Chapter 1

TIFFANY

As I sunned myself by the swimming pool, I felt like a very bad girl. I wasn't one really but I so wanted to change that.

I'd just finished my senior year in high school and had spent most of the summer soaking up the sun by the pool in our backyard. Sometimes a friend or two joined me but since most of them worked summer jobs, that left me all alone. I'd put on one of my skimpy bikinis, like the red one lined with maroon trim and slather on the sun lotion. Then I'd remove my wrap and lie on the chaise usually with an ice cold glass of sweet tea next to me.

If I felt too hot from the sun, I'd get up and dive into the pool, my body slicing cleanly through the cool water feeling totally refreshed. But it wasn't just the sun that made me hot.

It was the men, who were working on the cabana to fix it up, move in some new furniture my father and bought and then cover it with several coats of fresh paint. They spent most of the day working in their tank tops and faded jeans, work boots and everything. Not that it did much to hide the fact that they were hard bodied men, built with sinewy muscle honed from what they did and when they broke for lunch, I'd watch them talking by the swimming pool as they ate.

This had been going on for two weeks so far and they had yet to say a word to me except "hi", "bye" or "how you doing" that didn't await a response from me. Polite chatter considering I was sitting in front of them just in my bikini.

I knew I was a pretty girl. I'd been told it enough times in my life to believe it, going back to when I'd been a little girl. Whereas other girls in my class complained about the "in between" stage where they just wanted to hide away, I slid pretty smoothly to looking like a woman. The guys knew it for sure, flocking around me and I'd been out with a number of them. I hadn't been an angel either ... okay I hadn't really been with a guy ... not like I told some people.

It's just that there's a lot of pressure to just lose it you know, to be the first to be grownup in your crowd. So I subtracted some months from my experiences, anything wrong with that? No matter what happened, when I did lose it, I'd just tell my friends a version where the dates were changed and maybe a few things about the guy. I had a reputation to keep as being one of the cool girls in high school so half the school thought I'd lost it when I was 16 even my best friends.

The truth was that I was still a virgin after high school. I had planned to change that on prom night but my date, Phil passed out in the hotel room after we left the dance where he'd gotten drunk as a skunk.

But looking at the two hot men in front of me, I knew I could change that and create a back story the next time someone pressed me for more details.

I got up to go take a dip in the pool, stretching my arms as I did so, not paying attention to who might be watching. My mom had gone to one of her many social meetings and my dad was on one of his business trips.

So that left me all alone ... except for the two men.

I dove into the pool and felt the coolness rush over me. It erased the languidness that lying under the hot sun created. I swam underneath the water until I reached the edge of the pool near the deep end ladder.

I saw the one that I'd heard go by Carlton, the other one being Glen. I'd seen them around town plenty of times mostly hanging by the jazz club.

Carlton had sat down on one of the deck chairs drinking a bottle of iced tea.

"Taste good?"

He looked at me as I watched him and smiled.

"It hits the spot," he said, "Weather's so hot this time of year that it's hard not to pass out from it."

I considered that.

"You can always jump in here and cool off."

He smiled wider.

"I don't think the boss would shine to that," he said, "He's your father right?"

I nodded.

"He's not here," I said, "He's out of town until the end of the week on work."

"Still ... got a job to do," he said, "Glen and I will be finished by the end of the week."

I licked my lips.

"That's a shame," I said, "I'd gotten kind of used to you being here."

"Got to make a living and we've got some other jobs lined up."

I sighed, watching as he sipped from his bottle again.

"Maybe if I talk to my father, he can find you other work to do."

He tilted his face looking at me. He had dark curly hair and the beginnings of a beard, stubble mostly. Glen had lighter brown hair and they both had deep tans from working outside during the summer months no doubt.

"That's awfully nice of you but I'm curious. Is that just to help us out or is it for another reason?"