A/N: First of all, please let me apologize for the absolutely ridiculous amount of time it has taken me to post this! This chapter didn't want to be written, but I finally pinned it down. It's not very long, which I sincerely apologize for considering the time since my last post. But I think I will have the next chapter complete very soon.

I also want to thank those of you that sent me messages encouraging me to keep going, you know who you are! It meant the world to me to get those and they reminded me that I actually have people that like reading my story!

Finally, in the spirit of a good mystery, I put a bit of a... secret tidbit in this chapter. Hopefully it will be easy enough to decode! Best of luck ;)

Anyhow, without further ado, here is chapter 8.

Chapter 8

After their time at the range, in which Elsie had continued to blow Charles away with her marksmanship skills, they went back to the truck and started off in the opposite direction of the way they had come. At that moment, something dawned on Elsie.

"You told me to wear something I could get dirty… That wasn't a particularly filthy activity," Charles raised his eyebrows at the word 'filthy' and Elsie ignored him, "so what else do you have planned?" Charles smirked at her.

"If I told you that would ruin the surprise. But I will say this- after your performance at the range I think you'll really enjoy our next adventure…"

Elsie just shook her head and smiled. She reflected for a moment on how easily they had fallen into this relaxed, familiar banter. She was surprised to find that, for the first time in so very long, she felt no apprehension whatsoever at a man's intentions. Somewhere inside she knew Charles was deeply good- a true gentleman in every sense of the word and she basked in the warmth of that thought as he drove on.

A short while later, Charles slowed down and turned onto a well-worn dirt track that led into the woods. Intrigued, Elsie sat forward and put her hands on the dash, looking ahead to see where they were going.

"Charles, you know so many secret places. I'm beginning to wonder if you're 007." Charles smiled at her joke, slightly fearful at the realization of how close she was to the truth. Before he had to formulate a response, they reached their destination.

"Paintball?!" Elsie shrieked, slightly out of fear and slightly from excitement. She stared at the course in front of her. It ran through the forest in no particular order. There were many different versions of barricades, some dirt mounds, some boards placed between trees, some logs that had been cut and stacked, and she could see paintball splashes over every surface. It looked to be quite difficult terrain. Charles snorted in laughter at her high-pitched exclamation.

"Paintball. But not just any paintball. This is ultimate survival paintball." With a wicked wiggle of his eyebrows, Charles got out of the truck and went around to Elsie's side to open her door for her.

"Charles, I'm all for excitement, but I don't know about this. Doesn't paintball, well, rather hurt?"

Charles said, "It does, but the goal is to not get shot in the first place. And because I want to be sure you were safe, I brought you some armor." With that, Charles pulled some paintball gear from a bin in the bed of the truck. It was brand new, and exactly her size. How he hand known she was uncertain, but she was thankful nonetheless. When he didn't pull any gear for himself, Elsie spoke up. "Where is your armor?"

"I don't have any. I'm tough." Elsie was annoyed, and she almost tossed her vest and leg gear back into the bin. But, she thought better of it and realized paintball bruises would be difficult to explain to her students and fellow professors. Sucking up her pride, she narrowed her eyes at him as she donned her gear. He smiled as she put the items on.

"Ok, here's a gun for you, and one for me. There are stashes of paintballs all around the area. Part of the thrill is trying to find a new stash before you run out or get hit. You have enough paintballs to run, but you'll need to find more. The rules are simple: no face shots, no crotch shots, and you have to keep moving. You cannot stay in one place longer than a minute. There's a buzzer that goes every 60 seconds to let you know it's time to move. Ready?" Elsie swallowed and nodded, a thrill running through her veins. Charles walked over to a box that was affixed to a tree and opened it up. He turned a dial to set their time.

"GO!" Charles yelled, and they both set off at a run. Elsie sidelined him hard, and he ripped over a root on the forest floor. She cackled gleefully as she ran away, and she heard him curse behind her. "What was that woman?!" Elsie dashed behind a tree and shouted, "There's no rule against it!" Charles picked himself up and growled. "I'm coming for you!"

Elsie laughed again, already having much more fun than she expected. She taunted back, "You wish!" and then disappeared into the trees.

ECECECECECECECECECECE

An hour later, winded and thoroughly bruised, Charles and Elsie sat on the tailgate of the truck sharing some sandwiches he had packed for them. Elsie reached for the pretzels Charles was holding, and he immediately relinquished them, a look of mock fear on his face.

"Oh stop it." She said.

"No, no way. You're a crazy-vicious mad woman. I'm right and truly terrified." Elsie slapped his shoulder. She had won the match, fair and square. Charles had never played the game against a woman, and truth be told she had shaken his confidence a bit. Playing her was so different from matching wits with a man. She thought differently, she was more cunning and sharper, and she almost seemed to anticipate his moves before he knew where he was headed. She had only a few paintball splotches on her vest and pants, while he was a veritable rainbow of color. He'd only had to refill his ammo once because he could never get a shot at her, while she had exhausted at least three of the caches. Needless to say, he thought, she had impressed him.

