Once again, there has been no exchange of money or permission. Some day, maybe …

No Merry Men or Boy Scouts were harmed in the creation of this chapter. Stephanie, on the other hand, could use a stiff drink.

Thanks to Jaime, Kate M and Melody for all their insight and inspiration – you ladies have made this a relatively pain free experience.

Melody - you were the inspiration for the knot tying section. I can't thank you enough. Afli

It looked like a good time for me to make my own exit. Safety first and all that. I turned on my heel and said over my shoulder, "I'm going to see what is taking Tank so long with the Advil." It was a statement that neither man could argue with and so, of course, they didn't.

I was actually just fine at that moment, but they didn't need to know that. I was going to need to remember to pull the cramp and period thing the next time I didn't want to do surveillance.

Stephanie's Gamble

By Alfonsina

Chapter 13 ♣ May The Trip Part 4

Lester was setting up another stew like thing for dinner to feed all of us. I decided to give a hand. He sliced meat and vegetables like a professional; I only whacked at them with my knife. I gave up my attempts pretty quickly after looking at the disbelief on Lester's face. He had heard me talk about my lack of domestic skills but hadn't taken me seriously until the evidence was before him. Any one of the Boy Scouts had better knife skills than I did.

It was handy for us that we came with our own pots, pans, plates and utensils. There was no scrounging around for things we might need, we had them all and knew where they were. I was especially glad that we would have a warm kitchen to clean it all up in, that number of dishes could potentially take hours.

Bobby and Tank took the kids and started back to work on knots. Lester tended the kitchen and guarded the stuff in the pots. Ranger and Hector stayed in the kitchen with Lester. They were all talking in Spanish so it didn't matter if I was paying attention. One of these days I was going to have to take a class or something in Spanish so I knew what was going on around me.

I was sitting at the table twiddling my thumbs. I wasn't feeling nosy or snoopy, just tired and a little crampy so I sat at the table and ignored that the guys were even in the same room. Out of frustration and boredom, I finally put my head on my arms at the table, not a perfect nap situation, but it would do.

The owner's wife had come into the kitchen to check on all of us. Before she left I asked her if she could lend me a few bath things, and she knew exactly what I was wanting. It looked like I was going to be afforded some quality alone time. I could have hung out with the kids, but I knew that this was really a much better use of my time.

She came back in a little later with a small basket for me, it had: a new razor, some good shampoo and conditioner, bubble bath, a candle and a chocolate truffle. A goddess, the woman was an absolute goddess. She just knew exactly what I wanted and needed. I was beyond excited. The basket was absolutely perfect. I must have made some kind of a moaning sound when I popped the truffle in my mouth and let it work its magic on me.

"Babe," Ranger said a little strangled.

"Nena," Hector said in a voice just above a whisper.

"Beautiful," said Lester in a very similar voice to the others.

"Gentlemen, I know this is antisocial of me, but I don't really care. I am going to pretend it is Wednesday night and have a good time. Alone," I said the last word with emphasis. I couldn't help smiling. I wasn't really baiting anybody. I wasn't going to make an excuse for a bubble bath, I wanted one and one was available to me so I was going to take it.

"Ranger," I continued, "this is part of why I wanted the key to my room. I don't want to be interrupted by anyone. Canelo, do you need anything from the room before you get locked out?" Hector just shook his head, kind of like he was in shock.

"Beautiful, dinner will be in two hours. We will send up a search party for you if you're late," said Lester. I wasn't sure if he was kidding, or not.

The guys resumed their conversation after I left the kitchen. I climbed the stairs and opened the room. It really was kind of nice, and looked very couply. Too bad I wasn't part of a couple right now. Right now I was in the midst of a hormone fest and that really didn't count for much.

I had better things to think about than men and their games. I had a great tub at my disposal that provided the promise of whole body warmth, the prospect of clean clothes, clean hair and freshly shaven legs and other assorted bits. I was going to be good to me.

I opened my bags and pulled out the lacy undies, I'd had enough of the cotton granny panties, the camisole top and the coordinating lacy pushup bra, a clean shirt and jeans. The clothes and under-things I left to sit out on the bed, the makeup bag I was going to take into the bathroom with me. After I had everything set, I started the tub and made sure the bedroom door was locked.

