MATCHMAKER (A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance)

by Bella Grant

  She turned into him, dropping her four-hundred-dollar shoes on the sand, and wrapped her arms around his neck. They kissed. He felt strong and solid under her hold. He had the physique of someone who lifted weights and paid a lot of attention to his shape and form.

  Eric led her away from the lights to a section of the beach wrapped in darkness. He sat her down on the sand and pushed her green dress up over her hips. She’d worn miniscule, black, G-string panties, barely there against her dark skin. Eric caressed her hips and ran his fingers over and around the lines of the underwear. She wanted him. Wanted to fill the void she felt for Sterling. It made her feel guilty to think like that.

  With gentle fingers, he pulled the panties off and set them carefully in the sand nearby. When he started kissing the cleft between her legs, he was so gentle, the only way she knew he was there was the light scraping of his stubble against her smooth skin. She wanted more. Wanted Sterling’s rough aggression. This man was so careful, so tender, it didn’t scratch the burning itch inside her.

  What would Sterling do, she wondered, if she got back to Ben’s mansion and sought him out in his suite? At the thought of him, a little moan escaped her lips, and Eric took this as encouragement. He pressed harder, which was good. Cherise leaned back in the cool night sand, tilting her hips towards him, wanting him inside her.

  “Let’s go back to my place,” he whispered.

  “Okay,” she agreed.

  “Less sand there.”

  He had a fair point. It was sexy in theory but not in practicality, and she collected her panties, slipping them into her handbag.

  He took her to a little efficiency apartment, one it seemed clear he hadn’t ever truly moved into. The queen-sized bed sat neatly made, and he scooped her up and carried her to it. He tossed her down, and the motion pushed her skirt up, exposing her. He climbed on top of her, fumbling with his belt, tugging his pants down. He rolled a condom on, something she and Sterling had been remiss about, which made her feel a little guilty. He pushed into her. Working her hips, she met his thrusts. He wasn’t as experienced as Sterling—Stop thinking about Sterling! Stop comparing everything the poor man does to Sterling!

  Cherise tried to lean back and enjoy the sensations of him on her. She stopped him, rolled him over, and rode him, letting him relax and let her do the work of positioning him where she needed him, riding him to meet her needs. The sensations were pleasant. She didn’t regret being here, but he wasn’t rocking her world. She felt like she was betraying something… Why did it take a rich, white guy to satisfy her when Eric was so nice, so appropriate? Her parents and friends would all love him the way they never would Sterling. She chided herself for not enjoying the feel of him more, aware that every iota of over-analysis and scrutiny bled the pleasure out of the experience.

  What was it about Sterling that let her mind run free, let her experience the moment without this kind of examination?

  Eric came with his arms wrapped around her, holding her tight, panting into her neck. She didn’t, and while she was disappointed, she didn’t really mind. She flopped down beside him, aware she was still drunk and that the room was spinning.

  “Can you take me back to the house tonight?” she said.

  He said yes immediately, but the sloping shoulders of his body language told her he was disappointed. She didn’t want to make him sad, but she wanted to be in her own space, even if it was the suite at the villa. She wanted a place to drink water and be alone when she was sick in the morning. Too much tequila. It snuck up on her when she wasn’t careful.

  They didn’t talk much on the drive back, the car’s engine purring the only sound. The mansion was dark when he pulled up, and luckily, he carried a set of keys to let her in.

  “Well,” he said. “Goodnight.”

  They shared an awkward kiss on the lips, one devoid of any kind of passion. Then he left her alone in the darkness, her head swimming.

  “Well, how was it?”

  Sterling’s voice in the dark made her jump, and she wobbled in her heels. He was there to catch her, his hands warm, his climber’s arms strong.

  “How was what?” She was being intentionally obtuse, and she suspected he knew it.

  “You smell like you rolled in a bottle of tequila,” he said. “Drink some water. Here, come on.” He sat her down on a chair in the kitchen and brought her a cool glass of water. “Let me get you some aspirin, too.”

