Prologue: 21^st April 2013

My name is Jim Baines. Born in Nottingham, England, October, 1978. White. Male. Thirty-four years old. Eleven stone, six pounds as of last Saturday. Five-feet eleven. And honest, with it. Could have said six feet and, well, it's not like you'd have ever known, is it? But I've always had a thing about accuracy. A bit OCD maybe. Like to get the details right, you know?

Bear that in mind for later. When I'm telling you shit that you're going to have a much harder time believing.

Look at me and you'd probably think; average guy. Not bad looking. Keeps himself in shape. Look a bit harder and maybe you'd think; actually, you know what, he's better-looking than I thought. Definitely looks good for his age, anyway.

I guess not drinking, not smoking, not fucking myself up with drugs and working out regularly means I can still pass for late-twenties. Maybe even younger. And somebody had the right genes somewhere along the line for me to inherit a pretty good masculine shape. Forty-inch chest. Thirty-two-inch waist. Oh, and a thick mop of brown hair, with a hairline that hasn't shifted since my teens. But I'm no movie star. On first glance I wouldn't catch your eye. So yeah, you'd think; average guy.

You'd be wrong, though. But, well, more on that later. Much more.

For now, I guess there's other stuff you need to know about me. Actually, no, scratch that. There's other stuff that I need you to know about me. Because I know, later on you're going to judge me harshly. Perhaps rightly so. But I need you to make that judgement at least being in possession of, well, the key facts. The background. The mitigating circumstances. The... yeah, okay, the lame attempts to justify the unjustifiable.

Whatever. It's stuff I need to tell you before we get on to... well, the reason you're reading this shit in the first place. So, here goes nothing.

At age twenty-four, I'd thought I was the luckiest man alive. I'd finally married Katie, who'd been with me since I was fifteen and who was so lithe; so elegant; so classically beautiful that I'd never understood how we ever came to be together.

I doubt anyone else could work it out either. Probably thought I was hung like a horse. I'm not, as it happens. See, that honesty thing again? But, well, in their eyes there had to be some reason why such a stunning beauty would be with an average chump like me.

Yet there we still were. The business I'd inherited was finally taking off, after years of hard graft. Katie was about to land a publishing deal for the children's stories she'd always loved to write. And our beautiful daughter Kiera - who had arrived entirely unexpectedly and turned our world completely upside-down eight years earlier - was growing into a clever, funny, confident child who seemed ready to take on anything the world could throw at her.

Yeah, you read that right. Eight years earlier. I really was a father at sixteen. That's not exactly average, is it? Still, it isn't the only reason I'm not an average guy. As you'll find out soon enough.

So, yes, Katie and I had been teenage parents. I can't begin to describe the chaos that had caused for two well-educated kids from respectable families; the utter destruction of best-laid plans wrought by nothing more than a split prophylactic.

It was a traumatic time. My mother had been taken by cancer when I was fourteen and my father had only just started to recover when I hit him with the news that he'd be a granddad. He didn't take it well. In fact, he never really recovered and was dead before Kiera's second birthday from a massive stroke. Yeah, like I said: Traumatic.

Katie hadn't had it much better; a termination had been unconscionable for her - and me - but her parents were obsessed with her future and the consequences a baby would have. The wedge that argument had driven between them was huge. She'd got her way; Kiera was born. But the anger and resentment had lingered on long afterwards. In the end her parents moved away, down to the south coast, and left us to bring our daughter up alone.

It was tough. Somehow, within mere months, Katie and I had gone from revising for GCSEs to raising a child, only to then be hit with my father's death just at the point when we'd thought we were starting to get used to our new lives. All that had pushed us right to the precipice. Right to the edge.

But we'd looked over that edge; held on to each other and got through. Those hard, dark, confusing times were behind us. The future might have looked a lot different from that which our pre-Kiera selves - university-bound, high-flying careers ahead, blithely oblivious to fate - would have imagined. But, right then, at twenty-four, it felt brighter than ever. And I wouldn't have changed a thing.

You'll have guessed by now that it wasn't going to last. Of course, you're right. A freak failure in the steering of an oncoming HGV on the motorway one night and my beautiful, precious wife was taken from me, for ever. Her parents, too. They'd been sat in the back as she'd ferried them up to stay with us for what was to have been a first reconciliatory visit; to finally spend some time with the grand-daughter they'd barely seen.

It had been quick, at least; the impact so severe that all three were killed instantly. And it had been a genuine accident; the investigators on the scene had found the truck was well-maintained. The lorry driver wasn't drunk, tired or on drugs. It was simply a mechanical failure nobody could have planned for. One in a million. Pure chance.

The driver survived; badly injured and crushed by guilt. I remember going to visit him days later in hospital; driven by a strange compulsion to tell him that I didn't blame him. Maybe as much to convince myself of that as to convince him. The two of us ended up crying openly together. His words, such as they were, offered some comfort; it had happened so quickly that Katie would barely even have seen it coming.

But still I tortured myself with thoughts of the terror; the sheer certainty of death that Katie must have known in those last few seconds of her life as she saw the truck crashing through the central reservation in front of her; utterly powerless to avoid the collision. For years afterwards I woke up, shaking with fear, from my own imagined nightmares of that moment.

Even now I couldn't really tell you what happened in the days and weeks which followed the accident. Rage, anguish, despair; tempered only by the faintest sense of gratitude that I still had my daughter who, struck down with tonsillitis at just the right moment, had been too ill to make the return journey with Katie. Pure chance had spared her, just as pure chance had taken my wife.

Pure chance was going to be visiting me again, years later. I just didn't know that, then.

Eventually I emerged the other side; the funerals conducted, the meagre handful of remaining relatives returning to their lives. I attempted to find normality but after only a few weeks I was unable to bear the ache of the memories, still wrapped up in the fabric of the house we'd shared as a family.

I knew it was slowly killing Kiera, too. My gorgeous, carefree little daughter - still just eight years old - had been crushed into a haunted shadow, lost in a child's guilt-driven grief; unable to fathom the mystery of what she had done to cause her Mummy and Granny and Grandpa to be taken from her. It was unbearable to watch her withering under the weight of loss. I felt so helpless; so hopeless. Yet I had to carry on for her. She was my world now.

So, I sold everything. As an only child I'd inherited my dad's house and his engineering business when he'd passed. Even before then, fatherhood had changed me; I'd given up my dreams of university. I had wanted to be earning - needed to be earning - right then to support my beautiful little baby daughter. So I'd gone straight to work at the family firm instead of staying at school. And when dad died, I'd worked hard to keep everything together. More recently I'd got lucky with a few ideas that had taken the business into new territory. It was doing better than ever.

But, for Kiera's sake, it all had to go, along with the house, to give us a proper fresh start. I chucked the proceeds all in with Katie's life insurance and bought a big, comfortable house in a quiet, leafy suburb on the very edge of Chelmsford; a hundred miles away from everything in our past life.

With enough left over to invest in getting a new business off the ground without the risk of needing to mortgage the house, I felt I could give Kiera the security and consistency she'd need to start rebuilding her life; to have a chance of rebuilding herself. It would be hard, for both of us. But it was better than any of the alternatives I could think of.

Pay attention, because this next bit's important.

You're going to wonder why I'm telling you about our new neighbours. Seems a bit odd, right, given all the other things I could be telling you about? But stick with it. If you really pay attention, you'll get a head start on what's going to happen later.

So yeah, pure chance came back for another shot at my life. It turned out that the house I'd found was next-door to a couple, Keith and Sarah, who were a good ten years older than me but had two young children; Josh and Jadie. They were everything you could want from new neighbours; welcoming but not overbearing, friendly but not intrusive.

For Kiera's sake, I told them early on about Katie's death and the reason for our relocation. They were compassionate and understanding, gently letting Josh and Jadie know so that they wouldn't ask Kiera awkward questions. Good people. Decent people. Kind people.

That didn't stop me from betraying them pretty horribly. But that was years later. I'll get to that.

Kiera and I settled in to our new life as best we could. And the kids next door certainly played their part in helping my daughter to feel welcome. I didn't see much of nine-year-old Josh but his little sister Jadie - who, it turned out, was just a few months older than Kiera - soon became a regular visitor to our house. With Keith working overseas much of the time and Sarah a busy accountant, I was only too happy to look after their daughter as it meant company for Kiera.

Before long I found myself juggling my own work hours to maximise the time the girls could spend together. I desperately wanted my broken little angel to make new friends who could help her put herself back together. And a playmate who lived next door and went to the same school seemed like an ideal companion; someone who might just bring some childish joy back into her world and make her forget, if only momentarily, what had brought her here.

As it happened, Jadie turned out to be an utter delight. Ferociously intelligent and insatiably curious; it wasn't long at all before she took Kiera under her wing. I think she saw it as her own personal challenge; to fix Kiera and make her happy again.

If that sounds trite, well, so be it. But I will never forget finding myself speechless, eyes welling up, when one afternoon - just a couple of months after we had arrived - Jadie had left Kiera playing outside to come and find me indoors.

Looking up at me from under her fringe with her big green eyes, she'd said, "I know it's really sad what happened with Kiera's Mummy but I'm here to look after her now. I'll make her happy, I promise, Mr Baines."

She'd held my gaze for a moment before skipping off again. But she was true to her word. Always positive, always smiling; her infectious enthusiasm for life slowly rubbed off on Kiera as the months went by.

And me? Well, for my own part, the best I can say is that I just about coped in those early days. Barely. Sure, it made it easier to see some hope for Kiera but still, I would often descend into black depression for days on end. And whilst I was glad that Kiera had new friends in her life, for me it seemed like nobody could replace my beautiful Katie.

I couldn't let go. I didn't want to let go. So whilst I slowly made new acquaintances and built a new social circle, I never really committed to it. My free time was taken up with the challenges of being a father and mother to Kiera.

What about sex? I mean, let's be honest that's why you're reading this shit, right? Well, it just didn't feature in my life at all in those first years after Katie's passing. A desultory one off the wrist in the shower now and again to relieve the tension but, really, nothing more.

As time went on there were 'opportunities' - friends of friends; casual acquaintances; even the wife of one of my top clients. But I never took any of them. I still couldn't shake the sense of betrayal. And even when finally the memories of Katie began to dim and I felt my appetite begin to re-awaken, I found that I couldn't bring myself to disrupt the delicate balance in Kiera's life by bringing another woman onto the scene. Or, even worse, a string of different women.

So I resigned myself to a sex life which involved nothing more complicated than an internet connection and a box of tissues. It wasn't difficult. Routines, habits; they take the sting out of so much. I thought it would be enough for me, at least until Kiera left home.

I thought wrong.

Still, I did grow used to the absence of a relationship. There were other sources of joy. As weeks turned into months turned into years I saw my beautiful, fragile, damaged daughter slowly but steadily begin to regain her lust for life, thanks almost entirely to her friendship with the amazing little girl from next door. An amazing little girl who quickly became an important part of my life as well as Kiera's.

Jadie spent so much time with us over the years, it soon felt like she was as much part of our family as she was her own. To be brutally honest; probably more so. Keith's job in some global IT outsourcing firm kept him away from home for weeks on end and Sarah worked punishing hours travelling around to her clients. Most weeks I saw their daughter more than they did. We did so much together, just the three of us. Homework. Shopping. Playing games. Days out. Just sitting round the kitchen table chatting about nonsense...

Perhaps missing her virtually-absent father, Jadie delighted in demonstrating to me her amazing capacity for remembering stuff. She had a real gift; she soaked up every bit of trivia I could tell her like a sponge. Kiera was a clever little thing but she like to hide her ability, whereas Jadie loved showing off.

As the girls grew up, their humour developed as well. And whilst Kiera would rapidly tire of my banter - I was, after all, her boring dad and therefore not worthy of continued attention - Jadie seemed to love the verbal sparring, gradually becoming better able to defend herself from my comic barbs.

Sure, there were difficult times. Those tweenie years, which actually seemed to go on well into the girls' mid-teens, were full of hormones and confusion. They were hard for all of us. Kiera had to deal with my clumsy attempts to talk her through the 'changes'. I saw her slip again into dark places - fearful places - as the world once more became a bizarre, threatening maelstrom of confusion.

Even Jadie succumbed for a long while; her bright personality seeming to flatten into two dimensions, sucked into a vortex of strange new feelings which she, like every other pubescent girl before her, struggled to make sense of.

But they both came through it. And finally, ten years since Kiera and I had moved, it looked like the tricky times were all behind us.

They were, until I complicated matters again. Which brings us to the present day.

At eighteen, Kiera and Jadie are both well out of those difficult years and have, somehow, managed to transform themselves into remarkably well-balanced, conscientious, highly-motivated individuals who - nearing the end of their final year in school - show the sort of commitment to their work that I could only have dreamed of at that age. Had I not already been a father by then, of course.

I guess that's a girl thing, maybe? Who knows. Whatever it is, they never cease to amaze me with their efforts. They both bagged a string of A's and A-stars when they did their GCSEs; they now look set to repeat that success at A-Level. And they think ahead, constantly, about their future; both are taking a year out before applying for university, so they can earn some money and minimise the debt they'll end up with. Forward planning, right there.

And, yeah, I'll say it here, right now. Might as well get it out there. They are both seriously attractive now.

I mean, of course I'd think my own daughter was beautiful, right? All fathers do, don't they? But really, honestly, my Kiera is something special. Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that I find her attractive - this isn't that kind of story, believe me. If you want to read that sort of shit, best leave now. I might be a man of low morals but, well... incest isn't my thing. At all.

No, what I'm saying is that my daughter is now a genuinely beautiful young girl. Tall, at five-nine and lithely elegant with it; she's clearly inherited her mother's grace and poise, along with her fine features. Long, dark, straight hair. Blue eyes. Alabaster skin. I can barely believe my little girl has, almost overnight, blossomed into this slim, willowy beauty. She looks so... grown up; she could easily pass for twenty-something. She talks like a grown woman too; her voice has lost its childlike sound and gently deepened into a rich, soft tone.

And Jadie? She's like Kiera's perfectly-matched opposite. Blonde, vibrant hair against Kiera's gorgeous dark tresses. Lightly tanned, healthy skin against Kiera's porcelain white. Magical green, sparkling eyes to Kiera's calm, deep blue. A lighter, more girly voice which fabulously contradicts her immense vocabulary and intellect when she talks. Which she does, a lot. So, yeah, Jadie's equally stunning in her own way; she's just down at the other end of beautiful. You know; the cute end. The sexy end.

She somehow looks younger, too; maybe because she's shorter than Kiera by a considerable margin. At maybe five-two or five-three at most - and carrying rather more weight - she doesn't have my daughter's elegance. But, by means of compensation, she has been blessed with the right sort of curves, everywhere. The sort which make it seriously hard not to lose your gaze in, if you're not paying attention. Not good if you're her best friend's dad, right?

Yeah, exactly. Awkward moments, there've been a few... And if you do manage to avoid looking at that amazing chest - 36D, maybe, at a dirty-old-man's guess - or those wondrous legs or that fabulous behind? Well, you just end up looking at a face so achingly pretty - especially when she smiles - that you sometimes still end up lost for words, stumbling and mumbling like you're a clumsy teenager all over again.

So, yeah, they're a pair of stunners. And, somehow, their friendship remains as strong as ever. There's none of that catty rivalry between them that you can get with girls. No bitchiness. No jealousy. To be fair, when I think about it, their friendship has never really faltered; I can't recall them ever falling out properly.

But then, Kiera doesn't know the truth. Not yet, anyway.

I reckon you probably do, though. I mean, it's not so hard to guess, especially after what I've just told you. So, yeah, let's get it over with then. I'm not an average guy. Average guys don't betray their kind-hearted neighbours. Average guys don't allow their baser instincts to override their love for friends and family.
Average guys - unless I'm very much mistaken - don't end up, one rainy afternoon, in bed with their teenage daughter's gorgeous best friend, fucking like the world was about to end.

There, it's said. Did you guess right? I bet you did. Which means all that's left are the sordid, messy details. But hey, that's why you're here anyway, right?

Don't worry. We're nearly there. You're about to read a true and accurate account of the events which took place on Thursday 12th April, 2013. Well, accurate inasmuch as any account could be accurate when it originally started as a set of sprawling, hastily-written, barely-sensible notes typed in desperation in the hours and days after the event by a half-crazed man struggling to comprehend the magnitude of how far he's fucked up his life and those of everyone around him, yet still burning; aching with the desire not to forget a single delicious moment.

So yeah, maybe there's a few bits missing. Maybe some of the dialogue isn't word-perfect - at least the parts which weren't completely un-fucking-forgettable, that is. That bothers me, with my OCD. But for you it'll be like, whatever. You'll get the picture, don't worry. I'll make sure of that.

And I doubt you'll believe a word of it. To be honest, a small part of me actually hopes you don't.

At least then the worst you can think of me is that I'm a charlatan; a liar; a pathetic fantasist with nothing better to do than waste your time with a story which stretches the boundaries of feasibility so far that it could, surely, only be the imaginary product of a dirty old man's dirty old mind.

And you know what? Maybe I'd rather you thought that than what you might actually think of me if you do believe what you're going to read. Which will not be good. Not good at all.

Still, whatever you might think; however bad it might be, I can guarantee one thing. It won't be as bad as what I think of myself, right now. Which rather begs the question of why - even in the face of such shame and guilt - I simply cannot bring myself to regret what I've done.

The answer, as it happens, is simple. It's because Jadie really was - no, is - that special. As you're about to find out...

1. Sweet Temptation
   
   

Thursday. I was already well over half way through my week off work. Time I'd given to myself for once; notionally to sit back and take stock of my life. To appreciate everything that I'd got. To perhaps begin, finally, to put to rest everything that had happened nearly ten years ago.

And of course, being a man, sorting through that emotional baggage took me all of half an hour on Monday morning. Which meant, with typically miserable April weather outside, I'd spent the rest of the week slumped in front of the telly whilst occasionally dipping into a bit of mindless escapism courtesy of Tom Clancy, waiting for my daughter to come home from school so I could gently try to persuade her to actually converse with me for a while and tell me about her day, like she used to do when she was younger. Some nights I managed it. Others, not so much. She was growing up, for sure.

So, there I was. Thursday afternoon. The weather was worse than miserable; it sounded like there was a proper storm outside with wind and rain battering the house. So much for spring time. Which meant I'd had a spot of lunch and was preparing to settle in for the rest of the day. No inkling at all that, once again, my life was about to be turned inside-out.

For some inexplicable teachery reason, Kiera's school was finishing early that day. I had been looking forward to her coming home early but she'd texted me to say she was off into town, shopping with the rest of the girls and would be back for tea.

I was okay with that, although I did wonder how they'd get on now in the weather. I knew she was a good girl, though. I knew she often pretended to be on Instagram or Facebook or whatever the latest fad was just to wind me up, when in fact she was actually doing her homework. She'd aced her GCSEs two years ago. And her teachers had no worries predicting the highest grades for her exams this year. So, fine. Let her go spend some of my hard-earned in town. No harm done.

Resigned to another afternoon on my own and having just sat down to begin enjoying it, I was taken aback by the sound of the doorbell. Unbelievable as it may seem to me now, I very nearly chose to ignore it, assuming it was just another poor bastard trying to scrape a living canvassing.

Perhaps unconsciously acknowledging some grudging respect for a salesman who braved such awful weather or, perhaps, simply dragged by the hand of fate; I guess I'll never know. But somehow I ended up in the hall, ready to open the door.

And so it began...

As I unlatched the door, it nearly blew off its hinges as the wind took hold of it. And I was more than a little surprised to find, not a double-glazing commission slave before me, but my daughter's best friend from next-door. Jadie. Completely soaked through; sheltering under the frankly inadequate porch awning and trying to avoid the pouring rain.