He stopped eating his sandwich and watched her for a moment. She was sweaty, her auburn hair sticking to her temples, and her face was flushed from the energetic activity. She took a long drink of water, and as he watched a few droplets escape her lips and trail down her neck, mixing with the bright blue paint that was sprinkled on the column of her throat. Charles had it. He dropped his sandwich on the tailgate and stood abruptly. Elsie was wiping her lips on her sleeve when he grabbed her face, hungrily pressing his lips to hers. She hesitated for a moment from the shock, and then she responded with a frenzy of intensity.

Elsie's head was spinning. Charles had surprised her with such an interesting and fun day, and now he was ravaging her mouth with his oh-so-talented lips. She responded with fervor, running her tongue gently over his bottom lip, nibbling it and then sucking away the pain. His tongue was in her mouth, and she took him by surprise when she wrapped her lips around it and sucked it hard, eliciting a deep groan from his chest. She felt light-headed, and as he buried his hands in her hair, she wrapped her legs around his knees and scooted herself forward, making a valiant attempt to press her aching center to his groin. He broke the kiss then, still gently holding her face. He placed his forehead on hers and they both struggled to breathe normally. Elsie loosened her legs, and he dropped his hands. She almost whimpered at the loss of his warmth. Before she could protest, however, he wrapped her gently in his arms, simply hugging her and holding her close. She buried her face in his neck and clung to him, suddenly inundated with a plethora of feelings she was not ready or willing to examine.

"We should go." She said hoarsely. Charles nodded, still holding her. "Willa will need her bandage changed." Charles pulled away and just looked at her. Elsie began to feel self-conscious.

"Today was by far the best date I've ever had, thank you." She offered, hoping he would say something. He smiled.

"You are by far the most interesting and beautiful woman I have ever had the privilege of taking on a date, Elsie Hughes. Thank you." Elsie blushed and hopped off of the tailgate. They packed up their picnic, put away their gear, and got into the truck. The ride home was relatively quiet, and Charles wondered for a moment if he had done something to push her away. But before he could finish the thought, Elsie reached over and grasped his hand, twining her fingers with his. He smiled and pulled her soft fingers up to his mouth and laid a gentle kiss onto her knuckles.

ECECECECECECECECECECE

Once they arrived back at Elsie's house, she invited him inside for a drink. It was later in the day, and after the intense activities of the morning she felt almost exhausted. She knew she still had coursework to look over before classes resumed the next day, so she turned to Charles intending to beg off the evening to catch up with everything. However, her plans were thwarted when she turned and walked smack into Charles' bare chest. Her hands were flat against his pecs, her palms pressing against his nipples. She squeaked with surprise and jerked her hands away, just as Charles stepped back. The entire encounter had taken less than ten seconds, but Elsie felt as though she could play every single moment in slow motion through her mind. Her face must have reflected that thought because Charles looked at her and his eyes became heavy. Elsie stopped breathing for a moment, but caught herself and stepped back.

"Today was wonderful." She said softly, smiling up at him. He bent and laced a gentle kiss to her lips.

"It was wonderful because I had such engaging and lovely company." He smiled back at her.

"So, what happened to your shirt?" Elsie teased him. He had the decency to look at her sheepishly.

"Well," he started, "I was going to sit down," he gestured to the cushy white bar stools she had at her kitchen island, "but then I realized I still have a lot of wet paint on my shirt. So…" Elsie's eyes immediately fell to his pants, searching for wet paint there. Embarrassed at her rather bold perusal, Elsie swiftly turned and started looking for her tumblers and some scotch. She could hear Charles chuckle behind her.

"Oh, you stop it." She scolded with a smirk on her face. Charles said, "Don't worry, I already checked my pants and sadly they are dry." Elsie just rolled her eyes at him as she set the tumbler of scotch down in front of him.

"Shall we sit on the porch?" Elsie suggested. They made their way outside and Charles shrugged back into his shirt as they sat down on her wicker furniture.

"Pity." Elsie teased as she took a sip of her drink. Charles turned a pensive gaze to her.

"Elsie, do you trust me?" Warmth spread through her chest that had nothing to do with the liquor.

"Yes." She whispered, barely audible. Charles smiled and leaned back into his chair. "Why do you ask?" She added, quietly. Charles reached out and took her hand in his. "Because I've not felt this way about someone in more years than I can remember. And I don't want to be a temporary piece of your life. That sounds serious, and it is. And I believe everything starts with trust. I trust you. More than you could believe."

Elsie brushed a tear from her eye and sat her glass down on the porch railing. She turned back to him and placed herself carefully in his lap, then pressed her lips to his forehead before sinking fully into his strong embrace.

So? who has it figured out? Who is EXCITED? ;)