Emily Peterson had earned this vacation. A single mother, she had finally gotten her only son through high school and now he was finally off to college. It had been a hard fight but she had won and done all she could for her son. It was up to him now.

It wasn't always bad. She remembered a lot of good times that they had shared. When her husband James was around, there was a lot of joy and good times in the house. James was one of those few precious men who was both a good father and a good husband. He provided well for the family and he took care of her needs as well.

But when Timothy their son was only thirteen years old, James was killed by a drunk driver on his way home from work, leaving her to finish raising him alone. Emily never remarried–there just was no one who could possibly replace her James.

Tim was a good son and he could have very easily slipped off the path and wound up like a lot of his classmates; smoking, drinking, and getting into all sorts of trouble. But he didn't. He somehow sensed that his mother depended on him to toe the line and he did, excelling in school and getting top marks.

His guidance counselor in high school was a very kind man and sort of took Tim under his wing, helping him both as a counselor at school and as a sort of father figure when he needed a man to talk to.

His counselor was also very good at writing grants and applying for scholarships and with Tim's good grades, he was able to finagle a full ride for him in college, a full scholarship. Which meant the money that Emily had set aside from James insurance and the little she was able to add from her work was not needed for his education after all.

So once he was set up at the college he chose, and she knew he would be all right there, she decided it was time to reward her for her efforts as well.

She went down to the travel agent one fall day after coming back from the college that weekend and she sat down with an agent to plan a trip to some warm climate. She'd had enough of Buffalo's cold winters and she decided she would store up some sunshine to make it through the coming one.

The agent talked about Hawaii and about some vacation spot in Mexico but she wanted to go someplace a little less crowded and commercialized. Then she saw a poster about travel to the Bahamas and she knew that was the place for her.

With the agent's help, she planned out a nice seven-day/six-night trip to Paradise Island, the main vacation spot in the small island nation. She would fly out of Buffalo to Charlotte, NC, where there was an hour and a half layover until she could continue her flight to Nassau. From there, it was a short cab ride to her hotel. Her flight would leave at 8:15 am and she would arrive in sunny Nassau at 1:50 pm.

Emily told her boss that she would like the time off and her boss agreed. So right after work on the day before her trip, Emily began packing. During the previous week, she had made the other necessary arrangements, having a friend watch the house, shopping for the trip, and getting the suitcases out of the attic.

One of the things she wanted to get was a new swimsuit. She hadn't had a new one in a long time. There wasn't much call for beachwear in Buffalo! So she wanted to get one for the trip. She took June, a galpal with her to shop for one, wanting another opinion on how she looked.

"What do you think of this one, June?" Emily asked, holding up a dark blue, one-piece number.

"That's okay, but it's pretty conservative. This is your vacation hon, you need to loosen up and let yourself have fun!" June said.

They looked some more and then June squealed "I found it! The perfect suit for you!" She held up a silver metallic, two-piece bikini.

"June, are you nuts?" Emily said, shocked. "I'm a thirty-eight-year-old mother! I have no business even looking at something so skimpy!"

"Posh! Honey, you have the body any twenty-five-year-old would like to have! Look at yourself sweetie–you are a hottie!" June said. And she was right, Emily had managed to take very good care of herself.

At five foot six inches tall with wavy reddish-brown hair down to the bottom of her shoulder blades and a very tempting 32D-25-35 figure, Emily was truly a knockout. And even though she was a thirty-eight-year-old mother of a now-college son, when she entered a room, she still got plenty of admiration from the men in the room!

"Besides," June continued, "You are going to the Bahamas and no one there knows you. This is your chance to be who you want to be. Not some middle-aged store manager, not a single mother with a son in college.

"Dammit, girl show the world you still have it! Emily honey, James has been gone for what five years now? You need to get back into the game girl. I know you loved James and I know he loved you. But he would want you to enjoy your life, not sit and pine away for him.

"Also, Tim is grown now, and you did amazing with him. It's time you started living for you! I'm not saying go out and marry the first guy you come across, but you can go out and have a good time. And hey, if the situation arises, maybe that fun can extend into something else.

"You will always love James, no one doubts that for a minute. But if the situation was turned around, wouldn't you want him to have a good life? Or would you rather he just crawl in bed and wait for death to come to take him? Sweetheart, that's no way to live."

"I-I don't know June," Emily said. June made a lot of sense and she knew June meant well. But still…

"Look, Em, you are going to the Bahama's, where whatever you do there will never get back to Buffalo, and where you can be the hot babe you used to fancy yourself as. The one you still are. So you get this damn bikini and when you get to the island and you are laying on that warm sandy beach, you show the guys there that you can rock it!" June said firmly.