She looked like she'd been out in the storm for some time. Her hair - dyed blonde and usually impeccably styled in whatever this week's fashion happened to be - was half whipped in the air by the wind and half plastered by the rain over her face.

"Jadie!" I exclaimed, clearly showing my surprise at both her bedraggled appearance and presence at my door. She smiled weakly at me.

I wondered why she wasn't in town with Kiera. They were usually inseparable and when they weren't together physically they maintained a seemingly near-constant electronic connection using texts or tweets or status updates or whatever this week's current mode of youth conversation happened to be. So even if she wasn't with Kiera, she must know that she was in town...

"Uh, sorry Jadie, Kiera's not in right now," I said, starting to worry that something might be wrong.

Trying to push her wet hair away from her face and not really succeeding, she said, "Oh Mr Baines, I know she's in town and I'm really sorry to disturb you like this... but I've lost my keys and can't get in our house."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I still wasn't sure why Jadie wasn't in town with everyone else but, well, at least she wasn't here to tell me something bad had happened to Kiera.

"Ah, I see, right," I said, before it dawned on me that the poor girl was stood there shivering in the wind and rain whilst I was just gawping at her like a retard.

"Er, come in, come in..." I said, hurriedly and she wasted no time in getting out of the wind and rain.

"I'm such an idiot," she complained as I shut the door behind her, catching a hint of flowery fragrance as she brushed past. I idly wondered how boys and dogs could smell so bad when they got wet but girls could still smell sweet. I shook my head to myself, as she continued.

"I can't find my keys in my bag or anywhere. I've texted Mum but she can't get away from work until later. And Dad's away again so..."

She obviously felt awkward about asking outright if she could wait in my house, which was clearly what she was trying to ask. It seemed a little unusual to see her look so... nervous, I guess. She was usually so confident and it wasn't like she hadn't spent half her life in this house anyway. So I helped her out.

"Oh dear," I said, smiling. "Well, you know you're always welcome here, Jadie. You can hardly stay out there until your Mum comes back. It's fine. You can watch TV, or I can entertain you with my usual witty repartee..."

She laughed, and some of the nervousness seemed to disappear.

I continued, "And, in the unlikely event that you tire of that, well, I'm sure you've got plenty of homework to be getting on with."

She faked a sad face. "Oh great," she said, sarcastic but smiling. "What a fun afternoon this is going to be. Listening to your attempts to be humorous and having to write a whole History assignment on Napoleon."

That seemed more like the Jadie I knew. She'd taken History, bizarrely, alongside all three Sciences for A-Level. As far as I could tell, she didn't even enjoy History but had done it simply as an intellectual challenge and to 'keep her options open.'

"Hey, don't let anyone say I don't know how to treat a girl," I said, realising as the words left my mouth that they sounded a bit... well, inappropriate.

She looked at me curiously; she was still smiling but a look had flashed across her face which I couldn't really make out. Excitement? I don't know. It passed as soon as it appeared.

"Why aren't you in town with the rest of the gang?" I queried.

"That essay, is why. My first draft only got a B. I need to completely re-do it and the deadline is, like, tomorrow."

It struck me as slightly unusual that Jadie would have left something until the last minute. She, and Kiera for that matter, were frighteningly well-organised when it came to schoolwork. Still, they did have a lot on at the moment. I decided not to say anything.

"Hey, at least you'll be dry," I said, recovering from the slightly awkward feeling I'd hit upon with my previous comment.

I looked at her, dripping wet onto the wooden hall floor. She brushed her wet hair away from her face again, but it flopped back down almost straight away. She sighed in frustration and made another sad face at me.

"You do know," I said with a smile, "That a device known as an..." I pretended to think for a moment "...umbrella, I believe it's called, has been available for the purposes of protecting young ladies from the ravages of wet weather since approximately..." I made a show of trying to recall the year.

Before I could continue, Jadie butted in.

"1852," she said, "Assuming you mean the metal-framed invention we would recognise today. Put together by..." she mimicked my exaggerated thought process, pretending to scratch her chin.

"Mr Samuel Fox, I believe..." she continued. "Although umbrellas in various forms have, of course, been in use for most of human history."

I laughed. Her knack for remembering vast amounts of trivia had only seemed to get greater as she got older. She was a regular walking talking Google. She genuinely scared me at times; it was an ability more often associated with autistic savants than seemingly well-balanced teenage girls.

"Yep," Jadie continued brightly. "Had one of them. Broke completely in two on the way home and can currently be found stuffed in a bin outside St Andrew's park. Got any more helpful advice?" she said, smiling sarcastically.

I shook my head, admitting defeat. She laughed and - slipping her school bag off her shoulder and onto the floor - unzipped the saturated blue jacket she'd been wearing. This looked far too lightweight for the time of year, I thought, before remembering that Kiera had one that was very similar. Jadie took the flimsy item off, dropping it absent-mindedly behind her.

She bent to her bag and rummaged inside, finding a hairband which she used to tie back most of her dripping hair, leaving a few strands still framing her face. After some more searching in her bag, she finally pulled out a somewhat battered iPhone.

Still crouched over her bag, she said, "I'll just call Mum and let her know I'm here," whilst prodding the screen. I leaned down and picked up her discarded coat and draped it over the rack in the hall, where it could dry out.

Holding the phone, Jadie put her hand over her mouth in an 'Oops' gesture and smiled prettily by means of an apology for leaving the coat on the floor. She stood up as Sarah answered. I only got her half of the conversation.

"Mum, Hi."

"Yeah, it's fine, Mr Baines was in next door."

"Yes, Mum, I know"

"No, he doesn't mind." She looked over to me and I nodded my assent.

"Yes, Mum"

"Yes," she sighed.

"Well no, obviously not..."

"No!" she said, sounding increasingly exasperated.

"No, Mum."

"Well I don't know, do I? If I knew, I wouldn't be here with Mr Baines. They must still be in school somewhere."

Looking over to me, she rolled her eyes. Sarah was obviously giving her a hard time about the missing keys. I offered a sympathetic look in return, although I knew I'd be annoyed if Kiera had done the same.

"Okay, yes Mum, I'll put him on."

Handing me the phone, Jadie moved across the wall and perched on the radiator, holding her arms around herself and shivering. Her blue jumper was nearly as wet as her black trousers; as I suspected, her 'coat' had been made for fashion rather than practicality. There was no sign of the 'smart jacket' that the girls were supposed to wear in the Sixth Form; presumably it was in a school locker somewhere.

"Hi Sarah," I said. "I found a strange, bedraggled, lost-looking creature on my doorstep a few minutes ago who claims to be your daughter," I said, looking at Jadie.

She made a face and stuck her tongue out.

"I'm so sorry Jim, are you sure you don't mind her being there? Keith's away all this week and I can't get back from work right now."

"Sarah, it's fine. There's a proper storm blowing outside; she can hardly sit and wait for you out there."

"Well, I'll try and get back as soon as I can. It probably won't be until gone five though." She still sounded apologetic.

"Sarah, really, it's not a problem. You'd do the same for Kiera. Just give us a ring to let me know when you're back."

"Thanks, Jim. You're a lifesaver."

"Do you want to talk to Jadie again?"

"No, but you tell her if she doesn't find those keys then she'll be paying for new locks out of her allowance."

I laughed. "Ok, Sarah. Will do. Speak to you later."

Handing Jadie her phone back, I said, "I don't think your mum's too happy about the idea of you losing those keys, Jadie."

"Oh, it'll be fine. I'm pretty sure they're with my jacket in my locker." She paused, thinking. "Or maybe in my other bag which I lent to Madison. Or... maybe I left them in class. Oh well, someone will have handed them in, I expect."

Ah, the misplaced confidence of youth, I thought with a chuckle.

I realised that she was still shivering away, trying to warm up on the radiator. Her trousers clung to her legs, absolutely drenched from the rain outside. Her jumper looked like it was wet through as well.

"Jadie, you're completely soaked through. You can't sit here like that - why don't you go up and dry your hair in the bathroom? And while you're at it, take that jumper off and hang it to dry. Then if you want to have a look in Kiera's room you can find something of hers to put on. I'm sure she won't mind. You can hang your wet things on the radiator in her room."

"Aww, thanks Mr Baines," she said, genuinely, shifting off the radiator and turning to climb the stairs.

As she went up, I caught myself looking at her. Her trousers seemed to be cut rather tighter than the official school guidelines recommended and as a result I got an unrestricted view of her rear as she ascended.

I shook my head to myself, ashamed as usual at the way my mind worked. I'd known this girl since she was eight years old. She'd been like a second daughter to me; in and out of my house. And I'd always be eternally grateful for the way she'd helped Kiera come to terms with Katie's death.

The thing is though, in recent times I had to admit that everything had become a little more complicated in the way I saw Jadie. She'd really done the whole late-teen blossoming thing in a big way. Retaining her big green eyes and a cute little button nose, the slightly chubby, happy-go-lucky, ever-inquisitive little girl had morphed into a fabulously curvaceous young woman who would surely make some lucky boy very happy one day. Actually, scratch that, was probably already making some lucky boy very happy.

And now, having put the hormonal ravages of puberty well behind her, she was back to being bubbly and vivacious; that endless curiosity which had made her so adorable as a little girl was also still very much in evidence.

The stirrings of attraction which I'd begun to feel towards her were not welcome. She was my daughter's best friend; it was just not... right. Especially knowing how I'd feel if someone my age was looking at Kiera in such a way.

But, recently, I just couldn't seem to help it. Maybe it was knowing that she'd turned eighteen, which meant she was technically an adult. Whatever. I was still disgusted with myself. The thing was, unlike Kiera, who looked like she was going to be as slight and skinny as her mother, Jadie had seemed to develop all the right curves in all the right places, which meant I found it increasingly difficult to avoid an occasional glance at a tight T-shirt or clingy leggings.

Well aware that it was desperately wrong, I'd even found myself having unbidden night-time fantasies about her; waking in the dark having dreamed things that my conscious brain wouldn't allow.

Too ashamed to tell anyone else, it was only when some of the chaps at work started making occasional lewd comments about their own daughters' friends - many of whom were now of a similar age - that I realised maybe I wasn't a complete pervert. Or, more accurately, that at least I wasn't the only pervert around.

Whatever. I just hoped Jadie never caught me looking at her in that way.

And now, she was in my house. Alone. With me. I chuckled, remembering an old comedy skit off the TV from my youth. "...with my reputation."

I wandered back into the living room and sat back down on the sofa. News 24 chuntered away on the TV, and I picked up my book again. The rain lashed against the window - it was really quite a storm outside. I put the book down again, feeling fidgety now that there was someone else in the house.

I could hear Jadie moving around in Kiera's room and - before I could stop myself - began imagining what was happening upstairs. Right this minute, she was almost certainly in a partial state of undress. I wondered if she'd got the wet trousers off yet. Would she be standing there, just in her knickers? What kind of underwear did she have on? I recalled the time a few weeks back when I'd caught a glimpse of some black lace sticking up over the top of her jeans... would she wear those to school, though?

I caught myself and shook my head again. For as long as I could remember I had been blessed - or cursed - with a vivid imagination. And once my brain set a train of thought in motion, I found it very hard to jump off.

Suddenly aware that there was now some unwanted movement in my trousers, I forced myself to stop daydreaming and tried to focus on the TV. The economy was still doomed, apparently. We were technically going to be back in recession again.

I pondered my luck here, as my own business was booming and had been throughout the 'downturn'. Specialist engineering, made to order; niche products and components built to the tightest tolerances and highest specifications. Perfect for constructing crazy parts for crazy projects for crazy nouveau-riche Chinese and Arab magnates... who seemed to have an insatiable appetite for anything that bypassed the mass market.

Having managed to focus my attention on something other than imagining Jadie's underwear, my partial erection subsided again. I picked up my book once more.

A few minutes passed and Jadie still hadn't returned. I could still hear her thumping around and shuffling about in Kiera's room upstairs. I knew she was a teenage girl and could therefore expand the process of 'getting ready' into literally any and all available time... but still. I went out into the hall and called up to her.

"Everything OK, Jadie?"

There was a pause and I heard Kiera's door open.
"Uh, there is a bit of a problem, Mr Baines."

There was a strange shuffling noise and she appeared at the top of the stairs.

When I looked up, I nearly stopped breathing and had to force myself to look away. Her hair was still wet but she'd taken it out of the hairband and done it in pigtail braids either side to keep it out of her face. Bizarrely, it looked like she'd been in Kiera's make-up drawer too, as there was a hint of her usual eyeliner now back in place enhancing her green almond eyes, which I swear wasn't there when she came in.

The wet jumper was gone and she had on a white buttoned shirt which was, I figured, at least technically in line with the school dress code. It was 'smart' certainly. However, it had a very tight feminine cut that highlighted her amazing curvy figure.

Which meant, of course, that my eyes were drawn to what I already - guiltily - knew were an impressive pair of breasts. Right then they seemed to be straining the shirt buttons, pushed together by a hot-pink bra which was bright enough to clearly show through the shirt.

I wondered what her teachers had to say about her approach to the sixth-form dress code. Not a lot, I guessed; I wouldn't want to be the poor chap who had to take her to task about wearing brightly-coloured underwear and a shirt cut to accentuate breasts which did a good enough job of emphasising themselves without any help from her clothing.

Still, her top half - alluring as it was - wasn't actually what made me feel the need turn my head away. No, it was what was happening further down which was causing this particular problem. Jadie had evidently tried getting on a pair of Kiera's skinny jeans but, being a bigger girl than Kiera in every way, they hadn't really got very far. The waistband of the trousers came half way up Jadie's bare thighs, which, I noted were really rather special even being squeezed together as they were by the too-small trousers.

And then, beneath the shirt which barely extended below her delicious little midriff, her panties were clearly visible. They were a matching hot pink colour, just like her bra. White detailing lined the edges and, from what I could tell, they were cut in a bikini style. No more guessing needed there, then.

"I'm just too fat to fit in any of her stuff!" Jadie said, laughing awkwardly, as she shuffled at the top of the stairs. She put a hand to her mouth and began to chew on a nail, before catching herself and letting the hand drop again. She looked so young, stood there nervously; embarrassed and uncertain. Yet not uncertain enough to be stood there in front of me with her underwear visible.

Before I could help myself, I blurted, "Jadie, don't be silly, you're not fat."

Realising that made it look like I had an opinion on something which I really shouldn't be thinking about, I tried to backtrack a bit.

"I mean, uh, well, those trousers... Kiera's a skinny little thing. You know I'm always on at her that she doesn't eat enough, but she doesn't listen."

"Uh, thanks, I guess, Mr Baines. But you don't have to be nice about it. I know I'm a bit on the chunky side."

I'd heard her make comments about her weight and size before and just passed them off as typical teenage-girl false modesty. I had seriously never considered that she could honestly think she was too fat. She just wasn't. For sure, she would never be described as skinny in this day and age, given that 'emaciated' seemed to be the modern requirement for such a description. She was soft and curvy rather than sharp and bony but no way was she ever... chunky.

And yes, I know that word curvy has been misappropriated by women who are approaching obesity in a pathetic attempt to re-brand their unattractiveness but, with Jadie, that wasn't what it meant at all. For her, it meant quite simply, that she possessed a proper female body that was, unfortunately, incredibly alluring to me. And to any other red-blooded male, I suspected. Not fat. No way.

But now... she sounded so... earnest. She might be eighteen but maybe she hadn't moved on quite as far from those early-teen hormone-driven body-image-crisis days after all. I felt a pang of guilt for assuming that her confidence ran more than skin-deep.

Or maybe she was just fishing. It didn't seem to be the case but, again, my daughter loved to be told how great she looked - to the point where she would deliberately goad me into telling her so. Was this what was happening here? I had no idea.

Whatever, I just wished Jadie wasn't doing it whilst stood there with her knickers on show. My brain was really struggling; half of it wanted to look up and take in the view whilst the other half didn't dare for fear of looking like a dirty old man.

"Uh, Jadie, I don't think chunky is quite the word I'd use," I sort of mumbled, still not looking. As soon as the words were out of my mouth I realised that I'd set myself up again.

"Really? So what word would you use then?" It wasn't a confident challenge. She said it quietly. Still nervous. Like she actually... cared about what I was going to say.

She was tying me up in knots, here. But by this point the illicit excitement at having a conversation with a partially-clothed teenage girl had begun to overcome my embarrassment at being thought a dirty old perv. So, I looked up.

She was now leaning against the balustrade for balance and seemed to wiggle a bit when she saw me look up, which caused her chest to move visibly beneath the shirt. Did she have any idea what she was doing?

"Well, I don't know about exact words," I said, the awkwardness clearly evident in my voice. We'd bantered back and forth a thousand times over the years but this time I was eager to draw this particular conversation to a close. "Let's just say you're a very attractive young lady who will make a lucky boy very happy one day."

"Yeah, right," she said, with a look that I could only describe as wistful briefly flashing over her face. But then, she seemed to brighten a little.

"Anyway that doesn't help me fit into these jeans, does it?" She laughed, shyly, looking embarrassed. "In fact, never mind fitting in to them, I can't even get them off now. My legs were still wet when I put them on and they're stuck like glue."

She made a show of trying to peel the tight stretch denim further down her legs and looked down at me. I was staring. I knew I was staring. I tore my gaze away again.

"Er, Mr Baines. Um... Do you think you can maybe... give me a hand, or I could be stuck in these things forever!" she said, laughing uncertainly again.

Jesus Christ. Was she serious? I had to look up at her again. She was looking right at me, with a look I was really struggling to make sense of. The self-conscious teenager was still there but, really, was that a glint in her eye? Surely not. My imagination was starting to get the better of me again and it needed to stop. Fast. She smiled sweetly, her confidence appearing to grow a little.

"Seriously, I am actually stuck in these things. You'd better come up. I think if I try coming down the stairs like this, I'll end up breaking something."

My head was spinning. Within ten minutes my afternoon had gone from dull and boring to downright dangerous. This was my daughter's best friend. In my house. Okay, nothing unusual about that in itself, except, well, my daughter wasn't with us. And Jadie, despite whatever hang-ups she may have about her body, seemed strangely unfazed about me seeing her in her underwear. And was now asking me to help... take her clothes... off...

I could have said no. Of course I could. I was a grown man; there were a thousand different ways I could have found to make an excuse. But I didn't. Because... well, truthfully, I realised I didn't want to.

So I climbed the stairs whilst Jadie turned round and shuffled back across the landing towards Kiera's room. I nearly tripped over, as I couldn't take my eyes off her gorgeous arse. The bikini-style knickers were thinner and shinier than they first appeared. The sight of the tight, pink material stretched over those fantastically proportioned cheeks, moving as she struggled to walk was intoxicating. There was just the hint of a little crease underneath each buttock as she moved. Christ, I am going to burn in hell, I thought.

As I followed her into Kiera's room, Jadie turned round and flopped down onto the bed, laying back and lifting her feet up to me. Her legs were forced together by the restricting jeans, which being those ridiculous skinny-fit ones which girls had to 'pour themselves into' really were clung fast to her.

"If you can get my feet out, that would be a start," she said.

I gently eased the bottoms of the tight trousers over the heel of each foot, focusing on the task at hand and trying desperately not to stare past the trousers to get another glimpse of those bright pink knickers. Or her chest heaving beneath the shirt. I was succeeding with the trousers but not doing quite so well in diverting my gaze.

"Now pull!" she instructed, as the ankles of the trousers finally slipped over her feet.

I tugged on the bottom of the trousers, but they still didn't want to budge. I got a firmer grip and pulled again. Jadie braced herself with her arms, pushing against the bed.

She wiggled backwards, trying to get free of the material plastered to her legs, whilst I pulled. Finally, there was some movement. The material slid a little further down those beautiful damp thighs and I couldn't deny myself another look. I got rather more than I was expecting.

