Sweet but Sexy Boxed Set

by Maddie James

  Her shoes clicked as she crossed the tiled floor to a patio table set for two, a picnic basket on the floor next to one of the chairs.

  “I can’t get over this.” Cheris glanced back at Geoff, but his warm gaze held hers. “Can you believe this?”

  “You begin to understand why the cost is so exorbitant.” He indicated the front wall, reminiscent of the front porch outside. “These are two houses connected by the pool room. Here’s one house.” He pointed to the open walls near the front door they had entered. “And that’s the other house.”

  “What about that end of the pool over there?” Downstairs was a bedroom and above it another bedroom visible through sliding glass doors.

  “That used to be the garage. It jutted out to the side. The one on the east side still has its garage on the front.”

  “Why in the world would someone leave this? It’s gorgeous.”

  “One house belonged to a woman, the other to her adult daughter. The woman died, and her daughter is divorced with children and grandchildren who live in Nevada and Florida respectively. I think she’s living close to the one with the most grandchildren.”

  Cheris stepped to the rail on the porch leading into the east house. “How many bedrooms total?”

  “Seven. Much too large for one person.” He followed her as they entered the door and walked through the unfurnished rooms until they passed through a door which must have been an exit before the addition. It led to the western side of the pool room with three bedrooms each with their own bathroom. From the back bedroom they walked on the catwalk over the pool and leaned on the railing overlooking the cavernous room.

  “Are you sure it’s okay for us to be here?” Cheris watched Geoff as he rested his elbows on the metal banister.

  “You don’t think I’d break in to your dream house just to impress you, do you?” His mouth crooked in a smile making Cheris wonder.

  She shrugged.

  “I wouldn’t. Larry Preston, my dad’s friend, he knows people.” Geoff made brackets in the air with his fingers. “He’d do anything for a friend, and if it eventually leads to a commission on a sold house, all the better.”

  Cheris’ mouth dropped open. “You aren’t thinking of buying this house, are you?”

  Geoff laughed and shook his head. “I don’t think so. My dream house has more bookshelves in it. Maybe a moat with an alligator or two to keep out the unsavory characters.”

  “Alligators in a moat?”

  “What? You like a tree swing, I like a reptile-fortified security system. We’re talking about ideal here.”

  The room was darker now as the sun dipped below the tree line in the back yard, and the lit sconces on the walls inside became more prominent.

  They strolled further along the walkway to the eastern side of the house. The bedroom they walked into was nearly as large as Cheris’ apartment. She could fit her car in the walk-in closet with room to spare. She cast one last longing glance at the sunken tub in the bathroom which could easily accommodate an alligator before they ventured down the stairs to the living room.

  Cheris sighed. “This really is a dream house.”

  “Would you want to live here?”

  “I don’t know. The size is overwhelming. It certainly doesn’t look this big from the outside.”

  Geoff nodded sitting on the oversized leather chair and propping his feet on the matching footrest.

  “Are you sure it’s okay for us to sit on the furniture?”

  “Sure. The furniture comes with it. Larry said she took what she wanted with her, but still left enough to furnish this side of the house.”

  Cheris sat on the matching couch and sank into the butter soft comfort of the cushions.

  Oh my. I need this couch.

  “Nice, huh?”

  Cheris ran her hand along the armrest. “Very nice.”

  Geoff didn’t reply, but the silence was comfortable. In their time together this week, there had been several quiet moments. If conversation happened, it wasn’t forced then, but another facet of the budding relationship.

  And it was feeling like a budding relationship.

  Geoff had tempered his time with her. If they spent a marathon of hours together one day, the next day he’d wait until the evening to see her. Each night he’d ask her plans for the next day, and if she had none, he’d suggest a place to visit, an idea to hang out at her apartment, or a plan for spending time together. Yesterday morning she’d been surfing web when she’d received an invitation to play an online game with him. They’d played nearly two hours before he’d called it quits via an IM and asked her out for dinner at the Riverfront Inn.

  “I’m going back to Georgia in the morning.”

  Disappointment ballooned at his words.

  “I’d rather not go, but classes start up again Monday, and I’ve got some things to do to get ready.”

  “I understand.”

  “Certainly you’re welcome to go with me, or come visit if you get bored during your…vacation.”

  Honeymoon, actually. Not that they’d done much honeymooning. They hadn’t kissed since she’d jumped him at her apartment for his mother’s sake.

  Hadn’t even touched.

  Well, except for when they had gone to see a Sci-Fi flick. They’d both reached for the popcorn, and her leg had brushed his a few times as they sat next to each other.

  Her cat Timmy had gotten more action even, settling on Geoff’s lap like they were best friends while Geoff scratched his neck and smoothed his thick white fur.

  Cheris would have shut the cat in the bathroom, but Geoff insisted he didn’t mind. Cheris had minded. She hated to admit she’d been jealous of Timmy as she watched Geoff’s fingers caress the animal.

  “Thanks. I’ll think about it.”

  “Are you hungry? I brought food.” Geoff tented his hands and waited for her answer.

  ****

  Lovely. She was so lovely.

