Spark Read online

  I fanned myself with my notebook and took a quick glance at my watch—no doubt Josh tried to run this same time each day. This could be my morning entertainment.

  I expected to see Josh slow as he approached George’s cabin but he maintained his speed and disappeared. He must be doing multiple loops. I would no doubt see him come by again.

  I turned my attention to my notebook and the jumble of thoughts there about my characters and plot for my latest work in progress. I scratched out some details and wrote new ones in the margins. I smiled when I realized the hero I had been imagining looked like Josh. They had the same build and coloring. Maybe he would be my muse this summer to make this character come alive.

  The next pages of the notebook had numbers running down the left-hand column, increasing in number, and separated with several lines. These represented the chapters I anticipated to write. I knew there were scenes that would be important for the story and I wrote down details related to those events in the chapters approximately where I thought they would be. This gave me the chance to see where I might need to expand the plot in certain areas. It also gave me places within the story that I could start writing. The beginning was not always the best place to start and if I did not know how to connect two events, I could table that and focus on another section of the story.

  This afternoon I would pick a chapter that seemed interesting and start fleshing it out. I found that getting a large chunk down on paper gave me confidence to tackle the rest. The difficult parts would come later, or I might find that what I thought should be in the story did not really need to be there. A successful dive into the writing pool in the beginning just made it easier. The visual of the chapters and their mini-descriptions gave me something to ponder without getting hung up on the unknown portions.

  If I was successful, I would have some pages to print and edit after Beau’s evening walk, dinner, and few glasses of wine. Each day I would repeat until it was done. The repetition worked, but I also welcomed the distractions. Josh’s runs and some time spent in the office should work to break up the days without taking too much time.

  I sketched until the well was dry. Much of it would be scrapped later when I got the story going anyway. I reached down to pet Beau and then sat back to enjoy some coffee and take in the peaceful surroundings. My house in Phoenix was near a busy intersection and whenever I sat outside or had the windows open, traffic was constant background noise. Here I only had bird chirps and buzz of a nearby bee. Then I heard the faint sound of Josh’s steps on the gravel road. I felt myself get hard in anticipation and harder as he came into view. I felt suddenly young as if I was in college when every guy seemed to get me excited. He was soaked with sweat and his shorts were clinging to him and outlining his package. He passed and the rear view was as good as the front. He was round and firm.

  This time he did slow and he left the road for George’s cabin eventually walking with his arms folded behind his head to catch his breath. He disappeared around the front and I finally let myself blink.

  He would need some time to get ready for the day before he would officially be in the office. I finished my coffee slowly, made sure Beau had food and water, and changed into navy shorts and a striped polo. There was no dress code but I wanted to look somewhat respectable. I had picked out three outfits last night each with a different degree of formalness. I scolded myself that I was making too big a deal out of this and settled on the shorts instead of pants and the polo instead of a t-shirt or button down.

  Yes, I wanted Josh to like me, but he would most likely see me as nothing more as a nice guy who was willing to help out. I was not up here to find love and romance anyway. In fact, it had been at least a year since I had seriously considered myself on the market and looking for a relationship. Even then I was not this goofy about what to wear.

  It was after the normal posted office hours, so I walked down to George’s cabin and around to the side with the office entrance. The office had the main room with the desk for registration and some chairs on the side by a rack of tourism brochures. Behind the desk was a back office with filing cabinets, a desk, and George’s computer. He had at least converted to doing his books on financial software a few years back to appease his CPA.

  I assumed Josh was using a bedroom off the back office as his room. George’s main living area was accessed from a second door off the front porch. I knew it was a simple space from the dinners and other social times in his cabin. The residence had a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, eating nook, and living room. This extra bedroom had originally been used as storage, then his wife Anna’s craft room, and finally converted to a bedroom when Anna’s mother came to stay with them for a year.

  The office door was unlocked, but when I stopped in no one was behind the registration desk. George’s habit was to flip the lock even if he was stepping out of the office and into his place for a few quick minutes. Either Josh was not concerned about keeping the office secure or he had left it open for me.

  “You never know what people might do when you’re not looking.” I left my cabin door unlocked and was pretty sure most of the guests did as well. I always felt safe up here and pretty sure I knew who was around, who belonged, and who might be up to no good.

  I leaned against the counter. Josh had done a lot to fix the mess from yesterday. Papers were again neatly stacked and bound together. Maybe he did not need my help after all?

  The door to the back office was open a crack. I stepped around the counter and attempted to peer in but could not see anything. “Josh?”

  I opened the door further to find an empty office. “Anyone here?” On either side of the computer were stacks of ledgers and other miscellaneous papers. This must have been where Josh was searching for the Farnham’s reservation when I stumbled through the door. If he was converting everything to electronic systems, it would be easy for files to end up in the wrong stack.

  To the right was a closed door, but I could hear running water. Josh was still getting ready.