  She drank obediently, and when he returned holding out two pills, she took them without question.

  “I want to say thanks.”

  “Thanks for what?” Cherise was all too aware she slurred her words.

  “What you said to Jenna. She seemed pretty pissed, but you defused her.”

  “What else was I supposed to do?”

  “Throw me under the bus?”

  Cherise laughed, a little louder than she meant to. “We both know that wouldn’t work well for either one of us.”

  Sterling chuckled, too. “You’re not wrong.” He took the empty glass and refilled it. “Drink. Another one.”

  “I’m going to be peeing all night.”

  “Better than puking all morning. We’re going on a Jeep ride at ten through the rainforest.”

  “Ugh. Can Eric come?”

  A dark storm cloud crossed Sterling’s face, but it passed. “You want him to?” Cherise nodded. “As you wish. We’ll make it happen. Anything else you need?”

  “No, I’m good.”

  She tried to stand up and wobbled again. Sterling scooped her up like she weighed nothing and carried her into the bedroom. He turned the covers back and lay her down, pulling her shoes off. Then he vanished and returned with a third glass of water.

  “You know where to find me if you need anything.”

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  He left her alone in the dark, her head spinning.

  STERLING

  “So it must have gone well if Eric’s coming on the Jeep tour with us?” Jenna said.

  “Apparently. She came home around two, drunk as a skunk.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Eh, if it was that good, she would’ve stayed with him.”

  “But she wanted him with us today. Maybe she’s just not that easy.”

  Sterling and Jenna sat out by the pool in the morning sunshine. The blue water sparkled, a brighter, more chlorinated color than the sea behind them.

  “Where is she?” Jenna asked.

  “I’m going to be impressed if she makes it out here at all.”

  Eric arrived, looking less formal than Sterling had ever seen him, in shorts, t-shirt and sneakers. Sterling realized how rarely he took the time to notice the staff in any capacity. Now, he got to hang out with one all day. Actually, two, as Cherise was on his payroll as well. Fascinating.

  “Mr. Waters, I’m really looking forward to the activities today.”

  “Please, call me Sterling. We’re all pals here. Don’t even think about work.”

  “Have you seen Cherise this morning?”

  “Not yet.”

  “She had a little to drink last night…”

  “Oh, here she is,” Jenna said.

  Cherise came out, looking stunning in a blue sundress. She must have been wearing a different bikini than yesterday’s, because her cleavage was astounding. Sterling could lose himself in it for hours. He imagined running his finger through it. His tongue. His cock… His pants grew tight.

  “How are you feeling?” Jenna asked.

  “As long as I keep these giant sunglasses on, I will manage,” Cherise said.

  “Well, ready for an adventure? Eric, you’ve been up Sparrow Rock trail before?”

  “I have, but not for a while.”

  “That’s where we’re headed.”

  They started out with Eric and Cherise in the back, but her stomach was feeling tender so she and Jenna swapped places. Her dark thigh kept catching Sterling’s eye as
her blue skirt rode up, and all he wanted was to place his hand on her warm skin.

  He trained his eyes on the road.

  Sparrow Rock was a pool a little way from the summit of Morne Diablotins. There was a natural pool to swim in and 360 degree views of the ocean and rainforest. Trekking up past where the Jeep would take them, there was a beautiful spot to eat their picnic lunch.

  By this time, Cherise was feeling a bit better. She and Eric laughed and talked, and their intimacy made Sterling grind his teeth. Dammit, he had feelings for her. Dammit, he had feelings. The revelation made his heart pound, almost made his hands shake. He shoved it away. Deal with it later.

  He took Jenna’s hand, and she gazed up at him adoringly. He squeezed it, and she leaned her perfect blonde head against his shoulder. He gave her a kiss and tentatively wondered what sex with her would be like. Would it hold a candle to Cherise? He doubted it, but sex with Cherise was not a thing he would be doing again. Twice was more than enough. He would consider himself lucky they’d done even that much. A pleasant experience to add to a lifetime of experiences he had been privileged to have.