Before I got into the tub, I locked the bathroom door, too. A girl can't be too careful. The tub was glorious on its own and the bubble bath was an added bonus. The bubble stuff was lavender and it was incredibly relaxing. I was able to shave everything that needed it and exfoliate the rest. I found myself humming the song from last night. I tried not to put a value on it, but the words were getting to me, 'I was alone. Filled with sadness. Everything I did just seemed to go wrong. Then you came along and ended my madness.' I was flattered at the idea they would think of a song like that to sing to me. I guess it was better than 'I'm Henry the eighth I am. Henry the eighth I am, I am,' that was the last song that had been sung to me, then again I was twelve at the time.

The bathroom had no clock of any kind and I didn't bring my watch in with me. I had figured that when I got pruney enough I would get out. Then start the rest of the beautification process.

I heard a low voice on the other side of the door. Crap. What was going on now? Before I could think too much about that, there was a light knocking on the bathroom door.

"Stephanie, you need anything?" It was Hector's voice.

"No, don't need anything. I'm just fine. Is time up already?" I asked.

"Almost, I didn't want anyone else to bother you. I know you wanted to be alone. You might want to come out soon."

"I'm almost done. I'll get out after I know you're gone," I said.

"I am leaving now," he said and I heard the outer door close.

I made a final quick rinse of my hair and got toweled off. Nice towels, but not great. I was just out of the bathroom when someone else came through the bedroom door, it was Tank. No knock, nothing. He must have expected I was still going to be in the tub.

Tank stood in the middle of the bedroom with something small in his hand and said nothing for a solid 30 seconds. I was getting impatient and was getting ready to say something, anything, even 'how's the weather?'

"Steph, just putting some chocolate on your bed for later," he said. He at least had the grace to look a little embarrassed about it.

"And?" I asked, still wet in the towel a small puddle beneath me on the floor had begun to form.

"And?" he asked back. His body seemed frozen in place, matching his eloquence. It was like he couldn't get over what I wasn't wearing. Hell, he had been two days without seeing Lula. His hormone quotient might be exceeding its regular capacity. God, I hoped he'd kept some chocolate for himself or we were going to have to brave the weather and get 'medication' for both of us.

"Tank, I think you need to get out so I can put my clothes on. I know you've seen me dressed in less for distractions, but this towel is not giving me a lot of confidence right about now. Thanks for the chocolate. I'll be down shortly," I said.

I decided to get dressed as quickly as I could to avoid another visitor. I was locking the door but that didn't seem to matter. The chairs where too bulky to move across the floor to block the door, I probably should have done it anyway.

I had just gotten the camisole on over the lacy bra when Bobby walked in. He hadn't even bothered to knock either; so much for avoiding another visitor. You'd think I hadn't locked the door he'd opened the door with such ease. I had locked it, hadn't I?

"Bobby, why is everyone so worried about my getting downstairs in time for dinner? That is why you are here, right?" I asked, putting one arm in a sleeve.

Sheesh. This was getting ridiculous.

Bobby said nothing. He was looking at the camisole, or more precisely me in the camisole and jeans.

"Eyes, Bobby, eyes. Please make eye contact here," I said and he did. "Thank you. Now what brings you up here? I still have," I looked at the clock on the bedside table, "five minutes."

"Never mind, Steph. Just checking on you," he said, "Also, wanted you to know the storm will probably have us here for two nights instead of for one."

'Great,' I thought. Aloud I said, "Please take a message to my fan club downstairs that I am almost ready to join the living again. Do we need to start calling the kids parents to let them know they are safe and well?"

"We would, but we don't have cell signal at the moment and the landlines are out. Ranger and I will drive to get a better location soon."

"What about internet possibilities? What about e-mail?" I queried as I finished putting on the shirt.

"Nope, those lines are down, too," he said sounding a little defeated.

"Hey, it'll get better. Besides, it's not like a search party has been sent out yet," I said.

"God, I hadn't even thought of that. Shit. That's just what we are going to need. I am going to have to see about getting out of here to a place where the phone lines are working and soon," he said rushing out the door.

