The summer air was thick with the scent of chlorine and fresh-cut grass. Tim watched as Ana leaned against the pool's edge, her long brown hair damp and clinging to her shoulders. She sighed contentedly, glancing over at him, who was sprawled out on a lounge chair, his skin already turning pink under the midday sun. This is perfect, he thought, letting the sound of his wife in the pool rock him into a nap. A new home, a new start.
"You okay, babe?" Ana called out, squinting at her from behind her sunglasses.
"Yeah," Tim replied, flashing her a smile. "Just thinking how lucky we are."
Ana chuckled. "We earned it. Hard work pays off."
He adjusted his chair, already half-asleep. "I'm gonna nap for a bit. You good?"
"Of course," she said, wading toward the shallow end. As she climbed out of the pool, her black bikini clung to her curves, droplets of water trailing down her legs. She grabbed a towel and draped it over her shoulders, heading toward the kitchen for a glass of iced tea.
"Oh! Hello!"
Tim stirred as he heard his wife greet someone. His eyes refocused to see a man probably in his mid 40s. He had a full head of dark hair with just a hint of grey in it, large sunglasses that you might see in a Tom Cruise movie, and he was tall and was built like he used to swim back in the day and kept up with it to stay healthy. The man was talking to Ana, and Ana pointed back to Tim, saying "Tim! Come meet the neighbor!"
Tim got up and walked over to greet the man, Tim's flip flops smacking against the bottoms of his feet as he did. He brought a hand up to shade his eyes and reached the other hand out. "Nice to meet you! Sorry we didn't come introduce ourselves first, just moved in and all."
"Not at all I know a young couple like you has better things to do than mingle with the old cranky neighbors." James grasped Tim's hand and shook firmly." I was just telling your lovely wife here that my name is James Bennett, and I've lived next door for almost 10 years now." He smiled, a warm, inviting expression and shot a look over at Ana as he shook Tim's hand.
"It's nice to meet you James. Got any fun stories about the neighborhood?" Tim grinned.
James laughed and put his hands up to touch both of their shoulders. "Not any that I'd be willing to tell completely sober. Get a couple beers in me and put me in that hot tub and we'll talk."
Tim was taken aback at how touchy the man seemed and tried to steal a glance at Ana, but her eyes were locked onto James, a big grin plastered over her face.
"Well hey, I didn't mean to intrude--just wanted to introduce myself. I was also about to tell Ana here that I work from home full time, so if you ever need anything at all here is my cell number. Neighbors should look out for each other, ok?"
James whipped out a business card and handed it to Ana, his personal cell number written on the back. Ana looked at the card for a half second too long and then looked back up at James. "Wait, you work at MintLock Technologies?"
James did a double take from looking at Tim back to Ana. "Why yes, I do! Senior Software Engineer, very boring stuff."
Tim rolled his eyes "Here we go.." He looked at James in an 'you shouldn't have done that' kind of way.
Ana was practically vibrating, "I am a software engineer too! Not for a company as prestigious as MintLock but I hope to one day get there."
"Oh well what do you know? Small world! What firm are you working for?" James seemed keenly interested in hearing all about his new neighbor's job.
Ana and James talked for the next few minutes about work, Tim only catching about every third word, but James seemed impressed.
"Well hey if you ever need to bounce ideas off of someone, give me a holler, ok? Working from home is nice but I could use some human interactions every now and then. But let me get out of your hair, so nice to meet you two!" And with that, Ana and Tim said their goodbyes and they watched James saunter off back towards his house next door.
"He seems so nice!" Ana said to Tim, beaming.
"He did. He also couldn't stop looking at you, Mrs. White Bikini." Tim teased.
"Oh yeah? I guess it works then." Ana winked and turned away from Tim to walk into the house and she swayed her hips seductively as she did. Tim stared after his wife, he was truly a lucky man.