"Okay, I'll tell you what. I will go try this on and if it isn't obscenely small, I will get it. Deal?" Emily said. She took the skimpy silver bikini into the back where the dressing rooms were with June right behind her. A couple of minutes later she came back out wearing the swimsuit.

"Oh my God, Emily! Holy shit girlfriend!" She grabbed her by the upper arm and dragged Emily in front of a full-length mirror. "Look at yourself, honey! Look at yourself!"

Emily looked at the woman in the mirror. If she hadn't seen her own face in the mirror, she would swear it was someone else. But no, that hot body belonged to her! "Oh my!" Emily said.

"Yeah, ‘Oh my!' Did I tell you or what? Now you GOT to get that swimsuit!" June said.

"Okay, Okay!" she giggled. She went back into the dressing room, got dressed in her clothes again and the pair took the garment up to the register so Emily could buy it.

The day of her vacation came and Emily was up long before she needed to be. Actually, she didn't sleep the night before, she was so excited about her upcoming trip. She was also a bit nervous... she had only been on a plane once before when she was little and this was a big trip for her, the first time she had flown by herself.

But the flight was on time and uneventful and before she knew it she was sitting in the Charlotte airport. She found her gate in the strange airport after asking for directions and she made it in plenty of time. Then she began the second leg of her trip. It too was uneventful and on both planes, it wasn't overly crowded.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, We will be arriving in Nassau in a few minutes. Please place your seats and tray tables in their full upright position in preparation for landing," the pilot said over the in-flight speaker system. Excited, Emily looked out the window and saw the beautiful islands of the Bahamas, the deep blue of the sea, and the sparkling white sand beaches.

Oh this is going to be such a wonderful vacation! she thought to herself. If she only knew what fate had in store for her…

The plane landed smoothly and she disembarked the plane. Making her way through the medium-sized airport, she found the baggage claim area and retrieved her bags. One more challenge bested. She had managed to arrive in Nassau intact, on time, and with all her luggage–she was on a roll! She hailed a local cab and 30 minutes later she was checking into her hotel.

She got a room on the fourth floor which was good; it was high enough to keep people from peeking into the window or hearing too much street noise and still close enough to get outside and to the beach easily.

The sliding glass doors in her room led to a small balcony which had a beautiful view of the beach and the ocean beyond. Her room was nice, it wasn't a big expensive suite, but it was still very nice, with twin double beds and a large flat-screen TV.

Emily unpacked her things and settled into her room. She was a little tired, not sleeping the previous night and all the excitement of the day, so she decided to take a short nap before dinner. She laid down in bed luxuriating in the soft bed, the clean crisp sheets and the sound of the outdoors coming through the partially open sliding glass door.

After a much-needed nap and a wonderful dinner at the hotel restaurant, Emily went back to her room. She poured over the dozens of brochures she had amassed for her trip. She began picking what she wanted to do and quickly realized she wanted to do all of them.

"How am I ever going to decide what to do?" she asked herself out loud. "Thank goodness I didn't go to Hawaii after all–with all the tourist and historical things to see there, I wouldn't have time for anything!" she thought. At least here she could get a good sampling of activities and everything was close by.

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The next day she got up early and had a quick breakfast before heading out for a day's adventures. Emily normally ate a small breakfast anyway so this wasn't much different, except that she didn't have to fix it and she had a much better view!

She had decided to spend the morning just looking around and taking some pictures. She had picked up a cheap digital camera before she left home so she could take a lot of pictures (June had told her she better come back with tons of pictures so she could show her all that she saw on her trip!)

Emily rented a car and began her tour of the island. She took pictures of everything she thought June would want to see, all the sights and even some of the people, both men and women. But seeing all the beautiful tanned bodies only reminded her of her pale Buffalo complexion. Emily needed to get some sun! So she returned to the hotel with that idea in mind.

Emily had heard all kinds of horror stories about those tanning booths so she had shied away from using them to get a "base" tan, wanting instead to get the real thing under conditions she could control more. Besides, it was time to try out that swimsuit and see if June had been right!

So she got a towel from the hotel room, her SPF30 sunscreen so she wouldn't burn and taking a deep breath, she left her hotel room. Rather than take the elevator to the lobby, she decided to go down the stairs to a side door that was closer to the beach than the main lobby. Besides, there were fewer people that way!