  I stepped to the desk. Josh must be looking through the financial records. If he knew what he was looking for in those records, he was no doubt discovering the business was not pulling in tons of cash. George lived simply and did not need a lot of extra to support himself—at least not until now. With the hospital stay and doctor visits, there had to be some large hospital bills and ongoing expenses for medicine and doctor visits. Living here had been a good life for George, but for someone else it might not be enough. Would this be the last year that I would come here and see George? Would there be new owners next year? Or worse, would the place sit empty without anyone to run it? I loved the camp the way it was. The only improvement would be if Josh was around. I would not mind seeing Josh run each morning for the rest of my life.

  I moved some pages to the side and bumped the mouse. The monitor came alive. I expected to see spreadsheets where Josh was crunching numbers. Instead, the screen showed a website—an adult website. A website of men fucking.

  He does bark up my tree. I watched videos on this same site from time to time to get myself off. Had I missed Josh taking care of himself?

  “Seeing what you need?”

  I turned to see Josh standing in the doorway to his room. Hair wet. Shirtless. Wearing black sport shorts. He leaned against the doorframe crossing his arms. He biceps bulged.

  “Hey…reporting for duty as promised.” I hoped the casual approach would make things less awkward. Maybe he would not notice the screen behind me and my discovery. Or maybe he would and we could laugh about it and move on. What man did not watch a little porn from time to time?

  “We didn’t set a time. I figured you would be here late morning.”

  “I guess I’m eager.” I looked at his tanned abs then down to his shorts—he was not wearing underwear.

  Eager was probably the wrong word. Excited to help. Ready to begin. These expressions seemed to be more appropriate. Eager seemed too focused on Josh. With him standing mostly naked—how
could it not be about Josh?

  “See anything…interesting?”

  “Well…we seem to enjoy some of the same websites.” I knew I was caught. I might as well own up to what I had done and what I had seen.

  I glanced back down and thought his penis seemed to have thickened and was more erect, pushing the loose fabric out away from his body.

  “I know you’re here to help. I think I need you most in here.” He cocked his head to the bedroom. He reached down and put his hand into the shorts, pulling his penis and balls out and over the waistband. He leaned back against the door jam and stroked himself harder. His other hand pushed the shorts lower on his hips.

  My gaze moved upward from his hard cock to his chiseled abs, wet with the remnants of his shower. His nipples were hard and jutted out from his pecs. Trimmed hair spattered across his chest. I finally locked eyes and felt his desire for release.

  I felt hunger, too. It had been too long since I had been with anyone. The feel of another man’s body could not be replaced with a jerk off session. I needed a man to be inside me or me to be inside of him. I had not realized how I had suppressed this longing for so long. Now here he was, naked, stroking, and asking me into his room. This could have been a porn scene playing on the website.

  “Come here,” he said.

  Was this really happening? A few minutes ago, I had not even been in the room and now Josh was naked, hard, and ready to play. Even in a bathhouse I had not seen things move this quickly.

  I crossed the office to where he stood. I ran my finger down his chest and found a nipple. I squeezed gently and saw him jump with pleasure. I leaned down and licked the same nipple. My tongue flicking it back and forth. Josh groaned. I worked one nipple and then moved to the other side to give equal attention. The trimmed hairs scraped my cheeks as I pressed close.

  Josh grabbed the back of my head and pressed me closer. “Gentle bites,” he requested. I lightly pressed his hard nipple between my teeth. He groaned louder and arched his back. “That feels so good.”

  My right hand stroked his cock that pulsed and hardened as I worked his nipples with my tongue. Hearing his groans and sensing his pleasure made me more excited and I licked a bit more rapidly, returning to the first nipple to keep the sensations hitting him from all directions.

  Josh moved his hands to my shoulders and started to push downward.

  I kneeled and took him in my mouth. I sucked and stroked working farther down the shaft. Josh groaned and his cock throbbed in my throat. Both of his hands pressed against the back of my head. I quickened my movement and his groans grew louder and his breath quickened.

  “Oh, god,” he said, “Don’t stop!”

  I gripped Josh’s thighs to steady myself and kept up my pace. The excitement and thrill spurred me onward to suck and bob with the occasional gasp for air. I could feel his muscles tense under my grip.

  “I’m going to cum,” he said.

  I could have stopped then, pulled back and finished him off with my hand. I felt a hunger for him. I wanted him like I had not wanted a man in a long time.

  Josh thrusted and grunted. My mouth filled with cum. Instinctively, I swallowed as his cock throbbed and shot his load. I slowed my movement and lightened my grip. I pulled back completely switching to stroking with my hand. I breathed in deeply. I smiled and looked up at him. He was leaning against the wall, head tilted back.

  I watched his chest move out and in as his breathing regulated. There was a light glisten of sweat that highlighted his pecs.

  I stood up and he looked at me. The right side of his mouth curled up. “You’re hired.”

  I laughed, “I didn’t realize that was part of the job description.”

  “It’s not officially. Consider it ‘additional duties as needed.’”

