"Doing what?" he asked, storing the ladder on its side, then closing and locking the storage facility.
"Work. At my motel."
He shrugged. "Nothing better to do. Though your mom is bringing the kids back later for more surfing lessons."
Hands on her hips, she said, "You don't have to do that, either."
"I want to. I like your kids, Greta."
She cocked a brow. "Why do I feel like there's some ulterior motive in everything you do?"
"I don't know. I'm pretty direct about what I want. You know I want to buy your motel and I'll keep trying to convince you, but I'll be very up front about that. I don't believe in underhanded tactics or subterfuge. I keep my business separate from personal."
She felt bad for even thinking it. "Sorry."
"You should be. I'm here because I want to be. This is a stretch of beach I remember fondly from when I was a kid. I like it. I like being around your kids, too." He leaned in a pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder. "And I especially like being around you."
She shuddered, stepping into the house. "You're bad for me."
Mitch shut the door behind him, locked it, and leaned her against the wall. "Yeah? How so?"
Her pussy swelled, moisture coating her panties. Just like that, she was aroused, ready, needy. "Because you make me want things I shouldn't."
He leaned in and pressed his lips against her neck. "Yeah? Like what?"
When he licked the column of her throat, her legs buckled. "Like that."
His hand covered her breast, pulled aside the material of her bikini top to cover her flesh, pluck at her nipple. He followed the action by dipping down and taking the already pulsing bud between his lips, devouring her with his hungry mouth until she banged her head against the wall. He turned his head to look at her, his eyes hard with passion.
"Mitch." His name fell from her lips in a throaty whisper that spoke of how deep in the throes of passion she was. He reached behind her and untied the strings of her bikini top, discarded it, filled his hands with her breasts, focusing on her face as he plucked at her nipples until her body burned. He had her wedged between himself and the wall, his knee between her legs, but she didn't mind this, had the freedom for her hands to roam over the exposed flesh of his shoulder, could push him back if she wanted to.
Oh, she didn't want to, in fact wanted to draw him closer, to feel the heat of his cock heavy and hard against her. As far as she was concerned, there was way too much distance between them. Those few inches of separation felt like miles.
"More," she whispered, pulling at his shirt to bring his mouth back to hers, his body in direct contact with all her pleasure points. His lips on hers, his body settled against hers, his cock rocking between her legs, only ratcheted up her craving for more.
She tore at his shirt, lifting it up to pull it over his head. He got her message loud and clear, undoing the strings of his board shorts. She watched him undress while she pushed her own shorts and panties down, kicked them to the side, spreading her legs, needing him with a desperation that bordered on insanity.
Maybe she was insane, out of her mind with this wild desire that had taken hold and gripped her from the inside out, making her lose all common sense. What was she doing making love with Mitch in the middle of the day?
Having fun. You're having fun, Greta. Let go.
He applied a condom, then he was there again, his skin touching her skin, his mouth on hers. He reached behind her to cup her bottom and arch her toward him, lifted one of her legs over his hip and used his hand to guide his cock toward her center, then tilted his head back.
"This okay for you?"
"Yes," was all she could manage before palming the back of his head and taking his mouth while at the same time he slid his cock inside her.
Yes! That's what she needed, Mitch buried deep. She pulsed around him, the heat of her body swelling to an inferno, her pussy surrounding him as he pulled back and slid deeper inside her. And then he lifted her off the floor and she wrapped both legs around his back, riding his cock while he held her, pushing her against the wall as he slammed into her again and again. He lifted her higher so he could take her nipples into his mouth, licking them, sucking them, driving her crazy with sensation that shot pleasure through her nerve endings.
"Look at me, Greta."
She met his gaze, and it was raw, filled with passion, the same need she felt swirling like a vortex inside her. It was so emotional, so incredibly erotic to see passion reflected in his eyes, to know that he felt what she felt.
She tightened, feeling the first strains of orgasm build deep within.
"That's it," he said, his jaw clenched tight, his fingers digging into her ass cheeks as he ground against her, splintering her. "I'm going to come, Greta. Come with me."
