Author's Note: This story is built on an earlier story called "Them There Eyes", but it goes a lot further, and in a different direction.
*****
Chapter 1
It was a Saturday, the hottest day of the summer so far. I took my two kids, ages six and eight, and went to our town's public swimming pool. It is an elaborate facility with one large pool and multiple small ones for kids who can't swim. My boys are good swimmers, so I could give them free reign while I lounged on some steps in the deep end.
"Hi there Frank."
I turned and on the other side of my step saw a woman who looked vaguely familiar. We were both under water almost to our necks, and all I could tell was that she had a pretty face and a big head of blonde curly hair.
"Remember me? I'm Carol. We met at the Saunders' cookout a few weeks ago."
"Of course," I said. "I see we had the same idea to escape the heat today."
"Yea. My seven year old was driving me crazy. Now she's having a great time. I see her at the other end playing with your boys."
I got up and moved the twenty feet along the steps to sit beside her. Now I remembered talking with her at the Saunders' party. Bill Saunders was a good friend of mine, and I knew Carol was close with his wife, Kay. At the party I had thought she was flirting with me, but after my recent separation I was not in the mood to get involved.
"How are you doing Frank?" she asked, focusing her large eyes squarely on mine. "Kay has told me what you've been through. I know it's tough. I'm still not over my divorce."
At the party I had noticed she had beautiful eyes, but now in the bright sunlight and only inches away, I saw how extraordinary they were. The irises were honey colored, tinged with green, and surrounded with crystal clear whites that were like a path leading deep into her psyche. In the centers the dark pupils seemed to be pulsating as they focused and refocused, probing my secrets.
"I know a lot about you," she said gently.
"What do you know?"
"I know you are a good person. I know you love your kids and are devoted to them. I know you are smart and competent and are successful in your job. I know you had bad luck in your choice of a wife and that you feel terrible about what's happened. I know you were a good husband and father, and that the breakup wasn't your fault."
God, it felt good to hear those things. I did feel awful. I had been blaming myself. To hear this attractive young woman absolve me in such a sincere way was uplifting to say the least. Kay Saunders had obviously told Carol a lot about me, and I wondered if she had been sizing me up as a possible step father for her girls, in spite of the fact that I was a good deal older.
"Thank you," I said. "That means a lot."
Her eyes maintained their hold on mine. A few times in my life I have met women who have what people call "bedroom eyes", and Carol's were certainly in that category. It was an indescribable something which radiated sexuality. The old song played in my head: "I fell in love with you the first time I looked into, Them There Eyes. You have a certain little cute way of flirtin' with, Them There Eyes."
I found myself thinking about her body. Maybe it was time I stopped feeling that my life was over. At the Saunders party she had been wearing loose clothing that gave only a hint of her curves. Through the water I could tell she was wearing a bikini, but not how she was filling it. All of a sudden those miraculous eyes took on a new cast, like she was reading my thoughts.
"Let's swim a little bit," she said. "You need to unwind."
She took my hand and dragged me off the step into deep water. We side-stroked beside each other across the pool until we reached the edge under the diving board. Her feet barely touched the bottom, and she was kind of bouncing on her toes. She turned toward me so that her breast was pressing against my upper arm. I froze, not knowing what to do. She hopped a couple of times, smiling and fixing me with her eyes. Slowly but surely I felt her nipple harden against my skin.
"Whoa," I blurted out.
"You feel that uh? You see what being close to you is doing to me?"
"Yea, I feel it all right."
"Do you like it?"
Like it? I was instantly as rigid as the diving board. "Oh yea. It makes me wonder what your breasts look like."
Did I really say that? I must have been getting tired of playing with myself to have that burst out of me. It's a wonder she didn't scowl and swim away.
But she didn't, and she was not shy, to say the least. "They are 36C. Not so big, but nice and firm. My nipples are super sensitive and can grow as long as your little toe."
Jesus! That was the last thing I expected to hear. I had never heard a woman say anything like that. My mouth must have dropped to my chest. But there is no question that I was aroused. I had not been with a woman for months, and this gorgeous babe seemed to be offering herself to me.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked, determined to match her frankness.
"Because you are up tight and need to relax. Because I like teasing men. Because I like sex and like you. Because I like being direct and talking dirty. Because I am horny. Are those reasons enough?"
Wow! Hard to top that!
"Oh yeah-quite sufficient. I'm not complaining."
