Hook, Line and Single

Chapter 21

21

‘You decided to join me then?’ Cameron asks as I swim out towards him. Having guided me into the sea, Claudine has tactfully retreated and is sitting under her umbrella, chatting to Philippe. They look like an old, albeit naked, married couple, but I got the impression from the way they greeted each other that they were just friends. I wonder what the real story is there?

He’s floating on his back, which I rather wish he wouldn’t, as it’s hard to ignore little Cameron bobbing in the water. I resolve to stay firmly boobs down. No point in giving him more of a view than he needs.

‘Isn’t the water amazing?’ Cameron continues. ‘Have you ever skinny dipped before?’

‘No,’ I admit. ‘But then I’ve never been to a nudist beach before, either. What about you?’

‘I will confess to skinny dipping once with Ellie, but it was night-time and there wasn’t anyone else around. This is my first experience of a nudist beach though. Who was your friend?’

‘Claudine. She came to my rescue after her pal Philippe told me off for wearing clothes.’

‘Sorry. I thought you’d be OK where you were.’

‘It’s fine. I think I’d prefer it if you warned me in advance before pulling any more stunts like this, though.’

He smiles. ‘You’d have said no if I’d told you.’

‘Of course I would!’

‘OK. Serious question. Now that you’re here, do you honestly regret it?’

I consider his question for a moment before answering. Would I have willingly come to a nudist beach? Definitely not. Do I regret it though? I do feel weirdly elated, like I’ve confronted a taboo and overcome it. Sam will never believe I’ve done something like this either. Neither will Em or Jono, come to that. The more I think about it, the prouder I feel of myself.

‘Do you know what? I don’t,’ I tell him. ‘Although I am a little worried that something might swim up inside me. Does that happen, do you think?’

‘I reckon Frou-Frou is safe,’ he says with a smile, although it takes me a moment to work out what he’s talking about.

‘What about those fish that swim up your urine stream and latch on?’ I persist.

‘I think you only find them in the Amazon, not off the coast of Cannes. But, if you’re worried about it, probably best not to pee.’

I quite fancy rolling onto my back and floating, like Cameron is, but I’m very conscious that that will give him a full-frontal view of me, and I’m not comfortable with that.

‘Confession time,’ Cameron says, as if picking up on my train of thought. ‘I watched you walking into the sea, so there won’t be any surprises if you want to turn over and float.’

‘You know what you are? A dirty voyeur,’ I tell him as I pluck up the courage and roll. I do feel very exposed, but it’s a lot more comfortable.

‘OK, I’ll take that on one condition.’

‘Which is?’

‘You tell me, hand on heart, that you never so much as glanced at me.’

‘I was anxious. I needed to know where you were.’

He laughs. ‘Nice try.’

As we float together, my self-consciousness begins to ebb away and I focus on enjoying the water. It really is the perfect temperature, and crystal clear. After a while, Claudine gets up from her chair and wanders into the sea.

‘ ?a va? ’ she asks as she joins us.

‘ ?a va bien. Merci, Claudine ,’ I reply, stretching my schoolgirl French to its limits. ‘This is Cameron, my friend. Cameron, Claudine.’

‘ Enchanté .’ She nods at Cameron. ‘Are you staying long in Cannes?’

‘Just one night,’ Cameron tells her. ‘We’re actually on a cruise and missed the ship.’

‘Ah. Quelle domage. Tomorrow night we will be having a drinks party and barbecue on the beach. I was going to invite you. My friend Philippe is a butcher, and he cooks the meats perfectly.’

A mental image of Philippe barbequing sausages naked flits into my mind. It’s not a nice picture and I push it out again as fast as I can.

‘Forgive me,’ Cameron asks. ‘But isn’t barbequing without clothes a little… dangerous?’

Claudine laughs. ‘He wears an apron. What did you think? Anyway, we will miss you. Maybe you will come back one day?’

Cameron smiles. ‘Maybe.’

After around half an hour of floating and swimming, I’ve had enough so I start to summon the courage for the walk from the shore to Claudine’s umbrella and the safety of my clothes.

‘I’m going in,’ I tell Cameron.

‘Good idea. I think I’m starting to burn a bit, so I’ll come too.’

If walking into the sea with Claudine took courage, walking out of it with Cameron is in a different league. It’s not just that he’s a man, it’s that I can’t help surreptitiously checking him out, and it follows that he must be doing the same to me. I can feel myself blushing again. When we reach Claudine and Philippe, I quickly wrap myself in the beach towel, grateful for the covering. Cameron appears to have no such qualms and happily perches himself on a rock next to Philippe. Claudine reaches into her cool box and pulls out four bottles of beer, which she opens and passes round.

‘You need to take the towel off,’ she whispers with a smile as she hands me the bottle. ‘You will dry better in the breeze, and Philippe will tell you off again if you don’t. He’s very strict about the rules.’

I peel the towel off reluctantly, earning myself a nod of approval from Philippe. I’m relieved to note that his glance is purely cursory before he turns back to continue talking to Cameron. To begin with, I feel acutely self-conscious, but after a few minutes I can feel myself relaxing. Claudine proves to be excellent company, chatting away happily about everything and nothing. As the sun starts to dip in the sky and the heat goes out of the day, we help Claudine and Philippe pack up, before clambering back into our clothes and heading back through the tunnel to the main road. Claudine is wearing a brightly patterned kaftan, and I’m struggling to reconcile clothed Philippe, looking smart in his dark blue shirt and light trousers, with the naked man who loomed over me earlier.

