Charming: A Modern Day Sexy Cinderella Story

by Jennifer Miller

  The pool is already crowded though it’s barely mid-morning, several people already occupying lounge chairs. Sporadically positioned around the pool are wooden huts - some expose various merchandise, others contain art activities. We pass several, most with different items for purchase - jewelry, suntan blocks and oils, snack food, towels, even snorkels and goggles; two contained various shaped and types of ceramics to paint. No one actually entreats us to make a purchase, but smiles of encouragement abound.

  The main attraction is a stone statue of the very naked God of the sea himself, Neptune. He must be at least eight feet tall and is looking out at the pool before him while holding his trident at his side. People wait in lines to take photos with him although I have no idea how they are getting all of him in the photo. No matter where you’re standing, it seems as if Neptune is watching you – rather creepy really. I briefly think of Katie and smile knowing she would have something sarcastic to say about Neptune’s very large member.

  Stopping at another wagon that looks like a mini office, Asher hands me a sunblock canister from his backpack, “Here, why don’t you start putting this on while I take care of something really quick.”

  “Okay,” I nod and smile taking the can from him. Walking to an empty chair, I remove my cover up and start spraying every reachable spot on my body with the sunblock. The sun can be fierce and while I want my fair share, I certainly don’t want a sunburn to interfere with other shall I say, opportunities. When I’m finished, I look to Asher to find that the man he’s talking to is writing something down, but Asher’s eyes are completely on me. Sunglasses perched on top of his head he’s got his arms crossed over his chest, which makes his biceps bulge. His intense eyes rake my body, making me feel as if I’m naked. Chills run over me from the heat in his gaze, and I like it. He clearly finds me attractive, and it feels good. Suddenly, Asher’s intense look turns into a frown. Before I can wonder about it too long someone speaking distracts me.

  “Excuse me, miss?”

  Breaking eye contact with Asher, I turn to find a man smiling coyly at me. He’s shirtless, wearing navy swim trunks, and his blonde hair sticks up in spikes all over his head. He’s muscular, and certainly attractive, but has nothing on Asher. “Yes?”

  “I saw you spraying sunblock on yourself and thought it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t offer to help you.”

  “Help me?” I ask confused.

  “I thought I’d spray your back for you since you can’t reach it, if you’d like. I’d hate for you to get sunburnt because you miss the middle. My name is Brandon by the way, and you are?”

  “She’s my wife,” Asher answers to my surprise before I have a chance to respond. His eyes are intensely focused on Brandon. “And I’ll be taking care of her sunblock, and anything else she needs, thanks.”

  Brandon looks immediately to Asher and holds up his hands in retreat, “Sorry man, my bad.”

  “Yes, it is,” Asher replies, possessiveness clear in his tone and the look on his face. It excites me and I’m not ashamed to admit my core clenches with desire.

  “Sorry again,” Brandon says as Asher takes the sunblock can from me and wraps an arm around my waist. Brandon starts to walk away but not before looking at Asher again and doing a double take. “Hey. Are you… yes it is… dude, you’re Asher Charming. Oh my god, I’m a big fan. I’ve seen all your Jack Danger movies.”

  Asher flashes a brief smile, “Thanks. Sorry to run, but my wife and I have somewhere to be.”

  “Yeah, no problem man. Wow. Asher Charming. Sorry for hitting on your wife.”

  Asher nods and waits for me to grab my cover up off the chair before we begin walking toward the stairs that lead to the beach. “Sorry,” he mumbles looking embarrassed, “not that I should be surprised. But I’m still sorry.”

  “Why?”

  “I didn’t much care for sunblock boy back there wanting to give you a hand. Not that I should be surprised. Do you have any idea how amazing you look in that bikini?”

  Looking down at the pink, orange and white paisley and floral halter suit I’m wearing, I feel pleasure wash over me at his words. “Thank you, and don’t apologize. A second more and I think Brandon would have been spraying me down whether I wanted him to or not. I probably would have passed out from the fumes.”

