When I woke up the next morning, I had a brief moment of panic when I didn't recognize where I was until memory kicked in.

I took care of a screaming Mother Nature and brushed my teeth and hair before getting dressed and heading out to look for Hal. I found him on the back deck, shirtless and sweaty as he did push ups.

I'd never really studied Hal like I had some of the other Merry Men, so I took a moment to examine him objectively. He was big, almost as big as Tank and almost a whole foot taller than me. I didn't know his exact height, but he was probably somewhere in the 6'4" range. He also had very broad shoulders that tapered to a narrow waist. His muscles were big and impressive without being overpowering. He looked strong and capable, not like a circus freak strongman or a walking advertisement for steroids.

His skin was only a couple shades darker than mine and I admired how it rippled over taut muscle as he went about his morning exercises.

His hair was kept short but not nonexistent like some of the guys. It was a light brown. I couldn't see his eyes while he focused on his push ups, but I knew they were a warm blue. They sparkled with humor when he was teasing me during the drive yesterday, and had darkened to navy blue when I was happily eating dinner last night.

His face seemed so innocent at times, but that was probably when Les was doing his best to make him blush. He'd been scary when he'd morphed into the SEAL badass, but he'd also been tender and sweet when he'd told me how he'd felt last night.

By any standard, he was a gorgeous, attractive man. He wasn't hot in the same type of way that Ranger was hot, but he was just as hot in the captain of the football team type of way. It was just a different kind of hot.

He was also an enigma. But there was nothing more I loved than a good challenge.

I cleared my throat and grinned when he jumped slightly. "Morning, sunshine," he said with just a slightly breathless voice.

I'd learned from bitter experience that my voice was completely breathless when the Merry Men made me exercise like that.

"Morning, Mr. Universe."

He chuckled slightly but continued pumping out push ups for another minute and a half before he rolled over to his back and looked up at me, his blue eyes glinting in the sunlight.

"I figured you'd sleep a few more hours," he commented.

"Guess I've gotten used to waking up early," I said crankily. "Since you guys won't let me sleep past seven even on the weekends."

"Hey, don't include me in that group. I've got more sense than bang on your door that early on a weekend," he protested.

"You promise you never did it?" I asked.

"Cross my heart," he said as he crossed his finger over his chiseled pecs. "I've banged on your door at five-thirty a few times when we had to get down to work out, but never on the weekends. I swear."

I studied his earnest eyes for a moment. "Okay. I believe you."

I grinned as his face broke into a wide smile. "Good. I'm glad you trust me."

I sat down next to him and looked out at the ocean, where the sun had just barely risen over the low hanging clouds. "So what was your plan for today?" I asked.

"I'm flexible. Figured I'd just relax on the beach a little and then swim later on once it had warmed up a little. Supposed to be pretty warm this afternoon and tomorrow. I picked this house because it's pretty far from anything else, and I wanted to be a little farther away from the crowds. I like having my privacy when I can get it. But I'm also cool with going into town and hanging out on the boardwalk if that's what you want to do," he offered.

I shook my head. "No. I'm crashing your vacation, so I'm not going to ask you to do anything you hadn't planned to do already. And honestly, just hanging out on the beach working on my tan sounds like a dream come true after the last eight weeks of near constant work."

Hal grinned up at me. "Then let's grab some breakfast and hit the beach."

"Please, tell me there's something other than granola and yogurt," I begged.

"How about chocolate chip pancakes?"

"Yes!" I screeched. "But do we have the stuff for that?"

"We do now. I went back to the grocery store early this morning and picked up some pancake mix and maple syrup. Since I didn't make you any brownies last night, I figured I owed you a good breakfast," Hal told me.

"Oh sweet Jesus," I moaned in eager anticipation.

"Steph," he said in a strangled voice. "You can't make those noises or you won't be getting any breakfast."

I opened my eyes to see that his eyes had gone dark and he was watching me intently. "Oops. Sorry. But I haven't had pancakes in literally months."

