Eye-Candy

"That's for tomorrow," I said. "What I was going to suggest is that we all do something fun and silly, just to get used to being naked together. Something in the pool, maybe?"

"Yes!" said Sally. "Water polo, sort of, Mom. You and me against Jenny and Michelle, eh?"

"Girls?" I said, and Jenny and Michelle nodded.

"We can change partners if it gets too one-sided," said Michelle "can't we?"

"Definitely."

The game was fun, because nobody cared who was winning and who was losing. We changed partners every five minutes or so and found out that Michelle and I were the strongest pairing. Not that it mattered, of course. We were just about to change partners again when the door-bell repeater near the pool sounded. Sally looked across at me, and I nodded.

"I'll go," I said. "I am the hostess, after all."

I climbed out and headed towards the front door, careless of the wet footprints on the floorboards. They'd wipe up later, and I suspected there'd be more before the day was done. I reached for the robe on the hook beside the door, then paused, stooping slightly to peer through the viewer in the door. I could see Kenny's battered old Ford and could just make out his face. I took a deep breath and opened the door, stifling a laugh at the stunned look on the three faces.

"Come on in, guys. Quick, before a neighbor spots me!"

Three young men hurried into the hallway with their bags, and I saw that Kenny had his camera bag, and I closed the door and turned to them, unconsciously sucking in my breath. And my gut!

"Okay, guys. The girls are in the pool and as you can see, so was I. I'd like you to use the guest room to leave your clothes so if you'll follow me, I'll show you." I led off up the stairs, and, evil bitch that I am, put an extra roll into my walk. I opened the guest-room door and ushered them in.

"Kenny?" I said. "You know the way to the pool, I know, so we'll see you out there when you're ready, okay? Okay, guys? Bill? Hector?"

"Fine, Mrs Tallon," said Bill. "See you there." Hector only nodded but his eyes never left me.

I nodded and turned to go, but hadn't gone more than a few steps before I heard Kenny's voice.

"Mrs Tallon?"

"Yes?" I waited and he came closer, glancing back to see where his friends were.

"Mrs Tallon, did Sally tell you that I'd seen your centerfold pictorial?" he said, his voice low.

I could feel myself flush slightly, but I nodded. "Yes, she did."

He smiled. "Well, I just wanted to say that, having seen you now, I think you're just as lovely as you were then." And with that, he was gone, into the guest room. I heard his voice. "Okay, guys, you've seen Mrs Tallon, and yes, she's gorgeous, but our girlfriends are out there, naked, waiting for us. So let's get these clothes off and go see them!"

I laughed to myself and headed back downstairs, humming a cheerful tune. I was curious to see how the six youngsters would react, since I knew that this was a first time, at least for Bill and Jenny, if not the others, but then it was a first for Sally and Michelle to be naked in front of someone other than their current lover, and that prompted another thought. Had Sally and Kenny fucked? Or was it still on their mutual 'to do' list? None of my business, of course, but I was curious. After all, Sally is my daughter!

There was an air of expectancy about the girls as they waited for the boys to come out and I was interested to note that they'd all left the pool. Kenny was first out and Sally moved straight across to him and into his arms for a kiss. Bill and Hector came out together and Jenny and Michelle took their cues from Sally and went across for a kiss, Jenny with a virtually whole body flush that was almost matched by Bill's, but there was no hesitation in their kiss and I heard Bill's fervent 'you are gorgeous, sweetheart,' as they broke their kiss.

Three kisses ended and the six youngsters swapped hi-fives and there was a sudden torrent of conversation with a lot of 'wow' and 'beautiful' being bandied around. I guess everyone was pleased. After a quick word with Sally, Kenny came across to me.

"Mrs Tallon? My uncle said to tell you he'll be here about four, okay?"

"Okay, Kenny." I glanced across at the others, still talking animatedly. I noticed that Bill and Jenny were holding hands and that Hector had his arm around Michelle . I turned back to Kenny. "Can you get their attention for me, please?"

"Hoi!" he called. "Attention in the ranks!" Five pairs of eyes turned to us and Kenny indicated I should step forward.

"Okay, you-all," I said. "A couple of things. One, since this is a relaxed party with everyone naked and nowhere to hide, for today only I'm not 'Mrs Tallon' or 'Mom.' No, today I'm just Mary to everyone, okay?"

There were nods and murmurs of 'yes, Mary' and I held up my hand for silence. "Two, I'm thirsty, so does anyone else want some home-made lemonade? Huh? Ah, typical, everybody. Okay, guys and gals, back in a moment."

