The trip to the beach was everything Stephanie wanted it to be. Despite the frigid air they had fun and they pretty much had the beach to themselves so they got to walk, play and talk in almost complete privacy and it helped her come to a decision about Hunter.
When they arrived home from the beach they were both freezing cold and curled up on the couch under blankets with a couple of mugs of cocoa, she had one more day off and then she would have to face him and tell him what she had decided, there would be no discussion it would be a simple two minute conversation if it lasted that long.
Hunter had spent the rest of the weekend avoiding any and all trouble because he knew that Stephanie was likely to be back in work in Monday and he was desperate to see her again and test out Rebecca's idea.
It was Monday morning and Stephanie was stuck in a dilemma over what lingerie set to put on, why was she having such a dilemma? Because one part of her brain was shouting that Hunter was bound to love the black one and the other part of her brain was shouting about how pretty the yellow one was. Taking control of her brain she shoved the black lingerie set back into the drawer and dropped her towel pulling the yellow set on.
As she sat down at the table opposite Cody she could feel his eyes on her, "what?"
She hadn't divulged her decision about anything to him and Cody was genuinely curious and slightly worried for her welfare so he had to push her on this, "what are you going to do?"
Playing with the cereals in her bowl she sighed, she was confident about her decision in her mind but actually saying it out loud made her nervous, "I'm going to tell him where he can go."
Cody was actually shocked that that was the decision she had made, "you're going to throw away the guy who is potentially the one for you? Over what?"
She couldn't believe he actually didn't understand, "over my job! Cody I could lose everything if I continue with this so I have to stop it now before it goes too far. If it is meant to be or whatever then when he is out of jail we will find our way back to each other."
The fact that she was thinking ahead told him that she didn't want to stop it but she felt like she had to so he was going to support her, "well I support you in your decision." He neglected to say that he didn't think Hunter would because he didn't think that would be of much benefit to her right now.
Smiling softly she was so grateful that he was supporting her because she needed it. Turning her attention to her breakfast she didn't have long before she had to leave to begin her work day.
When the bell went off Hunter was nervous and excited because he had no idea how his day was going to go when he finally came face to face with Stephanie again but even when he did he was going to play it cool and just let her come to him. Getting out of bed he made his bed and made sure his cell was in order before the door opened and he faced the truth.
As she headed into work Stephanie was focussed and determined, focussed and determined to not let her heart rule her head. No matter what her heart may want her head was going to win out and she was going to tell him that what happened Friday would never happen again and things had to remain strictly professional between them.
Performing the cell inspection and pat down on Hunter she kept her hands to the only places they should go and the only words she spoke to him were instructions. She thought she had got away with it and everything would be okay until after they had finished all of the cell inspections she was pulled aside by the superior officer, "is everything okay Stephanie?"
Looking at him confused she didn't know why he would think something was wrong and she definitely didn't understand him using her first name as that never happened, "yes Sir, everything is fine."
Her superior officer studied her trying to decide if she was lying or not but couldn't make up his mind, "are you sure? You were very strict with inmate Helmsley, are you sure he didn't do anything to you on Friday?"
She hadn't meant for people to think that he had done anything wrong so she had to quickly change that, "not at all, he has done nothing wrong whatsoever. I was just focussed on getting my job done and that was all that was on my mind, as far as I am concerned he has been a model inmate compared to the person everyone warned me he was."
Satisfied with her answer he nodded his head, "well in that case go on with your day, I am sorry for interrupting you."
Smiling politely there was not a whole lot she could say in response to that, "thank you Sir."
Turning around she walked away, now all she had to do was avoid Hunter's cell until she could pluck up the courage to tell him the words he wouldn't want to hear.
Hunter remembered what Rebecca had said about playing things cool with her and almost playing hard to get so instead of sitting in his cell almost like he was waiting for her he took the book Rebecca had sent him and he was yet to read down to the main floor and sat down at one of the tables to observe people and to maybe read the book but most of all he was going to avoid Stephanie.
Entering the main jail block again she felt like she was being severely tested by some higher power today because everywhere she turned so far was either Hunter or people asking her about Hunter. With Hunter to her right she turned to the left, anything to put distance between the two of them because he never normally came out of his cell and the fact that he had today was unnerving.
Sat at the table at the back he watched as Stephanie looked at him and deliberately went the other way, Rebecca was clearly right that he needed to give her mixed signals and pretend like he didn't care. Opening his book he had barely finished the first page when an officer appeared in front of him, "what? I didn't think reading was illegal." Okay so maybe being snarky wasn't the smartest thing he could do but he was irritated.
Staring at Hunter the officer was a little frustrated at the way he spoke to him, "reading isn't illegal, I actually came to see if everything was okay with your cell but maybe if your attitude is going to be like that rather than the good one you had I just won't care."
He did feel slightly bad for snapping at the officer and he was meant to be on his best behaviour, "sorry, everyone's just annoying me with the way they're acting towards me."
"It's just hard for everyone to wrap their head around, you have gone from being one of the loudest and most disruptive inmates to one of the quietest. Is everything okay with your cell? You don't normally sit out here?"
Shrugging his shoulders Hunter wasn't sure what he wanted to hear, "everything with my cell is fine thanks, I just thought I would get a different set of four walls for a bit and sit out here. I'm not looking for trouble and I'm not going to get involved in it either."