"When I saw you at the Saunders' party you were still in shock over your separation, but now you look better. Fate brought us together in the pool today, and I believe in following my instincts."
She had taken a step back, but I could still feel the imprint of her nipple on my arm. My heart was racing. Her incredible eyes held mine as she reached out a hand and hooked her index finger under the waist band of my trunks. My stomach flipped over and back again. I can't imagine the expression that must have been on my face.
"Don't worry," she laughed. "I'm not going to ravish you here in the pool. But there is something about you that is making me bolder than usual."
"Maybe we'd better cool down," I said breathlessly. "I think that woman under the umbrella over there is watching us."
Carol never took her eyes off of me. "Of course she is. She's a friend of mine. We came together, and when I saw you in the pool I told her all about you. Her name is Sandra. She urged me to make contact."
I looked down at her finger, the back of which was moving in little circles on my stomach. "Contact like this?"
She giggled and withdrew her hand, snapping the elastic in the process. "No, I've improvised the contact as we've gone along. But I'm sure she is aware of every move. She's very tuned in to this kind of thing. I wish you would get out of the pool in front of her so that she could see the effect I've had on you."
That was the last thing I wanted to do.
"I have an idea," she said. "Let's get our kids and all go get some ice cream. We could go to that place beside the playground so the kids could play while we talk."
"Okay. What about your friend?"
"Oh, Sandra would come too. She is dying to meet you. And I think you will find her interesting."
"She looks older."
"Yes, she's in her 40's, divorced with no kids, and works as a paralegal in a big firm in town. We are neighbors and have become really good friends. She babysits for me a lot."
I noted that I was much closer in age to her friend Sandra than I was to her. "Sounds good to me," I said. "I'll get my crew dressed and meet you at the parking lot in ten."
Chapter 2
My boys were delighted with the idea of ice cream, and seemed to be getting on well with Carol's daughter. I remembered all the experimenting and playing doctor that I did in my preadolescent years and couldn't help speculating. As far as I knew there were no girls their age in the neighborhood where they lived with their mother.
As for my feelings about Carol at that point, I was incapable of thinking straight. I had never met a woman who was so brazen. Friends and family had warned me repeatedly about the dangers of jumping into a new relationship right after my marriage broke up, especially with a single mom looking for a new husband.
Those thoughts clashed head on with my sudden infatuation with this straight-talking, super sexy woman with bedroom eyes. I resolved to be careful, but I knew I was going to go with flow.
We all emerged from the dressing rooms at about the same time. "There you are, you handsome devil," called Carol. "Come meet my friend."
Sandra was fit and quite attractive, with long dark hair and a nice smile. The colorful sundress she was wearing was short but conservative, and her high-heeled sandals gave a delightful curve to her slim hips. With my hormones already raging, I immediately checked out her breasts, and noted that they were sizable and rode high on her chest.
Probably a good bra
, I thought, and then I chastised myself for having those be my first thoughts about a woman I had just met.
What was wrong with me?
"Frank, this is my friend, Sandra, whom I rely on in so many ways."
"Nice to meet you, Sandra," I said, extending my hand. "I'm glad you can come with us."
"Please to meet you too, Frank," said Sandra. "Any friend of Carol's is a friend of mine. And I think you and Carol are destined to be good friends." That last comment was said with a distinct twinkle in her eyes. She was letting me know that she had indeed seen what went on in the pool.
Carol smiled and took my arm. She was wearing a tight T shirt and cut offs, and looked fantastic. Her blonde hair glowed in the sun. And those eyes...
We all piled into my minivan. I had bought a large vehicle so that I could go places with the boys and their friends. The kids loved it. Carol sat in the front with me, with Sandra just behind. I pulled out into the traffic.
"It was a brilliant idea to open an ice cream parlor next to the playground," Carol said. "And they also serve soups and salads. It's a real meeting place for us single moms."
"I think it will be the same for us single Dads," I said. "Especially if the single moms are there."
"I hope it attracts single granddads too," laughed Sandra.
"I don't want you running off with some dirty old man," Carol tittered. "I like having you next door."
"I like being there. Your daughter is like my own grandchild. And I take a vicarious pleasure in hearing about your love life, among other things, but still..."
"Now hush. I don't want Frank to think I'm a loose woman."
I had to smile at that. I wasn't so naive to think that I was the only man Carol had turned those eyes on. And her friend Sandra had a distinct twinkle in her eyes too.