  Chuckling, Asher nods and finishes applying sunblock on my back. Then I return the favor before we begin walking down the beach, to where, I have no idea. I walk beside him, barefooted, thankful the sand isn’t hot yet, and absorb the view of the ocean. We pass lounge chair after chair of sunbathers. Many others stand individually or in small groups; others play games of Frisbee, four square, or beach volleyball on the sandy ocean front. Looking down the beach, I see a few flying kites while others sit, making sand castles. Women, men and even some children of all ages walk up to us and entreat us to purchase various types of merchandise. I’m blown away by how much they can carry at one time. Blankets, jewelry, toys for children that fly into the air, beach towels. One woman even has hanger after hanger on her arms of dresses and sarongs.

  We politely decline each person until a little girl no more than the age of six walks up to us and places a bracelet against Asher’s wrist. She doesn’t say a word; it’s a silent plea to purchase something from her. Asher immediately halts in his tracks and drops to his knees. “How much, sweetheart?” She stares at him and he asks her again, this time in Spanish. “¿Cuanto, amor?”

  She smiles and replies, “Tres dòlares.”

  He looks at me, “Which one would you like, princess?”

  Smiling, I lean down to the little girl and quickly browse through her treasures. I wonder if she made them, and ask Asher, “You can speak Spanish?”

  “Just enough to get by.”

  “Can you ask her if she made these?” I ask running my finger along the tightly braided and wrapped bracelets imagining the hours she and her family put into the task.

  Asher points at the bracelets and says, “¿Tú las hiciste?” The little girl nods and Asher and I both smile. This time I know enough to say, “Muy hermoso.” Very beautiful.

  She smiles shyly, “Gracias.”

  Because it reminds me of the ocean, I pick out a teal and royal blue bracelet and hold it to my wrist. “I love this one.” Asher selects two others and then digs his wallet out of his backpack, handing the little girl a twenty-dollar bill. When she tries to give him change in pesos he shakes his head no. Smiling widely, she tells us thank you and scampers off, likely to go brag to someone about her profit.

  “You just made her day, I think.” Asher smiles and shrugs, placing the other two bracelets in his backpack along with his wallet before zipping it up once more. “Will you tie this on me?” I ask holding the bracelet to my wrist again, and he complies. When it’s on tight, I shake my wrist around smiling at how it looks. “Thank you, for the bracelet.”

  “It’s not a big deal, but you’re welcome,” he says kissing me on the nose and I wrinkle it in response. He shakes his head at a couple other people that approach us to see if he’s interested in purchasing from them too, likely after seeing him pay the little girl.

  We continue our walk and before long we finally arrive at a large tent on the beach. There are men standing around underneath holding clipboards, there’s a few tables and chairs, life vests hanging from the top of the tent and a half dozen personal water craft – Wave Runners, Ski Doos, Sea Doos, Jet Skis and the like, just waiting for riders. Realizing what we’re about to do, I look at Asher and smile widely jumping up and down while clapping my hands. “Are we going out?” I ask while pointing at the watercrafts.

  He rolls his eyes at me in humor likely because it’s pretty obvious that’s what we’re doing. I just keep clapping and he laughs, then turns to talk to one of the workers. While he’s doing that, a young man comes up to me, smiling shyly and shows me where I can stash my cover up, then fits me for a life vest. After I’m vested I’m given a list of rules and a waiver to sign. As
her’s already signed his and he’s got a vest on too. Looking into my eyes, his lips half curled in a smile, he leans toward my ear slowly and whispers, “Damn. You’re even hot in a life vest. Maybe they’ll let us take it with me when we leave.” Feeling pleasure at his words I playfully push him away, but he grabs my hand and kisses it. I continue to feel his lips even after they’re gone. Ready?”

  “Yes!” I reply exuberantly, which makes him laugh. I don’t even care, I’ve always wanted to ride one of these but never had an opportunity so I can barely contain my excitement. I listen closely as a worker tells us how the wave runner works. He points out where the speedometer is, how to speed up and go slower, tells us what to do if either of us should fall off, and reminds us that we aren’t allowed to go near the rocks and points to the perimeter area once more. Finished with the instructions, we climb on and two men come to each of our crafts and push us out into the water. We’re supposed to glide until we’re individually given a go ahead to start the engine, press on the gas, and then head on out.

