They worked the following day separate from each other, and it helped ease the tension a little. When they had arrived back at the hotel the previous evening Rainer had told her that he planned to be out on interviews all day. He gave her a name and a location then told her it was where she needed to start her research.

They had exchanged phone numbers, and he had been texting her his thoughts and notes all day to help direct her in her research. All of the texts had been work related, so when she got a text asking her to wrap it up and meet her back at the hotel she agreed, but with hesitation. Perhaps he was going to tell her that he had all that he needed and send her home.

She wanted to cry at the thought. She knew they would go their separate ways shortly, she was already dreading it, but she didn't want it to be any sooner then it had to be.

The hotel that they were staying at was a short distance from the archives and she arrived in good time. When she entered their suite it was to find Rainer pacing the living area like a caged animal. It was so unlike his usual laid back self that she was a little shocked.

She sat her bag down on the table by the door and continued to stand, watching him.

"What's with you?" he asked, noting her crossed arms and wide defensive stance.

"I can ask the same of you?" She motioned to his pacing.

"I have a problem," he said, running his hands though his hair. Normally, he only ran one hand through it so that fact that he used two hands must mean he was really stressed.

"Am I the problem, or can I help?"

Rainer's lip twitched at her question. "Yes, to both." He threw himself down on the sofa in the middle of the room.

"I want to ask a favor of you, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea." He let his gaze wander up her length. She was wearing the little red sundress again.

"Why don't you ask your favor, I'll tell you the idea I get, and you can let me know if its wrong," Alice suggested, sinking into a chair at the table watching him warily

*******

Rainer watched her as she lowered herself into the chair, her dress shorting in length as she did so. At least he knew he wouldn't be forced to pretend that he was attracted to her. It had to be plain and clear to anyone who watched them.

He had been thinking of her admission from the night before all day and it was killing him. Why did she have to be so brutally honest all of the time. He knew she was attracted to him, but for her to admit it so readily was throwing him. She worked for him; he had never crossed that line and he didn't have plans to, but what he was about to ask her would make it much harder not to cross the line.

He had caved the previous evening when he had put his arm around her and whispered into her ear. He had been so tempted and he hadn't been able to resist. He had felt her tremble as he pulled her close, he had seen the goosebumps on her arms when he had whispered into her ear, and he had smelled her lovely scent.

The honest fact of the matter was that he had never wanted a woman as much as he wanted Alice. She was a whole lot of woman and spirit packed into such a tiny package that he was afraid he would break her, and he didn't want to do that.

He would keep it simple, lay it out in clear terms, and make sure that she knew it wasn't real. "I need a girlfriend for the evening."

"Don't you have a girlfriend, and why just for this evening?"

"No, I don't have a girlfriend, and that's my problem. I need a shield from a friend's wife."

"Why?"

"Alex and I went to school together. He found out that I was in town and is insisting that we get together for dinner this evening. I told him that I wasn't traveling alone and he sounded relieved. I'm guessing that he thought I meant that I had a girlfriend with me. It made him even more insistent that we should get together." Rainer sighed rubbing his face.

He owed Alex a lot and to say no to him would hurt him. It would appear as if he felt that he had gotten too famous to hang out with his old friends. He had always been close to Alex, and he would love to see him again, but his wife was always overly familiar.

"And the wife is into you and thinks you're into her?" Alice asked, grasping the situation quickly.

"Yes," he said, relieved that she got it. "But it would mean that we would need to pretend to be a couple, which would also mean holding hands and touching." Rainer watched her closely as she flushed.

"I'll try to control myself and not jump you in the restaurant." Her voice sounded strained.

Rainer nodded. "It's not the jumping me part that has me worried, I'm sure that that would be fun for all involved, I'm worried about you believing it's a real relationship."

*******

Alice jumped out of her seat in a sudden rage. "You're not God's gift to women Rainer Stevens!" She clenched her hands into fists. "I don't live in an imaginary world, I'm not some crazed fan or crazy wife of a best friend."

He held up his hands in self-defense. "You've been uncomfortably honest with me, and I'm just trying to do the same with you."

Alice huffed and puffed as she paced, thinking about all of her options, she could tell him no and leave him to suffer the consequences, or she could help him and maybe teach this wife a lesson and get a little retribution at the same time.

She looked over at Rainer sitting silently watching her through narrowed eyes. He was only trying to be honest, and he had every right to think what he did. She had over shared, and it meant that he knew how she felt about him. She had no one to blame but herself.

