As soon as I saw my cousin Ashley, I knew I was smitten. It had been two years since her family had visited, and since that time she had grown from a scrawny and freckly little girl into the most gorgeous sixteen-year-old beauty I had ever seen.

On the one hand, it was hard not to picture her as the cute, if a bit whiny, little girl that I remembered so well when she was just a child. On the other hand, there was no denying her beauty now. It was the first thing I noticed when I walked in the front door of my parents' house and saw Uncle Craig's family sitting in the front room.

Her kid sisters, of course, nearly bowled me over in their enthusiasm as they rushed to give a hug to "Cousin Bruce." I laughed and hugged them back, enjoying the attention. Jenny and Dana had the same blond hair and bright blue eyes as their older sister, and I could already tell that one day they would probably turn out as gorgeous as Ashley. But they were still little girls for now, and Ashley held my complete attention.

Less enthusiastic was their brother Shane. Four years younger than Ashley, he was at that awkward age when he was no longer a child and yet not a teenager, and it was no longer the "cool" thing to play with his cousin, especially an ancient twenty-three-year-old like me. He simply gave a disinterested smile and waved at me from the couch, and I waved back.

"Oh, good, you're here," Mom said, emerging from the kitchen. "The girls have been jabbering on and on about you, wondering when you would be arriving."

"I'm not surprised," I laughed. "Does that include Ashley too?" I joked.

"No!" Ashley denied.

I squatted down and scooped up Jenny and Dana so that they were sitting on my shoulders, and causing both girls to giggle. At nine and seven respectively, they were not light, but I had been working out at the gym for several months now and I was eager to show off my strength, especially in front of Ashley. Still, I could only keep them up for a few seconds before I had to put them down again.

"I want a piggy-back ride!" Dana exclaimed, trying to scramble onto my back.

"You're getting a little too big for that," I teased her. "An old guy like me doesn't have that kind of energy." Despite my words, though, I squatted down and helped her climb onto my shoulders.

"Me next," Jenny insisted.

"Oh, you're definitely too big," I told her with a laugh. "You'll squash me." Then I turned to Ashley. "And you, don't even think about asking," I said.

"Oh ha ha," she replied sarcastically, but with an amused look.

"So how was the traffic?" asked Dad, who sat in a chair across the room.

"Oh, the usual rush hour," I replied. "I'm glad I don't commute every day. Half an hour is fine for coming to visit once in a while, but I'm glad I've got my own apartment in the city."

"Try ten hours," said Uncle Craig. "That's how long our drive was this time."

"Yeah, but you only visit once a year," I told him. "In fact, you missed last year."

"It's hard to get the girls to sit still that long," Aunt Wendy said.

"I'm sure," I replied. "I'll bet Ashley in particular was probably asking 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet?' every five minutes."

"See? What did I tell you?" Ashley said. "Bruce hasn't been here for five minutes, and already he's picking on me."

"Oh, but you're so fun to pick on," I told her with a grin.

It was the same pattern as with all of my cousins. I had lots of fun playing with them as kids, and as they grew older it turned into good-natured teasing. The last time they had visited when she was fourteen, I teased her about her freckles and being so skinny. Now she had a gorgeous figure and a complete absence of freckles, but I wasn't about to let that stop me. Besides, I could always fall back to my usual snide remarks about her clumsiness, unless of course she had gotten over that too.

"Well anyway, dinner's ready," Mom announced. "Come on in and we'll get started."

We all made our way into the dining room, where a hot dinner of roast beef awaited us. I would have liked to sit by Ashley, but unfortunately the younger girls both wanted to sit by their cousin, so to avoid any arguments, I sat between them.

During the meal, we discussed plans for their vacation. They would be here visiting for two weeks, which would give me plenty of time to spend with them. Their big event would be a camping trip on Friday and Saturday; we had some good camp sites not far out of town, and Dana at least had never been camping, so to her it would be an adventure. I was tempted to make up all kinds of stories about scary monsters that lived in the woods, but her parents would certainly not appreciate her having nightmares all night, so I refrained.

