Chapter 3

The evening proceeded just about like I had planned and hoped. Beverly kept her stallion out on the dance floor, the two of them almost swallowing each other with their bodies. We had a few more drinks, Beverly having at least enough to make sure to play into my hand. I knew the plan was a success when she came back to the table and opened her mouth, quite boisterously.

“Kids? Well, Bren, Josh. Travis here says he likes you and all, Brenda, but I think I’m going to keep him. I’m sure you’ll find someone else while you’re here on the island. No hard feelings, right, Sis? Josh, sorry, but I need more. You know? Oh, never mind. Maybe you don’t. We’re catching a cab back to the hotel. See you later, Sis.”

With that, she dragged Travis out of the joint leaving both Brenda and me speechless. Not a bad thing. If either of us spoke, we would have started laughing, and that would have ruined the entire operation. We prevailed, and the hoots and hollers, and yes, the laughing, hugging, and kissing, didn’t start until they cleared the front doors and were halfway into a cab.

“Josh, I need to say something before it goes uncorrected. You are more. I’ve seen you up close and personal. You are more. Travis may be right for Beverly’s needs, tonight, but it won’t last. I could hold you forever. I’m sure of that. You don’t have an ounce of fat on you, but you don’t show it off. You could probably whip his ass in a fair fight. His weightlifter body is only going to last until he stops lifting weights. I’ve seen it before. He’s going to make some poor woman a lousy husband.”

“Thank you, Brenda. That was a nice thing to say. By the way, there is a very true piece of advice I once heard. If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck. I don’t know where it came from, but it certainly holds truth and promise.”

“It’s cute, too.”

“True, that. Brenda, dance with me, please.” A slow song had started, so I took her hand, and we did just that. The kisses on my neck told me we were dangerously close to where we both wanted to be.

It was one in the morning when I took her back to her hotel. She and her sister had adjoining rooms, the doors of which had been open when they left for dinner. Her sister’s side was pushed almost closed, but the noise was not abated in the least. It was obvious that the stallion was attempting to breed the mare and was stopping at nothing to make sure the feat was accomplished.

Brenda laughed and shut her side of the doorway. That made it much quieter. She came to me as I held my arms out to hold her in them.

“Brenda, thank you.” She looked at me in question. “Thank you for coming to Hawaii. Thank you for not making a car reservation. Thank you for letting me bring you up here. Thank you for letting me spend time with you, and most of all, thank you for brightening my life so much.”

“If thanks are in order, thank you for doing all of the things you’ve done to give me back my confidence around BB, not to mention around you. I don’t feel at all lost with you, Josh. Quite the opposite. I feel emboldened. Enough to push you over to that bed and screw your brains out, but I don’t think it’s time yet. I feel emboldened enough not to do it, as well. It’s a good feeling. I don’t need to snare you by using myself. Now I’m just talking too much.”

“No, you’re not. I’d like nothing more, but we need a bit more time. Just a bit, but we need it. Is there just a small inkling in the back of your mind telling you ‘this could be it’, but the ‘could be’ is there instead of an ‘is’?”

“You are good with people, aren’t you? With this, and my sister, you just seem to know.”

“Somewhat, but I have the exact same feeling, so that was easy. The thing with your sister was a no brainer. With what you told me, and her own words, and just a bit of experience with selfish, self-centered people, she gave herself away to me. The rest was just relying on Travis and his ego, and his broke ass, to help me with the plan.”

“Still, you called it. Josh, is it too early for me to tell you I think I might love you?”

“If it is, you just blew it. It’s not, though. I’m thinking the same thing. I’m going to kiss you goodnight now and leave. I’ll be back at nine in the morning to get the two of you. Maybe the three of you, but Travis doesn’t seem like the type to do what we’re going to be doing. As we talked about on the cruise, we’re going hiking in the mountains. Don’t let your sister talk her way out of it. It’s going to be miserable for her.”

“Got it. Kiss me and leave before I dissolve my resolve. I’d like nothing more than to kiss every square inch of that body of yours, Josh. Every square inch.” I shivered when she said it, but I kissed her and walked out without a word before she noticed my pants tenting and my breath becoming ragged.

I texted her from my suite.

‘goodnight, my pretty. sleep well. tomorrow will be fun.’ I sent a heart emoticon with it.

‘looking forward to it. goodnight, my handsome. cant wait.’ Her responding emoticon was lips, indicating a kiss, I hoped.

I was there, waiting on them at eight fifty-five, when Brenda came out and approached me for a kiss.

“Good morning, Josh. Just to let you know, I don’t think I want to wait much longer to tell you I love you, then pull my covers up over us.”

“Now THAT is a way to say, ‘good morning’. I feel pretty much the same, Brenda. Keep in mind, that you have a queen-sized bed and neighbors. I have a king and am a bit more isolated.”

“Whose covers come up over us is not the part of the conversation I wanted to use to get your attention.” She smiled at me, then pulled my face down for another kiss.

“Brenda,” we heard her sister say, quite loudly, as she came out of the lobby onto the sidewalk. “What are you doing with my date for the day?”

“Nothing, BB. He’s probably still up in bed. This one is mine. Tails, you lose.”

“You think you get to make that call, little sister?”

“I damn sure do, and I just did. You aren’t in charge around here, Beverly Belle. Josh and I are working on a real relationship. We have been for a few days now, but you were too blind and selfish to see it.”

“Well, I never...”

“You have now, Beverly.” It was my turn. “I’m falling in love with your sister. You rode your stallion last night, and that’s between y’all, but from here on out, I’m with Brenda. If you want to hike with a date, go get him, or find another one. I’ll give you a few minutes. If you want to hike with us, a couple, on a date, together, Brenda and me, get in the back and let’s go.”

“OK, then, let’s go. Conversation is not exactly Travis’s forte. It’s a wonder he can manage employees, let alone run a business.”

Brenda giggled and I chuckled at that statement.

“What,” Beverly asked. “What’s so funny?”

“Beverly, if he’s not a union laborer, working out of the union hall, I’d be surprised. He’s no businessman.”

“Bullshit. He told me he was building things all over the Springs.” She looked at both of us shaking our heads at her. “Oh, crap. I fell for it, didn’t I?”

“You certainly did,” Brenda piped in.

“How did you know?” Beverly asked, much less venom in her voice.

“He did the same as you yesterday and said too much, thereby giving away his background the same way you gave away your intentions.”

“I did no such thing.” We could tell she was back against the wall and ready to lash out.

“You called him a stallion.” My voice was a bit elevated, but I looked at Brenda, got a smile and calmed down a bit. “You intended to set them up, then take him from Brenda, and you know it. Don’t make the mistake of denying the truth. It will haunt you in the future.”

“You think you know me?” It was too late for her to stay at the hotel. I was satisfied with the fact that she was going hiking with us, come hell or high water. Her voice was getting shaky. Like she wanted to back out of anything to do with us that morning.

“No, but I know a lot of people like you. Your sister is a wonderful girl, Beverly. A much nicer person than you. All your money and prestige don’t work on people like me. They might on Travis, but I’ll bet he was more interested in your body than your money, if you even told him you were well off.”

“Of course, I told him. Step one, keep them wanting...” I interrupted her.