The number "4" above might have tipped you off that there are other stories in the series. Please consider going back and reading (or re-reading) them before reading this installment.
NC-18 - No characters under the age of 18 are depicted in this story.
This is a copyrighted original work of erotic fiction. All rights reserved.
*****
We left after breakfast that morning to head out to the site where we were working. And of course AFTER we got there we found out an issue had come up and we weren't going to be able to work that day.
They had tried calling our coordinator while we were driving out, but with the spotty cell phone coverage his service got in some of the passes, it hadn't come through. They'd left messages, but he hadn't thought to check his voicemail.
We hung around a while, in case the issue could be corrected and we at least might get something done, but we finally had to give up and call it a day.
I climbed into the far back seat of the van like I usually did, since no one else wanted to sit back there. That usually gave me a chance to take a nap (or at least pretend to while I remembered recent experiences or planned possible future ones or just plain, flat out fantasized) while everyone else talked about whatever.
We still hadn't taken off a few minutes later and I looked up to see why. Sam, who usually calls shotgun and runs to the van, had hung back doing something with her cell phone until she saw that everyone else had climbed in and that someone else had gotten the shotgun seat. Then she walked over to the van and stopped outside the passenger side front door and put her hands on her hips.
The guy that had grabbed that seat rolled his window down and good-naturedly said, "What? You snooze, you lose!"
She glared at him, and he glumly said, "But if it's that important to you, I'll let you have it." For someone who's probably only in her mid-to-late 20's and all of five feet, two inches tall, she was really good at intimidating some of the guys - most of whom would have had her by anywhere from six inches to almost a foot and a half and a whole bunch of pounds.
She gave a big sigh and said, "No, you're right. I got distracted and lost it fair and square. I guess I'll just have to ride in the back today."
Then, instead of climbing in the middle seat, or even the one between it and me (both of which had at least one empty seat), she looked at me and asked, "You mind if I ride back here with you, old man?" and plunked herself into the other end of the rear-most bench.
I glanced over at her and said, "You can sit wherever you want, Sam."
She grinned and said, "Nice to know. Thanks."
The first 20 minutes or so of the trip back were quiet, though I did hear her take a deep breath a few times like she was getting ready to say something, but she didn't.
I was sitting there watching the sights pass by...
Well, I was looking out the window. But I was seeing Kelsey and Carlie and Alex and the things we'd been doing the last couple of mornings. I was trying to figure out a way to let them know I was off for the day, but was having trouble thinking of a plausible way to convince the manager on duty to either give up one of their phone numbers or call one of them and relay a message without diming them out for having been to my room.
Finally she did that inhale, pause, exhale thing one more time and I said, "What?"
""What do you mean 'what?'?"
"You keep starting to say something, then stop. Either say it or let it go."
"I was wondering what you're going to do this afternoon now that we aren't working?"
"I haven't thought that far ahead." I was hoping, but... "Since we'd planned on working straight through our time here, I hadn't even taken the time to think of things to do on weekends. And since I've been trying to keep to east coast time, I've been heading to bed early and getting up early. I haven't even thought of things to do in the evening."
"Yeah. Getting up early." She grinned. "And getting a workout in?"
"Most mornings, yeah." Well, I had been before Alex stopped by the other morning. Then again, I had been getting a workout in the last two mornings since then too.
A few minutes later she said, "So what do you think?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I've been trying to solve a little problem in my head and keep drifting back to it. What're you thinking of doing?"
"You know the mind is the first thing to go? I said I'm thinking about running up to the National Forest and going hiking for a bit. Want to go along?"
"It would probably depend on where you wanted to go. As you've been saying for months now, I'm an old fart and my knees aren't that good anymore. Wouldn't you rather have one of the younger guys go with you?"
"Wow! You were involved in solving that problem. No one else wants to go. They say they have plans to hit one of the casinos, but I think they're really going to hit another topless bar - one of the few they haven't been to yet since they have the extra time."
"Are you sure you don't want to just go by yourself? You'd probably get slowed down if I went with you." Sam shook her head. "But if it's not too steep and not too far of a hike, then yeah, I could probably go with you, just to keep you company. But how would we get there?" It wasn't really that I couldn't figure out that last part, I was just trying to throw up roadblocks to give me time to figure out how to get in touch with at least one of the girls.
"I wouldn't feel safe going by myself. If you don't go I won't either. But I'm really hoping you'll go with me. These guys already said they were going to take naps for a while to catch up on sleep and then they're going to either take the courtesy shuttle if they have one or call a cab if they don't since none of them wants to be the designated driver. We can use the van to run up there. And hiking by your self is no fun. As far as the pace, how about if I let you be in charge?
"Oooohhh, little girl! You wouldn't be 'letting' me be in charge."
SHIT!! Did I just say that out loud?
I casually glanced over at her and she was looking back at me with a curious expression on her face. Not "curious" in that I couldn't figure out what she was thinking, or like she was trying to decide if I had actually said that or how to respond to it. Just looking at me like she was still waiting for me to respond.
Maybe that wasn't out loud. That'd be cool. Don't need her to make an HR complaint.
"Yeah, I'll go with you then. What time do you want to leave?"