I kept sneaking quick, discrete glances at Ashley during the meal. I just couldn't get over how gorgeous she had become in these past two years. She was downright sexy.

What made her even more sexy was the fact that she didn't flaunt it. With her, there was no trace of the haughty arrogance that a lot of good-looking girls that age had. She was, if anything, a little shy. Maybe she was just getting used to being so beautiful, and didn't really know how to deal with it. No doubt half the guys at her school were lusting after her.

After dinner, my parents wanted to take a walk, and asked who wanted to go with them. Jenny and Dana of course had to come along, but Shane declined, preferring instead to play a hand-held video game that he had brought with him. Uncle Craig and Aunt Wendy decided to just relax, which left only Ashley and me. I glanced over at her, and she glanced over at me. Our eyes met for just an instant, but in that instant I thought I saw a bit of a question, probably the same question I had in my own eyes. It was as if we both wanted to see what the other one would do first.

I took the initiative. "I'll come," I shrugged.

"I will too," said Ashley, confirming my suspicion. The signals she was sending me suggested that she wanted to spend time with me, but didn't want to admit it.

I grabbed my coat, and the six of us left the house. It was a pretty typical neighborhood, with modest houses encircling a cul-de-sac. None of the neighbors were outside at the moment, which wasn't unusual; it was a quiet neighborhood after all.

We walked down to the end of the road, then turned the corner to follow the sidewalk up the avenue. It was about five blocks to the elementary school, which made a good destination for our walk, especially since there was a playground where the little girls could have fun for a few minutes before heading back home. The jungle gym in particular gave them an alternative to Cousin Bruce to climb on.

Mom, Dad, Ashley and I sat on one of the benches while the girls rigorously tested every piece of equipment in the playground. I smiled as I watched them, remembering what it was like to be that young.

Despite the fact that it was summer, we had had a nice rain storm that afternoon, and the chill still lingered. I noticed Ashley shivering; she had forgotten to bring a coat, and her tee-shirt and shorts didn't offer much protection against the elements. She moved in close to me for warmth, and even slipped under my jacket. Since I had it unzipped, it was like wrapping herself in a blanket. Her actions both surprised and thrilled me; I was overjoyed to be this close to her.

I remembered that she had always been extra affectionate with me when she was a child. There was one particular time when she was eight and I was still living at home, when her family came to visit during the summer. One morning I woke up to find her curled up next to me in my bed. At the time, I didn't think anything of it, or at most, that it was a little bit annoying. After all, what fifteen-year-old boy wants to have an eight-year-old little girl sleep in his bed with him?

Her parents thought it was cute, but I told her not to do it again. She seemed to be a little hurt at my words, but she got over it soon enough.

When she grew older and began to understand the concept of what was and wasn't appropriate behavior, she stopped acting quite so affectionate. It was only on rare occasions like this that she did anything that could be construed as flirting.

I was tempted to put my arm around her shoulder, but figured that that would have been too obvious. Instead, I did the gentlemanly thing and took off my jacket and placed it on her.

"Thanks," she said with an embarrassed smile.

The truth was that I would have been more than happy to have her cuddle up with me under my jacket for a while longer, but even though she was my cousin, it might not look good to my parents or any of the neighbors who happened to be watching. If we were alone, perhaps I would act differently.

I used this time to talk with Ashley. I was curious as to what she had been up to in the past couple of years. She was about to start her junior year in high school, and was beginning to make plans for college. She hadn't made up her mind yet whether to study architecture or law ("As if this world needs another lawyer," I teased). Most importantly, she didn't have a boyfriend.

I don't know why that made me glad. After all, she was my first cousin, so there was no chance that there could be anything between us. Of course I found her attractive, but that didn't mean anything would come of it. I was more than happy to settle for simple friendship with her.

We only gave the girls ten minutes to play, then called them back over so that we could return to the house. They grumbled and complained and pleaded for "another five minutes," then gave in and followed us only when my mother promised them she would bring them back tomorrow so they could play all afternoon. That wasn't enough to keep Dana from jumping on my back though, and I had to give her another piggy-back ride all the way home.

