As Caroline slept, her hair falling across her face, James arose, splashed water on his face, and walked out on the balcony. The beach was empty in the early morning light, and the sun was only beginning to glitter on the water stretched out before him.
He turned back into the bedroom, lowered himself onto a chair, and began doing tricep lifts. After three sets of 10, he moved toward ab crunches. On vacation, the regimen would be relaxed, though he would run in the late afternoon and then lift weights for a half hour in the outdoor exercise room.
As the slight rustling of his exertion seeped into Caroline's consciousness, she slowly awoke. James watched as she sat up, noting the outline of her nipples through the thin tank top as she sat up in bed. And then, as she glided toward the bath, his eyes were drawn to her firm hips in the silk thong. As he watched, he could feel the beginnings of desire.
When Caroline emerged from her shower, prepared for breakfast, she wore a filmy white shirt over a tropical sarong. Dorothy Lamour hadn't worn a sarong as well. As they walked past the flowers, there was a flash of tan, firm thigh, as Caroline's legs were seen, then hidden, then glimpsed again. Then the smell of hot coffee and freshly baked bread enveloped them as they entered the dining area.
Caroline and James got plates and strolled along the buffet tables. Tempted by the scent of bacon and eggs, they opted instead for warm rolls and oranges. A fresh breeze blew in from the water as they sipped the strong coffee grown in the high country near Mandeville, where the elevation and the tropical climate combined to produce a coffee as fine as any cultivated in Kenya.
A copy of USA Today was available, but the daily record of discord and calamity seemed remote in the paradisaical setting. Yes, there were problems there as well -- crime and poverty were the reasons for resorts designed as separate enclaves -- but there were also times to decompress and let the troubles of the wider world drift away.
As they left the dining area, they took half-filled ceramic mugs of coffee with them and strolled to the beach. There, before them, were 30 or 40 people already on the beach. As they gazed out at the sparkling water, a slender, darkly tanned, nude man in his early 40s came up, introduced himself as George, and engaged in what he himself mockingly called "resort banter 101" (where you're from, how long you're staying).
As he talked, Caroline was first completely aware of his nudity, the oil on his body, and her feeling of slight awkwardness at the situation. Soon, however, she began to enter more comfortably into the conversation, and soon they were all laughing and joking amiably.