But June would prove right after all. As soon as Emily emerged from the hotel room and started across the street to the beach, she began getting admiring looks from the men she passed. A couple of cars honked at her and some younger guys whistled and yelled their approval at her. All the attention began working on her ego and she smiled.

Maybe June was right, maybe I'm not the tired old mother I thought of myself as! she thought to herself. The ego boost was just what she needed and she began to be more comfortable in the shiny, skimpy garment.

Emily found a nice spot on the beach away from a lot of people. There were still a few people around here and there but the bulk of the vacationers were further away. This would do nicely. She laid her towel out and took her place on the warm Carribean sand.

The warm sand and sun felt wonderful and Emily could tell almost immediately she would have to be very careful; it would be very easy to fall asleep right here and if she did it would NOT be a pleasant vacation after all! Emily wasn't so fair-skinned that she burned easily, but she wasn't used to the strong sun of this part of the world.

After a bit of laying on her back, she wanted to get some sun on the other side so she sat up. Looking to her left she saw a woman laying on her stomach as well but there was something off… wait, she had no top on! Emily smiled to herself

It must be nice to be so free-spirited. she thought.

But then June's words in the swimsuit boutique came back to her: "Look, Em, you are going to a place where no one knows you, where whatever you do there it will never get back to Buffalo, and where you can be the hot babe you used to fancy yourself as. The one you still are." June had said.

She looked around; there was no one really close to her, the girl sunning herself topless was her closest "neighbor". And she wasn't close to the access path to the street, so no one really would see her easily. She thought about it for a moment, and with a devilish grin she untied the back of her top and slipped it off over her head, laying down quickly on the towel.

The sun felt just as wonderful on her back and she lazed around on the towel for a while, mentally kicking herself for taking so long to do this. I should have taken this trip a long time ago. she thought.

Emily was soaking up the sun and totally relaxed, more relaxed than she had been in a long time. All of a sudden a large seagull swooped down and snatched up the silver bikini top she had tossed to her side! Emily screeched when she saw what was happening, causing the bird to fly away with its treasure.

Emily instantly sat up, grabbing her towel and wrapped it around her, and ran back to the safety of the hotel. She ran into the side door she came out of and up the stairs, praying that she wouldn't run into anyone until she was back in her room.

But Emily was in for another surprise when she got to her room–she had left her pass key inside in her anxiousness about going outside in that damn bikini!

Well I sure as hell can't go down to the lobby like this! she thought to herself. With little recourse, she swallowed hard and knocked on the door across the hall from her room.

Terry Adams was sitting in his hotel room, relaxing while watching some TV before he went to dinner. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Who could that be?" he said aloud. He hadn't ordered room service and it wasn't the usual time for the maids. Besides, they usually announce themselves.

He got up and answered the door; there in the hallway looking very distraught was a beautiful woman wrapped in a white hotel towel!

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I have accidentally locked myself out of my room. And as you can see, I can't exactly go down to the lobby and ask the front desk. Can I call the front desk from your phone and get someone up here to unlock my door?" she asked.

"Sure, come on in! The phone is right over there," he said, opening the door for her and pointing to the telephone.

"Thank you," she walked around the one double bed and called the front desk, explaining that she had locked herself out and what room it was. When she had finished, she turned and Terry was holding up a jacket for her.

"Here you can wear this... it's better than that towel," he said, offering her the jacket.

"Thank you. My name is Emily," she said.

"Terry, Terry Adams," he said, waiting for her to get the jacket on before offering his hand.

"Thank you, Terry," she said, smiling.

"So tell me, Emily, how a woman such as you came to be standing, half-naked and wrapped in a hotel towel, outside my door? I know you locked yourself out of your room, but you are wearing bikini bottoms and my jacket now, a rather unusual combination!" he said, grinning.

Emily turned three shades of red as she explained the whole ordeal. When she finished she said, "The front desk said it may be a few minutes before the bellhop can get up here, I hope that's okay?"

"Well, I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I turned a woman out in such a state… and I'd be a damned fool if I turned out such a beautiful woman that way!" he said with a wink.

Emily's blush deepened. They began talking and found out that both of them were down here for vacation. Emily told him about her son going off to college and how she was celebrating his graduating high school.

"Get out! You have a son in college? What did you have him when you were five years old or something? You don't look anywhere near old enough to have a son in college! Oh I know, he's one of those child prodigies; seven years old and starting college, right?" he said.

"Oh you are a charmer aren't you! No, he's no prodigy and I didn't have him when I was five years old. Actually, my son Tim is a freshman this year at Utica College. He is getting his M.B.A. in Business Administration," she said.

"That's great," he said. "Utica is a great school."