I'd made a couple of gallons of lemonade and wondered fleetingly if it would be enough. I poured the lemonade into seven of the dozen plastic glasses I'd bought and put them on a tray, then took the drinks out to the youngsters.

"Sorry about using plastic glasses, but I didn't want to risk cut feet on broken glass if anyone drops a glass. The plastic should at least bounce!"

"Good thinking, Mrs Tal -- sorry, Mary," said Jenny. "It would probably be me who dropped one. Now I can relax." She shared a look with Bill. "Well, at least as much as I can while being naked in mixed company for the first time."

"On that note," I said, "can I just say that you all look good. Yes, guys, that includes you!"

"So do you, Mary," said Michelle. "I hope I look as good as you when I'm your age!"

"Thanks, honey, but you have to know," I said, as straight-faced as I could manage, "I'm really only twenty-two, because of a magical age-deceleration spell."

"In that case," said Kenny, with a broad grin, "can you introduce us to the witch that cast it?"

General laughter followed that quip, and we all relaxed and settled to our lemonade, until Hector put down his glass and stood.

"That pool looks too inviting to ignore. Anyone with me?"

A moment later I was alone on the pool-side terrace. I laughed and took the glasses into the kitchen to wash them, then went back out to sit, or rather, lie, on my recliner, under its big sunshade, enjoying the banter coming from the six in the pool. I glanced at my watch. Two-forty. An hour and twenty minutes until Kenny's uncle arrived. I came out of my reverie on hearing my name being called.

"Mary? Earth to Mary? Ah, she's come back to us. Mary, we're going to have a game of water polo, and the guys think we girls need an extra player. Are you game?"

"Why not?" I said, easing myself off my recliner and moving to the edge of the pool.

Sally pointed. "Will you bring the ball?"

The game was a tad more serious with the guys playing, but Michelle was effortlessly athletic and kept the distaff team mostly in the game. We lost, but it was close. At around three-thirty, Sally called a halt.

"Okay, guys and gals, we have a mountain of food to eat and I need to wash and dry my hair if I'm being photographed."

"Ooh," said Jenny, "I'd forgotten about that. I might have to run and hide if there's going to be a stranger around."

"Not a stranger, Jenny," said Kenny. "You met my uncle last year when he visited, don't you remember?"

"Yes, of course," said Jenny. "Nice guy." She made a face. "But I was wearing clothes, then!"

"Food is in the kitchen, gang," I said. "Paper plates, to save on washing up. Give me five minutes, then come and help yourselves, okay?"

"Thanks, Mary," said Hector, "we'll be there pronto!"

And they were. They'd made a good attempt at demolishing the food mountain when Sally came back, hair gleaming and tidy, just as the doorbell sounded. Sally made a move towards the door, but I signaled to her to stop. She did, eyebrows raised in query.

"It's okay, sweetheart, I'll go. I'm still the hostess here, remember?"

"Okay, Mom, we'll keep on tackling this food mountain."

"Remember to leave some for Kenny's uncle. I don't want to be embarrassed by offering him crumbs!"

"Okay, Mom, we'll tone down our scavenger impersonations."

I headed towards the front door, feeling nervous. Quite why, I wasn't sure. Kenny had said his uncle used a nude beach, so he would know what to expect, but I wasn't sure about whether to open the door naked or to don my robe. I opted for discretion, and shrugged into my robe. I pasted my 'welcome, guest' expression onto my face, opened the door and stopped dead, in shock.

"Hello again, Mary. It's been a long time," said my visitor. I stared at him, brain working furiously, mouth unable to utter a sound. My visitor smiled. "Can I come in? It might be tricky photographing your daughter out here."

I finally found my voice. "Of course. Come in, please." He stepped in, a camera bag in one hand and what I remembered as the carrying case for strobe lights in the other. He put them down and as I was about to close the door, stopped me. He smiled, that familiar wry smile I still remembered vividly from twenty-three years earlier. Kenny's uncle Brad was the same Brad Kincaid who had photographed my centerfold portfolio all those years ago!

"I still need to get the stands and the tripod," he said, and quickly moved out to his car, parked behind Kenny's Ford on our driveway. He was back quickly and I closed the door behind him as he set his burdens down in the hallway before turning back to me, that wry smile curving his mouth.

"So, Mary Bennett as was, how have you been?"

"Pretty good until four years ago, when I found out my husband was cheating on me with his secretary. Since then?" I shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I still had a daughter to care for after all. How about you?"

