Love For Hire (7 page)

And Matt, despite his flaws and unpredictable nature, was someone Jayden could fall in love with. He might even be halfway there already, which would only spell disaster for him! There was no point in denying there was something about Matt Archer that kept calling to him, tugging at his very soul, and it was going to be really hard to resist the haze that always seemed to take over his mind whenever the man was near.

He needed to focus on a few things if he wanted to survive this job with his sanity intact: he was here to do a job, and any signs of affection he received from Matt were because both of them were playing their parts.

There had been no witnesses tonight, no need for Matt to keep pretending he cared, so why had he acted like he had before putting the brakes on? Matt didn’t have to invite him to watch the game; they didn’t have to laugh together, and there had been no reason for Matt to push him aside since he was paying for Jayden’s time and body.

Jayden had been willing, eager even, and for some reason Matt had pushed him aside. Why? The one thought kept looping around in his head, driving him to distraction. The only good thing about this loop was it was better than counting sheep, because in no time at all, Jayden was fast asleep.

His steely reserve not to let Matt get to him was slowly crumbling, and even though he knew nothing good could come of it, he probably was already too far gone to do anything about it. Was he really so love-starved as to fall for the first guy showing him signs of affection?

 The next few days were spent in a similar fashion. Jayden woke up early every day and there would be breakfast laid out for him in the parlor. The next few hours he usually either walked the extensive gardens or spent sitting in a comfortable chair on the veranda, staring at nothing in particular. It was relaxing, and the scary thing was he could totally get used to this kind of lifestyle. Really, who wouldn’t?

He had no idea what Matt did with his mornings, but when he came to pick Jayden up for lunch, the guy always looked exhausted.

Days passed in a by now familiar routine until Matt announced that there was to be a garden party later that night. In order to let the caterers set up in peace, Matt offered to take Jayden for stroll downtown, touring a few shops and generally just passing the time.

They were walking along yet another busy road when Jayden suddenly stopped, his eyes glued to a small teddy bear sitting on a shelf in one of the many children’s stores situated on this particular street. Yearning so intense it nearly had his knees buckling overtook him, and he managed to rescue himself from falling over by putting his hands on the window.

He flashed back to his favorite teddy bear, the one his mother had given him. He clearly remembered always carrying it around with him, hugging it, and when she had passed away, he had even taken it to the funeral with him. Thinking back, he knew he had been holding onto it because it was the only reminder he had left of his mother, but back then, he hadn’t realized it.

He clearly remembered the love he had felt for the animal, how he had talked to it and how he had groomed it; taking care of it had distracted him from the pain in his heart.

Then one day, his father had snatched the poor thing out of his small hands, stomped on it, and thrown it out. Jayden had cried, he had run after his father, he had even gone so far as to fall into the trash bin in his efforts to retrieve it, but it had been in vain. All it had gotten him was a thorough beating and a broken heart.

And now, this teddy bear looking back at him was an almost exact copy of the one he had lost. He was years older now, nineteen years of age, but there was still a small child inside him, and he wanted that bear!

His gaze was fixed on the window, not wavering at all. Bombs could’ve been dropped left and right and he wouldn’t have noticed. Time passed until….

“Here,” Matt’s gruff voice finally managed to get his attention. Jayden turned his head only to come face to face with
his bear
.

Jayden stared at the little thing, reaching for it, holding it up as if he were afraid it was going to turn into smoke and disappear, but when he found that after a few blinks it was still there, he carefully lifted his head to look at Matt.

Matt looked sheepish and totally uncomfortable, but there was a shy smile tugging at the edges of his mouth, and with a little shriek, Jayden threw himself at Matt, hugging him as if he had just met Santa Claus. He knew he was acting like a lunatic, but he couldn’t help it. This was the nicest thing anyone had done for him in a long time, probably ever, and it meant so much to him he momentarily lost all his words.

Matt had gone completely stiff underneath him, but eventually he relaxed marginally. Still, he didn’t return the hug, and when Jayden pulled away, it was Matt for once who looked uncomfortable and out of his element.

