I wrote this story a while ago, and it was my first ever attempt at writing a Janet Evanovich fanfic. I hadn't planned on posting it, but I've since written other Ranger/Stephanie stories after they had gotten together and this was the starting point, so I decided to post it before any of the others. It's a two chapter one-shot. I tried keeping as close to Janet's books as possible, so all familiar characters, places, and phrases belong to her. Any mistakes are mine.
Warnings for smut.
It was late by the time Ranger drove me home after a particularly long stakeout. He turned off Hamilton, wound his way through a couple side-streets before parking next to my car in the lot of my apartment building. I opened the passenger side door and was about to drag myself out of the Turbo when Ranger wrapped his hand around my wrist, stopping me. I looked over at him with eyebrows raised.
"I'm going to walk you up to your apartment. I don't want to worry that someone is in there waiting for you."
I sent him a small smile."I appreciate the sentiment, but you don't have to worry about me," I told him."I'll be okay."
"Yeah," Ranger said."I've heard that before. Usually someone has kidnapped you an hour after you saying it."
I did a mental grimace and got out of the car. He was right. What could I say?
Ranger remoted his car locked, wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and ushered me into my building. He took my keys from me and after unlocking my door, flipped the lights on and looked around. Thankfully, there was nothing breathing except for Rex in the kitchen. Ranger motioned me in when he saw that no one was hiding out in the living room. I didn't really want to see if there was anyone in my bedroom, so I chose to stay close to the door while Ranger checked out under the bed, my closet, and the bathroom.
"Just you and me," Ranger said, when he came back a few minutes later.
I was still standing in my foyer, scared to come in now for a completely different reason. Ranger in my apartment, late at night, just the two of us, had all the makings of an emotional atom bomb. I wanted him bad, but I couldn't stop myself from thinking about the problems I'd face tomorrow.
Ranger crooked his finger at me."Come here," he said.
I bit into my lower lip. My usual response to this was, 'NO WAY!', but tonight the words just wouldn't come. I just stood there gnawing on my lower lip, looking confused.
Ranger must have sensed I was waivering, because he took the decision out of my hands. He crossed the room to me, gently cupped my face in his hands, and kissed me. The kiss started off soft, but didn't stay that way very long. And when Ranger traced my lips with his tongue before sliding past them, I'd decided that I didn't care a whole lot about tomorrow. I wanted this night with him, and I'd worry about everything else later. As soon as I gave myself permission to let go, I leaned into Ranger, and kissed him back with all the pent up feelings that I'd been holding inside. Things moved quickly after that. Ranger wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me two inches off the floor. Without breaking from the kiss he started walking towards the bedroom. When Ranger stopped we were standing next to my bed. He released me slowly forcing me to slide down the front of his body and I could tell right away that I wasn't the only one affected by the contact. Our eyes caught and held for a long moment. I think Ranger was giving me a chance to change my mind if I needed to, but the thought never entered my mind. To reassure him of that, I kissed him lightly on the mouth before moving my lips lower to kiss his chin. I kissed my way across his jawline as I slid my hands down his chest, feeling the well-formed muscles under my hands. I stopped at the waistband of his cargo pants, resting my fingertips against buckle of his belt. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back in bed minus my clothes. I don't remember that happening, but I was guessing that Ranger's quick when properly motivated. Ranger unclipped his cell phone and placed it on my nightstand along with the gun he was carrying at the small of his back. He stripped and joined me on the bed, his eyes never leaving mine. He gathered me into him and kissed me again. l felt a wave of desire wash over me and settle low in my belly. I tangled my fingers into his hair as his mouth started moving south. Ranger kissed a path down my neck to my collar bone, across my breasts, giving my nipples extra attention before continuing on. He kissed my stomach and I felt the heat of Ranger's tongue at my navel. He scraped his teeth gently across my hip bones before moving lower. When his mouth touched me, I couldn't stop my eyes from rolling back into my head. Then I felt him come inside me. I had always thought my memories of our night together, though a while ago, were amazingly accurate. But the memories couldn't hold a candle to what I was feeling now.
Afterwards, we laid there quietly while our breathing slowed. A few minutes had passed when I felt Ranger's lips on my neck and his hand sweeping the length of my body.
I looked over at him, "Again?" I asked.
Ranger pressed a light kiss to my lips. "Again," he repeated, his lips brushing against mine. His hand settled on my breast and I thought, again it is.
I woke to the sound of an alarm going off. The room was still dark, and I was far from being awake. I lifted my head up and squinted at the clock. It was five in the morning, and I was completely wrapped around Ranger. My face was pressed into his neck, our legs tangled, and his arms were around me. I glanced up and found Ranger watching me intently, a slight smile hovering on his lips. I was reminded of where those lips had been last night and I shivered.
"Morning, babe," Ranger said.
"Good morning," I said, looking again at the clock."How long have you been awake?" I asked Ranger.
"Half hour or so," Ranger said.
Oh great, I thought. I could have been doing anything in my sleep; talking, snoring, drooling, but since he was still in my bed I guess I wasn't doing anything too horrible.
"Early meeting?" I asked.
