Thy Neighbor's Wife (21 page)

careless ponytail held by a red scrunchie. Her long legs were tanned

a deep bronze color, as were her arms, the brown only intensified by

the pale yellow tank top that reached to her hips and covered—judg-

ing from the quick peek Jennifer stole at Alex’s backside—a sleek,

black bathing suit.

She looked up as Jennifer approached, her brown eyes spar-

kling. The summer sun had sprinkled various strands of red into her

dark hair and they winked at Jennifer as Alex moved. “Hi there.”

“Hey. This your summer toy?”

“It is now. Used to be Aunt Margie’s. Came with the house.”

She swept her hand over the jet ski like a model on The Price is

Right. “Meet Jessica.”

“Jessica? It has a name?”

“She. She has a name,” Alex corrected, chuckling. “Two sum-

mers ago, my friends Lynda and Anne decided she needed a name.

Like a boat.”

“But…Jessica? Is that an ex or something?” Jennifer teased

with a smile.

Alex shook her head. “I don’t know where or why they came

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up with it, but it stuck. She’s been Jessica ever since. Here.” She

handed Jennifer one of the life vests. Then Jennifer watched with a

dry mouth and wide eyes as Alex, her back to Jennifer, pulled the

yellow tank top over her head. Her bathing suit was indeed sleek

and black as expected, a one-piece that hugged her body and

caressed her curves like a lover, then dipped teasingly low in the

back. Jennifer’s mouth ceased being dry, and filled in anticipation

at the thought of tasting such unblemished skin while sliding the

palms of her hands down the strong planes of Alex’s back. She

stood there gaping like a fifteen-year-old boy until Alex turned back

to face her. “Okay, come here. You’re driving.”

Jennifer blinked, the words knocking her abruptly out of her

little fantasy world. Alex was in the water, pushing the jet ski away

from the shore. “I’m what?”

“You’re driving.”

“But, I don’t know how.”

“It’s a piece of cake. Put that life vest on and I’ll teach you.”

At that moment, Jennifer was made fully aware of the old

phrase “tit for tat,” a lesson that made her understand Alex had

been well aware of her staring. In retaliation, Alex waited patiently

for her to don her own life vest, never once looking away. As she

pulled her t-shirt off, Jennifer could feel Alex’s eyes on her almost

as intensely as if they’d been her hands. She knew her dark green

bikini left very little to the imagination and her hands trembled

slightly as she pulled on the vest and tried to work the clips, feeling

as exposed as if she’d been completely naked in front of her friend.

She waded into the water after Alex, keeping her eyes down-

cast, hoping her face wasn’t nearly as flushed as it felt. She thanked

God for the chilly temperature of the water, wincing when it

reached her thighs.

“Here, let me tighten this up or you’re going to lose it.” Sud-

denly Alex was very much in her space, tugging at the straps on the

vest. “I think Jackie wore this last,” she said, but Jennifer barely

heard her. She was too busy looking down, focusing on Alex’s

hands, on the long, tapered fingers; the smoothly filed nails and the

intricate blue veins crisscrossing the backs. She marveled at how

they could look so strong and so feminine at the same time. “Okay.”

Alex’s voice brought her back to attention. “Very simple.” She

clipped a long, spiral cord to Jennifer’s vest, a key dangling from

the end. “This is so if you fall off, the key pops out and the jet ski

just stops instead of scooting away without you. Hop on.”

“You’re coming with me, right?”

“You can drive it, Jennifer. It’s easy. You don’t need me.”

“Yes, I do.” Her tone was a bit more pleading than she’d

intended, but she was painfully aware of the dual meaning of the

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words. Alex blinked at her. “Please?” she added softly.

Alex swallowed and held Jennifer’s gaze. Then she nodded and

laughed. “All right. But if you dump me, I’ll kill you.”

“No dumping. Not intentionally, anyway. I promise.”

