Flirting with Fire: A Summer Camp Swingers novel

Still, I tossed my own towel, trotted after them, and launched myself into an arc that even Christy would’ve admired. It carried me over girls and dogs and into the churning water beyond. I broke the surface near the diving board and endured their teasing with good humor. Only Molly felt sorry for me. She paddled over and let me scratch her head.

“Come join us,” I called to Allie.

“Yeah, Mom, please!”

“Please, please!”

“Oh, all right.” She tossed her towel on the foot of a lounge chair and waded down the steps.

The girls weren’t the least bit interested in her body. It was natural to my daughters, and hers had seen her before. Besides, they didn’t know what a body like Allie’s could do, especially with the right kind of encouragement, which I was more than happy to give her.

Still, they were right about one thing—her tan lines were weird. The pale triangles on her breasts were sexy, but the overlapping lines from the one-piece made me think of a Cubist painting. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon wasn’t exactly jerk-off material.

The little head spoke up, Who cares? It’s just the packaging. You care about the person inside, remember?

Hold on… Who’re you and what’ve you done with my penis?

Dumbass, he muttered, and I managed to hide my inward disappointment before Allie glanced my way. She swirled the water around her and offered a tentative smile.

“This is nice.”

I returned it, without the doubt I’d felt a moment ago.

“We told you,” Madison said.

“Yeah,” Carly piped up, “we told you.”

“You did,” Allie agreed.

I kicked toward the shallow end to give her a break.

“All right, who’s first?” I said. “Carly?”

Almond eyes flashed, and she swam toward me. I locked my hands into a stirrup. Carly slid her foot into it and braced herself on my shoulders.

“Ready? Three… two… one… launch!”

* * *

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool, and I did my best to wear out the girls without doing the same to myself. Allie watched and shouted encouragement from the side, completely comfortable with her body and nudity. She even joined us for a game of Marco Polo. Neither of us were very serious about it, and I took advantage of the girls’ distraction for a little surreptitious groping. Allie dodged or fended me off every time, but she never moved very far away.

“You’re so bad,” she said at last. “We’re going to get caught.”

“That’s half the fun.”

“Not if they start asking questions.” She added in a little girl voice, “Mommy, why is he touching you there? And why is his thing hard?”

“I’ll show you hard,” I muttered playfully.

“Oh, no you don’t.” She laughed and backed away, hands at the ready.

Unfortunately, Marco and the Polos moved toward us from the deep end. Madison ran into Spike, and Carly tagged her.

“No fair! The dog got in my way!”

“So?”

“You were cheating, too! You opened your eyes! I saw!”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Nuh-huh!”

I waded forward to break up the squabble. “All right, one more round and then it’s time for dinner.”

I started playing for real and managed to stay just out of Madison’s reach for several minutes before I deliberately lingered on the surface a moment too long. She tagged me and whooped.

“Congratulations,” I told her. “Good game, girls. Now, let’s get ready for dinner. Rinse off, get dressed, you know the drill.”

Emily simply vaulted to the side of the pool and climbed out. It was an unladylike maneuver that her mother didn’t approve of, especially without a swimsuit. I personally thought it was fine, but Christy and I were a team. Emily’s defiance wavered when she saw my disapproval.

Madison hopped up beside her. “What?”

“Nothing.”

Molly had taken the stairs, and she trotted up to them, loyal and obedient as ever. Poor Emily. Her shoulders sagged as she made the connection. She could be pigheaded and stubborn, but she was also honest with herself.

“Sorry,” she muttered in my direction.

“For what?” Madison said.

“Nothing. Let’s just rinse off.”

Susie and Carly provided a welcome bit of comic relief to lighten the mood. They were chasing Spike and Buck in the deep end, and the dogs thought it was a game.

“I mean it! Come on!” Susie pleaded.

“Yeah, c’mon,” Carly said.

They climbed from the pool using the mother-approved method, the swim-out. The dogs circled a couple of times before they lost interest.

“Time to get out.” Susie stomped her foot. “Bucket Rothchild Hughes… now means now!”

Allie and I traded grins.

The dogs went to investigate a pool noodle caught under the waterfall.

“Ugh. Suit yourself. Goofy dogs.” She turned her urgency on us. “C’mon, Dad, you too.”

“Yeah, Mom, let’s go.”

I did my best Susie impression. “What? We’re coming! Ugh.”

She was not amused.

“Go ahead,” I laughed, “we’re right behind you.”

I followed Allie up the stairs and resisted the urge to pat her bare bottom. Then again, Susie and Carly had turned their backs and were waiting in line for the shower.