If you’d told me six months ago that I’d be here on my supposed honeymoon alone, I would’ve laughed and said “no way”. As it happens, a lot can change in six months!

I’d been with Mark since college, we’d been inseparable all through college and then a few years later, marriage seemed like the next logical step forward in our relationship, after all, we were living together. The wedding was planned and honeymoon booked, as the time drew nearer however, I began to wonder if this was really what I wanted. I loved Mark, but wasn’t sure I was in love with him, or whether I wanted to spend the rest of my life married to him. He deserved to be with someone who loved him with a passion I no longer felt, and I deserved that too. It wasn’t an easy task ahead of me, but it had to be done and the sooner the better. So one evening, we sat down and I got it all off my chest, telling him everything that was bothering me and although he was heartbroken, I had to stick to my decision, I couldn’t marry him.

So now here I was, my first day in Hawaii on the honeymoon that we never cancelled, totally alone, but loving it. I was staying in a fantastic resort, right on the beach where the palm trees swayed gently in the light breeze. It was paradise! I really didn’t mind being alone, I planned on lying on the beach for most of the holiday with a good book and maybe a little bit of sightseeing when the fancy took me.

After showering and putting on one of the skimpy bikinis and sarongs I’d brought, I grabbed my bag and threw in a towel, bottle of water, sun screen and a book. Then I put on my sunglasses and flip flops and headed outside into the beautiful sunshine. I would never tire of the sight of this place, it was truly breathtaking.

After a couple of hours of reading, I decided I needed to cool down in the crystal clear ocean, it looked so inviting, it would’ve been a shame to neglect it any longer. I put my book down and took my sunglasses off and then stood up and wandered down to the ocean. I was surprised at the warmth of the water, back home even on the hottest of days, the water still had a coolness to it, but here it was perfect. I waded in a little deeper until I reached a depth that I could swim in. I didn’t swim out too far as the waves were bigger than I’d anticipated, no wonder it was the ideal location for surfers.

“Surfing” I said to myself, now that was something I wouldn’t mind having a go at. All those bronzed bodies out there made it look so easy, so graceful and so exciting and I wanted a go. I got out of the water and walked back to my belongings, drying off quickly, I grabbed my bag and decided to go and take a look.

I knew I wouldn’t have to look too far for surfing lessons and I was right. Just off the beach I spotted ‘Howie D‘s Surf ‘n’ Snack Shack‘, the sign was bright and inviting and I walked in and breathed in, the smell of coconut, freshly baked muffins and other equally delicious aromas assaulted my nostrils. It was not what you would call a shack though! Far from it! One half of the shop was a snack bar, selling things like muffins, sandwiches, ice cream, hot and cold drinks, etc. The other section contained everything possible relating to water sports, from surfboard wax to jet skis, it was a well stocked place.

“Can I help you at all?” came a voice from behind. I couldn’t really place his accent, but he was obviously American mixed with something else maybe?

“Just wondering about surfing lessons” I replied as I turned to look at the man who’d spoken to me. I almost lost the power of speech when I saw him. Chocolate brown eyes, deeply tanned skin, thick dark hair and a body that called out to be touched, he was a fine looking man, even if he wasn’t all that tall. Wow, oh my god, he’s gorgeous!

“Well you’ve come to the right place, I‘m Howie by the way” he said and flashed me the most brilliant smile I’d ever seen.

“I’m Maddie” I replied, smiling at him. It was hard not to smile in his presence.

“Have you been surfing before?” he asked

“No, never” I replied, hoping I wasn’t openly drooling over this total stranger, albeit a very gorgeous stranger.

“And how long are you here in Hawaii?” he asked.

“Two weeks” I said

“Well, I think by the end of those two weeks, we should be able to get you surfing” he said with a genuine smile and walked us over towards the back of the shop where his laptop was. His smile slid and a frown appeared on his face after tapping details into his laptop.

“Something wrong?” I asked

“No, not at all. When would you like your first lesson?” he asked smiling again.

