The lawn mower was old. I filled the tank with gasoline and pulled three times to start it up. The engine roared to life and I started mowing my grandfather's cottage lawn.
As I moved from the back of the cottage to the lakefront side I noticed that a young woman was sitting on a lounge on the deck. There were few visitors to that cottage so this was unexpected.
She was a long and tall woman with a svelte figure, wearing a modest bikini. I guessed that she was maybe eight to ten years older than my nineteen years.
She scowled at me when she heard the roar of the mower disturbing her peace. I continued to mow the yard.
I couldn't stop glancing up at her whenever I turned to cut the grass in her direction. She was a very pretty woman. She didn't seem to pay me any more attention.
When I was nearly finished she stood up and stretched. She raised her hands above her head and thrust out her chest, arching her back and sticking out her ass. Holy shit, I could feel myself getting an erection. She wasn't just pretty she was fucking spectacular!
She quickly turned to look at me. Her face displayed disgust at my perving over her body. I blushed like a schoolboy caught with his pants down. I finished the lawn quickly and walked the mower back to the boat house.
As I recovered from my embarrassment I thought I should turn the tables on her. It was only fair.
I walked out of the boathouse and out onto the dock. I pulled my T-shirt off over my head.
I should probably explain...I was wearing a baggy old shirt and hiking shorts. I am a university student. I am a member of their competitive swim team. I train many hours a day. I have a swimmer's physique, strong back, broad shoulders, washboard stomach and strong, muscular arms and legs. Since slickness is a must in the sport I keep my body hairless, except for my head of course.
Cutting the lawn had made me sweat so my upper body was glistening, accentuating my musculature. I paused long enough to make sure I would have her full attention then I pulled off my baggy shorts to reveal one of my racing bathing suits, imagine the average speedo but tighter. I then turned and looked at her with the same expression that she had given me!
She was sitting bolt upright on the lounge, her eyes wide and her mouth hung open. Then I smiled and dove off the dock and swam halfway across the lake and back at a medium pace. Others have said watching me swim was like watching a torpedo rushing through the water. I hoped she was enjoying the show. Vain? Maybe, but I had good genes and I maintained a punishing training regimen.
I got up onto the dock and dried off. She kept looking over at me so I decided it was time to introduce myself. I boldly walked over with the towel around my neck.
"Hi, I'm Mark Spenser. Are you renting this cottage?"
"Joni Abbott, my grandmother owns this cottage. She said I could use it as long as I wanted. She is In her eighties and doesn't get up here anymore."
"Similar story for me except this is my grandfather's cottage. I have spent summers here since I was nine years old. He never gets up here, he is pretty sedentary these days. I look after the place and use it."
"You are an amazing swimmer."
"Thanks, I swim for the University swim team."
"Which school?"
"Harvard."
"Wow, athlete and scholar. Harvard has a pretty steep price tag."
"Scholarships and my Grandfather are funding things."
"Do you mind my asking your age?"
"Nineteen."
"So young!"
"Can I ask you the same question?"
"I just recently celebrated my twenty-ninth birthday, I've got ten years on you, Mark."
"Age is just a number. You sure don't look your age. I thought maybe twenty-one or two."
"Bless you for that."
"I'm sorry if my lawn mowing disturbed you."
"That's okay. You made up for it by allowing me to watch you swim. You are very well built Mark."
"I will return the compliment, I was enjoying the view as well." "How long are you staying?"
"Well, Joni, I will be up here all summer. I'll go back for the fall term. How long are you planning on staying?"
"I thought a week but I might stay a bit longer."
"It will be nice to have some company."
She was even better looking up close. It would certainly be nice to have her around for a while.
"Would you like to join me for dinner Joni? I'll grill the burgers if you'll make a salad."
"Sounds like a plan."
I went down to the dock and dove in to do some more swimming. I alternated between medium and fast stretches. The fresh water was so much nicer than the pool. Finishing up with a blazing hot fast swim back to the dock. I hopped out and dried off. Joni wasn't on the deck so I figured she was inside. I lay on the dock, on the towel and soaked up the heat of the sun. I loved this old place.
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Joni brought over a green salad and I told her the burgers were almost ready.
"I did a little online checking. Is your grandfather Fredrick Spenser?"
"Yes, that's my grandfather, and before you ask Douglas was my father."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Fredrick Spenser had a really good eye for stocks. He bought into Apple and Microsoft early, and IBM too. That's how he made his fortune. My Dad wanted to top my grandfather go he took short cuts, made some shady deals and pissed off the wrong people. You know how that worked out. My mother drank her way to an early grave. My grandfather raised me."
"I would have thought that Fredrick Spenser would have a much less...rustic cottage."
"My grandfather came here in the summers when he was a kid. The logs used to build this cottage were harvested off of this land. The charm of this place is its humble origin. I love it."
"Will you give me the grand tour tonight?"
"Sure, what about you, what do you do for a living?"
"I am a high school teacher. This is my first teaching job."
"Did you change careers?"
"Yes, normally a first-year high school teacher would be maybe In their early to mid-twenties. For a few years, I worked as a secretary/personal assistant to a director at an insurance company."
"Why the switch?"
"My husband and I divorced and my salary wouldn't pay a living wage and my ex-husband was not in a position to help out. I needed a job with benefits so I went to teachers college and switched careers."
"Divorce can be terrible can't it?"