As she'd pushed herself backwards, her panties had caught against the bed linen... which meant they had been tugged downwards slightly as she moved. What I now saw nearly caused me to fall over.

The tight pink material had been pulled down her hips, perhaps an inch or so all round, which meant that at the front a delightful fringe of closely-cropped dark pubic fuzz could now be seen poking out the top of the underwear. It ran all the way across; an old-school bikini-line in the truest sense of the word.

I was stunned, not least because I'd just assumed that teen girls all shaved completely these days. I knew from my regular internet solo excursions that 'hairy' had become niche-porn; a special interest rather than the default. And I remembered an extremely awkward conversation with Kiera about the issue a couple of years previously when she'd asked me outright whether she should 'shave her kitty' as all the other girls at school were talking about it and said they were going to.

I knew it was one of those conversations which only happened because I had to be her mum as well as her dad but still, I'd been shocked that she'd been talking about such matters at all at that age. Utterly embarrassed in front of my daughter, once I'd got my head round her use of a word I'd never before heard used to describe that part of female anatomy, I'd tried to explain that it was a personal preference and that a lot of men didn't like the bald look.

I certainly didn't; having grown up on 80s porno I much preferred a nice bit of fuzzy hair, but that wasn't the sort of thing you said to your own kid.

Jadie seemed oblivious to her panty situation - and, fortunately, also my interest in it as far as I could tell. She took hold of the top of the jeans and peeled them down further, arching her back and lifting herself off the bed. I was transfixed by her crotch, now waving in the air. The thin material on her knickers moved again, leaving no doubt that there was a full triangle of short-cropped hair under there.

Remembering that I should be pulling on the jeans rather than staring at her now not-so-private parts, I yanked hard and the trousers finally came free. I gently pulled them off each of her legs, and then held them in front of me to hide what was rapidly becoming an embarrassing bulge in my own jeans.

Jadie sat up on the bed facing me and leaned forward slightly, obscuring her middle but meaning I now had to try to avoid looking down her shirt. Which, I'm certain, had fewer buttons done up than it had when it had been underneath her jumper, given the amount of cleavage on show. This time I didn't manage to avert my gaze quite fast enough.

I caught her eye, briefly, and she looked... God, did she really look pleased? Almost like she wanted me to be looking down her top. Was that a momentary shift in her expression; a sense of greater confidence garnered from my attention? Yeah, right. I needed to get a grip.

"Thank god for that. Serves me right for being so fat," she laughed, looking up at me with an expression that was partly tease, yet partly transparent hope for another compliment from me.

I didn't want to go down that road again.

I smiled and wagged a finger. "Uh, uh, we've had that conversation. Not being able to fit into tight cut size eight jeans, does not a fat girl make."

She sighed, exaggeratedly. "I'm such a klutz. I should have looked at the size. I'm usually a ten or a twelve so I'm never going to fit into any of Kiera's things..."

Klutz? I really wondered about teenage vocabulary sometimes. Another thought passed briefly through the back of my mind - she was Kiera's best friend, surely she would know what size she was? The thought flitted away. I didn't want to pursue it.

"Well I can't exactly have you walking round my house in just your shirt and knickers, can I?" I said, before realising that I really didn't want her to answer that.

Thinking quickly, I came up with the only possible way out that I could think of which could get her covered up as rapidly as possible. "You'll have to wear something of mine!"

She looked at me like I was mental, so I attempted to explain further. "There should be some clean tracksuit bottoms in the chest at the end of my bed. They're not exactly the last word in, ah, style or anything but..."

I decided to lighten the moment, for my own sanity more than for her amusement, and continued.

"...they've got an elastic waistband that stretches, like really wide," I said, miming an exceptionally large waist.

Her eyes widened in shock at my implication until she saw the evil grin I was wearing.

"Oh Mr Baines," she said, laughing. "I thought you were such a nice man but you're just... nasty!"

I continued to grin at her.

"Oh well," she said, "Your sexy sweatpants it is, then."

With possibly the sweetest smile I had ever seen, she got up off the bed and - without a hint of self-consciousness - shrugged up the errant panties. There was definitely a greater confidence about her now. Hell. If women were a complete mystery then teenage girls were - what was the phrase - a mystery wrapped up in an enigma, surrounded by a riddle. One minute she was self-conscious and fearful - albeit utterly mistakenly - about her body. Then the next minute she seemed to be flaunting herself in front of me seemingly without a care.

She walked across the landing. Again, my eyes were transfixed on her rear, which was now freed from the restrictions of the half-on trousers. It was utterly magnificent. Round, perfectly-proportioned; a real bottom, with a proper shape without being overly large or comically exaggerated.

It looked firm, too, underneath the pink material. And smooth, not crinkly. Just... spellbinding. As she disappeared into my room, did she really give another little wiggle, knowing I was watching? My mind was playing games again, and it wasn't going to end well if I carried on.

I folded Kiera's jeans and put them back into her closet. My heart was still pounding and I could feel my cock was now rock hard in my jeans. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't help but think the way Jadie was acting was somehow different from how she'd ever been before, especially when she was with Kiera. We'd always enjoyed that banter and she did enjoy impressing me with her feats of recalling useless knowledge but I'd never got a sense that she was ever, well, flirting with me. At all.

Did she even know how badly she was teasing me today? I shook my head yet again. Of course she didn't. Because she wasn't. For god's sake, I was the adult here. She was my daughter's best friend. I'd known her for years. Which meant she was just relaxed in my company because she trusted me as completely as she would her own father.

And if she caught on to the fact that I was... aroused by her then she would, quite rightly, be disgusted. Yet... she hadn't seemed to mind at all that I was catching a sneaky look at her chest. Shit. I had to stop that train of thought. It would ruin everything.

I was placing her discarded wet trousers on the radiator when I heard her calling again.

"Mr Baines, you said in the chest, right?"

"Yeah, there should be some grey ones in there."

"I can't find them. I don't really want to be rooting round through all your stuff. I don't want to stumble on your secret porn stash or anything. Can you come and help me find them?"

I couldn't help laughing. This was the girl I'd known for years; always ready for a joke and a laugh. And not afraid to push the boundaries of what might be considered appropriate conversation.

"Hey, who told you about my secret porn stash?" I called back, playing along.

"Kiera did. She sneaks into your room and reads your dirty mags when you're not in," Jadie shouted.

I folded the trousers over the heater and noticed her socks, which she'd also taken off and hung on the floor in typical teenage fashion.

"Yeah, right, nice try. Just a couple of decades behind. Haven't you kids heard of the internet?" I replied.

I picked up the socks and put them on to dry as well.

"Well my dad obviously hasn't, he keeps a load of mags hidden in the garage. Josh found them years ago."

Josh, now nineteen, had left for university a few months back. Like Jadie he was a real high-flyer, getting straight A's at school and going straight on to read Law at Cambridge. I chuckled at the thought of him rooting in the garage for his dad's old-school pornos when there was a whole internet out there to explore.

Mind you, that wasn't as funny as the idea of Keith hiding porn in the garage at home when he spent all that time away. I might have to mention that one, next time we had a round of golf.

I reached down inside my jeans and adjusted my gentleman's area so that my arousal was less obvious. Good job I did, because when I went across the landing into my bedroom I was greeted with another sight which had the blood rushing to where I wished it wouldn't.

Facing away from me, Jadie had got down on all fours to lean forward into the storage chest. Her short, tight shirt had ridden up as she bent over, exposing the beautiful curve of her lower back and placing that delicious, round, pink-clad bottom in full view once again.

As I came into the room she seemed to subtly change position, sticking that phenomenal behind a little further up in the air so the hot pink panties were stretched tight over her buttocks. With her legs parted slightly I could just see the faintest outline of her most intimate parts underneath, whilst her amazing thighs were displayed in all their glory. From the distance I was looking, they managed to look Photoshop-perfect in real life. Creamy. Smooth. Properly shaped, not two sticks. I stopped dead in my tracks, mouth open.

She pushed herself up from the storage chest and sat back, turning right round to sit cross-legged and look up at me. He braids shook prettily either side of her face as she moved and the way she sat looked almost child-like. Although that chest was definitely not child-like. And, again, was that really a glint in her eye? She did have the most stunning green eyes - highlighted perfectly by that little touch of liner and shadow. Her naturally full, long lashes blinked once at me as she looked, eyes wide; her dark, neat little eyebrows raised as if in question.
The way she looked at me really did suggest that she'd known exactly what she'd just been doing, waving her arse in the air for my benefit. But I still didn't know whether this was just some silly teenage game, teasing her best friend's dad or whether...well, I didn't really want to think about the possibility that she really was actually flirting with me.

Whatever the case, I was conscious that my rational brain was rapidly losing control of the situation to my dick. Which, despite my adjustments, was still hard and must surely be noticeable. Wanting to divert her attention before she noticed my crotch, I pointed behind her.

"Uh, Jadie, maybe they're in the drawer unit then," I said, indicating the chest of drawers by the wall.

She got to her feet, but didn't turn to the drawers, instead standing still facing me and not looking away. She wasn't tall; maybe five-feet two stood in her bare feet and certainly a long way from a catwalk-model clothes-hanger. But I'd never really liked height on a woman and Jadie was, well, just perfectly all-in-proportion for her height. Cute as hell. Which was likely to be my destination, given the thoughts clouding my mind right now.

Completely unsure of what to do, say or where to look, I felt more than a little uncomfortable. She stood there in her tight-cut shirt and panties, mere feet away, seemingly without a care in the world about the effect that this might have on me. Just... looking at me, again, with that slight questioning look as if she was expecting me to do or say something. God, it was even as if she looked... hopeful. If this was a game it was going too far. I broke eye contact and nodded to the window where the rain was still pouring down outside.

"That weather looks like it's set in for the afternoon," I said in a rather pathetic attempt to defuse some of the tension which had definitely appeared in the room.

"Uh huh," said Jadie, ignoring my comment and still looking up at me expectantly.

That tension suddenly became unbearable. I realised that I desperately wanted to lean forward and... Jesus! I was nearly overcome, right there, with a desire to reach out and kiss her, right on that pretty little mouth with those full lips just parted enough to see the neat white teeth behind. I could nearly feel myself starting to move towards her, hypnotised by her unbroken gaze.

Fuck! I could feel my control slipping away. I was about to destroy my entire life. Kiera would never speak to me again. Jadie might be eighteen but Keith and Sarah would probably call the police. Just before Keith beat me to death with my own shoes. Jesus, I know I'd do the same if he did something like that to Kiera.

I felt the room start to spin and just managed to wrench myself away over to the window, turning away from Jadie and towards the rain which was hammering against the glass.

I took a deep breath, looking out. God, that had been close. Yes, I'd had fantasies about this girl, but they'd never really gone very far because she was so far off-limits. Hell, she was still at school, for God's sake. Whatever was going on here, I couldn't. I mustn't.

"Look Mr Baines!" she said.

I turned back to her, and without warning she lifted her shirt up at the front, revealing a gorgeous round little tummy. She had a belly piercing with a jewel and a small silver pendant. I remembered her getting it done. After weeks of her begging Keith and Sarah - as well as Kiera endlessly nagging me for her own - I'd taken both girls to have their tummies done in the summer of the previous year.

I'd been expecting similar requests for tattoos now that they'd turned eighteen but had been pleased to discover that neither of them were keen on the idea. I suspected this made them pretty unusual, given the ink-covered state of most of Chelmsford's female population.

She put her hands either side and wiggled them up and down. With her shirt lifted up, yes, it was clear that she wasn't a stick insect; there was just enough curve for there to be a hint of 'muffin top' at the top of her panties. A long way off a spare tyre but certainly not washboard-flat either.

As she moved her hands I saw that, although her middle was curvy, none of it really wobbled when she moved at all - it was still firm and youthful. Which reminded me again how young she really was. God damn, what was I thinking?

"That's fat, and don't deny it," she said.

But it was said with confidence. With challenge. What the hell was she up to? That nervous girl who'd stood at the top of the stairs really seemed to have slipped into the background. This was a different Jadie. A sexual Jadie.

I knew she wanted a reaction but, to be frank, I had run out of responses to all this. My heart was in my mouth; I had an erection which I was starting not to care whether she saw. I had no idea where we were going, and was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the completely non-sexual role of best-friend's dad.

I desperately wanted to touch her; to run my fingers over that smooth skin, to kiss that perfect mouth. The way she was looking at me suggested that she wanted that too. I felt myself giving in, again, as I drank in the sight of her perfect, curvy little body.

Once more I felt myself start to take a step forward, my resistance weakening. Fortunately, at that moment the wind blew hard and buffeted the whole house, rattling the window and making a door bang downstairs. The moment was broken.

"Uh, Jadie, I think you'd better find those sweatpants now," I stammered, gaining some control again.

"Sure, OK, Mr Baines."

Her eyes darted, for the briefest moment, to my crotch before she looked back and smiled, either unaware or unconcerned at my state of arousal.

"Top drawer," I said, nodding again at the chest of drawers, my voice still wavering.

Finally, she turned, opened the drawer and found the sweatpants. She turned to face me, bending down again to put them on and offering me an unrestricted view down the neck of her shirt. I found myself not caring if she noticed me looking again. My eyes roved over a truly impressive cleavage from that push-up bra. She looked up at me, catching my stare.

"Well, they fit just fine. Which means if I'm fat then... you must be too," she laughed.

"Oh sure, yeah, I'm just huge, me," I said, sarcastically.

Was it the unwitting double-entendre which caused her eyes to flick to my crotch again? Whatever, she still seemed completely unconcerned. I was rock hard, and losing control again. I tried desperately to get some normality back in the room, feeling that crackling tension starting to build again.

"Now you've got some dry clothes, why don't you go on downstairs and watch the TV. Or, better still, get cracking on that assignment." I needed to buy some time. "I've got a few things to sort out up here first but I can give you a hand when I come down. I'm no expert on the diminutive French dude, but we can throw a few ideas round if it would help. Oh, and help yourself to a drink from the fridge."

"Okay, sure." That was definitely a look of disappointment which passed momentarily over her face. Wasn't it? Was I imagining that I sensed a change in her; a move from expectation to... deflation? Resignation?

She looked at the floor. The energy dissipated from the room, almost as suddenly as it had appeared. She seemed to be considering her next move. My heart was still pounding, completely unsure of what had just nearly happened. Or seemed to happen.

She smiled sweetly again and as she moved to go past me she paused, looking up straight at me. There was a strangely sad look in her eyes, but it was affectionate too. My mind was racing. Oh God no please; don't do this, don't do this. I could barely restrain myself, I so desperately wanted to kiss her.

Completely unexpectedly, she said softly, "You're a kind man, Mr Baines. I've always... liked you."

She blushed slightly, her pretty little cheeks colouring in a way that was almost impossibly alluring as she looked up at me, just inches away.

"Kiera's really lucky to have you as her Dad."

I moved back a little, not wanting her to brush against my trousers. She might already have seen the bulge, but feeling it was a different matter.

Suddenly, she reached up and kissed me softly on the cheek. A bolt of electricity went through me as her lips touched my face. And she smelled amazing; clean wet hair and some light, airy scent that I vaguely recognised from one of the myriad bottles Kiera had in her room. I closed my eyes, not sure what I'd find when I opened them.

And then, she was gone, out of my bedroom, padding quietly downstairs, still in her bare feet.

1. Not Just Watching
   
   

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I looked at my watch. Barely twenty minutes had passed since Jadie had arrived. Her mother wouldn't be home from work for at least another couple of hours. And Kiera was going to be in town until the shops shut.

Great. That meant I was going to have to sit downstairs with Jadie, nursing what was sure to be a constant erection; trying not to give in to the almost unbearable, burning desire which had filled me moments ago and which would still be very much present.

At least she was fully-clothed again, but what was she thinking? I'd never been good at reading people but there had definitely been more than one 'moment' just then. I was confused, conflicted; desperately ashamed that my attraction towards this girl was clearly way stronger than I'd ever been prepared to admit. And yet, at the same time, desperately excited at the thought of that illicit wrongness.

However guilty I might feel about it, the fact remained that a realisation had exploded inside me of just how... hot I now thought my daughter's best friend was. I might be able to clamp down on that realisation given time but for today, well, I couldn't sit there with a hard-on for the next three hours. And, in all honesty, I really couldn't trust myself not to do something stupid if she started flirting again. I'd come seriously close to losing it, twice, already.

There was only one thing for it; I'd have to relieve some pressure myself before going downstairs. Somehow I didn't expect that to take very long.

I pushed the bedroom door closed, undid my jeans and dropped them to the floor. My briefs quickly followed and my cock sprang out, still raging hard. I kicked my discarded clothes to one side and sat back on the bed.

I had deliberately abstained from sex since my wife died all those years ago, choosing to meet my 'needs' through use of hand alone. But that didn't mean I ever had a problem getting hard. And this... this was really something else. I was absolutely rigid; the blood filling every last cell. I pulled back my tight foreskin and ran a finger gently round the head of my cock, gently rubbing the underside and being rewarded by a burst of pleasure which ran down the length of my erection and up into my body.

I started to stroke, softly and slowly at first and then settling into a faster, harder rhythm. I didn't want Jadie to wonder what I was doing so this was going to have to be quick. And I wouldn't be needing any pornographic assistance this time; I closed my eyes and envisioned that perfect arse; those pink panties stretched over rounded cheeks as she bent over the storage chest, this time looking back at me with a playful gleam in her eye...

I felt my balls tightening already. This really wasn't going to take long.

I got up and grabbed the tissue box from my bedside table, then sat back down on the bed to finish things off. I stroked again, lightly running my fingers up and down the shaft. I gripped harder, moving back into the rhythm.

After a couple of minutes I was nearly ready to explode. I hadn't felt this... aroused for years. With my eyes closed again, I saw Jadie wiggling at the top of the stairs, but this time she started to take her panties down, easing them down slowly, showing me that delightful patch of hair...

The wind blew against the house again. The bedroom door - held shut only by a cheap plastic push mechanism - creaked open a touch and I lost my rhythm, momentarily panicked as I thought Jadie was outside. I stopped and listened, heart pounding, and was relieved to hear her still downstairs in the kitchen.

Should I get up and close it again? Probably. But, well, it was only going to blow open again and I wouldn't be long. And I was used to being super-quiet at this sort of thing, what with having Kiera around all the time.

I closed my eyes and resumed work, quickly regaining my composure as the fantasies I realised I'd always had about Jadie became more vibrant and real than ever before, and I let them go further than I ever had before...

The feelings spreading through my balls and cock were more intense than I could remember. I slowed my rhythm, wanting to prolong the pleasure. I couldn't believe what I'd seen this afternoon.

The confirmation of a beautiful, neat, dark patch of hair underneath those panties. I stroked slowly and gently, sending shivers of pleasure all the way up my back.

Those epic breasts pushing against her tight shirt. My cock strained hard, but I held back, all thoughts of a quick finish now gone, as I was utterly immersed.

Minutes passed as I held myself on the brink; my mind recalling every last detail of what I'd seen and blending it seamlessly into fantasy. I imagined her touch, her taste, her smell; an intense unbridled fantasy which I never wanted to end.

Dimly aware that time was passing, finally, I gripped harder again around the shaft of my cock and increased the pace, allowing the tingling magic to intensify and feeling my whole body tense up ready for release.

The wind rattled the house again, just at the very moment that I started to come. As my orgasm began its first wave, I opened my eyes and glanced up. This time my heart really did stop, just as my cock started to fire its first little spurts.

Jadie was peering around the door, looking straight at my ejaculating cock.

Jesus! My whole body shuddered as orgasm took over. A thick rope of come shot out, spattering on the hardwood floor. I jerked again, another stream of milky fluid firing out.