“How about tomorrow? Any time is fine by me” I replied

“Tomorrow’s good, but it’ll have to be early, is 8am too early for you?” he asked

“Not at all, 8am is great, thanks Howie” I said “what do I need?”

“Oh, we’ll supply all that for you, you just bring yourself OK” he said and I thanked him again and left. I was looking forward to this surf lesson.

~*~

The following morning I was up nice and early and eager for my first ever surfing lesson. I decided on a sturdier bikini today and once dressed, I left to go and see who was waiting for me down on the beach.

“Howie!” I said in surprise when I got down to the beach and saw him waiting there.

“Hey Maddie” he said, with a smile.

“What are you doing here? I thought…”

“Yeah, well, we were fully booked for lessons so I figured I’d teach you myself, hence the early hour” he answered shyly.

What a sweet lovely guy

“You didn’t have to do that for me” I said

“Couldn’t have you come all the way to Hawaii and not get to surf!” he said, smiling again. It was then that I noticed he was only wearing shorts. My god, what a fantastic body he had! I couldn’t help it; my eyes travelled the length of his body, taking in the beautiful sight of him.

We spent a couple of hours together, I didn’t manage to stand, but it didn’t matter, I’d made progress by the time the lesson came to an end, and I’d enjoyed Howie’s company.

“Same again tomorrow?” he asked as he dried himself on a towel.

“Yes” I said. Yippee!

“See you Maddie” he said and we said goodbye.

I went back to my hotel for a late breakfast and Howie went to work. I spent the rest of the day by the pool, reading, and swimming and then I took a walk along the beach. Wonder if he’s single? What’s he doing tonight? Argh, why was I thinking these things? I’d just met the guy!

The following morning I was up nice and early and ready for my next lesson. I got to the beach before him and sat down on the sand, looking out at the ocean. It was so beautiful here; I didn’t think I would ever tire of this view.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” he said and I gasped and turned quickly. I hadn’t heard him approach and it kind of caught me by surprise. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to startle you”

“No, I was just in a world of my own” I replied and he sat down next to me. We talked for a while and then decided we’d better get on with the lesson.

“I think I might actually master standing up today” I laughed as we carried our boards down to the ocean and waded in.

I laid down on my board and paddled out deep, just like Howie had shown me. We waited out there until the time was right and then began paddling as the wave approached.

“Now” he called out and I saw him get to his feet and stand on his board. He looked like some sort of god, he was perfection.

Following his lead, I got to my feet and managed to stay upright, trying to mirror what Howie was doing. Woohoo, I’m doing it, I’m friggin surfing. Then all of a sudden, I lost my balance and was falling. Something hard hit me on the head and next thing I knew, I was gazing up into Howie’s worried looking brown eyes.

“Maddie…Maddie are you OK?” he was asking, and it took me a moment to realize that he was holding me in his arms and we were on the beach.

“I’m fine” I said. Our eyes lingered on each other for a while before either of us said another word.

“Come on, let me take you back to your hotel” he said and helped me to my feet.

“But, the board?” I started to protest, I worried if I’d broken it.

“Don’t worry” he said as he placed his arm around me and turned me towards the direction of my hotel. I had to admit, I liked the feel of his arm around me and the close proximity of his body to mine. I wondered if he was feeling this electric current, or was it just me? I don’t know if it was the bump to the head, or the feel of Howie’s arm around me, but I felt dizzy and lost my balance. Before I had a chance to fall, he swept me up into his arms and carried me the rest of the way. I flung my arms around his neck and held on to him. My god, I’ve died and gone to heaven.

“Well, here we are” I said when we reached the hotel “thanks”. I didn’t want this moment to end.

“Are you sure you’re OK?” he asked as he set me down onto my feet.

“I’m sure” I replied “thanks for bringing me back, that was really nice of you”. Ask him in you stupid woman, go on, you know you want to!

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then” he said and released his hold of me. I was sure I detected a hint of sadness in his voice. Don’t flatter yourself Maddie; he’s an Adonis, why would he like you?