  Jenna ran her hand up and down Sterling’s back, and he wished it made him feel something. Anything. Maybe it would be different when she became available to him. For now, she was teasing, and it only frustrated him.

  “Let’s go for a walk,” she said. He agreed because what else could he do?

  He cast a glance at Cherise and Eric as he followed Jenna down the trail. Cherise leaned into him, and he wrapped his arm around her.

  Was this jealousy? Sterling wondered. There’d never been anything Sterling wanted that he couldn’t just buy. Jenna at his side seemed to prove his point.

  He wanted Cherise, and he couldn’t have her. She’d made it clear from the beginning that their relationship was purely economic. She was friendly, and he was sure she liked him. They’d had a blast rock climbing or doing other non-work activities. She laughed when they did things together. She relaxed. But the idea of them being more than boss and employee didn’t compute. She wouldn’t want that.

  Jenna tucked a hand into the waistband of his shorts. He looped an arm over her shoulders, well aware her perky breast was in easy cupping reach. The first time he’d reached for them, she’d been okay—the second time, she’d been skittish. Then she’d told him she wanted to wait until she was married. He didn’t know what to do with her. Whatever she wanted, he supposed.

  They paused at a spot where the sun beat down through the forest canopy, a rare open place in the jungle. She reached for him, tipped his head down to hers, and kissed him. Her kiss was cautious, timid, all fluttering lips.

  Sterling wasn’t used to someone he had to be careful with. He’d been with a lot of easy women who wanted him for his money, who would do what they thought it would take to get their slice of it. They were almost always the aggressors. He usually just had to show up.

  Jenna was like a complicated minefield to navigate. She parted her lips. He did the same, wanting to keep pace with her. The kiss reminded him of middle school. Terrified and exploratory. Tentative and unsure. He liked experienced, confident women.

  Sterling slid his tongue into her mouth, gently, but she stiffened and pulled away. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

  Sterling sighed. She’d been almost three years without her husband. Who was he to judge the amount of time someone took to heal, but maybe she’d do better if she tried opening herself up to someone?

  What was he thinking? He was closed off like a jail cell. It wouldn’t get her anywhere to open up to him. He didn’t deserve it.

  “I’m so sorry.” He couldn’t think of anything else to say. “I got excited.”

  “I shouldn’t have even gone there. I wanted to try.”

  “Try again. I’ll be gentle. I want to kiss you.”

  Jenna bit her lip, clearly at war with herself. Sterling wondered what Cherise was doing. She suspected it wasn’t this.

  Feeling like a caricature of himself, Sterling asked, “Why can’t you let yourself relax with me? Don’t you trust me? I want to make you feel good. I want to connect with you.”

  “Whenever you kiss me, all I can think about is Steven.”

  “Steven?”

  “My husband.” Sterling racked his brain, trying to remember if she’d ever said his name before. “I feel like I’m betraying his memory. We met when I was in eighth grade and he was a freshman. He was my best friend’s brother. I loved him from the moment I laid eyes on him, even though it took him two years to realize he loved me, too. We were never really apart.”

  Sterling thought of his parents. Of his father. “He would want you to be happy.”

  Maybe he and Jenna were more alike than either of them realized, and this was a better match than he’d initially thought.

  “I don’t want to rush you. Don’t want to force you. Take your time. Should we go back to see what the others are up to?”

  “No, not quite yet. I’m having a good time here with you. It feels good to talk. To talk about Steven.”

  Sterling wondered what happened to him, but didn’t feel it was right to ask. “You can talk about him if it helps.”

  “Thank you. I miss him every day. I talk to him when I get lonely or stressed or scared. Sometimes, I can feel him watching over me and sometimes I can’t, and when I don’t feel him, I get so lost. It’s like he’s abandoned me.” She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

  “He’ll always live in your heart,” Sterling said, not because he believed it but because that’s what people told his father after his mother died.