I was coming so hard I couldn't breathe, yet my brain was split right in two with one half desperately trying to stop; to turn away and cover myself, whilst the other half was ecstatic; rampant with the dangerous excitement of coming in front of this beautiful little teenager.

The rampant half was definitely winning; the sight of her looking on in wonder was giving me the single most powerful orgasm I'd ever had and was powerless to stop. I shot another load in the air, delirious with pleasure.

I'd never come this hard, nor for so long. I couldn't take my eyes off Jadie as she watched the explosion, her face rapt. She brought a hand to her mouth in wonder as my balls continued to twitch and yet more come splashed onto the floor.

After what felt like an eternity, eventually my cock jerked for the final time.

Jadie finally took her eyes off my crotch and looked right at me. I was ready to die. My life was over and I just wanted to be swallowed up by the earth and plunged straight into the bowels of hell, which is surely where I deserved to be.

"Wow Mr Baines, I've never seen one go off like that before!" she laughed.

My brain didn't even register what she'd just said. "Oh God Jadie, I'm so sorry," I managed to gasp, before another shocking thought hit me like a hammer as I started to process what had just happened.

"Oh Jesus," I said, looking up at her. "You can't tell Kiera. Please, don't say anything to her."

Still peering around the door, Jadie smiled again. My brain began to catch up. But I couldn't understand what was happening.

Why in the name of holy fuck was she still just standing there? Why hadn't she run away down the stairs, never to come near me again? Or, at the very least, turned away in disgust. Time slowed to a crawl. Perhaps I really had just died and what I was now experiencing was just the last crazy firings of neurons, conjuring up one final burst of fantasy before they expired.

Or maybe the universe had just split again and, in the other half, Jadie was running down the stairs sobbing, consigning that version of Jim Baines to the shame; the guilt; the recriminations which he so thoroughly deserved.

Here, in this universe, Jadie continued;

"Of course not, Mr Baines," she said, sweetly. Then pausing, appearing uncertain again. "Uh, just so long as you don't tell her about me..."

She sounded... I don't know. Strange, is the only word I could think of, presumably from the undeniable shock of catching me knocking one out in the middle of the afternoon. But I didn't understand what she meant about not telling about her. About the trousers not fitting? About her parading around in her knickers?

Or, the thoughts finally beginning to coalesce in my addled post-orgasmic brain, perhaps she meant the fact that she had apparently stood and watched me like a voyeur, instead of running away screaming. Which probably wasn't the sort of thing she wanted to admit to Kiera.

"It's not your fault you saw me, Jadie," I said, attempting to reassure her that I wasn't going to let her take any responsibility for my lapse in self-control.

"I didn't just see you though, did I?" she said, a little breathlessly. "I was watching," she admitted.

She was still peering round the door; all I could see were her face and her left arm. Her cheeks flushed again.

I felt a flash of utter surprise, rapidly followed by a burst of the most intense excitement, as an image suddenly formed in my mind of why she hadn't opened the door fully; of what had been happening out of sight behind the door.

Sensing that the game was up, she continued. "Well, not just watching actually," she said, pushing the door open.

For about the tenth time that afternoon, I thought I was going to have a coronary. I looked down and saw my sweatpants, which were now round her ankles. My eyes slowly rose higher up her legs, taking in the gentle curve of her calves and the smoothness of her knees before seeing the pink panties again rather before I expected to, as now they'd been rolled halfway down her thighs.

And, as my gaze moved up again, I saw her right hand - previously hidden from view behind the door - placed over her crotch with one finger still softly engaged in her own activities of self-pleasure. She paused in this action, the realisation of what she was doing suddenly seeming to catch up with her. She quickly took her finger away. I could see it was wet and glistening.

With her hand now held away from her crotch, I could see a little more of what was quite simply the most perfect female frontal region I had ever laid eyes on. The full triangle of short dark hair covered her entire pubic area but didn't extend onto her thighs or up towards her belly button - she clearly kept it cut short and in trim. And underneath the hair I could see the start of what had to be the neatest, sweetest, puffy little groove I could have imagined.

I could do nothing but stare, open-mouthed and wide-eyed, looking at her stood there - still wearing her shirt and bra but otherwise fully exposed - and it felt like my brain simply shut down, refusing to process what it was seeing.

"I'm sorry too, Mr Baines," she said. I was dimly aware that she now actually seemed to look embarrassed for the first time. "I just... wasn't expecting... you know..."

I winced, imagining what must have been going through her mind when she looked round the door for the first time. But she carried on in an unexpected direction.
"I mean... I know I've been teasing you really badly and I know I probably went too far."

My brain seemed to unfreeze at that, as the realisation dawned that it hadn't just been my dirty mind reading things into the situation; it had been intentional on her part. God only knew what she must have thought she was doing. Evidently sensing my continued confusion, she continued to explain.

"But I liked making you say nice things about me; it made me feel good about myself. And I liked the way you looked at me; it was so cute how you were trying not to look at my knickers but you still did."

Shit. I thought I'd got away with that one, but clearly not.

"And I liked how gentle you were when you helped me get out of Kiera's jeans. And when we were here in the bedroom... I really thought you were going to, well, I don't know, it felt like you were going to come over and... you know, kiss me or something, but then you turned away and then I sort of realised that what I was doing was wrong and really unfair to you but, well, I just didn't want to stop..."

She paused to take a breath. God, it really had been that obvious that I nearly kissed her.

"Anyway when I came back upstairs and saw you... you know... doing what you were doing, I thought maybe it was my fault that I'd made you want to... do it."

My stupid brain was still struggling to process anything that was happening. In fact, I was more taken by how incongruous her euphemistic language was when we were both half-naked in front of each other. Still, I suppose it was nicer than her just saying "having one off the wrist" or whatever, outright. Aware that my own head wasn't making any sense, I screwed my eyes up and tried to concentrate on what the fuck was actually happening.

She paused, again, looking guilty.

"The thing is, I know it sounds really wrong and everything but that really made me... well, hot. Just thinking... that you might be thinking of me. So I watched you and you looked so cute, so wrapped up in what you were doing that you didn't even notice me at all. I thought I'd just watch for a bit then it got too much and I just kind of... joined in. And then... I started actually hoping you'd open your eyes and look up and see me..."

"Sorry," she said, again, looking down. She started to bite a nail again on her left hand; just that nervous action looked so erotic with her state of undress.

Unbelievably, given the power of my recent ejaculation, I felt my cock hardening again. I couldn't stop looking at that gorgeous little area between her legs. She looked over at me, waiting for my reaction, seemingly unsure now of where this was all going to go.

With her shirt still in place and her hair in braids, she looked unbearably young. Which, to the mind of the pervert which I apparently had now become, made her even more incredibly sexy...

"No Jadie, I'm sorry. I should have had more self control. You're eighteen and you're my daughter's best friend for Christ's sake, I don't know what I was thinking. You were only downstairs..."

I paused, acutely aware that I'd somehow already recovered from my epic explosion and my erection was now full-on again. It was attracting Jadie's gaze and rather undermined my attempt to seem contrite.

What the hell, I might as well just be honest. After all, I was sat there with my cock in my hand talking to a half-dressed teenager who'd just admitted she'd been masturbating behind my door. I hardly had anything more to lose.

"But, you did look utterly gorgeous walking round in those pink knickers..." I said, tentatively.

I paused, waiting for her reaction. She smiled slowly, uncertainly.

"Really?" she said.

"Yes, really. And..." I said, throwing caution to the wind and nodding guiltily towards my erection, "I guess you can probably tell that I think you look even more gorgeous without them."

A moment passed and I saw Jadie lower her hand to her crotch again. She looked up at me, another guilty look passing over her face. Then, seemingly regaining her composure she straightened a little.

Seriously, softly, she said, "You're not so bad yourself. And... well, I really liked watching."

Stunned once again, I saw one finger ease into her groove and move gently up and down, then stop. She frowned slightly, seemingly uncertain of what to say next.

"Uh, I know this is going to make me sound like a stupid little girl," she said. "But..."

She paused again, composure lost once more, seemingly conflicted as to whether to carry on. I had no idea where this conversation was going; the whole afternoon had already become utterly surreal, with me sat there, cock in hand and her stood bottomless in the doorway.

She took a deep breath, as if summoning up the courage to say something. But I still wasn't expecting what came next.

"The thing is..." she said, her gaze apparently torn between my crotch and my face.

And then, her face flushing, the words all seemed to come tumbling out.

"...I've had a crush on you since, like, forever and you're the nicest man I know and you're always really kind to me and I think about you all the time and when we were in the bedroom and I thought you were going to kiss me, well what I didn't say was that I really, really wanted you to kiss me and then you didn't and I just thought maybe you didn't like me but it was confusing because you were looking at me like you did and I could see, you know... your jeans at the front... but I just didn't know what to do... and now it looks like maybe you do like me after all and it's all just really amazing that I'm... stood here and you're... sat there... because..."

She took a breath, shaking her head. "I don't know if it's because you're older or what but you just seem to have no idea at all of how hot you really are. And that just makes you even... hotter," she said, almost in exasperation.

I shook my head in bemusement. I knew I wasn't unattractive, but equally I was no movie-star. And I was old enough to be her father, as Kiera's existence could demonstrate. Jadie saw my denial.

"But you are. It's not just me, either. All the other girls are always on about Kiera's hot dad."

What. The. Fuck. That was news to me. I looked up at her, unsure as to whether she was serious. But she was looking at me earnestly. I swallowed hard.

"Jadie, I'm nearly twice your age. I don't think 'hot' comes into the equation when I'm thirty-four. And... well, you should be looking at boys your age, not old men like me."

She shook her head vigorously, the cute little braids slapping her face.

"Uh uh," she said, indicating her disagreement.

"I've been with boys my age. I haven't found one who wasn't a complete idiot." She paused. A flash of that uncertain teenager flickered over her face again. I was finding it very difficult to keep up with these sudden changes in personality.

She spoke softly again, looking right at me.

"I want a real man, Mr Baines. A man who knows what he's doing."

She paused again, before continuing.

"A man who's not shy about letting me watch him... do his thing."

My heart began to beat faster. Did she just say that? Really? She wanted to watch? Again?

Softly, shyly, she said, "Mr Baines, do you think you could... make it go off again. For me?"

Stepping out of the sweatpants fully, she let the panties drop as well as she came in. Deftly stepping over the pools of come which still lay on the floor in front of me, she stood in front of my bedside armchair, both hands held together in front of her crotch now, head down, demure. And un-fucking-believably sexy.

She raised her head and looked at me.

"If it would help, I could... take my top off too, if you like."

This whole situation was just unreal. Surreal. Insane. Like I'd got sucked into some cheap fantasy teen-porn where the old guy fucks the barely-legal babysitter or whatever. Surely to God I must have fallen asleep on the sofa downstairs and would wake up any minute. I blinked, several times.

And... there was Jadie, still there in front of me, asking me if I wanted her to undress. My brain was still fried from the double shock of her catching me and then the shock of her confession to, well, seeing me as something other than her best friend's dad. I could barely process what she was saying and doing but the time for denial had, I think, passed for good.

So I just looked at her and nodded dumbly.

She quickly unfastened the remaining buttons on the shirt and shrugged it off behind her onto the chair, leaving her in the hot pink bra and nothing else. I couldn't help it; I looked hungrily up and down her beautiful young body.

With one deft move, she reached behind and undid the clasp on her bra. Her tits barely moved as she slid the supporting cups away, pulling her arms out of the straps and tossing the bra onto the bed.

Oh dear lord, those breasts were epic. Oh. God. Large enough to be eye-catching but, like her gorgeous arse, well off the realms of comical disproportion. D-cup, I guessed, but it wasn't the size; it was the shape which made them so alluring.

Utterly defiant of gravity, they stood proud of her chest almost as if they were still supported by the bra. The areolas were large, yet perfectly round. Delicate nipples, just darker than the areolas, stood up slightly. And unlike pretty much every other female I'd ever laid eyes on, each side seemed perfectly symmetrical; both appearing to be exactly the same size and shape.

She wiggled them provocatively and they moved in the most amazing, sensual ripple; again, the movement was less pronounced than you would expect, hinting at their potential firmness. Then she stopped, the self-conscious teenager suddenly re-appearing again.

"Er, what do you think?" she said, again appearing genuinely uncertain. As if!

I looked up and down the full length of Jadie's utterly gorgeous body, settling on her pretty little face.

"Uh, on a scale of one to ten I'd say you're about a hundred... million."

I paused, looking directly at her. She blinked and smiled.

"It still feels so... messed up... so wrong thinking about you in that way but looking at you now, I can't say anything but the truth. You're stunning. Amazing."

I paused, again. "Beautiful."

With that word, I sensed her insecurities and uncertainties melting away again.

"Mr Baines, how can it be wrong? I'm eighteen, it's legal and nobody's forcing me to be here. And I've just taken all my clothes off in front of you. That might give you a clue that I'm kind of happy with this situation."

She carried on, smiling. "And, er, now it's your turn to take your top off."

I looked at her.

"It's only fair. I want to see that buff chest of yours," she said playfully.

I tugged my T-Shirt off over my head.

"Oh yes," she said. "That's more like it. You are sooo fit..."

She paused, looking cheeky for a moment. "For an old man..." she added, laughing.

She sat back on the chair, now somehow languidly confident again; draping one leg over the side and showing me everything between her legs.

Wow. Her pussy was just so neat; the labia tucked away tidily underneath the delicate covering of hair. The shyness had once again evaporated. She moved her left hand over to her right breast, gently tugging at the nipple. Her right hand returned to her crotch, brushing over the short hair before slipping two fingers this time into her gorgeous groove.

Slowly, she started moving the fingers up and down inside the fold. As she pulled herself apart gently I could see how wet she was and could only imagine what it must feel like to slide up inside that beautiful little hole.

My cock was straining again as I started to stroke it, watching Jadie play. Jesus, this girl didn't mess about! After just a few gentle strokes she suddenly went at it hard and fast, moving the two fingers up and down that little groove whilst she kneaded both breasts with her left hand.

Her eyes were fixed on my cock as I gripped it hard, squeezing up and over the head then back down. I cupped my balls in the other hand and started to move them in rhythm.

"Oh, that looks so nice Mr Baines," she whispered.

I'd never known a girl who liked to watch like this and I found it almost unbearably exciting. We hadn't even touched, apart from the peck on the cheek she'd given me earlier, yet here we were self-pleasuring in front of each other like it was the most natural thing in the world.

She was rubbing herself really hard now with her hand; really working that hairy little mound. I moved harder and faster again, feeling waves of intense pleasure working up from my crotch and up my spine.

Minutes passed; both focused intently on watching each other masturbate. I knew I was going to come hard, again, despite having already done so once that afternoon.

Jadie was panting now, making little noises of pleasure as she worked her pussy hard, which spurred me on faster still. I was bewitched by the sight of her body as she arched upwards off the chair, jerking slightly as she hit the right spot, her fingers slowing to a crawl as she closed her eyes and whispered, "Yes, yes," before shuddering briefly and resuming an even more frantic pace.

I could feel my own orgasm building again, and my breathing intensified.

She left those fabulous tits alone, allowing them to jiggle as she started to work her pussy with both hands, one hand holding herself apart whilst the other rubbed her clit hard. The glistening pinkness now on show made me increase my own pace yet further.

Her eyes were back on my own efforts, staring hungrily.

"Come on, Mr Baines. Make it go off again!"

An hour ago I would have been irredeemably shocked by this entire scene. But now I'd completely lost my capacity to be surprised. It felt like anything could happen, and probably would.

Suddenly she changed position, sitting up from her reclined pose and shifting forward on the chair to get a better view of what I was almost certainly likely to do now in a matter of seconds. Sat up straight, she kept both hands working between her legs.

Her breasts, now slightly pendulous between her arms as she leaned forward, bounced rhythmically with her hand motions. I stared at the hardness of her nipples as they moved, marvelling at how such a magical pair of tits could retain their perfect shape in that position.

"Oh make it go off again, please, Mr Baines,"

As I felt the pressure building inside me, I didn't need a second invitation. I felt myself starting to tip over the edge as I sat just feet away from her.

The way she said 'go off' was strangely innocent, like she was talking about a firework. But it was hearing her call me 'Mr Baines' all the time which was really doing it, reinforcing that sense of forbidden pleasure as it made the age difference between us so obvious. I knew how wrong this should feel but it was actually having the opposite effect on me - I found it incredibly erotic.

The pleasure spreading out from my engorged cock and through my body felt even more intense than it had been earlier. I tightened my grip and slowed, feeling that familiar tingle start to build. Jadie looked up again.

Using her upper arms, she pushed her breasts together as she continued her work with both hands down below. The hard little buds of her nipples stood proud of those gorgeous areolas, darker now as her arousal built. Panting visibly now, she looked me in the eye and said,

"Please, now, Mr Baines. I want to see it again."

That was all it took. She said it with such breathless intensity, so innocently, that I couldn't hold back. I looked over first at her pretty face; her green eyes wide and sparkling with curiosity; dark eyebrows raised expectantly.

My eyes flicked lower, to take in those unfeasibly perfect tits and that gorgeous little tummy and - before I could even try to catch a glimpse of that lovely little dark triangle - I came so hard I could feel the pressure in my ears.

I aimed my cock down as it started to jerk for itself, firing a few tiny spits of come at first and then building up to hot, heavy spurts which splashed down onto the floor again, adding to my previous output.

"Oh yes, yes!" Jadie gasped, her eyes again fixated on my ejaculation as I spattered the floor. I saw her whole body shake and she pressed her legs tight together, trapping her hands right down where they needed to be.

She shuddered violently once, then her legs opened and she leaned back slightly again, revealing both hands still frantically working at her glistening little pussy but still watching my own epic slow-motion explosion.

For the second time that afternoon I was utterly lost in orgasm, jerking again and again for longer than I'd even thought possible, especially given the unusually copious nature of my first 'performance' that afternoon. As my balls finally spent their last, I could see Jadie's fingers working furiously on herself below until she bucked violently again, forcing her legs closed once again before opening them wide and crying out,

"Ohhhh fuck yes!"

I'd never heard her utter even the mildest profanity before now; I had always been strict with Kiera about swearing - at home anyway - and Jadie had always respected those house rules. Still, I figured I'd give her a pass this time.

She relaxed, then lay back on the chair, looking down at herself and gently sliding her hands over her body. She looked at my still-throbbing cock and the new mess on the floor, then threw her arms back behind her head and sighed loudly.

It was possibly the most erotic image I'd ever seen; legs parted, arms thrown back in complete abandon exposing delightful little shaved pits, letting those glorious breasts hang perfectly and, of course, allowing me to see the glistening wetness between her legs.

"Oh. My. God," she panted, lowering her arms and pushing herself a little more upright in the chair. The movement caused her breasts to jiggle once again.

"Sorry about swearing, Mr Baines. But that felt soooo nice!"

I laughed at her apologising for her language. This really was so fucked up, so wrong, but it felt... so good. She looked up at me, then stood up suddenly.

She closed the short distance between us, placing her legs apart so she didn't step in any of the mess on the floor. Without warning, she leaned down to me as I sat on the bed, before putting both hands behind my head, directing my face to hers and kissing me hard on the lips.

She never closed her eyes, her gaze intense as she pushed her tongue into my mouth briefly. I felt an electric jolt at her touch - her lips were burning and her darting tongue felt like it was on fire. But almost as quickly as she'd started, she withdrew from the kiss and stood back, still carefully avoiding the slippery bits on the floor. She looked down at me.

"Thank you, Mr Baines."

I remained speechless, fixated by the sight of her body. Her whole crotch was smeared with her juices. In fact, much of her body was, as she'd run her hands all over herself. I caught a hint of the intense, musky scent. Delicious. I found myself completely incapable of saying anything.

