"How'd you sleep, Ronnie?" Doc asked as he came into the kitchen.
He was wearing just a pair of swim trunks, and I noticed how tanned and broad his back was as he bent down to look into the fridge.
"Good," I replied over my cup of coffee.
Janie and Henry were chewing mouthfuls of Cocoa Crispies and Fruity Pebbles, each reading their respective boxes with a measure of concentration I only saw when they stared at the TV. "How about you?"
"Great," he said, shutting the fridge and pouring himself a cup of coffee. He grabbed a banana off the counter. "Hey, you want one of these?"
I stared at the banana in his hand and then met his eyes, swallowing and nodding. "Sure."
He sat next to me at the table, ruffling Henry's hair and tugging at Janie's ponytail as he sat down. They both mumbled some semblance of "Morning Dad," before going back to their cereal trance.
"Where's Mrs. B?" I asked, taking the banana from him and ignoring the tingling feeling I got when his hand brushed mine.
"Getting her suit on," he replied, taking a big bite of his banana and chewing. "We're going for a swim. You kids want to come?"
Henry looked up from his cereal box and then over to Janie. "Ok."
At least I knew they were actually paying attention to the conversation. "Well, I guess that means I'm coming, too."
"You can get some more sun," he said, taking another bite as he watched me peel my banana.
"Yep." I bit the inside of my cheek, avoiding his eyes, but I could feel them on me. I slipped the top of the banana between my lips, licking the tip and glancing at him before taking a small bite. I heard his breath catch and tried not to smile.
"You guys coming swimming?" Mrs. B came into the kitchen in a white bikini, different from the one she had been wearing the day before. This one covered a little more—but not much. I saw Doc's eyes sweep over her.
"Can I wear my Spiderman suit?" Henry asked, putting his bowl in the sink.
"Did you hang it up to dry?" Mrs. B asked, turning to pour herself some coffee. Her suit was a thong, and I could see her round, tanned behind, completely exposed.
"I'll go look," he called, running toward the stairs. Janie put her bowl into his in the sink with a sigh and trudged after him.
"Are you coming, Veronica?" Mrs. B asked, sitting next to her husband in the seat that Henry had vacated.
I nodded, taking another bite of banana, my eyes shifting back over to Doc. He was definitely watching me. I chewed slowly and swallowed, feeling a slow heat spreading through my belly.
"Do you want to borrow one of my suits?" she asked, pouring cream. The white fluid turned the dark liquid a smooth tan—almost the color of her skin. "I noticed yours was still in the sink. I hung it, but I don't think it's dry yet."
"Oh," I said, flushing. "I forgot it. I'm sorry."
"That's ok," she said, glancing over at Doc and giving him a smile. "Come on upstairs, I'll get you one of mine. Will you take the kids out when they're ready, babe?"
Doc leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. "Will do."
I put my half-eaten banana on the table, following Mrs. B upstairs. I could feel Doc's eyes on us as we left the room, Mrs. B in her micro-bikini and me in my boyshorts and t-shirt.
"What color do you want?" she asked me, tossing suits out of her drawer. I stared at the selection piling up on the bed. She sat on the edge, sifting through them. "Oh, here's a good one. It's adjustable. Don't want you falling out."
She winked at me, holding it up. It was a light orange color, and to me it looked awfully small.
"Let's try it on," she said, tossing it to me. I turned my back, even though I knew she could see me in the mirror, and pulled off my shirt. The cups were large for me, of course—she was probably twice my size in the department—but it tied up top and in back, closing the gap.
"Here," she said, watching me struggle with the ties. "Let me."
Her fingers moved lightly down my shoulder blades, tying the strings in back. I held my long dark hair up and out of her way while she tied the ones around my neck.
"Not bad," she said, cocking her head and looking at me in the mirror. "What do you think?"
I turned a little, staring at my reflection. "I like it."
"Well, let's try the bottoms," she said, holding them up.
I hooked my thumbs in my boyshorts, pulling them down over my slim hips. I could see her watching me in the mirror, looking between my thighs. I took the bikini bottoms from her, balancing on one foot as I stepped into the leg holes, which were just a configuration of strings, really, attached to a small orange patch of material. Her hips were obviously wider than mine, because the ties on the sides needed to be re-tightened.
"Here," she said, seeing me working on one of the knots. "You keep going on that one, I'll see if I can get this one."
Kneeling on the other side of me, she began to try to untie the knot. I did the other side. They were very tight and hard to unfasten.
"Damn thing," she swore, and I saw that her long nails were giving her a problem. Mine were shorter, and even I was having difficulty getting my side undone, although it was coming—slowly.
"Oh hell," she said, leaning forward and grasping the knot in her teeth. I gasped, feeling her mouth against my hip, looking down and watching her pull at the string, jerking her head as she tried to get it loose.
"Got it!" She grinned up at me and laughed. "Sometimes you have to get creative."
I smiled back at her as she tied the string tighter around my hip. I had finally unloosened mine and I did the other side, adjusting the tiny orange triangle between my legs. The back was a thong, just a thin string that ran up between my cheeks.
Mrs. B stayed on her knees, studying the orange material, and she began to pull it, first left, then right, frowning.
"Sweetie, I think we're going to have to do something about this," she said, biting her lip and trying again, this time right, then left. "Look."
She pointed to the mirror and I went to stand in front of it. "You've got just a little too much hair down there to wear it out, don't you think?"
I could see what she had been doing now with all her tugging. There was a line of dark, curly hair that showed on one side or the other of the small stretch of material, no matter how you positioned it. It also showed a fine line of hair along the top edge, although I could pull it up to cover that.
"I guess I can't wear it," I said with a sigh.
"Sure you can," she said, coming up behind me, her hands on my shoulders. She turned me, pushing me gently toward the bedroom door. "Come on, we'll fix it."
She guided me into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind us. I could hear the kids downstairs, and Doc's voice above them. Mrs. B took a towel out of the linen closet and spread it on the long counter that connected the twin sinks. There was a large mirror behind it and I glanced at my reflection. I liked the color on me, the way it made my just-starting-to-tan skin look a little more brown somehow.
"Ok, take those off," Mrs. B said, tugging at the string of the bikini bottoms.