  As soon as I’m given the go ahead, I immediately take off, standing in my urgency, as if it will make me go faster. I’m anxious to feel the wind in my hair and the cool water splash my face. Keeping my runner facing straight, I easily glide over the water further and further away from the shore and other watercraft activity. I’m exhilarated by the speed as my runner skims the surf faster and faster and find myself laughing out loud over and over as I soar over the water like it’s not even there. Occasionally, I catch the front or backside of a wave and the front of my runner hits it making a large splash into my face. I squeal with laughter every time.

  Finally remembering Asher, I slow down, turn my runner around and look for him. I grin as I quickly locate him, not too far behind me wearing a wide smile of his own. I slowly release the throttle, idle, and wait for him to reach me.

  “Hell woman,” he laughs as he slows and circles me. “One minute I’m looking back at the guy to watch for his signal to go, the next I turn around and look only to stare at your cute ass as it flies away!” He cracks up and makes me laugh too.

  “I’m sorry, I was so excited I didn’t even think. I’ve always wanted to do this! Thank you so much! This is the best surprise.”

  “We’re just getting started, princess. Come on, let’s go!”

  Without another word he takes off and I follow his lead, leaving space for the worst of his wake, laughing as we pick up speed. There are a number of other people on watercrafts as well and as we pass each other they create various sizes of wakes. Depending on their size and proximity to us, at times we’re splashed in the face with salt water and I blink my eyes quickly to clear them. With each splash I can hear Asher’s laughter drifting on the breeze and it makes me smile so hard my cheeks hurt. I realize he can probably hear my enjoyment as well, depending on the direction of the wind.

  He’s heading toward The Arch, or El Arco, a landmark here in Cabo San Lucas. It’s a distinctive natural taffy-colored lofty rock formation that rises out of the water and is itself the extreme southern end of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, where the Sea of Cortez flows into the Pacific Ocean. It’s also knows as “Land’s End” and is a popular tourist attraction. When I won the vacation and did some research on Cabo, I read that The Arch is called Land’s End because as a crow flies if you were to follow its line south from Cabo, you would not touch land again until you reach the South Pole. In fact, it is the focal point of many souvenir pictures. Moreover, when Katie and I went shopping together there were several paintings, statues, and other trinkets depicting the landmark making it clear the residents are proud of their Arch.

  Getting as close to it as we can, it’s very impressive and I feel very small and almost insignificant in its presence. “Ella, look!” Asher calls to me and I follow the direction he’s pointing.

  “Are those…? Oh my gosh!” There are gray seals on the rocks at the bottom of the arch. Some are sunbathing, a few repeatedly diving into the water and resurfacing. They are keeping a happy distance from people, but seem to be undaunted by our presence. Asher and I move as close as we dare. “I wish I had a camera so I could take a picture.” I can see their dark eyes and whiskers from here. Asher’s floating so close to me our runners bump into each other, but we just glance at each other and smile before looking back at the seals. A few barks from them make me smile wider, “They are amazing.”

  “They are.” With a final look at them, Asher gives me a sly look. “I’ve got a proposition for you.”

  “Another one? I don’t know if I can handle more.”

  “Don’t worry, princess, I’ll do all the handling. You just hang on for the ride.”

  “Clever,” I tell him with a lift of my brows.

  He simply smiles mischievously, “Come on! Race you!” Before I can reply he takes off spraying me in the process and I scream from the cold water. Pushing the hair out of my face, I race after him. I even get to my feet again, feeling more in control and instinctively aware that it will assist me with turns even if it doesn’t really make me go faster. He looks back for me a few times, and I can see he’s laughing. We continue on like this for a while – he shows off and does zigzags, and goes so fast I don’t even try to catch up. Eventually, we slow down and drift next to each other once more.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t let me win!” I teased.

  He grimaces but I can see his mouth twitch with humor, “Oh shit. Does this mean I totally won’t get to have my way with you now?”