Strangely enough this was the first time the officer truly trusted something an inmate said, "well you are free to roam as you please just like every other inmate so enjoy your different four walls I guess."
Watching the officer walk away Hunter turned his attention to see if he could spot Stephanie as he was curious to see where she was now but as he couldn't he just focussed back on his book to see if it actually was any good like Rebecca claimed it would be in the note that arrived with it.
She was trying to avoid Hunter but with him sat there in the middle of the block she just couldn't ignore him like she wanted to so she was going to have to bite the bullet and talk to him now and just get it over with. Making her way over to him she stood across the table from him, "can we talk please?"
Lifting his gaze from the book he closed it signalling he was listening, "sure, take a seat."
Looking around nervously she couldn't have the conversation here but not only that she wasn't sure why he was being so cold to her but it actually hurt that he was. Squeezing the back of the chair a bit trying to keep her emotions in check she studied his face, "I'd prefer to do it in private please."
"You know where my cell is, we'll talk there."
Gulping she stood there and waited as he got up from his seat and followed him upstairs so they could talk in private.
Entering his cell he dropped his book on the desk before he placed the cover over the window in the door and took a seat on the bed watching as she stood awkwardly in the doorway, "if you want to talk in private it may be an idea to enter and push the door shut behind you."
Slowly inhaling and then exhaling she entered his cell properly and pushed the door practically closed behind her, "so about Friday."
Staring at her stood as far away from him as she could possibly get her shook his head, "you can take a seat on the bed, I won't bite you."
Almost like she was on autopilot her feet carried her over to the bed before she took a seat on the bed close to the edge but not too close so he didn't think she thought he had some contagious disease, "so yeah, about Friday. I have put a lot of thought into what happened between us and I realised that it was completely inappropriate and I shouldn't have abused my power like that and it will not and can not ever happen again."
Staring at her he tried to gauge whether she was actually serious or playing some sort of sick joke but as he looked into her eyes and saw the obviously conflicted emotions he knew she was seriously telling him that, "but you didn't abuse your power, I wanted it as much as you did."
"So you may say but the bottom line is that you are an inmate and I am an officer and I should have known better and from this point on I will, nothing will ever happen again."
The look in her eyes told him that the words coming out of her mouth were not the words she was feeling in her heart so he was going to play dirty simply because he just couldn't cope with playing hard to get any longer, "okay I guess. Seeing as this is a professional relationship only now can I ask you to have a look at my cell please?"
Grateful that he seemed to not be fighting her decision she nodded her head, "sure, what would the problem be?"
"There is a draught in the corner of the room, it is really bothering me when I'm trying to sleep."
Confused she got up from the bed to have a look, "I can't see any holes."
She was making this way too easy for him, he really shouldn't take advantage but he just couldn't help himself, "you can't see anything but if you kneel on the bed and lean over you can really feel it."
Staring at him she was waiting for him to move but he wasn't, "move please. I can't check it out if you don't move."
Frowning he shook his head, "if it is all the same to you I will stay here and make sure you don't hit your head. None of the other officers trust me so the last thing I want you to do is hit your head and for them to accuse me of hitting you and cart me off to solitary."
Looking at him strangely what he was saying was true but it was not going to be the best predicament to find herself in if they got caught, "and if someone walked in when I'm leaning over your lap you would explain it how?"
Shrugging his shoulders he didn't care about someone else, he just cared about her, "I don't know, I will think of something."
She knew she should insist that he moved but she trusted him that he wasn't going to try anything and if she did she always had access to the things to protect herself with, "okay fine."
Kneeling on the bed beside him she slowly leant over him keeping her left hand one the railing as she reached down trying to feel for a draught.
Playing dirty was so far away from what he should be doing but he just didn't have the patience to wait for her to decide she wanted him so as she leant down to feel for the draught he slipped his hand between his legs and her body and gently brushed it against her breast.
Trying to find this mystery draft he was complaining about she figured she must have moved her chest lower and brushed against his leg as she felt contact with her breast which made her body shiver. Not wanting to be seen to be deliberately trying to touch him she moved her upper body forward so in her mind she would be away from his body so she could continue her search.
Her movements told him that she had felt his touch but she hadn't reacted like he wanted her to so he was going to have to make things clearer. Moving his hand to her chest he gently palmed her breast through her shirt and squeezed it.
Gasping as she felt his hand squeezing her breast she had to try so hard not to grab his hand and just hold him there even though he didn't seem interested in moving his hand any time soon, "w . . . what are you doing?"
"If you don't know what I am doing then clearly I am not doing it right." Squeezing her breast again just for effect he was expecting her to scream any minute now if she really meant that they had to keep things professional.
She should shout and scream or reach for her pepper spray or something to get him off her but she was frozen to the spot, her head wanted him to stop and for her to move and get as far away from him as she possibly could but her heart didn't want him to stop, her heart wanted him to do so much more to her.
When she didn't scream and there was no sound or movement from her he decided to push his luck, "tell me you don't want this and I won't ever do it again."
She wanted to tell him she didn't want him to ever do it again, she had to convince herself that she didn't want it, "I don't want you to do it again . . . I need you to do it." Her eyes widened when she realised that those words had actually come out of her mouth and it was what she felt but the bigger problem was that she didn't know how he felt.