After we arrived back home, I spent the rest of the evening roughhousing with the younger girls or discussing the latest computer games with Shane. It wasn't that I didn't want to spend time with Ashley; in fact, I would have been more than happy to be alone with her. But I felt a little self-conscious about appearing too friendly with her. In fact, I even wondered myself whether my feelings toward her were entirely appropriate.

The time passed quickly, and soon it was time for me to leave. I had work in the morning after all, and needed to get back to my apartment for a good night's sleep. I said my goodbyes, gave everyone a hug (and discovered that Ashley was even nicer to hug than I had imagined), then headed out the door.

That was Monday. I didn't get a chance to see them again for the rest of the week, but Ashley occupied my thoughts the whole time. Sure, I liked my other cousins too. Jenny and Dana were particularly adorable. But Ashley was just too good to be true.

In particular, I kept thinking about that walk we had taken after dinner, and how nice it had felt when she had cuddled up to me under my coat. Now I regretted not letting her walk the rest of the way home with me like that. We were cousins, so surely my parents wouldn't have a problem with it, and I didn't care what the neighbors thought.

Oh well. So I had missed an opportunity. That was fine; it wasn't like there was the potential for anything between us. Ashley cuddling up to me was no different from her younger sisters wrestling around on the floor with me.

It was too bad that they were planning to go camping on Friday. I would have loved to go with them, but all the campsites filled up early this time of year, so they had to leave early in the day, and I had to work. I worked as a semi-independent computer consultant, so I could technically have taken half a day off if I wanted, but I had the deadline for a big project coming up, and couldn't afford to lose the time, or I would be scrambling to finish it at the last minute.

At least they would be back Saturday night. I could drive home on Sunday morning and still get to spend all day with her. With them, I meant.

As it turned out, I got to see Ashley sooner than I expected, and a whole lot more of her than I could possibly have hoped for.

On Friday I decided to go home for lunch, since my apartment was only a ten minute drive from work and I needed to take a break from the office. I had just stepped into my apartment when the phone rang. I picked it up. "Hello?" I said.

"Hi, Bruce," said the voice on the other line. It was my mother.

"Hi, Mom," I told her. "I thought you would have left by now."

"That was the plan," she said, "but we had a little problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"Ashley sprained her ankle this morning. We just got back from the hospital."

"Is she all right?" I asked, concerned.

"She'll be fine. Her foot's all taped up, and she has to stay off of it for a couple of days. That's why we're calling."

"You're not going camping," I deduced.

"Actually, we are. Ashley didn't want to spoil our plans. She insists that we go without her. Jerry and Linda didn't want to leave her here alone, so I was wondering if you could come down and watch her?"

"Of course. I can take off the rest of the day of work if you need me to."

"No, just come down afterward. She'll be fine by herself for a few hours. We've got her on the couch in the living room, and she can watch TV until you get here."

"Okay. Can I talk to her?"

"Sure." There was a pause, then Ashley came on.

"Hi, Bruce," she said. "Are you going to come down and babysit me?" she asked.

"As soon as I get off work. How are you feeling?"

"I'm all right. I'm all doped up on painkillers right now, so I can't feel a thing."

"So what happened?"

"I just put my foot wrong coming down the stairs."

"You mean you fell?"

"Yeah, but it was the last step before the bottom, so I didn't fall far. You know how clumsy I am."

"Yes, well, they shouldn't let everyone walk. They should be required to take a test, like for driving," I joked. "Hey, I'll pick up a couple of movies on my way down. Anything in particular you want to see?"

"Not really. Just no action, no science fiction, and no porn."

"Well, that eliminates all the good ones. But I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks. Well, I'll see you tonight, then."

"Bye."

The thought of spending Friday night and all of Saturday alone with her kept me from concentrating on work for the rest of the day, which pretty much negated the whole advantage of staying in the office. Still, I was too happy to let that bother me.

At 5:00 exactly, I left my desk and headed out to the car. I had thrown all of my laundry for the week in a duffel bag in the trunk. Saturday was laundry day for me, and I could wash my clothes just as easily at my parents' house as in my apartment.

