I finished the day with only a few interruptions from Merry Men and clients. By the time five o'clock rolled around, I was nearly vibrating with excitement.

I'd already delivered Rex to Ella's apartment on six and I had my bags by the front door. When Hal knocked on the door, I flung it open.

He looked shocked that I'd opened it so quickly. "You ready?" I asked. He nodded. "Let's go!"

"Damn, Beautiful! You leaving without me?" Les queried as Hal and I hit the stairs.

"Yep. Told you, you missed your chance by opening your big, fat mouth, Santos, so I've picked out another Merry Man for a weekend of wild fun!"

Hal shot a cocky grin at Les as we passed him.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Les yelled over his shoulder.

"Oh I'm pretty sure I can do lots of things you can't!" I retorted. "You don't have my flexibility!"

I could hear Les groaning in the stairwell as we hit the garage. Hal was laughing uproariously. I just smirked.

Hal led me to the very back of the garage where the guys store their personal cars and stopped in front of a red Jeep Liberty. "Hop in," he told me.

"Oh wow, this is a fun car!" I told him as I climbed in.

"Yeah, I get tired of driving a big black SUV all the time," he admitted. "But I'm too big to fit in a little car, so I need a SUV. Just wanted something a little different from the usual work one."

He stowed our bags in the back and then we were on our way. I was shocked but happy when he plugged in his iPod and 80s music started blaring. "You're a closet 80s fan?" I asked in wonder.

"Not so closet, but yeah, I grew up listening to Journey and AC/DC and I still like them," Hal admitted with a slight blush to his cheeks.

"Rock on, dude!"

He winked at me and handed over his iPod so I could scroll through his music. "I definitely love you now," I mused. He had almost all of my favorites.

Hal started chuckling. "Don't say things you don't mean," he warned.

I looked up. "Huh?"

"You shouldn't tell men you love them if you don't," he said.

"Oh. Well, I do love all of you guys. I just want to strangle some of you sometimes," I told him with a grin.

"How often do you want to strangle me?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"You? Not too often, you're not one of the ones who seems to delight in driving me nuts. *Cough* Les. You're a really nice guy and a good friend. So you're safe from Stephanie strangling," I told him.

He pretended to wipe sweat from his brow. "Phew. Thought this could be a long weekend if I have to be on constant alert that you're going to jump me!"

I rolled my eyes. "Nope, you don't need to be on alert that I'll jump you to strangle you," I told him.

"Should I be on alert that you'll jump me for other reasons?"

I nibbled on my lower lip. Honestly, yes, he should be. He was a big, sexy man, and if I didn't get some sugar soon, he was going to be in trouble. But he was Hal, and he was a sweet, innocent guy and I didn't think I could take advantage of him like that. Probably. Maybe. Heck, I could if I didn't get some sugar in me. Soon.

"Your silence is starting to scare me."

"Nah, I'll try really hard not to jump you."

"Damn, that's too bad."

Wait, what? I nearly gave myself whiplash turning to look at him. "Huh?"

He started laughing at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "And what does that mean?" I demanded.

Hal grinned at me. "Just because I'm not a big flirt like Santos doesn't mean I don't think you're gorgeous. But I can also bake you dessert to take care of the hormone problem, too, sweetheart."

Be still my heart. "You BAKE?"

He chuckled again. "Yes. I bake."

Holy shit. "What are you going to bake for me?"

"I figured we'd stop at the grocery store and you can tell me what you like. We have a fully stocked kitchen at the house and I can cook just about anything. Well, just about anything normal. I don't do the weird stuff on Food Network or all that jazz, but regular food, I can cook that. But I make the world's best chocolate fudge brownies."

"Will you marry me?"

"Absolutely."

"You prove yourself in the kitchen and I'll seriously consider it," I told him with a grin.

"I can prove myself in other rooms, too," he told me with a quick grin and wink before he turned his attention back to the road.

"If you end up not being as good at baking as you claim, that might not be optional," I muttered to myself.

When he busted out laughing, I realized I'd spoken out loud again. Shit, I have to stop doing that.

"First time I've ever contemplated screwing up a meal on purpose," he chuckled.

I flipped him the bird and he grabbed my hand. I barely even saw his hand moving before my hand was trapped in his. "Be nice," he admonished.

"Or what?" I challenged.

He shot me a quick glance. "Or no brownies for you."

"That could be hazardous to your health," I teased in return.

