Chapter 2

My first chore after checking in and getting to my suite was to unpack my swim shorts and flip flops. My second was to walk as far down the beach and the rocks as I could and still make it back before dark and without getting too awfully tired. It worked. I got back just as the sun set over the ocean, showered, changed, and made off for one of the restaurants for a bite to eat.

As I sat there, contemplating my broasted chicken platter, I got a text.

‘lunch tomorrow then beach walk?’ It was, of course, Brenda.

‘love to. I’ll come get you tenish.’

A smiley face was all that came back. That was all I needed, though.

I finished dinner then hit the lounge and listened to a small combo play a few dance tunes while convincing myself not to go through all my emails and messages until later. With a feat of strength known only to a very few traders and financial planners, I turned my phone off and laid it face down on the table. The next sip of Black Cherry Windsor Canadian tasted even better, and the music continued to soothe the beast inside. In all actuality, I was just people watching, relaxing, and enjoying myself. There were a couple of working girls in the place, both of which got lucky with a couple of young men. Watching them at work was entertaining. There were also a few middle-aged women working their husbands quite a bit. A few tropical cocktails will do wonders for a romantic getaway.

I pulled up to the Wyndham’s lobby a few minutes before ten the next morning. There was Brenda, looking like a million bucks, and dressed quite differently from the previous day. Instead of the slacks, button up shirt, and ballerina flats, she was wearing tight fitting white cotton short shorts, a tight, light blue knit tee top and high heeled sandals matching the blouse. In a word: gorgeous.

I rolled the window down, looking directly at her and said, “Hey, beautiful. You interested in a date?”

“Certainly, sir. How much is this going to cost me?”

“Depends on what you want from me. I can go all the way from a simple lunch to a moonlight serenade with violins and champagne. From a dollar two-ninety-eight, to ‘If you have to ask, you can’t afford it’.”

“I’ll take my chances.” Her smile was glowing and very infectious. “Good morning, Josh. I’m glad you weren’t busy on your vacation. This may be a lot of fun. I mean, it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s already started.”

“True, that. You look amazing this morning, Brenda. Absolutely amazing.”

“This is the real me, Josh. The teacher in me is either in my suitcase, or back at home.”

“Lucky me.”

“True, that, as you say. Lucky you.” She giggled as I pulled out and hit the highway south.

I was taking her back to the Bamboo Lounge for a late breakfast or brunch, if you will. It was quite a hike, but I liked the place and she seemed to be all right with it. We wouldn’t share the place with her sister, keeping it just between the two of us, if I had anything to do with it. That way, if something did happen between us, we’d have our ‘special place’. Those are always nice to have.

She seemed to enjoy our meal together. She said she did, at least. I was able to convince her not to mention Beverly, which made our conversation much more interesting and enjoyable. At least for me. She told me stories of troublesome and just plain funny fourth graders while I regaled her with stories of clients who asked me to invest their money in some pretty weird things. I also shared my own stories of monumental successes and epic failures. She laughed at a few of them that I remembered at the time had almost brought tears to my eyes when they happened. Her sincere apology at her own insensitivity was almost as funny as her laughter at my past plights.

We took that walk she wanted to take, spending the next twelve hours getting to know each other. We stopped in at any number of tiki bars, snack bars, a restaurant, and even a dance club, before we made it back to her place.

“The car is about to turn into a pumpkin, Josh. It’s almost midnight. I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun. Thank you.”

“You are more than welcome, hon. We have another day before your sister arrives, right?”

“Yes. She’s taking a late morning nonstop flight, so she should be here around five in the evening, day after tomorrow. That gives us a day and a half. Do you think we could take one of those catamaran cruises tomorrow? I saw them advertised. We could see the ‘Jurassic’ side of the island. Up close and personal like.”

“Yes, definitely. I haven’t been back there for a few years. I’d love to.”

“You’ve already done it? That won’t be much fun.”

“Oh yes, it will be. I’ll have different company, and the scenery never gets old, trust me.”

“Then it’s a plan?” I nodded. “Goodnight, Josh. Thank you, again.” She leaned over the console and kissed me lightly on my cheek then took off to her room.

We were able to get tickets on a cruise, had a few Sneaky Tikis, her maybe a few too many, then were able to get back to her hotel, all the while talking about the wonderful scenery on the other side of the island. It is truly spectacular what with all the green cliffs rising hundreds and hundreds of feet above the ocean on their way to the inner island.

Another spectacular view was of my date. She was sporting a small, yet conservative bikini and a coverup. Again, she wore high heeled sandals, green to match her suit and coverup, not to mention her eyes, but they were left at the dock in the cubby with my boat shoes. They don’t allow shoes of any kind on the island cruise boats, which was more than fine with me. Even Brenda’s feet were pretty. The green bikini, her green eyes, and her blonde hair got even farther into my psyche that day. I was enamored, to say the least.

I walked her to her room, my heart pattering as I was listening to her giggle and swoon about the trip we went on. While carefully guiding her, my hands touched her in places I maybe shouldn’t have, but it was never lascivious, and it was never on purpose. She felt so soft. So wonderful. So dangerous. I wasted no time getting her into her room and bidding her a fond farewell until the next day. She was intoxicated. We both knew that. We also knew nothing good could come of us getting too friendly in that condition. I wasn’t completely, one hundred percent straight, but I was in total control and would have passed any test they threw at me, I think. The most important test I passed was getting her into her bed with just her shoes off. Her coverup looked plenty comfortable and I made sure it was loose around her as I covered her up, kissed her forehead, and backed out of the room.