I was back to the lovely feeling of being warm and happy with myself. No one was going to be worried about me. My folks had gone out of town for the weekend. Morelli found someone else while he had been out on assignment. One night months ago I had gotten a phone call, evidently she had already met the infamous Angie Morelli and there would be no scandal or gossip. I hadn't seen him in months and realized I wasn't missing him. What really surprised me was that I wasn't sad about that, not sad at all. Anyone who might be concerned about me right now was in this house, so I was covered.

My hair was still wet, I was barefoot, and my shirt was untucked, actually I was kind of a messy and under-done sexy. I headed back into the kitchen.

Another pow-wow except this time it was all the adults and not whispering this time. Hey! They hadn't waited for me! I walked in as I heard Bobby say, "Steph mentioned a potential search party for us because of the storm. We've got to get this thing handled now."

All of a sudden all eyes were on me. What? I was smiling, dressed, comfy, smelled good and felt happy. Had they expected the Bride of Chucky to come down the stairs or something?

"I was just telling the guys what you had said when you were getting dressed," Bobby said.

Here we go again. Back into 'bitch' mode, I really wasn't this bad most of the time. Honest.

'Your toes must really taste good, Bobby,' I thought to myself. 'You seem to be putting your foot into your mouth a lot this weekend.'

I took hold of myself and decided breathing was a good thing. A temper tantrum wasn't going to do any good for anyone, least of all me. I didn't even bother for Ranger to start in with the whole "Explain" thing again. I decided to just jump in, OK wade in – it was calmer than jumping right about now.

"Even though I had the door locked, it was Grand Freaking Central Station in there. I was just putting my shirt on over my camisole when Bobby came in. Mellow out Ranger," I said. I hadn't missed the fact that his patented blank look was aimed at me. I continued, "Good grief, everyone who came into the room saw it lying on top of the bed along with all my other clothes, under and otherwise," I said.

The good mood in the room had rapidly evaporated. It wasn't my fault, really.

I decided to stare down the group, "What? It's white, it's lacy and it's pretty. I like how it feels against my skin, it makes me feel girlie. Plus it gives me an 'extra' layer of clothing for the cold. It covers pretty much everything except for my shoulders. Do we need to take a vote whether or not you all get to see it on?"

Lester was about to say something when I started up again. "By the way, seems that Canelo is the only one whose mother ever taught him to knock," I said.

Hector smiled at me, the rest of them looked like chastised children. Score one point to

'Bitch Stephanie'.

Bobby made some noise and finally the spotlight shifted from me to someone else. Thank heavens.

Bobby was afraid of where else I might take the conversation, so he started talking. "Anyway, like I was starting to say, we are going to start getting the kids showered for tonight. They have a big hot water tank here. But, we want to make sure that everyone has a chance to get warm and clean before they go to bed.

"Ranger and I are going to see about getting phone signal to call the office. If we can reach the office, then the control room will call all of the parents. We'll keep looking for cell signal until we find it or an available working payphone."

Lester said, "Speaking of the kids and dinner, it's time to round the kids up to feed them."

Half of the kids stood up in the kitchen to eat, the other half ate at the table. After the kids were fed, the adults ate at the table. This time the kids did the dishes and repacked them, but the stuff was kept in the kitchen for breakfast the next morning. The shower rotation thing started, the first six got their five minute showers in short order. The next batch of kids had to wait until the hot water heater had a chance to warm some more water.

The kids rough housed in the family room, Lester and Tank got to play referee, glad it wasn't me. It looked like I was going to continue to be the referee for the hormonally challenged and I needed to rest up.

A little while later, I heard Tank starting to laugh. He couldn't get hold of himself.

"It's not funny," I said. "It's really not funny."

"Having problems this evening, Steph," Tank asked.

"Yeah, big guy, I know it's a big surprise to you. I swear this isn't what it looks like."

"Really?" he asked, unable to keep the smile off his face and out of his voice.

I was sitting on a chair, trying to look calm, cool and collected. When I finally chilled out enough to answer. I said, "I know it may not seem like it, but there is a rational explanation. While you and Lester were rough housing with the kids, some of the others wanted to 'practice' their knot tying skills. Then they just left me here."

