The Pact Ch 03 4

It was late when Natalia woke up. Her phone was ringing and she groped underneath her pillows for it.

"'Lo?" she said sleepily into it.

"Nat, honey, did I wake you up?"

"It's okay, Aunt Syl, I probably should have been up hours ago. What's up?"

"Are you busy tonight?"

"Nope, no plans."

"Would you like to make a few bucks?"

"Usually." Natalia yawned hugely.

"My boss needs a babysitter."

"Aunt Syl, I don't know anything about kids."

"That's what I told him, but he said that's okay. You just need to be there in case there's an emergency. He wants you at seven so that you can meet his little girl, but he'll put her to bed before he goes out."

Natalia groaned. She was uncomfortable around kids. She had absolutely no idea how to talk to them.

"He's offering a hundred bucks for four hours."

Oh. Well then.

"Tell him I will be there."

"Good girl. I'll text you his address."

That evening, Natalia left the house promptly at six-thirty in an old, comfortable pair of jeans and her favorite t-shirt. She was glad she'd left early, as her destination ended up not only across the city but up a winding, hilly road. When she finally arrived at the address her aunt had sent her, she gazed at the driveway a bit nervously. No house could be seen from the street, and the drive was lined with a tangle of trees and blackberry bushes.

At the end of the drive was a small gravel lot bordered by a tall fence and a garage with black carriage-house doors. The gate was unlatched, almost ominously ajar. Well, she thought, she trusted her aunt. She went through the gate and found a nicely manicured garden with a dogwood tree in full, glorious bloom. At the end of a flagstone path was the house. It wasn't very large, but it was designed in a sharp, modern style, with lots of glass. The lights were on inside, sending a homey glow into the garden. All at once, Natalia felt at ease.

Before she could even knock, the front door opened. A small, serious-looking girl was in the doorway. Well, Natalia thought, sink or swim.

"Hi, I'm Natalia," she said.

"My name is Caroline."

A man jogged up behind the little girl and pulled the door open wider. He gave Natalia a slightly apologetic smile.

"Hi, I'm Gavin. You must be Sylvia's niece, Natalia."

He held his hand out to her and she took it, suppressing a little shiver at his warm fingers as they clasped her own. Gavin was younger than she had expected, and rather handsome. He was dressed in a beautiful dark blue suit, but his neatly groomed stubble kept him from looking too elegant, if that was even a thing.

"Pleased to meet you," she said.

"Come in, please," he said, stepping back. "Why don't we go sit in the living room and we can talk for a minute?"

He led the way, and Natalia found that she felt slightly underdressed in the house. It was well designed, every detail beautiful as well as functional. Meanwhile, her sneakers were scuffed. She doubted he would notice, though.

"Honey, why don't you go ahead upstairs and get ready for bed?" he said to his daughter. She glanced at Natalia once more, and then left the room.

"She always that serious?"

"Lately, yeah," he said. "The divorce was pretty hard on her, and she doesn't get to see her mother enough. I do my best but... sorry," he added, with a shake of his head. "That's neither here nor there at the moment. So, tell me about yourself. Your aunt speaks very highly of you, but she didn't tell me much beyond 'nice' and 'responsible.'"

"There's not much to tell, I guess. I just graduated from high school."

"Going to college in the fall?"

"Mmhmm. I'm planning on studying sociology."

"What would you like to do after college?"

"Oh, I... I don't really know yet. Just, sociology classes looked the most interesting." Natalia shrugged, feeling a bit awkward.

But Gavin smiled. "That's the way to do it. Plenty of time to decide what you want to do. So what do you do for fun? Play any sports?"

"Read, mostly. I read a lot of sci-fi. I don't play any sports, but I did do competitive swimming for a while. I don't compete anymore but I still like to swim regularly when I get the chance."

"I have a pool out back, actually, so, if you come back to watch Caroline again you're welcome to use it. It's heated."

"That would be great! We don't have a pool at home anymore, and I miss being able to swim in private."

Caroline, dressed in a nightgown now, came back into the room and sat primly next to her father.

"Hey, sweetie," Gavin said. "This is Natalia, and she's going to be here tonight while I go out to meet with a client. Do you have anything you'd like to ask her, anything you want to know about her?"

