Alice fell into a nice routine.  Girl's night went from two to all of the Stevens ladies, if they were in town. It seemed that Alice's apartment had become a clubhouse of sort's, the one place where no Stevens man could infiltrate.

But that didn't keep Mason and Davis from trying one night.

Alice, Grace, Laura, Cassie, and Lizzy had all gathered to watch the traditional movie, do their nails, and generally unload about their husbands.  About an hour into the evening Mason and Davis had shown up wearing wigs pretending to be long lost cousins, so the ladies invited them inside, sat them on the couch, proceeded to do their nails, and make them watch two of the chickiest chick flicks that existed.

They had looked dazed when they had left, and Cassie had told Alice later that Mason had liked the color on his toenails so much that he had worn it all week.

Alice got regular emails from Rainer, and they had even had dinner a few times sometimes on their own and sometimes with the others. Every time Rainer left she cried a little, but it was still better than when she had had no contact with him the previous fall.

He had sent her an email the previous week saying that he would be in town this week and that if he had time he would stop by for a visit.  She had told him he was welcome but advised him not to come on Friday night because that was girl's night.

Grace had set Alice up on a few blind dates and one of them had stuck, he was history professor named Gabe Lehman. He wasn't Rainer, but he was decent looking, amusing, and considerate, and they had enjoyed dating for a few months and had even exchanged a few heated kisses.

Kisses, that in the end, she had compared with Rainer's and found lacking. Rainer was still all that she thought about, and his family did their best not to talk about him overly much. It was either that, or they didn't have a whole lot to say one the matter.

Alice had promised to meet Gabe for a lecture on international politics.  It sounded like a very boring way to spend a Saturday morning, but he had promised to buy her lunch afterwards so it wouldn't be a total loss.

It was proving to be a warm spring so Alice had chosen a pretty spaghetti strap baby blue sundress that had a high banded waist and an uneven hemmed skirt.  It made her look a little Bo-ho, and she had fallen in love with it on first sight.  Her hair had grown enough for her to pile it on top of her head in a loose bun.

When she entered the auditorium it was almost filled to capacity with an unusually large amount of female students. Political science did not, traditionally, have a large female student population, so she was a little shocked until she saw why; down on the stage standing head and shoulders above the other grey haired gentlemen was Rainer. He was wearing a very expensive and well-tailored suit, and Alice's eyes were riveted.

She felt a pull on her arm and looked over to see Gabe pulling at her. "I have us some seats here."  He cleared the way for her to follow. "I'm glad I got here early. I knew when I saw Rainer Stevens's name on the line-up that it would be a full house."

Alice slowly sunk into her seat, making a non-committal noise, never taking her eyes from Rainer. Her heart was pounding, her mouth was dry, and her hands were trembling, but she guessed so were half of the other women in the room.

Alice felt her phone vibrate and took it out of her purse. She saw that she had a text, and looking up to see that they were not beginning yet she looked at it.

"Just friends huh? Behind you top left". She didn't recognize the number.

Alice put her phone away and slowly turned around to see Bryce, Grace, Mason, and Cassie. Mason and Cassie looked ridiculous in baseball caps and glasses. Mason lifted up his glasses and shot her a wink.

Alice rolled her eyes, but then Mason pointed to Gabe and gave her the thumbs up sign and mouthed cute, and she quickly turned back towards Gabe when Cassie noticed her.

"Look at all these girls drooling. I don't see how he can take the pressure." Gabe whispered into her ear.  Alice had to lean close to hear him; the statement brought a little secret smile to her lips.  She knew Rainer well enough to know he was oblivious, all of the Stevens men seemed to be that way, surprisingly even Mason.

When she looked up her eyes met Rainer's and it was as if they were the only two people in the room. It was only a few seconds but it felt like forever. He must have been watching Mason and found her by following his gaze. Rainer looked at Gabe then looked back at her his face betraying no emotion.

When she felt her purse vibrate again, she pulled out her phone and saw another text from whom she guessed was Mason. It said, "Work it girl."

Gabe leaned over and told her they were about to start, so she put her phone away without replying.

The lecture was only supposed to last ninety minutes, but it ended up running over two hours. It turned out that Rainer was the only one on the stage that had visited the countries they were focusing on, and he had actually been there at a few of the key events that were being discussed.

It gave him a bit of a dangerous mystique.  Even Alice, who knew him intimately, was impressed. He really knew his stuff and had lived though some harrowing experiences. 

She actually found herself getting upset a few times.  Even though she had read his stories before, she still chose to imagine Rainer staying at four star hotels well away from the action when he was travelling, even though he was really in the middle of it all. She even shivered and cringed at a few of his stories, and Gabe thought that she was cold so he put his arm around her.

When the talk had ended and everyone slowly got up and started to leave, Gabe insisted that they just sit there and wait for the auditorium to empty. Alice got to watch as a multitude of beautiful young college girls approached Rainer for an autograph, she even saw a few slip him thier phone numbers. Gabe asked her if she would mind waiting, and when Alice shook her head that she didn't mind, he stepped over her and walked down to the stage to talk to Rainer.

She sat there numbly until Grace, Mason, and Cassie joined her. They were all equally as quiet.

"Did you know that he did all of that?" Grace looked at Alice. Cassie had sat on Alice's other side and Mason was behind her, leaning in between her and Cassie to listen.

"Yes," Alice said softly as she remembered the conversation that she and Rainer had had on the river in San Antonio, when she had try to convince him to share just how dangerous his job was with his family. He had done that, and she could see that it might not have been the wisest choice as she looked at their worried expressions.

