He must have turned on the charm, because the next thing she knew, Lee had signed on as a sales rep, even though her first impression was: "Wow, this guy's a handful," she remembers.

For Guzman, a former football player and bodybuilder who now works as general manager of 24 Hour Fitness in Kane'ohe, persistence paid off. He made her laugh. He liked her down-to-earth personality and the fact that she didn't need makeup to look like a natural beauty. It didn't take long for their professional relationship to turn personal.

It did take a while, however, for them to agree on a future together.

The first time Guzman proposed, about four years ago, Lee said no.

It was a spur-of-the-moment proposal, "almost in an attempt to keep her," Guzman recalls. But his timing was off.

"We kind of realized I jumped the gun and both took steps back," he said. "There were times in our lives we were not always as close, but we loved each other." They parted for about eight months.

That was long enough for them to realize they wanted to be together.

"It let me know how much I love her and need her to balance me out," Guzman said.

Instead of fighting a battle of wills, they began to figure out how to complement each other.

"He's the jolly good fellow," said Lee, now a Castle & Cooke development project administrator. "He's very humorous. I'm a little more quiet."

Their second go-round has been more fulfilling than their early days together.

"He's a very romantic, loving, tender kind of guy, beneath all that masculinity," Lee said. "He surprises me with birthday cakes. He's thoughtful, caring and funny."

She fell in love with his family, which is larger than hers. And he fell in love with little things like her cooking, some of the same Puerto Rican dishes (such as pork turnovers and Spanish rice) he grew up with. They come from similar backgrounds. She's half Puerto Rican, and he's Puerto Rican/Spanish. He introduced her to a lot of social events and nightlife, and she introduced him to snorkeling, biking and hiking.

The second time he asked for her hand, Lee said yes.

Guzman, 40, a Radford High grad, and Lee, 35, who went to Maui High and Farrington High School, wed Aug. 28 in a morning ceremony at Luana Hills Country Club on the Windward side of the Ko'olau mountains. They honeymooned on an Alaskan cruise. They live in Kane'ohe.

Guzman says he's promised to do whatever it takes to make her happy from now on.

"If she's going to be with me the rest of her life, I want her to be happy," he said. "We strengthen each other in this walk in our life. I gotta try to do the best I can."