At first Caroline didn't say anything. Then, "Can you braid hair?"

"Uh, sure, yeah."

"French braids, too?"

"Yeah, French braids, too."

"Would you braid my hair before bed?" she looked hopefully from Natalia to Gavin.

"It's your bedtime," Gavin said, firmly. "But if Natalia comes back to watch you again, I'm sure she will."

"Okay!" Caroline said, giving Natalia her first real smile.

"Please, make yourself at home while I tuck Caroline in. Ah, kitchen is through that doorway there, and the bathroom is the first door on the right down the hall there. Let's go, sweetheart," he said, to his daughter.

Natalia watched him leave, admiring the way he looked from the back. Just a few short moments later, Gavin came back downstairs and fairly rushed out the door. He was running a bit late, but promised to be back by eleven. Natalia went into the kitchen to get herself a glass of water, and wandered back into the living room. Then she frowned. She'd forgotten to bring a book. It was going to be a long night.

Might as well take a look around, she thought. She knew she probably shouldn't, but she didn't plan on looking in any drawers or anything, just kind of wanted to get the feel of the house. The downstairs hall led to the bathroom, just as Gavin had said, plus an office and what looked like a guest room. She tiptoed upstairs, not wanting to disturb Caroline, and found her room easily identified with a little sign on her door. The master bedroom was nice, and the bathroom held a soaking tub and stone-walled shower. Fancy.

There was another bathroom upstairs, a small one, and the last door was a linen closet. The stack of fluffy-looking towels gave her an idea: Gavin did say that she was allowed to go swimming, didn't he? So, she didn't have her suit, but it was pretty private out here. Why not go in nude? She could always leave the back door open so that she could hear Caroline if she woke up and needed anything.

Once back downstairs she glanced outside and reconsidered. It was private...but not quite as private as she had thought. There were a few houses up the hill that might have a clear view into the backyard. Probably it would be fine, but she thought she'd rather wait until it was dark, just in case. She'd still have plenty of time before Gavin got home.

Natalia perused Gavin's bookshelves instead, taking down an interesting-looking volume and paging through it.

The sky finally darkened completely at nine-thirty. Natalia went upstairs and put her ear to Caroline's door briefly. Hearing nothing and certain her charge was still asleep, she snagged a towel from the linen closet and went into the backyard. Light from the house spilled into the backyard, suffusing the pool area with a soft, golden glow. Lush plants surrounded the cobalt water—stands of bamboo, enormous datura blooms, a few fat palms, and fragrant star jasmine.

For a moment Natalia could almost believe she was far away, in a tropical paradise. She stripped down and didn't bother to stifle her little moan as she stepped into the water. It felt absolutely delicious on her skin. She'd never gone swimming nude before and it thrilled her senses—especially in someone else's pool. After doing a few laps, she flipped onto her back and floated for a while marveling at the sky above, sparkling with stars.

*****

It had been a good night, all things considered. Gavin's prospective client was no longer prospective, and he'd left with a signed contract in hand. In fact, it had gone so well that he hadn't needed to stay out quite as late as he'd expected. Natalia would probably be glad to go home a little early, and truth be told he really preferred not to leave Caroline at night—especially not with a new sitter. Natalia had come with a good recommendation from a trusted employee, and she certainly seemed cool-headed and responsible, but there was always a risk leaving one's child with someone else.

Gavin pulled smoothly into the garage and jogged up the steps into the house. It was almost eerily silent. Caroline's usual sitter liked to watch television, so he had expected the low murmur from the general direction of the living room. He stepped around into the room and found it empty, with the back door open. A stab of panic hit him straight in the chest, followed by a sharp shock of a very different kind.

Movement in the backyard caught his attention, and he looked out in time to see Natalia, completely naked, rise from the pool. Dark hair was slicked back from a very interesting face. Her olive skin shone in the light from the house, and he observed with interest the brown nipples that crowned her small, pert breasts. Water ran freely down her body and his gaze followed the droplets as they disappeared into a thatch of dark curly hair and reappeared to run down her shapely legs.