Alex helped Jennifer climb aboard and she used the handlebars

to scoot forward and make room for Alex behind her. It was like sit-

ting on a motorcycle, surprisingly comfortable. Alex spun the

machine so she was directly behind it, then easily slid on from the

tail end, though Jennifer detected more than one grunt during the

process and raised her eyebrows in a teasing manner.

“I cannot tell you how long it took me to learn how to do that.

It’s really hard to get on from the water without somebody to steady

it.”

She slid up behind Jennifer, who found herself barely able to

concentrate on any words from that point forward. Alex’s mouth

was so close to her ear, it sent an erotic shiver down her spine.

“Okay, like I said, very simple. The key starts the engine. This lever

here controls the gas and thereby, your speed.”

Jennifer tried her best to remain in control during such sweet

torture. She was hyper-aware of Alex’s body pressed to her back and

she thanked her lucky stars they were both wearing life vests; she

was sure the feeling of Alex’s breasts tight against her back would

be her complete undoing. As it was, Alex’s thighs were burning

against hers. Alex reached around her, inserted the key, and helped

Jennifer with the throttle. The vehicle jerked forward, jerking both

women with it. Jennifer laughed nervously.

“It’s okay,” Alex said. “You’ll get a feel for it. Try again.”

She was right. In a matter of minutes, they were cruising along

the lake at a nice, easy pace. Jennifer gradually became more com-

fortable and increasingly aware of Alex’s palm resting against her

bare stomach—under her life vest. It was hard to explain the safety

and protection Jennifer felt with Alex’s body pressed up against

hers, so rather than wrestle with it, she decided to enjoy the feeling.

The roaring of the motor made conversation difficult and for that,

she was grateful. She didn’t want to talk; she only wanted to feel.

She hardly noticed any of the other people on the lake. Every so

often, Alex would point something out to her, leaning in closer and

speaking directly into her ear so she could hear. Jennifer had no

idea about anything that was said and it was all she could do to

keep from driving them into somebody’s pier.

Though she did speed up a few times, she mostly kept them at a

comfortable cruising rate. It wasn’t really necessary for Alex to

hold onto her, but it warmed her heart—and tingled other parts of

her body—to note that Alex kept an arm wrapped securely around

her midsection for the entire ride. At one point, Alex’s other hand

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dropped onto Jennifer’s thigh after pointing out a particularly spec-

tacular house. Jennifer inhaled sharply at the contact, hoping Alex

hadn’t felt it. The hand remained for several minutes until Alex

realized it and jerked it away as if Jennifer’s skin had burned her.

Jennifer suppressed a grin at the idea that maybe Alex was as

affected by their closeness as she.

They had literally circled the lake three times before Jennifer

noticed the gas gauge approaching “E.” Trying to stave off her dis-

appointment, she headed them home.

There was one more lesson in her class that day: stopping. As

she found out, halting a jet ski in a precise location was not an easy

task.

“There aren’t any brakes, so just aim it where you want to end

up and ease off the throttle,” Alex explained. The idea was to coast

there without much speed, but they were moving too quickly.

“Whoa…” was all Jennifer could manage.

They were heading directly for shore and Jennifer cringed as

the inevitable scraping sound of the bottom of the craft filled her

head. Alex reached around her and jerked the handlebars sharply to

the left, effectively halting their progress while throwing both of

them into the water.

They sputtered and laughed, the water not deep enough to

cover them, but certainly deep enough for them to notice that it was

quite cold.

“Wow!” Alex exclaimed, coughing and laughing at the same

time. “That’ll wake you up, huh?” She pushed her now-wet bangs

out of her face.

“Jesus, does this water ever get warm?”

“Not terribly. Not until late August, if we’ve had a hot sum-

mer.”

Jennifer watched as Alex fastened the jet ski to the dock.

“Thanks, Alex.”

“For what?”

“The ride. The tour. Everything. It was great.”

“We’ll have to do it again so you can work on your landing.”