"Can I... freshen up a bit?" she asked, shyly indicating her glistening body.

I nodded dumbly to the shower room door in the corner. She padded across the room and I got to see those fabulous buttocks again as she walked. Oh dear lord. Again. Was this a dream?

As she closed the door, I flopped down backwards on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. The wind was still buffeting the house, although the rain had subsided a little. It seemed like another lifetime since I'd sat down in the living room expecting a relaxing afternoon with a book in front of the telly with the storm outside.
There'd definitely been a storm inside as well, this afternoon. It really was like some crazy dream. I thought again; maybe I'd fallen asleep on the sofa. Was it really happening?

And then, of course, the guilt came. How the hell could I ever look Kiera in the eye again, now that I'd done - well, whatever exactly it could be described as - with her best friend? I looked at my bedside clock, suddenly panicked at the thought of Kiera arriving home. It was still only three in the afternoon; another two hours at least before she'd be back. Thank God for that.

I heard the toilet flush and the sink run. Not a dream, then. I sighed and shook my head.

I sat up again, feeling light-headed. The floor in front of me was still covered in the output from my ejaculations. Taking the box of tissues, forgotten about since that first shock of seeing Jadie looking round the door, I cleared it up and disposed of the mess in the main bathroom.

I had a piss and gave myself a quick wash and freshen up. Back in the bedroom I rescued my underwear and jeans from the floor and put them back on.

I tugged my T-shirt back on as well and sat back down on the bed. I realised I was shaking; the shock of what I'd just experienced only just catching up with me.

1. What the Hell Just Happened?
   
   

I could hear Jadie abluting in the en suite. My mind was reeling. What the hell just happened? What the hell was going to happen now? Were we going to sit downstairs and pretend nothing had happened?

It had been so long since I'd been with any woman that I didn't know what to think or what to do. And Jadie was so different anyway; from another generation who seemed to have very different ideas about sex than any of the girls I'd been with when I was her age. Well, younger than her, actually.

Back then it was all kissing and cuddling and maybe - if you got lucky - some experimental groping, which sometimes led to some kind of conclusion but more often than not ended in awkward rejection. But today, with Jadie, it was just... different.

No kissing. No cuddling. No slowly working up to things. I mean, of course, she still had those teenage insecurities which, I was ashamed to say, I found incredibly alluring but at the same time she seemed to think nothing of just... well, masturbating in front of me with complete abandon.

This must be the modern world, I thought; what happens when kids grew up with more porn than they knew what to do with. I found myself chuckling. On the evidence of this afternoon I wasn't so sure that was a bad thing after all.

And I realised that, with us both caught up in the moment of watching each other, I still had no idea what those fabulous breasts actually felt like, or how hot that gorgeous little pussy would actually feel to touch... Was I going to find out? Or were the afternoon's activities now... over?

I really did have no idea as to what was going to happen next. Embarrassment? Awkwardness? Shame? Guilt? I knew there was no shortage of those feelings bottled up inside me, but was Jadie feeling the same? Had we just been overcome by the moment and would forever have to deal with the consequences? My mind was racing through the possibilities. Not many of them seemed to be good.

I got my answer when the shower room door opened and Jadie came out.

Naked. No towel or anything. Just naked.

She stopped and I stared unashamedly at those spectacular breasts. I really had never seen anything like them outside of fantasy internet porn. Just perfectly-shaped, perfectly symmetric and absolutely perfectly-sized. Then I saw her face fall as she looked at me.

"Oh," she breathed, as she saw I was dressed again. What I saw in her eyes wasn't guilt or shame or regret, but... disappointment.

"You've got your clothes back on," she said, quietly.

Stood there naked, now looking utterly crestfallen, she was lost and confused again; the uncertain teenager back in full view. I wanted to take her in my arms and hold her right there; seeing her vulnerable again like that made my heart jump up my throat. Again. Seriously, I was going to have a heart attack before the day was out. And clearly, the afternoon wasn't over.

"I have, it was getting a bit chilly in here," I lied.

I smiled at her frown. With the heating on and the residual heat from our previous exertions, the room was anything but cold. Before she could respond to my lie I added, "But I can always take them off again if you prefer."

She visibly brightened at this, nodding shyly at my suggestion.

"I'd like that a lot, Mr Baines," she said, quietly. Intensely.

I shrugged out of my clothes again, whilst she watched. I lay down on the bed, naked, as she started to re-tie her hair up again in those sexy little plaits which had unravelled slightly, all the time looking my exposed body up and down.

There was a dull ache in my balls and my cock certainly felt used, but looking at her stood there doing her hair, breasts jiggling in that unique gravity-defying way, was more than enough to make me hard again.

I lay back with my head on a pillow and put my hands behind my head to enjoy the view. I realised that, at that moment, I'd somehow stopped caring about it being wrong. I'd forgotten about her being my daughter's best friend. I'd given in to the fact that I was a dirty, immoral, disgusting old perv who should know better. Because, in the name of all that was holy, I realised just how much I really wanted this girl.

Finishing her hair, she came over to the end of the bed. She didn't sit, but placed two hands in front of her, lifting her knees onto the mattress behind. Now on all fours and facing me, she started to crawl slowly over to me, letting those fabulous breasts hang heavily beneath her. I was, once again, transfixed.

Against all nature, they seemed to keep their shape even as they swung, pendulous as she moved closer. The braids hung prettily down either side of her face, and those intense green eyes glinted at me. Once again, the uncertain teenager seemed to be taking a back seat and she looked hungry. Knowing. Dirty. She lifted a hand and pointed at my cock, which despite all my previous ministrations was once more rock-hard.

"Does that thing ever go down?" she asked, giggling and raising one eyebrow in a delightful, playful way.

"Uh, that's kind of difficult when you're around," I said.

She lay down beside me, propping herself up on one elbow.

I reached over and caressed her face gently. It was nearly ten years since I'd been with a woman. And, after all those years of deliberate denial, of throwing myself into bringing up Kiera as slowly the raw grief for my beautiful lost wife dissipated into a dull ache; I finally felt something shift inside.

The guilt and anguish which I had carried were still there, but there was no sense of betrayal any more. I was ready to admit that I was... well, ready. Time to take the next step; to move on. I'd just never imagined that the next step would be so... complicated.

I looked into those eyes. "You are such a beautiful girl, Jadie."

She looked down. I knew she loved hearing that word. Every woman did. But I really meant it, and I wanted her to know. She smiled, then looked unsure again.

"You don't mind that I'm... hairy... down there?"

I was momentarily taken aback. I'd been expecting another 'don't you think I'm fat' moment.

"God no, Jadie. How could I mind that? It's how girls are supposed to look."

"Really? You're not just saying that?"

"No, I'm not. You look... lovely. I've never been concerned with all this shaving and waxing business. I think you'll find most men are the same."

She made a non-committal noise, "Men maybe, but not boys. They all seem to want you to shave it completely and if you don't then they think it's weird."

I shook my head.

"It's true," Jadie insisted. "Bella - you remember Bella, right? - well, she, you know... sent some pics of herself to Ryan Tunstall when they were going out..."

I cringed, briefly remembering Bella. She had been another of Kiera's friends although I'd not seen her for ages. I'd thought she was a lovely, gentle, quiet girl. The idea of her sending naked pictures of herself to her boyfriend was almost beyond belief. Almost.

I reminded myself of how different teenage lives seemed to be these days. And then reminded myself that if the technology had existed when I was that age, I'd have been sending pictures of my cock to all and sundry. My mind refocused on what Jadie was saying.

"...then they split up and Ryan sent the pictures round to, like the whole school, with the title Bella the Bush because she was, well... she was pretty hairy. Anyway everyone seemed to think it was really funny and weird that she hadn't shaved herself. And then that's all anyone called her afterwards, Bella the Bush."

Jadie looked sad for a moment. "It was pretty awful for her. Kiera and me... we thought everyone was being mean and we stuck up for her, and then everyone started calling us bush lovers and lezzers and everything..."

I shook my head, realising now where that awkward conversation with Kiera on this subject had probably come from.

Jadie carried on, "Bella's Mum took her out of our school in the end and she's at private school now. We still chat on Facebook and stuff and... well, I know she shaves now. Anyway, after all that I started shaving it all down there. I didn't want to be laughed at if, well, if something happened with a boy or something, you know, I wanted to be... I don't know, ready I suppose. But I didn't really like the way it felt down there after I shaved and it was really hard to, like, do all round my... bits."

I couldn't suppress a guffaw at that.

"No, really, it was! Don't laugh!" she said, laughing herself.

"And it used to itch, like, much more than my legs or under my arms did. Which was kind of embarrassing, you know, in class and stuff. Anyway I did it for quite a while but, well, it started to look like I was never going to find a boy I really... liked anyway. And the ones I went out with... they didn't seem to be bothered about pleasing me so I started to think, why should I do it just to please them? So I stopped with the razor apart from round the edges and now I just give it a trim so it doesn't go all... jungly."

"Yeah, jungly can be a bit, ah, intimidating..." I said.

We laughed together, before I turned to face her again.

"I have absolutely no idea how you could possibly have come to be naked, next to me in my bed right now, but, well, here you are... talking about pubic hair..." I said.

She laughed. "Yep," she said, looking up again. "Here I am, alright. And I can't really believe that I'm here with the man that I've... liked, and dreamt of for so long and he actually seems to like my pubes..."

The utterly surreal nature of my predicament was thrust home again. This girl - this amazingly attractive girl - who I'd know for so long... She had been dreaming of me, without me having the slightest idea? Jesus, how was that even possible? A flash of worry surfaced again as I wondered again what the hell I was doing, but it soon faded as she smiled up at me. Fuck it, they could throw the book at me if they wanted. I'd stopped caring because she looked so... happy.

"Seriously, I can't believe I'm really here, actually touching you," she said, tentatively placing a hand on my chest and stroking gently.

"I thought you liked to watch, rather than touch?" I queried, jokingly.

She took her hand away, taking my question seriously. "Yeah, I do like... watching. Do you think that's wrong?" she asked, looking worried again.

"No, not wrong. Just... unusual, I guess. I always thought that was more of a man thing. We're all different though in what turns us on. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Well, I think it's always been like that for me," she said, with a cautious smile.

She idly twirled a finger round a braid. She looked so utterly adorable when she smiled, it was all I could do not to take her in my arms there and then. But she clearly wanted to tell me more. And I have to admit I was a more than a little intrigued.

"Has it?" I said, wanting her to go on.

"Well, yeah, I guess," she said. She paused, looking uncomfortable as she continued.

"I like... you know... touching myself. I like it a lot."

She paused for a moment before continuing. "And... we were talking about it at school the other day...

"As you do..." I interjected.

She laughed. "Yeah, well, we were bored at lunchtime and it just kind of came up..."

I chuckled at her innuendo, which made her giggle.

"Oops," she laughed.

"Anyway, some of the other girls were saying, like, how often they... you know, did it... and I was really shocked because I realised I did it a lot more than they all seemed to. Well, most of them anyway..." she said with a significant look.

God, she must be meaning Kiera, I realised before quickly filing that thought away, hopefully never to be remembered. Like I said before, with her mother gone, I'd had plenty of difficult conversations with my daughter over the years about all the usual things. The talk about masturbation was one of the hardest. I remembered just blurting something about it being OK as long as the door's closed, which after this afternoon's events was - in retrospect - deeply ironic.

Still, at least I'd never caught Kiera in flagrante, for which I was grateful. One of the chaps at work had told us how he managed to walk in on his daughter pleasuring herself with a condom-covered cucumber. He told it like it was a big joke, laughing about how he couldn't eat salad any more. But I knew he and his daughter had barely spoken since.

Evidently I'd been exceptionally fortunate, as if Jadie was to be believed, Kiera had been 'at it' quite a lot.

Jadie carried on. "So I didn't admit how often I liked to do it, but I did make the mistake of telling them that I liked... well, you know, looking at... well, porn when I did it. And they were all, like, ewww, that's disgusting Jadie..."

I smiled at her. "Nothing disgusting about that. Nothing wrong with it, at all. If it were a crime, they'd have locked me up for life a long time ago..."

She smiled again.

"Yeah, well, I knew they weren't serious - I mean they were only messing about, you know, not being nasty or anything. But still... it was pretty obvious that I was different from them."

"Or maybe just more honest"

She looked at me, and frowned. Like she hadn't considered that possibility.

"Hmm. Maybe."

To be honest, I did find it a bit... unusual. Whacking off to porn did seem like a peculiarly male activity. I was still intrigued, and rather aroused by the idea nonetheless.

"Can I ask what... sort of things you like to watch?" I asked, gently. I didn't want to push her on something she might be uncomfortable with.

She didn't seem fazed by the question.

"Well, videos mostly. But I don't really like many of the... you know, the actual sex ones..." she said, pausing as if thinking how best to explain what she was saying.

"I think it was because when I first saw them years ago they looked a bit, well... nasty. Scary, even. Some of the things look really, you know... painful. I mean... I suppose I've kind of got used to all that noise and aggression and I do still watch that kind of thing sometimes but that's more for... well... education I guess."

She smiled nervously.

"What, like you take notes when you're watching?" I laughed.

She giggled. "Not really, no. But watching what the girls do... you do sort of learn things. I just don't find that kind of thing all that... arousing to watch I guess. I prefer... stuff with just men, you know... on their own, individually. I like to watch them, how they do it to themselves, you know. And, yeah, I do sit there on my laptop in my room and... get myself off, watching them."

There it was, I thought. Teenagers growing up with easy access to that kind of porn were bound to develop their own 'preferences' much earlier than my generation ever had.

She looked embarrassed. "So I suppose that's where the liking to watch has come from."

"Well, that's hardly anything to be ashamed of." I sensed there was more she wanted to say, though. I wasn't wrong.

She continued. "Yeah, well... recently something happened which sort of took it a bit further."

She paused, uncertain as to whether to go on. I felt awkward; suddenly realising that she might be about to reveal that something unpleasant had happened to her.

"Jadie, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."

Realising what I was thinking, she laughed.

"Oh no, Mr Baines, it's nothing really bad or anything. It's just a bit, well, weird I suppose."

She took a deep breath.

"So, you know Kiera's got that big cupboard space between her room and your spare room? Well, our house is the same and I've, like, got the same room as Kiera. Josh has the other one. Except years ago my Dad knocked through the cupboard wall and put another set of doors on the other side so Josh could get in it from his room and we could share that space for all our stuff."

She smiled, remembering. "It was really annoying because he was always getting in there and messing with my things. But I used to go in there too and hide sometimes, when I was little. And I'd spy on him from in the cupboard looking through the gap in the doors. It was a pretty big gap because I don't think my Dad measured it right when he fitted it all in."

My face must have revealed my concern at what she was about to tell me.

"No, don't worry Mr Baines. I'm not so desperate as to look at my brother... well, not on his own anyway."

I smiled in acknowledgement that she'd read my concern, but was mystified by the comment about being on his own. Presumably, all would be revealed. Perhaps literally.

"Anyway. It was, like, the week after my eighteenth, I think. Josh had come back from uni and had two of his friends round; Tom and Liam. Mum and Dad were out and I was downstairs watching TV and messing with my phone. Usually I could hear Tom as he had a really loud voice and they were usually all yelling at each other on the Xbox. But I realised this time they were being really quiet."

"For some reason I thought something was... odd, so I crept upstairs to see what was going on. It was still quiet so I listened outside Josh's door. I couldn't really hear anything other than shuffling noises, then I heard a girl's voice say, 'Oooh, yes!' I knew they didn't have anyone else in there so I figured they were watching porn."

She looked at me, nervously. I just kind of nodded for her to continue.

"I hadn't been in the cupboard to spy for, like, years. But I suddenly realised that I could get a better look and see what was going on. So I sneaked back into my room and into the cupboard to find out. I couldn't see Josh through the gap but I could see the other two."

"They were on his sofa looking over at his computer screen. And both of them had their trousers down and were... you know, playing. They'd got some girl on cam who was getting them to do stuff for her. It was... weird but, well, really exciting too. I'd never seen anything... you know... live, in the flesh. So I watched through the gap, trying to be as quiet as I could."

She looked at me, judging my reaction.

I was taken aback that she seemed to be admitting that she'd never even seen a naked male in the flesh until after her eighteenth birthday. However, I hid that thought and smiled, instead.

"Let me guess, you got caught?"
"No! That's the thing, I didn't," she laughed.

"I made sure I closed my side of the cupboard door so it was dark and, well, I guess they were too involved in what they were doing to notice anyway. My brother was sat at his desk which I couldn't see, and he just kept laughing. He wasn't... you know, doing anything himself which was good because that would have been, well, a bit awkward with him being my brother..."

She paused, again, shifting slightly on the bed beside me.

"And it meant I was there, looking at two boys, in real life. It was strange. I really didn't fancy either of them, like, at all. And neither of them had... well, they didn't have one which looked as nice as yours does..."

She looked appreciatively at my crotch. I smiled. I was mystified as to why she might find my junk particularly attractive, but I wasn't going to complain.

"But I still found myself really excited and... well, turned on," she continued. "The thought of watching them, secretly, for some reason it got me, like, super hot. I knew I couldn't do anything in the cupboard in case they heard me, so I watched until they'd both... you know, finished, which didn't take long..."

I smiled. I'd had a couple of group-whacking sessions with some of my friends in my youth, all gathered round watching some grainy VHS tape in my mate Martin's front room when his parents were out. Something about the illicit excitement always used to make us finish quick.

"...and then went back in my room and... well, brought myself off really, really quickly," she said.

I watched her nipples harden as she remembered that feeling. She looked up and blushed again. "I knew it was wrong, Mr Baines, but I couldn't help it... just like today."

"I don't think you did anything any other normal, curious, teenage girl wouldn't have done in the same situation," I said, reassuringly. I was talking about back then, of course, not what had happened today. That definitely wasn't normal. Not that I was complaining.

"Yeah, but that's the thing Mr Baines. It wasn't just the once."

My face probably did show some surprise at that.

"Tom and Liam, well, they came round a few more times after that and... it seemed to be a regular thing now to get this girl on chat and... do stuff in front of her. Josh never got involved - he just seemed to think it was all a big joke. The girl was from their year at uni as well - Ashley something I think she was called - and she never really, you know, did anything from what I could tell. But the two boys did. And each time I'd sneak in to see them from the cupboard."

"It all stopped when Josh started going out with this girl called Briony. He'd had a few girlfriends before but not, like, serious or anything. But with Briony it was definitely serious and he started seeing her a lot, and he came back from uni with her most weekends. Liam and Tom, well they still came round now and again, but they went back to playing games and stuff. There was no more messing about..."

Again, Jadie paused.

"Were you disappointed?" I asked, somewhat unnecessarily.

"Well, yeah, I was," she replied. "But... not for long."

There was still more to come, evidently.

She picked up the story again. "So, well, anyway I really liked Briony. She was beautiful; really glamorous but she wasn't a bitch with it. She seemed to know what she wanted and had no trouble getting it, yet she never had to be, well, nasty about it. I had no idea what she saw in my brother, but I used to enjoy it when she came round. She made me laugh."

Jadie smiled, as she remembered. "And of course, then, well it had to happen I suppose. Josh and her started... you know, getting up to things in his room. And, I know this is really wrong because he was my brother, but I still couldn't resist sneaking into the cupboard and taking a peek. Most of the time I couldn't see anything but I could hear them... doing stuff... really quietly, because Mum was usually downstairs."

"Then they got to, like, actual sex after a while which meant they were on the bed and, well, that meant a good view from the cupboard. Obviously I didn't want to look at Josh, so I just ended up looking at Briony. I was fascinated with her body. I felt so fat looking at her; she was slim and lithe and it looked like she really enjoyed herself."