He cleared his throat and looked away while I blushed rosily. "Okay. Uh, so you can help me with the food then."

I started laughing. "I don't cook."

"I didn't say you would cook, I said you would help," he said as he morphed back into the in control, smiling Hal I knew.

"I can set the table. But ask my mom, I'm not to be trusted around any type of heating element."

"Okay, then you can set the table and get the coffee going," Hal said as he pulled on a shirt. He'd already set out a mixing bowl and all the other items he'd need on the island.

I couldn't believe I'd ever thought this guy was shy and quiet. We joked and teased easily as he whipped up the pancake batter and soon had it sizzling on a big electric skillet. Then he beat a bunch of eggs, quickly scrambled them in a frying pan while turkey bacon popped and sizzled in a cast iron skillet on the stove.

I was completely astounded by how fast breakfast was ready, but you'd never catch me complaining. I poured the coffee and orange juice just as Hal slid a triple stack of chocolate chip pancakes in front of me.

I drenched the pancakes in real maple syrup and quickly dug in. I started moaning in delight after the first bite, my taste buds doing backflips of joy at their first taste of real chocolate in months.

"So?" Hal asked. "Do they pass muster?"

"Holy mother, these are delicious!" I said as I stuffed another bite into my mouth.

He grinned at me. "Glad you like them," he said simply as he dug into his own breakfast. He was not nearly as vocal.

By the time I finished my first stack of pancakes, the second batch was done. Hal jumped up to get me more, and I couldn't help but notice that he was anything but unaffected by my vocal appreciation of his breakfast skills. And boy, but he was big all over.

After six pancakes, three eggs and five strips of bacon, I was finally full. I leaned back in my chair with one last moan of happiness. I looked up to see Hal looking at me with a wicked grin on his face and his eyes a deep, dark blue.

"You're going to be the death of me," he assured me as he shook his head.

"I can't help it!" I said with a blush. "God knows I've tried, but I can't turn it off. If I eat good food, I make noise. My mom tried to beat it out of me as a kid but it's just how I am, I guess."

His face went from smiling to unhappy in a heartbeat. "Beat it out of you? Please tell me you don't mean that literally."

"No. Not literally. Well, not really. She wouldn't beat me, but she would sometimes spank me for it. Then when I got older, I'd get sent to my room without the rest of my dinner if I made any noises. But I really can't control it."

He closed his eyes for a minute and I saw him trying to get control of himself. "Where was your dad during all of this?" he finally asked, his jaw tight.

I shrugged. "She didn't usually do it when dad was around. When she tried, he'd argue with her and tell her that it was unconscious and I shouldn't be punished. So he didn't know about it."

His hands clenched on the table and he sucked in a couple of deep breaths through

his nose and let them out through his mouth. "Okay. We need to go to the beach now before I drive back to Trenton and teach your mother some manners that might get me arrested."

I stood quietly and started clearing the table. After I put the dishes in the sink, I found myself trapped in a pair of warm arms. I looked up into a pair of concerned eyes. "You okay?" Hal asked as he pulled me to his chest.

I nodded. "Sorry I ruined the good mood."

"Sweetheart, you didn't ruin anything. You were just answering questions, telling me about yourself. It just bothers me that your mom treated you like that," he assured me. "Please, don't feel like you ruined anything."

"We were having a good time, joking around. And then I ruined it," I insisted.

"No, you didn't. Nothing is ruined. I'm just a little aggravated with your mom, and I figured it would be best if we went outside where I'm away from the temptation of calling her and telling her what an evil witch she is," he said.

I was staring at his chest and he forced my chin up to look him in the eyes. "Nothing is ruined. I promise. Trust me?"

I stared into his eyes for a moment before nodding reluctantly. "Now go put on your bathing suit so we can hit the beach," he said as he let his arms fall loosely to his sides. "I'll meet you on the deck in a few minutes."

