It's Sunday morning, Doug and Elizabeth's last day at the shore together, so after a quick breakfast they put on their swimsuits and head for the beach. "Let's try to sit a little bit away from everyone else," Elizabeth suggests as they cross the hot expanse of golden sand. "I'd like a little privacy, if it's possible."
They stroll south and find a relatively unoccupied stretch of beach between 92nd and 93rd Streets. "How's this, babe?" he wants to know.
"Perfect." He sets up two chairs for them while she unfolds the beach blanket and anchors it in place. "I'm going in for a bit, E," he tells her. "You coming with me or staying here?"
"I'll stay here. I want to get some sun before heading into the water." He nods at this then, after she's settled into one of the beach chairs he bends to kiss her forehead and give her ponytail a playful tug before jogging to the water's edge.
Elizabeth picks up one of the tabloids she'd bought Thursday night and tries to read, but is distracted by the sight of Doug frolicking in the surf; she watches as he plays in the waves, laughing loudly as a particularly rough one knocks him on his rear end. "That's going to leave a mark," she calls out to him through cupped hands. He gets up and looks at her over his shoulder, then sticks his ass towards her and rubs it with both hands. "You tease!" she shouts.
"Come kiss it and make it all better for me," he jokes back.
"Don't
you
wish!" She shakes her head at him, still laughing, and tries to turn her attention back to her gossip magazine, but is unable to do so. She keeps staring at him and thinks,
He's got the most amazing body I've ever seen
.
Then her mind turns to thoughts of what happened Saturday afternoon: they'd taken two boogie boards with them to ride the waves, and after an hour or so of that Elizabeth lay down on the blanket to relax and allow the sun's rays to dry her off, smiling as Doug flopped down next to her. "That was fun," he told her, as he pressed a quick kiss on her shoulder.
"It was," she admitted. They lay there in silence, enjoying the warm sea air until Doug said, "Damn it, I
knew
I forgot something."
"What is it, baby?" Elizabeth asked. "You need to go back to the house for it? I'll give you the key."
"No, I don't need it right now." She looked at him, momentarily puzzled, and then asked, "So what's the big deal then?"
"I got something for you last night and forgot to give it to you."
"What is it? What did you get me?"
"It's a surprise, E," he told her.
"Well, then let's go home so you can give it to me. The
surprise
, you pervert," she added when he leered at her.
"No. Not just yet. I want to keep you in suspense." Elizabeth gave him a dark look and said, "I don't like surprises, Doug ... come on, tell me what it is."
"Nope, E. You're just going to have to wait."
"Damn it, Doug, don't tease me." He shook his head at her, then made a motion of zipping his lips. "I'll get you for that," she warned before fairly springing on him and tickling his armpits and his stomach (he's the only ticklish man she's ever been with); he started squirming and chuckling beneath her. "Knock it off, E," he said, as he started gently batting her fingers away from his skin.
"Not until you tell me what it is!" He let her have her way with him for a moment or two, then his hands grabbed her hips and he flipped her over on her back onto the blanket. Quick as lightning he straddled her waist and started tickling her. "Don't like that very much, do you?" he wanted to know, as she started squealing loudly.
"I give, I
give
!" she shrieked. "Stop it!"
"All right," he said, as his fingers stopped digging into her sides, and she took a deep breath, trying to contain herself. Then he added, "Nope. Changed my mind," and she giggled as he resumed tickling her.
Then his hands seized her wrists and held them at her sides. "We can go now, so you can give me my surprise, whatever it is. Then we'll come back here when we're done," she offered.
"I don't know if you'll want to do that," he said. "Because I think you'll like it so much you'll want to stay in for a while."
"It better be a pretty amazing surprise if you're making promises like that."
"Oh, E, you know I
always
deliver on my promises." At this she laughed, a low and husky laugh, then she looked appraisingly at his crotch. "You give me what I want, I'll give you what you want," she told him.
Doug purposely delayed their departure for home; first, he sunbathed a bit longer than they'd originally planned, then he wanted to take the boogie board back out for some more body surfing, but when he saw how impatient -- and subsequently annoyed -- Elizabeth had become, he said, "Come on. Let's head back instead." He could barely suppress a grin as she started hastily shoving their things into her beach bag.
"Slow
down
," he called after her as she fairly raced up 94th Street towards Route 1; when he caught up to her at the crosswalk, she kept impatiently pressing the button for the Walk signal.
Upon returning to the townhouse, they rinsed off excess sand with the garden hose, then Elizabeth let them into the house; she dropped her beach bag inside the front door and hurried upstairs to quickly shower and wash the saltwater from her hair, her bathing suit and her skin. By the time Doug had cleaned himself in the shower (again taking his good old sweet time to keep Elizabeth in suspense), she was seated in the middle of their bed, wrapped in a towel and drying her hair. He stood in the bathroom doorway clad only in a towel, leaning nonchalantly against its frame, and stared at her until she yelled "WHAT'S THE GODDAMN
SURPRISE
, DOUG? WHERE IS IT?"
"Jesus, E, calm down," he laughed. She took the towel she'd been using to dry her hair and snapped it at him. "This isn't funny, Doug," she told him.
"Okay, okay," he acquiesced, holding up his hands in surrender. "Take off that bath towel and close your eyes."
"This better be worth it," she cautioned him in a drawl as she did what she was told, "or you're gonna pay and pay
big
." She listened as he opened his suitcase and rooted around in it for a bit; she heard the rustle of a paper bag and then the sound of a package being opened. "What the hell are you doing?" she demanded impatiently when she heard the sound of something being put together.
"You'll see," he said. "Hang on." He left the room, shutting the connecting door between the bedroom and the bathroom behind himself; she heard a strange muffled noise and then his voice saying "All right" as he re-entered the bedroom.
"All right
what?"
Elizabeth snapped when she sensed Doug moving towards the bed, then quickly propping their pillows against the headboard. He crawled in behind her. "Slide back towards me, E," he told her, ignoring her irritated query. She moved to sit between his bare legs as he rested against the stacks of pillows. "Now spread open your thighs and bend your knees for me."
"But what --?"
"Just do it, Elizabeth. You'll see in a minute." He smiled craftily then said, "Lean against me." This she did, feeling something plastic against her right thigh and hearing a low, almost waspish sound. "What's
that