“See you Howie” I said. I turned to look at him once before walking inside.

Once inside I walked into the bathroom to examine the damage. That’s going to bruise. I had a scrape down my left leg, a bump on the back of my head and a small graze across my face. I dampened a small hand towel, then went to lie on my bed and placed it against my face, hoping that the cold would minimize any swelling and bruising. The next thing I knew, I was waking up and it was almost time for lunch “must’ve dozed off” I said to myself and got up off the bed and stretched.

I tidied myself up in the bathroom and then went to get something to eat. I found myself walking through the doors of Howie’s shop, without really knowing how I’d got there. The smell of the freshly cooked muffins and paninis was making me so hungry, so I walked over to the counter and ordered myself something. I took a brief look around, hoping for a glimpse of Howie, but he was nowhere to be seen. Letting out a sigh, I paid for my food and found a little table by the window, overlooking the ocean. Lost in my own little world, I didn’t realize that someone was walking purposely over towards me.

“Hey Maddie” he said “how you feeling now?”

“Oh…hi Howie. Yeah, I’m OK now, thanks” I replied.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked

“Of course not” I replied and he sat down.

“I was going to come over later and check on you, make sure you were OK” he said.

“Aw, that’s really nice of you Howie, you didn’t have to do that though” I said

“But I wanted to” he said, looking at me with those gorgeous, sexy, deep brown eyes. Oh god, I wanted him

We talked for what seemed like hours, I must’ve been keeping him from his work, but he didn’t say anything.

“What are you doing tonight?” he asked “I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me, I know a really great restaurant, the food is delicious. If you don’t have plans that is”

“I’d love to” I replied and he said he’d come and pick me up at eight.

I left soon after; I didn’t want to prevent him from working anymore than I already had. Plus I’d have to decide what to wear later, and I wanted to take a swim and relax for a couple of hours in the sun before going out later.

At five to eight, I left my room, checking one last time that I looked OK in the mirror. I’d decided on a long floaty dress and a pair of strappy wedge heeled shoes, I left my hair down and added a few loose curls and had put on some make-up, but not too much.

“Wow Maddie, you look lovely” he said, his eyes widening as soon as he saw me.

“You don’t look so bad either Howie” I told him. Which of course was a complete understatement. He looked more than not bad, he looked absolutely drop dead gorgeous.

The restaurant was as good as Howie had said, we ate our delicious meals, had a few drinks and talked, then he asked if I’d like a walk along the beach.

“I’d really like that” I replied and he took my hand and led the way.

It was now completely dark outside with only the moonlight reflecting off the ocean, sending a lovely glow out. I took off my sandals and carried them in one hand, my other hand in Howie’s. The sand had cooled a little and felt nice between my toes. I wasn’t really watching where I was going, too busy thinking about what a perfect evening this had been, when all of a sudden, I tripped and fell into the sand, dragging Howie down with me.

“Are you OK?” he asked

“Uh, yeah” I replied and looked up into his lust filled chocolate brown eyes. I was sure that mine were mirroring the look in his eyes.

He slowly brought his mouth down, all the time looking at me as if to make sure I was OK with it. Then our mouths met in the gentlest kiss, making my whole body tingle. I wrapped my arms around him and he deepened the kiss, our tongues dancing together, hands wandering over each others bodies.

I knew I should’ve done something to stop this, after all, I hardly knew him. But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to.

He began trailing hot kisses down my neck and along my collarbone, then back up to my ear and across to my lips again, he was driving me wild! I began unbuttoning his shirt, wanting to feel and see more of him. The shirt was soon in a heap in the sand, along with my dress shortly after.

“I think those shorts need to come off Howie” I said as I tugged them down and they soon joined the rest of the clothes. I was shocked to see that he had no underwear on; it was a nice shock though.

“I always go commando” he said, taking note of my surprise then bringing his mouth crashing back down onto mine, kissing me hungrily. His mouth trailed down my body and he gently removed my underwear, kissing along my legs as he did so and then kissing back up again.