I went to my room and changed into a blue and purple floral bikini. It showed off my figure without being too overtly sexy, and I thought it was cute. I shoved a couple of novels, a big beach towel and bottle of sunscreen into a bag. Once in the kitchen, I snagged a couple of bottles of water from the fridge, one for me and one for Hal.

I found Hal out on the deck. He was staring off into the distance, and for the first time really, I could see the badass in him. I'd seen a little of it in the car, but that had only lasted for a second before he'd grinned at me.

Any sane person would have left the big, brooding guy the hell alone. Good thing for me that no one has ever accused me of being sane.

"Hey," I said softly.

His eyes softened as he looked at me. "Hey, sweetheart," he said as he held out a hand to me. His towel and a book were in his other hand.

I accepted his hand and we walked together down the beach until we found a smooth area to spread out the towels. I pulled off my cover up and he groaned. I turned to look at him.

"You look beautiful," he told me.

I blushed and looked away. "No, please don't hide from me," he said as he stepped into my new line of sight. "Why do compliments bother you?"

"They don't bother me per se. I'm just not that used to them," I told him.

"Why not? You're a beautiful woman. You should be used to hearing men tell you that you look gorgeous."

I could feel the blush beginning again in my cheeks, and obviously the pancakes hadn't been enough to completely wipe out my hormones since they were running riot.

"Morelli wasn't big on compliments. And Ranger's not big on talking, period. And most of the compliments I get from skips aren't exactly fit for polite company," I explained.

He grinned at me. "Well, you're beautiful, and that bathing suit is gorgeous."

"Thank you, kind sir. Could you do my back?"

He groaned but accepted the bottle of sunscreen I handed him. "You sure know how to torture a guy," he said in resignation as his big hands began spreading the lotion over my back and neck.

I looked over my shoulder to grin at him. "Nah, this is nothing. I've come up with all sorts of gruesome things for Morelli. That's torture."

He chuckled and slid his hand under the straps of my top. Holy hotflash!

I had to bite down on my bottom lip to keep from moaning out loud as his hands drifted down my waist to curve over my hips. His hands vanished for a moment, and then they were back with more of the lotion as he squatted down and applied lotion to my legs.

I squealed as he got the back of my knees and could help but moan when he massaged my calves. They were sore from all the training I'd been doing, and having his hands on my legs rubbing them was sheer heaven.

"Sore?"

"A little."

"Lay down on the towel for me."

I looked at him for a second before complying. Once I was stretched out, my head on my hands so I could watch the water, he knelt on the towel next to me. Then his hands were rubbing up and down my legs, just the right amount of pressure to make me want to writhe in joy.

"Oh…. God…." I moaned as he used sure, firm strokes that went from my ankles to the tops of my thighs to work the soreness out of my overworked muscles.

"You can call me Hal," he whispered in my ear.

"Keep doing that and I'll call you whatever you want," I panted.

After what felt like forever, he shifted and I sighed despondently as his hands lifted off my legs.

Then I gasped when cold lotion slicked hands smoothed over my back. He started rubbing my shoulders and I felt the muscles of my back dissolve. He rubbed my shoulders and my back until there was not one bit of tension left in my body. I was a barely breathing pile of goo on a beach towel.

"Sweetheart, I'm going to go for a swim," he told me softly.

"Hmm? Oh. I thought you wanted to wait until it warmed up?"

"No, colder is better," he said softly before I heard his soft footfalls as he walked away.

I lay on my towel and contemplated everything that had happened in the last few days.

I was finally out of the building and away from the guys. I loved them, but I was about to kill a few of them if I didn't get a little alone time. And Ranger might be at the top of that list. He wasn't the one bugging me, but it was his bright idea that I join RangeMan; ergo, it's all his fault.

Then I'd finally snapped and told Ranger and his core team to give me sugar or face the consequence and loud mouth Lester had promptly spread it all over the freaking building. I'd have to come up with a suitable punishment for that.