  I gasp in mock protest, “How dare you sir! I am a lady.”

  “A lady, huh? Funny, I don’t remember you being very ladylike the other night.”

  Gasping louder this time, I feign anger, “You offend me! See if you get a repeat now.”

  “I can be persuasive,” he says with so much heat in his gaze that it ignites a fire in my belly. Without a doubt, those words are a promise.

  “This is so much fun,” I tell him needing to switch topics - for now.

  He gives me a long look before accepting the change in subject. “I have a couple of these in California, but I don’t take them out nearly as much as I would like.”

  “Too busy?”

  “Yeah, I have been lately. I forgot how much fun they are.”

  “I can tell you’ve done this before. I’m too afraid to crank it as high as you are. You were flying.”

  “What? How fast have you gone?”

  “I’ve gotten it up to thirty five miles per hour.”

  “Aw, come on. I bet you can get it up to at least forty, forty-five.”

  I wrinkle my nose unsure, but shrug, “I can try.”

  “Come on,” he says. Off we go again, racing in the opposite direction, being sure to stay within the several miles long perimeter we have to work with. I accelerate even more and push past my fear and get it to forty, but immediately back off the throttle and let it fall back down again. Such speeds make me feel as if I’m going to fly off. I have a vision of my body flying airborne above the craft as I do my best to hang onto the handles. Yikes, no thank you. I’d prefer to not fall into the ocean. Especially so far out here. With my luck…well best not to push it.

  “How’d you do?” Asher asks when we slow down once more.

  “I got to forty that time.”

  “That’s my girl!” he laughs and pumps the air making me laugh.

  “Oh! Asher! Look!” I saw a disturbance in the water and thought it was a fish jumping at first. I’d seen a few do that while riding, but realize it wasn’t a fish at all, they’re turtles. The water is clear enough that we can see them moving under the surface.

  “Cool. I see three?”

  “Four!” I say pointing at another.

  We watch until we can’t see them any longer. “We need to start heading back,” Asher tells me and I nod. We only had an hour and the time flew by so quickly. As we turn and face the shore, it’s crazy how tiny everything looks from this distance. When you’re having fun
and just going with the flow, you don’t realize how far out you really are. As we make our way back, I’m not sure how Asher’s able to tell which direction we’re supposed to go, but I follow him as he brings us immediately perpendicular to the tent where we need to return. As we get closer, workers come forward and help push us onto the shore and then help me get off.

  “Fun, senorita?” The man helping me asks.

  “Yes! It was a blast! Thank you so much!” I tell him wobbling a little as I make my way across the sand. He smiles and nods at my exuberance, kindly grasping onto my elbow, but then Asher comes and takes my hand. Under the tent we remove our life vests, get our things, and head back down the beach toward the Rosé. This time we aren’t in a hurry and we walk along the shore, dragging our feet in the water. Asher holds my hand the whole time and doesn’t let go. It feels right, my hand fitting perfectly in his.

  At one point the water suddenly pushes to the shore roughly and before we know it we’re up to our knees. Laughing, I squeal at how cool the water is now that I’m underneath it. Having stood still for a moment when the water came in, my feet are instantly buried in the sand. “I’m stuck!” I tell Asher and with a laugh, he comes and pulls me out.

  We make our way back up the steps when we reach the Rosé and stop at their showers to wash the sand off our bodies before venturing forward. He holds my cover up as I wash and then I hold his backpack while he does. “There’s a restaurant here,” Asher points at a place attached to the hotel with a large patio that sits on the beach. “We can eat there, or we can sit by the pool and order food from one of the waiters. Do you have a preference?”

  “Hmm, I vote for laying in the sun and eating by the pool. Is that okay with you?”

  “Absolutely,” he smiles. He pulls his hat out of his bag again and I wonder briefly if he’s worried about being recognized, but the thought passes when he grabs my hand once more and leads me to a couple lounge chairs after we grab some fresh towels from a wagon supplying them for guests. While I get myself situated, Asher flags down a waiter and gets menus for us. “What looks good?” he asks looking over at me from his chair.