When the water pump went out on the Oldsmobile, I resigned myself to the fact that I'd be out several hundred dollars for the repair. Talking about it during a break at work on Friday morning brought an unexpected offer from Ken to fix my car on Saturday. All I'd have to do is go down to the parts store and buy the new water pump and related items. To Ken, fixing cars was entertainment. I gratefully accepted the offer.
Ken showed up at my house at 9 and we proceeded with the task. At 11:30, my wife, Linda, wandered out from the side of our house to the car and leaned under the hood to see what we were doing. She was showing the effects of the morning heat as sweat beaded all over her face and neck. She was wearing a short wrap khaki skirt and an unbuttoned sleeveless plaid shirt knotted just below her breasts revealing a bare midriff. The knot interrupted the view of bare skin from her neck down her glistening cleavage to the waistband of her skirt.
While I was positioned at the front of the car over the radiator, Ken was leaning in over the wheel opposite Linda and did a double take when she leaned in. Her sweat-drenched shirt clung like she was in a wet T-shirt contest. He quickly recovered and forced his eyes back towards the water pump. Glancing back to Linda, I noticed a slight smile on her face as she looked at Ken. Obviously, she had seen his reaction. Linda returned to the house saying she would take a break from the garden and was going to fix us some lunch.
After installing the water pump, we walked back into the house weary and drenched from the heat. The temperature was already in the upper nineties and the humidity felt the same. Passing through the front door, the cold blast of air conditioning was a welcome relief. Ken and I were only interested in cooling down, so we peeled off our shirts to let the cool air hit our skin. Linda entered the kitchen from the patio door and quickly scanned Ken openly admiring the view of a fit man wearing just shorts and sneakers.
"You guys are lucky. You can strip to practically nothing and nobody cares. We women would get accused of indecent exposure if we did the same thing." Linda's face and eyes expressed mock indignation as she grinned and glanced back and forth between Ken and me.
"Nobody here would call the cops," I challenged while looking over to Ken.
"Not me for sure, but I'm just a guest here," Ken chimed in with a tone suggesting complete innocence.
"Dream on you two," Linda said laughing, then turned and walked back to the refrigerator.
She retrieved a plate of sandwiches and beer for the three of us. The beer took priority. As we continued to devour the sandwiches and expedite our hydration efforts, the effects of the alcohol started to become obvious. Linda hit it off with Ken immediately and the two had continuous conversation throughout lunch. As they became more comfortable with each other, their conversation transformed into light hearted banter which took sexy overtones as each point-counterpoint seemed to be testing, no, daring the other to cross the line of impropriety.
Wearing no shirts, Ken and I gradually cooled off to the point we were no longer sweating and completely dry. Linda's shirt, however, was still wet, but had turned cold from the air conditioning. Each time she leaned against the back of her chair, she reacted from the cold dampness until she finally exclaimed she had to get out of the wet shirt.
"It seems to me that just a little while ago, you were complaining because we could take our shirts off; but you must not be that uncomfortable since you still have yours on," Ken goaded her.
"I have to agree, Lin," I added with a grin. "If you had taken your shirt off before lunch, you be as dry and comfortable as we are now." I was daring her while not believing anything would come of the dare. I figured she would just get up and go change in the bedroom.
"You guys just want to see my boobs. Men!" Linda retorted feigning disgust.
"Guilty as charged," chimed Ken, "But we're sitting here in just shorts and you are completely and uncomfortably dressed. Besides, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for men to bare their chest and women to be barred from doing the same."
I wasn't sure how far Linda wanted to go with this, so I offered her a way out without killing the mood. "Well, you have to take that shirt off – either here or in the bedroom. It's your choice whether you put something else on – either here or in the bedroom. The choice is completely yours."
Linda smiled while staring directly into my eyes as if trying to read my thoughts. Her mouth was slightly open and grinning as she attempted to determine whether this was a dare, or was I was trying to get her to show herself to Ken, or was I was hoping she would change in the bedroom. I returned the grin while returning her stare with a raised eyebrow in a questioning expression.
"I don't think I'm quite ready for that just yet. Let's cool off in the pool." Linda finally suggested while heading towards the bedroom. "You guys are just going to have to wait for your fantasy."
Linda quickly changed into the skimpy string bikini she always wore for sunbathing. It exposed the most skin for tanning while minimizing lines. The cups of her bra were mere triangles of cloth that barely covered her brown areolas while doing little to mask her protruding nipples. It was obvious that Linda was aware both Ken and I were admiring the view and she liked the attention.
As we walked out the patio towards the pool, Ken emptied his pockets saying his shorts would have to perform the job as a swimsuit. Linda didn't miss the opportunity to taunt Ken.
"Well, if you jump into the pool with those shorts, they will take several hours to dry afterwards. Who says you have to wear them in the pool?" Linda beamed at being able to turn the tables. "After all, we have a high privacy fence and plenty of tall bushes and trees."
"There's one small problem," Ken offered slowly. "I'm not wearing any underwear," he continued a little nervously.
"Oh, so it was going to be okay for me to take my shirt off when I wasn't wearing a bra, and it's altogether different for you!" she continued to taunt. "You men are all hypocrites with double standards!" she exclaimed while pointing at both Ken and me.
"You got me, Linda," Ken sighed conceding the point. "You win. So the dilemma is this – If I keep my shorts on and dive into the pool, I'll have to take my shorts off for several hours to hang them out to dry. If I take my shorts off now to keep them dry, I'll be skinny dipping in your pool. Will I be the only one skinny dipping in your pool?" Ken continued without waiting for an answer. "As I see it, either way, I'm going to be sitting around naked for a couple of hours if I want to dive into your pool. My only alternative is to head home now and not swim," Ken concluded.
"Ken," I interrupted, "Would you rather go swimming in our pool or go home?"
"I'd rather go swimming," Ken replied flatly.