The Last Chance Series: A Full Length Fluff Encounter
With Your Host and Author: Christie (MagnificentSin)

Series Stats:
Stories: Three: Last Glance, Last Time and Last Gamble.
Chapters: Seventeen (17)
Pages: 76
Words: 30,473

Rating: R-NC17. The rating is for everything adult in nature. If the word fuck bothers you, than you probably shouldn't read this or any of my other fiction pieces. If smut, fluff and other subjects of that nature irk you, than this story isn't for you. This is a general emotion piece of fluff. Some laughter, some tears and some smut.

Disclaimer: I didn't think of them, I didn't create them, and I sure as hell didn't get to copyright them. All characters are owned by JE, Evanovich Inc. and et al. JE is gracious enough to allow her fans to play for fun and I appreciate that. Besides, we all know what I'd be doing with Ranger if he were mine. I sure as hell wouldn't be wasting my time writing fiction when I could be living it.

Spoilers: You can expect to spoil yourself all the way through Twelve Sharp-Plum Lovin' for this particular series.

A/N: I started writing this to work on my characterization and had planned on not posting it. I sent it to Stayce to check my characterization and much to my dismay, found myself promising to post as soon as possible. LOL. So here it is, Stayce. Thanks for all you do and all the support you show me. You know, without you, I'd never post anything. It would sit on my shelf and collect dust like so many other things I've written. You are my muse when mine has flown the coup and I couldn't have found a better person for the job.

P.I, you're a doll, babe. Thanks for this song. I know I promised something almost six months ago. We all know how good I am with promises. LOL.

Last Glance
First in the Series: Last Chance

It doesn't matter what I want
It doesn't matter what I need
It doesn't matter if I cry
Don't matter if I bleed
You've been on a road
Don't know where it goes or where it leads

First Verse: "It Doesn't Matter" by Alison Krauss

Chapter One:

I threw the keys on the kitchen counter along with my pocketbook and headed straight to the bedroom. I shut the door behind me and assumed the thinking position on my bed. This position had helped me through a few trouble areas throughout my life and there was no other time I needed the help more than now. I had been stalling for months, wandering around in my daily life not making any decisions, just going with the flow.

The creepiness I'd felt over what had happened in my living room had finally stopped bugging me, but I was left alone with one thought that just kept replaying over and over like a broken record every night before I fell asleep.

Life could change in the blink of an eye.

It wasn't something you could expect or even brace for, and when it happened you had to make a decision in a split second that you knew would change your life forever. My life changed and I didn't know how to fix it. I'd always been the master of denial and for some reason it just wouldn't work for me this time. It was frustrating and aggravating; and frankly it left me pissed off more often than not. I was in a constant state of unknowing and I couldn't stand it anymore. Maybe it was time I made good on that threat to get in my Mini and keep driving until I got to Hawaii.

This was the point in the story where my name would normally be stated, but not this time. At this point in the game my name is synonymous with disaster and that should be enough to let you know that I was in a helluva mess once again.

For months now, I'd been walking on eggshells around the two men in my life. Joe Morelli, a Homicide Detective with the Trenton Police Department and Carlos Manoso, street named Ranger, who is the CEO of RangeMan LLC, fellow bounty hunter and sometimes boss.

When a psycho named Edward Scrog assumed Ranger's identity and kidnapped his daughter, Julie; I learned a little something about myself. I learned it was possible to be in love with two totally different men. I learned that sometimes no matter how long you've been in denial about something; it eventually rises to the surface and rears its ugly head in the middle of a crisis when you could really use the ability to stay cool. The denial was ugly, but the facing the truth of the matter was uglier. I had a real dilemma. I was going to have to make a choice, and maybe that choice wouldn't be today, but it would be sometime in the near future and when the time came I still wouldn't know what to do. I would be cutting a man out of my life that I was still in love with, and that thought frightened the hell out of me. Even admitting that to myself was scary enough. I couldn't imagine life without one or the other.

Something about my relationship with Joe had changed after the night that Ranger was shot. It was as though Joe had had the same epiphany as I had. He was shell-shocked from the admittance of love, even though he had known that I did and even more shocked that it had come directly after me witnessing Ranger gunned down in front of me.