“Are you sure?” he asked, breaking off from a heated kiss to make sure I was still OK with what we were doing.

“Yes” I moaned and wrapped my legs tightly around his waist, pulling him in to me. I was so turned on; there was no way of going back now. I wanted him and I wanted him right now. I didn’t care about the sand going everywhere, although we were now lying on his shirt, so the sand problem wasn’t so bad.

We made love under the stars and basking in the moonlight and it was beautiful. Howie was a fantastic lover. Afterwards, we lay there, our bodies entwined, completely content.

I knew there was no possibility of a relationship with Howie, and I wasn’t the type of person to have a one night stand, but this had just felt so right.

We walked back towards my hotel some time later and he kissed me goodnight.

"See you tomorrow?” he asked, his eyes burning into mine.

“You bet” I said and we kissed once more before he turned and walked off.

After that night, we spent as much time as his work allowed together. We’d surf, walk along the beach, eat and make love. It was perfect and he was just what I needed.

On my final night there, we had a picnic on the beach; he’d brought some little candles which were dug into the sand to give off a soft glow. It was so romantic.

“I’ll race you to the edge” he said, getting up off the blanket and stripping off down to his underwear (he'd decided to wear some that night).

“Hey, that’s not fair” I pouted, but he just laughed and tossed his clothes aside whilst I began undressing. I ran after him but he was in the ocean before me, splashing around and flicking water at me. Then he grabbed me and pulled me close, my arms snaking around his waist, wanting him closer still. We began kissing and he lifted me up, wrapping my legs around his waist, I could feel his hardness digging into my very core. Damn underwear, it had to go, I had to feel him in me, making love to me. As if knowing exactly what I was thinking, he began striding out of the water, still holding me tight, my legs still wrapped securely around his waist.

We got back to the blanket and he lowered me down, with one effortless movement, his shorts were off and then my knickers were cast aside.

“Now, where were we?” he murmured as he lowered himself down and settled himself between my legs.

“Right about here” I whispered in his ear and then licked and kissed down his neck whilst running my hands down his back and wrapping my legs around his waist.

It was heavenly. His thrusts became more forceful and my hips bucked up to meet his, getting ever closer to release. He grabbed my leg and pulled it so that it was over his shoulder, driving into me even deeper and harder, making me scream his name over and over as waves of ecstasy washed over me. He held back no longer, letting his own orgasm take over, his face contorting in pure bliss.

We eventually had to go back. I still had to pack to go home, back to reality. My flight was an early morning flight too, god, I was going to be knackered!

“Well, I guess this is goodbye” I said as we stood in front of my hotel, delaying the inevitable. We both knew that this had been a good thing between us, but were realistic to know that this was the end.

“I guess so” he said and pulled me into his arms one last time, kissing my hair softly and then moving his lips to mine.

“Thank you for everything, I’ve had the best time” I said

“No…thank YOU” he said “why does it have to be so complicated though” he sighed

“I know” I said sadly. I could’ve quite happily stayed here. But this wasn’t real life, my life was back in England and I wasn’t about to throw it all away for a holiday romance, even though Howie was everything I could’ve possibly wanted in a man, plus more.

We said goodbye then and I headed back to my room to pack. A few hours later and I was on the plane heading home, I turned off my phone as it was early morning and I didn’t want it ringing and disturbing other passengers who were equally as tired as me. I closed my eyes on the plane and drifted off to sleep, I must’ve needed it because I slept most of the way. I dreamt of clear blue sea, sand, surfing and Howie.

As soon as I was off the plane, I switched my phone back on and noticed that I had a text message. Clicking on it, I stared in disbelief

Just checking you got home OK, Howie x

How the hell had he got my number? I don’t remember giving it to him. Or had I? I had a smile plastered across my face as I text back.

Just landed. How did u get my number? I’m not complaining though J

I hit send and waited to see if he replied.

I couldn’t let you just go like that; I’m not ready for goodbye.

I smiled to myself and held the phone against my chest. Maybe this could be more than just a holiday fling after all.



THE END