They swam for about an hour, then sat on the beach for the better part of another one, taking turns rubbing each other down with the oil Cassie had brought. There was hardly a smell she loved more than the ocean and the coconut oil mixture, unless it was Doug's skin right now.
It seemed that they never ran out of new things to talk about. Doug found himself entranced even to listen to mundane things in her life; her job, her daily routine, little things she liked to do around the house. And Cassie wanted to know everything about him all the way back into childhood. She asked more questions than a four year old and he loved sharing it all with her.
Finally though, he said, "Let's continue this inside somewhere. I'm roasting." His skin wasn't used to this kind of exposure and he didn't want to risk a painful sunburn. He wanted to be free to enjoy rubbing any part of his body on hers, not just the parts hidden from the sun.
They stopped in the room only long enough to pick up wallets and car keys and drop off the beach stuff. Doug wondered about changing clothes but Cassie informed him that here on the island, flip-flops and a towel were often considered formalwear. Or at least it seemed that way. She did take time to comb her wet hair and pull it up into a long ponytail.
As they drove, the wind whistling over them made the early afternoon sun bearable - even pleasant - to Doug, who had come from winter. He wasn't sure he ever wanted to leave this place and not just because of the weather.
The thought made him turn and look at Cassie. She was looking out over the ocean on her side of the car and he was able to stare at her openly. Her legs were crossed and the sarong covered the upper part modestly. But the curve of her soft shoulder, the swell of her breasts in the bikini top, all the way down the smooth dark arm to the artistic little hand just beside his on the center console made his heart pound so loud he was sure she could hear it.
As if in confirmation, she turned and caught him watching. He couldn't see her eyes behind the dark glasses but the two playful little smile lines on either side of her mouth crinkled deeply. She placed her hand over his and turned contentedly back to the scenery. Feeling it necessary but not wanting to, he turned his attention back to driving.
It was only a few miles to Diamond Head but then he had to curve around and up the crater. They passed a lookout point where the whole windward side of the island was visible. Cassie told him not to worry about stopping though, they were about to drive around to that area anyhow.
They spent nearly two hours inside the crater. The walk up to the summit was a bit strenuous, doing over 300 steps, but they were in fairly good shape so it was nice. It was a good thing the car rental company put an emergency kit in each car and it included a flashlight. The steps leading up were inside a dark cave and not passable without the light.
Once on top, they'd leaned against the rail and looked down over Waikiki and the whole downtown area. They'd stood quietly, Cassie's back against Doug's chest and stomach and his arms around her, shielding her. The wind whipped past them up here, drying little curls of hair around her face.
On the walk back down the steps, hand in hand again, Doug commented, "I'm beginning to see why people want to come to Hawaii. The scenery is great."
"You haven't seen anything yet," she said. "Wait'll you see the mountains over by Kaneohe."
"It gets better?" he asked, "Wow."
"Any particular place you'd like to see?" she asked as they got back in the car.
"Besides the hotel with you?" he teased.
She rolled her eyes. "I knew you were going to say that."
"Yeah. Sunset Beach. It's famous, right?" he answered.
"As a matter of fact, today is a perfect day to go there. It's not that great a place in the summer, but this time of year the surf is big. Really big. They're getting 20 footers up there this week." She sounded very excited.
"Twenty feet? That's huge!" he exclaimed.
"It's great. Every time we hear about big surf, we run up there and just sit and watch it. There's nothing better to relax you after a long hard day."
"Sure there is," he grinned lustfully.
Cassie sighed. "What am I going to do with you?" Then she realized she'd left herself wide open. "Never mind!" she added quickly. "Don't answer that! I'll figure it out for myself."
Doug only laughed and leaned over to kiss her sweet, pouty mouth.
Her directions were very simple. Follow the road away from Diamond Head around a long curve to the left, make a right and he'd be on the road that circled the whole island. It was name for the famous King that had ruled the island long ago, King Kamehameha. Called Kam Highway for short.
They passed through the richest section of the island where multi-millionaires lived up on a ridge called Hawaii Loa. Huge houses looked down over the highway and the beautiful beaches across from it. Just past that was Koko Head, ¾ of a volcanic caldera that sea water had seeped into, forming a natural bay - Hanauma Bay - where snorklers and divers could swim with neon-colored fish and sea turtles.
Coming down the other side, Doug saw the bluest ocean water he'd ever imagines. It was so blue and had so many sparkling diamond points on its wave crests that it didn't even look real.