For years I've loved Joe. Through all the petty fights and arguments, the moving in and moving out of his house, all of it was our history and I was alright with that. I told Joe I loved him and things couldn't have been more awkward between us after that. He thought it meant I was ready for more and I needed time. He was pushy and arrogant like he'd won a game and all that time he just wasn't listening to me. So we went back through the cycle of fighting and arguing until we blew up past a point of no return and when it was all said and done, we said goodbye for a few weeks. But as the cycle continues, we came to terms and he agreed that he would lay off me and we would take things slow.

It was as though when I admitted that I loved him I admitted that I wasn't in love with him anymore at the same time. Now our relationship had become comfortable, and not the good kind that you see in older married couples after they'd been married for thirty years. I'm talking about the kind of comfortable that you don't know if you are just friends with benefits or just stuck in a rut, looking for a way out.

For the last few years, it was assumed by everyone in the Burg that Joe and I would spend the rest of our lives together. And frankly, even though Joe and I had had a few close calls, I really didn't know if I could see myself assuming the housewife role. The few times I can remember actually wanting to play that role with him, he'd shot me down. Early in our relationship, Joe had only been interesting in getting me into bed. At first I played hard to get with Joe until my hormones got the better of me, and the one time turned into two times, and so on and so forth. We no longer could define our relationship in regards to each other. Would I call him my boyfriend? No, not at all. Joe was many things in my life but a boyfriend wasn't one of those things. He was my lover who I happened to share an interesting history with, but boyfriend… No such thing as a boyfriend when you get to our age. It would belittle everything we had had together. To call him "my boyfriend" would almost be insulting.

This was emotional torture. I was an adult with adult options and couldn't figure out what was bothering me so much about being torn between two incredible men.

Well…

So that wasn't quite the truth. I knew partial what my answer was hung up on; the unknown.

For as long as Joe has been back in my life tormenting me on a weekly basis, Ranger has been as well. At first, Ranger and I had a working relationship only. Business associates, mentor to student. Ranger had been patient with me, showing me the ropes to bounty hunting. There had always been something between us. I couldn't really pinpoint the exact moment things shifted from strictly business associates to friends. It seemed so effortless, but I could tell you the exact point when our relationship shifted from friends to something else: something raw and undefined. It was much stronger than passion, though I can admit that when his lips touched mine for the first time that the overwhelming urge to get him naked at the first available opportunity crossed my mind. I could deny it at first because I knew what Ranger wanted and it was the same thing that needed as well. I thought that one time could get him out of my system, but I needed a way to do it and not feel guilty about making the choice. Ranger gave me the option I needed and made it where I would have no way out. The night was something that I would never regret for the rest of my life. All the heartache the next morning and disappointment I felt, I had expected from him. I didn't tell myself that to lessen the pain it caused, but it was necessary for the both of us. No excuses, no regrets, no recriminations. It was just one blissful night with no interruptions, no outside world to stand between us, just a man and woman who could deny everything between them in the light of day. And knew in the morning that they would both be left with wanting more.

I knew what I was getting myself into when I made that damned deal with him. I just didn't realize that I was as attached to him as much as I was before that night. I was emotionally attached to him since before his lips touched mine that only confirmed it. I thought it was lust, and I was wrong. Lust goes away; it doesn't fester into full blown emotional attachment to another person and especially not to a man like Ranger. He's a lone wolf, destined to roam the Earth alone, dedicating his life to serving others even if it is for his own monetary gain. For me to think that I could fit into his life was an idiotic thought if I'd ever heard of one. Until recently.

For the few months leading up to the Scrog incident, something changed in our relationship. It was unnerving at first, though it transitioned so easily that I didn't notice until it was already done. Ranger and I were in a relationship. And not a friend type of relationship, we were like a partnership, equal on all fronts. He was still the alpha male, puff out his chest and pound on it like a caveman when he felt that I should listen to him; but I wasn't being smothered. There were no expectations, no demands on what I could accomplish and what I couldn't. It was a compromise. It was something I wasn't used to and had been so comfortable with the fact that I made my own decisions about what I wanted to do for so long that I didn't realize that Ranger had learned how to influence me into doing the right thing.

I was finally to a point in my relationship with Joe where he wasn't constantly screaming about how I had to quit my job and our relationship had gone flat. The sex was still great, but there was more to a relationship than sex unless you're just fuck buddies and that was about all we were now. I'd let it get to that point and let it stay that way for the simple fact that if I decided how to handle everything I would be making a decision for my future and I couldn't do that. I couldn't decide what I really wanted in the future because the future was still in the future. If I made the decision who was right for right now, I was afraid that I would make the wrong choice and would be left wondering "what if" for the rest of my life. That wasn't fair to either of them, and certainly not myself. I'd come so far; I just didn't want to throw it all away quite yet. I had the right to be selfish about this, and yet… I didn't.