"Fine." She sighed, slumping back into her seat. "When do we leave?"

"In about ten minutes," he said, looking at his phone.

She shot him a frustrated glance before she jumped up and headed to her room. "I'm not Rainer Stevens's usual style so I hope you can pull it off and convince her that I'm the chosen one."

"Me convince her, what about you?" he asked, still looking at his phone.

"Oh trust me," Alice said with a malicious smile, "she'll believe me."

"Alice," he warned finally looking up at her.

"What hunny bunny, you don't want your loving girlfriend to be loving?" she said in a gushy voice. "I thought that was the point?" Her voice turned hard on the last sentence.

"You're gonna make me pay, aren't you? I just wish I knew what I was paying for." He shook his head as he watched her. He looked so lost and so handsome. If Alice's feelings hadn't have been so hurt with his lack of faith in her ability to understand reality, she would have forgiven him on the spot.

The reality, which she completely understood, was that she was a plain little grad-student who had only ever had one lover in her life, and he was a drop dead gorgeous internationally famous man who could have any woman he wanted. He would never choose her to love in a million years, and she knew that, but he didn't have to remind her.

"You're paying for taking my honesty and using it against me. I only said I was attracted to you, not that I wanted a long term commitment, you self-centered, egotistical, moron," she answered his question before she slammed her  bedroom door.

It only took Alice fifteen minutes to change into the white sundress and sandals that she had worn in Luckenbach. After making sure that her hair was tamed she joined Rainer in the living area of the suite.

She thought he was already ready to go, so she was surprised when she saw him standing at the table in front of the window in only a towel, which was riding dangerously low on his hips. He was checking something on his computer with a frown.

He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he must not have noticed her entrance or her progression towards him across the room. The man was all muscle, his arms, legs and abdomen rippled when he moved. He had a fine dusting of golden hair across his chest but something else too. It looked like a scar.

Alice stopped, looking at his body again noticing a good many scars. There was one on his upper arm that was long and jagged, and another in his side under his arm which he had raised as he typed. He turned away from her as he reached for something on the credenza behind him, and she saw two large scars one on his shoulder and the another just above his hip.

Unaware of what she was doing, she continued towards him reaching out to touch the one on his shoulder. "What's that?" she asked, her heart in her throat, but this time it wasn't due to attraction, it was fear.

"Nothing," he said as he moved away from her, setting the papers in his hand down on the table next to the computer.

"And this?" She touched the one above his hip.

"Just a few old scars," he said, stepping out of her reach. "I didn't know you would be ready so soon. I'll be ready in a few minutes." He went into his room and shut the door.

Alice looked out of the window suddenly realizing that she was desperately in love with Rainer Stevens. What she had felt at seeing his scars was a fear that went deeper than anything she had ever felt before. When and how had he been hurt, and was he really O.K.? Even though the wounds appeared to be healed, were they really? What about the mental trauma that came with such wounds?

What little bit of anger she was holding onto crumbled as she realized that he had been right to remind her that what was going on between them wasn't ever going to be a long term reality. The only good thing was that she hadn't admitted to him that she loved him, only that she was attracted to him. Granted, he was a smart man so she didn't doubt that he had figured that part out on his own, which was why he had been hesitant to put on the boyfriend girlfriend act.

He returned a few minutes later dressed in a pair of khakis and a dress shirt. The man could wear anything. She looked at him with concern but remained silent, knowing she didn't have the right to ask for details, she only nodded when he asked her if she was ready.

They walked all the way down to the river in silence before he stopped, turning towards her. "They're nothing Alice. They're just wounds that I've gotten from accidents over the years. I generally don't let people see them because they raise a lot of unnecessary questions."

"The one on your shoulder looked like a bullet wound." She looked away from him, trying not to cry at the thought of Rainer being shot.

"It is, and the one on my arm is a knife wound. I go into some very dangerous places Al, and I take risks, sometimes they're necessary, sometimes they're not, but since I'm the only one who's going to get hurt, it's my choice."

"What about your family, you said you're close to them, don't they know, don't they count as someone who could get hurt?"

She had touched a nerve and she realized it as he went still. Alice turned and watched as Rainer tried to keep himself under control. "No they don't know and they won't know," he warned.

"Unless you get killed, then they'll know," Alice said softly.

"It's none of your business," He ground out, his eyes drilling into hers.

"Your right, it's not." She nodded, still trying not to cry.