I didn't spend much time at the video store; I was anxious to get home to see my cousin. I had to admit, I was actually looking forward to spending time alone with her. When the rest of the cousins were there, I played and joked around with the other ones, especially the little girls. And while that was fun, I really wanted to focus more of my attention on Ashley. In fact, I had to deliberately try not to seem too friendly toward her. Now, though, was the perfect opportunity. I don't know what I was thinking, only that I wanted to be around her.

Picking out a couple of romantic comedies that I thought she might enjoy, I checked them out and hurried out to my car to finish the last ten minutes of my trip.

I made one more stop on my way home. I knew that Ashley had a fondness for lemon chicken, so I had decided to forgo the usual frozen pizza that my mother would have undoubtedly left for me to put in the oven for dinner. I think she still thought I couldn't look after myself, even though I had been living away from home for five years. In fact, I considered myself to be quite a good cook. So I had looked up a recipe for lemon chicken on the Internet and made a quick stop by the grocery store to pick up the ingredients that my parents most likely wouldn't have on hand.

The sun was just setting as I pulled into the driveway of my parents' house. As expected, their jeep and Uncle Jerry's van weren't there; both having been used on the trip into the mountains. The light was on in the living room, and through the windows I could see Ashley lying on the couch, covered in a blanket and staring at the television.

I left my car and strode to the front door. Opening it, I peeked in. "Trick or Treat!" I grinned. Ashley laughed.

"You're about four months too early," she told me.

"So does this mean I don't get any candy?" I asked, stepping inside and closing the door behind me. I came over and knelt down in front of the couch at the end where she had her legs. "Can I take a look at your foot?" I asked.

"Why? Are you a doctor?"

"I was just worried about you. That's all. I just want to reassure myself that you're okay." Actually, I was more interested in looking at her legs. She had very attractive legs, and since she liked to wear shorts, I was hoping for a nice, long look.

And I wasn't disappointed. Ashley smiled and pulled the blanket off, showing me exactly what I wanted to see. She wore a light blue tee-shirt and a pair of cream-colored shorts that emphasized her soft, beautiful legs. I couldn't believe how sexy she was. Her injured foot didn't look bad at all. It was wrapped in bandages, and seemed a little swollen, but otherwise appeared to be fine.

"See?" she said. "Nothing to worry about. Come sit down." She lifted her feet so that I could take a seat on the couch, then rested her legs on my lap. I mentally chided myself for not wearing shorts. What I would have given to feel her skin against mine right then! She reached down and picked up the blanket from off of the floor, and I helped her cover her legs again.

We sat for a few minutes, Ashley focusing on the show on TV and me pretending to do the same. But my mind was certainly not on the television, but on my cousin.

The show was just finishing, so I waited until the ending credits, then got up off the couch. "So, are you hungry?" I asked.

"A little," she answered.

"Well, let's see what we have here." I went into the kitchen, which was divided from the living room by just the presence of tile on the floor instead of carpet. Opening the freezer door, I looked inside. Just as I had expected, there was a frozen pizza there. And while I had no objection to it, I wanted to impress Ashley with my cooking skills.

"Well, we have a couple of excellent choices on the menu," I told her in my best bad Italian accent. I picked up the frozen pizza and read from the label. "One of our most popular items is... 'Signor Donacelli's Super Supremo Pizza. Now with 33% more toppings.' Or you might try the special today, which is ... Bruce Carlson's World Famous Lemon Chicken!"

Ashley raised her head up to peek over the back of the couch at me, her eyes wide with excitement and a big grin on her lips. "Really?" she asked. "Are you serious?"

"It sounds like Madame has made her choice. Sorry, Signor Donacelli, but we're going with the lemon chicken tonight."

"I love lemon chicken!" Ashley exclaimed. "I didn't know you knew how to cook it."

"Nothing's too good for my cousin," I smiled back. "Since you missed the camping trip, I feel it's my duty to cheer you up. In fact, by the time I'm through, you will have forgotten all about the trip."

"I'll tell you a secret," she said. "I don't really like camping. But don't let that stop you trying to cheer me up."

