Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich is one clever lady. Characters and everything you recognize are hers. I'm just playing.

Chapter 11

We did drive to the ATV place, but didn't stay long. We sat around as Hector hooked my phone up to a computer and took as much data off of it as possible. Then we drove out into a Jungle-y area and left the phone there. Ram, Hal, and Cal hid their ATVs and were staying behind. We left them with a bunch of supplies and some phone numbers for local contacts if they ran into any issues. I was extremely nervous about this, but everyone reassured me it would be fine and they would join us later when they had more information.

The rest of us rode back to the ATV company's storefront and Ranger convinced them to take the week off of work, paid and assured them that the remaining ATVs would be there when they returned. I was pretty sure though that he'd paid them enough not to care either way.

We headed back into Lihue and stopped for a late lunch of fish tacos and, in my case, a very tasty tropical drinks. Passion fruit, papaya, guava, and rum. Mmmmmm. The guys all chuckled as I got increasingly handsy with Ranger throughout lunch, but hey, I was on my honeymoon after all!

Carlos leaned over and kissed my cheek and said, "that's right you are."

Bummer. Out loud again, I guess that was okay this time though. I gave a little protest when he reached over then and finished my drink for me, thus keeping the problem from getting worse. He gave me a mega-watt smile though, so I decided to let it go.

I was disappointed to find myself back at the airport a few minutes later, but Carlos gain reassured me that the vacation wasn't over, we were just going to Plan B. I pouted, but boarded the plane and buckled up. Shortly after takeoff, I was up and trying to convince Carlos to start a dance party with me while the others looked on in baffled delight.

Carlos just gave me a kiss on the cheek and pulled me down onto the couch next to him. He tucked me into his side and it was lights out, Stephanie. I woke again as Carlos was gently shifting me into an upright position so he could buckle my seatbelt. I stretched and popped my ears before trying to look out the window and discover where we were. I couldn't really see anything so I just closed my eyes again.

I opened them again and found myself on some sort of boat, and I wasn't too fond of boats, so I just went back to sleep. This time when I woke up it was in a big king sized bed with Carlos. If this was the kind of reward I got for sleeping too much, I wasn't going to be changing my ways anytime soon! I gave Carlos a kiss on the cheek then got up and found an attached bathroom to take care of business. After contemplating for about two seconds, I decided to get into the shower and wash the sleep off of myself.

Of course, as soon as I got in the shower, I was instantly reminded of the shower that Ranger and I had shared in the guest cottage. Thinking about that had me antsy, and in no time I was glaring at the shower head, mentally cursing it for not being a shower massager. Stupid useless shower heads.

I felt Carlos move in behind me and wrap his arms around me, snaking his hands up to toy with my breasts. "We don't need one, Babe. With or without tools, I'm very good in the shower." He then proceeded to show me just how right he was.

When we got out of the shower, I got ready for the day, again unsure of what time it was, but hoping it was early hours of the day because I was going to be awake for a while after all that sleep.

I walked out to the living area and was surprised to find it empty. I could hear some noises coming from the room around me, so I figured people were starting to wake up and I'd have company soon. I started poking around in the fridge and trying to see if there was anything I could make, but I was completely out of my element.

Ranger came up behind me, arms around me and nibbling on my neck. "Next lesson?" he asked.

"Sure, let's make something to share with the guys. I've enjoyed the lessons so far," I replied with a coy smile.

Carlos started poking around similar to how I'd done, but he started pulling things out as he went. He gave me a pointed look, "we're not going to eat like this all the time, okay?"

I just nodded, content to let him think what he'd want knowing he was giving me the tools to do so in the future though.

Under Ranger's watchful eye, I started boiling some water and measured out some water. I squeezed some fresh orange juice, separated some eggs, melted some butter, and seeded and chopped some chipotle peppers.

When the water was boiling, I turned it down to a simmer and added vinegar. He showed me how to gently break the eggs on a flat surface to avoid cracking the yolk or getting any shell in them. They went into individual dishes he called ramekins with a pinch of salt then four to a pot at a time into the simmering water.

Once I had that procedure down, he kept an eye on the remaining eggs and started frying up some Taylor Ham while coaching me through moving on to the sauce. I followed Rangers instructions and by the time the men walked into the kitchen there were plates set out that looked gorgeous, if I do say so myself. They each grabbed a plate, some utensils and a drink, then shuffled out to the dining room.

