Downsizing by W. Soliman Read Free Book Online Page A

the Turners had all gone
to a black-tie dinner up in town, Noah reckoned it was safe for him
to step into the breach.
    He parked the mower neatly in its shed and
wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. God, but it was
unseasonably hot! He looked down at his body, bathed in sweat, and
then at the sparkling blue water of the swimming pool. He was
sorely tempted. Who’d know? Making up his mind, he stripped off his
clothes and dove naked in the deep end. He surfaced half-way down
the pool, pushed the soggy hair away from his eyes, and swam
several lengths, deciding that this was the life. When he made it
in the building game, he’d definitely have a house with a pool.
Carried away with his own thoughts it was a while before he
registered an indignant voice demanding to know what he thought he
was doing.
    Startled, Noah trod water, trying to work out
where the voice had come from. He groaned when a bronzed Cassie
Turner sat up on a sun-lounger, holding her bikini top in place and
glaring at him. He was for it now. She was a woman scorned, and he
and Joey would lose this contract because of it. In spite of that,
disliking Cassie as he did, he refused to look contrite.
    “ Sorry, I didn’t think anyone was
here.”
    “ Evidently.” She offered him a
superior half-smile. “Do you always take advantage of your
employer’s absence to do as you like on their
properties?”
    “ Only when it’s as hot as this.”
He kicked up his feet and swam half a length under water, grappling
to keep his temper in check. She roused him to anger, just by being
there and acting all superior.
    The next thing he heard was a dainty splash as
Cassie dove into the pool wearing only the bottom of her bikini.
She surfaced close to him, a look in her eyes that he’d seen on
countless women’s faces before. One that had nothing to do with
trespassing. As Noah tried to think of a diplomatic way to
extricate himself from this embarrassing situation, he noticed that
the water lent extra buoyancy to Cassie’s breasts.
    “ You’re right,” she told him
calmly. “It’s too hot not to indulge.”
    Before it occurred to him to suspect her
motives, she swam away, appearing to lose interest in him. Noah
wondered what he was supposed to do next. What was the protocol
when swimming naked, without permission, in an employer’s pool?
Should he ask his employer’s daughter if she’d kindly turn her back
or should he nonchalantly clamber out, like it was no big deal? And
how was he supposed to put his clothes back on when he was soaking
wet and had no towel?
    Cassie, a strong swimmer, surfaced close to
him and challenged him to a race to the deep end. Unless he wanted
to further antagonize her, Noah figured he didn’t have much choice
He set off at a strong crawl, eager to get the hell out of there.
Breathing hard she reached the edge of the pool just after he did,
laughing. He dropped his eyes and just couldn’t seem to tear them
away from her damned tits. She followed the direction of his
eyes.
    “ Like what you see?” she
asked.
    “ Sure.” Well, what else could he
say?
    “ Then what’s stopping
you?”
    Alarm bells rang. Noah knew he’d somehow been
set up and ought to get the hell out of there. But he didn’t,
couldn’t, seem to move. He clutched the edge of the pool as he
pondered his options. He continued his lazy scrutiny of her body,
and even in the cool water he felt himself getting hard. He was
randy enough at the best of times, but when the weather was hot, so
was he, and it was sometimes all he could think about. She’d only
be a quick fuck. Besides, if he gave her what she’d been after for
months, it would probably get her off his back once and for
all.
    Bracing his arms against the edge of the pool,
one on either side of her shoulders, he kissed her. Not with
tenderness or passion, but harsh and demanding. Her response was
instantaneous and surprisingly sophisticated.
    “ Let’s swim to the shallow end.”
He set off without