The beer and the wine coolers were easy to pick up, but as long as they were out they decided to just drive around Lihue a little to see what was there. It was an interesting city, if on the small side, and it didn’t take much suggesting on Jane’s part to get them out of the car and walking around a bit, looking in stores and such along the way. It would help them get a little better flavor of the place.

It was a fun walk. They came to a store that stocked sportswear and swimwear; mindful of their earlier discussion, Jane suggested that they go in to see if they could find anything that she thought was a little more appropriate for him.

There was a men’s section, although small; it was stocked mostly with board shorts and conventional swimming trunks, the latter of which Jane thought would do very nicely. However, there was a small selection of Speedo-style racing swimsuits. “That ought to do,” she teased him.

“That’s awful small,” he replied dubiously.

“Hey, one of those would cover more on you than my whole most conservative bikini,” she giggled. “I mean, fair’s fair, and you probably wouldn’t wear it as far as the main house.”

“But I’d, uh, be showing an awful lot. You know what I mean. Especially when I, uh, look at you.”

“But what if it’s something I want to see? I mean visual confirmation of what I’m doing to you. Besides, I think you’re pretty sexy yourself and I’d like to see you showing it off a little.”

“You promise me you won’t laugh at me?”

“Not a chance,” she grinned, realizing that this was more serious than the mild tease she’d intended. Rick took these things seriously, and she was going to have to be more careful about it. “I’d never laugh at you over something like that, Rick. I like you too much. I won’t make you buy one and I won’t make you wear it. I’d like it if you did, but you don’t have to. But if you do get one and intend to wear it, you can find the skimpiest, sexiest swimsuit in this place for me and I’ll wear it for you.”

“Oh, all right. Just for you.”

She hadn’t intended to talk him into it, but it appeared she had, and while it wouldn’t be cheap – the swimsuits in this place tended to be amazingly expensive for the amount of material concerned – it would be fun, and might cement them a little closer together. “Good enough,” she smiled at him. “Now go find something that will really make your tongue hang out when you see me wearing it.”

There were plenty of possibilities – the shop had a lot of Brazilian thong bikinis, some with amazingly thin material which seemed more appropriate for a stripper than for a beach, far more radical than even the wildest one she and Sophia had bought back in Boulder. She had a little fun watching him go through them, sometimes holding one up to get an idea of how it would look. Oh, well, a deal was a deal.

While he was looking, without consulting him, she picked out a couple pairs of runner’s shorts that she thought looked better than the casual shorts he had on, then happened to stumble across a rack of very conservative women’s swimsuits. They were so conservative that her mother back in Hartford might have bought something like that for her in high school. One, which seemed to be about her size, actually looked nice; it was a yellow one-piece with black trim, and a short skirt. It fit loosely, and probably wouldn’t have revealed much about her shape. It was marked down considerably, much less than swimsuits in the place that didn’t have a twentieth of the material. On a whim, she added it to her collection before Rick settled on what had to be the skimpiest swimsuit in the place, bar none. It was not the kind of swimsuit she would have selected for herself, even with Sophia urging her on, but she rationalized it by thinking that only he would see her in it, she wouldn’t be wearing it for long, and that it could lead to some pretty good sex, and likely pretty quickly, too.

Rick didn’t notice the yellow one-piece swimsuit until they got to the checkout, and didn’t say anything then since the clerk was at the register, but as soon as he got outside he asked, “What did you buy that yellow thing for?”

“Insurance,” she grinned. “I said I’d wear that tiny thing for you if you wear your Speedo, but if you don’t, this is the only swimsuit you’re going to see me wearing.”

“Jane, you’re making things hard for me.”

“Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?” she laughed. “I mean, make you as hard as possible?”

Rick thought about it for a moment. “Can’t argue with that, I guess,” he said finally. “But wow, once again, this is something I’ve dreamed of that I never imagined could really be happening to me.”

“We’re not done yet, Rick. Not by any means. It’s just going to get better.”

There was an electronics store not far up the street, with a display of cameras in the window. “Did you bring a camera with you?” she asked.

“Never thought of it,” he admitted. “I didn’t even think about it. Jane, to be honest, I never figured we’d get far enough to need anything of the sort.”

“Maybe we ought to get something to take a few snapshots to remember this trip by.”

“That might be fun,” he agreed. “I used to enjoy playing with cameras back when I was in school, but I haven’t done anything with them since then. Can I take some pictures of you in that bikini I bought for you?”

This was an angle Jane hadn’t thought of. Wearing a bikini that racy just for her husband was one thing, but pictures . . . that carried it to a different level. But she’d pushed things pretty hard with him. “Sure,” she said after a moment. “So long as you don’t put them on the Internet.”