"I have to go back to my apartment to shower and change clothes before I start work. I wanted a chance to talk to you before I leave."
"Oh. What about?"
This got me a smile."I'm fine," I told Ranger."I made a choice last night and I don't regret it. We'll figure the rest out later."
Ranger pulled me close and kissed me. His hands were moving down my body, but Ranger stopped himself before he got to any of the really good parts."I have to go. We'll finish this when there's more time," he said, and slid out of bed.
Something definitely to look forward to, I thought, as I watched Ranger throw on his clothes. He leaned over me, brushed his lips against mine, and gave my body a heated glance before disappearing out the door.
I stayed in bed for a while after Ranger left. I was hoping for more sleep, but it wouldn't come. I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to overthink last night, so I heaved myself
out of bed, and headed for the coffee maker.
I was standing in my kitchen drinking coffee, thinking about my plans for the day. I needed to keep busy, or at the very least, I needed a distraction. I thought about it for a minute, and heading over to the office seemed to be the answer. If anyone had the power to distract me, it would be Lula. And, at the same time, I could check in with Connie to see if there any new cases for me.
I took a shower, did the whole hair and make-up thing, adding extra mascara to boost my confidence level, and got dressed in my usual uniform of jeans, stretchy t-shirt, and boots. I gave a grape and corn chip to Rex on my way out, and said a silent prayer that no one would break into my apartment while I was gone.
Ten minutes later, I was at the bonds office. Connie was at her desk doing her nails, and Lula was stretched out on the office's fake leather couch.
"It's only nine o'clock and you're already taking a nap?" I asked Lula.
"Do I look like I'm sleeping?" Lula asked."I'll have you know, I'm doing some serious thinkin' here."
"Yeah," Connie said, rolling her eyes."She's trying to decide what to have for breakfast. A bag of doughnuts, or a greasy egg sandwich."
"You saying what to eat for breakfast ain't serious?" Lula demanded.
I walked over to Connie's desk and put my bag down."What's to decide? You get both. Everyone knows that. You eat the sandwich first, and then you start on the doughnuts. If you can't finish them, then you'll have a snack for later without having to haul your butt back to the bakery."
"Damn," Lula said."You're good."
"It's all the years that I've spent consuming large quantities of food without actually exploding," I told Lula. I thought that if the Burg ever had it's own version of the Olympic games, the main sport would be gorging.
I turned back to Connie, "Anything new for me?" I asked.
"Two skips," Connie said."A low-level drug dealer. And a guy who likes to flash people when he's drunk."
"Great," I said."One's probably carrying a gun. And the other has a gun that I don't want to see first thing in the morning."
"Look on the bright side," Lula said,"at least this time the guy's not real old."
I felt an involuntary shudder go through me as a picture of Norman Landski popped into my head. Lula and me picked him up a month ago when he skipped out on his court date. He didn't want to go back to jail. He also didn't want to put any pants on. Mother nature had not been kind to him, or us for that matter, since we had to see what seventy-five years can do to a body.
I was at Connie's desk looking through the files when I saw her look toward the front door and go still. Lula jumped up from the couch and started checking out her clothes, I guess, to make sure that her spandex hadn't shifted sometime during her breakfast debate. My brain was a little slow today, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that Ranger was here. My heart was pounding as I looked toward the door and watched him walk in. Here's the thing about Ranger, no matter how long you've known him, your breath still catches when he enters a room. And having seen him naked, and what he can do when he's naked, my breath seemed to be less on the catching side and more on the panting side.
"Babe," Ranger said, when he reached me.
He was standing pressed against my back with his hand on my shoulder. Ranger doesn't normally leave any space between us, but after last night I was having more of a reaction to the contact than usual.
He dropped a body receipt down on Connie's desk."I picked up Manuel Bentas yesterday. You can mail the check to Rangeman," Ranger said."Tank said you have someone else for me?"
"Robbie Sampson," Connie said, "Possession of an illegal substance. He had enough heroin on him to make half of Jersey happy."
Ranger always got the big bonds. That's fine with me, since I can barely manage to capture pantless old guys.
Ranger moved his hand to my waist as he reached around me to sign his name to the contract. He nodded to Connie and Lula when he was done, tightened his hold on me for a minute, then he was gone.
"Whew," Lula said, fanning herself. "That man is so hot. It's like I swallowed my tongue, or somethin'. I couldn't talk."
I had to agree. Ranger was hot. And I couldn't talk, either, but for a whole other reason. Ranger didn't act any different towards me. Not that I expected him to, but still, I guess I was expecting something. I had to remind myself that Ranger wasn't Morelli. Unless Joe had his cop face on, you could tell exactly what was on his mind. Ranger was the opposite. He never shows emotion. And he never lets you know what he's thinking. And if he was going to say something, it wasn't going to be in the office with Connie and Lula listening. The logical part of my brain knew this, but it was the irrational part of my brain that I was having a hard time convincing. Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie, I said to myself, you're the one who told him we would deal with things later. Just let this go for now and wait till it's just the two of you are alone to discuss it.