  I felt heat in my cheeks. I usually knew someone better before having sex with them—dinner, drinks, coffee date. After a few scares in my twenties I started to be more cautious. Now that I had thrown caution to the wind, I suddenly did not know how to act. Josh was not just some guy I had slept with—I was supposed to be helping him run the office. He was my friend’s nephew. A random guy would disappear. Sex with someone I saw every day made things complicated.

  “I can’t tell you how much I needed that.” Josh winked, “Let me finish getting ready and we can get started on the real work.”

  He walked back into his room and started to close the door. He paused and leaned back out. “I’ll meet you out there.” He pointed to the outer office. “No more snooping on my desk.” He closed the door and shortly after I heard the shower switch back on.

  I returned to the front office and sat down at the registration desk. I surveyed the piles of papers, ledgers, and office supplies. More organized than when I had first seen them, but still askew and without a definite order. Nothing was where George would have put it. Who knew if the next guests to check in would suffer the same fate as the Farnham’s had? The space needed order to make sure a busy check-in time went smoothly. Clients had usually been traveling awhile and were anxious to get settled when they arrived. Re-establishing order—whether George’s system or another—would be a top priority to ensure efficient check-ins.

  I laughed to myself. Here I was annoyed by disorder. Yet minutes ago, I gave into passion which would probably send my summer into chaos and disorder—a summer when I needed to focus on my book. Fooling around with Josh or any romantic entanglement promised to derail the work I needed to do.

  The image of Josh running came through my mind, then his naked body when the shorts dropped, followed by the feel of him pulling me closer as he thrust deep into my mouth. If I had to be distracted, I could not ask for anything better.

  I began to organize the space while I waited for Josh to appear.

  Chapter Four

  Josh was all business when he came out of the room. We did not talk about the encounter. He did not flirt. I chose to do the same.

  We focused on cleaning up the front space and walking through the reservation and check-in process. George had meticulous records but they were all handwritten. Josh was converting everything to an online system. He was confident he had fixed the problem he encountered yesterday. If everything worked, clients would more easily be able to book rooms online and not have to call to check availability. He was worried that many customers were overlooking the cabins as an option because there was not an online presence.

  “You probably need to tap into a new generation of vacationers. Besides the typical computer problem like you had the other day, do you have a contingency plan for when there are periods of power outages and you can’t use the computer?”

  “Does that happen often?”

  “I think every summer that I’ve been here. One big storm knocks down some trees and we’re all enjoying dinner that can be cooked on the grill or campfire.”

  Joshed sat back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. “Seems like a rare occurrence, but good to keep in mind. There should be some way to temporarily handle these by paper, if needed. I’ll take a look at what is in place for generators or temporary power for the office.”

  “You’re hell-bent on bringing this place into modern time.”

  “Rustic is nice, but clients will be expecting more when it comes to tech.”

  He was right. I came to the cabins to get away, but if I could not get in touch with my editor or research some topics, I would be stuck. Families thought they wanted to spend time together without the distractions of the modern world but quickly found themselves unsure of how to disconnect from their devices, games, and social media. Plopping the kids down in front of the TV or with a tablet had many perks. I would be stuck without some connection to the Internet—I could not totally disappear from my editor, and my fans enjoyed a tweet or a pic from time to time.

  “I’ll have to think about this some more,” he said finally. “We need to modernize but also need a contingency plan. Well, I think we’ve done all we can for the day.”


  I looked at my watch. It was mid-afternoon and I had not done anything to make progress in my writing for the day. If I was not careful, the day would disappear. Beau would also be looking for me and needing some attention. I stood and began collecting loose papers and putting them in stacks.

  “Let’s pick this up again tomorrow.” He stood up and slapped me on the ass. I looked at him in surprise—he had been all business and now suddenly seemed to be signaling interest in more. He winked, “Good job today.”

  He left me in the front office where I stood with the papers. I had not moved. I was stunned and unsure how to proceed. I knew what to do when a guy showed interest and what to do when he did not. This mixture and quick changes had me unsure of what his interest really was and what my next move should be. Getting out before I did something to embarrass myself seemed to be the smartest idea.

  Beau was watching through the cabin door’s window and started barking when he saw me. I grabbed the leash and got him ready for a walk, grabbed a couple plastic bags, and we set out.

  We headed around the loop of cabins. Beau sniffed and pulled at the leash. I saw Leah Farnham on her porch, but she did not return my wave. Normally, I would be focused on training Beau to walk at my side and keep slack on the line. Today my mind was focused on Josh.

  George was wrong about his nephew. This morning’s events proved that. Even if he was in the closet, he seemed very open to my touch. Being with another man was not a new thing for him. George just may not know. The two may not have been that close. Also, living far apart, Josh may never have felt the need to come out to his uncle.

  My most burning question centered around whether or not Josh was interested in me. He let me give him a blowjob, but if it had been another guy instead of me, would his reaction have been any different? Was it me or just the fact that I was there and willing? Was there a mutual attraction or just a mutual need that needed to be satisfied?

  Once back at the cabin I checked on Beau’s water and topped it off. He crawled onto his dog bed in the corner and settled in for a nap.