Knitting Under the Influence

“It's hard to believe,” Kevin said, “that you have sisters who are on the small side.”

“I know,” Kathleen said. “But my dad's like a foot and a half taller than my mom and I look like him and they look like her. Kind of like if a Great Dane mated with a Chihuahua.”

He laughed. “Sounds a little painful… Do you get along with your sisters? Does the Great Dane play nicely with the Chihuahuas?”

“Yeah, I guess so. They've actually always been pretty generous to me. They paid for me to go to college even though they didn't get to go.”

“Why not?”

“They were stars already. No point. And they had been tutored-badly-on sets for most of their lives, so I think college would have been a disaster for them, anyway.” She looked at him sideways. “How about you? Do you and your brothers get along? It's got to be complicated, working together every day like you guys do.”

He dismissed the question with a quick wave. “It's fine. We get along fine.”

The word around the office was that Kevin's relationship with his brothers wasn't fine, that the two of them had allied in a way that froze him out, left him an outsider in his own family's business. There were meetings he wasn't told about, client di

Not yet, she reminded herself. It was just a first date. There would be plenty of time for confidences in the lengthy future she was pla

The waiter came over with their wine. He showed Kevin the label. “It's fine,” Kevin said, without a glance. “Just pour it. I don't need to taste it this time.”

The waiter moved off. Kathleen took a sip of wine and looked up to find Kevin studying her. She was wearing the gold tank top she had recently finished knitting and her hair was loose and wavy.

He said, “So what sports did you play in college?”

“Soccer mostly. But I swam during the off-season.”

“For the school?”

“Just intramurally.”

“When was the last time you swam?”

“Not since I moved out of the twins’ house. Why?”

He leaned forward. “I was just thinking… I keep the pool heated at my place all year round. We could-” He stopped. “What was your fastest time?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your fastest freestyle time.”

“Oh.” Kathleen had to think about it. “I broke a minute in the 100. Once. I don't think I still could.”

“That's pretty fast,” he said. “And you look like you've stayed in better shape than I have.”

“Are you asking me to race?”

He just smiled at her and beckoned the waiter over. Without taking his eyes off of Kathleen, Kevin said, “Check, please.”

So they never finished the second bottle of wine, barely touched it in fact. Kathleen loved that he had ordered it but didn't care whether they actually drank it or not. The wastefulness of the gesture sang of wealth and power and indifference to the kinds of things other people spent their lives worrying about.

Kevin's house was smaller than the twins’, but more impressive. The lot was so big, you couldn't even see his neighbors’ houses once you had gone up the driveway. Inside, all the details were pricey, from the perfectly straight lines of the ceilings and walls-no moldings to cover mistakes and no mistakes to cover- to the vintage Eames furniture. It was clean and modern and architectural, manly and unfussy.

In the foyer, Kevin watched her as she looked around the place. “It's fantastic,” Kathleen said.

“You really like it?”

“It's fantastic,” she said again and meant it.

“Come see the backyard. That's my favorite part.” Once he had led her through the house and out back, she could see why. The yard stretched in all directions, at least as far as she could see in the dark. Tiny lights were hidden among the bushes and trees, sparkling here and there like lightning bugs. “Hear that?” Kevin said. There was a faint tinkling-whooshing sound when Kathleen stopped to listen. “There's a creek down below-it's part of the property.”

“Nice. We're not swimming there, though, right? You mentioned a heated pool.”

“This way.” He led her to a fenced-off part of the yard and opened up the iron gate. “My sister-in-law made me gate it,” he said. “It kind of ruins the way the backyard looks, but she has little kids and wouldn't come visit until I did.”

“Couldn't she just tie her kids to a tree when she comes over?”

“Somehow I don't think she'd go for that.”

“You're just too nice to suggest it.” Kathleen walked over to the edge of the water and knelt down. She put her hand in. “Warm.”

“Eighty-eight degrees. It feels even better when you get your whole body in.”

“Which reminds me.” She stood up, wiping her wet fingers on the side of her black silk pants. “I don't have a suit.”

“Hold on.” He walked down the length of the pool to a row of small cabanas at the far end. He opened the door to one and vanished inside, then reappeared with something dangling from his fingertips. “It's a bikini. Those are one size fits all, right?”

“Not exactly,” Kathleen said. She took the scraps of fabric from him and held them up to the moonlight. “But I think it'll work. Slightly better than being naked, but not much.” She dropped her hand. “Someone wasn't afraid of a little exposure. I don't think I want to ask whose it is.”

“My ex-girlfriend's,” he said. “Does that bother you?”

“Not nearly as much as it would her,” Kathleen said with a grin. “Come on. First race is to see who can get changed faster.”

They emerged from separate cabanas at around the same time. Kevin was wearing longish board shorts that came down to about his knees. His stomach was slightly soft above the waistband but otherwise he looked good. He wasn't too hairy or anything disgusting like that, and his legs and shoulders were strong. Kathleen definitely approved of what she saw, and, from the expression on his face as he checked her out, she was pretty sure he did, too. It was a pretty skimpy bikini, and she knew she filled it well.

“Okay,” Kevin said, gesturing to the pool. “We freestyle to the shallow end, push off, and breaststroke back. First person to touch the wall wins.”

“Got it,” she said. “Ready, set, go.” She dived in neatly and beat him back by a couple of seconds. She clung to the pool edge, catching her breath, as he emerged.

“No fair,” he said. “You dived before I was even ready.”

“Excuses, excuses. I’m just faster than you.” Her legs cycled gently in the warm water. The cool air tingled on her dripping hair and face. The moon was almost full, and she could see Kevin's face clearly.

“I get another chance,” he said.

“I’ll beat you again,” Kathleen said.

“No way,” he said. “No way a girl can beat me if I’m ready.”

“Those are fighting words.”

“I know.” He grabbed on to the wall. “That's the point. And I call ‘ready, set, go’ this time.”

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll still win.”

But she didn't. He won by a full body length. As she emerged, he was already at the edge, his free arm raised in victory, the moonlight shining on the drops of water along his shoulders. “Oh, yeah, baby! Now who's the better swimmer?”

“Best two out of three,” Kathleen said.

He won again. “God, victory is sweet,” he said. “You wouldn't know, of course.”

“Do you always gloat?” she asked.

He faced her. They both clung to the wall, their hands a few inches apart, their breath coming in gasps. “Only when I have to fight this hard to win.”

“Made you work hard, huh?”