I sighed. This was fucking exhausting. This sort of deep thought wasn't something I made a habit of practicing and with a good reason. I wasn't the best at making the right choice. I let my heart rule over my head way to many times and it usually got me into trouble. Problem was that I didn't know how to stonewall my heart from not caring and how to get my mind to overrule my wayward heart.

I shot a glance over at the alarm clock and groaned. I had a distraction job to do tonight for Ranger and if I didn't get up and start getting ready, I'd never be ready in time. I couldn't even come up with a good reason behind why I was doing this in the first place. Yeah, I could always use the money because shoes didn't come cheap, but the pressure to perform and be around Ranger was getting to me. It was hard to keep my feelings to myself, and ever since I admitted to myself that I was in love with Ranger, I found myself watching him a little bit more than I used to before the shooting. But I wasn't alone in that matter. I had caught Ranger several times watching me from across the room before he could look away. There was something in his eyes that had changed and it scared me. It told me that if I didn't make the right decision, I wouldn't be the only one wondering "what if".

I sucked in a deep breath and pulled myself up and off of my bed. I had other things to think about tonight, I warned myself. Just get this night over with and without a hitch. Be a professional… Ha! I snorted. Being a professional for me was like hell freezing over; it just wasn't ever going to happen. I happened to love my job, loved the fact that I could come and go as I pleased, and got to use my spidey sense for the greater good of the community; but there were some times that I just wanted to forget all about the bad and console myself with only the good in everyone. Going on a distraction job was not the way to do that.

I padded into the bathroom and turned on the shower, listening to the pipes groan from old age and the blast of cold water pound on the back of the shower. The water quickly heated up and the steam began to roll over the top of the shower curtain. I peeled off my clothes, letting them fall to the floor and stepped in, cringing at first from the sting of hot water, but I stood there until I was used to it. I stood there forever, letting the water wipe away all the bad thoughts, all the wrong decisions and decisions still left to make. I knew what I wanted and what was reality were two different things. I heaved a heavy sigh and finished up my shower, knowing that Ranger would be early to pick me up and I was running way late. All I needed at this point was for Ranger to catch me just in my towel, freshly showered. I shivered and it wasn't from bad thoughts. The thought of standing in front of Ranger, clad in only a towel, brought on feelings of excitement and anxiety. As he once said; it would be good, everything I thought it would be and more, but it wouldn't be good for either of us.

I swiped off the mirror and swathed myself in moisturizer, taking time to dab on some Dolce Vita while my skin was still damp. I opened up the bathroom door and went straight to the closet to think about what I was going to do about tonight. The skip I was going after tonight for Ranger was not overly dangerous as he was volatile. Just a shoe designer that had put the spiked end of a heel through his lover's head. Nah, nothing violent about that, I thought, shivering as I thought about a heel sticking out of my head. Just thinking about it had my eye twitching.

The guy would have come to me by default, but he was Tank's height and a kickboxing instructor, so I lost him to Ranger for the greater good of my safety. But lucky, lucky me was still going to get in on the action tonight. All I had to do was lure him out with my ultra slutty Jersey girl charm and the Merry Men were going to do the rest.

I pulled out a short black spandex skirt that had slits on either side and examined it stretching the waistband out to make sure I could still fit into it. I looked at it, and look down at my waist line. Damn, I thought. I needed to run more often. Mom's words were starting to come back and haunt me. I was losing the Hungarian Cake Eating Abilities. Where and what was the world coming to and how was I going to eat the massive amounts of leftover cake on Sunday nights? Jeez, how could my luck get any worse?

I tossed the skirt on the bed behind me and rummaged through finding a few things that would possible work, but I was still undecided. Really I was just stalling myself, trying to think of a way out of this tonight. Any girl could play a distraction. All I had to do was call Ranger and tell him I wasn't up to play the role tonight and he could check his black book for another…

Stop, I told myself. If he had a black book it wouldn't be any of your business. It had been over a year since the one and only spectacular bedroom romp with Ranger, and you've stopped him each time you had even got the slightest bit hot and heavy with him. So don't condone him for something that isn't even your business in the first place.