“But suppose I would like to put a picture or two of you in it on the Internet, just to prove to some people that I can really marry a sexy babe after all?”

“Well, maybe,” she sighed, realizing he had her in a trap about as bad as the one she’d gotten him in over the Speedo. “I just want to approve them first, just so I can see they’re not too wild.”

He wound up buying a pretty good Nikon, a lot more camera than she was thinking of, but he said he’d enjoy figuring out all the functions and learning how to use it, and she could see he meant it. “You’re feeling sort of tech-deprived, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” he agreed. “I didn’t bring a laptop with me, and Sophia made me promise to not buy one. I really feel out of touch.”

“Maybe she was right. She said you tend to sit down at a computer and get lost. This trip might wean you away from them a little.”

“That’s what she said, and I hadn’t realized how hard it would be. At least you’ve given me something else to think about, and I’ll be honest, you make me think about it a lot.”

Given their late start and the time they had spent, they realized they’d get back too late for the lunch buffet at Lunahilo Bay, so they found a small restaurant and had something to eat. “We could drive around and check this place out some more,” she suggested. “Or we could head back and try out the swimsuits.”

“I’d like to see more of this place,” he said. “But I’d like to do it after I’ve figured out the camera a little. Why don’t we make a short trip every day and spread it out over the length of our time here?”

“Besides, you want to see me in that bikini, don’t you?”

“Of course. But I want to see you out of it, too.”

Rick was coming along, she thought as she drove them back to the resort. He was really getting over his shyness, especially with her, and she could see signs that he was going to be a lot of fun to be with in the long run. Maybe that would give them a good basis to build a life on when they got back to Colorado and the real world. No way to be sure, of course, but at the moment things looked promising.

Back at the resort they were soon out of their street clothes and getting on their swimsuits. Rick really did look good in that Speedo; it showed that he really had a good package, and would show very well when she was turning him on.

For her part, the mechanics of tying on a string bikini bottom was a bit of a challenge, especially one as tiny as that one, but he helped her out with it, even though it was off again almost before she got it all the way on. It really covered very little, and she was now just as glad that the girl in the shop back in Boulder had overdone the bikini wax by more than a little because what little pubic hair she had left was barely covered. It was clear it wouldn’t matter the instant the tiny thing got even the slightest bit damp. It was definitely going to take some getting used to, especially the strange feeling of the string going up the crack of her butt.

He stood back and took in the view. “That makes you look like you mean it,” he grinned.

“Of course I mean it, Rick.”

“Yeah, but that suit makes you really look like it, and I like what I see.”

“Oh, god, I’ve created a monster.”

“That’s what you were trying to do, wasn’t it?”

“I guess,” she sighed. “Come on, it doesn’t count if we just wear these inside. We really ought to get a little sun. I’ll grab some sunscreen, we can douse each other down and then see if we can get a little color to make it look like we really were on vacation in Hawaii.”

“Actually, since we’re on our honeymoon, don’t we want to stay pretty white to we can show off what we were really doing?”

“Like I said, I created a monster. We can’t do that all the time. Come on, let’s go lay out in the sun for a while.”

Rubbing sun-block all over each other was a lot of fun, and by the time they were done both they were pretty close to ready to head back inside and get rid of the swimsuits for more intimate activities. But, as Jane put it, now that they’d gone to the trouble they might as well make use of it. Rick actually spent some time lying in the sun on a lounge next to Jane, but he was so white she didn’t let him stay out for long. While she continued to roast herself in the tropic sunlight, he found a shady spot, took the camera out of the box, and started on the manual.

After a while she got a little curious. “How’s it going?” she asked.

“Making progress,” he said. “There are functions here that are going to take me a long time to figure out, but so far, so good. It really seems to be working quite well from the pictures I’ve taken of you.”

“I didn’t know you were taking pictures of me.”

“Well, these are just test shots so they don’t matter much. You’re just something to take pictures of, rather than nothing much. When I get this thing figured out a little better we’ll take some to mean it.”

“I don’t know how you can figure out what all those little buttons are for, anyway.”

“That’s what I’m working on. I think I’m going to get some great shots of you.”

As he turned back to figuring out the camera, it didn’t take Jane much to realize that sooner or later he was going to be taking some nude pictures of her, not that she wasn’t pretty close to being nude right now. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that; in reality she hadn’t been a person to flaunt her body, at least up till now, although she’d sure been doing it the past couple days with Rick. That had been with good reason and it had worked out well, although she had to admit that she’d enjoyed doing it.

