Temptation by Design: Coastal College Football, #1

Temptation by Design

Andrea Dalling

Lovelight Press

Copyright © 2016 Andrea Dalling

Temptation by Design by Andrea Dalling.

Electronic Edition.

Edited by Dj Hendrickson Editing.

Cover design by Artesian Well Publishing.

∞∞∞

All rights reserved. No part of this story may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the copyright holder, except in the case of brief quotations embodied within critical reviews and articles.

∞∞∞

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

∞∞∞

The author has asserted her rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book. This book contains sexually explicit content which is suitable only for mature readers.

∞∞∞

First electronic publication: December 2016.

http://lovelightpress.com

Temptation by Design is set in North Carolina, and as such uses American English throughout.

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7—Epilogue

Share Your Thoughts

Chapter 1

Professor Ben Silver strolled into the auditorium through the backstage door. With the production of Macbeth premiering in two months, set design was underway. His pulse sped up as he approached the stage, lights bright. Chase Coltrane came into view. The framing for the backdrops was complete, and Chase was attaching the canvas with a strong, steady hand.

The guy was gorgeous with his thick, dark hair and golden skin, sharp cheekbones and coal-black eyes. Ben shouldn’t notice a student that way, but it was difficult not to. Besides, it wasn’t like Ben would be tempted to do anything with the man. Chase was clearly straight, flirting with all the female students after class. His charisma kept them swarming.

Chase was an architecture student taking Ben’s Shakespeare in Performance class as an elective. Older than most students, he was at North Carolina Coastal College on the G.I. Bill. Now in his junior year, after two tours of duty in the Navy, Chase had to be in his late twenties. It was nice having a more mature student in charge of this aspect of the play.

Ben approached. You’re making good progress.

Thanks. Chase set down the staple gun. It’ll be a challenge, designing it to look right from the audience’s perspective rather than close up. But I appreciate the opportunity. I’m learning a lot.

We appreciate your hard work. Ben gave him a smile. By we, he meant himself and Professor Fiona Leonard, a drama specialist who was co-teaching the Shakespeare in Performance class. She was also serving as a drama coach for the Coastal College Players, the college’s all-male Shakespeare troupe. Chase had expressed an interest in set design the previous semester and helped out with their production of The Tempest. He’d done such a great job that Ben had put him in charge this time around.

You hungry? Chase asked. I was just about to take a break. You’re welcome to half my sandwich. I’ve got a twelve-inch salami.

A tingle skittered up Ben’s spine. He was tempted to ask, Yes, but what kind of sub do you have? but didn’t dare. Flirting with students was out of the question, and with straight ones was just foolish.

This wasn’t the first time Chase had offered to split a sandwich with him while they were working on-set. To be honest, Ben had been kind of hoping it would happen tonight. He had no plans for the evening, so a meal with the handsome former petty officer held plenty of appeal.

Ben got himself a water from the vending machine, and they took two seats in the front of the auditorium. Have you made plans for spring break? he asked Chase.

I think I’m going to hang around here mostly. Get ahead on my architecture project. Go to the beach. It’s different for me than for the younger students—they’re away from home for the first time. I spent eight years in the service traveling to places I never thought I’d go.

That must have been rough.

Chase shrugged. I was in the construction battalion, so I never saw combat. It came close a few times, and we had to pull out in a hurry. His lips pressed into a thin line. My mom was a girl in Vietnam during the war, so I grew up hearing stories about what that was like. It gave me some empathy for the civilians we served.

Did your dad fight in Vietnam?

Yeah, career Army. He retired about the time I graduated high school. I’ve got three older brothers, so…I was a surprise baby.

Ben chuckled. A good surprise, I would say.

I hope so. Chase wagged his eyebrows.

Damn, on a gay man, that would have looked like flirting. Ben suppressed the little thrill that rose in his chest. He’d spent too much of his teens and twenties crushing on straight guys. He was thirty-three now, and it was time to grow up.

Ben liked people, was fascinated by them, and most of the time, that was an asset. Unfortunately, it often meant he fell for a guy before he even realized it was happening. And most of the time, they couldn’t reciprocate. It led to a lot of heartache.

Ben was ready to settle down. His last long-term relationship had ended in disaster about six months earlier. Bars weren’t his scene, and Internet dating seemed like a horror to him. He didn’t do hookups, and that’s mostly what guys on the Internet were looking for.

In a small college town in coastal North Carolina, there weren’t that many out gay men to choose from. Ben had gotten tenure a year earlier, so he was committed to the place. Really, he loved the location and the lifestyle. The liberal campus had an unusually large LGBT population. But most of them were students, and off-limits.

Like Chase.

Ben had to keep reminding himself of that. Because even if Chase weren’t a hundred percent straight, Ben could lose his job if he fraternized with a student—tenure or not.

But Chase was what—maybe four years younger than him? Not like Ben would be taking advantage of the guy. And Chase already had an A average, so he had no incentive to swap a blow job for a better grade.

Dumb. Ben shouldn’t have let himself have that thought. Because now he was focusing on Chase’s kissable mouth. Plush lips, neither too full or too narrow.

He tore his eyes away. He didn’t want things to get weird between him and Chase. He liked the easy friendship they had. Well, maybe that was too strong a word. It was companionship.

There weren’t many people Chase’s age on campus. Ben and Chase were more like peers in that respect. It was no wonder they enjoyed hanging out. Was Ben enjoying it too much?

He didn’t think so. He had plenty of self-control, and experience hiding his feelings from straight guys. But something about Chase was different. Things between them were comfortable in a way Ben hadn’t felt before, and that was just…dangerous.