"Aha! The secret is out. Ashley Carlson is only faking a sprained ankle. You're a pretty good actor, if you were even able to fool the doctor."

"The sprain is real," she told me. "Although I have to admit, I couldn't ask for better timing."

"Suspiciously good timing, if you ask me. So tell me the truth. Did you really sprain your ankle just so you could stay home with me?"

"Yes. I really sprained my ankle just so I could stay home. Even if it is with you," she grinned.

"Ouch, Ashley. That hurts. If you're going to be nasty like that, maybe you don't deserve the lemon chicken. Signor Donacelli, you may get your chance after all..."

"I'm just kidding!" she hurriedly insisted. "I don't mind being with you. You're ... tolerable."

"Oh, goody! She called me tolerable," I beamed in mock delight. "Although I was hoping for just a little more, I suppose I have to take what I get."

"Okay, fine. I like you. Is that good enough?"

"Much better. Now you just relax, and I'll have dinner ready before you know it." I started throwing together the ingredients, and soon the house was filled with the aroma of lemon and herbs.

It took an hour for the chicken to bake after I mixed everything together, so I returned to the couch and sat with Ashley for a while. She put her legs up on my lap again, and we spent the time talking about nothing in particular. I really enjoyed just being with her, and I got the impression she felt the same way about me.

I could do nothing for her injured foot, but I asked her if she wanted me to give her good foot a massage. She agreed enthusiastically, so I set to work. She sighed as I rubbed it, enjoying it thoroughly.

As it turned out, I enjoyed it just as much. Granted, there were other parts of her body that were a whole lot nicer than her feet, but pretty much everything else was off-limits, so I was willing to settle for this.

In fact, I was so caught up in the thrill of just touching her that I was shocked to hear the buzzer go off on the oven. I thought we had only been sitting here for a few minutes, but apparently it was a full hour.

I got up off the couch and took the food out of the oven. It had to sit for a few minutes before we could eat it, so I used that time to throw my laundry into the washing machine, wash my hands (making a joke about having just had them on her "smelly feet") and get out the dinnerware. I didn't want Ashley to have to get up and come to the table, so I served the meal and brought it over to her on the couch.

"Bruce, thanks so much for being so nice to me," she said as we ate. "You really didn't have to go out of your way to fix my favorite food tonight, and I appreciate the effort."

"Just trying to impress you with my elite cooking skills," I grinned.

"Well, it worked. I'm impressed."

I smiled, enjoying the compliment. It felt nice to have such a pretty girl say things like that about me.

I couldn't resist putting in a few jabs about her clumsiness as we sat and ate, especially when she accidentally spilled her water on the floor. I kept it good-natured; the last thing I wanted to do was make her mad at me.

After we finished eating, I took her plate and glass and set them in the sink. There would be plenty of time to wash them later. Right now, I just wanted to sit and talk with her for a while.

Ashley yawned and stretched, tensing up her legs for a second before finally relaxing again.

"Am I that boring?" I grinned.

"Oh, no," she hastily replied. "You're great, Bruce. Really. I've just been sitting here all day. Funny how doing nothing for a few hours makes you tired."

"Well, you could always get up and do jumping jacks to get your blood flowing," I joked.

"Yeah right. Actually, I was thinking about taking a shower. I haven't had one yet today."

"Yeah, I can tell."

"Hey!" she exclaimed, but she knew it was all in fun. "Anyway, would you do me a favor?"

"I'm not going to wash your back, if that's what you're asking."

"Be serious for once in your life, Bruce," she scolded. "I just need you to help me up off the couch."

"Sure." I scooted in next to her and put an arm around her waist. As she slipped her arm over my shoulder, I felt a sudden thrill at being this close to her. She was so soft, and despite not having taken a shower all day, she smelled very nice.

I leaned forward, braced my legs on the floor, and stood up, pulling her with me. Together we hobbled across the room toward the bathroom, with her leaning on me for support. She rested there against the counter while I retrieved a towel and washcloth for her from the hall closet. Then she closed the door, and I returned to my seat on the couch.