“Thank you,” Jayden said simply, and because he felt he needed to offer some sort of explanation, he added, “It looks just like the teddy bear my mother gave me before she died.” His voice faltered a bit before he said again, “Thank you.”

“Uhm…,” was all Matt said, awkwardly patting him on his back before continuing their walk as if nothing had happened at all.

But something
had
happened. Matt had done something for him out of the kindness of his heart. This wasn’t a gesture Jayden could easily brush off. There was more to Matt Archer than the man allowed to be seen, and Jayden would have loved to spend more time unraveling the mystery, peeling away layer after layer until he got to the core of Matt Archer’s soul.

He wasn’t deluding himself with ideas of Matt having suddenly fallen in love with him or that maybe their sham relationship could turn real. Regardless of what his heart wanted, his head was firmly planted in real life, and there was no way someone as handsome and rich as Matt would fall in love with someone like
him
.

But if Matt would come to care for him just a little bit, then Jayden would be able to walk away from this with fond memories and the knowledge that there was someone out there who, at least for a brief moment in time, had cared if he lived or died. It would sustain him in those moments when the loneliness got too heavy, bearing down to crush him. He could use it like a beacon, and maybe that made him pathetic, but Jayden had learned early on to make the most out of the things given to him.

It would’ve
been an easy thing for him to try and calm his fluttering nerves by helping himself to one of the many cocktails served at the party, but Jayden resisted the temptation, choosing to have a clear head instead.

He looked the part of rich boyfriend; dressed in thin black cotton trousers and a sleeveless shirt, he matched everyone else when it came to looking elegant and effortlessly rich. On the inside, though, he was quaking. What if someone discovered he was a fraud?

“Nothing to worry about,” he mumbled to himself. “You aren’t breaking any laws here….”

The words of comfort aimed at easing his worry didn’t quite work, and eventually, with a huge, fake smile plastered to his face, Jayden retreated to a corner, staying there. Maybe all those wallflowers really had it right! Better to stay out of sight and away from grabby hands and curious questions than to suffer the hell of constant attention.

Eventually the night finally came to an end, and by then, he felt slightly delirious with all the smiling he had done. Since no one had stopped and accused him of not belonging, he figured he must’ve done something right. In the sanctuary of his room, he allowed the silence to engulf him, massaging his abused ears. The music on its own hadn’t been too loud, but when combined with the constant chatter of countless people, it had created a level of noise that had bordered on being painful.

He was hopping on his feet while trying to get rid of his shoes when the door opened and closed behind him. He didn’t turn around because he knew there was only one person who could possibly be standing behind him, and when a strong hand settled on his shoulders, he wasn’t disappointed or surprised.

He threw off his last shoe, and on bare feet he leaned backward, allowing Matt to pull him toward his body. His back connected with the man’s bare chest, presumably because he had already unbuttoned his shirt. His heart fluttered and sped up while little butterflies started waking up in his stomach.

A gentle hand ran over his side, pressing Jayden closer to Matt’s body, and all he did was lean backward until his head rested on Matt’s shoulder. The man was taller than him, maybe not by much, but their size difference was just enough to make this embrace feel natural rather than awkward and forced.

A thumb went underneath his undershirt, touching bare skin, and Jayden hissed while his eyes fluttered shut.

His dress shirt was already lying crumpled on the floor, and when Matt lifted his undershirt further, Jayden’s hands rose without needing any further invitation. The shirt was pulled over his head, and then Jayden turned, his own hands rising up to draw Matt down for a heated kiss.

There were no tongues involved because they didn’t have time for them to come out and play. Strong, calloused fingers were massaging the thin strip of skin over the hem of Jayden’s trousers before his zipper was slowly lowered. Then the hand snaked inside, palming him through the fabric before, in one swift move, his trousers and his underwear were pooling at his ankles.

A knowing smile played across Jayden’s face, and he shrugged off the remaining clothes, stepping away from Matt in the process. He was completely naked now, and when Matt’s blue eyes freely roamed his body, heat spread over his face, coloring his cheeks. He crooked a finger in the universal come-hither gesture before languidly moving toward the bed.