Yeah, right. Who was I kidding? I've never been that mature. And I had no plans to start today.
"I'll be right back," I told Connie and Lula, and hurried out after Ranger.
I was mentally telling myself to get a grip. It was only one night. But I'd been here before, and the day after hadn't been all that great. I suspected my rushing out the door had a lot to do with needing reassurance that this wasn't going to be a repeat performance. My fears were under control this morning but now, a couple hours later, I was back to being unsure.
When I got outside the office, I looked around and saw Ranger leaning against his truck. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was obviously waiting for me. I saw the slight smile hovering at the corners of his mouth and my doubts disappeared. Again. Temporarily.
"How did you know that I would follow you out?" I asked Ranger when I reached him.
He wrapped his arms around me, and pulled me flat against him."You can't keep your hands off me, Babe."
"Hah. It seems to me, that you're the one with the wandering hands." I said to him, even as I reached my arms up to wrap around his neck.
"What are your plans for the day?" Ranger asked me.
"Connie gave me two new skips this morning, but I have a few days to catch them. Why?"
"I have meetings scheduled until two o'clock this afternoon. You could meet me at Rangeman and have a late lunch."
"I don't know," I said, brushing my lips lightly across Ranger's."I might need some kind of incentive to change my schedule just for lunch."
Ranger looked at me for a moment."Incentive?" he said, "I'll see what I can do."
He turned me so that I was pressed against his truck, lowered his mouth to mine, and kissed me. My arms slid down from around his neck and my hands gripped the front of his shirt when he deepened the kiss. Ranger's mouth stayed on mine till I saw stars. I wasn't sure if the stars were due to lack of oxygen, or if I was going to have an orgasm for the first time on a public street.
Ranger broke from the kiss and smiled down at me. I suddenly realized that sometime during the kiss, Ranger had slid his hands under my T-shirt and they were now wrapped around my bare waist. It's a good thing, too. His hands were probably the only thing holding me upright. My legs having buckled five minutes ago.
"Now about that schedule?" Ranger said.
I looked up at him confused, my brain still not quite in working order. "What schedule?" I asked him.
Ranger laughed softly at me."Two o'clock. Don't be late."
He gave me a light kiss goodbye, angled into his truck, and pulled away from the curb. I watched him drive off and thought for once in my life I might be early for something.
I turned to go back to the office and saw Lula and Connie with their noses pressed to the window. They were staring out at me with their mouths hanging open, their eyes huge. I briefly considered jumping in my car before I had to answer any questions about what just happened. Unfortunately, I left my bag with my keys in it on Connie's desk so there was no escape in my future.
When I entered the office Lula was up first."What the hell was that?" she yelled.
"What?" I asked.
That got me a death glare from both of them. "Okay," I said to her,"Ranger and I are sort of seeing each other."
"Sort of? What does that mean?" Connie asked.
"It means we're seeing each other naked, but I'm not sure about anything else right now."
Connie and Lula were both quiet for a minute. If I had to take a guess, it would be that they took a moment to fully appreciate the thought of Ranger naked. Lula was fanning herself with a file from the desk and Connie was biting her lip, looking flushed. I had to admit, I was feeling a little warm at the thought, too.
Connie got herself under control. "When did this happen?'' She asked.
"Last night."
"Guess that means Morelli don't know yet." Lula said.
"Morelli and I are over for good this time," I told them."He's probably already seeing someone else. He wouldn't care." At least, I hoped he wouldn't care.
"You sure don't know much about men." Lula said to me.
"Lula's right," Connie said."Do you honestly think Morelli's not gonna have something to say about you sleeping with Ranger?"
"I was hoping," I said.
"That'll get you far," Lula said.
"Weren't you on your way out to get breakfast?" I asked Lula.
"Don't go pulling no attitude with me. I'm doing you a favor here waiting to see if you need my help today before I leave."
"Yeah right," I said to Lula."You were just hoping I'd keep you out of the office all day, so you wouldn't have to do any actual work."
"Fuckin' A," Lula said.
"Well I can't today, I've only got until two to get a lead on one of these guys," I said, holding up the files."I was going to head back to my apartment and start making some calls. Maybe I'll get lucky for once and get something useful from a friend or family member."
"What's so important at two o'clock?" Lula asked.
"I'm meeting Ranger at Rangeman," I said.
"Oh boy," Connie said.
"Well?" Lula asked.
"Well, what?" I asked. I was glad Connie had just finished her nails, otherwise I think she would have been tempted to smack me.
"Details, Steph." Connie said."You have to give us details. We're dying here."
"Speak for yourself," Lula said."I want pictures."
"I never give you details," I told them. I wasn't going to touch the picture comment.
"Well, you're gonna have to give us something," Lula said.
I was thinking of a way out of this, but I couldn't seem find one. Nothing new there.
I blew out a sigh."Okay," I said."How about this? No matter how good your imagination is when it comes to Ranger, and what he'd be like, you still wouldn't be disappointed by the reality."
"Dang," Connie and Lula said in unison.
And while they were distracted by that thought, I grabbed my bag and got my butt out of the office and into my car before they could ask me anything else, and headed home.