another thing I liked in my men. Paired with his long muscular legs and, yep, totally hot.

He was also interested in more than this deal. That, I could always tell.

Always.

Blonds weren’t normally my thing, but for him, yeah, I’d make an exception. The question now was how long I expected the talks to take, before I had him under me, or over me as I fucked into him—either way appealed.

He glanced over his shoulder and tentatively smiled, his body language betraying his nervousness. Good. Negotiations were so much easier if you kept your opponent off guard, and if the experienced lawyer appeared nervous, the client, Mitchell Houghton, would be a pushover.

Yep. Get the deal wrapped up this afternoon, and I’d be wrapped up with Luscious Leo before the night ended.

We stopped beside his faded red Jeep, obviously his color of choice, in the small parking lot behind his office, and I stared in surprise. His vehicle must have been a good ten years old and had a fair few dings and scrapes, showing how well it’d been used. I cast Leo a quick look, wondering about his circumstances, as any lawyer I’d ever met had always driven around in an expensive luxury car. Maybe he wasn't great at his job, which would be another advantage for me.

While I’m sure the vehicle could get us where we wanted to go, I had my doubts whether or not we’d get there in one piece. The locks clicked open, and I hopped inside. While the interior had seen better days, I had to admit he kept the seats and floor space way neater and cleaner than I expected. Settling myself in, I buckled up and waited in silence as Leo climbed in and we headed west. The tactic always worked. People were never able to stand the quiet for too long and had a deep-seated need to fill the emptiness with idle chitchat. It was simply a matter of—

“Is this your first time in Melrose Bay?”

Bingo. Time.

Leo’s voice, low and gentle as he asked his question, had me wondering, for an instant, if he’d sound the same first thing in the morning as we lay together in bed, which unsettled me. The idea of him spending the night and us waking up together the day after wasn’t something I took part in anymore, and certainly not with the men I hooked up with to scratch one of my many itches.

“I have a house here,” I answered. He looked my way, eyes widening, momentarily distracting me with their deep cornflower blue coloring. The typical blond-haired, blue-eyed boy, I bet he played everything by the book. Good grades in school. Popular with the girls and the boys. Hell, I bet he’d been captain of his high school football team before getting a place at Harvard or some other prestigious law school. Though, if that were the case, why would he be practicing in a small seaside town and not for some fancy law firm in Boston or New York?

Again, he had me wondering about him, which wasn’t like me at all. My trivial musings didn’t matter anyway, as my real interest lay in closing out this deal. Having him in my bed would be an added bonus, nothing more.

“On the beach.” I tacked on, because why not? I pictured my home sitting on the bluff with its own wooden-stepped access down to the beach. I’d bought the place at the lowest point in my life, and the purchase had been the best decision I’d ever made.

“Impressive,” he murmured, his focus on the road again, affording me the opportunity to subtly check out his profile. Short, wheat-blond hair, longer on top and perfectly styled. Square jaw. Nice, high cheekbones and his nose, though now corrected, must have been broken at some point in the past.

Striking wasn’t a term I would ordinarily use, but the phrase suited him. I let my gaze drop to his lips the exact same time his tongue slid out to moisten them, the action sending a kick to my gut I wasn’t prepared for. My cock instantly woke as saliva coated his lips making them glisten in the snow’s reflection. Visions of my precum coating them instead, as I stroked my dick along his seam, before pushing inside his mouth flashed in front of my eyes.

He was the best type of a turn-on. Sexy, but didn’t know it. My cock thickened, tightening my pants as the idea of getting him naked became even more of an interesting possibility. Making him lose his cool would be fun, and once the lid came off, I’d bet he’d be all kinds of amazing in the sack.

My instincts about people were hardly ever wrong. Only the one time, or two, depending on how you viewed the situation. And I’d certainly paid a heavy price for that mother of all fuckups.