Then Hal had been the one guy to see how close I was to the edge and take the time to ask me what was going on. Then he'd invited me to the beach with me so I could have some time away. And sugar, let's not forget sugar. Although if his admission about his feelings was true, he probably wouldn't object too much if I jumped him and had my wicked way with him.

But now Hal, who I'd never thought of as anything more than a somewhat shy friend, had admitted to having feelings for me, and even more astounding, to wanting a relationship with me.

I'd told Ranger months ago that I wanted a guy who could do both the words and the actions. Between both Ranger and Morelli, I'd gotten both, but not from one guy. Ranger had a corner on the actions. He was always supportive, there with his unwavering support anytime I needed it, no matter what. But he refused to admit to a relationship, and I needed to be acknowledged as more than just a fuck buddy.

Morelli claimed to love me and insisted that he wanted to marry me, but his actions were the furthest thing from that. He belittled me and only wanted me if I'd change everything about me. No thanks.

But Hal, now this was interesting. He said he wanted a relationship, and so far, his actions supported that. He was the one to notice that I was about to kill someone. He was the one to invite me to the beach. He was also the one to make me amazing chocolate chip pancakes, to give me a massage until I went boneless, to carry me to bed and tuck me in when I fell asleep. So far, he got a gold star for actions matching words.

So now the question was how I felt about him.

I lifted my head to rest on my hands while I stared at the water. I could see Hal swimming steadily, farther out to sea that I would have ever ventured without a big honking life vest and the entire cast of Baywatch on standby, but he was a SEAL. He could probably handle himself better in the water than David Hasselhoff could ever dream of.

The buzzing of my cell phone captured my attention. Ranger.

"Yo," I answered.

"That's my line, Babe."

"I stole it. Deal with it," I retorted.

He chuckled quietly. "How's the beach?"

"A-mazing," I purred.

"What contraband has he fed you so far?" an amused Ranger asked.

"Chocolate peanut butter pie at dinner last night and homemade chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast this morning. And he promised chocolate fudge brownies in my immediate future," I told Ranger. "And it's not contraband. I'm off duty this weekend so I can swim in a river of chocolate if I so desire."

So put that in your peace pipe and smoke it.

"Babe."

"Was there a point to this call or are you just trying to screw with my happiness?" I asked.

"What's got you so happy?" he asked.

"Hal made me chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and then slathered me with sunscreen. Now I'm chilling on the beach soaking up the sun. So stop harshing my mellow, dude."

Ranger chuckled. "You've been around Mooner and Dougie too much. Where is Hal?"

"Doing his SEAL thing swimming."

"How would you feel about staying longer?"

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

There was a moment of silence. "Can't I be a nice boss?"

"You? No. So why?"

"Babe."

"Ranger."

"I had Hector pull the video from the weekends, and the guys have been overly… enthusiastic with you. With all the time they've forced you into the gym and range on what should have been your time off, I figure you've earned a little extra time away."

"What about Hal?"

"He already had next week off. Didn't he tell you?"

I narrowed my eyes at the oblivious SEAL swimming happily out of range of my death glare. "No."

"He was going to bring you back tomorrow evening and then head back out to finish his week off. If he's willing to have you around for the rest of the week, you can take the time. You should have had the time as weekends off. I just expect you to keep up with your workouts so you don't loose progress."

"Deal," I told him.

"Don't you need to ask Hal first?" Ranger asked in an amused tone.

"I'll ask, but I can be lots of fun, and I'm pretty sure I can persuade Hal to keep me around. Unless you hear otherwise, see you in a week," I said as I disconnected.

My cell phone buzzed again. New text message.

You hung up on me, Babe!

I texted back. You hang up on me all the time. Guess your bad habits are rubbing off on me.

Have a good time, Ranger replied.

Little angel Stephanie told me to leave it. Little devil Stephanie told me to tweak Ranger's tail. Guess which one won?

Oh, I can guarantee that. Bwhahaha. Going to get wet with Hal now. Bye!