"It seemed like a lot different from the... porn stuff I'd seen. Briony really seemed to like it and seemed to be in charge as well. She didn't seem to be faking it or anything. She always went 'on top'. Josh would lie back on his bed and she'd mount him and ride him, all the time trying to be quiet."

I didn't know Briony, but my mind was conjuring up some rather appealing visions. My erection wasn't going to disappear anytime soon, that was for sure.

Jadie carried on. "I started taking more and more risks in the cupboard, when I was watching. Most times now I'd have my hand in my knickers; I couldn't wait. And I started to think maybe I was a bit, well, lesbian because I found Briony so sexy. I'd started a bit of a crush on her, I guess. It was all a bit confusing. But it was the thrill of watching which was really what got me going."

I was surprised at how... open Jadie was about her sexuality; her thoughts about this other girl. And I felt strangely honoured that she was sharing such intimate information with me.

"So, this went on for a few weeks I guess. And one evening, I was in the cupboard watching them as usual. Briony had her back to me, grinding herself away. She looked super hot as usual and I was really aroused. I had two fingers right up inside me, trying to pretend I was riding a... man, too."

Yeah, now that really was intimate information, I thought. No way was I Kiera's Dad to her, any more. I wasn't the only one who seemed to have forgotten... well, who we both were. She didn't seem to care any more than I did, though.

"And then the freakiest thing happened," Jadie said, frowning at the memory. "She... turned round, looked over her shoulder right at me, then winked and gave me a little wave with her hand."

"I nearly fell out of the cupboard back into my room. I had no idea how she knew I was there; I guess I'd just made too much noise or something. Anyway I was so completely embarrassed I couldn't even finish myself off. My heart was pounding and I kept waiting for the knock at the door, for her and Josh to come in and humiliate me."

She looked down at herself, remembering the shame. Yeah, I knew all about the shame of getting caught. I smiled encouragingly.

"But, they didn't," she said. "And I just stayed in my room all night until she'd gone home. Next time she came round I couldn't meet her eye. I was so scared that she'd say something to Josh, or worse, say something in front of Mum. I stayed downstairs when she and Josh went up to his room, praying that maybe Josh didn't know. And I waited until Josh had taken Briony home before I finally went up to my room that night."

She looked at me, again. I could tell another revelation was coming.

"And I found a wrapped box on my pillow with a note on it. It said, 'In case you need a little help for when you watch. Our little secret. Love, B' and in the box, there was this... well, it was a purple vibrator. You know, shaped just like a... Confused as hell, I quickly hid it away."

I smiled to myself, again, at her euphemism. It was so endearing; the contradiction between the content of her story and the strangely innocent way she talked about it. But I still wondered, once again, at the lives teenagers lived these days. Okay, Briony was probably nearer to twenty by then, rather than a teenager. But Jadie was just turned eighteen. And seriously? Buying a sex toy for her boyfriend's sister? I shook my head to myself. Crazy world we live in. Crazy.

Jadie wasn't finished yet, though.

"Next time Briony came round, she and Josh went off upstairs. Just as she went out of the room she looked back at me and winked, again. So I went upstairs and in the cupboard. It got me even hotter to know that Briony knew I was watching; she'd said it was our secret so Josh clearly didn't know. This time she rode him the other way, facing me, looking at me almost the whole time."

She looked at me, intensely. "Oh, Mr Baines... it felt so wrong looking at her but she just looked so... amazing. So sexy. The only part of my brother I could see was his... you know... thrusting into her whilst she used her fingers on herself as well. She'd trimmed her hair right back to a little strip and I couldn't stop looking as she brought herself off. She had to bite her hand when she started to come, to stop herself crying out. That was so hot. Really hot. I definitely thought I was going lesbian, watching her then."

"I didn't use the toy in the cupboard; my fingers were enough. But when I went back into my bedroom and lay on my bed, thinking about Briony riding my brother, I really wanted to know what that felt like."

I looked at her askance, at that.

"No, I don't mean my brother!" she said, realising what she'd just implied.

I laughed.

"I mean... you know, what it would feel like to have something... inside me other than just my fingers. So I got Briony's present out and tried to get it... you know, up there."

She frowned again. "It wasn't huge at all but it still felt really big. I kneeled up on the bed and tried to lower myself onto it, like Briony had. It hurt. A lot."

She looked down. "I remember thinking that maybe there was something wrong with me, you know, inside, because I couldn't imagine how that could ever be something you could enjoy. But, well, I'd read enough about it all on the internet to know that it was supposed to hurt at first, so I just kind of kept on going."

"It still hurt, and I couldn't really get it in very far, so I stopped and just... well, I turned the vibrator function on and used that on my... you know... usual bits."

I smiled again. She had such a cute way of describing this stuff. It made her sound even younger than she was.

"But after that night I kept going back and trying again to get it inside me. I sort of learned how to relax it all a bit and after a few goes, I managed it and it started to... you know, it felt really nice. I used to kneel up and rock myself on it, pretending I was riding a man and feeling myself all over until I... got off."

I was incredibly aroused, listening to her describe her first experiences of penetration. I was also pretty disgusted at myself for being aroused. This afternoon was revealing a lot about me that I didn't really like; that I clearly still had baser instincts which were capable of over-riding any sense of morality; that I could lay here listening to a naked eighteen-year old beauty telling me about her recent first sexual experiences and find the process arousing. But that disgust, I also realised, was already a lot less intense than what I'd been feeling earlier in the afternoon. I was further down the slippery slope already.

"Josh and Briony split up almost straight after that night. I was really disappointed. Josh went out with a few other girls, but he started to stay away at uni more and when he was home he never went into his room with them. And that's when I realised that Briony must have told him about me, and that was probably why they split up. He's never said anything to me, thank God. I'd die of shame if he did..."

She looked up again.

"Anyway. I guess that's where the whole liking to watch thing really took hold."

"And what about... well, the boys you've been out with. Were they... into that?" I asked.

She looked uncomfortable. I remembered what she'd said earlier about them being idiots and realised that I'd taken the conversation in an unwanted direction. But she carried on anyway.

"God no," she replied. "I mean, I'd known for a long time that... you know... boys were actually interested in me. But all the way through school, pretty much, even though I was, like, super-curious about everything I never really went out with anyone properly. Until... well, more recently. I did actually go out with a few..."

She paused, looking embarrassed, before continuing.

"Well, more than a few, actually."

She looked down, as if ashamed. I remembered Kiera a little while previously, talking about Jadie's sudden interest in the opposite sex and apparently endless string of boyfriends. I smiled at her.

"Hey, it's normal to go out with lots of people when you're a teenager. I certainly did, before Katie..." That was a bit of an exaggeration, to be honest. But, well, it might make her feel better.

"Yeah, but this was... different. It was more than that. It was like I was trying to be someone else..."

She shifted uncomfortably. "You know, Kiera and me and Becky and, well, I suppose the others we still hang round with now; we'd always been, like, the geeky girls. We always did our homework, we never messed about in class and... we weren't exactly popular."

I knew this to be the case. I'd always tried to bring Kiera up to understand the importance of education. I knew Keith and Sarah had done the same with Jadie, as had I, with all the time she'd spent with Kiera and me over the years. And I'd had a lot of conversations with the girls about the sacrifices this involved when it came to being 'cool' at school.

I'd been aware that in many ways their academic success had come at a price; for a long time they'd been way behind their peers when it came to... experience with the opposite sex. I also knew that in recent months they'd been doing a bit of catching up in this respect.

"I knew I was, like, pretty clever. And I'd always been, I don't know, sort of proud of that I suppose. But then I just sort of... changed. I wanted to be... I don't know. Liked, I suppose. Popular," she said, making air-quotes.

"And... well, I kind of realised then that having a boyfriend makes all the difference. Well, having the right boyfriend. Like, one who all the popular girls think is hot."

"I'm really... embarrassed about it now. But the first boy I went out with - Will, his name was - well, I only really went out with him because he was hot and everyone liked him and I just wanted to... prove something. You know, like he was a status symbol or something. And... it worked!"

She shook her head to herself. "I know it's really sad but I liked the attention, Mr Baines. I liked having the cliquey girls talking to me all of a sudden, asking me what he was like and what we'd done together and all that stuff. It was like I'd been allowed in to their little world for the first time and it felt good."

She frowned again. "God, I was so... shallow. Pathetic really. And it didn't last, of course," she continued. "Because... well, I found that I didn't actually like him at all. It felt like he just seemed to think I should be... I don't know, grateful or something that I was going out with him."

She laughed sadly to herself, looking up at me; "The sad thing is, I think I actually was grateful... but I just didn't like being reminded of that. And... when we got to... you know, doing stuff, I really didn't like it at all. He just didn't seem to care about what I wanted at all. It was all about him."

"So I finished with him, and he said a load of bad stuff about me and... well, I should have learned from that. But I still had this thing about wanting to be popular, and there was this really fit lad called Steven who absolutely everyone fancied, and I'd seen him looking at me in the corridors and stuff so I asked him out and he said yes and... well, I was about the most popular girl in the sixth-form right then."

"I'd go round with him at lunchtime and... the attention I got was unreal. Again, I liked it all at first but when it got a bit more serious with him; it was just the same as with Will. He just didn't seem interested in me; he'd get his hands into my knickers and fumble around and that was about as much pleasure as I'd get from him. I tried getting him to... you know... play for me but he just said I was weird; even when I did it for him... he just wanted to take pictures of me so he could show his mates afterwards..."

My face must have registered shock at this, as she quickly followed up;

"Don't worry, I never let him - I'd learned that from Bella, at least..."

I was relieved at that, but there was more to come.

"He finished with me when he realised I wasn't going to... do it with him."

I smiled inwardly at her quaintly old-fashioned expression.

"But I'd got this thing by then... I don't know, it was almost like an addiction. I needed to be popular. So I went out with, well, a whole string of those sorts of boys. You know - the ones everyone liked."

"I mean they were hot. I did fancy them, and I did really want to... do stuff with them. But they were all so... horrible, Mr Baines."

She shuddered involuntarily. "They squeezed me all over and said I was fat and then when I wouldn't let them... you know, go all the way, they called me stuff like a prick teasing bitch... And when they realised I wasn't going to actually... do it with them, well then it just seemed like they wanted to put their dick in my mouth so they could tell their mates they got a blowjob. And... well, if I let them do that then it was just nasty and if I didn't... well usually they'd just tell everyone I was a fat whore and just go and make stuff up about what they did with me anyway."

I was shocked at her sudden abandonment of euphemism; the directness of her language just seemed to emphasise how... savage the experience had been for her.

I couldn't believe that any self-respecting boy could treat such a stunning girl so badly. Maybe all that stuff you read about porn having a bad influence on kids these days was truer than I'd thought. I had a sudden shocking thought that Kiera would probably have had similar experiences which she'd never have shared with me. I'd always said she could tell me anything... but this sort of stuff wasn't the sort of thing you talked about with your Dad.

I reached over and stroked Jadie's face gently again. She brightened a little at my touch, evidently pushing those darker thoughts away.

"I couldn't understand if I was doing something wrong, or just unlucky, or maybe this was just what... you know, boys were like. I know some of the other popular girls had... well, the same sort of experiences as I did. Even the girls who claimed they were all like, in love, and stuff - when they talked about the sorts of... well, the things they did, or... had to do I guess, it just seemed like... well, I guess they weren't as, I don't know, bothered as I was about how they were treated. Kinda like they just expected it, you know?"

"And I think then, it just kind of dawned on me that I didn't actually want to be like them and, I don't know, I just kind of... grew up a bit, I suppose. Started acting more like my age and not like some fourteen-year-old. And I went back to hanging round with my real friends and stopped worrying about being popular."

She shuffled a little next to me.

"I was still interested in boys, of course. So I went out with a few others; except now I was looking for the ones who weren't like, really hot and on everyone's list and everything because I kind of knew what they'd be like. So I went out with some of the quieter ones. Even a couple of properly geeky boys who I actually really liked; they were clever and interested in a lot of the same stuff as I was. And it was funny because now they were, like, the grateful ones and not me. But..."
She looked ashamed again.

"I had a different problem, then. I know it sounds mean and wrong but I just didn't... fancy them - any of them really - you know, in a sexual way. I knew they really fancied me and I kind of wanted to... do stuff with them just because I liked them, but... it never really worked for me. Each time it ended up the same; we'd see each other for a bit and go out places and chat but... when it came to the physical stuff I just couldn't get myself going. I felt bad about it, but I couldn't change how I felt."

"I went out with four... well, five I suppose although one was only the once... of those kinds of boys... all in a few weeks. I think I was hoping that I'd change and start fancying them once I got to know them better but it never seemed to happen."

She looked genuinely sad, remembering that. I was touched by her empathy, though; it was just like her to care about others so much.

"And then, well, I just kind of gave up. I really didn't know what to do. I knew I needed someone completely different. Someone who would treat me differently. Someone who was, you know, nice looking and took care of themselves but who might also actually care about me, so I could, I don't know... really care about them too. I just didn't know where to find them, or even where to start looking."

She looked up at me, intensely.

"And, then, well, after a while it kind of crept up on me. The realisation, you know. That... there you were."

I blinked, uncertain as to what she meant. She carried on;

"Kiera's hot dad, in front of me all this time. Caring about us. Giving us lifts. Listening to our problems. Taking us shopping. Helping us with homework. And... well, making me laugh, like, constantly. Although Kiera doesn't seem to find you so funny..." she laughed.

I raised my eyebrow at her, mock-quizzically.

"Well, you are her Dad, I guess. She can hardly admit that you're clever and funny. But I've always liked it how we, you know, when we get together, we sort of wind each other up," she said, referring to our regular banter.

"And you were like, seriously fit, even if you were older. So no problems on that front. But more than that, I could... relax with you. That's what was different. I never felt like I could relax with any of those boys."

I smiled. I recognised the idea that we had always felt, I don't know, natural around each other. But I'd never really given much thought to how she might feel about me. Certainly not in the way she now seemed to be describing.

"So, well, I knew you didn't have, like, a girlfriend or anything," Jadie continued. "And I thought that maybe that sort of made it kind of alright for me to... think about you. And..."

She stopped again, looking awkward. "Well, it was so sad what happened with Kiera's mum but... well, I thought you seemed, well, a lot happier these days than you used to seem when I was little. So I thought maybe you might be, I don't know, maybe OK about the idea of someone else..."

That was surely true.

"So I started to think about you properly... you know, what it would be like with you... to do more than just talk."

She paused, a slight frown tightening her eyebrows briefly as she concentrated on what she was saying.

"It's weird. It just felt so different, just thinking about you, than it did when I'd thought about other boys. Any of them. Really different. It was so... strange. I guess because I'd known you for so long, it was like I knew you better than any of them and you were... safe, I guess."

"I mean, like I said before I'd had, like a crush on you for as long as I can remember but that had always been, I don't know, a little girl thing. I guess, maybe, thinking about it not even really a... sexual thing. I thought you were super-nice and funny and yeah, you were hot, especially for my best friend's dad. But, I don't know, it had never really gone anywhere other than a few naughty thoughts."

She shifted position slightly, looking back at me.

"And then, suddenly, it had all changed. And when I thought about what I'd done with boys and stuff and thought about... what that might be like with you... it felt different. Like, so much better. I mean there I was, actually going way further with you in my head whilst I... you know... and it just felt, I don't know... yeah, maybe a bit wrong because you were Kiera's dad and older and everything but still... it felt so nice. Which made it feel... right!"

Behind the curve as usual, I caught on to what she actually meant when she said "thinking about you".

"It was, well, kinda weird because I couldn't exactly talk to Kiera about it and we'd always, you know, talked about what we thought of different boys. But, I don't know, I guess the fact that you were a bit... out of bounds... that maybe made it even more... exciting."

Yeah, I knew how that felt alright.

"And I did get to wondering... as you didn't, well, have a girlfriend, then well, maybe you would sometimes... you know... do what you were doing this afternoon. And, well, I'd caught you looking at me a few times, you know, at these..."

She jiggled her tits. Now it was my turn to feel the heat of embarrassment. I remained silent. No way was I ready to admit harbouring those thoughts about her before today.

She continued, "So I started to let myself think that when you were... you know, maybe you might... think of me too."

I felt my cheeks flushing.

"I guess after today, now I know!" she laughed.

1. Transformation Complete
   
   

Jadie rolled onto her front on the bed beside me, propping herself up with both arms and looking across at me.

"The thing is..." she said and stopped, looking away out of the window. Again, her face showed a slight hint of a frown; of concentration as she considered what to say. It made her almost unbearably adorable. I wanted to kiss her again, but didn't want to stop her from saying whatever it was she was thinking about so hard. She looked up at me, serious again.

"Earlier on was just, like... the best thing ever, watching you for real. Everything I'd ever thought about you in my head was like a million billion times more amazing when I was looking at you, right in front of my eyes. And... you really were different from all those boys. It was so cute that you were embarrassed when I caught you. And then you just let me do... exactly what I wanted to do. You let me watch."

Another, longer, pause. The uncertain look was back, briefly. She looked down shyly.

"But I want to do more than watch, now."

Looking up, her green eyes suddenly intense, she seemed to resolve her inner conflict. I sensed a surrender; giving in to something that maybe she'd really wanted to say but hadn't had the courage to do so. Now though, I sensed the confidence was back a little.

"I want to touch you, Mr Baines. And I really, really want you to touch me."

That was something which I suspected I wanted easily as much as she did. But I couldn't bring myself to say it. Watching each other, well, that was one thing. But if this was going to go further, as desperate as I was for that to happen, I'd have to let her make the move. I must. From everything she'd just told me about her previous experiences, I knew she wanted to feel in control.

She pushed herself up on the bed next to me and sat cross-legged. Her amazing chest bobbed in its continued defiance of gravity. She reached out one hand towards my cock, then stopped, looking at me.

"Can I hold it, Mr Baines?" she asked.

God, yes, I thought then laughed at the idea that she felt she needed my permission to do something I desperately wanted her to do.

"Jadie, ah, consider it yours. You can do whatever you want with it. No need to ask permission," I said. "But, seriously, only if you want to..." I added, still needing that reassurance that she was, well, leading wherever this crazy afternoon was going.

"Oh, I do want to," she said and reached forward, giving me another fabulous view of those breasts. She carefully took the end of my cock lightly between just one finger and thumb and slid them down over my length before letting go, giggling.

"It feels so hot, and so hard," she said. "It's the best looking and definitely the nicest one I've ever touched..."

I wondered again what constituted a 'good looking' penis in this girl's mind. Size evidently didn't come into it.

"It's not that big, but it's always hard," I said, grinning weakly.

"Oh, it's big enough Mr Baines. I don't like really big ones. They're a bit... scary," she said.

I laughed again. "Jadie, you're an angel. You know all the right things to say!"

She took hold of me again with her left hand, gripping harder this time and moving her fingers up and down. I noticed her nails were bitten down, and again chastised myself for finding this inexplicably arousing.

"God that feels nice," she said.

"I was about to say the very same thing," I said, my words choking slightly as the pleasure of her actions impacted on my voice.

The look of concentration on her face as she stroked my erection was almost comical. I tugged on her right arm gently.

"Come here," I said, pulling her down towards me so I could finally kiss her properly. I held her face and kissed her hungrily, tasting mint. She'd been at my mouthwash in the bathroom. The feel of her breasts pressed against my side was intense; they were hot and her breathing was already heavy.

I thought briefly, again, that this girl didn't mess about. She was really working my cock with her hand now, still laying on her side next to me. I slid my own hand down her side as we continued to kiss. She shivered slightly at my touch, pressing one breast hard against me, letting me feel the hard bud of her nipple against my chest.