Considering the number of times I had been laid since then, it would only be right for Ranger to be doing the same thing. Who was I to look down on that, to get jealous when I was the one stiff arming him, pushing him away at every chance I got, I asked myself, tapping my hands on the closet door. He had to be a sadist, I thought. Because I had been dishing out the punishment for the last year like it was going out of style.

All of the close calls, all of the times of unfinished business and he had never come collecting. It made me wonder, it made me think twice about our relationship as a whole and I didn't like that. I liked when things were clean cut and simple, but my relationship with Ranger was so complex that it was unexplainable.

I went to the bed and started shifting through everything I had laid out. I decided on a short denim skirt and a black tank top. I pulled out my newest addition to my closet, a pair of black peep-toed stilettos and tossed them on the bed beside the rest of the clutter and walked back into the bathroom to ready myself. After all the thinking I had been doing, I had the urge to hide behind a few hundred layers of eyeliner and mascara. When in doubt, use layers. I always used mascara for courage and I needed it tonight, now more than ever. My nerves were raw and without faked bravado on my side, no telling what would come out of my mouth tonight.

That was the last thing I needed.

I stole a glance at the bedside alarm as I heard the locks tumble on the front door. If it had been Morelli, he would've used the key. So I knew without a doubt that it was Ranger. He was early. Not that it was a surprise, I thought to myself. I knew he was going to get here early with his sick sense of humor, I knew that he got his kicks by trying to catch me off guard as I was just getting out of the shower. Must have been that time I was handcuffed to the shower rod, I mused. If only I would have someone else to call on to uncuff me, he wouldn't be trying to catch me at it again.

"Yo! You could've knocked!"

I heard the steady fall of his boots through the entryway and into the kitchen, and as the footsteps got heavier, my stomach knotted with what could only describe as first date jitters. I took a deep breath. Just because I knew how I felt about Ranger didn't mean he knew as well.

I stood in front of the door with just a towel wrapped around me as the doorknob began to turn and Ranger slipped into my bedroom. I raised an eyebrow at him as he took in my towel.

"Hoping to catch me off guard?" I said, putting a hand on my hip, holding the mascara wand like a deadly weapon.

The corners of Ranger's mouth twitched and he flashed me a 200-watt grin, "Babe."

I rolled my eyes, "Don't babe me, Ranger. I knew you were going to be early. Get out so I can get ready."

Ranger's eyes darkened and he took a step towards me, and I instinctively took a step back. As much as I trust Ranger, I didn't trust myself around him. Just because he was fully clothed in his normal work attire, didn't mean my hormones weren't shouting for me to jump him.

I held up my hand, "Stop where you are. No funny business tonight."

Ranger took another step towards me and grabbed a hold of my hand holding the mascara wand, pulling me into him. I bounced into his solid chest and Ranger wrapped an arm around me like a steel band, pinning me to him.

"Why aren't you dressed, babe?" Ranger breathed into my ear, "If you knew I was going to be early, why didn't you throw some clothes on?"

I tipped my head back and looked at him unabashedly. There was the unmistakable curl of heat stirring low and waking up parts of me I was trying hard to ignore. "Because you have an iron will of control."

He frowned down at me, "You can't be serious."

I narrowed my eyes and tried to jerk away from him, "I am. All work and no play. Life without attachments." I shrugged my shoulder, "I know the drill."

Ranger's grip tightened on me and he continued to stare down at me like I'd grown three heads. I pulled at my wrist again and Ranger squeezed my wrist gently before he let it go. "Stop looking at me like that. You know it's the truth. And at this rate, I'm never going to get ready."

Ranger reacted quicker than I could react; pinning me up against him, pressing me firmly along the hard edge of his body. He kissed me long and hard, his tongue swept in when I gasped and I melted into him. My brain was screaming for a Ranger induced orgasm, and my brain wasn't the only thing screaming for it. My whole body was alive at the thought.

When Ranger pulled away from me, I was breathless and it was a struggling to get my breathing under control. Ranger seemed to be struggling with the effort as well. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only one affected like this.

"Iron will of control, babe?" Ranger said, his voice was deep and hoarse, "You want to know what I want to do to you with this iron will of control you think that I have?"

I felt the head coursing through me as it was radiating off of him. I had a really good idea of what Ranger wanted to do to me, and I was one hundred percent positive that it would require a bed. I raised my eyes to him and he held my gaze, the dark pools mesmerizing me as I thought about what it would mean for me to press myself back into him and show him exactly what I wanted to do to him as well.