The first thing I had learned from being kidnapped was not to let them see you sweat. Unfortunately, this had nothing to do with being kidnapped, this had everything to do with merit badges. The boys were excited to practice their knot tying skills, but didn't want to untie their works of art. I was getting tired and cranky, plus the ropes were beginning to cut into my skin. I really didn't want to be in this position when Ranger and Bobby came back.

Tank's laughter was soon joined by Lester's. Neither of them could stop laughing, I was surprised they hadn't fallen over they were laughing so hard. Hector quietly got up from whatever he was doing at the time and released me. He seemed to be showing up in the right place at the right time a lot this weekend.

I decided I'd had enough of being a good sport, so I went to sit on the sofa curled up next to Hector. Our corner of the room was nice and quiet. I tried to pretend the rest of the room didn't exist. He began to massage my wrists for me absently, trying to get the circulation back. God, his fingers felt good.

Bobby and Ranger had been gone about two hours. Their mission, such as it was, had been accomplished. Bobby let Zero know where all of the phone numbers were for all the kids. The comm. room was going to call all the parents, it was easier that way. Ranger made sure that his empire hadn't crumpled in his absence and let them know that Zero would be in charge until we returned some time in the next day or two.

Since all the kids were now done with their showers, the guys each took their turns. My bathroom had been pressed into service with the kids and now with the guys. Ranger was the last to shower and he used my bathroom. As the host of the feast, such as it was, his shower wasn't timed and it wasn't interrupted by anyone. Normally when he showered he smelled like Bulgari when he got out, this time he smelled like lavender. Odd.

That was when the power went out.

Fortunately we were all in the living room at the time. Hector and I were still on the sofa suddenly joined by three kids who were squishing me. In order not to lose my seat entirely, I adjusted myself so I was on Hector's lap and in his arms. I got to keep warm, stay off the floor and besides it just felt good. Who was I to fight a good feeling every now and again?

The bed and breakfast had a propane furnace so we didn't lose heat, but there was no way to circulate the heat since the fans worked on electric power. We also lost light. The good Boy Scouts almost all had their mini LED flashlights in their pockets, so there was no immediate need for candles or lanterns.

The owners had a bunch of grandchildren and had planned to give us some Disney movie or another to watch with the kids, but that plan was now lost. There weren't enough chairs or tables to play the board games that were on hand, so Bobby went to his SUV and got out the guitar.

It looked like I was in for another night of music from the guys. They sang some of the same songs from last night. Not that I am at all snobby, but most the songs were not of the rip roaring variety. They all seemed to be quiet and acted like lullabies to me. I don't remember falling asleep, but I when I woke up I was still on Hector's lap and the room was dark and empty.

"What time is it?" I whispered.

"Late," he said as he kissed my forehead.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked.

"You look peaceful and beautiful when you sleep," he said quietly.

"We should probably go up and go to bed," I said as I struggled to get off his lap and out of his arms.

Hector's arms weren't letting me out of his grip very easily.

"Come on Buster, let's go," I said.

He let me go and followed me up the stairs. In the time it took me to reach into my pocket for the key, he had done some kind of jiggly thing with the doorknob and it was open. Why is it that everyone can do that except for me? Oh yeah, it's because keys keep honest people out and Hector hadn't always been an honest person. After we were inside, I relocked the door. It was the principle of the thing.

The power still hadn't returned, but because the curtains hadn't been pulled and there was a little moonlight seeping in so the room wasn't completely dark.

I went to my bags to dig for something else to sleep in, and found nothing acceptable. Hector went through his bags too and found a clean t-shirt. Wordlessly he handed it to me along with a flashlight. I took it and my toothbrush into the bathroom. There was no need to wash my face, I didn't have any make up on, just moisturizer. I did my thing in under two minutes and asked through the door if he was decent. He said that he was but needed to use the bathroom before getting into bed.

I came out in my undies and his t-shirt. His shirt landed at the top of my thighs in the front and barely covered my bottom in the back. I crawled into the side of the bed that was nearer to the bathroom. Seemed he and I were going to sleep on the same sides as the night before. Convenient.