  Cheris sat across the table from Geoff and twirled a lock of hair around her finger. She couldn’t have known how enticing the gesture was, how the copper of her hair reflected the flame from the tabletop candles, how the smell of chlorine from the pool elicited images of them swimming in it—bathing suits optional. In this moment, he’d mortgage his soul to give her this house if he could live with her here and share the gigantic bedroom upstairs for the next fifty or sixty years.

  The king sized bed had looked inviting though when Geoff had pulled the comforter back earlier today, it revealed a bare mattress.

  Not that he had plans for that bed.

  Well, not exactly.

  With so many sleepless nights this week, he’d about decided the bed—sheets or not—was looking good for actual sleep.

  He suppressed a yawn and took his glasses off to wipe his eyes.

  “Ready to go?” Cheris asked. “You look tired.”

  Geoff shook his head.

  She held out her hand. “Let me see your glasses.”

  He handed them to her, and her gauzy figure moved. “Oh, my. Your eyesight is not very good, is it?”

  “No.”

  “How well can you see me?”

  Uneasiness niggled at him. What was she doing? “Not very.”

  “How many fingers am I holding up?” She teased.

  “Give me my glasses, and I’ll tell you.” He held out his hand, but the glasses didn’t materialize. “Cheris.” He crooked his fingers.

  “Interesting,” she murmured. “Geoff Arrowood seems to be at a disadvantage.”

  “Come on.”

  “So, if I do this, you can’t even see me, can you?”

  He couldn’t be sure, but it looked as if she had put his glasses down the front of her shirt.

  So, should he go after them, or play dumb? “Are you teasing me?”

  “Perhaps.” Her suggestive tone left little doubt. He weighed his options. He could sit here on this side of the table conversing to her Monet image, or he could risk breaking his nose
with a surprise attack.

  Geoff skirted the table, but by the time he had jumped to her chair, she had vacated it scrambling around the table giggling all the while. With a quick retrieval, she now held her arm up and over the pool.

  “Oh, dear. I hope I don’t drop them in the water.”

  “Now, this is the Cheris I remember from Friday night.”

  “Oh, really? Did I nearly lose your glasses then too?”

  “No, but you flirted…a lot. Can I have my glasses please?”

  “Not…” Cheris began when Geoff lunged. “Ah!” He caught her and pulled her toward him so that they wouldn’t end up in the water.

  His glasses weren’t as fortunate.

  He heard the simultaneous gasp of Cheris and the plop as they broke the surface of the water.

  Still.

  He now was shoulder to knee with Cheris, his hands spanning her back and waist. Was temporary blindness worth the price of having her in his arms?

  Oh, yeah.

  “Geoff, I’m sorry.” This close he could tell she was, too. Gone was the vixen who had shoved his glasses in her blouse. Had they gone into her bra, too? He hated to lose the scent of her skin to the chlorine.

  “Are you now?”

  “Oh, no. What are we going to do?” She attempted to pull away, but he held her for a few more seconds before releasing her.

  “I suppose I’ll retrieve them.”

  “No. I’ll go.”

  “You’ll go?”

  “Yeah. In the water.”

  Geoff shook his head wishing he could read her expression. As appealing as the offer was, he thought it ought to be a last resort. “I’m sure there’s a skimmer here somewhere. Let’s look for it.” Not as if he’d be much good at looking for anything right now.

  They began their search. After he stumbled twice, Cheris had grabbed Geoff’s hand and guided him throughout the house. They found nothing, but a closet in the enclosed greenhouse off the kitchen and a storage house in the backyard—both locked.

  Back in the pool room, Geoff squinted at the water.

  It was a lost cause.

  Of course he couldn’t see where his glasses were even with the underwater lights illuminating the bottom of the pool.

  “Can you see them?”

  “Well, sure. They’re at the deep end.”

  Of course, they were.

  Fishing his keys out of his pocket, he held them out to Cheris. “Would you go out to my car? There’s a blanket in the very back. If you’ll bring it in, I’d appreciate it.”

  If she wondered why he needed a blanket, she didn’t ask, only took the keys and left. As soon as she walked to the front door, he shed his clothes. No use in humiliating himself further by stripping in front of her. With any hope he’d be in the water by the time she got back—maybe even with glasses in hand. He’d grab the blanket and cover up before she decided he had any plans for molesting her. He’d excuse himself and get dressed in one of the seven bathrooms.

  Problem solved.

  When he’d taken everything off but his skivvies, he dove straight to the bottom of the ten foot pool and felt around with his hands. When his lungs burned, he surfaced and took a deep breath.

  “What are you doing?” Cheris astonished voice greeted him.

  “Getting my glasses.”

  “Well, you’re nowhere close. They’re in the middle right there.”

  Geoff wiped the water off his face and peered up at her. “In the middle?”

  “Yeah. How are you going to find them? You’re blind as a bat.”

  He kicked to the side of the pool and held to its edge. “I can probably see almost as well as you underwater.”

  Big lie.

  He couldn’t see jack. The pattern on the lining made it impossible for him to make out anything down there. However, as close as Cheris stood to him, he could make out her legs pretty well, and the fuzzy short length of her skirt.