----------
Over the next few weeks, James became a bit of a fixture in their new lives here in their new home. James would chat with Tim when Tim was on his way out to work in the city, he'd pop his head over the fence to shoot the shit, and he'd even help out with some bigger things like carrying in some furniture that Ana had ordered. Tim couldn't help notice the way Ana's eyes seemed to stay on James too long and she smiled whenever he was around. He chalked it up to projection and didn't let it bother him. But he also remembered how James looked at her in that bikini that first day...
One day, Tim was working hard at the email factory in town. He moved here to pursue his career of being a Consultant for Consultants. He was typing away at his keep board when his phone buzzed in his pocket. It was Ana.
*Ana: I am so stuck on this feature request I might just scream. Bring earplugs home!*
*Tim: I'm sorry baby! Big problems at work?*
*Ana: Yeah I'm just working in Rust and I don't have as much experience as I could. Something seemingly simple is giving me a hard time. Youtube has been no help at all!*
*Tim: Why don't you go ask James?*
The bubbles popped up on his phone indicate that Ana was typing and then they went away. A minute went by, and they reappeared.
*Ana: I can't bother him with something like this! He'll think I'm an idiot.*
*Tim: He will not. He'll appreciate that you thought to ask him for advice. Plus he'll get to imagine that black bikini again ;)*
*Ana: STOPPP you bring that up all the time, maybe you want me to show him what he's missing??*
Ana sent a picture of her wearing the black bikini inside, sticking her ass out to the side and giving the camera a peace sign in the pic.
*Tim: Are you just wearing that around??*
*Ana: I was going to get in the pool after work and took my shirt off for you. And James, maybe ;)*
*Tim: Now it's your turn to STOPPP*
*Ana: If you want me to..*
Tim sat for a second. He always was turned on by the idea of showing off his wife a bit more than they had explored in the past. What better way to push the envelope a little than with something harmless like this?
*Tim: I don't actually. Go over wearing that :)*
*Ana: Are you serious?*
*Tim: I am. He'll definitely give you a good answer if you show up in that! We've talked about me showing you off sometime.*
*Ana: You're so bad. Ok fine, I'm going. I feel ridiculous.*
*Tim: Have fun! ;)*
Tim expected a text back, so he stared at the conversation. The bubbles didn't come back, she left his last text on read. He couldn't stop himself from picturing them together, Ana coming over with her laptop in tow, wearing her revealing black bikini top, leaning over to put down the computer and her full breasts straining against the material. He pictured James trying to solve her problem but being distracted by the beautiful woman that entered his home, and not being able to resist reaching out to touch the hem of her bikini bottoms on her waist...
Tim snapped himself out of it, a pit of anxiety and desire roiling in his stomach. It was just a fantasy, it's fine, he told himself. He went back to typing away at his emails, keeping an eye on his phone.
Tim drove home a bit faster than usual subconsciously. He had to see his wife and find out what happened, and if she got her problem solved. That was it.
The car pulled into the garage and Tim walked straight inside. "Honey??" he called out. No response. Tim's heartbeat spiked, could she still be over at James's? That would mean she'd been there for hours, what could they be doing for that long-
Tim's rollercoaster of thought slammed to a halt as he passed the sliding glass door leading outside. Ana was in the pool, reading a book on a floaty. Black bikini still sexy as ever.
He took a deep breath, and noticed that even though he thought his wife might be with James, he was surprisingly hard as a rock right now.
The sliding glass opened for Tim and Ana looked up. "Hey there office man! Come join me!"
30 minutes later Tim had stowed all his work equipment and jumped into the pool with his wife. He swam up next to her and lowered his voice, in case the neighbor was outside over the fence.
"Soooo, how'd it go over there?" Tim bobbed his head towards James's house.
Ana laughed. "How'd I know you were going to ask me about that? You're a pervert." Ana hit the top of his head playfully with the back of her book.
Unperturbed, Tim pressed more. "Seriously though, did you get your question answered at least?"
Ana looked at him over her sunglasses, and then went back to her book and said in a playfully uninterested tone, "Yes Mr. Bennett helped me quite a bit. And then I helped him."
An instant stroke of heat went through Tim to his crotch. Why did this turn him on so much? "What did you help him with?"
A sly grin plastered over Ana's face. "Wouldn't you like to know..."
