Chapter One
When Lula and I arrived at the scene, I was already boiling about Joe's attitude. He seemed to act like either Lula was making this up or that I was somehow involved. I had really intended to stay in the car. Boy, oh boy… I wish I had. As I got out of the car, I noticed that several patrol cars had already arrived at the scene. Lula was talking ninety miles an hour and I wasn't paying much attention until I realized that I was standing in blood. Then I looked up at the object that Joe was leaning over…..THE HEAD.
I couldn't get away fast enough and I knew I was going to be sick. I just didn't want to embarrass myself. I took off down several car lengths behind one of the patrol cars gasping for air. But every time I thought that I had control… visions of the dismembered head would pop into my thoughts. Just as I knew for sure that I wasn't going to be able to fight off being sick, I felt tingles on my arm and the back of my neck. Of course, ….I was going to be sick in front of the man of mystery. All I felt though was tenderness as he swept my hair back and began rubbing my back as I vomited all over the grass.
Just as I felt that I had lost all the contents of my stomach and was rising up, I saw Joe standing there watching Ranger soothe me. This was definitely not good. Joe surprised me instead by asking, "You Ok Cupcake?" "I'm fine, Joe…I'm just going to go home now to brush my teeth." The ice was still in my voice from how he had brushed Lula and me off earlier. I just wasn't ready to forgive.
Joe started towards me but I just held up a hand and gave him a glare. "Don't!" I said sternly. "Well…., I have to take Lula downtown to make a statement, are you going to be ok to drive?" Joe said. "I'll take her home, Tank can drive her car to her apartment and then he can go to the station to pick up Lula." Ranger said. It was a good thing because I didn't think that I could drive as woosey as I was feeling. There's just something about seeing a dismembered head to make a girl light-headed.
Ranger settled me into the Porsche. God I loved this car..It smelled of Ranger and was almost a sexual experience just sitting in the seat. I sure hope that I didn't say that out loud. When I peeked at Ranger, I knew I had. Shit, I was going to have to watch that. "Yeah, you are, Babe." Ranger replied with an almost smile on his face. I just tilted my head back and went to denial land. Before I knew it, we were sitting in my parking lot. "I'll walk you up," Ranger said in his no nonsense voice, because he knew that I was going to protest that it wasn't necessary. Ranger took the elevator out of pity because the color still had not returned to my face. And of course, when we arrived at my door he opened it for me and went in first to do a security check. Better safe than sorry, right?
I walked in and pulled off my sneakers so as to not get blood all over the carpet, deposited my purse on the counter and headed for the bathroom. Ten minutes later and several brushings, I felt that I had removed the last taste of vomit. I walked into my kitchen to discover that Ranger hadn't left. Curious…usually he would have just left while I was in the bathroom and called later to see how I was fairing. I mentally shrugged. He must have something on his mind. He crooked a finger toward me. I walked over to stand in front of him and he pulled me in and hugged me to his chest. I leaned into the embrace and took a shaky breath. It always seemed that he knew exactly what I needed. I was still not over some of my queasiness from seeing a dismembered head. I breathed deeply of his intoxicating smell, part Ranger and part Bulgari. "Mmm, I missed you," I replied without thinking. Turning red with embarrassment, I tucked my head under his chin while he chuckled quietly. "Missed you too, Babe," he replied softly. This led me to wonder why he was really still here in my apartment.
"Hey, why are you still here and not off saving the world Batman?" I asked curiously. Not to waste time, he came straight to the point, "So, what's up with you and Morelli?" "Oh same oh same oh" I replied with a quirk of my brow as I reached around him to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water. Then I reconsidered, "That's not entirely true, same fight different outcome". "We decided or rather I decided that this would be a permanent separation. I just can't do the on-again off-again routine anymore. I told him to go and see other people and he was Not happy about that because he took that to mean that I wanted to see other people. Anyway, it's not like we're married and so why not explore other options. I just can't sit and hear one more time how much of a fuck up I am or that it is my fault that our relationship is not working out." Whew, I had really said more than I had intended, but I had decided that I wanted to explore my feelings for Ranger and I knew that I needed him to know that I was not with Joe in any form or fashion.
Ranger leaned in "I told you once that if I felt that barrier relax that I would move in…." when I didn't pull back he pinned me to the refrigerator and kissed me breathless. I instinctively curled my fingers into his shirt and pulled him down to deepen the kiss. We both came back up breathless. I was glad to see I had affected him as badly as he affected me. He leaned his forehead down touching it to mine as we both tried to regain control. Then he shocked the shit out of me by saying, "Want to have dinner with me tonight?"