I threw my cell phone on the towel and raced for the water. I squealed a little when it splashed up my legs, it was freaking cold. But that might help to cool down some of my overactive hormones a little. Teasing Ranger had turned up the temp a little.

I splashed around a little and eventually made it in the water up to my waist. I'd gotten over the need to keep my hair looking good shortly after becoming a bounty hunter. There was just no point. But I didn't want to get all of me wet since it was still a bit chilly, and I didn't want to be flashing my headlights at Hal all day.

I shrieked when something swept by my legs and then I found myself lifted up. Hal came out of the water with a wide grin on his face. I punched him on the bicep and he just grinned wider.

"What the hell?" I asked, mostly rhetorically. "You're lucky I'm not armed right now!"

"Sweetheart, I rubbed lotion on you in that tiny little bikini. I knew you weren't carrying."

"Still," I huffed as I crossed my arms over my chest as he stood with me in his arms. "Not cute!"

He jiggled me in his arms and I had to clutch at his neck to keep from falling. He carried us farther out in the water until the water was to my chest. So much for keeping the headlights on low beams.

He kept his arms around me as the waves washed up and over us in gentle, rolling undulations.

"So, were you ever going to tell me that you were off all this week?" I finally broke the companionable silence.

His arms tightened around me. "No," he admitted. "Not until we were back."

"Why not?"

"Because I know you and you'd refuse to come with me if you thought it would be an inconvenience for me to take you back on Sunday. But really, it'll be fine. I can drop you back and then head back here on Monday morning. No problem at all," Hal hastened to reassure me.

"About that," I said. "What would you say if I didn't have to go back on Sunday?"

"I'd say that sounded great," he replied instantly. "Is something going on?"

I shook my head. "Ranger called while you were swimming. He checked out the tapes and was not so pleased that some of the guys were dragging me to the gym and range on what was supposed to be my time off. So to compensate me, he offered me the week off. His only caveat was that I couldn't come back having back slid on my fitness levels," I explained. "But it's bad enough to crash part of your vacation, so I'll definitely understand if you'd rather have some alone time during the week. I can get a hotel room in town, no problem."

He turned me so that I was facing him instead of facing out at the ocean.

"Steph, did you not hear me last night?" he asked seriously as he stared into my eyes.

"I did. But I also heard you say that you like your privacy when you can get it. Well, you can get it. My feelings won't be hurt if you want to drop me off in town for the week. You can just pick me up on Sunday and we can head back to Trenton," I told him.

Truthfully, my feelings probably would be hurt a little, but I'd do my best to hide it.

"Absolutely not. I'd love it if you'd stay here with me. Besides, it'll give me more time to ply you with brownies and make you fall for me," he said with a grin.

I smiled at him mischievously. "Speaking of brownies…" I hinted.

He kissed the tip of my nose. "That supposed to be a subtle hint?"

"Subtle, no. Hint, hell yes."

He threw back his head and laughed, and dear God if that didn't turn him into about the hottest man I'd ever seen, and I'd had the definite fortune of working with a whole hell of a lot of hot men in my more recent days.

I stared at him in awe while he got his laughter under control. "Man, you're fun," he told me as his eyes crinkled at the corners and his dimples flashed at me.

A bigger than usual swell pushed me against him and his arms anchored me to his chest before I started floating off towards England. I always wanted to visit Europe, but I think I'd rather try to fly there.

I bit back a slight moan at the feel of his hard, warm chest pressed tightly against my breasts. I felt him suck in a deep breath and I ventured a glance up at him through my eyelashes.

He was staring down at me, and he groaned when I looked up at him.

"Hal?"

His eyes were fixated on my lips as I said his name.

"Stephanie," he whispered before he shook his head slightly. His eyes came back into focus as he took a deep breath.

You know, I really like seeing his eyes all soft and out of focus like that. Without thinking about it much, I decided to make them do that again.

I stood on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed myself close to him.

"Ah, sweetheart," he said in a strangled voice as his head inched closer to mine.