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine her there in the bathroom, taking off her clothes, stepping into the shower ... I heard the water turn on, and tried to picture it running down her hot little body. I wanted so much just to run in there right now, rip off my clothes, and make passionate love to her. This is crazy, I told myself. She's your cousin. And she's underage. You could go to jail for that. But I let my fantasies continue. After all, they were just fantasies, and so couldn't hurt anyone.

Then, suddenly, I heard a crash from the bathroom, and Ashley cried out. I immediately jumped up off the couch and raced over to the bathroom door. Keeping it closed, I leaned in. "Are you all right?" I asked.

"No," she replied, and I could hear her sobbing. I reached for the door handle. As it started to turn, I heard her voice again. "Don't come in!" she insisted. Then in a calmer voice, "I'll be okay. I just slipped, that's all." Then came the squeaking of something rubbing against the porcelain of the tub, and another crash.

"Ashley?" I asked.

"Oh, dang!" she said. "I just knocked the shower curtain down. I'm getting water all over the floor."

"Don't worry about that," I said. "I'll mop it up later."

Again came the squeaking, and I figured she must be scrambling to get to her feet. But I could tell she wasn't too successful. Her ankle surely wasn't helping at all.

"Bruce," she said, a little hesitantly. "Could you ... could you come in and help me?"

"Sure," I said, trying to sound calm. In truth, I was getting very excited. But I opened the door slowly and stepped into the bathroom.

Ashley sat in the tub, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms locked around her legs. I could see that her bad ankle was slightly more discolored than when she went into the bathroom. Her face was red from embarrassment of being naked in front of me. Shampoo covered her hair. The shower nozzle was spraying down on her, a good portion of the water falling on the bathroom floor and the shower curtain, which lay beside the tub.

I first leaned over and turned off the water. Then I kicked the shower rod out of the way so that I had more room to maneuver. "Let's get you on your feet," I told Ashley. I bent down and squatted beside the tub. I slid my arm around her waist (which felt very nice, I might add), and told her to put her arm over my shoulder. She did so reluctantly. Then, on the count of three, I stood up, lifting her from her sitting position so that she was able to stand on her good leg. In doing so, I caught a glimpse of her lovely, young, developing breasts and her tiny little nipples. She immediately covered them up with her free arm. She had her legs closed up tight so that all I could see of her thigh was a thin covering of sandy brown hair. It was enough to get me erect, though. Fortunately, I was still fully dressed, so she couldn't see the effect she was having on me.

"All right, step one is finished," I said calmly. I couldn't believe how mature I was being about this whole thing. "Now we have to get you cleaned off. Can you stand on your own?"

She tried to put her injured foot down, but immediately slipped again. Fortunately, my grip on her waist and her arm over my shoulder kept her from falling.

"Okay, we'll do this the hard way," I said. Ashley nodded. With her still leaning on me for support, I maneuvered myself so that I could lean over and turn the water back on. It splashed out over both of us, but I didn't care if my clothes were getting wet. I could always stick them in the dryer later.

Stepping into the tub, I brought Ashley in to where she could wash the shampoo out of her hair. She took a couple of seconds to work up the courage to move her arm from her chest, then reached up to run her hand through her hair. I took the opportunity to stare at her breasts. They looked so beautiful. Still a little small, they were nice and firm, jiggling only slightly as she moved. I was getting very turned on by seeing the water and soap run down her body between them and sometimes over them. But I forced myself to pull my gaze away before Ashley caught me staring.

In a few minutes, she finished rinsing herself off. I turned off the water and stepped out of the bathtub, then reached for a towel for her. She dried herself off (with only the strongest of effort I kept myself from offering to do it for her), then tried to wrap it around herself. It was a shame to have her cover up her body again, and in fact, my hopes were rising that we wouldn't be able to, since it was awkward at best to get the towel around her. But to my dismay, we finally managed to do it.

On an impulse, I leaned over and put my free arm behind her knees, then lifted her up into my arms. She giggled nervously, and I was glad to see she her in better spirits. I carried her out to the couch and laid her gently down. "See? That wasn't so bad," I said as I went to close the blinds on the front window. I didn't want the neighbors to peek in on her with her just wearing a towel after all.