But that wouldn't be good for either of us, I reminded myself.

His eyes seemed to smolder as he continued to stare into my eyes and I found myself holding my breath, waiting for that moment when Ranger would just take control and make the decision for me. And when he took the step forward to pull me to him once more, I used every ounce of my willpower to take a step backwards and break the trance. I couldn't believe I was going to do this, he was going to give me an out and I wasn't going to take it, "We can't do this, Ranger."

It was like something being turned off. The very instant the words were out of my mouth, I wanted to take them back. Ranger turned his emotions off, and walked back out of my bedroom without another word.

I heaved a heavy sigh as the door clicked closed and realized I had been holding my breath. The fact of the matter was, as much as I would've enjoyed it, I would regret it. I loved him but I couldn't use him, and that's what it would be- using him to make the decision for me. I'd done it once before without his consent when it came to "the deal" and I swore to myself I'd never do it again, no matter how much I wanted him. If I can't make the decision myself without being in the heat of the moment, then I don't need to go there. Yet.

I went through the motions of getting ready for the night, throwing my clothes on, double checking my make-up, changing my clothes four hundred time before settling on the first outfit I'd picked out and finishing off with my shoes. I was primed and ready to go; I just had to tell myself to be brave. This was no different than any time before, though those times had been few and far between. I just had to remember to keep my cool and be professional-like.

This wasn't the first time I had wanted Ranger and denied myself with the childish stupidity of doing the right thing, I told myself, get a grip. Do your job, act like it doesn't bother you and move on. You will be thanking God when you realize if you pull away now, when he walks out of your life, it won't hurt as bad. I raised my eyes to the mirror and stared at my reflection. I could see the truth staring back at me. Who was I kidding? It would hurt when he walked away this time and I couldn't bear the thought of it. I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to admit to him that I loved him because…

Because…

I frowned. I could come up with at least a half of dozen lame ass excuses of why I flirted with danger. Playing with Ranger was like tempting fate, playing with fire. You knew that you could get hurt, but it just felt so damn good to feel alive that I couldn't help myself. But the real reason was that I wasn't ready to commit to love. I couldn't commit to it half-assed and wake up one morning to never see him again. To roll over in bed, and his side not be slept in, frighteningly cold and lonely. To call to him, and get no answer. To watch him retreat when we got too close.

Fool me once, shame on me.

Fool me twice, and well-

I didn't even want to think about it.

I pushed away from the sink and tapped in my reserve of courage. I could do anything and be anything, I told myself, plastering a smile on my face. I reached the bedroom door and hesitated. I listened at the door for a second. I could hear the TV and Rex running on his wheel, but none of the tale tell signs that another person occupied the apartment. I eased the door opened and padded quietly towards the living room. The smile on my face turned genuine as I thought about Ranger sitting on the couch, slouched, watching ESPN. See, I told myself, he can be a normal guy.

But he's not normal. And neither are you. Don't be delusional.

"I can hear you breathing," he said quietly, "Want to tell me why you're sneaking around in your own apartment? Or do I even want to know?"

I fidgeted nervously and turned back around, "You don't want to know."

I heard Ranger get up and walk behind me to the door. I leaned over the counter to reach for my pocketbook and I heard a sharp intake behind me. I half turned my head and raised an eyebrow, "It's not like you haven't seen my legs before."

"Yeah, but I like to think of them wrapped around me and not on display for every creep looking for a free show."

I clenched my jaw and sucked in a deep breath. I counted to ten, trying to keep my temper in check before it got the best of me. I snatched my pocketbook up and didn't bother to check the contents, "You sound like Joe, Ranger. You gonna start drinking the Maalox by the case load too?"

I heard a growl, but I was wisely walking out the door without looking back.

See, I didn't need this.

Chapter Two:

I was sitting in the passenger seat of the truck with Ranger. Ranger was quiet, which wasn't unusual for him, but I could feel the tension fuming off of him. The Joe comment stung a little bit, I decided, and was probably not deserved but I was having a hard time feeling sorry for him after that. If he wanted to be an ass, far be it by me to change his mind, but I wasn't going to take it laying down like a doormat. Not anymore.

I cut my eyes to him, watching him as he pulled up about a block away from the bar. I held my hand out for the wire and he looked at my hand and gave me a look that said, "No way, babe."

