Note: Yes, yes, I know this is short, and I have posted a zillion chapters so far. Since I know my time is limited and I don't know when my next update will happen, I thought I would post what I did have for you. I also will not sit here and say, you must post reviews or I will not update again anytime soon. I greatly appreciate the reviews, but I have many of them already. I do thank the folks who have stuck with the story so far. I promise, it will end well and I will wrap up everything.

53

[Kat]

We lay wrapped in stolen towels on adjoining lounge chairs. "We're playing with fire, you know."

Patrick's smirk nearly lit up the night. "You think?"

"Unprotected water aerobics...not cool."

"Aw, c'mon, what are the odds?"

"Against us."

His eyes searched my face. "You could have stopped me."

He was right. "I could have."

"But?' His towel slipped lower on his torso and I managed not to drool.

I forced myself to look away. "I wanted it...you...too much."

His smile was sweet and sexy. "Yeah? That goes both ways."

That woozy feeling I got in his presence nearly got the best of me. "Thanks, but that doesn't solve our immediate problem."

"Guess not."

"I'll visit the clinic first thing Monday afternoon."

"Won't the warden have us on permanent lock down?"

"Could be, but I'll think of something."

"Better think fast." Patrick jerked his head toward the gate and I gasped at the sight of Dad, complete with his patented pointing finger.

[Patrick]

Note: The reference to Dick Cheney is alluding to Bush being the mouthpiece for Cheney's agenda, sort of the way Kat dives in and speaks for Patrick.

We scrambled to our feet on his approach. "Nice night," I said by way of greeting.

Wally scowled at me and held up my box of Trojans. "Forget something?"

"Nope." I'd popped it in my duffel before stepping out with Kat.

"You want to try that again, son?" He stared pointedly at our trail of clothes before giving us both the hairy eyeball.

I held the towel tight against my waist. "Only if you admit to illegally searching my bag."

Walter raised an eyebrow. "Illegally?"

Kat chose that moment to intervene. "Invasion of privacy and all that?"

"Cut the Dick Cheney crap."

The slippery slope of this conversation was headed rapidly downhill. "What the..?"

She cut me off with a downward chop of her hand. "Dad, it's late, we're all tired..."

"I'll bet you are," Walter said, his voice rising with his outrage.

"And this is better discussed with clearer heads over morning coffee."

That took some of the wind out of Wally's sails. He pointed toward our room and we marched across the courtyard in a grim-faced line before escaping to the relative safety of our hotel room. "I am deeply disappointed in both of you."

Kat sighed. "I'm sorry for that."

But she wasn't sorry for stepping out with me. "Me too."

Wally wasn't buying any of it. "Sure you are."

He watched while each of us took a final turn in the bathroom and made sure we got into our own little beds. When he hovered over me, I said, "Aww, you gonna tuck me in?"

"Always the smartass, aren't you?" He fired the box of condoms and smiled when it beaned me.

"Watch it," I said with that low timbre that scared most people.

Walter glowered at me. "Don't take that tone with me."

Kat's eyes pleaded with me to cease and desist, so I held up my hands in surrender. "OK, you're right. I'm as ass. Can we just go to sleep already?"

That seemed to mollify the warden and with a sniff, he shut off the lights and plunged the room into darkness.