  “You shouldn’t be in there. I was the one who threw them in like a stupid idiot.”

  “I believe I knocked them out of your hand when I grabbed you. Okay. I’m going down again.” Without waiting for her reply, he submerged.

  No luck. He came up for a quick breath and dove again.

  Where were they?

  Dammit. This was frustrating.

  During the fourth time down, Cheris joined him. She swam to a spot about three feet away, then pulled on his arm tugging him upward. They both surfaced sucking in air before swimming to the side of the pool.

  Crooking her arm on its edge, she held his glasses in her hand.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Geoff.”

  Sky blue.

  The same bra she’d had on the night of the gala. The lace edging wasn’t visible to him now, but the straps on her shoulders were. Obviously, she’d followed his lead—shed her clothes, but kept on the underwear.

  He reached for his glasses and plucked them from her fingers.

  “Please,” Cheris appealed.

  “What?”

  “Please don’t put them on. I’m…I don’t have my clothes on, and it’s embarrassing.”

  “I’m only wearing my skivvies here, and your eyesight doesn’t handicap you.”

  She didn’t respond.

  “Will you trust me enough to let me see?” He waited for her answer, and the only sound was the lapping of the water.

  “Okay.”

  He shook them, wiped his face and slipped them on. Cheris came into focus, her expression unsure.

  “Thanks. Let’s swim for a while.” He pushed off and sliced through the warm water across the width. She hadn’t moved when he reached the other side. “You like to swim?”

  “Love it. I swim laps at the Y twice a week.”

  “Really?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Think you can beat me from one end to the other?”

  “Don’t know. How good are you?”

  He was terrible. He hadn’t been swimming in years. “Oh, I think I could beat you easily. Me being a guy and all.”

  She laughed and swam to the end. He met her there.

  “One length. Winner gets to dry off with the blanket first,” Cheris proposed.

  Oh, yes. He liked those stakes. If he won, he got the blanket first. If he lost, he got to watch her exit the pool to get the blanket.

  “Ready? On my mark. Get set. Go.”

  They shoved off, and mid length Geoff realized even if he wanted to win, it was hopeless. Her strokes were clean and confident. By the time he reached the steps, she was crouched in the shallow water waiting for him, a smug look on her face.

  “Two out of three,” he said.

  Cheris shook her head. “How humiliated do you want to be? Have you ever been swimming in your life?”

  “I’ll have you know I swam every summer at computer camp until I graduated high school.”

  “They have a pool at computer camp?”

  “It was mandatory. We had to swim before they’d let us play on the computers.”

  “I’ll bet it was mandatory.” She snickered. “So you haven’t swum since you were fifteen.”

  Geoff thought about it. “Yeah. That sounds about right. The water feels good, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes. Seems if the house is empty, they’d not want to pay to heat the pool.”

  “Larry came by earlier with me and switched on the pool lights. Maybe he turned the heater on as well.”

  “It’d take longer than a few hours to heat it.”

  Geoff nodded in agreement. “Who knows why? Maybe Larry likes to swim.”

  “I think I’ll swim a few more laps.”

  Geoff watched her slice through the water, flip against the wall, and return. Before she reached him, she went under and swam away, resurfacing in the deep end. Resting his arms against the tiled rim, he leaned his head back and studied the reflection of the rippled light on the ceiling.

  How he hated to go back to Georgia tomorrow.

  Hated
it.

  But he had to. He’d done nothing to get ready for his Monday classes. Nothing.

  A glimmer from the back window caught his eye, but in an instant the glass was dark again. What had it been? Headlights from a car? No. There was no street or driveway back there, only a large backyard with a bricked patio.

  Cheris now crisscrossed the width of the pool with graceful strokes moving closer to him with each lap.

  Man, she really liked the water.

  No matter what happened between them, he’d make sure she knew she’d be welcome to swim at Mom and Dad’s any time she wanted.

  Movement from the front of the room captured his attention.

  Two policemen strode toward the pool, their hands on their holstered guns.

  Oh, boy.

  “Hello,” he called. “Is there a problem?”

  “Is this your house?” One of the officers asked.

  Geoff straightened and faced them. Uneasy because of having nothing on but his underwear, he nevertheless spoke matter-of-factly. “No, but we have permission to be here.”

  “According to the neighbor, no one is supposed to be here. Why don’t you two come out of the pool so we can sort this out?”

  Geoff glanced at his wife. Crouched a few feet from him, she held the tiled lip with her fingers as she peeked over its edge at the men uniform.

  “We’re not exactly dressed for an interrogation.”

  One man shrugged unconcerned for their predicament. The other motioned for them to move. Sighing, Geoff ascended the stairs, and stalking over to the blanket he picked it up before walking back to the end of the pool.

  He unfolded it and held it in invitation. “Come on, Sweetheart.”

  Cheris shook her head, her eyes wide in fear.

  “It’s okay. Just a misunderstanding.”

  Geoff crooked his head studying her.

  That wasn’t pool water running down her cheeks. Those were tears.

  “I need to help my wife out of the water.”

  Laying the blanket aside, he waded toward her as, out of the corner of his eye, he noted one officer moved closer.