I moved my right hand lower down her side, then caressed her tummy before brushing lightly over that delightful patch of hair between her legs. She drew one leg up, parting herself for me. I could feel the heat radiating from her pussy and I ran one finger delicately over the puffy, hot skin around it before slipping it gently into the fold of her groove. It was so incredibly hot and deliciously wet.

She gripped my cock harder and pushed herself against my finger, grinding against me whilst our tongues wrestled. I moved the wet finger higher, finding the nub of her little clit and circling it.

She pulled away from the kiss, breathing heavily. Opening her eyes, she looked right at me with an intensity that nearly took my breath away.

"Will you... make me come, Mr Baines?" she said, huskily. "Please make me come."

I very nearly came again myself at that, especially with her little hand working up and down. But that would never do.

I laughed. "Challenge accepted," I said.

I reached down and gently pulled her hand away from my cock. She looked confused at my apparent rejection.

"Time for that later. Right now, I need to give you..." I said, lifting her hand and placing it lightly back on her side.

"My full..."

I gently pushed her shoulder, so she rolled onto her back. The sight of those magnificent breasts momentarily captivated me again; even flat on her back they barely subsided, remaining firmly in denial of gravitational forces. I blinked, regaining my composure.

"And undivided..."

I climbed over and straddled her middle. She giggled as my balls tickled her tummy.

"Attention!"

"What are you doing?" she laughed, wriggling underneath me. "I was really enjoying... what I was doing."

"Wait and see," I said, looking down.

Reaching behind me and feeling my way up her thigh, I slipped one finger back between her legs, this time just giving a brief tickle. Then I slid gently backwards, climbing over her so I ended up kneeling between her parted legs.

Still with one finger toying with her pussy, I leaned right forward and licked around each of her beautiful areola slowly in turn, before taking her left nipple fully into my mouth and sucking hard.

She gasped. "Oh, that's nice!"

I withdrew my finger from between her legs, let go of her breast from my mouth and kneeled up straight.

"I need you to help out here, Jadie," I said sternly, grabbing both her hands with my own and reaching forward so I could place them on each of her breasts.

"You're going to look after the top deck," I said, nodding towards those fabulous tits.

She laughed, "Er, okay then, I guess..."

"And I'm going to work down below..."

I shuffled backwards further down the bed, to get a better angle for what I was about to do.

I leaned forward and kissed her beautiful tummy, tugging on the piercing briefly with my teeth, before moving again so I could kiss all way down to her hairy triangle. I had a momentary thought of panic, realising that she might not want a dirty old man to put his face between her legs. Was I taking too much control? I looked up again.

"Er, Jadie, are you... OK with this?" I said awkwardly.

"Oh God, yes," she said, "But, thanks for asking. That's really cute."

Happy now, I leaned in towards that gorgeous groove, taking in the beautiful sweet scent rising from her. Delicately holding her apart with each hand, I slipped my tongue into the groove and licked gently upwards along her small, neat labia.

She tasted divine; a fabulous sweet'n'sour tang; faintly metallic; salty but sweet as well. I pushed harder with my tongue, exploring the folds around her clit and probing it hard. Her short, delicate hairs tickled my nose a little.

She moaned softly and pushed herself down against me. I enveloped her hard little nub in my mouth, licking around it and sucking with my lips before slipping back down and pushing my tongue in as far as I could into what was the tightest, sweetest little hole I'd ever gone down on. Moving my tongue back up to her clit again, I gently pushed first one finger and then two into that perfect little tunnel, feeling her muscles contract and relax to let me in.

I began to work a rhythm, focusing my tongue all round her sensitive clit whilst working my fingers in and out of that delicious pussy. It felt incredible; hotter and wetter than I'd ever known. I looked up and saw that she was giving her tits a proper work out, with one hand tugging hard on each nipple and rolling them round between finger and thumb.

We carried on working together, starting to lose ourselves in the motion. She was so hot and so wet, grinding herself against my face and forcing my fingers in deeper. I licked at her hard with my tongue, savouring every moment, my eyes drinking in the finest details of her anatomy; the soft down on her inner thighs which appeared to be naturally free from pubic spread; the tiniest hint of stubble where she'd shaved the top of her bikini line; the incredible neatness of her clitoral hood and labia...

After a while we started to escalate the movement. She was moaning softly to herself, making quietly beautiful girl-noises that were infinitely more erotic than anything I'd heard before, both in porn and in real life. My cock strained hard, desperate for attention, but I resisted and instead started to push my fingers harder into her; stretching against her tightness whilst my tongue ravished her burning little clit. She cried out in surprise as I managed to get my fingers knuckle-deep inside her, whilst still fiercely tonguing her on the outside.

"Oh fuck," Jadie whispered. "That feels so fucking good!"

I decided that hearing her swear was, actually, fucking hot. I kept the rhythm going harder, faster, savouring the taste, the smell and feeling the pressure building inside her body. She was so hot now it felt like my mouth was on fire; my fingers burned as they thrust in and out of her saturated hole.

I felt her shudder briefly and knew she was nearly there.

"Yes, yes! FUCK YES!" she cried, finally raising her voice.

I can't even begin to explain how horny it made me, hearing this well-mannered, polite young girl letting herself go so completely. I pushed harder with my fingers, feeling the muscles around me lock up tight and then relax as she gasped again, starting to come hard. I pulled out my fingers, and reduced the pressure of my tongue, gently teasing her clit as she spasmed underneath me, her orgasm now in full flow.

Suddenly she bucked hard underneath me, causing me to slip back lower between her legs. She gripped my head fiercely between her thighs, covering my ears so I could barely hear a muffled shout;

"Fuuuuuuuck!"

And then, legs parting again, she climaxed uncontrollably and explosively, her entire body shuddering and shaking like it had been hit with a Taser. I was awestruck. Years before, I'd only ever managed to get my wife to come that hard on a handful of occasions, more by luck than skill, yet here it seemed I'd managed to hit the jackpot first time.

She stopped twitching, still breathing hard, and ran her hands slowly up and down over her body.

"Annnngghhhhh, fuck!" she groaned, still apparently reeling from the power of her climax, "That was... so fucking intense!" she murmured, almost to herself.

I looked up at her from between her legs, and she stared back, suddenly horrified at my appearance. I was glistening; covered in her juices which had smeared all over my face as she'd clasped my head between her legs.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry Mr Baines," she said.

I grinned up at her. Apologising afterwards seemed to be the done thing for Jadie, which amused me no end.

"I'll take it as a sign of approval," I said.

"But... eww, I mean, your face..." she said, "It's all... wet from... me."

As it evidently looked a lot worse than it felt, I reached down and wiped my face on the duvet, then looked back up. "Better?"

She nodded, still breathing hard, breasts rising and falling. She really had given it everything.

With all the excitement I'd almost forgotten I was still raging hard. I kneeled up straight, still between her legs. My cock was ramrod hard, pointing right up in the air.

Jadie looked down her body at me and sighed, pointing to my erection.

"I really want that inside me."

I really wanted it to be inside her, too, but I hesitated, acutely conscious that her stories earlier had made it pretty clear that she hadn't ever really done it, as she put it so delightfully.

"Er, Jadie, are you sure?"

"Yes. I want that more than anything in the world right now"

She pushed herself a bit more upright on my pillow. Yet again, a flicker of uncertainty passed over her face. "Do you... not want to?" she said, looking worried.

"I want to more than I've ever wanted before. It's just..."

I struggled to find the words. "Would I be..."

"The first?" she finished for me, realising what I was hesitating for.

"Er..." I mumbled, embarrassed.

"Oh, Mr Baines, you're so sweet. It's so sexy that you actually care. And yes, you would be. And I can tell you there's nobody else on earth right now who I'd want it to be more than you."

As if to emphasise the point, she lay back - legs splayed with abandon - and parted herself with her fingers, offering herself to me unconditionally.

Reluctantly, I said, aware that I was about to kill the moment again; "Ah, there is another, slight problem. I'm not in the habit of bringing beautiful young girls back to my bed, so... well, I don't have any... you know... protection," I said, now properly embarrassed.

She laughed. "You are exquisite, Mr Baines."

I looked at her askance, her choice of word somewhat out of place.

"What?" she said. "It means 'delightful'. We learned it in English when I was doing GCSE years ago."
I laughed, then stopped short as I was suddenly reminded that she was still at school now, albeit in the sixth form. Which, of course, reminded me that I was a monumental pervert. Then I remembered that I didn't care, and continued anyway.

Pulling me down towards her and leaning closer, she whispered, conspiratorially.

"It's OK. I'm on the pill. I haven't been near a boy for a good while and anyway we never did anything like that. And you haven't been with a woman for..."

"Er, ten years," I said.

She grinned at my discomfort. "Exactly," she whispered. "So we're all good to go."

Then, taking me completely by surprise, she rasped at me...

"So will you fucking get on with it, and fuck me with that thing. Like, right... Now!"

I must have looked so shocked; she dissolved into laughter. I found myself cracking up as well. This girl was something else. And yes, that dirty mouth just made her hotter.

"Isn't that what I'm supposed to say?" she laughed.

"I guess the, ah, direct approach is, yes well, quite attractive as it happens" I said, chuckling. God only knows what pornos she'd been watching.

I eased myself down and, holding my cock in my hand I gently rubbed the swollen head lightly up and down her groove. The feeling was intense; she was still so wet and so hot. I could hardly believe that after the last session she was ready to go again. Come to think of it, it was even more remarkable that I was up for a third round.

"Stop teasing, Mr Baines. Put it in me," she commanded.

"Ah, I am very much liking this new assertive style, Jadie Faversham," I said, using her full name.

She giggled again. "Shut up and fuck me then."

I looked down at the irresistible allure of that perfect pussy and finally pushed harder with my cock at the entrance to her little hole. I felt myself slip inside, just an inch or so. Her eyes widened briefly; I wasn't exactly massive but perhaps I was a little bigger than her purple toy. I held myself there, desperate to savour the moment despite her instruction not to tease.

The feeling was - to use her new favourite word - exquisite. She was so tight, so wet; a magical, intense blend of squeeze and slide. And good God alive, she was hot. Burning hot. Our eyes locked on each other and she pushed against me, denying me any further delay and squeezing my cock further up that hot tunnel.

I gave in and reciprocated, feeling my whole length enter her fully. Her eyebrows raised again, an expression of real surprise on her face now.

"Oh, it feels so hot!"

I could have said the same thing. After years of self-imposed exile in the world of self-abuse and porn, I had little problem remembering what sex looked like. But clearly I really had forgotten what it felt like. The heat of her pussy wrapped around my cock was insanely delicious. I pushed into her again, slowly feeling her grip me and then release.

"Oh God, that feels niiiiice," she said, almost purring and looking at me with an intensity that meant I almost wanted to look away. Almost.

Still not breaking eye contact, I lowered myself down to feel those gorgeous tits pressing against my chest. I felt her hard, hot nipples beneath me; the fabulous swell of her breasts resisting my chest more that I would have thought humanly possible. Firm? Hell, yes. Like no other girl I'd ever been with. Our mouths met, and again there was that electric jolt as her tongue darted into my mouth, seeking out my own and playing with it fiercely.

We moved slowly against each other, tenderly, enjoying the ecstasy of what was for her a brand new feeling and, for me, one which I had long-forgotten. Even then I found that I could not remember one girl I had been with - not even my tragic, lost wife - who had felt this... sexual.

I felt a pang of guilt at that thought, followed quickly by the unbidden memory of my first, fumbling sex with Katie. Even with our love for each other - hell, perhaps even because of our love for each other - it had never felt this... natural. Or this intense. It had, of course, had consequences which stretched way beyond those amateurish couplings; Kiera being the product of one of them. I hoped I wasn't going to see a repeat of that, now, eighteen years later.

Jadie increased the pace. I remembered watching her earlier; the speed and intensity of her fingerwork. She was a 'fast' girl, for sure. I began to give her what she wanted; grinding and thrusting, ever more recklessly, breathless in our enjoyment of each other; hands stroking, fingers gently probing all over as we kissed, hard; tongues entwined. She lifted her legs up and wrapped them around my back, tugging me in harder, not speaking now but never looking away, those big green eyes not leaving mine even for a second.

I can't say how long we spent locked in that embrace; speeding up, slowing down; gentle sometimes but never for long, followed by hard, followed by gentle. I found myself lost in her beautiful eyes, right there, locked on me throughout, drinking me in as I, in turn, took in every last detail of her.

At some point, almost psychically, we sensed a desire for a change in position. We disengaged and I rolled over onto my back whilst she crouched over me and lowered herself onto my cock again. Throwing her head back, now she rode me hard, squirming in pleasure as she ground herself down on me, eyes closed this time; perhaps remembering Briony riding her brother.

Again, minutes passed; how long I couldn't say. I was, as ever, transfixed at her unimaginably perfect chest; tits now thumping up and down as she straddled me, making little breathless noises to herself. I raised my hands and held them to her bouncing breasts; squeezing and caressing the firm flesh, running my thumbs around her nipples. Her eyes flicked open again and found mine

I felt her squeeze tighter, then she let out another sigh and eased to a halt.

"Your turn to ride," she said playfully, clambering off me and dropping forwards onto all fours, sticking that amazing arse in the air.

I was briefly aware that the rain outside had stopped and the sun was making a brief late-afternoon appearance. The golden light now streaming in from the window coloured her bare skin a gorgeous light tan. Backlit, I could see the tiny, otherwise-invisible little hairs highlighted along the curve of her back and the edges of those magical thighs.

There were imperfections revealed by the unforgiving light; tiny crinkles hitherto unseen on the backs of her thighs, two small spots in the middle of her right buttock; but they just made her all the more desirable; she was still perfect, because, perversely the imperfections made her more real and thus even more desirable.

I was up on my knees in an instant, unable to resist squeezing that fine bottom in my hands before directing my cock back into that beautiful hairy gap between her legs.

She dropped her head down, resting it on her arms and as soon as she felt me enter her again, thrust backwards onto me, looking over her shoulder and grinning before returning to the classic face-down, arse-up position. Again, I wondered at the extent of her porn consumption; at how much all this was an act for her, put on to please me. Whatever, if it was an act then she was fucking good at it.

"Hard as you like, Mr Baines," she said.

I reached down, lightly running a finger over the soft, light downy hair in the small of her back and being rewarded by a shudder. I gently pulled her buttocks apart, revealing a tiny, tight, clean little anus. Her hairiness seemed to naturally fade out below her pussy, leaving her rear hole naked and pink. I pushed my thumb delicately against it, not to insert but just to feel the heat. Jadie gasped again and pushed back against me. I felt her motion quicken.

"Oh, fuck, yeah," she whispered.

I moved my hand underneath her as I plunged into her, holding her tummy and then moving down, tugging playfully at the delightful short hair before finding her clit with my finger. I rubbed it gently in time with her movements and she moaned and thrust even harder.

I knew I wasn't going to last much longer and I pushed harder myself, my balls swinging and slapping against her, summoning up their last reserves ready for my final performance. I let out a growl, feeling once again the tingle start to spread; amplified by the heat from her delicious pussy gripping my cock.

Looking over her shoulder, Jadie looked fierce, animalistic, almost snarling at me;

"Are you ready to make that fucking thing go off again?"

I loved the way she placed such emphasis on the swear word every time she said it; like she was savouring the sound.

"Well fuck yes, I do believe I am," I gasped, caught up in the moment and joining in with the profanity, which made me sound oddly like Nicolas Cage.

"Well, fucking come on then," she growled back.

Thinking she wanted me to finish inside her, I grabbed hold of her and thrust harder, ready to shoot whatever my balls had left right up inside her.

But, unbelievably, Jadie had other ideas; she suddenly pushed away, detached herself from me and flipped herself over urgently, nearly catching me in the face with a leg as she turned right over onto her back. Confused, I thought she wanted me on top again and took hold of my cock ready to plunge back in.

But she already had her hands down there, starting to work away at herself.

"Oh Mr Baines, please make it go off all over me!" she begged, switching to a little-girl voice that was simultaneously so innocent and so dirty that I nearly came right there and then.

I think I looked incredulous. I know I looked incredulous. She wanted me to come... on her?

My incredulity didn't stop me from almost unconsciously starting to work my cock with my right hand though, still on my knees in between her legs.

Squeezing her arms together, pushing her breasts up towards me, she looked right at me and then brought her legs together as I knelt in between them, pushing hard against my thighs. She knocked her legs against me again and I figured out that she wanted me to move. I lifted each knee in turn and she pushed her legs closed underneath me, leaving her hands squashed together in her crotch, still working away unseen now, just like she had before when she was sitting up in my chair.

I was now straddling her thighs, looking down at a magnificent body caught in the throes of self-pleasure once again. Breathing heavily, making those little girly noises of pleasure; it was just irresistible. My hand tightened around my cock and my pace became frantic. She wanted me to come over her, like some dirty little porn starlet. And, somehow despite already having emptied my balls twice this afternoon, I was going to oblige.

As I looked down at her, I wondered if she'd told me the truth about her lack of experience. I couldn't believe that a girl who had never done this for real before could be so... natural. I realised that maybe she'd actually studied all those videos she watched on the internet; watching the moves, the 'dialogue'.

She certainly knew way more than the girls I'd fucked before Katie, with our messy, awkward rhythms and - on more than one occasion - complete failure to reach climax. Again, I wondered: Was Jadie acting out a role here, or was this just some natural, animal instinct coming into play?

Either way, the transformation from the curious-but-self-conscious teenager she'd been merely an hour before was astonishing. Even as we'd masturbated together the first time, she'd not been so... wilfully sexual; so abandoned.

But after she'd come in my face, it seemed as if the beast within had really been unleashed and taken control. I wondered where the real Jadie had gone. Where was that nice, respectable, well-brought-up girl who was going to be sitting her A-Levels in a month's time? That... virgin schoolgirl? Was she still there, underneath this phenomenally filthy, confidently slutty exterior? Was it really her who had just requested that I shoot my load all over her? I had no idea and, this close to the edge, I found I didn't care. I was going to hell anyway.

She looked up just as my aching balls started to twitch. God, she had that eye-contact thing down to a fine art; those big green eyes looking up at me.

"I want you to come on my tits. Please, Mr Baines."

Jesus fucking Christ. That was all it took to bring me over the edge. The husky tone of pure unadulterated filth in her voice combined with the blithely innocent use of the honorific... I barely had time to shift forward and kneel up astride her middle, her arms wrapping round me either side so she could still pleasure herself, before my cock began to spurt - little drops of near-transparent liquid this time, spattering down over those heaving breasts right in front of me.

"Yes! That's it. All over my fucking tits!" she gasped, back in full porno-slut mode

I sensed her hands moving fast behind me as she writhed underneath. I grabbed her tits, squeezing them together and leaning down to push my cock between them as I continued to come. From somewhere, my balls managed to work up one... two... three little shots of thicker fluid which shot into that epic cleavage and up her neck, as I felt her buck and shudder underneath me, her own orgasm now beginning. I pulled hard on both her nipples, as I jerked for the final time.

"Ohhhhh, fuck!" she cried with utter abandon, nearly throwing me off her with the violence of her climax. Her legs open again behind me, I could hear the wet slapping sound of her still-frantic fingers, her forearms banging against my sides as she reached round to play.

"God, yes, it's all over me and it..."

Another shudder and gasp, as she brought one hand up from underneath and started to rub my come over her chest.

"Feels..."

I heard the fingers stop between her legs, her entire body spasming again. Now the other hand came up, helping to smear the gelatinous white liquid all over her breasts.

"So..."

She heaved upwards, eyes rolled back, almost in seizure.

"FUCKING..." she shouted, now looking right at me again, one breast cupped in each hand, still squirming beneath me.

"...gooooooooood," she exhaled, giving her tits another once-over before lying back, panting like she'd just run a marathon.