"I served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I've seen combat. There's not much I can't handle, sweetheart," he told me with a grin that flashed dimples at me.

"You haven't seen me without sugar. That's worse, at least according to Morelli."

"Morelli's a jerk," Hal replied instantly. "Only punk losers hit women."

True. But I didn't want to talk about Morelli anymore.

"Tell me more about my prospective future husband," I teased.

He grinned. "I was born and raised in Tennessee. I'm the youngest and I have two older sisters. I played football on a scholarship to go to college and then joined the Navy when I graduated. Then I tried out for the SEALs and made it. I was a Navy SEAL for eight years before I blew out my ACL on my last deployment. I got a medical discharge but my knee's fine now thanks to a new surgical technique that was still experimental back then. Once I finished rehab for my knee, I was offered the job with RangeMan and I moved to Trenton."

"Why'd you move? Why not stay near your family?"

"Because I get along much better with my family when we aren't in the same state."

Now that I could definitely understand. "What do you mean?"

He sighed softly. "My dad didn't understand why I wanted to go to college, but he couldn't complain much when I got a scholarship to cover most of it and a part-time job in the off-season to cover the stuff the scholarship didn't pay for. He figured it was a phase and I'd grow out of it. He couldn't understand why I didn't want to be a farmer like him and his dad before him and so on. But when I refused to come home after graduation, well, that just completely pissed him off. And dad had been drafted for 'Nam, so he sure as heck didn't understand my desire to voluntarily join the military. So I was the ungrateful son, the boy who didn't know his place. So he gave me an ultimatum- come home after graduation or be disowned. So I'm disowned."

I reached over and squeezed his hand. "Wow. That sucks."

He squeezed my hand back. "Yeah. I talk to my mom and sisters occasionally, but my dad's a pretty macho and overbearing guy. Not too unlike Morelli, actually, but he's never, to my knowledge, hit my mom. He just thinks that women should be wives and mothers and should listen to their fathers and husbands. A load of crap in my opinion, but mom and my sisters pretty much do as he says. But they call occasionally and send me cards and presents for my birthday and Christmas."

I shook my head. "Sounds like they'd get along great with my mom."

Hal chuckled. "Probably. But they'd be completely baffled by you."

"They could join the club!" I exclaimed.

"Do you regret it?" I asked after a moment.

"Do I regret joining the Navy?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"No. I love my family, but I don't want that life. I loved growing up on a farm, but I don't want to be a farmer. It was a hard life and the only reason I was able to go to college was because I was a big guy who could tackle other big guys. There's very little money in small scale farming like that anymore, and I don't want to spend my life worried that every season will be the last one because of weather or bugs or whatever. It's just not for me, even though my dad insists it's in my blood. Sure, I miss my family, but they made their choice. I didn't cut them out of my life, they cut me out of theirs because I simply wanted a different life. That hurts, but I wouldn't want to live the life they decree for me simply to see people who would never see the real me."

I was silent for a long time, too long, I guess. "Steph?"

I shook myself from my stupor. "Sorry. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better for me to cut my mom out of my life. Do you know she said it was my fault that Morelli hit me? That if I would just grow up and settle down, that everything would be fine? I've avoided her like the plague since then. How the hell is it my fault that he shows up drunk and uninvited at my apartment weeks after we break up and hits me? But everything's always been my fault as far as she's concerned. EE Martin closing- my fault. Dickie's cheating- my fault. Morelli's drinking- my fault. And I'm just tired of it."

"Steph, you know it's not your fault."

"I know. But how can my own mother say that it's okay for someone to hit me?" I asked.

"Sweetheart, your mom is nuts."

I laughed. "I guess."

"What about your dad and grandma? And your sister?"

"Dad was ready to kill Morelli. Grandma too. I'm not sure about Val, I've only spoken to her once since it happened that was only for a second. But I do talk to my dad and grandma regularly and they're both on my side."

"So at least half your family's on your side. And all the guys at RangeMan are on your side. We had to forcibly restrain Ranger when he found out what happened, I really think he was going to kill Morelli. We'd have all helped, of course, and have hidden the body, but we figured you wouldn't have wanted that."

"It would have depended on the timing. Right after it happened, I wanted to kill him myself. Slowly. And with extreme prejudice. Now, I'm really pissed and angry, and if he ever comes near me again, he won't be walking normally for a while and he'll probably never have the ability to father children, but I don't want him dead. In extreme mortal agony praying for death, but not dead," I told him.

