Summer Swap 6-9

She folded her arms over her chest, her cheeks burning, her heart racing. How embarrassing. How dumb. How utterly idiotic. Cody had said the cleaners were coming today at two. He’d even said it yesterday, too. And this morning, right before she’d gone on her tirade with Scarlet.

She crossed one leg over the other, leaning her greasy back on the door. “I’m a laughingstock.”

Cody zipped up and then flushed the toilet. He went to the sink to wash his hands, his eyes on her from the mirror’s reflection. “How so, Chey?”

“You said the cleaners were coming today, and I forgot.”

He chuckled, scrubbing his hands. “I thought you were having fun. You mean you forgot, and you walked around naked?” He laughed again, shaking his head.

“I’m glad you think it’s funny. There were three guys in the kitchen.”

“You just made their summer.”

“I’m not trying to make anybody’s summer, I just wanted a drink.”

“So go get a drink.” He shut off the water and dried his hands, turning to face her, his eyes roaming her body.

She squeezed her eyes shut and muttered, “I’m so embarrassed.”

“I thought this was your thing, Chey. Letting people look.”

“Not when it’s a surprise. Not when I walk into a bunch of men I don’t know and I’m not expecting it. . . . Can you pass me a towel, please?”

He held his hand-drying towel down at his thigh, shrugging. “This one’s dirty. I just used it.”

“Like I care, Cody. Throw it or pass me another. Please.”

Cody looked over his shoulder at the stack of white towels folded on the shelf by the counter. “Maids were just in here. These are all clean. You’re all oily.”

She huffed a very small laugh, some of the tension of her incident easing away, locked safe in this room with Cody, who was obviously playing around with her. “So I can’t have a clean towel or a dirty towel?”

“Nope.”

“You’ve got me in quite a conundrum.”

“Nothing to it, Chey. You look a thousand times better without a towel, just all slick and oily.” His eyes wandered and his smile widened.

“Just the same, Cody, I think I’d be happier covered up.”

“This summer’s about challenges and adventure. You know you like to show it off. Hell, if it weren’t for the cleaners, it might be you and me having this conversation in the kitchen, two pals who’ve done quite a lot together and you wouldn’t be covering up one bit, I bet. Why don’t you put your arms don, for a start.”

Why was she covering up? She did like to be naked. She’d been naked with Cody a lot. She’d had sex with the guy, for crying out loud. She stood up from the door, hands still in her armpits, looking at him. “I guess you’re right,” she said, eyeballing him with a newfound confidence. “I just have to—”

She whipped her hand out from her arm pit and looked at her phone. The music still played, but she’d heard every word Cody said. Her hand whipped up and snatched out her left ear bud. No more sound. She grabbed the other ear. “Oh fuck,” she said, looking at Cody, wide-eyed.

“What is it?”

“I lost my ear bud.” On the other side of the door, she could hear the maid still vacuuming. “Cody, please get it.”

He said, “Where did you lose it?”

“Between here and the top of the stairs. It must have popped out when I ran from the kitchen.”

“So just outside?”

“Yeah. Please?”

“Just outside the door? You go, I’ll give you cover.”

“Oh, fuck,” she groaned, shoulders slumping. “Please don’t do this.” She saw the position she was in and already knew Cody wouldn’t relent. There was too much humor in the moment. If she’d got Byron naked in a room like this, she definitely would make him run out naked to retrieve something he wanted. She tried for sympathy. “Please, Cody, please. C’mon. I’d do it for you.”

“The hell you would. Better hurry up, sounds like you might lose it to the vacuum in about ten seconds.” Now he hummed the Mission: Impossible theme in his throat, smiling mean and lascivious.

“Byron got them for me.” No effect, he just chuckled so much he broke up his theme song.

“Seriously, Cody, please? The maids don’t want to see me like this.”

“It’s just a quick dash, Chey. In and out. You’re going to go, so go now, go before your ear bud ends up in the belly of the whale.”

“Cody, please? They’re expensive.”

“They sure are. It’s outrageous what they charge. What were you listening to, anyway?”

She fell back on the door again and beat the back of her head against it in frustrated taps. “You are such a fucking jerk.”

“Hey, you’re the one who jumped in here when I was vulnerable. Didn’t even knock. I had my boy out in my hand, too. Imagine my chagrin if I’d been doing a number two.”

“Why don’t you lock the door?”

“Lock’s broken.”

“Fuck’s sake,” she sighed, wishing there was another way out of this, but facing the fact she was going to have to go back out there again fully naked.

“That vacuum sounds close,” Cody said, his expression pulling into a comical mask of worry.

He’d come closer, and now she stood upright once more, and uncovered her breasts, fanning her hands toward him, saying, “Can you step back, please? I guess if there’s not a man in the house, I’ll have to do this myself.”

“Chivalry died a long time ago, m’lady. You ready?”

“I thought you were a gentleman, but I guess I was wrong.”

Cody smiled and hummed Mission: Impossible again.

“Fucking asshole,” she said, flashed a confident sneer his way, handing over her phone, and in a shining moment of bravado, yanked open the door, ready to step outside—

But with the door open, the vacuum was loud and close, and from the threshold she could see into the kitchen. There were at least two of the guys still there, restocking their supplies, cupboard doors open. Shit, no, three guys—one of them had crouched to put something in a lower cupboard. She hesitated, her body weight on her toes.