He stood, stock still, as she turned and bent to pick up a towel, showing off a beautiful rounded ass that had his cock hard as iron in his trousers. Deciding it would make her uncomfortable to find him in the house, he slipped back into the garage. He would give her enough time to towel off and get dressed, he thought, willing his erection to subside—but that was useless and he knew it. After a few minutes he simply adjusted it and decided it would have to do. She probably wouldn't notice anyway, as his suit was so dark and, well, she would have to look first. A girl of her age wouldn't be interested in a single father his age.

Natalia was dressed—thank goodness—and still squeezing water from her hair with the towel when he came back into the house.

"Oh, hi, Mr..."

"Gavin is fine. Everything go all right?" he said with a little smile.

"Not a peep out of her. I took a dip in the pool, I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, I did say you're welcome to it."

Gavin's brain was starting to fuzz. Being in the same room with her was proving too much for his highly aroused senses. She was even more beautiful up close and her t-shirt was stretched just tightly enough over her chest to show off the curve of her breasts—the lovely image of which he tried hard not to bring to mind. He fumbled his wallet out of his pocket and withdrew five crisp twenty-dollar bills.

"As promised. Would you be available to come watch her again? Our regular sitter is spending the summer with her grandparents. I don't have too many evening meetings, but it would be good to have a go-to sitter."

"Sure, yeah. That would be great."

Before he could bite back the words he found himself asking, "How would you feel about watching her when I'm here?" Seeing Natalia hesitate he added, "Sometimes I work from home, but Caroline does have a tendency to get underfoot. I'll often find myself putting work aside to play games with her, and on a day when I really need to concentrate it might be nice to have someone here for her."

It was perfectly true, if unnecessary, but the explanation had Natalia's face clearing.

"Oh. Yeah, I don't see why not. Can she swim?"

"Pretty well, for her age."

"I was a junior lifeguard for a couple of years, so if you'd feel comfortable we could spend some time in the pool together."

Gavin felt his cock twitch at the idea of Natalia cavorting around in a bikini. Dangerous territory, he thought. A little harmless fantasy was one thing, but he would never want to become the "creepy dad" and make her uncomfortable. He sighed inwardly. Perhaps it was time to think about dating again.

"That's fine," he said. "Can I get your phone number to schedule with you directly?"

Natalia scrawled her phone number on a nearby scrap of paper and gave him a luminous smile before heading home.

He waited merely a beat before turning on his heel and going directly upstairs. As Natalia had done earlier, he paused outside his daughter's door for a moment to be sure he didn't hear her moving around. He didn't want to be interrupted.

Gavin closed and locked his bedroom door behind him. He stripped, throwing his suit carelessly over the back of a chair, and headed for the shower. In the blistering, steamy water he soaped up, running his hands over his body and, he admitted, imagining they were hers. He would lift her and take her here, up against his shower wall. Pounding powerfully into her until her cries filled the little room, then turning her around and taking her from behind. The image of her sweet backside filled his head as he poured soap into his palm.

His cock throbbed as he gripped it, and he leaned back against the shower wall stroking it while thinking of Natalia. Her taut body, those sweet little breasts. Gavin erupted with a hoarse cry, pleasurable waves wracking his body. His breaths came out in shudders. That settled it: next time Natalia came to babysit, he'd jack off before she got there.

*****

For the first time all summer, Natalia was thinking about the pact. Truthfully, when Allison had suggested they all agree to lose their virginity before college, Natalia hadn't taken her entirely seriously. She had agreed, and she might take the opportunity if it presented itself to her, but she hadn't thought the other girls would take to it with so much...enthusiasm. And now Allison and Britt had already followed through—and sent texts with an abundance of mouthwatering detail. Debbie was the shyest and most innocent of them, and had been completely mum on the topic. Natalia wasn't surprised. But Debbie did fold to peer pressure and there had been a light of excitement in her eyes when she'd agreed...

Natalia wasn't interested in losing her virginity just because her friends wanted her to, but now that she was finding herself thinking more and more about Gavin, it did occur to her that she could kill two birds with one stone. Beyond just being handsome, he treated her like an adult. Natalia was the youngest of a large family, and most people—with the exception of her favorite Aunt Syl—tended to baby her a bit. Gavin didn't. He trusted her, asked her opinion about adult things if they came up in conversation, and, if she wasn't entirely mistaken, was attracted to her as well.

