I was idly leaning on a post down at the beach, watching the surfers displaying their talent. Some were excellent. Some were the pits. Pretty normal state of affairs, with everyone having fun. I spotted Tracy down near the water's edge, casually flirting with some of the boys.
An attractive young woman, Tracy. Right now she was wearing a multi-coloured bikini, showing off a very nice figure. A brunette with blue eyes and a very nice tan. I idly wondered if she had tan lines and decided that yes, she would have. Not the type of girl to risk nude sun-bathing.
Another interesting thing about Tracy was that she had recently turned eighteen and had no established boyfriend. Every lone male around the place was sniffing around, hoping to make the grade. A few of the supposedly attached young wolves were also making their presence known. That young lady had better watch out.
Tracy finished off her chat with the boys down the beach and turned and headed in my direction. Not to see me, specifically, but rather needing to pass me on her way to her destination, probably the shop at the top of the path.
"How's it going, Tracy?" I casually asked as she came trotting up.
She nodded, muttered, "Brendan," and would have gone right on trotting past.
"What?" I asked. "Not going to stop and say hullo?"
She stopped and turned back towards me, looking a little doubtful.
"Sorry," she mumbled. "I wasn't meaning to be rude."
"I didn't think you were. Just surprised that you didn't stop to chat a while."
"Um, yes, I've been warned that I should stay away from you. I was told you had a bad reputation." She burst out with that little gem all in one breath, sounding apologetic.
"Bad reputation?" I said indignantly. "Who says? Never been in trouble with the law in my life. I have a job and I work damn hard and pay my own way."
"Not that sort of reputation," she defended. "I mean you have a bad reputation with women."
"What male doesn't," I pointed out. "You point to a man with a good reputation where women are concerned and I'll show you a man who was accidentally castrated at birth."
"You know what I mean," she snapped. "They say that the only time you speak to a girl is when you're planning to get into her pants."
I laughed at that.
"Really? I take it you didn't see me talking to the two young ladies further down the beach. I must have been with them for half an hour, just talking, and I didn't make a single pass."
Tracy looked in the direction I indicated and immediately spotted the two women. Pretty hard to miss them. They weren't that young, but they were both on the large side. If they wanted to go surfing they'd need two boards each - one for each foot.
Tracy blushed. "You know what I mean. I heard one of the boys say that you're just waiting to get into my pants, and I won't have it."
"Ah, Tracy, how does that make me any different from every other male on the beach?"
"Well, they're not all trying to think up ways to seduce me," she snapped.
"True. Some are dreaming of rape and others are wondering if you'd be susceptible to a bribe," I said with a grin. "Are you worried that I might try to drag you behind these bushes and ravish you?"
"Don't be silly," came the rather cold reply. "I will at least credit you with more decency than that."
"Now who's being silly? If I thought that that was what you wanted then of course I'd do it."
"Oh, get real! Who the hell would want to get dragged behind the bushes and raped?"
"Funny you should mention that," I told her. "I happen to know of a young lady who had to confess to her parents that that was exactly what happened to her while she was up here on holiday."
"You're kidding?"
"I'm not," I said, shaking my head. "Mind you, I'm pretty sure that she didn't tell them that the same man had dragged her behind the bushes and ravished her every afternoon that she was here, and she was here for ten days."
Tracy was looking shocked.
"Hey, don't look at me that way. I wasn't the culprit. The only reason I knew about it was that I saw her being dragged behind the bushes the first day and went to assist her. Fortunately, before I barged in, I was able to see that my assistance would not be appreciated. But I kept an eye on the young lady for the next few days. Every afternoon at two, she'd come tripping down the path, only to be seized and dragged behind the bushes. Poor girl."
"You're making that up," Tracy protested.
"Nope. Cast your mind back to the holidays last year. See if you can remember which young lady was never at the beach in the afternoon until quite late."
I could see her contemplating, then she suddenly stiffened.
"Oh my god. You have got to be kidding."
"Uh-uh, no names. You might have the wrong girl and I wouldn't confirm it either way. Tell you one additional bit of info. I happened to be chatting with the gentleman concerned, just letting him know I knew what was going on in case there was trouble over it. He told me that for the last day of their holidays he had suggested that he might bring a mate with him for a threesome. The young lady was most offended, and said no way known, but sort of spoiled it by pointing out that if he brought a mate, there wouldn't be much she could do to prevent it, what with two men holding her down."
It was a true story, and Tracy seemed to realise it, looking quite shocked. Understandable, if she had guessed the young lady concerned. She had a bit of a reputation for being holier than thou.
"Anyway, I'm not intending to seduce you, Tracy, so stop worrying."
She promptly looked miffed, but wasn't sure how she could complain about me not intending to seduce her.
"Ah, I don't mean not ever, Tracy," I added. "It's just that I'm not sure that you're ready for anything like that just yet."
Now she was offended.
"And what do you mean by that crack," she snapped. "I'm the one who's going to decide when I'm ready to have sex, not you."
"Yes, but not where I'm concerned," I pointed out. "I wouldn't want to be accused of taking advantage of you."
She made a humphing sound, clearly displeased but unable to show it.
"What did you stop me for, anyway?"
"Oh, well, I was watching you as you came towards me, and I was admiring your tan, and I couldn't help but wonder if you have tan lines. I'd love to see them if you have."
"I beg your pardon? I thought you weren't interested in seducing me."
"That doesn't preclude my admiring your figure and tan. You have to know that you're a very pretty young woman. Slip the strap off your shoulder."
"Why?"
"It'll give me a clue as to whether you have a tan line," I said.
"Well you're out of luck. My shoulders are fully tanned, so you still won't know," she said, smirking.
"Hmm. Easy fixed," I said softly.
I reached over, slipped a finger over the edge of her bikini bottom, and pulled it out slightly, seeing a distinct flash of white before she hastily pulled away.
"You can't do that," she said.
"Yes, I can. I just did, and you have tan lines. I want to see them."
"Well you can't."
"Why not?"
"Well, for a start, I'm not taking my bikini off on the beach."
"Why not?"
"What do you mean, why not? Do you seriously think I'd strip here where everyone could see me?"
"No-one's looking and they probably wouldn't notice. I bet if you took your bikini off anyone looking in this direction would think you were still wearing one. A white one."
"Not going to happen."