He shrugged. "Pretty good, but my marriage sort of crumbled when my wife and I realized that while we were still friends, the magic had gone. We called it quits, and got divorced. Five years now. We're still friends, thank goodness, good friends, but like I said, the magic had gone." He smiled again. "I like to hope some of it might come back, now that I've finally found you, again." He looked up as Sally called out from the kitchen.

"Hey, are you two coming in, or not?"

Brad smiled. "Do I strip first, or say hello?"

I gathered my scattered wits together. "I think say hello, first, then I'll show you where the men have left their clothes, okay?" He'd 'finally found me, again.' What on earth did that mean? Brad Kincaid and I needed to talk! For the moment, though, I led the way into the kitchen.

"Hi, Uncle Brad," said Kenny. He gestured towards Sally. "This is Sally Tallon, the girl I want you to photograph."

"The image of your mother," said Brad. "I'd know you anywhere."

Sally's eyebrows lifted in surprise, she frowned, then her face cleared. "Of course! You're the photographer who shot Mom's cent - " She stopped, her face stricken, and held out her hand to me. "Mom! I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, sweetheart. There are only four of us here who don't know about it. Or at least, I don't think they know."

"Know what?" said Bill, his face puzzled.

"That I modeled for a centerfold portfolio twenty-three years ago, and that Kenny's Uncle Brad was the photographer." I looked around at Bill and Hector, Jenny and Michelle, all with equally stunned faces. "On your promise that you won't tell anyone else, I'll let you see the photos from that session later, after Brad has finished shooting Sally."

"Oh, please!" said Jenny. "I promise, I won't tell a soul!"

"Me either," said Michelle.

"Nor me." Bill.

"I won't say a word." Hector.

"Okay, then," I said. "Later, when Brad has finished shooting Sally. And as this is supposed to be a Nude Day event, I'd better show the photographer where to leave his clothes. This way, Brad," I said, and led him up to the guest room. I gestured to the piles of clothing that Kenny and the others had left. "Just dump your stuff in here and come back down to the kitchen when you're ready. There's plenty food, so would you like a lemonade, home-made, or would you prefer coffee? Or maybe a beer? I have a six-pack somewhere." I was nervous, I was prattling, and I didn't know why, although I suspected that Brad Kincaid coming back into my life was a major part of it.

"Lemonade is fine, thank you." I turned to go, but he caught my hand to stop me. "Mary? Can we talk later? Maybe over dinner, unless you already have a dinner engagement?"

"I don't. Talk?Yes, I'd like that. Now, though, you have a young lady to photograph, don't you?"

"I do. A young lady who is almost the double of her mother all those years ago. Go on down, Mary, and I'll join you in a moment." He smiled, a warm, intimate smile that took me back those twenty-three years. "Are you going to take your robe off before I come down? Remind me of that time?"

"Of course," I said, then before I could change my mind, slipped the robe from my shoulders. "Remember me?"

"Every day for the last twenty-three years," he said softly, and I blinked. He smiled. "Go on down. I'll be there in a moment."

I left him and headed down the stairs, trailing my robe. Every day for twenty-three years? Surely not. Yes, Brad Kincaid and I needed to talk. I hung my robe beside the door again and went back into the kitchen.

"Brad will be down in a moment. Kenny? A word with you, please."

He held up his hands defensively. "Yes, I knew Uncle brad was the one who shot your portfolio. When he realized whose daughter Sally was, he asked me to engineer an invitation. You don't mind, do you?" He was anxious.

I thought about it. Was I pleased, or mad? Realization came quicker than I'd expected. I was pleased, very pleased. I smiled at Kenny and saw him relax. I nodded. "I'm pleased, Kenny, very pleased. I suspect your uncle and I will be having a long talk later."

He grinned. "I thought you might." He paused, then turned to Sally. "Is it okay if I act as Uncle Brad's assistant, sort of, get some tips on how to make a girl look her best in a photo?"

Sally nodded. "It's okay by me. Mom? Any objections?"

I laughed. "Hey, I'm the innocent bystander here, remember? Yes, of course it's okay with me."

"What's okay with you?" said Brad as he came into the room. I tried not to flush. Brad Kincaid naked was a sight to make a girl's pussy get wet immediately.

"Kenny acting as your assistant, while you shoot my daughter, that's what."

"Okay by me," said Brad. "You can carry the heavy stuff, Kenny."

Kenny laughed. "Yes, boss."

"Is it okay if we watch?" said Bill.

"Sally?" said Brad. "How do you feel about your friends watching?"

"I don't mind," said Sally, "as long as you don't mind. I mean, I know these lunatics."