The night she'd first sat for him, he'd seemed a bit edgy at the end of the night. He kept glancing at her chest, which was odd considering that he'd been the perfect gentleman at the beginning of the night. At one point while his gaze was focused a bit lower than strictly appropriate, she'd thought to give him back as good as she got and glanced down to the front of his trousers. Had there been a bulge there? She thought so, but then again, it had been difficult to tell.

She'd been back to sit for him about twice a week since then, most usually in the afternoons to give him a break while he worked in his office. Caroline went to a summer camp three days per week and Gavin worked from home the other two days. It turned out that Caroline liked to swim nearly as much as Natalia did, and they spent hours in the pool together. Occasionally Gavin would finish his work before they'd gotten out of the pool, and Caroline had wheedled him into joining them.

Those afternoons had been slightly more charged, and when Caroline inevitably lost interest in swimming—having lost Natalia's undivided attention—Natalia and Gavin would paddle around in the water for a while after Caroline had gone inside. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they just... well, if Natalia hadn't known better she'd have said they eye-fucked each other. Certainly she made sure to get out of the pool first, taking her time to allow him to get a good, long look. Somehow, after Gavin had gotten out of the pool his towel always hung down to cover his groin.

Natalia had never felt this kind of sexual tension with anyone before, but she worried that despite the signals she thought she was receiving, she might be misinterpreting Gavin's kindness to her. His speech never even held a whisper of innuendo, and other than the occasional case of wandering eyes he really had been entirely appropriate.

If she wanted anything to happen she would have to be the one to make the first move, even if she risked an embarrassing rejection. She had a feeling that no matter how into him she seemed, he would never hit on his teenage babysitter. She wasn't even sure if he would respond to her advances, but if she didn't at least try, she'd be doomed to disappointment—and considerable frustration.

At first she thought she would have her opportunity when Gavin asked her if she'd be willing to watch Caroline overnight. But her hopes were dashed when he said that he was going on a date and planned to be out all night. It was almost embarrassing to realize how disappointed she was, but he was a grown man and of course, being divorced, she should have expected that one day she might watch his kid while he was out on a date. The evening went smoothly: Natalia fed Caroline her dinner, played a game with her afterward, and then put her to bed. She considered taking a swim but felt rather out of sorts and decided she'd go to bed a bit early herself. The sooner she could go home and not think about what—or whom—Gavin was doing, the better.

Natalia was jerked out of a sound sleep when a door shut nearby. She sat bolt upright and groped blearily for the edge of the bed. Who would have anticipated an intruder up here in the hills? Then again, a burglar casing the homes of the local wealthy might know that Gavin had gone out tonight. She glanced around the room for some kind of weapon and saw nothing useful. But she couldn't just stay in the room. What about Caroline?

She edged out into the hallway and saw a shadow moving around near the kitchen door. Swallowing hard, she tiptoed closer, trying hard not to make any noise. The intruder was creeping about, also obviously trying to keep quiet. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she watched the shadow move uncertainly through the room. She was near the entryway now, and picked up an umbrella. It was the best she could do.

Suddenly the light went on, temporarily blinding her.

"Nat?"

Natalia blinked rapidly, and when she could focus again she saw Gavin looking at her, utterly baffled. It would have been funny if she hadn't been so relieved. She dropped the umbrella and rubbed her eyes.

"I thought someone was breaking in," she mumbled. "You said you would be out all night."

"Yeah, well..." He looked a bit uncomfortable now. "I'm sorry I woke you up. You were asleep?"

Natalia looked at him again and saw that his gaze was riveted well below her face. She hadn't been expecting to see him before she woke and dressed in the morning, so she hadn't exactly chosen modest pajamas. She often slept entirely nude, but felt she should wear something, just in case Caroline should awake. Her nightgown was short, made of a very soft gauzy material in a butter yellow tone. Aunt Syl had brought it back from visiting their extended family in Italy, and it always made Natalia feel elegant, sensual. She knew the shape of her body, not to mention the shadow of her nipples, was visible through it.

His date hadn't gone well, he wasn't bothering to conceal his gaze... if there was ever an opportunity to attempt a seduction, this was it.