Chapter 25: Spring Break, Hooray!

Life went on, Kay with her work at the restaurant on the weekends and her classes during the week. She didn't see or hear anything from Todd, nor did she hear anything about him. If only it would stay that way.

My life continued, too, with my work at home and every other week or so a trip out of town to one client or another. The new client in Wyoming was more demanding of my time and after my initial setup visit with them I had to return twice, in what was an unusually short period of time. On the last visit, I opted to spend an extra night in town and took their senior in house technician to dinner. I wanted to get him away from their offices and find out if there was something going on I didn't see.

I let him pick a place for dinner and we went to an Outback, of all places, causing me to chuckle.

"Is there something funny, Rob?"

"Yeah, it's funny you wanted to come to here. Funny ha, ha though, not funny strange, so it's good, Garrett."

"What's funny about an Outback?"

"By itself, nothing, but I never eat in the Outback by me at home. I like the food, don't get me wrong, but my housemate, who's my live-in housekeeper, is also a waitress at the Outback. I don't want to embarrass her or cause her any grief so I never go to her restaurant, not even on the nights she isn't working. I'm just finding it funny to have to be out of town to go to the restaurant she works in or at least one of that chain."

"Okay, I guess that can be funny. A live in housekeeper who is also a waitress, isn't that kind of odd? When she works nights how does she take care of you and your family?"

"I have no family that needs to be taken care of, I'm single. I have no problem rustling up my own meals, so that's no problem. Besides being my housekeeper and a waitress she's also a full time student at SDSU."

"That sounds like a lot for an adult our age. She keeps up with all this?"

"She more than keeps up, she's doing well. She isn't our age; she's not yet twenty-one years old."

"You have a twenty year old college girl as a live in housekeeper? Some time you're going to have to tell me how you managed to pull that off. That and tell me how I can, too."

"It's way complicated and it starts with you having to have a decent sized sailboat. I'll tell you the rest my next trip but tonight there're a couple of other things I want to talk about. Okay?"

"Okay, but I'm going to be scratching my head about this until you tell me the whole story. Starts with a decent sized sailboat, hunh? This you gotta tell me sometime. Alright, not tonight, this is your meal, your dime. What'd you want to know?"

"You guys have had me out twice already in the two months since you signed me on and neither time have I seen a problem you couldn't handle in house. I like the business and appreciate the premium you pay me for on-site visits but why am I being called out here?"

"That's an easy one. There are two reasons; first, because of the guy we had to take care of this stuff before you. If you think, in computer terms, of ones and zeroes, he would qualify as a zero and that's about what we got out of him and his service, zero."

"How does that bring me out here?"

"That brings me to the second reason; our I.T. manager really has no idea of what he's doing. He's really more of an administrator than a manager. He depends on everyone else around him to have the technical knowledge he doesn't. It works for us because we can convince him of just about anything and he doesn't know the difference."

"That explains why he didn't ask me any technical questions when I was interviewed. How did he get the position then? I'd think you'd be better suited for it."

"Oh, I am, no doubt, but I don't want it. I can't handle the office politics at that level. There's too much ass kissing and not enough of an increase in the money to make it worth my while. I'm happy right where I am. I know they can't do without me and I don't have to worry about some elephant stomping on me because he wants to prove he's a bigger butt than I am in the executive wash room."

"Okay, and I'm out here because..."

"Because my manager doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground but thinks it helps his stature in the board room, if he has to bring an outside hot-shot trouble shooter in every now and again. He's also doing it to make sure of you and that you know your business. I told you, your predecessor was a zero but he also came to us with a good recommendation from somebody; don't ask me who because it wasn't me and whoever it was didn't do us any favor by foisting him on us."

"So I'm not crazy, there's no real reason for me to be here. It's only for show."

"You got it. I wouldn't count on these trips happening too much more though. I figure by the time you've been on contract for six months or so and nothing goes south on us, he'll stop pestering you and only call you when I tell him there's a real need for your expertise."

"You know I'm monitoring your system from my home office, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I know, but our illustrious manager doesn't believe it. I told him you were and how you did it but he doesn't believe it. I've tried to explain things to him about your setup but it went right over his head. I told you, he's an administrator, at best."

"Okay, then, this trip and the next few are probably just to show the flag and I have to put on a good show for his benefit, got it. See, I knew there was a good reason to take you out to dinner tonight. Thanks for filling in the blanks for me."

"No sweat, I'm enjoying a dinner out. My wife went to our son's house to play with the grand-kids and have dinner. While I miss the little ones, I don't miss my daughter-in-law, she's a fruit-cake and I can only take so much of her."

We finished dinner and parted with me promising to sometime tell him more about Kay. I flew home in the morning.