He came out of the bathroom in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs and smelling good again. The man might be slender, but that didn't mean that he wasn't well muscled and, well, yummy in his own right. Hector just happened to hide all of those long, lean muscles under clothing that was way, way, too big.

He carried the flashlight back to the bed and got in. He leaned over to kiss me good night, like he kissed me this morning. Damn, my hormones were doing the samba and would have done the salsa, or even the evil bachata, if he kept this up.

I suddenly realized that his hands hadn't wandered but the rest of him had. I once again found myself under his body and was thoroughly enjoyed the feeling. I hadn't even realized I was running my foot up and down his leg and our bodies seemed to be moving in a slow gentle tempo together.

Shit.

It was beginning to feel very warm in here. If this kept up there would be no reason for blankets and we'd need to open a window.

"Canelo, you like men, don't you?" I asked when we had both come up for air.

"Sure. Te lo juro (I swear it to you)," he said as his lips came back down on mine. "Why?

Well, he'd just admitted he likes men, he had to be gay, right? If this was gay, I wondered what he would have been like if he was straight?

"Just checking," I said.

At that moment, I was so hormonal I didn't really care who I was next to in bed. The kissing and the moving started over. My hormones were approaching overdrive, if they weren't there already and I realized I was soon going to be losing any control I still had. Everything had picked up intensity pretty damned quickly.

I said, "Hey, we really need to go to sleep."

"Sleep later. Kissing now," he said in a very husky voice and he was getting ready to kiss me yet again.

"No, it would be better to sleep now. You need to get on your own side of the bed," I said with a sigh.

Reluctantly he rolled off me and to his side of the bed. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. The boy had rhythm and technique and I found myself wondering how his other techniques were. While I debated with myself about the current development I didn't realize he was moving my body back towards his, guess he wanted to spoon again.

"Still my side," he said with a smile.

Yes, he was still on his side of the bed but now I was there too. I was going to have to ask Bobby what he had been putting in the water, this was getting ridiculous. I was hot, bothered, and frustrated. I tried to get out of the bed so I could clear my head, but he wouldn't let me up.

"Please," I said.

"Why? I thought you wanted to be with me," he said sounding a little hurt.

Holy Mother, what did he mean by that? I decided I really didn't want to know. "I just want to get a drink of water, I'll be right back," I said.

I went into the bathroom wondering how I got here. Damn poker game. Despite Ranger's promises of additional poker games after the one on New Year's Eve, they never materialized.

I ran the water and took a sip. I got back into bed shivering a little. The house was heated but since no air from downstairs was circulating up here it was getting a little cool. And I had been hot not that long ago.

Hector had moved closer to the middle of the bed and wound up spooning me again. I was relieved that he didn't try to kiss my neck again because it was going to lead to more frustration and probably a visit from Ranger.

Eventually I got my heart rate under control and relaxed enough to fall asleep.

The power came on at about 2:00 am. And because no one had thought to turn off the switches when we initially lost power, lights and things were instantly back on. All of a sudden everyone in the whole house was awake. I saw the light on in the bathroom got up and turned it off. I came back in to see the overhead light on and Ranger and Hector glaring at each other. Again.

Ranger either had the worst, or the best, timing I had ever been subjected to. I wasn't getting any breaks at all this weekend.

"I wanted to make sure you'd made it up to bed. You looked pretty sacked out on the sofa," he said he said tightly. I know he noticed what I was wearing and what Hector wasn't. "Nice shirt, Babe."

"Thanks, I borrowed it from Hector. I didn't have anything clean I wanted to sleep in," I said simply while I was checking to make sure he couldn't see my panties. I was really hoping I wasn't going to continue to babble.

"I would have gladly given you the shirt off my back," Ranger said.

"By the time we got up here, I didn't know what room you were in and didn't want to wake you up. Besides, I've got this one broken in now. It's late and we all need to go back to bed." I said blithering. I had become not only the Czarina of Denial but I was also the Baroness of Babble and Duchess of Blither-dom.

"I'm on the floor in my room, I could join you two on the bed," he said with a wolfish smile.

"Thanks Ranger, but the bed's really not all that big. But you two can share and I can go back to the sofa downstairs," I said. I really didn't want to leave, Hector was a pretty good pillow and I wasn't so sure about losing that right now.

