“Dana’s on a date.”
“Maybe she is, maybe she isn’t. You wanta...miss a chance to see her skinny-dipping?”
Owen didn’t need to think about that one. “I guess not,” he whispered.
“You guess.”
Not that it’ll happen. Great stuff like that never happens. Not to me.
They found a good place to hide in the bushes near the end of the pool, directly across from the hot spa. Kneeling down, they began to wait.
Though lights were on inside the house, all the curtains were shut. Owen couldn’t see through them. Nor could he hear any sounds from the house. The wind was loud in the trees and bushes.
Maybe nobody’s home.
Somebody must be, he told himself. You don’t go off and leave your pool lights on. For that matter, you don’t crank up your hot spa unless you’re planning to use it.
Somebody has to be home...and has to come out.
But nobody did.
Ten minutes passed. Fifteen.
Watching the steam rise, Owen wished he could jump into the spa. He wished he’d worn his windbreaker. Or even a long-sleeved shirt. He thought about how badly he would like to be back in the warmth of his room at the Welcome Inn.
After half an hour of waiting, Owen swayed sideways, bumped his shoulder against John and whispered, “Now can we go?”
“Go whenever you want to. I’m staying.”
“How long?”
“Long as it takes.”
“Aren’t you freezing?”
“Ask me if I care.”
“This is insane.”
“Think so? What if I wimp out and take off—and two minutes later, out come the babes...bare-ass naked?”
“Like that’s gonna happen.”
“You’ll never find out if you go running away like a...”
At the back of the house, a curtain was sliding aside. Owen saw someone behind the glass door. As he tried to figure out who it might be, the door glided open and Lynn stepped out.
John nudged him. “Here we go!”
Hardly able to believe this was really happening, Owen watched Lynn stride toward the hot spa at the corner of the pool. She wasn’t much compared to Dana, but she was cute, all right. Really cute. And what was she wearing?
White tennis shoes and no socks.
Hugged against her belly was a folded blue towel.
At the edge of the spa, she crouched and set down the towel.
Owen heard a click. It came from beside him. He knew what it was, but he didn’t look.
Couldn’t take his eyes off Lynn as she stood up.
Didn’t care that she wasn’t naked.
Her swimsuit looked like small, buttery patches of doe skin tied to her body with leather strings.
John clicked more photos. His automatic film advance made a quiet buzzing sound after each shot.
Lynn didn’t seem to hear the camera.
Instead of climbing into the spa, she turned away from it and walked toward a corner of the house.
There were no buttery patches of doe skin behind Lynn. Owen could hardly even see the strings.
Beside him, John moaned. The camera clicked and buzzed.
“Save some film for Dana,” Owen whispered. His voice came out raspy and trembling.
“Don’t worry, man. I’ve got plenty. Look at her, will you?”
“Yeah.”
“How’d you like to lick the sweat off an ass like that?”
“Shut up.”
“You’d love it.”
Lynn vanished around the corner of the house. Then came an engine noise, followed by burbly sounds from the hot spa. Through the steam, Owen saw the water in the small enclosure turn frothy white. Its surface began to shift and roll.
Lynn came back around the corner. Though her breasts were no larger than oranges, they jiggled nicely inside the loose patches of doe skin as she walked. Twin thongs slanted down from her hips to her crotch, where they met two comers of a tiny leather triangle.
John took more snapshots.
Owen moaned softly. He ached. He couldn’t believe he was actually here, crouching in bushes, seeing this.
At the edge of the spa, Lynn kicked off her shoes. Then she climbed down. When she was seated, the water covered her to the neck.
“Wanta leave now?” John whispered.
“Go to hell.”
John chuckled.
After that, it was a matter of waiting. With Lynn’s fine body submerged, there wasn’t much to see.
Maybe Dana would show up.
She might, Owen told himself. She really might. After all, she lives here. Even if she is on a date, she’s bound to come home sooner or later.
Doesn’t mean she’ll come out to the pool.
But she might.
And even if she doesn’t show up, Owen thought, it’ll be worth sticking around. Lynn can’t stay in there all night. We’ll get at least one more good look at her.
John put an arm around Owen’s back, pulled him closer, and whispered in his ear, “Wanta drop in on her?”
“Are you nuts?”
“Hey, man, maybe she’d like some company.” The warm breath tickled the inside of Owen’s ear. “A couple of studs like us...”
“No.”
“I’m so fuckin’ horny...”
“Try anything and I’ll rip up your Midnight Tour ticket and kick your ass.”
“How do you know she doesn’t want it?”
“From you and me? I’d bet a million bucks.”
“I don’t know, man. She’s gotta be feeling awfully horny.” He squeezed Owen’s arm. “That hot water rubbing her all over, and she’s got damn near nothing on. Bet she’d love to have a couple of guys jump in with her right about now.”
Owen shook his head. His heart was thumping fast and hard. “Knock it off.”
“Let’s do it. Come on, buddy. It’s the chance of a lifetime.”
Voice shaking, Owen said, “Yeah, to end up in prison.”
“We’re not gonna rape her. We’ll just go over and say hi and see what happens. You know?”
“No.”
“You wanta do it, man. I know you wanta.”
“I do not.”
“You’re just chicken.”
“Are you completely out of your mind?”
“Wouldn’t you just love to jump in the water and rip that little bikini thing off her and...”
“No. Now, cut it out. Shut up.”
“I’m gonna do it,” John said. He gave Owen’s arm another squeeze, then let go. “Stay here and miss the fun if you wanta, but I’m goin’ for the gold.”
Owen clutched his shoulder.
Someone called, “Hey!”
Owen’s heart lurched.
Across the pool, Lynn turned her head.
Over near the corner of the house, a woman walked into the light, a hand raised in greeting.
Dana!
She’s here! She’s HERE! Oh, my God!
Owen gazed at her, shocked with surprise and delight. This was way too good to be true.
But what happened to her hair?
The last time he’d seen Dana, just this afternoon, her blond hair had been flowing down past her shoulders. Now, it was short and mannish.
Why’d she wanta get it all cut off?
It does look good this way, he realized. Real good.
Focused so much on Lynn for the past few minutes, Owen had almost forgotten how incredibly beautiful Dana was.
God, look at her!