‘Claudine?’ I ask. ‘I need to buy a change of clothes and some underwear, not too expensive. Where is a good place to go?’

‘You need the hypermarché ,’ she tells me firmly. ‘They have everything there. I will take you.’

‘You don’t need to do that. Just give us the address and we’ll get a taxi.’

She laughs. ‘How many taxis can you see around here? You will wait a long time, I think. It is no trouble. I will take you to get what you need and drop you afterwards at your hotel.’

Sensing that further resistance is futile, we follow her meekly to her car, an ancient and battle-scarred Renault. We say our goodbyes to Philippe before she whisks us at breakneck speed across town to an enormous supermarket, where Cameron and I manage to secure everything we need for a surprisingly reasonable price.

‘I definitely need a shower now,’ I tell Cameron as we make our way up to our room after saying goodbye to Claudine and checking in. The hotel is rather smarter than I’d realised, and I did detect a few curious glances from other, better dressed customers as we made our way across the lobby to the lifts.

‘I know what you mean,’ he agrees. ‘I feel distinctly salt-encrusted, and I think I might have a touch of sunburn in, umm, unusual places.’

‘Oh, no,’ I say, giggling. ‘Is little Cameron a bit singed round the edges?’

‘Stop it,’ he says, but he’s smiling.

‘Just know that I’m not rubbing cream into him. You’re strictly on your own there.’

‘Did I ask?’

‘No. Just setting the boundaries, that’s all.’

‘You’re a bit pink yourself,’ he observes. ‘I think the sun was a little stronger than we realised.’

The room, when we reach it, is large and dominated by the enormous bed. Cameron sprawls on it as I unpack my shopping and head for the bathroom, where I discover a walk-in shower big enough for both of us, not that we’ll be testing that out. I will admit to having enjoyed looking at Cameron naked, but that’s as far as it’s going to go. I step under the rainfall head, surprised by how much my skin stings under the warm water. Having washed my hair and rinsed away every remnant of sweat and salt, I wrap myself in one of the huge white towels the hotel has provided. It’s only when I wipe away the steam from one of the mirrors and see myself that I gasp in horror. My face and shoulders are bright pink. I carefully peel away the towel to reveal a similar story for the rest of me. Shit. Never mind all-over tan, I have all-over sunburn. Thankfully, we did buy a bottle of aftersun lotion at Claudine’s suggestion, but it’s in the other room.

‘Bloody hell,’ Cameron observes when I come out of the bathroom. ‘Is that…?’

‘Yup. The same all over. And no, I don’t need your help rubbing cream into it.’

He laughs. ‘I wasn’t offering. Although you might need me to do your back.’

‘OK. I’ll take you up on that. You’d better get in the shower yourself and then we’ll know what we’re dealing with.’

When he emerges a while later, also wrapped in a towel, it’s clear that his extra time in the sea has come at a price, as he’s even redder than me.

‘Right. Take the towel off and come and lie down on your front,’ I command him, reaching for the bottle of aftersun lotion. When he drops the towel, my eyes fall to his manhood and I can’t help laughing.

‘What on earth have you done to poor little Cameron?’ I ask. ‘He looks like a frankfurter.’

‘Perhaps I should have spent less time floating on my back,’ he admits.

‘I did tell you.’

‘That wasn’t about sunburn. You said he was distracting you.’

‘Yeah, well you’d better keep him covered up once you’ve treated him. You could use him as a beacon to guide shipping looking like that. Come on. Lie down.’ I pat the bed next to me and he carefully lowers himself onto it.

‘This will feel cold,’ I tell him as I squeeze some lotion onto his back and he flinches. I carefully move round so I’m straddling his naked buttocks and begin to massage it into his skin. I can feel the heat coming off him through my thighs.

‘You are seriously hot,’ I tell him.

‘Why, thank you,’ he says, laughing.

‘I meant hot temperature hot,’ I clarify as I squeeze a little more lotion out of the bottle and start to work it into his skin. His muscles are firm underneath my hands, and I’m totally unprepared for the effect massaging him is having on me. As I work down his back towards his buttocks, I’m starting to feel distinctly flustered. It’s a long time since I’ve touched a man like this, and it’s doing things to me.

‘I’m going to do your bum and the backs of your legs, OK?’ I tell him as I shuffle down, being careful to tuck a fold of towel between my legs to prevent me coming into direct contact with him. I don’t think I’d be able to cope with the sensation of that at the moment.

‘Yes, fine.’

If massaging Cameron’s back affected me, rubbing the lotion into his buttocks is far worse. As I run my hands over them, I have to reluctantly admit to myself that I’m actually quite turned on. I shake my head, trying to dispel the feeling and regain some control before hastily moving on to the backs of his thighs and calves.

‘You’re done,’ I tell him hurriedly, clambering off before I do or say something I’ll regret. I wonder if he felt it too. He certainly seems in no hurry to roll over. Is it wrong that part of me hopes little Cameron is giving him trouble?

‘Thank you. That feels miles better already,’ he murmurs, and I listen carefully to his tone of voice to try to detect if he feels anywhere near as hot and bothered as I do.

‘Are you OK there?’ I ask him after a minute or so.

‘Yes, absolutely. Right. Towel off and lie on your front. It’s my turn.’

Oh, shit.