"I like that he is still close to home, you know the mommy in me still wants her baby close by!" Emily said.

"So where is home?" he asked.

"Oh, I live in Buffalo, New York," Emily said.

"Buffalo? Oh my gosh, I live in Lancaster! I can't believe this, we live 30 minutes apart!" he said.

"Really? That's wild!" Emily said. About that time there was a knock on the door and the bellman had arrived. He opened Emily's door and she showed him the passcard proving she belonged in the room. Satisfied he left, and Emily turned back to Terry.

"Terry, Thank you for helping me, how can I repay you?" she asked.

"Well, I'll consider us even if you will accompany me to dinner. I've had fun chatting, and it's nice to see a face from home!" he said.

"I'd like that. What time do you want to go to dinner?" she asked.

"Well it's 3:00 now so how does 6:00 sound?" he said.

"6:00 is fine. I will see you at 6:00 then. Pick me up here?"

"I'll be here. I know a nice restaurant close by with a spectacular view," he said.

"Sounds lovely," she said.

After Emily went back to her room, Terry went downstairs and to the spot where Emily said she was laying when her top was pilfered by that pesky seagull. He looked around where she was laying, but he couldn't find it. So he went to the nearest lifeguard station, a couple of hundred feet down the beach.

Knocking on the door, he asked the lifeguard on duty, "Excuse me but has anyone turned in a silver metallic bikini top, just the top? My girlfriend was down here earlier today and said that a seagull swiped it from her!"

The lifeguard said "A woman did report seeing a gull swipe it from a lady next to her, but the woman ran off before she could retrieve it. Hang on a second." He went in the back and came back with the bikini top. "Does this look like it?"

"Yes! That's it. Thanks a lot!" Terry said, stuffing it in his pocket. Terry went back to his room, planning on giving it to her at dinner that night.

Terry knocked on Emily's hotel room door promptly at 6:00 and Emily called out from the bathroom, "Come on in Terry!". She had left the door ajar just a few minutes before Terry came to the door. He came in closing the door fully behind him. "Have a seat, I'll be right out!" she called from the bathroom. Terry had a seat on the edge of the unused bed and waited for her to finish getting ready.

"Hi, sorry to make you wait!" she said as she came out of the bathroom. She looked amazing with a mid-thigh length red stretch-knit dress that hugged every curve she had like a second skin. Sleeveless, it had a daring V neckline that showed a very appealing cleavage and the back dipped so low the Emily almost thought twice about wearing anything under!

"Wow! Don't worry, it was worth the wait! You look spectacular!" he said.

Emily blushed, "Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I have to tell you right now it's been a long time since I did this dating thing so if I'm a little clumsy at it…" she said.

"Don't worry about it, I'm not the smooth operator I appear to be either! Besides, if you start to stumble on what to say I'll just kiss you and change the subject!" he said, taking her hand.

"Okay," Emily said, giggling. Terry offered her his arm and they walked to the elevator and down to the lobby. He walked her to his car, a rental too, and seated her gentlemanly. She liked the attention and chivalry he was displaying, making her feel very special.
He drove them to the restaurant and they walked inside. The hostess met them and took them to their table.

"Oh wow! You weren't kidding about the view, Terry… it's beautiful!" Emily said.

"It certainly is," he said. Emily looked at him and he wasn't looking out the window! Emily blushed, and looked down, smiling at the compliment.

"You sure blush easily Emily. I like it, you look cute when you blush!" he said. Which of course made her blush more!

The hostess gave them both a menu and they looked over what they wanted. "What is good here Terry?" Emily asked. Terry had been to this restaurant before and knew what to order.

"Well, they make a really good ribeye steak. That's what I'm having," he said.

"Then I will have that too!" she said.

When the waiter came to take the order, Terry ordered for them both. "We'll both have the ribeye steaks, I want mine medium rare and the lady will have her's medium, both with loaded baked potatoes and the side salad. Oh, and a couple of glasses of your House Cabernet," he said.

"Very good, Sir. I shall get these right in," he said and went off to turn in their order.

"Excuse me, Terry I'll be right back," she said when the waiter left. He got up when she stood and she went off to the ladies room.

Emily went up to the sinks and looked at herself in the mirror. She was alone in the restroom for the moment which was good. "What are you doing girl?" she asked herself, "You just met this guy today and you are fawning all over him! Sure he saved you from a ton of embarrassment when you lost your top, but still, that's no call to act like a silly schoolgirl over the guy!"

