I guess Mom knew what she was talking about.

She wanted me to seduce George. I couldn't believe it worked. Even more surprised, that I was able to pull it off. Well, I did want to seduce him... My reasons just didn't align with my Mother's. I never would have gone this far, for any reason. Felt like I was losing my mind.

"I never had a boyfriend..." I noted for example, out of the blue.

"That's pretty surprising." He claimed, chewing on a big slice of pizza. I put a shirt on since, but nothing underneath. I felt weirdly open and vulnerable. Especially talking randomly. "And what brought that up?"

"Uh, I just..." I had no real answer for that. "I didn't want you to think, that I'm like Mom. Or that I'd drop my clothes for every guy... So I never had a boyfriend or someone who saw me naked. Outside the family."

"I'm still very sorry about that!" He apologized for the hundredth time, adding. "If that helps, I might be family too, so it could still stand..."

"It's not what I meant!" I explained. But in reality, I had no idea what I actually meant either... "I trust you! And realised I won't die if you see me like that... That's why... I decided to go topless too. But it doesn't mean I would have done it, if it was with someone else, sooo..."

"Oh, I think I get it." He said with a sigh of relief. "And thanks, I guess! I appreciate your trust. I do trust you too, it's just that... I know your Mom will try and pull something on me... I can't lower my guard."

"Yeah, that's fair! Sorry about that..." I apologized this time. Then I had an idea, which felt very smart at that moment. "So, what if we make a selfie? Like, one that's pretty... Um... Incriminating! But both of us are on it... So we'd know, the other can't use it against us willy-nilly!"

"Huh, what do you mean?" He asked, but I was already up. Grabbing my phone in one hand, and my shirt with the other, I rushed over his side. Before he could stop me, or I changed my mind, I took at least a dozen shots. He seemed flustered, rather than angry. "Now what was that for?!"

"Sorry!" I laughed, blushing. With the same inertia, sent him all the pictures at once. "Now you are incriminated! You have pictures with a flashing teen... But that happens to be me. I don't want to see myself like that on the news, so... you have nothing to worry about now!"

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"I don't think that's how it works!" He noted, checking his phone in disbelief. "If you don't want stuff to circulate about you, don't make it in the first place! And what if your Mother gets them?"

"She would never use me like that!" I claimed. "I can imagine her emotionally blackmailing someone, but to release my pictures for the public... She knows, I'd never talk to her again!"

"That wouldn't exactly help either of us at that point..." He noted, and all my earlier conviction was gone. He was right, I had no idea how far Mom would go. He really was the Jackpot afterall. She wanted to retire.

"Ok... Maybe we should delete them..." I offered, opening the gallery again. He grabbed my hand. He had this annoyingly handsome smile.

"No need. It will be our secret." He said. "If she doesn't know about it, can't use them either. I understand, you kind of meant it as a blood-oath or something. I'm up for that! And I promise, I won't betray you!"

Now I was smiling too. And blushing. A lot. And couldn't help but throw my arms around him again. I never even knew I was this cuddly.

The afternoon and evening went by in a blur. Since we had to lay low, my car practice was cancelled. He noted regretfully, that he can't take me for a walk either. He couldn't show off the best parts of the beach. But once he wasn't busy with work and collegues, we had plenty of fun in the pools. We were talking, sunbathing, and I managed to lose my top again.

He still gave my chest a few glances. I felt my heart beating faster every time. Once the Sun set, we ended up returning to the earlier topic.

"You know, I had quite a few girlfriends. Before I got married at twenty... I was relatively popular. Which was one of the reasons, why I chose an acting career." He told me, as we moved back inside. "My parents really hated it, but liked my wife. They didn't even mind we had a shotgun wedding... They blamed the divorce on me, and I had a fallout with them. I think I told you before... I kind of lost faith in love in general. And that's when I met Sue. It was so surreal, but it kept me going."

I saw where this was going, and already felt bad.

"When she disappeared, I was looking for her. I dropped everything else, but no luck... "He explained, adding. "I gave up on acting not long after. I couldn't find motivation, and I stopped dating too... Well, not completely. There were a few women, taking the initiative. My family literally forced dates on me as well, but nothing lasted..."

"Sorry if Mom made you hate woman!" I said, but he laughed.

"Oh, I'm not hating them!" He claimed. "In fact, most of my staff is woman. I'm not interested in dating them in particular... but I love working with them! They're smart, many of them beautiful... But I didn't really have a love interest since... Not sure how much of it has to do with Sue or my Ex. I haven't really felt close to anyone since... Until I met you..."

I was smiling, hearing that, until it finally sank in.