The three of them turned and stared at Alice like she had been keeping state secrets from them.

"I hope Mom never finds out," Mason said grimly.

"Alice?" Cassie asked. Her heart must have been in her eyes when she turned to look at her because she put her arm around her and squeezed.

Mason gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "Lunch," he demanded loudly, trying to change the serious mood.

"I promised Gabe that we would go out afterwards.  Of course I had no idea that you all, or even Rainer, would be here."

"Then why on earth did you come?" Grace asked.

"Gabe asked me to come to a lecture, so I came." The three of them were silent.

Alice watched Gabe talking to Rainer, who was being very charming. It made Alice think of that snake back in Texas for some reason. "You fixed me up with him Grace, remember?" Alice was watching Rainer closely. Bryce had joined them and was standing on the steps next to their small group. Alice sensed a change in Rainer and looked up at Bryce to see if he sensed it as well, and when Bryce gave her a brief nod in recognition she realized she had done it.  She had become a part of Rainer's family.  She was able to join in their nonverbal communications. That was something she had never even been able to do with her own family.

"Come on, let's go and congratulate Rainer," Bryce suggested.

"On what, almost getting himself killed on a regular basis?" Cassie said cynically.

But the three of them stood up and joined Bryce.

"Are you coming Alice?" Bryce looked at her as she shook her head. "You three go ahead, I want to talk to Alice for a minute," Bryce said sending them forward as he sat next to Alice.

Alice watched silently as the three of them headed down the stairs, clapping and whistling their approval, and Gabe looked startled when he recognized Cassie and Mason. It was amusing to watch.

"Alice, he told all of those stories to you. He wants you to know what his life is really like. I think you spooked him with Gabe-,"

"I didn't mean to. I didn't show up here with him on purpose," she whispered heatedly.

"I know and that's not what I'm implying. I actually commend you for trying to move on with your life. Rainer, outside of myself and Quinn, is the most stubborn man in our family. For some reason he has convinced himself he's not good enough for you.  If you want to make him move past that this is the chance."

He squeezed her shoulder in a show of support. "You look lovely today by the way." He gave her a kiss on the temple as a true brother would. "Take a minute, then please join us."

Alice watched as he joined the group on the stage. Grace looked up at Bryce concerned, but he just smiled giving her a brief kiss. Realizing she didn't really have a choice and anxious to get it over with, Alice took a deep breath, stood up, and walked down the stairs.

"Rainer," she said with a small smile. "That was a great talk, I even saw you get a few cute girl's numbers out if it, but I would stay away from the redhead...she looked a little skanky," Alice said giving him a brief hug, pulling away from that hug was the one of hardest things she had ever done.  All she wanted was for him to hold her and tell her he was alright.

"I see you've met my friend, Gabe Lehman."

"Yes," was all Rainer said as he stared at her.

"I didn't think the redhead was that skanky Al," Mason said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh she was skanky," Grace assured Mason, "no offense to redheads Cassie."

"None taken, she was skanky." Cassie backed up Alice and Grace's assessment.

"Fine, Rainer will not call the redhead.  Can we go eat now? I am starving." Mason dramatically clutched his stomach

"Alice, will you and Gabe join us?" Bryce asked.

"No-," Alice began, finally breaking eye contact with Rainer, but Gabe cut her off mid reply.

"Sure, we would love to," he said, jumping at the chance to have lunch with such a distinguished group.

"Then let's go." Mason led the move up the stairs and out of the auditorium. "Come on Rainer."

"I'll be right behind you. I have to get some things together." He started packing up his stuff.

They were half way across the building's foyer when Alice noticed she didn't have her purse. When she said she had to go back to get it, Gabe offered to go with her, but she told him that it was alright, she would be along with Rainer shortly. Gabe didn't seem to notice the undercurrent in the group. He especially didn't notice it when Mason suddenly decided to start to charm him, and he winked at Alice as if to say I got your back take all the time you need.

When Alice walked back into the auditorium she saw Rainer just starting up the steps, his tie was undone and his hair was mussed, and when he noticed her he stopped, slowly raking his gaze over her body, causing Alice's blood pressure sky rocket.

"Why do you look at me like that, and then say you only want to be friends? Either you do or you don't, but I'm not getting a very friendly vibe from you right now." She reached down, picked up her purse, then turned to leave the auditorium, but before she could get very far he grabbed her and spun her around, pulling her down the steps towards him.

"Are you sleeping with him?" He ground out between clinched teeth.

"Just friends remember? I really don't see how it is any of your business." She jerked her arm out of his and started back up the steps.

She was livid, and she had had enough.  He kept breaking the just friends rule not her. He couldn't have it both ways. Her heart couldn't take it anymore.

"Are-you-sleeping-with-him?" he punched every word hard as if it was Gabe himself.

"No, alright, I'm not, but that is not to say we haven't gotten close a few times, and that I haven't thought about it.  After all, you were the one that taught me sex can just be fun." She turned and pushed her way out of the door of the auditorium into the lobby, but she wasn't fast enough and he caught her, spinning her around devouring her lips with his. His hands were all over her as he backed her up against a wall while pulling her hair down from its fastening.

She was falling, losing control, but the part of her brain that controlled her survival mechanism kicked in and she pulled out of his grasp. "You said you only wanted to be friends because you didn't want us to eventually hate each other.  Well guess what? I am starting to hate you. Make up your damn mind or leave me the hell alone!" She could see the pain her comment caused him even through the tears that were streaming down her face.

She turned and started to run. Why, oh why, had she said that?