Page 37 of Watching Henry

“I—” Florence started. Then she looked down at the robe again and gave up, her hands slowly moving to undo the belt.

Hadley stilled in the water. She hadn't thought this through. She hadn't thought this through at all.

The water around her seemed to grow warmer as her breath rang out in ragged gasps. The children had swum away, racing each other to the next beach and Hadley could hear her heartbeat in her ears.

Then Florence was pulling the belt away and the robe was sliding from her shoulders and half of Hadley knew this was a scene from a cheesy TV show or porn movie. But the other half... The other half was watching with dry mouth and pounding heart.

The robe slipped away and Florence was dressed in a simple black bathing suit. Her skin was pale and her dark hair made it seem even paler. She reached up and removed her glasses, placing them delicately on top of her robe, then began to walk into the water.

Hadley felt a warmth burning into her core as Florence waded into the cool water. She couldn't speak, she could barely breathe. She hung there, floating, watching, unable to tear her eyes away as the water crept up Florence's long legs, skirted her boyish hips, lingered at her waist.

Her gaze was dragged upward as Florence lowered herself into the water. She watched as droplets slid down Florence's collarbone, as water began to slip into her cleavage and...

And she sank.

Water filled her mouth and nose and for a second she panicked, going under then coming up again, choking, only to go back below the waterline.

A hand grabbed her, pulling her up, pulling her in until her grateful feet found the ground and she could stand.

She was so busy coughing up water that she didn't notice for a moment that Florence's hand was still on her slick-wet skin, that warmth was coursing through her veins, that her stomach was flipping and her knees were shaking and she was suddenly, undeniably, more turned on than she'd ever been in her entire life.

“Maybe we should get out,” Florence said. “Are you okay there?”

Hadley coughed again and nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“Come on, come sit on the beach for a moment, get your breath back.”

Florence led her to the sand and Hadley sat down, letting the sun warm her back, letting her cough subside.

“I love days like this,” Florence said, sitting down next to her. “When the sun's so hot during the day that the sidewalk burns your feet through your sandals.”

Hadley smiled. “Me too. It makes me want to jump in a convertible and roar down the highway with the Stones or Zeppelin on the radio.”

“You like The Rolling Stones?” Florence asked.

“Classic rock all the way, baby,” said Hadley.

“Me too,” Florence said. “I'll take Sympathy for the Devil over whatever it is that Henry's listening to on those headphones any day.”

“It's called classic rock for a reason,” Hadley said. “It's classic.” If she kept her eyes trained on the lake and didn't look at Florence then her heart pumped like normal. She stared out across the water. She just had to not think about the fact that Florence was half-naked right next to her.

“You could have drowned out there,” Florence said. “What happened? One minute you were fine, the next you'd gone under.”

Hadley opened her mouth then closed it again. What was she supposed to say? That she'd been so intent on watching Florence slide into the lake that she'd lost all thought and power to keep herself afloat? She shrugged. “Just one of those things, I got distracted, I guess.”

Florence didn't pursue the matter, she stood up, pulling on her robe as she did. “Children! Come on in!” she cried.

Hadley got up to find her own t-shirt.

“You're too far out,” called Florence. “Come on, please.”

Slowly, the kids started to wade in to the beach, all three looking truculent. Hadley could tell that there was trouble brewing, which seemed a shame after such a nice day.

“One more race?” she asked, as the kids came up the sand.

The twins' faces brightened, but Henry wrinkled his nose. “I'm tired.”

“This is an easy one. It's a race to get dressed. Whoever gets into their clothes first is the winner,” said Hadley.

---