Not letting myself get lost down that particular rabbit hole, I concentrated on the road in front of me instead. Hmmm, perhaps Leo had been right, after all. The snow sat piled high on either side of us and a thick covering lay on the concrete road surface. We’d not long passed the sign for Melrose Pines, the trailer park the town tried to hide from the tourists, when Leo indicated right for a turn between a gap in the fenceposts I barely saw through all the deep white. The one saving grace was the outline of two parallel tire tracks we neatly slotted into that would presumably lead us directly to our destination.

I’d scoped out the place in the summer when I’d come here to check on Mason while he’d been recuperating at my beach house after his assault. Trying to get hold of the owner had proved nigh on impossible, so I’d hired someone to fly a drone over the property for me to get a feel for the place before drafting the deal. My reasons for buying the cabin and land weren’t entirely altruistic, of course. As well as making good business sense and bringing in a lot of extra cash and employment to the townsfolk, this new investment would very likely push up the property prices, and I was all for making a few extra bucks on my beach house.

My excitement started to build, thinking about how our guests would feel when driving along the compacted dirt road with the towering pines enclosing them on all sides as they headed toward the exclusive eco cabins and cozy lodges Mason would eventually build.

The vehicle jolted as we hit a dip, pulling me out of my reverie in time for me to grab the side bar with one hand and the seat with the other, as Leo slowed abruptly, our journey almost grinding to a halt at the need to reduce our speed to a snail-like pace as we crossed over an old bridge that looked like the whole thing might collapse at any minute. I held my breath as we rumbled over the wooden slats, peering over the side at the fast-running stream just below us, and only letting it out once we’d crossed to the other side and were on solid ground.

After a further ten or so minutes, and a torturous ascent up the long mountain track, we leveled out, enabling me to relax enough to release my death grip on the edges of the seat, as rounding a bend, our destination came into view. The huge pine trees we’d passed on our way in, their branches bowing under the heavy weight of snow, grudgingly gave way to a big open yard composed mostly of mud and slush.

Leo parked in front of a dilapidated barn, switched off the engine, and turned to me. “I’ve yet to meet Mr. Houghton in person.” I expressed my surprise at his statement, making him hastily continue. “He’s something of a recluse and rarely ventures off the property, so all our discussions about your proposal have been conducted over the phone.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t sure what else he wanted me to say. I’d had to deal with all sorts of people since the four of us started the company over ten years ago. If the guy was an introvert and didn’t like being around other people, I’d adapt accordingly.

Despite the rough outlook, the place appeared well organized, with cut firewood stacked neatly in the open barn alongside a whole host of equipment I had no clue what to do with lined up against the rear wall. In another barn, I caught sight of bales of hay or possibly straw or both—I had no clue of the difference—uniformly stacked and easy to reach. The main cabin, appearing homey, although not large, nestled along the tree line. At first glance, the massive log walls, stone chimney, and wide, covered porch looked like an image from a postcard, but on closer inspection, I easily spotted the rotting wood sides, and a few missing railing posts. I’d also lay odds the roof would need to be replaced too, but I couldn’t tell for sure with it currently under a thick layer of snow. Rustic was far too optimistic a word for its current state. The only buildings looking reasonably well maintained were the stables, which wasn’t saying much at all.

A distinct air of sadness and neglect permeated the whole place. I imagined a lot of work would need to be done to bring the cabin up to code, and to be honest, it would be less expensive to level the entire site and start over.

I opened the car door and took a deep breath, letting the fresh, clean air and strong smell of pine trees fill my lungs. The forest seemed to go on forever, and I was too distracted by the ancient splendor as I climbed out of the vehicle to look down. Landing in a deep brown puddle of icy water, I instantly cursed my forgetfulness at leaving my boots in my SUV and was already mourning the handmade Italian leather shoes I currently wore. They’d be ruined before I made it more than a couple of feet.

It took Leo somewhat longer to get out of his side, and I suspected he’d be changing into the boots I’d spied on the floor behind the driver’s seat. Irritated, I waited for him to reach me, and we carefully made our way toward the cabin, stopping immediately halfway there at the sight of the man already waiting for us on the porch.

The scene was reminiscent of something out of a horror movie. The ones where they repeatedly tell you not to go into the woods, and in no uncertain terms, never go to the cabin in the woods. I suddenly understood how they felt.

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