Once we were alone again, Ranger stepped up to me, picked me up and set me down on a clear stretch of countertop. He stepped between my legs and rubbed against me while giving me several heated kisses. His hands slid up my stomach to my breasts and started massaging them. I was just starting to get really into it until he stepped back and I noticed Lester standing there, clearing his throat and staring pointedly at the wall.

"Come on, Mom and Dad, we're waiting for you so we can eat!" he exclaimed cheekily before walking back out.

Carlos pressed a couple more lingering kisses on my lips then helped me get down from the counter and straighten myself up. Hand in hand we grabbed the last two plates and walked out to join the rest of the men. Carlos helped me into my chair then took his own. The men were looking at us expectantly and Tank asked, "so, what have you made for us, Little Girl?"

I looked at Carlos hoping I got it right and said, "Poached Eggs with Chipotle-Orange Hollandaise Sauce. It actually wasn't all that difficult."

Everyone took a bite, me included, and I let out a surprised groan. After the requisite shifting died down, I turned to Ranger and said, "wow, this is good!" with a big smile on my face. There were chuckles all around and we quickly finished off our meal.

Bobby and Hector made me stay seated and went in the kitchen to clean up. As we all sat around drinking some coffee, I asked Ranger if he'd heard anything from the team we left behind in Hawaii. He looked over at Tank and then nodded. Yes, they captured some men who went after your phone. They're on their way back to Rangeman Trenton to question them as we speak. If they can't get anything within the next couple days, Tank and I will go into assist. Don't worry, you can stay here.

"The hell I will."

"Alright then. Hopefully they'll get something though, and we can stay here longer."

"Speaking of," I questioned, "where is here?"

"We're in the Florida Keys. Now, I think we owed you a trip to the beach? I figure we should get that done before anything else happens. Wouldn't want to have to leave without you getting your beach in. Plan C doesn't have a beach."

That was all he needed to say to have me jumping up and rushing back to our room to change into a bikini.

Once we reached the beach, I happily stretched out a towel and laid down with sunglasses and a hat on to start soaking in the relaxation. Carlos came up with a container of sunscreen and dumped some on my back, chuckling when I screeched in surprise at the cold. Then he proceeded to rub it in, using a technique more consistent with a massage than anything else. As he continued to apply the sunscreen I figured he could use as much as he wanted. Who needed a tan anyway. It would probably kill me in the end anyway, and he sure seemed to like my pale skin.

Carlos leaned down and whispered in my ear, "you're darn right I do," Then he rolled me over and started applying it to my front. Keeping things PG-13 out of deference to the men. Or, it was possible that it was actually in deference to how I would feel if things went further than that in front of the men.

Once he went back to whatever everyone else was doing, I settled back into my beach zone. I laid there for probably a half an hour when Lester came up in a whining voice and said, "come on, Beautiful, are you really going to do that all day?!"

"Yup!"

Quicker than a snake he reached down, threw me over his shoulder and started running for the water. I was screaming for all I was worth and not a single Rangeman or the man himself came to my rescue. Lester threw me in the water and I came up sputtering.

"Lester Santos!"

Lester was doubled over and didn't see my attack coming. I knocked him back into the waves before striding toward the shore. Apparently that was all it took for a full-on battle to take place. Carlos stripped off his shirt and tossed it over my head- guess he was concerned about a wardrobe malfunction, and then joined in.

Before I knew it, the men had taken turns attacking me and dragging me into the water. Each time, after I got back out, Ranger would show me how to counter the move and they would try again. We kept going until each of them was unable to take me into the water with is designated move.

I jumped into Carlos's arms victoriously and the others groaned.

"If you two are going to start that again, we're going to go start lunch. You've got an hour!"

They headed off and Carlos informed me that this was a private beach. 59 minutes later, we stumbled our way back up to the houses, looking more than a little mussed. I just waved at the guys then hopped in to take a quick shower and get the sand and saltwater out of my hair before joining them on the patio. We were having barbecue and enjoying the view when Ranger's phone rang. I could tell by the look on his face that it was the office. I was guessing they had news on the prisoners.

A/N: Thanks to Margaret for helping me push through the writers block I was experiencing with this story. I know this chapter is short, but hopefully it won't be as much of a wait now until the next one.