Hector hadn't gotten out of bed or said so much as a word. He had been watching the interaction between Ranger and me like it was a verbal tennis match. Finally he said something and, for the love of Mike, it was in Spanish and the tone was none too kind. Words that sounded a lot like 'adult' 'option' and 'decision' were being thrown around on both sides. Great. Ranger quietly stormed out of the room.

"I need to know. Are you his novia, his girlfriend?" he asked after Ranger left. He had asked calmly but he had been measuring every word, making them precise.

"I'm sure we are friends, but I'm not his girlfriend," I said. Why did variations on this theme keep coming up?

"Good. Ven aqui, nena," he said, just like this morning. It had to mean come here.

Damn, he was fast. He leaned over and the kissing thing started again, except this time he had was holding my hands over my head and my foot automatically started to do the up and down thing on his leg. I was blissfully unaware of my surroundings and thoroughly enjoying myself when I realized he had let go of my hands and he was trying to lift up my shirt. I put my hands over his to stop the upward progress. If I didn't stop his progress now, I never would and I wasn't sure how I felt about that either way. Better to stop while I still could.

"No, it's not right," I breathed.

"Sure?" he asked.

All I could do was nod my head. He rolled off then and kissed my forehead and nose. It was his turn to sigh. It was obvious Hector liked to spoon because we were shortly in that position yet again. He started rubbing small circles on my belly like last night. When his hands moved back under the shirt to keep doing the circles, I didn't stop him it just felt right somehow. I closed my eyes and started to breathe deeply and so did he.

I don't know how long it took me to fall asleep or how long I was asleep. But I woke up to answer Mother Nature's call and I realized I was alone in the bed. I wasn't so sure how I felt about that. I was sort of liking snuggling with Hector, and he was proving to be a pretty good kisser. I was going to go into "our" bathroom when I realized the door was closed and the shower was running.

Just my luck, I really needed to empty my bladder and I couldn't get into my bathroom. I had no idea how long he usually took in the shower and I didn't know how long he'd even been in there.

I opened the bedroom door and peeked outside. No one was in the hall, so I could make the journey without flashing anybody, do my business and go back to bed.

I made it to the bathroom just in time; no line, no crowd, just me.

Relief. Blessed relief.

Relief until I left the sanctuary of the bathroom and promptly ran into Bobby.

"What are doing down here wearing Hector's clothes, Bomber," he stage whispered. He was wearing a pair of old comfy looking sweats.

"My bathroom was occupied is why I'm down here. It's really none of your business why I'm wearing his clothes. But for the record, I don't like sleeping naked. Don't give me any grief Bobby. I am going to go back to my room so I can go back to bed," I said.

"Babe," came the voice of my impending doom. I had been caught unaware of my surroundings yet again and this time by Ranger. He was just wearing a pair of sweat pants and was looking like he might make a nice midnight snack for some very lucky girl.

"Ranger, we went through this earlier. It was easier to use one of his shirts than come take one of yours. And for the record, I didn't want to sleep in the clothes I had worn all day. Am I going to have to wake up Tank and Lester and tell them I don't like to sleep naked since we evidently have no privacy here regarding me and my life?" I asked in my own stage whisper.

A door opened, not my luck. It was Hector standing there with damp hair wearing just his boxer briefs. We were going back to the alpha male stuff, again I could just tell. This time with an audience. This was such a happy thing to be doing in the middle of the night. Not.

We stood in the hallway all looking at each other. Ranger and Hector didn't even blink, they kept staring at each other.

"Bobby, what time is it?" I finally asked. He was the only one of us with a watch.

"It is not quite 4:00 am, Steph. I was going to get up around 7:00 and check the weather to see if we could head out this morning. Then I was going to get the kids up," he said.

I tugged on the front of the shirt to make it as long as possible while I walked backwards down the hall and said, "Somebody wake me up when you decide to get the kids up." I had just finished the sentence when Hector's hand grabbed mine. He pulled me into the room and locked the door.

Oh boy.

A/N – Herman and the Hermits – I'm Henry the VIII

They go home next chapter, it will remain … interesting…. Alfonsina