"You want me to what?"

Chapter 1

Ranger let out a big sigh as he hung up the phone. He looked across his desk at Tank and gave another big sigh.

"Not changing their demands, are they?" Tank asked.

"No, if I don't do what they are demanding, then it's not going to go in my favor." Ranger replied.

"You know what you have to do, don't you?"

"Yes, I know. It's not going to be easy, but it has to be done."

"I'll ask her to stop in when I go by her desk. Just remember to choose your words wisely man. You know how sensitive she is and if you muck this up, then you are big time screwed."

"I know, I know. Get out and send her in."

Tank chuckled and walked out of Ranger's office and detoured by Stephanie's desk on his way back to his office. She had her headphones on and was bouncing around in her seat while typing away on the computer. Her back was to Tank and when he touched her shoulder, she jumped.

"Sorry to bother you little girl, but the big guy needs to see you in his office."

"Geez Tank, way to scare a girl! What's up with Ranger? I don't think I broke any of his men lately so I don't know why he'd need to talk to me."

Tank wasn't sure what was up between Ranger and Steph, but they hadn't been as friendly in the past few weeks as they had in the past. He knew Ranger's feelings for her and how he kept them locked away. Stephanie wore her heart on her sleeve and didn't always understand Ranger's motives for how he handled her.

"Just go talk to him Steph. He'll explain everything to you." With that being said, Tank squeezed her shoulder and then walked off towards his office.

Stephanie got up from her desk and walked to Ranger's office. The door was shut and after she knocked, he called out for her to come in.

"Tank said you wanted to see me about something."

"Babe, have a seat, I need to talk to you about something that's going on in my personal life and I wanted you to hear everything from me and not second hand from the office gossips."

Steph looked up at him and smiled. "What do you want to tell me before Lester tells me?"

Ranger gave a small smile at her recognition of the office gossip and let out another big sigh. What was up with all of the sighing, he thought to himself.

"Babe, I wanted to tell you that I am getting married and after the wedding, Julie is going to come live with me."

Steph didn't know what to say. She was shocked at what he said about getting married. She knew they were having a time-out from each other right now, but she didn't think he was dating anyone else. She stood up and gave him a small smile.

"I'm sure you'll be happy Ranger." With that, she turned and ran out of the office, past her desk and out the door to the stairwell. Ranger came flying out after her and stopped short when Tank stood in his way.

"You screwed it up, didn't you?"

"Tank, let me go after her. I didn't get a chance to explain everything and ask her. She just ran out and took off out of the office."

"Ranger, let me go talk to her. She doesn't have her purse with her so she doesn't have her car keys and can't go anywhere. Cal, lock down the garage before she gets that far."

Tank went down the stairs and found Steph about halfway to the garage. She was sitting on a step and had her hands over her face and was sobbing.

Tank sat down next to her and put his arm around her. She flinched at his touch, but then when she saw it was him, she relaxed and threw her arms around him. He held her while she cried and didn't try to talk to her until she was ready to talk.

"Who is she Tank? Who is the bimbo that he's going to marry?"

"What? What did he tell you? "

"He told me that he was getting married and that after the wedding, Julie was coming here to live with him."

Tank started muttering, cursing out Ranger in Spanish. Tank stood up and pulled her to her feet.

"Come on back upstairs. He needs to tell you the whole story. He's such an idiot. I knew I should have explained everything to you and not let him do it himself."

"Tank, what's going on? Why won't you tell me who it is? I know we decided to take a time-out but I didn't think he would do something like this. No, I can't go back to the office. I don't want to talk to him anymore. I don't want to see him right now. I have to know who it is, who loves him more than I do?"

"Stephanie…" Tank started to say, but she interrupted him.

"Tank, who is it? Tell me!"

"Little girl, it's you. He needs to marry you."