"Thanks for nothing, Tallon," said Hector, but he was grinning.

"Okay, then," said Brad. "Mary? That lemonade sounds good. Kenny? Can you bring the gear in from the hall, please? Put it out near the pool."

"Okay, boss," said Kenny. "Bill? Hector? Give me a hand?" The others nodded and followed him out. I'd poured a glass of lemonade and held it out to Brad. As he took it our hands touched and I swear I felt a jolt of pure lust run through me. I broke the contact and moved away slightly, my nerves tingling. He gave me a slight smile and turned to Sally.

"Well, young lady. Are you ready for this?"

Sally grinned. "Yes, I think so."

"Any thoughts on how you want to pose?"

He'd surprised her, I knew, just as he'd surprised me, twenty-three years earlier. "I thought you'd, like, direct me?"

"And so I will, but I like my models to have a say in what we're doing."

"Oh. I see. Well, sort of innocent, but provocative, and nothing pornographic." She grinned. "Maybe some shots like Mom's centerfold portfolio."

"That was partly bedroom. You okay with that, Mary?"

I nodded. "If you're as open with Sally as you were with me, no problem."

The boys had returned with the bags and stands and Brad quickly took out a couple of camera bodies, and some large-aperture lenses. Film had given way to digital, but his brand loyalty stayed with Canon, I noticed. He turned to Jenny and Michelle, who had been silent but enthralled spectators.

"What about you two? Do you want a couple of shots for your personal collections?"

"Can we?" said Michelle eagerly, and Jenny's excited nod showed her agreement.

"Come on, the three of you. Let's get some group shots."

On reflection, it was a good way to help Sally relax, and Brad shot about twenty or thirty shots of the three girls, sitting, kneeling, lying, standing, singly, in twos, all three. Eventually, he lowered the camera and turned to Sally.

"Time for some bedroom shots. Is your room tidy?"

"Probably not," I interrupted. "Use mine, it's bigger, so you'll have more room to move."

Brad nodded. "Good thinking. Kenny? Grab those reflectors. Mary, will you give me a hand, too?"

"Of course."

He turned to the others. "Sorry, guys and gals, there won't be enough room to watch."

In my room, Brad looked around and for a moment I wished it had just been the two of us there, but he turned to Sally. "Okay, Sally, we'll start with you kneeling on the bed. Kenny, grab that big folding reflector and stand over there. Mary? Can you get the smaller one? I want you to try to reflect the light onto Sally's hair. I'm going to use the built-in flash on the camera, but with a diffuser and only to put a catch-light in Sally's eyes. Everyone ready? Okay, then,watch out for my cues. Ready, Sally?"

"Yep!"

"Okay, children, let's make pictures!"

It was an enjoyable hour, and I appreciated anew Brad's skill not only with a camera, but the easy way he directed Sally into her poses and used Kenny and me and our reflectors to put light into what might have been too-deep shadows. At last he straightened up from the camera and grinned at Sally.

"Okay, Sally, I think we got some good ones! Do you have a personal computer? Yes? Good. I'll copy the photos to your computer before I go, but these won't be the finished images. Some I'm going to crop, and some I'll need to tweak in Photoshop, but I think the portfolio has a good chance. Perhaps not for the competition, but the editor knows me well, and if I tell him I've got a winner, he tends to listen. Now, are you prepared to sign a model release form? It's a necessary formality, I'm afraid, if you want the photos to be published."

Sally frowned. "Brad? You don't mind if I call you Brad? No? Okay, let me see if I've got this straight. The competition that Kenny was planning to enter? Are you saying that the photos you've taken aren't going to be entered in that contest, but are going to be submitted as a portfolio for direct submission to the editor?"

Brad nodded. "Exactly." He turned to Kenny. "Sorry, kiddo, I know you were keen to enter, because the prize would give you both a nice cash cushion for college, but I'm planning to include you as co-photographer, and we'll split any photographer's fee fifty-fifty. Okay? I promise you, the fee will be more than the contest prize. Not only that, but I think the odds of acceptance are more in our favor."

Kenny grinned. "Okay by me, Uncle Brad. Is that why you got me to take some of the photos? So the co-photographer tag would be true?"

"Exactly." He turned back to Sally. "I'll leave the model release form with you, Sally. You can mail it to me. It will take a few days, maybe longer, to sort out the shots for submission, so be sure you want to appear in the magazine before you sign it. Okay?"

Sally nodded. "Okay." She turned to Kenny. "Are we going to the baseball match? Because if we are, Mom promised to let the others see her centerfold pictorial."She turned to me. "Mom? You promised."