Grace spread her towel on the sand and stretched out on it – Sands joined her, sitting up.  "First tell me what color yours is," he said.

            "Huh?"

            "Your suit, Gracie, or what there is of one.  I'm guessing you're not part of the Bird Bird clan."

            Grace laughed.  "No, but if we're speaking in Muppet terms, then I'm Elmo."

            "The annoying little red guy?" he asked.  "Oo…red…Bold color choice.  I like it."

            "What don't you like, Sands?"

            "The fact that you're covering up perfectly good body parts."

            Grace shook her head and turned onto her stomach.  "So, tell me something that I'd actually like to know."

            "I never give out information for free, Gracie."

            "No?"

            "Nope."

            "All right…aside from sex, what do you want?"

            "There's something besides sex?"

            "Tons, believe it or not."

            Sands smiled.  "Well, since you asked…"

            "Uh oh…I think I should have been more specific."

            "…my body is still sore.  I bet you could heal me with those hands of yours."

            Grace raised an eyebrow.  "And I get, what exactly?"

            "Well, you get to touch me, first of all..."  Before Grace could retort in some way, he added, "…and I'll answer a few questions for you."

            "Fair enough," Grace said, sitting up.

            "You did notice that it wasn't hard to persuade you, right?"

            Grace put her hands on Sands' shoulders and began to rub.  "Your point?"

            Sands moaned thankfully.  "A personal masseur on top of everything else."

            "All right, you, time to answer a few things."

            "Just don't stop…"

            Grace smiled.  Believe me, I won't…  "How did you end up by yourself down here?"

            "Well, you see…mmm…right there, Gracie…After the circus decided that I wasn't doing my share…"  Grace stopped kneading Sands' back.  "Hey!"

            "I'm not going to do this if you won't take me seriously."

            A whining noise came from Sands.  "Fine.  I'm down here because I don't work well with others."

            "You don't say?" Grace said sarcastically.

            "I do much better work when I can…"

            "Manipulate?  Lie?  Steal?"

            "All of the above, Gracie.  For the most part, as long as I was out of my boss' hair, he didn't care what I did down here.  It's been…it was heaven.  Now I suppose I'll be forced to, I don't know, retire?"  He was quiet a moment.  "I don't feel your hands."

            Grace resumed her massage.  "O.K., so how about the non CIA you?"

            "I don't really remember that guy," he said surely.

            "Oh no?  I don't believe you."

            Sands let his body relax into Grace's touch.  He didn't want to talk anymore, but he didn't want her to stop touching him either.  "Fine…What do you want to know?"

            "Where are you from?"

            "Upstate New York.  What about you?"

            "New Hampshire.  Do you have family there?"

            Sands sighed, trying to play it off as enjoying his massage, but Grace knew better.  "Not anymore, no." 

            "Why not?"

            "What do you mean why not?"

            "Sorry, that didn't come out right…"

            "You know what, I think we need to reverse this."  Sands pulled away from Grace.  "Sit in front of me."

            "Wait, I thought you…"  Did I upset him?  Am I dumb enough to pass this up?  No…no, I'm not.  "O.K."  She moved so that she sat between his legs.  After a moment, she felt Sands' hands on her shoulders.  Not realizing it, she let out a breathy moan.

            "Like that, do you, Gracie?"

            "Uh…"

            He brushed her hair away from the back of her neck and let his lips graze her skin.  "How about you answer some things for me, hm?"

            Her head rolled forward, allowing Sands greater access to her skin.  Why did I just do…Hell, it doesn't matter…  "Shoot."

            "You may not want to use that word around me," he laughed.  "First thing I want to know: How'd you end up being in the right place at the right time?"

            Her body relaxing, and her mind following, she said, "I came here with my best friend – she insisted I had to get away for a while.  After a couple of nights, she took off with a waiter from our hotel.  I decided to see the "Day of the Dead" celebration – or war, whatever it was, really – on my own and…you know the rest."

            "Just my saving grace, huh, Gracie?"  He fully kissed the back of her neck.  He smiled as Grace shivered in the sweltering heat.  She turned around and put her right hand on his cheek.  Slowly, she leaned in and kissed him.  There was no teasing, no pulling back after a brief moment…just final, much needed contact.  Mouths parted, tongues brushed…then it was over.

            Grace leaned her forehead against Sands' and said, "You shared, I shared…"

            "Gracie, I am more than willing to share…"  Her finger was on his lips, preventing him from saying more.

            She couldn't get her voice above a whisper.  "Who are you?"  Gently, Sands took Grace's finger into his mouth and suckled at it; she was disappointed when he released it.

            "I'm what you need," he answered.  She leaned in to kiss him again, but he rose, a smile on his face.  "How 'bout we wade?"

            "Huh?"  Grace's guard was down.

            "Big wet thing over there," Sands laughed.  "I can't go in further than my knees, but it's hot as hell out here."

            You're telling me…  "Oh, yeah…Um…sure."  She got up and took his hand, leading him to the water.  "You know, Sands, that was…"

            "Dinner," he said, interrupting her.

            "What?"

            "Let's leave the room for dinner tonight."

            "O.K., under one condition."

            "What's that?"

            She smiled.  "Order something other than pork."

            "Only if we can order dessert in."

            "I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement."  This round goes to you, Sands…