"And again, remind me to never piss you off."

"That would be a very good plan," I told him seriously. "I'm your best friend in the world until you betray me. And then I'm just on the warpath."

He grinned at me. "I've heard about the Buick."

"Once my twelve weeks in training hell are over, I should buy a Buick to scare the living shit out of Morelli," I mused. "And it would make my dad happy if I bought an American car."

Hal smiled. "I'll take you car shopping when you're ready to buy something new. Just let me know when."

"You know a lot about cars?"

"I know enough. And I know how to look big and scary and convince the sales guy to give you a good deal," he replied.

"I've never seen you look scary," I challenged. Big, hell yeah, he would give Tank a run for his money, but he was too nice to look as scary.

There was an instant change that came over him. Instead of the relaxed, smiling guy, he turned into a scary son of a bitch only slightly less intimidating than a pissy Ranger. His eyes went cold and hard, and his shoulders seemed wide enough to fill the whole car. His face was blank but there was an underlying edge of menace that made my eyes widen in shock.

"Holy Hannah! How'd you do that?" I asked.

He grinned and my buddy Hal was back as he turned briefly to wink at me before looking ahead at the road. "SEAL game face. Scare the pants off the bad guys."

"Why've I never seen you looking like that before?"

He shrugged. "You're not typically paired with me. And I don't usually run around the office wearing my game face. I save it for when I need it."

"Yeah, I think you could convince a car dealer to give me a good deal."

He smirked at me. I could hear the 'I told you so' loud and clear despite the lack of words.

I stuck my tongue out at him and was shocked when he stuck his back out at me. How'd he even see me? "You're supposed to be watching the road, not me," I told him.

He just laughed. "I can do both. I have excellent peripheral vision." I tested that by rolling my eyes at him. He laughed again.

We chatted about music and movies and light, fluffy topics until we reached the outskirts of Point Pleasant. Then we stopped at a restaurant that Hal swore had such amazing food that he always stopped there on his way to and from the beach. He was right, and he was also wiggling uncomfortably by the time I finished the chocolate peanut butter pie. Yeah, I had enjoyed food with actually fat and sugar in it. So sue me.

But judging by the naughty grin on Hal's face, which didn't make him look so innocent anymore, he had enjoyed it too.

Then we stopped at the grocery store and picked up a bunch of stuff, including ingredients for the brownies he promised me. After two months of zero dessert, it was imperative for my sanity and his virtue that I get more sugar in my system!

We got to the secluded beach house and I must say, I was impressed. "What do you think?" Hal asked as he carried in our bags.

"It's really nice!" I exclaimed. "Much nicer than the houses we usually stayed at when I was a kid."

"Yeah, it's the one that I usually rent when I'm out here. I just needed to get away for a bit and the beach is always my go-to place to relax, and this is a nice house to relax in. Plus, this is probably the last chance I'll have to swim in the sea until next summer," Hal said in a slightly wistful tone.

"Yeah, I guess you'd be used to swimming in the ocean if you're a SEAL," I said.

"Yeah. I spent a lot of time in the waves and I miss it. That was part of the reason why I came to Trenton. It was closer to the ocean than any of the other jobs that were offered to me." He shook his head and then looked over at me. "Let's put up the groceries and then go for a walk on the beach. Then I'll make you my world famous brownies."

"Deal!"

I helped him put up the groceries and I enjoyed the playful banter between us. We'd been friends back at RangeMan, but we'd never teased each other quite like this. But he'd use his hip to knock me out of the way so he could put something in the fridge, and I'd return the favor a moment later.

When I stood staring too long at the bag of Ghiradelli chocolate chips, licking my lips in anticipation, Hal chuckled and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder in a fireman carry.

"Hey!" I shrieked as my world tilted on its axis.

"You were looking at little too lustfully at that chocolate, sweetheart," he retorted.

I slapped him on the butt and he slapped mine back. Mmm, having his tight ass right in front of my face was not helping me with my hormone problem. I tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but his arms just tightened around my legs, and I knew I wasn't going anywhere.

He carried me down the stairs of the back deck down to the sand before letting me slide down his hard body back to the ground. "Not fair," I grumbled. "You don't understand how much I need that chocolate."

"I'll take care of all of your needs, I promise," he said in a husky voice as he grabbed my hand and hauled me down the beach. The moon was rising over the waves and it was beautiful. I felt safe with Hal, knowing that there were probably numerous weapons strapped to him, and that he'd protect me if a rogue crab tried to eat my toes. If all else failed, I'd climb him like a tree and be safe from curious crustaceans.

