Page 27 of Charming
Brandon looks immediately to Asher and holds up his hands in retreat, “Sorry man, my bad.”
“Yes, it is,” Asher replies, possessiveness clear in his tone and the look on his face. It excites me and I’m not ashamed to admit my core clenches with desire.
“Sorry again,” Brandon says as Asher takes the sunblock can from me and wraps an arm around my waist. Brandon starts to walk away but not before looking at Asher again and doing a double take. “Hey. Are you… yes it is… dude, you’re Asher Charming. Oh my god, I’m a big fan. I’ve seen all your Jack Danger movies.”
Asher flashes a brief smile, “Thanks. Sorry to run, but my wife and I have somewhere to be.”
“Yeah, no problem man. Wow. Asher Charming. Sorry for hitting on your wife.”
Asher nods and waits for me to grab my cover up off the chair before we begin walking toward the stairs that lead to the beach. “Sorry,” he mumbles looking embarrassed, “not that I should be surprised. But I’m still sorry.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t much care for sunblock boy back there wanting to give you a hand. Not that I should be surprised. Do you have any idea how amazing you look in that bikini?”
Looking down at the pink, orange and white paisley and floral halter suit I’m wearing, I feel pleasure wash over me at his words. “Thank you, and don’t apologize. A second more and I think Brandon would have been spraying me down whether I wanted him to or not. I probably would have passed out from the fumes.”
Chuckling, Asher nods and finishes applying sunblock on my back. Then I return the favor before we begin walking down the beach, to where, I have no idea. I walk beside him, barefooted, thankful the sand isn’t hot yet, and absorb the view of the ocean. We pass lounge chair after chair of sunbathers. Many others stand individually or in small groups; others play games of Frisbee, four square, or beach volleyball on the sandy ocean front. Looking down the beach, I see a few flying kites while others sit, making sand castles. Women, men and even some children of all ages walk up to us and entreat us to purchase various types of merchandise. I’m blown away by how much they can carry at one time. Blankets, jewelry, toys for children that fly into the air, beach towels. One woman even has hanger after hanger on her arms of dresses and sarongs.
We politely decline each person until a little girl no more than the age of six walks up to us and places a bracelet against Asher’s wrist. She doesn’t say a word; it’s a silent plea to purchase something from her. Asher immediately halts in his tracks and drops to his knees. “How much, sweetheart?” She stares at him and he asks her again, this time in Spanish. “¿Cuanto, amor?”
She smiles and replies, “Tres dòlares.”
He looks at me, “Which one would you like, princess?”
Smiling, I lean down to the little girl and quickly browse through her treasures. I wonder if she made them, and ask Asher, “You can speak Spanish?”
“Just enough to get by.”
“Can you ask her if she made these?” I ask running my finger along the tightly braided and wrapped bracelets imagining the hours she and her family put into the task.
Asher points at the bracelets and says, “¿Tú las hiciste?” The little girl nods and Asher and I both smile. This time I know enough to say, “Muy hermoso.” Very beautiful.
She smiles shyly, “Gracias.”
Because it reminds me of the ocean, I pick out a teal and royal blue bracelet and hold it to my wrist. “I love this one.” Asher selects two others and then digs his wallet out of his backpack, handing the little girl a twenty-dollar bill. When she tries to give him change in pesos he shakes his head no. Smiling widely, she tells us thank you and scampers off, likely to go brag to someone about her profit.
“You just made her day, I think.” Asher smiles and shrugs, placing the other two bracelets in his backpack along with his wallet before zipping it up once more. “Will you tie this on me?” I ask holding the bracelet to my wrist again, and he complies. When it’s on tight, I shake my wrist around smiling at how it looks. “Thank you, for the bracelet.”
“It’s not a big deal, but you’re welcome,” he says kissing me on the nose and I wrinkle it in response. He shakes his head at a couple other people that approach us to see if he’s interested in purchasing from them too, likely after seeing him pay the little girl.
We continue our walk and before long we finally arrive at a large tent on the beach. There are men standing around underneath holding clipboards, there’s a few tables and chairs, life vests hanging from the top of the tent and a half dozen personal water craft – Wave Runners, Ski Doos, Sea Doos, Jet Skis and the like, just waiting for riders. Realizing what we’re about to do, I look at Asher and smile widely jumping up and down while clapping my hands. “Are we going out?” I ask while pointing at the watercrafts.
He rolls his eyes at me in humor likely because it’s pretty obvious that’s what we’re doing. I just keep clapping and he laughs, then turns to talk to one of the workers. While he’s doing that, a young man comes up to me, smiling shyly and shows me where I can stash my cover up, then fits me for a life vest. After I’m vested I’m given a list of rules and a waiver to sign. Asher’s already signed his and he’s got a vest on too. Looking into my eyes, his lips half curled in a smile, he leans toward my ear slowly and whispers, “Damn. You’re even hot in a life vest. Maybe they’ll let us take it with me when we leave.” Feeling pleasure at his words I playfully push him away, but he grabs my hand and kisses it. I continue to feel his lips even after they’re gone. Ready?”
“Yes!” I reply exuberantly, which makes him laugh. I don’t even care, I’ve always wanted to ride one of these but never had an opportunity so I can barely contain my excitement. I listen closely as a worker tells us how the wave runner works. He points out where the speedometer is, how to speed up and go slower, tells us what to do if either of us should fall off, and reminds us that we aren’t allowed to go near the rocks and points to the perimeter area once more. Finished with the instructions, we climb on and two men come to each of our crafts and push us out into the water. We’re supposed to glide until we’re individually given a go ahead to start the engine, press on the gas, and then head on out.
As soon as I’m given the go ahead, I immediately take off, standing in my urgency, as if it will make me go faster. I’m anxious to feel the wind in my hair and the cool water splash my face. Keeping my runner facing straight, I easily glide over the water further and further away from the shore and other watercraft activity. I’m exhilarated by the speed as my runner skims the surf faster and faster and find myself laughing out loud over and over as I soar over the water like it’s not even there. Occasionally, I catch the front or backside of a wave and the front of my runner hits it making a large splash into my face. I squeal with laughter every time.
Finally remembering Asher, I slow down, turn my runner around and look for him. I grin as I quickly locate him, not too far behind me wearing a wide smile of his own. I slowly release the throttle, idle, and wait for him to reach me.
“Hell woman,” he laughs as he slows and circles me. “One minute I’m looking back at the guy to watch for his signal to go, the next I turn around and look only to stare at your cute ass as it flies away!” He cracks up and makes me laugh too.
“I’m sorry, I was so excited I didn’t even think. I’ve always wanted to do this! Thank you so much! This is the best surprise.”
“We’re just getting started, princess. Come on, let’s go!”
Without another word he takes off and I follow his lead, leaving space for the worst of his wake, laughing as we pick up speed. There are a number of other people on watercrafts as well and as we pass each other they create various sizes of wakes. Depending on their size and proximity to us, at times we’re splashed in the face with salt water and I blink my eyes quickly to clear them. With each splash I can hear Asher’s laughter drifting on the breeze and it makes me smile so hard my cheeks hurt. I realize he can probably hear my enjoyment as well, depending on the direction of the wind.