Matt’s hungry look never left his face while with efficient, sharp moves he undressed at record speed.

For the first time, Jayden got to see Matt’s body, and his mouth watered at the tanned skin displayed before him.

Matt’s blond hair and blue eyes tended to make people think he had fair skin, but apparently, this was further proof of how expectations could be wrong, because when he took off his shirt, his body was tanned, his muscles were taut, and Jayden’s fingers practically ached from the need to touch them. The fine blond hairs on his arms were barely visible, and his chest was almost completely smooth.

Matt hadn’t worn any shoes, and the dress pants pooled at his feet along with his underwear just moments later.

There wasn’t an ounce of fat on his body, but what surprised Jayden were the faint scars littered across Matt’s beautiful body. They were barely visible, but they were still there. There was a jagged one running along his right thigh, and there was another one on the left-hand side of his stomach. They looked nasty, and Jayden wondered how someone like Matt could’ve ended up with them.

Questions shone in his eyes, but Matt ignored them, crawling on all fours up the bed until Jayden spread his legs to accommodate him.

His fingers trailed along the prominent scar on Matt’s thigh, memorizing the edgy contours and hard skin. As his fingers continued their journey over bare skin, the hard muscle underneath his touch twitched and flexed, sending shock waves of raw want through Jayden’s body, penetrating his core.

“How…?” he mumbled, but Matt confidently bypassed the question by leaning in and kissing Jayden passionately on his mouth.

Jayden groaned, retuning the kiss with equal heat, matching his lover’s strokes and nibbles until a full-on body shudder had him shivering and gasping. His legs parted further while, like a cat in heat, he rubbed his body against Matt’s, desperately looking for some friction.

“Hmm,” Matt hummed, slowly pulling away to catch his breath. His blue eyes were stormy as the winter sea, but there was no trace of anger present; instead, they shone with hunger, and Jayden couldn’t help but shiver thinking that the emotions swirling in those blue orbs were all due to him.

It was a heady feeling, and when Matt slowly coaxed him to lie on his side, spooning him, he obliged without a second thought. He raised one leg, allowing Matt to slip in between them, and he shuddered when his ass connected with Matt’s cock.

“Easy there….” Matt’s hot breath was ghosting over his sensitive neck, and Jayden closed his eyes, allowing his head to fall sideways, exposing even more of his slender neck. “That’s more like it,” Matt growled in approval, and the ghost of a smile played across Jayden’s features: he liked the way Matt’s voice sounded when he was pleased and aroused.

There was some shifting and some curses and then the familiar sound of foil tearing.

“Let me.” Jayden opened his eyes, getting ready to rise up to put the protection onto Matt’s cock. Quite frankly, it was something he really wanted to do.

“Go for it, then.” Matt lay back, his proud cock jutting upward, slapping his stomach when Matt stroked it, waiting for Jayden to get ready.

Jayden licked his lips, wanting to taste the rigid organ, but what he wanted even more was for it to be buried deeply inside him. He filed the other option away for later.

His fingers were shaking slightly, and when Matt’s fingers ghosted over his, he twitched, stopping and smiling at the man for a moment. The brief touch was enough for Jayden to find his equilibrium, and moments later he expertly rolled the condom onto Matt’s shaft. He couldn’t help it, though; he had to tease a little bit, running his fingers over the bare cock before pulling the condom all the way down.

Matt growled in what Jayden thought was mock anger, and then, when he was done, the man flipped him sideways as if he were a feather.

The guy was stronger than he looked, because despite Jayden’s slight build, he was still a man and thus not the easiest person to flip over. Matt, though, had managed this easily, clearly drawing from some experience of his own. Briefly, Jayden wondered how many lovers Matt had under his belt, but when fingers probed at his ass, the thought no longer held any appeal. The only thing left to dwell on was how soon Matt would get his cock up his ass. Anything else either could wait or was of no importance anyway.