The relationship between Kay and I had progressed since our return from Christmas. It was a slow progression but it was a progression. I was more than comfortable with Kay and she must have been the same with me. She consistently spent three or four nights a week in my bed, her presence driving me crazy. I didn't try to hide my physical reaction anymore and it was obvious Kay knew my reaction was provoked by her presence.

Many times we woke up spooning each other, sometimes she was behind me and sometimes it was the other way around. Those were the really tough mornings for me because I invariably awoke with my hand clutching her breast. That was bad, but what made it worse was Kay clutching my hand and arm holding me in place. It wasn't every time but it happened most of the time. She was really driving me crazy! My desire for her grew, especially when she wiggled her butt backwards and up against me and my erection.

We'd shower in the evenings to get the dirt of the day or the chemicals from the hot tub off of us before going to bed. I found I was having to take a morning shower as well, to relieve the tensions that built during the night, particularly when she'd been rubbing against me.

I tried to address the issue with her, a few times, before spring break, but nothing changed. "Kay, do you know what you're doing to me?"

"Doing how?" She would turn her face towards me, smile and just wiggle a little more.

"You know darn well how! The question really is why? Are you doing it to tease me, to get a reaction from me, or to provoke me?"

"I didn't realize I was doing anything to you, Rob." Her eyes definitely had the twinkle that told me she was having fun with me.

"Like hell you didn't. Why do you think I've started taken morning showers when you know darn well I take one in the evening?"

"Because you want to be extra clean?"

"Not quite, Kay. For some reason I seem to break out in a sweat during the night with you in bed beside me and have to rinse off. While I'm in the shower I also get some relief."

"Relief, Rob, what do you need relief from? Is there something I could rub for you to help you with this relief? You know my parents wanted us to take care of each other."

"Grrr! One of these nights I really AM going to take care of you. When I do, just remember you brought it on yourself."

"Of course you're going to take care of me. You told both my parents and yours that you will." She was chuckling now, really having a good time.

I got up and went into my shower. I couldn't take it anymore just then.

Our lives continued in this fashion and I remained the gentleman she and I both knew I was but it was hard (pun intended).

Kay's spring break came around but she still had to work weekends at the restaurant. I took her for a sail; we planned to be gone from Monday morning until Friday afternoon. Because I didn't want to leave them home or in the cattery, we brought Sammy and Sandi with us. They'd been with me on the boat before and made for good company.

It wasn't as quiet as it usually was in the cove. We weren't alone; there were a couple of pontoon boats there, too. They had gone all the way in and were grounded on the beach. They were loaded with kids also on spring break. More than once they shouted greetings to us and an invitation to Kay to join them. They even said she could bring her father (ouch, that hurt) with her if she wanted to. I encouraged her to join them for a good time. She shouted back her polite refusal and latched onto my arm as if they were going to reach over and pull her off my boat.

"What's the matter, Kay, bad memories?"

"Darn right. I won't put myself in that situation again. You don't really expect me to go with them to their drinking party, do you? I don't know them at all and I have no idea what they have on those boats besides the alcohol. The last time I went to one of those, you saved me and I've thanked my lucky stars you were there when I needed you."

"I don't want you to think you're tied to me, Kay. You're a young woman, in college; you should be meeting people your age and having a good time."

"Thank you very much for the compliments but are you trying to get rid of me?" There was a touch of worry in her voice.

"Absolutely not, never! I just don't want you to think you have to stay with me if you don't want to. I don't want to limit you or hold you back from anything."

"I'm right where I want to be and I have no intentions of leaving. You're not holding me back from anything. You've done everything you possibly could for me and made my life better than it could be without you. You're not getting rid of me that easily. I'm holding onto you."

Well, that set me in my place. I had to think about what she had said. Did she mean she wasn't letting go this weekend, this semester, until she left school, or what. We'd have to talk some about this, but not now. I needed to think about what she meant to me and what expectations I had. I hadn't kicked her out of my bed and I didn't plan to. We hadn't gone beyond any point that we couldn't pull back from and I had no reason to pull back now.

We read, played cards, got in a couple of games of chess and swam; we were relaxing and enjoying ourselves. The kids on the party boats didn't bother us too much. Their music was loud enough to overpower ours but we would live. When the party people finally turned their volume down for the night we turned in. As I got ready to convert the settee for sleeping Kay stopped me.

"What are you doing, Rob?"

"I was making up my bed. I thought that was obvious."

"Yes, it's obvious but it's also unnecessary. Just come to bed with me in the forward bunk. I sleep with you at home, why shouldn't you sleep with me out here?"

"I don't know, I guess I didn't think about it. Are you sure, Kay?"

"Of course I'm sure. Stop being a ninny and come to bed with me."