"Yes, Hal?" I breathed.

"You're making it really hard for me to keep things platonic," he said gruffly.

Oh, things were hard, alright.

"Who said anything about keeping things platonic?" I whispered softly. "You wanted me to consider a relationship with you? Well, consider this me considering it."

That must have been all of the encouragement he needed because then his lips were on mine.

It was a soft kiss, but not a tentative one. Hal definitely knew what he was doing, but he wasn't trying to force things or speed them up. It was soft and gentle but the amount of fire that sparked to life at the mere touch of our lips was surprising, especially considering I was up to my neck in cool water. That should have put a damper on things, right?

It didn't. Boy, if I went up in flames this quick while in the cold water, I can only imagine what his lips could do to me in other environs. Let's just say wow.

While I was so focused on what his lips could do to me, I neglected to think about his hands until they shifted from simply resting along my back to my ass, cupping my butt and lifting me up.

I wrapped my legs around his waist as he lifted me into his arms so he didn't have to bend to kiss me. His groan as my legs went around him was even sweeter than the pancakes he'd made for me this morning.

"Oh, God, Stephanie," he whispered against my lips. I moaned as his hips moved against mine and he sucked in a ragged breath.

"Mmm," I murmured in agreement. Damn, but he was good at this. If he was half as good at baking as he was at making out, I just might marry him.

He pulled back slightly and rested his cheek against mine. I snuggled in closer to him and he groaned slightly as I brushed against him as I adjusted my legs around his waist.

"Please, sweetheart," he murmured. "I'm trying to be a gentleman here but you have to stay still!"

I giggled at his slightly chagrined tone. I couldn't help it.

He let out a long breath before he started chuckling too. "Well, it was one heck of a first kiss," he finally said.

"No kidding!"

His arms tightened around me and he started walked towards the shore. "Hey, where're we going?" I asked in confusion?

"You're starting to turn blue, I need to get you out of the water before you develop hypothermia," he replied as he continued walking us out of the waves.

Oh. I hadn't noticed once I'd wrapped myself around him like a boa constrictor. "I guess it is a little chilly," I admitted after a moment's consideration.

Hal sat me down on the towel, and used the other one to dry me off before he dried his own arms and chest. He then sat down next to me and draped his arm around my shoulder. "You okay?" he asked after a minute.

I nodded. "Fine. You?"

"Yeah."

There was another minute of silence, but it felt comfortable and not awkward. We stayed like that for a long time, each of us lost in our own little world while the autumn sun's rays warmed and dried us.

I hadn't even noticed when my head drifted over to Hal's shoulder until he shifted to tuck me closer against his side. I looked up to grin my thanks, and he just smiled at me before dropping a quick kiss on my forehead.

I did, however, notice his big hand drawing a little design on my bare arm. After the kiss we just shared, it set my hormones to tap dancing like Shirley Temple on speed.

"Hal," I said in a slightly breathy tone.

His hand stilled. "Yeah, sweetheart? What's wrong?"

"You haven't fed me nearly enough sugar to be touching me like that," I told him with a grin.

He grinned back at me, his eyes darkening to a midnight blue. "So what do you want me do about it?" he asked in a husky voice.

I had two options here. I could either throw him down on the towel and hope the beach was as deserted as it looked, or I could drag him back to the beach house and force him to make me those brownies that he'd been taunting me with.

"You've been telling me how good your brownies are," I challenged. "Time to put up or shut up."

"Sure you don't want me to put out instead?" he asked with a wicked grin as he stood up.

Yes.

"Brownies first, then I'll decide," I said with a wink as I bent over to pack up my bag. I grinned when he groaned at my ass in the air. Served him right, he started it.

"Let's go, smartass," he told me as he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the house.

"You love my ass," I retorted.

"Absolutely."

I grinned. I figured given our earlier conversation, but it was good to know.

Author's note: Thanks for all of the great reviews, they really make my day! Please let me know what you think of the story so far.