It was early evening when I left Brenda’s room, so I headed back to the Westin and figured I’d people watch for a while before I, too, hit the sack. Before the cruise was halfway through, Brenda and I had decided to make it to the canyon in the morning. She’d heard the Waimea Canyon State Park would remind anyone of the Grand Canyon back on the mainland and wanted to see it firsthand. Basically, all that meant was that I needed to make sure she was up and ready to go around seven so we could make the trip and get to the airport on time to pick up her sister.

I people watched for a while, saw the two disgruntled gentlemen as they watched their previous night’s entertainment picking up others for the evening’s activities. I also noticed as the women, both amazingly gorgeous in their own right, sneered at the young men in question. Someone didn’t have a fun date, to be sure. My mind wandered, imagining a story of how they got to the room, a room shared by the men, the fun started, and the money didn’t work out somehow. I imagine that would cause sneers. Mind you, I had no idea what happened, I just let my imagination run away with me. It’s fun.

I got a text at five in the morning. I wasn’t so far under that I didn’t hear it.

‘sorry’

‘don’t be. we had a ball.’

‘you’re not mad?’

‘not even a little. you are a dear. I had fun being with you. nothing else. believe that.’

‘thank you. see you at seven still?’

‘wouldn’t miss it.’

She sent a heart emoticon back.

At seven she was ready to go. Her pink shorts were a bit longer and her white blouse was a little looser, but her shoes were still sky-high stiletto sandals. White to match the blouse today. She was extremely attractive.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” I said as she got into the car next to me.

Without saying a word, she knelt in the seat, reached over and pulled my face to her so she could kiss my cheek again. “Thank you for putting up with me, Josh. I don’t remember ever being that ... That inebriated before. I don’t drink very much, nor very often. I remember everything, so I wasn’t drunk drunk, but man those things live up to their name. They be sneaky!” She laughed. “Anyway, thank you for taking care of me. I tried to kiss you goodnight, but I couldn’t move. I haven’t washed my forehead, though. I don’t want to wash your kiss off.” A giggle escaped, so cutely I got butterflies from it. “Not really. I’m just being silly, but I felt the kiss. Thank you. Thank you for putting me to bed and thank you for JUST putting me to bed.”

“You’re welcome, hon. I’m not an animal. You deserve respect. All women do, unless they prove otherwise. Just ... I’m glad you’re all right this morning.”

“I’m fine. Aleve is a wonder drug. That and B complex vitamins.”

“Got it taken care of, huh?”

“I read. Everything on the internet is true, right?” She laughed. “I wasn’t that bad, Josh. I was drunk and tired. Bad combination, but I’m recovered. Where is this canyon everyone brags about, and is there an egg and sausage croissant anywhere between here and there?”

We both laughed at the change in subject material and took off for a Burger King and a very grand canyon, the latter in lower case letters. She was amazed at both; the fact that Hawaii had Burger Kings and the fact that Waimea really DID look like the Grand Canyon, complete with a little river in the bottom.

Hours later, sitting in front of the airport in the Arrivals area, she got a text. She read it to me.

‘Found you a date for tonight. Looking for one for myself. Be out in a minute.’

“Oh, boy. Can’t wait. Oh, shit, I just realized; you’re my chauffeur, not my date.”

“Want an idea?” I raised an eyebrow to get her attention.

“What?”

“Introduce me to her and let me ask her out. Let me take the lead from there. Please.”

“If I don’t beat you to it. Josh, I was just starting to...” I interrupted her before she said anything about us.

“Brenda, I was ... I am, too. I won’t do anything stupid. I just want to have some fun. With her. I mean at her expense.”

“Josh, you was ... you am too, what?”

“I’m falling, Brenda. Just that. I can’t say any more because I don’t know, but I do know I like being with you and want that to continue if at all possible. I also want to help you with your sister. I don’t want her to disrespect you. I just want to ... Help?”

“Kiss me before she gets here, Josh. Kiss me. Quick.” I kissed her. She kissed me. Sparks flew. Lightning struck. Fireworks went off in my chest, my neck, my brain, and my shorts. The noise scared the butterflies away. There was no doubt in my mind at that time that I wanted to try to make her mine. None. “Jesus, Josh. Wow. Shit, there she is. Damn, you can kiss. Shut up! Shit.” She grinned at me as I got out and went around to get Beverly’s bag to put in the trunk. I noticed there was a young, buff, tanned, model looking blonde guy with her.

“Miss Williams, I presume?” She nodded. “If you will allow me to take your bag, ma’am.” She let me, so while she and her sister were greeting each other, I took it and stowed it in the trunk of the car.

“Brenda, honey, this is Travis. I met him on the plane. He builds houses in Colorado Springs. I thought you two would hit it off famously, so I asked him to accompany us to dinner tonight. Now if only I can find...”

“BB, this is Josh. Joshua Coats. We had a bit of a mix-up at the rental agency, and he’s volunteered to get us wherever we need to be while we’re here. Josh, this is my sister, Beverly. She’s an attorney in Denver. Morgan and Sterns’ criminal defense division. Beverly, the car, a CLA45 AMG, is actually Josh’s rental. Due to an unforeseen issue, it was the last one in the joint and being the angel he is, decided that since I was inconvenienced by no fault of my own, he would take it upon himself to make things right. He really is an angel, too. You’ll just love him to death. Please, Josh, will you accompany the three of us to dinner tonight and escort my sister?”