I sat back from my kneeling position, astride her hips. I looked down and couldn't suppress a grin. All my worries; all my guilt and anguish, the sense of wrongness melted away. At that moment I honestly didn't care if Kiera walked in, right now. It would have been worth it. That was everything I'd ever imagined sex could be; passionate, loving, tender; wild, intense and dirty. And, yes, funny too.

I reached up to wipe the sweat out of my eyes.

"Oh God, it's so hot when it comes out!" she said, looking up at me, clearly surprised by this fact. I wondered what her experiments with boys had actually involved, if she'd never got that far before. The schoolgirl was back. The beast, for now, was back in its cage.

"I loved the feel of it splashing on me. I never... I never let anyone do that before. I never... wanted to let anyone do that before..."

I laughed; there was my answer. God this girl was something else, I thought, once again. I collapsed onto her, holding her tightly and nuzzling her neck. I felt my own come now smearing all over my chest as well but I didn't care, I just wanted to hold her in all her conflicted dirty-yet-innocent majesty.

She wrapped her arms tightly around me and we lay like that, slowly recovering our breath, for minutes.

Eventually, she whispered into my ear, "Thank you. That was amazing."

I lifted my head up from her neck, kissed her forehead lightly and looked into her eyes. I had no response.

"Was I... alright, then?" she said uncertainly

I looked at her, incredulous yet again.

"Oh seriously, Jadie... do you really have to ask?" I laughed.

She looked up at me with those big green eyes again. Was this the real Jadie, back again? Or was she just acting innocent? I didn't see a hint of deceit in those eyes but then, as I said before I never was much good at reading people. Whatever. I didn't care, anyway. She was just delightful.

"Yes, it was amazing. You were amazing." I said, truthfully.

I gave her a peck on her lovely little button nose.

"And thank you, too." I said, before kissing her on the mouth, softly.

She reached her arms behind me and pulled me to her again, pressing her lips against mine and opening her mouth. Our tongues met and we held the kiss gently, exploring each other's mouths.

I realised for the first time just how... natural it felt kissing her. There was none of the awkwardness; the 'getting used to' phase which I remembered from my youth. And she never closed her eyes - not once - so that we looked almost straight into each other.

Unbidden, I felt the stirrings of something much more than the sexual energy which had powered the afternoon so far; an affection for this girl which, perhaps, ran much deeper than I dared to admit.

I pushed those feelings back down, hard. That really wasn't somewhere I wanted to go.

1. No Accident
   
   

Before Jadie could sense my discomfort I broke off the kiss, pushed up and rolled off the bed to stand upright. As soon as I left the intense warmth of her body, I could feel the clammy stickiness of my emissions which were now smeared over my chest as well.

"Uh, I guess we'd best get cleaned up a bit," I said, running a finger down myself with some distaste.

She giggled.

"I suppose so. It's going all cold and sticky now." As if to prove the point, she rubbed my come around her tummy with one hand and her tits with the other, smearing it across herself. I don't think she had the first idea how disgustingly sexy that looked. I felt my cock start to twitch again.

"Can you help me up, it's all over my hands now," she said, holding her sticky palms towards me.

I laughed and pulled her up by her wrists so she could get up off the bed. She stood up, looking down at herself. My come was still glistening over her chest. Before I could really take in the view any further, she grabbed hold of my arm and tugged at me, then dragged me into my shower room.

"You're coming with me, this time."

I fired up the shower and we started sponging each other clean under the hot water. Jadie giggled - she was ticklish round her middle. And she soon discovered that I was equally so, which meant we played like a couple of children, grabbing each other and attempting to elicit a laugh whilst washing each other. Before long I was fully erect yet again, much to Jadie's amusement. I doubted my cock could deliver on its intent, and was relieved when she said,

"I'm sorry Mr Baines but I don't think I could... manage another go."

I laughed and agreed. "Doesn't mean I'm not still pleased to see you though."

She giggled again and took a step back in the cubicle, to stand looking up at me as the water cascaded around us.

"There's something else I should tell you, I guess," she said, shyly.

I looked across at her. I thought nothing could possibly surprise me, but she managed to pull another rabbit out of the hat on that score:

"Today wasn't the first time I've... well, you know, come when watching you..."

My mind immediately thought she'd somehow sneaked into the house before or something. Or maybe put a camera in my room. Or hacked my computer. She was such a clever girl, nothing would be beyond her. For the hundredth time that afternoon, my face registered shock. Thankfully, what she said next gave me some respite:
"Do you remember the last time we all went to the beach together?"

I did. It had been a few weeks ago, on an unusually warm early-spring day. To take advantage of the unseasonal sunshine, Keith, Sarah and I had taken the girls down to the coast. It was a rare occasion for Keith to be home and Sarah not to be working. Usually when that was the case they'd spent time with Jadie and Josh - at least, before he'd gone up to Cambridge - on their own. But over the years we'd sometimes managed to all get together and take the kids somewhere; they'd always enjoyed this as children and it had kind of remained a tradition as they got older. This had been one of those times.

I remembered Jadie being happy and chatty on the way there but then she'd seemed uncharacteristically down once we were on the beach. She'd spent the entire day just sat in a chair alternating between reading a book and prodding at her phone, never even venturing into the sea.

"I do, yeah. You didn't seem to enjoy yourself a lot that day."

"Well, it was a bit of a hard day for me."

"Hard? I thought you enjoyed our trips to the beach."

"I did. But, well, this was after I'd kind of started thinking about you a lot and... seeing you with your top off made me... hot but I couldn't exactly do anything with Kiera and Mum and Dad there."

I swallowed, uncomfortably. I really wasn't used to the idea that she had fancied me for all this time. I reached over and grabbed my body wash. She carried on.

"I didn't want you to see me in a swimsuit in case you thought I was fat."

She saw my face as I was about to point out how ridiculous this was, and cut me off;

"I know, I know," she said. "But next to your gorgeous skinny daughter in her bikini I was going to look, like, short and chunky, whatever. So I just had to sit there and try to read my book. And I felt bad because you were clearly enjoying just being with her and messing about on the beach which, I don't know, just made it more obvious that you were, well, Kiera's Dad. Not someone I should be having those sort of thoughts about. But I couldn't help it, with you walking round in just your shorts looking sexy and hot without realising it as usual."

She rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, in the afternoon Mum and Dad had gone up into the town and you and Kiera were playing volleyball with that stupid net thing you brought that kept falling down. The sight of you leaping around half-naked was... Seriously nice."

She ran her hands over my chest before continuing, "There were a couple of single mums, sat with their kids across from us, who'd had their eye on you all day but you were oblivious as always. I could see they were enjoying the show, too. And it was kinda nice to see you having such a good time with Kiera. I knew you'd both been through a lot all those years ago and seeing you together, so happy now... that was really good. But still... I was just fixated on you really."

"So I was sat there, behind the windbreak. And I started thinking maybe I could... you know... So I grabbed a towel to put over me, propped my book up on top and used my fingers in my shorts, underneath the towel."

She giggled. "I think I came twice in less than five minutes. It was just so... exciting. And you," she was laughing fully now, "...had no idea at all."

She wasn't wrong there. I laughed too. "Seriously, Jadie, every time I think this afternoon can't throw up any more surprises, you somehow manage it!"

I turned the water off and ducked out of the cubicle, to grab a towel. Jadie followed and we gently dried each other, not saying anything for a while until we ended up stood facing each other, still naked, towels by our sides.

"Er, I think it might be an idea to put some clothes back on again, now," I said, whilst looking at her in a way that probably communicated the fact that I was very much enjoying looking at her.

"Aww, do we have to?" she replied, looking me up and down lasciviously herself.

"Well, your mum will be back soon and I don't think she'd be too impressed if you went home naked."

"Oh... I don't know..." she teased. "It'd be funny to see the look on her face."

"Hmmmm," I said, mock-disapprovingly. I wagged my finger at her, "Jadie Faversham, you are a very bad girl."

She giggled. "I think you know that now, Mr Baines."

I laughed. "Ah, fair point, well made..." I conceded. "Now, go and get dressed before I think of all the different ways..."

I gently flicked her thigh with my towel and she squealed.

"...I could find..." I flicked her again on the other side and she squealed again, giggling and turning away and going for the door.

"...to punish you!" I gave one final flick to her beautiful bottom as she dropped her towel and opened the door to escape.

"Okay, okay," she laughed as she went back into the bedroom. "Clothes it is, then."

Jadie collected her shirt from where she'd dropped it in my room, rounded up her pink underwear and went off back into Kiera's room for her trousers. I got dressed as well and sat, once again, on my bed. I still couldn't begin to take in what had happened... what was still happening. I found myself not even trying to comprehend the enormity of what I'd done. And yet, for her, it was almost like it was no big deal.

I listened to her thumping around in Kiera's room again, remembering how the afternoon had started. It seemed like an age ago. I tried to think about what could happen now, so many lines had been crossed. So much of my life - of everyone's lives - could come crashing down. Yet somehow it just seemed... worth it. I tried to push that thought out of my head, and couldn't.

Eventually I heard my phone go off downstairs and went down to the hall to answer.

It was Sarah, calling to say she was home now. I told her Jadie was just finishing some homework and would be back round in a little while.

I turned round to call up to Jadie, only to find she'd come downstairs behind me and was stood tapping away at her own phone. Jesus, this girl knew how to creep about! Back in her full 'smart attire' for school, hair tied back in a simple ponytail, she looked once more like the girl next door I'd always known. Albeit a very pretty girl next door. That familiar guilt washed over me. However much I'd enjoyed it; hell, however much she'd enjoyed it... I couldn't deny that I'd taken advantage of her.

"That was your mum," I said, feeling awkward. "She's back now."

Not looking up, she said, "Uh huh," and tapped again at the screen.

Still looking at her phone, she continued talking to me. "Kiera was texting me, like, all afternoon. She was worried when I didn't reply first time. I've told her about the keys and said I finished that assignment round here with you. Oh, and I had my phone off because you made me so I could concentrate! Just in case... you know... she asks or anything. I mean... I know it doesn't feel right lying to her but... I guess we can't tell her just yet..."

Tell her? Just yet? What the hell did that mean? I looked at her, not really knowing what to say again. She seemed to be so much more in control than I was.

She finally looked up at me, then without warning, came over and threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly. She'd obviously caught a hint of the regret in my face, as she said, happily,

"Hey Mr Baines. Don't look so sad! This has been the best afternoon of my life."

"Yeah. Me too," I agreed. "Except I can't believe anything that's happened today is real. I am going to wake up on that sofa any minute now. It's crazy."

I paused, looking down at her perfect young face, struggling to reconcile what I saw with the foul-mouthed, dirty little minx, demanding my come on her tits, in my bed half an hour before.

"It's a funny old world," I said, sighing softly. "You know, how fate seems to make stuff happen."

Acutely conscious of how fate had smashed into my life ten years previously, I was ready to recognise that it had, once again, turned my life upside-down.

"Just because you lost your keys... Just because it was raining... You ended up here and this all happened. And, well, however much I enjoyed it - which was, er, rather a lot, as it happened - it was wrong for me to... well, take advantage of your bad luck with the keys and the weather."

I sensed her shift in my arms. "Well, uh..." she said, breaking away from me. "Honestly?" she said, as a question, looking up. She bit her lip nervously.

I looked at her, baffled.

"The whole key thing. That wasn't exactly true," she said. She reached for her bag and after a couple of moments rummaging inside, she pulled out her keys and jingled them in front of my face, with a seriously guilty grin on her face.

"What... you..." I said, utterly confused once again for what seemed like the millionth time that afternoon.

"Yes," she said, not smiling now and appearing slightly nervous at my reaction. "Planned the whole thing."

I looked at her, speechless.

"Oh, Mr Baines, I'm sorry I lied. I didn't want to, really. But... well, it was the only way I could think of to get to be with you on your own." Now she looked really worried. A hand went up to her mouth again, then dropped. She was really trying to fight the urge to bite her nails.

I tried to smile reassuringly. It probably just looked crooked. I gave up and looked at her directly; she was now biting her lip once more in consternation as she tried to read my expression. Something shifted inside me. Again, she just looked so adorable with that little frown and those earnest, searching green eyes.

My heart swelled with emotion; the astonishment that this beautiful, clever, funny creature could possibly care so deeply about my reaction to her little ruse. It was so far beyond the realms of ridiculous fantasy that I simply burst out laughing.

She smiled cautiously as I continued chuckling to myself and shaking my head.

"What's funny, Mr Baines?" she queried.

"Oh, you know. Just the idea that someone as... young... as beautiful... as funny... as delightful... as completely and utterly adorable as you..."

I paused momentarily. I realised that in the heat of the moment I had started to forget that she was my daughter's best friend and begun to think of her as my... what? Girlfriend? Hardly. Teenage lover? That sounded more appropriately sordid. I was in danger of falling for her, hard. And that wasn't going to end well. I carried on anyway.

"Well, that someone like you could have actually planned to do... what happened today, with... Well, with someone like me," I finished.

She sighed, shaking her head. "Well, I did!" she said emphatically, before continuing.

"I guess it is kind of hard to explain. I mean, you know about me... fantasising about you. Well, it got to the point where the fantasy wasn't really enough. I've always enjoyed being around you. I love it when we have a laugh together and you always, you know, listen to me. But it was getting harder and harder to be around you because I had started to feel... I don't know, so much more for you."

"And, well, I'd caught you, ah, looking at me, you know, like I said before when you thought I wouldn't notice. And that made it really seem that you must like me if you... I don't know, if you noticed me but tried to hide it. It meant you cared about what I thought. You didn't just... leer at me like other men do. But I couldn't find a way to really know for sure."

She looked up at me, the gulf in our ages once again at the forefront of my mind. She was eighteen but was still a girl, still trying to work her way through the complexities of understanding the opposite sex. Not a woman, who'd have just... asked me out for a drink, or something.

Jadie continued, "Just before the Easter Holiday was when I basically decided that I was, somehow, going to find out if you felt... the same about me as I did about you. It just felt... I don't know. The right time, I guess. Maybe because I knew that I'd been, you know, legally an adult for a while now and you wouldn't get into trouble for saying you did like me. If you did, that is. And it was driving me crazy just fantasising all the time and I was getting a bit... obsessed really, and with all the exams coming up and everything I just... needed to know. One way or the other."

She took a breath, finally.

"I just didn't know how to do it. So the best I could think of was to try and get to be alone with you when Kiera wasn't around and just... I don't know, see what happened I guess. And then I realised we had this afternoon coming up when we wouldn't be at school and I knew you were going to be at home so I thought if I can find a way of coming to see you instead... And the only excuse I could think of was to tell the girls I had to finish coursework and... well, to tell you that I'd lost my keys."

I couldn't help myself at this point; I had to ask; "So what did you think was going to happen once you got me on my own?"

"That's the thing. I... really don't know. I mean I'd fantasised about all sorts of things. You know... maybe you helping me with an assignment and leaning over me and me just kissing you suddenly and you responding. Or us talking about stuff and me getting upset and you comforting me and then ending up kissing. Or me just coming right out with it and telling you and you admitting you felt the same and... yeah, ending up kissing again!" she laughed. "Insert cliché here, I know."

I laughed too. "So... only kissing then?"

"Well... it usually went a bit further than that." She looked up, as if sensing my need for reassurance. "A lot further sometimes." She paused again. "Still, I never imagined I'd... well, end up catching you... you know..."

The fact that after all we'd done together she still didn't like to actually say 'masturbating' was amusingly attractive.

"That was just... wow," she said, shaking her head. "Amazing. I couldn't believe my luck."

I felt my cheeks colour again. I still couldn't believe what had happened really.

"Did you not wonder why I'd come back upstairs though?" she asked.

Truth be told, I hadn't even given it a thought.

"Well, I may have planned the whole idea of trying to get together with you today but... I really hadn't thought it all through," she sighed. "I thought I was so clever with the keys thing, getting you to let me in the house. And getting soaked in the rain was a complete bonus because it gave a pretty good excuse for me to get undressed in front of you..."

I shook my head in wonder.

"I mean, I knew I'd never fit into Kiera's things..." she admitted.

I'd suspected as much. I'd thought at the time that it was a strange mistake for a teenage girl to make.

"But it was too good an opportunity to miss... After that, well, it was just so easy teasing you because you're so nice and I just felt... relaxed in front of you. I could see you looking at me and you seemed so confused which was, like, seriously cute. And then, in your bedroom, I really thought it was all coming together. I couldn't believe it; it really seemed like something was going to happen and I was so happy and excited and then... well, it just didn't."

"And then I had no idea what to say or do. I felt stupid for having put you in that position because you've always been so lovely to me and I suddenly thought I might lose all that just from... you know, misreading it all. So I decided to be strong and walk away downstairs."

"But as soon as I was in the kitchen, I wanted to cry. I was so frustrated. After having got so far... so nearly there... I still didn't know for sure what you felt. It wasn't like you'd... I don't know, rejected me or anything. And the more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that you had been looking at me like you were... well, you know, interested... but maybe you'd thought it was you who was misreading it."

I shook my head in wonder at that. She was, of course, completely right.

"So once that was in my head, I knew I couldn't just sit there for the rest of the afternoon with the possibility that you actually wanted what I wanted too. I had to know. So I decided to give it one last go. I convinced myself that even if I told you how I felt and you weren't interested that we could still... you know, carry on like it hadn't happened. I knew you wouldn't be an idiot about it. That was it. I was going to go upstairs, just blurt out the complete truth about how I felt about you and... well, basically throw myself at you and hope you responded."

"So I got to the top of the stairs, and your door was open a little, and I went to go in but there you were... eyes closed... doing your thing."

I cringed again at the thought of what it must have looked like.

"And, well, I guess we know what happened from then." She looked at me, almost dreamily. "My little plan ended up working even better than I'd intended. I had no idea we'd end up where we did."

Her look became more intense. "But I am soooo glad we did. It... it's actually kind of scary how it nearly never happened at all. Because it was amazing."

That word, again. I was still reeling from the notion that she'd taken me in, completely. I couldn't begin to process the fact that she'd genuinely, actively wanted things to happen like they did.

She reach up and stroked my cheek, just as I had done to her earlier. "Mr Baines, I really don't want you to think what happened today was wrong or your fault. I know it's a bit... I don't know, strange to think that after all these years we've... done what we just did."

Christ, she wasn't kidding there.

"And I know we can't exactly tell Kiera or... my mum and dad or, well, anyone really," she continued.

I breathed a silent sigh of relief at that. I'd had visions of her wanting to announce it to the world.

"And I'm sorry I tricked you with the keys. I didn't like lying and I'm glad I've told you now. But I did it because I wanted to. Which means if anything is anybody's fault then it's mine, not yours. And... well, it can only be somebody's fault when something is wrong. And how can it possibly be wrong when I loved every last minute of what we did?"

She paused momentarily, looking up at me. "And I think you liked..." She looked down, shyly, "...well, some of it at least..."

I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I suppose it was... okay, I guess," I teased.

"Well, good!" she said. Again, she looked up at me and then reached up suddenly, grabbing either side of my face as if to ensure that I had her full attention. Once more she was assertive and in control; and this time seemed deadly serious.

"Because I would really, really like to do it again. Soon."

Before I could react, she stood up on her toes so she could reach and kissed me hard on the lips, then swung her bag up onto her shoulder and slipped her feet into the shoes which she'd left when she first came in. And then, she just went to the front door; leaving me standing, speechless yet again. I think my mouth was open, like a retard, just as it had been when I first saw her standing there what seemed like a lifetime away.

Pulling the door open, she looked over her shoulder and said, with a grin, "Thanks for... having me, Mr Baines!"

And then, with a pretty little wave, she pulled the door shut behind her and was gone.