Jennifer smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it. See this?” She pointed to a spot on the

dock that was seemingly missing a large chunk of wood. “This is

the result of my first landing.”

Jennifer burst into laughter. “Now I don’t feel so bad.”

“Good.”

A deep, male voice interrupted them before the conversation

could continue. “There you are, Jennifer.”

Daniel Wainwright, Eric’s father, stood on Jennifer’s dock. He

looked very professional, but uncomfortably out of place in his

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business suit and black wingtips. Jennifer was more than a little sur-

prised to see him, especially in the middle of the day. She hurried

out of the water as he came around to meet her, and she was sud-

denly aware of the fact that she had no towel and wore very little

clothing. She decided Alex wouldn’t mind if she held onto the life

vest for a while.

“Daniel,” she said by way of greeting as she reached him.

“What a nice surprise.”

“Your doors were unlocked, but you were nowhere in sight. I

was beginning to worry.” His voice carried genuine concern and she

was touched.

“I’m sorry. I went for an impromptu tour of the lake with my

neighbor.” She moved her arm in an inclusive gesture toward Alex,

who had followed her out of the water after tying the jet ski to the

dock. “Alex Foster, this is my father-in-law, Daniel Wainwright.”

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Wainwright,” Alex said, shaking his

hand politely.

“Ms. Foster.” His eyes registered something akin to recognition

and Jennifer wondered if they’d met before.

“And to what do I owe this unexpected visit?” Jennifer asked

lightly. Unlike that of his wife, she never minded Daniel’s company.

He was always kind and sincere.

“I was wondering if I could talk to you about something.”

She furrowed her brow at his serious tone. “Of course.”

Alex took that as her cue. “I’ve got to get inside. It was nice to

meet you, sir.”

“Likewise,” he replied with a guarded smile.

“Thanks for the ride, Alex. I’ll see you later, okay?”

She nodded and was gone. Jennifer led Daniel into the house,

then excused herself to run upstairs and quickly exchange the life

vest for a t-shirt and a pair of red shorts. It was very odd to have

him show up unexpectedly, not to mention his desire to “talk.” Jen-

nifer wouldn’t call their relationship close, but she’d always

respected him. She wasn’t sure what to think.

When she returned to the living room, he was standing in front

of the windows. “Can I get you a drink? I made some iced tea this

morning.”

“I’d love some. This is a fantastic view,” he commented, then

looked around. “You’ve done a nice job with the place, Jennifer. It

looks a thousand times better than when you first bought it. I’m

impressed.”

She was caught off guard by the compliment, but took it in

stride as she handed him a glass. Eric had barely noticed all her

work and he supposedly shared the house with her. “Thank you. It’s

getting there.” She watched him fidget slightly, something very

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uncharacteristic of him. “Is there something wrong, Daniel? Is

something bothering you?”

He sighed heavily and sat in the overstuffed chair. “I need to

talk to you about Eric.”

“Okay,” she responded, worry tinting her voice.

“And I need you to be honest with me.”

She swallowed, feeling uneasy. “All right.”

He took a long drink of his tea and carefully set it on a coaster

on the end table. Then he studied his hands as if looking for the

right place to begin. “Eric’s been…rather tense lately at the office.

Have you noticed that about him?”

Jennifer nodded, choosing her words carefully. “He’s definitely

been under a lot of pressure. I don’t really see him that often, what

with him spending so much time in Buffalo, but when he is here, I

do notice that he seems pretty stressed.”

“I thought so, too. That’s why I lightened his load consider-

ably.” He held her gaze for several seconds as if trying to convey

something to her without actually saying it. “I was afraid I’d

dumped too much on him, so I pulled back a bit.”

Jennifer studied her own feet for several minutes, waiting for

the tears that had filled her eyes to wane. Daniel had pretty much

confirmed her suspicions. He’s lightened Eric’s load? He’s pulled