"Let me fill you in one the couple we're going to meet." Rainer threw his arm around her shoulders in a careless manner and turned up the charm so that he had her laughing by the time they arrived at the restaurant. She knew that he was still upset, but he was very good at hiding it.

They were greeted by a man in his mid-thirties with brown hair, brown eyes, and of medium height. He wasn't at all bad looking, especially when he smiled. His wife was a tall blond in a very short sleeveless gold dress that clashed with her overly tanned skin. Her make-up was so thick that it looked as if it had been painted on, and from afar her hair looked like a soft mass of waves but on closer inspection it barely moved.

They had secured a table outside along the river and were easy to spot.

"Alex and Sadie Canady, this is Alice Grant," Rainer introduced, as he pulled out a chair for Alice making it a big show and dropping a kiss on the top of her head as she sat down. He took the chair next to hers and across from Sadie then promptly threw his arm across the back of Alice's chair.

"I must say that you're not at all Rainer's usual type," Sadie said as she took a sip of her drink.

"No?" Alice asked as she looked adoringly at Rainer as if he could do no wrong.

He looked down at her, blinking as if to clear his vision, and then turned back to Alex, starting a conversation with him about college football.

"Alice is about to get her Doctorate," Rainer said proudly a few minutes later, and Alice wished for a split second that his pride was real. It would be nice to have someone who was proud of her.

"Oh really, so young?" Sadie cooed, making her sound like a child.

"I wanted to make sure that I got my education out of the way before I got too old." Alice stressed the word old, and Rainer removed his arm from around her shoulders and took her hand squeezing it in a warning as he brought it to his lips.

Alice gulped at the feel of his lips on her skin, it was divine, and she closed her eyes savoring the feeling. When she opened her eyes Rainer was watching her with an amused expression in his.

She tried to jerk her hand away and he wouldn't let her. He turned back towards his friend and continued on with his conversation. Alice remained silent as did Sadie, but while Alice was doing her best to follow the conversation Sadie was staring openly at Rainer and playing with her straw with her mouth. A few minutes later she felt Rainer jerk and Alice knew that Sadie had suddenly gotten a wandering foot. Alice had to do her best not to laugh.

"Rainer honey, the sun is in my eyes would you mind trading places with me?" Alice asked sweetly.

Rainer rose and switched places with her, but Alice just couldn't leave well enough alone. When Sadie had kicked her shoe off it had landed off to the side and was almost in the river. "Oh dear, that's not very hygienic." She motioned for the waiter who rushed over to see what she needed and, for once, Alice was thankful that Rainer Stevens got such great service in restaurants. Alice spoke softly to the waiter who looked down at the shoe and promptly removed from the edge of the river.

Alice rested her head on Rainer's shoulder and sighed contentedly. Sadie turned a little red but otherwise didn't say a word.

"I do like your city Alex. Rainer has told me it's one of his favorite places and it's easy to see why," Alice commented, and this led to an entire conversation about travel and all of the places that everyone had been to.

The rest of the dinner went smoothly, and Rainer only had to pay her minimal attention. No one was insulted and everyone ended on good terms, at least outwardly.

"How long do you think she'll sit there before admitting she lost her shoe?" Rainer asked as they strolled hand and hand back towards the hotel. He had taken her hand as they left the restaurant and hadn't let it go yet. She didn't even know if he realized he still was holding it. Either way, she wasn't going to draw attention to the fact.

"Who knows, but for once I was glad that you always get such good service in a restaurant."

"It really was an ingenious way to handle the situation Al, my hat's off to you."

"Thanks, it wasn't how I wanted to handle it, but Alex seemed nice, and I didn't want to embarrass him with too much of my direct honesty."

Rainer nodded. "He's a good guy, and you managed to keep Sadie so busy trying to figure her way out of the situation that she barely paid any attention to the rest of us. Well played."

He nodded to the concierge as they entered the hotel and made their way to their suite.

"Back to work tomorrow," he said as he went into his room and closed the door behind him. With nothing else to do Alice followed his lead and had an early night also, a little disappointed in the way the evening had gone. She might have gotten a kiss at the very least.

Their two day stay in San Antonio turned into four since Rainer suddenly felt very productive, and they had stayed in one day for him to write while she had proofed. The hard work had set them back to their previous equilibrium, and they were able to fall once again into their easy relationship.

Alice enjoyed San Antonio and she did manage to see the Alamo, but didn't get to take her river boat tour.