what you did, God, that was lovely!”
“And I can’t do what you just did, Sam.”
“All that takes is brute strength and awkwardness,Jane. Dick is going to collect the skis we left all over the lake. You’re quite a gal. You ought to get yourself a job down at Cypress Gardens. I call it a draw.”
“Okay, Sam. A draw.”
There was something about the vital young strength of him that made her feel absurdly girlish. She looked at him and knew that her face had shown too much and that this was not a young man with whom you turned the cards face up. He moved closer to her in the water and put a big hand on her waist and pulled her over against him. She was conscious of the way the play suit was plastered to her, of how the cold of the water had made her nipples swell, sharp against the thin wet fabric.
She put her hand on his big square wrist and tried to push his hand away. “Don’t be a damn fool, Sam. Good Lord, I’m …”
“Old enough to be my mother. I doubt that. Look, dear, a whole lake all to ourselves.”
“They’re watching us. Now stop! I mean it!”
“Jane, you’re the nicest thing I’ve seen, anywhere.”
She turned suddenly away from him, spinning in the water, moving away to tread water and stare at him with what she hoped was severity.
“Don’t get carried away. I’ve got two kids there at the dock. I don’t think you’re more than six or seven years older than my boy. Now don’t handle me. I don’t like it.”
He smiled ruefully. “That’s the hell of it, Jane. When I find what I want, it turns out I was born just a little too late. Or you came along too soon.”
“The cry of the junior wolf.”
“Come on up and I’ll show you my merit badges, honey.”
“Fool!”
“At least you’re smiling again. I like that smile. Look, this is vacation. A nice day. Nice people. A nice place. Fair warning, now. I’m after you.”
She stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“It certainly won’t hurt me any, and I know it won’t do you any harm. A little bonus for both of us, and nobody talks, and who knows about it but you and me.”
“That’s pretty damn direct and insulting. What gets intoyou kids these days? Good Lord, when I was in college nobody ever had the nerve to come right out and …”
“Don’t get yourself in a froth, dear. Pretty soon you’ll start talking about the nasty moral standards of the new generation. What’s nasty, dear? Asking for it like a civilized human being, or mooching around and trying to sneak up on it? The result is the same, but the anticipation is better. And just think how well co-ordinated we both are. Now slap my sassy face.”
“Stop grinning like an idiot. What gives you the right to talk to me as if I was cheap enough to … to play around with a college boy?”
“You did.”
“How on earth …”
“You said people were watching, Jane. That was your first reaction. So it makes me wonder what happens when we get where nobody is watching.”
“Two-bit psychology, and it’s all wrong. Now get away. Don’t touch me again. Here comes the boat.”
The boat came up and Dick took it out of gear and it rocked near them burbling softly. Deena called to them, “We decided it was a tie.”
“So did we,” Sam said. “We decided she’s going to try to ride back on my shoulders. So after she gets on my skis, pull her tow rope in, hey?”
“I am not!” Jane said in a low heated tone.
Sam gave her a look of blank amazement, and said in a low voice, “Darling, this is for the amusement of the people, not us.”
“I won’t do it,” she said.
She recovered her other ski, put it on, got herself in position in the water, ski tips elevated, Sam beside her. The boat started up and they came dripping up out of the water, skimming along as before.
Sam swooped near her and before she could move away, he grasped her tow bar. He yelled into her ear, “I’ll shorten my rope and you put one ski between mine.” He moved
“And I can’t do what you just did, Sam.”
“All that takes is brute strength and awkwardness,Jane. Dick is going to collect the skis we left all over the lake. You’re quite a gal. You ought to get yourself a job down at Cypress Gardens. I call it a draw.”
“Okay, Sam. A draw.”
There was something about the vital young strength of him that made her feel absurdly girlish. She looked at him and knew that her face had shown too much and that this was not a young man with whom you turned the cards face up. He moved closer to her in the water and put a big hand on her waist and pulled her over against him. She was conscious of the way the play suit was plastered to her, of how the cold of the water had made her nipples swell, sharp against the thin wet fabric.
She put her hand on his big square wrist and tried to push his hand away. “Don’t be a damn fool, Sam. Good Lord, I’m …”
“Old enough to be my mother. I doubt that. Look, dear, a whole lake all to ourselves.”
“They’re watching us. Now stop! I mean it!”
“Jane, you’re the nicest thing I’ve seen, anywhere.”
She turned suddenly away from him, spinning in the water, moving away to tread water and stare at him with what she hoped was severity.
“Don’t get carried away. I’ve got two kids there at the dock. I don’t think you’re more than six or seven years older than my boy. Now don’t handle me. I don’t like it.”
He smiled ruefully. “That’s the hell of it, Jane. When I find what I want, it turns out I was born just a little too late. Or you came along too soon.”
“The cry of the junior wolf.”
“Come on up and I’ll show you my merit badges, honey.”
“Fool!”
“At least you’re smiling again. I like that smile. Look, this is vacation. A nice day. Nice people. A nice place. Fair warning, now. I’m after you.”
She stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“It certainly won’t hurt me any, and I know it won’t do you any harm. A little bonus for both of us, and nobody talks, and who knows about it but you and me.”
“That’s pretty damn direct and insulting. What gets intoyou kids these days? Good Lord, when I was in college nobody ever had the nerve to come right out and …”
“Don’t get yourself in a froth, dear. Pretty soon you’ll start talking about the nasty moral standards of the new generation. What’s nasty, dear? Asking for it like a civilized human being, or mooching around and trying to sneak up on it? The result is the same, but the anticipation is better. And just think how well co-ordinated we both are. Now slap my sassy face.”
“Stop grinning like an idiot. What gives you the right to talk to me as if I was cheap enough to … to play around with a college boy?”
“You did.”
“How on earth …”
“You said people were watching, Jane. That was your first reaction. So it makes me wonder what happens when we get where nobody is watching.”
“Two-bit psychology, and it’s all wrong. Now get away. Don’t touch me again. Here comes the boat.”
The boat came up and Dick took it out of gear and it rocked near them burbling softly. Deena called to them, “We decided it was a tie.”
“So did we,” Sam said. “We decided she’s going to try to ride back on my shoulders. So after she gets on my skis, pull her tow rope in, hey?”
“I am not!” Jane said in a low heated tone.
Sam gave her a look of blank amazement, and said in a low voice, “Darling, this is for the amusement of the people, not us.”
“I won’t do it,” she said.
She recovered her other ski, put it on, got herself in position in the water, ski tips elevated, Sam beside her. The boat started up and they came dripping up out of the water, skimming along as before.
Sam swooped near her and before she could move away, he grasped her tow bar. He yelled into her ear, “I’ll shorten my rope and you put one ski between mine.” He moved
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