Cody, right behind her: “Now’s your chance, Chey—they’re facing the other way. Go, go, go, go...”

Her ear bud was a dozen feet away, a white dot on the floor, right at the top of the stairs. She darted out, not even looking to the left toward the maid with the vacuum, her eyes on the guys in the kitchen, crouching down as she got close, stooping, swiping up her ear bud, then running for her life back to the bathroom door, not caring if the men saw her backside. But the maid watched her, and didn’t appear amused or entertained in any way. Why would she?—some dumb tourist up to no good in her homeland.

“Hi, sorry,” she said, trotting, jiggling, and then held up the ear bud for some reason, like the woman would see it and fill in all the gaps of the scenario and know that there was a roguish multi-millionaire in the bathroom who liked to play kinky games with her. “God,” she squeaked, throwing herself against the door, exploding with amazing shame and—

The door was locked. No.

No, no, no.

She jerked the lever back and forth, fucking knowing he’d locked it.

“Cody, open the door!”

His muffled voice: “Occupado.”

“Cody, open this fucking door.”

Cody, confused: “Chey?”

“Cody, I will fucking kill you. I’m not kidding, if you don’t open the fucking door I will fucking straight-up fucking kill you.”

“Wow, sounds like I better keep this door locked.”

“Cody, please,” she said, smacking the door with a futile, greasy palm. The maid watched her, and she was sure the men from the kitchen were watching her now, too. “You said the lock was broken.”

“I did?”

She was laughing and crying at the same time, consumed by a bewildering mix of wild emotion.

Now Cody said, “While you’re out there, could you grab me a water, please, Chey?”

She was bouncing on her toes, trying to become merged with the door she pressed her body against it so hard. “Cody, please, just get a drink from the tap. Just cup your hands and drink from the tap, please.”

“I’m not drinking yacht water, Chey, that’s how you get Legionnaire’s Disease.”

“Cody, please, I’m begging you...”

“Chey, get me a mineral water, please. I’m so thirsty. If you bring me a mineral water, I swear I’ll let you in.”

She whimpered and groaned, smiling just the same, covering her face with a palm and shaking her head. She chanced a look over her shoulder to the kitchen to witness three curious men watching a naked woman locked out of the bathroom. At least when she looked, they looked away and pretended to be working.

Cody: “You like showing it off, so go show it off.”

“You’re so cruel.”

“I’m right here behind you, Chey, nothing bad will happen. You’ll give those guys a big thrill.”

“It’s not one they asked for,” she moaned, rolling her forehead on the door and thumping her fist on it in weak demand.

“Sure they did. In their dreams they did.”

“No, Cody, it’s too much.”

The door unlocked and opened, but before she could scramble in, she was taken aback by Cody filling the threshold. He’d stripped buck naked. Tanned and muscular and gorgeous, big pendulous penis, broad shoulders; he looked down on her like she was a peasant, saying, “Guess if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself.” He fanned her out of his way. “Can you step aside, ma’am?—there’s a gentleman in town now.”

Her hand went over her mouth and as Cody stepped into the hall, she scooted for cover in the bathroom doorway, turning to watch him go. He waved to the maid, saying to her, “Hey, how you doing? Nice to see you,” then continued toward the kitchen. His back muscles rippled, his perfect ass cheeks went up and down. She darted a look to the left to see the maid with the vacuum, with eyes like perfect cartoon circles, her jaw slack. Another maid not far behind her had dropped a load of clean laundry. She followed Cody to get an eyeful more.

Chey laughed and covered her mouth with both hands, watching into the kitchen, the three men who were eager to see her naked not having any interest in Cody and his muscles and his big dick. To them, he said, “Hey, guys, what’s up? Nice day, huh?”

They nodded and grumbled greetings, averting their eyes and getting very busy all of a sudden. Cody went to the fridge.

Fuck it.

She put her ear bud by where Cody left her phone, and now she followed Cody’s tracks, going into the kitchen as naked as him, looking at the guys—who were excited that she showed up, after having to see naked male perfection—saying to them, “Hi, guys, we’ll just be a sec.”

Cody had the fridge open, and he looked over his shoulder at her. His turquoise eyes showed such gleaming approval her heart soared. She could play too. They could play together.

She said, “Could you grab me a water, too, please?”

“How about an ice cold beer?”

“Perfect.”

Cody brought out two frosty bottles of beer, carrying them with the necks between the fingers of a large muscular hand. He left the kitchen, and she followed, close enough to the ogling men she could touch them—or they could touch her. Cody bypassed the eating area and stepped outside onto the promenade deck, and she hustled to join him. Once in the sun and out of the yacht, they both broke up in quiet laughter.

He shuddered then, saying, “God, that was crazy.”

“You’re a maniac,” she said, still laughing. “You should have seen those maids watching you.”

He said, “You ready to get the fuck out of here?”

“I sure am,” she said, wondering where they would go.

Cody, still holding their beers, climbed over the hand railing and stood on the other side. He said, “Last one to the bottom’s a rotten egg,” then jumped backward, plummeting maybe twenty feet to the water. She watched his glorious nudity the whole way down until he disappeared in a splash.

Then she hiked a leg over, too, and dove to join him.