While they’d made a lot of progress with each other thanks to some pretty good sex, among other things, they still had some hurdles to get over. That part of Sophia’s plan had worked just fine, but it clearly wouldn’t work forever. A honeymoon was fine, but all too soon they were going to have to head back to their regular lives, and it couldn’t have the same kind of power it had right now. In fact, there was the possibility it could lose some of the excitement even before they headed back.

The simple fact of the matter was that they still had a long way to go in developing common interests – if they even had any, other than sex. He had his computers and software, but she had, well, nothing in particular in terms of hobbies or interests. She had her degree in art history, but she’d been tired of it even before she’d graduated, and she sure couldn’t see snagging a job that allowed her to use it.

Looked at objectively, they didn’t have much in common. Maybe it was time to start working on that.

“Hey, Rick,” she spoke up. “I’ve been thinking about it. We really don’t know all that much about each other, do you agree?”

“No we don’t,” he replied. “I’ve been thinking about it, too. Like I’ve said, it seems like a miracle that you’re in my life, but I can’t help but wonder how I’m going to be able to keep you in it.”

“We need to explore that a little,” she agreed, rolling on her side to be able to look at him better; she could see that he had the camera in his lap, looking at her. Apparently he liked what he saw. “For instance, is there any kind of music you like?”

“Not particularly,” he replied. “I hate country music. I heard too much of it while I was growing up. In fact, I’d have to say my favorite music is light instrumentals, something to fill silence without any words to distract me. How about you?”

“I hate country too, and probably pretty much for the same reason. I don’t like rap or heavy metal or like that, either. I’d have to say I like light rock, mostly because I don’t have to think when I hear it. Now that you mention it, sometimes I like light instrumentals, too. Not the classics very much, they can demand too much of my attention. I can get along without music in the background if I need to. How about cars?”

“I’ve got my old Oldsmobile, it’s the only car I’ve ever had, but you know I don’t like driving and I don’t do it if I don’t have to. That was one of the nice things about where I lived in Boulder, there was a bus stop not too far away on a line that went directly past the office. I don’t know what Sophia is going to do about finding us a new place, but I’m afraid it’s not going to be that convenient.”

“I guess I’m not real big on cars, either,” she agreed. “I mean, I don’t mind driving, but cars are transportation to me, nothing more. What do you like on television?”

“Not much,” he shook his head. “I don’t even own one. It seems like such a distraction.”

“Well, there’s something we have in common,” she said. “I don’t own a TV, either. Every roommate I’ve ever had seems to have had one. I used to watch the news once in a while but it got too disgusting. Other than the weather, there wasn’t much to interest me.”

“I find the Internet perfectly adequate for all the weather forecasts I need. I know you’re not into software development, but do you use computers very much?”

“Only when I’ve had to,” she admitted. “On the job, of course. At home, once in a while. I have a laptop in my car back in Boulder, but I don’t think I’ve had it on five times since I graduated and the battery is probably flat. If I had a reason to use it I would, but I don’t often have reason to. I go to movies once in a while, but not very often since I don’t like to go by myself.”

“What do you do in your spare time, then?”

“I read a lot,” she admitted. “Usually nothing heavy, although with my degree I spent some time reading medieval and renaissance history, and I sort of enjoyed that. I’ve never had much of an interest in recent history, although I have to admit that I’ve found that book on World War II in the Pacific I bought back in Las Vegas more interesting than I thought it would be. I haven’t gotten very far into it yet, though.”

The discussion went on for a while and explored several different areas. Neither of them particularly liked dogs, for example; he could tolerate cats, while she liked them although she hadn’t had one since Hartford. They both preferred warm weather to cold, but both of them were pretty much inside workers, so it didn’t affect them much. While she’d never done much traveling, the thought of seeing new places like Hawaii interested her; he’d never considered it much, although this trip was turning into something more interesting than he had expected. And so on.

“You know,” she said after a while. “I think I see a pattern developing here. We’re both pretty low-key people without big interests outside of your software work. We tend to like quiet things and don’t like distractions, although they seem to bother you more than they do me.”

“I liked coding for years, that’s for sure.” he agreed. “The heck of it is that I can’t do it now and won’t be able to do it for a few years more. I keep thinking that in some ways it was a dead end for me, and I’m not so sure how badly I want to go back to it when the non-compete clause in my contract with Comsector expires. I just can’t think of anything else that I want to put that kind of effort into, but having to sit on my butt with nothing to do really has me climbing the walls. I think that’s why I let Sophia talk me into this in the first place, although it’s worked out fantastically so far.”

“Guess we’ll have to think about what’s next,” she agreed. “But maybe we don’t have to rush it.”

“Sophia said the right idea would come along sooner or later and that maybe you’d help me find it.”

“Well, I don’t have any big ideas right now, but something ought to come up sometime.”