  “He’s not living there. He’s just the same as he was when he died. He’s never gotten older, there’s nothing new to him. He just stopped. And it isn’t fair. He should be here.”

  What a weird thing to say, Sterling mused.

  “You’re still here. You’re having new experiences.” He didn’t tell her she was getting older. That seemed like a kind of a dick move. “But if you don’t experience life, you’re not any better off than he is. You’re dead with him, just walking around.”

  Sterling’s father had been a zombie for five years after his mother passed, exactly like Jenna sounded. Then he’d killed himself.

  “I can’t do it. Nothing tastes like it did. Nothing feels like it did. I can’t shake the sadness.”

  Again, Sterling regurgitated the platitudes his father had gotten. The ones that didn’t help. But maybe that was more due to his father than to the sentiments. “It won’t ever be the same. But it’ll be different, and the wound will start to heal.”

  “It’s been years.”

  “And you’re so strong for still going. For being here. For even taking this much of a chance.”

  Her face brightened. “Thank you for understanding.”

  Sterling wondered if he should tell her about his father. The unhappy ending prompted him to keep quiet. If Frank Waters was remarried on Long Island, had a new family, kept and honored the memory of his first wife while finding space in his heart to love his second, then Sterling would have told her.

  Jenna wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his chest. Sterling took her in his arms but didn’t try to kiss her. He kept his hands where they would be appropriate at a sixth grade dance.

  He thought about his father, broken and empty after his wife’s death. They were all broken, but it seemed like the broken he and Jenna shared just might work.

  ###

  He tried to find a time to talk to Cherise about this all afternoon but never had a chance to be alone with her. The foursome stopped at the beach on the way back, then went out for pizza in Roseau.

  Once they were all settled in at the villa for the night, Sterling said goodnight to Jenna then waited until he heard Cherise’s shower shut off. He gave her a few minutes to get dressed and get ready for bed, then knocked gently on her door and let himself in.

  She was face down on her bed, wearing a
leopard-print nightgown. It had ridden up, she wasn’t wearing underwear, and he could see her gorgeous ass. He was instantly hard.

  “Sterling,” she said.

  “Yeah?”

  It took him a moment to realize she was asleep. She shifted, spreading her legs and moving her hips. Sterling closed the door behind him with a quiet click. He circled around behind her and could see her glorious pussy. He crawled carefully onto the bed and touched her, running his finger up her slit.

  She was sopping wet, and in her sleep, she moaned. It was too perfect. She was splayed out, presented to him like she was on a silver platter. He bent down and licked where he’d touched, tasting her musky, almost citrus flavor. He could eat her for hours and hours.

  She woke instantly. He could tell when she shifted her body to give him better access. He ran his tongue from her clit to her ass. He’d never felt anyone this wet. He gripped her muscular thighs, loving the feel of her smooth skin. She must have shaved in the shower.

  She rolled over, which gave him an excellent view as well. The nightgown bunched up at her hips, but the neckline was loose, and he could see the tops of her breasts and the hard peaks of her nipples.

  He slid two fingers into her quivering wetness and a third into her tight ass. She went crazy for him, rocking back and forth on his hand, biting her hand to keep quiet.

  She came hard and flopped back onto her pillows, panting.

  CHERISE

  How had he known? Cherise wondered once she could start thinking again. She fantasized about being woken up like that with someone in her room, touching her.

  Sterling pulled off his sweatpants, revealing his beautiful cock. He reached down and divested her of the nightgown, pausing to run his hands over her breasts, pinching and teasing her already hard nipples. He lowered his mouth to her left breast and bit her, sending pleasure and pain jolting through her.

  She got up and shoved him onto his back and straddled him, facing his feet, reverse cowgirl. His hands found her breasts as she rode him, twisting her nipples.

  Cherise reached down for her clit, thrilled by the sensations. She slammed her body onto his, and beneath her, he gave her a wild ride. He let go of her breasts and worked his finger into her ass. At that point, she couldn’t hold on anymore and rode him as hard as she could.