But then another voice, the one inside her head had its say: Yes, but look at him; the man is very good looking. And he really seems to like you. He has a good job, you know that already, and the best part, he lives not too far from you! So this won't necessarily have to be a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of vacation fling.

Emily was torn as to what to do. She loved her husband James, she always would. No one could ever take his place in her heart. But she had been alone a long time and Terry seemed to be a good guy. Now that Tim was away at college, she would be all alone.

That fact scared her and when was honest with herself, was one of the deciding factors in taking this trip. Just so she wouldn't be alone quite yet. She thought about what was waiting for her when this trip was over,  which would come far too quickly. She was having a wonderful time but she knew it wouldn't last forever.

She looked at herself again; she'd better get back out there to him. She would see how the dinner went and play things by ear for now. She touched up her make up a bit and headed back out to the table.

Once again Terry stood as she approached and seated her, pulling out her chair and then pushing it back in when she had sat down. He was very gallant and she appreciated the thoughtfulness of it.

"Oh before I forget, I believe this belongs to you!" he said taking her bikini top out of his pocket and holding it out to her, under the table so no one would see.

"Oh my God! Where did you find it?" she asked taking it from him and slipping it into her purse.

"Well after you got back in your room, I went down to the beach to try and find it for you. At first I couldn't find it, but I went to ask a lifeguard and apparently, a lady laying next to you had watched the seagull take it. When you ran back to the hotel, she watched as the seagull dropped it, it wasn't food, after all, I guess.

"She turned it into the lifeguard and I told him that my girlfriend lost it. I hope you don't mind me saying that. Anyway, now you can go sunbathing again. But this time when you go topless, might I suggest you lay on your top so it won't get stolen again?" he smiled.

"Yeah," she giggled. "Thank you, Terry, for finding it. For everything today," she smiled sweetly.

The steaks came shortly afterward and the two began eating. Terry was right again, the steaks were wonderful and since she had missed lunch in all the furor, she was hungry. They ate and drank while they chatted some more. Terry wanted to know about her past and about Tim, he listened intently as she told him about her James and what had happened there.

He listened while she talked about her job and the trials of being a store manager. He let her go on and on about herself and he listened carefully to every word as if taking notes in his head.

After dinner, they headed back to the hotel. Emily was quiet on the way home and Terry wondered why. But he figured she was just tired from the days' excitement so he didn't think too much about it at the moment. He walked her up to her room and as she stood in her doorway he asked her if she had plans for the following day.

She said she didn't so he invited her to go for a boat ride to one of the close-by islands. She agreed and then he said goodnight. He didn't try to kiss her or make any kind of move on her since this was their first dinner date. She went inside and gave him a smile as she shut the door.

Behind that closed door, it was another matter, though. Emily stood there with her back to the door fanning herself. She was completely taken with this gentleman! He caused her heart to race and she could feel a wetness between her legs that she hadn't felt in a long time!

She stood there for several minutes trying to compose herself with little luck. She was giddy, her head was reeling and her knees were weak and wobbly. She went to the mini-bar and got a bottle of peppermint Schnapps and poured it into the shot glass, downing it in two gulps, trying to steady her nerves.

But nothing seemed to work. She next tried to go out on her balcony, thinking sitting outside in the cool evening air with the sea breeze would help her cool down. She sat outside her room for about a half-hour, but all she did was recount the days' events over and over in her mind, just enhancing the fever she felt.

Finally, she came to the realization that she was interested in this guy... VERY interested.

My God Emily, you are such a fucking slut! Here you just met this guy and you would like nothing more than to sleep with him right off! You are a dirty little whore! she thought to herself. But the thought made her smile. Yes, she was a little slut and yes she would like to feel a man on top of her again.

James was an excellent lover, but it had been so very long. She hadn't dated, much less slept with a man since James died. But then she had never met anyone like Terry before, either.

The more she fought with this, the clearer the outcome became. Finally, she got up from her chair and went through her hotel room to Terry's door. She knocked on it and was about to turn tail and scurry back into her room when he opened the door.

Terry had removed his shirt and was standing there barefoot in just his jeans. "Hi Emily, is there something wrong?" he asked.

"In a way… can I come in?" she asked.

"Sure," he said, stepping aside and then closing the door behind her. She went over and sat on the unused bed while Terry sat on the one he was sleeping in. "What's going on?"

"Terry… I don't know how to say this… I came down here to celebrate my son going off to college and to sort out what I was going to do now that he was out of the house and on his own. I figured getting away from Buffalo and everything I knew there would give me a clearer picture," she said.

"Yes, you told me all this. So what's wrong?" he asked again.

"Well, to be blunt, you."