Chantel smiled at him as she shook his hand, still wondering about the funny accent, but didn't pry.

Having lived in Cape Town her whole life, she was used to the city overrun by all sorts of tourists.

Without letting go of her hand, he pulls her toward the steps that led down the cliff to the ocean. Surprised by her body's willingness to almost do anything this stranger asked, she cleared her throat uncertainly.

He turned around, still not letting go, and said with a mischievous glint in his eyes, 'Do you think that I saved your life just to try and do a better job of it me?'

He gave her that shy smile of his and winked before continuing his way down the steps. She passively followed.

…………….

The sun warmed sand felt good on her naked feet as she stood up after sitting down to take off her sneakers. Her hero walked down the beach a bit and as she moved toward him, she had to comment on the setup he had going… umbrella, cooler and some deck chairs.

He smiled as he settled into one of the chairs and indicated she do the same.

'Well, I ran away from my family early this morning and so I packed everything that I would need today. Do you think I have everything a South African beach experience should have?"

Chantel sat down and made a thoughtful face, 'well I don't see the zebra food and no steaks for the lions if they come to make a turn here…'

She seriously could not keep a straight face when his eyes went wide, and he started glancing up and down the empty beach.

Her loud laughter echoed off the cliff face and blew away with the breeze.

Realizing that she was taking him for a joke, he smiled sheepishly, running his hand through his wavy hair.

She finds herself feeling sorry for him and says, 'going to the beach here, or in the south of France or LA is still the same – plenty of sunscreen, liquids and a beach mat is about all you need.'

Smiling and noticing his already pink shoulders, 'speaking of which, have you not put any on?'

He shrugs off his tee shirt, picks up the tube of cream, and starts patting his shoulders in the futile effort of getting some on his back. He sighs and looks at her imploringly, 'could you please…?'

Smiling slightly she takes the cream and spreads it onto his muscled shoulders, down his back, his neck and even his ears. Silently, she admitted that it would be most enjoyable if she were in a different headspace. She sighed and said, 'There you go!'

Nodding thanks, he bends over the cooler and asks, 'hungry?'

She nodded and he brought out some wrapped sandwiches that looked like they were made by a 5 star restaurant.

She took the sandwich out of its wrappings and hungrily took a huge bite, and gave a groan at how wonderful it tasted. She realized he was looking at her with a funny look on his face.

She guiltily swallowed and gave him a frown as she asked, 'what?' – before taking another huge bite.

He snorted and took a big bite out of his, before answering. 'You are not like the girls from home… and certainly don't eat like them.'

While saying that, he started waving his sub around, and in the process, the sandwich leaked out greenery and tomato all over his hair. She silently giggles as he tries to shake it out.

'Wait, let me do that…you are just making it worse.' she volunteers, as she gets up and starts picking out sandwich filling from his wavy hair.

Feeling the soft curls under her fingers, she shivers at the thought of how different the morning could have turned out…

………………

The early afternoon is quiet in the heat, and lying in the shade with her eyes closed, she can clearly hear Joe next to her hum silently to himself.

They had spent most of the morning this way, lost in their own thoughts, comfortable with the silence.

Every so often, Joe opens the cooler and produces another snack or something to drink. She smiles, when he does it for the hundredth time… 'That is one magical cooler; it's a bottomless source of munchies. Do you ever stop eating?' she jokes.

He just smiles and shrugs his shoulders, 'no, I don't think I do…'

She giggles at that and has a sip of whatever he gave her. She feels happy and closes her eyes again, this time drifting off to sleep, with his humming as a soothing lullaby.

………………

The setting sun glinting of something from afar is what wakes her up. Disorientated for two seconds, she looks around and sees Joe's chair empty. She yawns and stretches, wondering where he is. Standing up and scratching in the cooler, she sees it's almost empty.

'So much for it being magical…' she mumbles regretfully to herself, and has a sip of the last bottle of water.

A blinding ray of light again catches her eyes and she looks for the source. Joe is standing a way down the beach on his cell, clearly talking to someone. While talking, he is reflecting the sunlight, right into her face with his sunglasses. He winks playfully at her and she sticks her tongue out at him.

He had apparently been for a swim, as his hair is dripping slightly and he has sand sticking all over his back. He smiles and waves at her, and after she gave a small wave back, turned away from her and started pacing up and down. The conversation apparently was getting a bit heated, because Chantel could hear his voice, but could not make out what he was saying.

After he ended the call, he walks over to her and gives her one of his disarming smiles… for a moment she cannot think of anything but his smile and those warm brown eyes. She shook her head, trying to shake away the question her mind was asking: would his lips be as soft as they looked…

He starts drying his hair with a towel and then holds it out toward her. He smiles shyly and asks apologetically, 'could you please rub off the sand from my back. It's itching like crazy…' he gives a sigh of frustration and does a little wriggle dance of annoyance. He turns his back to her and she starts wiping his back.

His skin is the color of caramel and she can't help to run a finger down his shoulder blade, making his skin burst out in goosebumps. He turned around and the silent question was clear in his eyes.

Clearing her throat, she looked behind him, at the sunset, and held her hand out to him, 'come lets take a walk and enjoy the sunset.'

He smiles and his fingers wrapped around hers, making her feel like she was wrapped in a cocoon of safety.

A little voice in the back of her head tried to ask her how it was possible to feel so close to this stranger. Someone she had only met and although she had spent the whole day with him, technically, she knew nothing about him.