Chloe was the babysitter. Everyone in town knew Chloe, at least, everyone with young children. She was a friendly girl, popular with her peers. At nineteen she considered herself to be up to the mark and quite aware of everything that went on.
She was well up on the gossip that went on around the town. She knew which husbands or wives were reputed to have affairs and, more to the point, which husbands she needed to be wary off.
She was still a virgin but, as far as she was concerned, this was purely a matter of personal choice. She would have been shocked to find that her friends considered her to be innocent and hopelessly naïve. This didn't change the fact that she was, actually, both innocent and hopelessly naïve.
This particular night she had been engaged to sit for Neil and Sophie Anderson. The Anderson's would be out late and, rather than have Chloe going home in the early hours of the morning, it was agreed that she'd sleep overnight. Chloe had no problems with this. She'd done this sort of thing before. The Anderson's had a spare bedroom for her use and Neil wasn't on her watch-out list.
The kids had gone to bed without too much trouble and eventually Chloe retired herself, falling asleep quickly.
Something woke her. She wasn't sure what. She'd been peacefully sleeping and then she found herself wide awake, listening. Silence. Chloe checked the time. Four am. Neil and Sophie would be home and in bed by now. Considering it far too early to get up, Chloe snuggled down to go to sleep.
Sleep eluded her. She was tired but restless. And thirsty. The night was hot and as soon as the thought of a drink crossed her mind Chloe found herself even hotter and thirstier. She was NOT going to get up at this hour just to get a drink of water. Yes, you are, her thirst said.
Sighing, Chloe got up and ambled through to the kitchen. There was sufficient moonlight coming through the windows to show the way so she didn't bother about any lights until she reached the kitchen. Grabbing a glass, Chloe opened the fridge. If she had to have something to drink then Coke was preferable to water. She poured herself a glass and stood drinking it.
A window in the kitchen was open, and a slight breeze was blowing in. Maybe there was a bit of pollen in the air. Something tickled Chloe's nose and she suddenly sneezed. To her annoyance the jolt caused her drink to spill. Only a few drops, but Coke drying on the tiles could be sticky and was bound to attract insects.
Putting her glass on the sink Chloe reached for a cloth, leaned down and started wiping up the few spots.
"Very nice," drawled a soft voice from behind her.
Chloe froze, feeling slightly irritated at the crude comment, then horrified as her situation clarified itself in her mind. She wasn't flashing her panties. Because of the heat she'd only worn a shorty nightie to bed, and that was it. Standing up the nightie covered her and was reasonably decorous, but she wasn't standing up.
She was bent over with the nightie halfway up her bum and she was showing literally everything to the man behind her. She couldn't have more comprehensively flashed him if she'd tried.
Chloe reared upright with a horrified squeak, hastily tugging down the back of her nightie.
"Oh, Neil," she said nervously. "You startled me."
"Fair's fair. You somewhat startled me, yourself. I heard a noise and came out to investigate. I didn't expect to find you practicing nude yoga in the kitchen."
Chloe could feel her face heating even more. Not only was she scantily dressed but Neil only had on pyjama pants, and they looked as though they might slip off.
"I'm not nude," she muttered. "I spilt some drink and was wiping it up. That's all."
"Very commendable," said Neil, and she just knew that he was silently laughing. "I can see you're not really naked. A very nice nightie, I must say, although I think it's a little shorter than you realise."
Chloe managed to glare at him for that crack. Totally uncalled for, she thought.
"It only rode up because I was bending over," she pointed out, "and a gentleman wouldn't have noticed."
"Chloe, sweetheart, a man would have to be dead and buried not to notice what you were displaying. But I wasn't referring to that lovely little scene."
He wasn't? Chloe looked puzzled.
"Ah, you probably haven't noticed yet, but when you tug down the back of your nightie the way you're doing, the front tides up. I see you shave."
Heat returned to Chloe's face as she made another hasty adjustment to her nightie.
"I'm sorry," she apologised. "I didn't realise."
"I guessed that. That's why I thought I should point it out. Not that I objected to the view. You look very nice, all soft curves just begging for a finger to trace them."
He didn't say that, did he? He did. How dare he?
"You shouldn't say things like that," she muttered.
"True, but you shouldn't be running around without panties. I can't imagine what Sophia will say when I tell her about this little incident."
"What?" Chloe half shrieked. "You wouldn't?"
"Why on earth not? She's my wife. She'll find it amusing."
"But she'll tell everyone. She gossips. You know she does. If you tell her the whole town will know."
"You're right. Goodness. You've just handed me some blackmail material, you know."
"What?" A very indignant question, this time.