So I did and the cats came, too. The vee-berth isn't as big as a king sized bed but there was more than enough room for the four of us, especially since Kay backed up for me to cuddle her in spoon fashion. The last thing she did before settling down was pull my arm around her and clutch my hand to her breast. I wasn't going to argue, it never did any good.

It was a good weekend and we both found it relaxing and enjoyable. The kids on the beach didn't even bother us but we did limit our time on the beach to keep our distance. Once back home we slipped into our normal routine.

I spent some time Saturday reviewing the logs from while we were gone and then turned to yard work. Sunday I sat out by the pool to have my coffee and read before doing the outside clean-up of the back yard and pool area. I also spent time thinking about Kay and our relationship. I had known her now eight or nine months; she'd lived in my home virtually that whole time.

I'd been to Kansas and now knew her family. They knew me, too, but more than that, they accepted me as Kay's beau and weren't shy about telling us about it. Kay had come with me to Florida, too, where she met my parents and best friends. Although they weren't as vocal about it, they, too, accepted Kay as my pending mate. Is that where we really were? Neither Kay nor I thought so but we were told by both of our families that we were a couple, even if we didn't see it yet.

Kay spent the weekend sleeping in her own room, as she normally did when she worked. Monday she returned to class. After finishing the day in the hot tub, we went to bed and Kay once again, joined me in my bed. I was feeling a little feisty and when Kay had fallen asleep I was still awake. I decided to upset the current balance because Kay was still teasing me and driving me crazy. It was too much.

Kay was backed up to me clutching my hand and arm when I came up with a way to return the teasing. She was in the perfect position for me. She slept on as I leaned my head over to start kissing and nibbling on her neck. I knew she was enjoying it in her sleep because she gave a little shiver and stretched her neck giving me more access.

"Hmm." She moaned and with that she wriggled against me. I continued and her sounds of pleasure increased.

I was enjoying myself and increasingly paid more attention to her. She was already clutching my hand to her breast so I started to fondle it, squeezing gently as I continued to nibble on her neck and then moved up to her ear. Her nipple came up and became taut as I was squeezing her breast so I pinched it lightly through her shirt. She was in the middle of a moan when it suddenly cut off and she froze with her body stiffening. I stopped everything I was doing, relaxed my hand, shifted back so I wasn't at her neck and kept my breathing deep and even as if I were asleep. Then I let my hand squeeze her breast ever so lightly.

"Rob, what are you doing? Stop that! " she called out.

I didn't answer and continued to feign sleep.

She scooted a little away from me, pulling out from under my offending arm. She turned onto her back, and then onto her side to look at me. She shook me by my shoulder. "Rob, wake up! What are you doing?"

"Hunh, what's the matter, Kay?" I opened my eyes and looked around as if I was just coming awake. "Is it morning? What's going on?"

"Are you telling me you don't know what you were doing?" She sounded incredulous and looked disbelievingly at me.

"Was I doing something? What'd I do?"

She stared at me for what seemed like forever. "Nothing, never mind, I guess you didn't do anything. I must have been imagining it."

"Imagining what, Kay?"

"Nothing, I guess. I was asleep and something woke me, that's all. Just lay back down and go to sleep."

She was looking at me with a lot of suspicion but she scooted back over to me and laid down on my arm, putting her head on my chest. I gave her a cuddle. "You're not making any sense, Kay. What woke you? Is something wrong? Why'd you wake me?" It was all I could do not to laugh out loud. It was hard not to even chuckle.

"I don't know. I'll talk with you about it in the morning."

I was smiling and the last thing that went through my mind as I fell asleep was "gotcha'".

In the morning I didn't say anything, I wanted to see if she would say or do something. I was having fun and struggling to keep a straight face. She kept looking at me covertly as we went about our morning routine. Kay left to go to school. Since she was going to do the shopping after class, she took the truck; I didn't have a need for it. I went to my office and sent an email to William telling him the Wyoming client was a bit of a nut. I thought about getting into the details but didn't. I wanted to pique his curiosity. I settled down to get some work done.

Kay came back directly after school and was excited, calling me from the hallway before she got to my office. "Rob, Rob, have you seen the local news since we got back?"

"No, not really, what's up? Is something wrong?" I was a little concerned.

She was smiling broadly. "No, something's good. I came home instead of shopping so I could tell you about it."

That reminded me she still didn't have a cell phone. I thought it was about time I did something to rectify that. Right now, I wanted to know what had her so excited. "Tell me about what, Kay? What's going on?"

"When I got to class today and checked my school email, there was one from my advisor telling me to see him today without fail. I thought maybe there was a problem with my scholarship so I went to see him at lunch. I caught him just before he left. He pulled me into his office and asked me if I'd had any more trouble with Todd."