They were still talking about it desultorily a few minutes later when they heard Bianca’s voice: “Getting some sun, huh?”

“Actually, I’ve probably gotten to the point where I might have had enough,” Jane replied, trying to be polite in spite of their private discussion being interrupted. She glanced up at Bianca, who was wearing a bikini of her own, although no anywhere near as blatant as the one Jane had on. Even letting Bianca see her wearing this one was a little bit embarrassing. “So are you doing anything this afternoon?”

“Not much,” their visitor said. “Chuck decided to take a nap and I thought I’d see if I could find out if there was anything else happening.”

“Nothing much here. Rick and I were just having a little talk.”

“I sure like that bikini. It really makes you look hot.”

“Rick seems to like it,” Jane replied tentatively, not liking something in the tone of Bianca’s voice.

“You look good in it. I don’t know if I’d wear something like that for Chuck. It might give him too many ideas, and he gets enough as it is.”

“You just got married, and that’s what a honeymoon is for, after all,” Jane grinned, noticing that Rick, as usual, was sitting back and not saying much of anything.

“Yeah, but it seems like it’s all Chuck wants to do. I don’t mind the attention right now, but it gets to be a little too much at times. He doesn’t seem to realize that sometimes girls like to have other kinds of fun, too. At least girls usually know how girls like things.”

Jane thought that was one hell of a statement for her to be making, especially right in front of Rick. She picked up on what Bianca was really saying, of course, but it seemed like she was talking right past him, as if he weren’t even there. Perhaps not, though; if he hadn’t been there Bianca might have been even more blatant. “I’m not finding it to be a problem,” she replied neutrally. “Rick has been able to push my buttons quite adequately.”

“It’s not the same thing, you know,” Bianca replied with a little throatiness in her voice.

“Well, whatever rattles your chain, I guess,” Jane replied dismissively, trying to make it clear that she understood what Bianca was talking about, and that she wasn’t interested. She didn’t want to be impolite, but it wasn’t her idea of fun. She figured the best she could do would be to change the subject. “I seem to recall from last night that you worked at Hooters. Are you going to keep doing that?”

“Not on a bet,” she snorted. “Now that I’ve got Chuck paying the bills, there are other things I can do with my free time, and friends I can do them with. How about you? Are you going to stay working?”

“I don’t know,” Jane admitted. “I’m laid off right now, which is part of the reason we got married when we did. I don’t know if I’ll go back to where I was working, but I’ve got time to look for other things to do. I know I’m the kind who needs to be working at something. I just can’t sit around and be a stay-at-home housewife.”

“Yeah, I don’t want a pack of little brats running around the house, no matter what Chuck seems to want. It’d be stupid to waste my life that way. There are other, more fun things to do and I plan on doing them.”

“We haven’t gotten into that question yet,” Jane replied with a glance at Rick. “Other than to agree that it’s something we both have to agree to when the time comes, but neither of us think it’s here yet.”

“It’s not going to get here, no matter what Chuck thinks,” Bianca said. “But hey, if you’d like to get together sometime when the guys aren’t around, I’m willing.”

“I don’t think so,” Jane replied coldly. “I came here to be with my guy, not without him.”

“Your loss,” Bianca grinned. “If you change your mind, let me know.” She grinned again, then turned and walked away with a swivel to her hips, well, like a Hooters girl in high heels, which she wasn’t wearing.

“Good grief,” Jane said to Rick as soon as their visitor had left. “Did you see that?”

“I did,” Rick nodded. “Is that what I thought it was?”

“It sure as hell was,” Jane sighed as she watched Bianca walk away. “I’ve had guys hit on me in bars and not be as blatant as that. I thought there was a good reason I didn’t like her.”

“You know I’m not very good with people,” he shook his head. “Even I picked up on it, and she said it like I wasn’t even here. It looks to me like Chuck has got more trouble on his hands than he bargained for.”

“Me, too. I had a real committed lesbian for a roomie once. Not Madelyn, long before that, the pot smoker. I think I told you about her. She really had it bad. She said she’d never had a man inside her and never intended to. I don’t think Bianca is quite that bad, but there’s no doubt in my mind she’s a switch-hitter at best and mostly sees Chuck as a meal ticket she can lead around like she wants and still do what she wants to do.”

“I wonder if he knows about it.”

“Might be,” Jane shrugged. “But I’ll bet he doesn’t. Sooner or later he’s going to find out, and when he does it’s not going to be pretty. Come on, let’s go inside.”

“Are you tired of lying in the sun?”

“A little. But I want to remind myself about just how good it is to be in bed with you. Maybe that will get some of the bad taste of being around her out of my mouth.”

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