Her breathing went erratic, but this time it wasn't panic causing the heaping gulps of air she sucked in. It was giant pulses of bliss that zapped her from the inside out, tearing her apart as intense bursts of lightning-like pleasure gripped her in the throes of a climax that made her cry out and dig her nails into Mitch's shoulders.
He groaned, shuddered, pumping harder as her pussy spasmed around his cock in wave after wave, until she finally relaxed, the pulses lessening. Mitch eased his grip on her. He let her legs down and she touched the floor, but realized she had no balance, no strength. Mitch rested his forehead against hers and they both took long, deep breaths.
"It's a good thing I'm in good shape or you might just kill me."
She laughed. They disengaged and went into her bathroom to clean up. She couldn't help staring at Mitch's body as she watched him soap up in the shower. He caught her looking and grinned.
"Sorry. It's been a long dry spell for me," she said. "You might be in trouble if you hang around me."
He turned her around and soaped her back. "That's the kind of trouble I don't mind."
And she wouldn't mind having him hanging around, which really wasn't a good thing.
Because she knew it was only temporary. Soon enough, he'd be leaving. And the last thing she needed to do was become involved, attached, or in any way emotional about Mitch Magruder.
Mitch was becoming attached. That wasn't good for business.
But after spending the morning with Greta, and then the afternoon surfing again with her kids, he realized that it would be so easy to just...hang out with them. With all of them.
He liked kids just fine, and they always seemed to like him, but he didn't necessarily feel a need to spend a lot of time with them. The thing was, he really liked Jeff and Zoey, had a natural affection for both of them that had seemed to develop instantly. The three of them had bonded, they talked about anything and everything, and damn those kids were smart. And fun. They had no fear of the water, and hell, what wasn't there to like about that?
But he worried about them, about their futures, almost like a...parent.
He wasn't their father. The damn irritating thing was, they had no father. The man who should be responsible for them had bailed. And that wasn't right.
Greta was a wonderful mother, had made a ton of sacrifices for her kids, but he knew they needed more.
He could give them more, but what right did he have to interfere?
If she'd just accept his offer...
"You must be plann
ing a huge deal."
He turned at the sound of Don's voice. He'd asked Don to meet him at Rusty's Bar for a beer this afternoon. They shook hands and Mitch signaled the waitress for two cold ones. "I'm always planning a huge deal."
"That must be what put that look in your eyes. I know it wasn't Greta agreeing to sell the Crystal Sands."
"You know your sister that well, huh?"
Don laughed and accepted the bottle of beer the waitress set in front of him, took a long swallow and leaned back in the wide wood chair. "She thinks of that old rundown bucket of wood and nails as a monument to our old man. I loved our dad too, but she was Daddy's little girl. And when he left her that motel, she took it as a sign that he wanted her to keep it as some kind of memorial to him."
"Did he?"
Don shook his head and took another pull of his beer before answering. "I doubt it. Dad loved the Crystal Sands. He always had big plans for that place. Then again he had big plans for a lot of his projects."
"Like the fishing and boating business."
Don nodded. "Fortunately, that's a pretty lucrative piece of the pie. And I've been able to grow the business by adding a couple more boats and building onto the pier. Greta has no capital."
"I've offered."
"I know, I know," Don said, raising his hand. "But her thought processes are different. She's sentimental. She doesn't like change. And Cody...man, that sonofabitch did a number on her, Mitch."
"She told me some of it."
"He held the wallet. Managed the finances, controlled every penny she spent, where she was allowed to go. He laid a thumb over her."
As strong a personality as Greta was, he couldn't fathom her abiding that. "How did she put up with it?"
"I don't know," Don said, dragging his fingers through his thinning hair. "She put up with a ton of shit from that prick, all to protect the kids. He threatened them, threatened her that he'd take the kids and disappear. The best thing that ever happened to her was the day he left and agreed to the divorce."
"Asshole." Mitch made a mental note to track down Cody Mason and make his life a living hell.
"Anyway, after Dad died and gave her the motel, she finally had something that no one could take from her. So now she holds on to that motel like it's the only thing of value in her life. That and her kids. Because they're hers."