"So if you needed to get away from everyone, why'd you invite me to crash your solitude?" I asked as we meandered up the beach.

"You needed to get away too. And I needed to get away from the guys, not you."

"How am I different?"

"Stephanie, sweetheart, you aren't one of the guys."

I rolled my eyes at him and he chuckled softly, reaching over to tuck a curl behind my ear. "Duh. But if you wanted to be alone, that'll be a lot harder to do with me around. But I plan to sleep quite a lot and just veg, so I guess I won't annoy you too much," I mused aloud.

"You don't annoy me. Okay, stunning me with my own stun guy annoyed me slightly, but I was annoyed at myself, not at you. And we have been pushing you hard, but only because we want you to be able to take care of yourself if that sorry excuse for a man ever tries to lay a hand on you again. Honestly, you've impressed the hell out of all of us and we're all proud of you. I figured you needed to get away as much as I did, and I can't think of anything better than a weekend alone with you."

I tilted my head to look at him. "Why's that?"

"You want the easy answer or the honest one?" he asked softly.

"Is there a difference?" I asked in confusion.

"Probably."

"I'm trying to be more grown up about stuff, so the honest one, please."

"Okay." He sucked in a long, deep breath. "Because I love spending time with you. Because you make me smile. Because I wanted to kill Santos when he starting talking about how he volunteered to take care of your hormone problem. Because I want to be the one to take care of any problem you have, especially hormone ones. I'm not looking for a weekend of sex, but a real relationship with you. If that's not what you want, then I can deal with it and we'll still be friends. But I want you to know how I feel."

I sat down abruptly on the sand. "What?"

"What part didn't you understand?" he asked as he squatted down beside me.

"Um, all of it?"

"What's not to understand? You're a gorgeous, amazing, wonderful, smart, caring and compassionate woman. You accept us without question, defend us from those who judge us by how we appear to be. I don't know what happened between you and Ranger before, but something seems very different since you started your training. And God only know that if you were with me, you would not be complaining about having a hormone problem as long as I was around and out of a coma. So I wanted to let you know how I felt about you, and when you said you needed a little happy, this seemed like the ideal solution. I'm not going to pressure you into anything, Steph. I would never do that to you or any woman. I've told you how I feel, and now you need to decide how you feel. No pressure, no time limits. My only request is that you spend a little time with me outside of work before you decide. I might surprise you when I'm not surrounded by the job and the guys."

"Holy heck, Hal! You've already surprised me today, more than you can ever know, and not just with this tonight. You actually told me stuff about you, opened up. That right there's a big shocker in my experience. You just always seemed so very shy and innocent that I wasn't expecting you to be this flirty with me."

"You should know that appearances can be deceiving. I'm more reserved than most of the guys and it takes me longer to warm up to people, so I was quiet at first while I was getting to know everyone and making sure I could trust them. But I know you now and you know me, and I have no reason to be shy anymore. And I haven't been innocent in very long time. I'm not a player like Santos, I'm not just wired that way. Despite my differences with my family, some of how I was raised stuck. I like women and find them attractive, but I just can't do one-night stands, even if they are consensual. I think sex should only between the people involved, and not office gossip fodder. So that's why I'm uncomfortable when Santos starts in on his latest conquest, because I'm uncomfortable with him talking about women like that and being so open about something that I think should be private. But it doesn't mean I'm a virgin or sexually repressed. I'm not."

I gaped at him.

He chuckled and sat down next to me, slinging one well-muscled arm around me. "I'm just asking you to consider the possibility, Steph. That's it. No pressure. I promise to be on my best behavior. I'll bake you brownies and cake and whatever you need to help you deal with your hormones. I want you to know that I'm not just after sex. I want more, and I want it with you."

I leaned against his side and watched the inexorable wax and wane of the tide until I felt myself starting to drift off to sleep, lulled by the sound of the waves crashing and warm arm around me. I was awake enough to protest when Hal swung me into his arms, but he shushed me. "Let me take care of you tonight."

He carried me up the stairs and had to jiggle me slightly to get the sliding door to the deck open. Then I was being laid gently on a bed. I woke up enough to help him remove my shoes and jeans, and I remember him pressing a kiss to my forehead before he tucked the blankets to my chin.

Author's note: And here's chapter 2! Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews and author/story alerts. They make my day! So what do you think Steph should say?