"This isn't my first time," I said. "I know how to put on the wire. Just let me do it."

The streetlight gleamed off his white teeth as he grinned, more of an I-got-you-now grin, as he grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled me half way over the console. His lips were close to my ear, his fingers brushing in circles over my wrist, "Would you deny me one of the best parts of the night, babe?"

His other hand with the wire slid underneath the hem of my tank top and danced upward towards the shelf bra of the tank. We both sucked in a breath when his fingertips brushed the underside of my breast, "Steph… You're not wearing a bra."

I suddenly had a flash of heat shoot down my spine so hot I fought hard not to push myself more firmly against him. I bit my lower lip as I felt his fingers place the wire and remain a second longer, "I'm ready."

Ranger turned his face to mine and our eyes held for a moment. I was ready in so many ways. His lips brushed my forehead, along my brow, as his lips poised just a breath away; I turned away and cleared my throat.

"Right," Ranger said. He dropped my wrist and I pulled myself back into the passenger seat, and avoided his gaze. I could see him in the reflection of the passenger side window, and watched as he pulled out the transmitter and flipped it on, "You're live, babe. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

I put my hand on the door handle and paused a second. I wasn't in the frame of mind to do this tonight. I opened my mouth to tell him that and shut it, I needed the money. The bonds office business was slow, I didn't have anyone jumping bail and it wasn't looking up any time soon. I needed this. I would have time to think about all this later, but it was time to shove it all back down.

I pushed open the door and stepped out onto the concrete. I looked back at Ranger, and did my best to smile. "Wish me luck."

There was a brief flicker of emotion in Ranger's eyes and as quick as I saw it, it was gone, "Go get 'em, tiger."

Snagging a pissed off, depressed thirty-five year old man had been relatively easy, if you considered having your drink dumped down your tank top and half a dozen bottles of liquor thrown at your head, easy.

It had been easy, I told myself, up to the point where we disagreed about my choice of shoes. It was up to that point that realized I wasn't dealing with a man I could easily string along with flashing him a bit of T and A. I had to pull out the big guns for likes of Hudson Grey and that was shoes. Initially, I started up the conversation the normal way, lonely girl whose dickhead of a boyfriend ditched her; I could play that role well. Turns out that Hudson knew that all to well himself and was feeling real sympathetic. After catching his boyfriend and his boyfriend's newest accessory, a younger version of Patrick Dempsey, Hudson's legendary temper flared and he put his newest creation right between the eyes of the new accessory.

Hudson was in the bar drowning his sorrows in a few dozen cosmos tonight, regretting his decision to toss his ex-boyfriend's stuff out of the second story window of their condo and setting it all on fire (something that I had done to Dickie, the horse's ass, when I caught Joyce riding him like the rodeo on my new kitchen table), so I could sympathize. We had a few drinks, exchanged a few carefully worded barbs about men and then he had to go and ruin my fun by commenting about my shoes.

He waved his finger over my shoes and made the tsking sound my mother makes when she finds out I blew it with Morelli- again. "Honey, honey, honey! I wasn't going to say anything but I feel as though I must! Those shoes. All wrong for you. You need a three inch platform. This will give you better calf definition and help you look a bit younger. I'm feeling a bit of inspiration coming on. You could be my new muse." He looked me up and down, and frowned a bit, "Been riding in the saddle for a while now, honey?"

Now, I'm a Jersey girl. I was born here, and I was raised here. I can tolerate a few sarcastic comments about things we as Jersey girls know as the truth. Big hair, lots of mascara… things of that nature. But shoes… my shoes are sacred and not up for discussion.

I narrowed my eyes, "I happen to like these shoes. What's wrong with them?"

He batted his eyes at me like I was a depraved fashion victim, "They are so 1999. Trust me, you'll thank me later." And with that, he took my shoes off and tossed them behind the bar.

So I came a little unglued. Who could blame me? Really.

I might have made a few comments about his shoes and then it escalated from there, but I really couldn't remember. Though, now I regret my comment on corked heels after I narrowly missed a bottle of vodka to the temple, but hey… you live and you learn, right?

It was a good thing that Lester and Junior were on the inside with me, because a few more minutes alone with Hudson Grey and I was pretty sure my head would have been mush. After Junior had wrestled Hudson to the ground with him squealing in delight over Lester, Ranger came strolling in, as casual as you please.

"Well strip me naked and call me Hudsy, I think I've died and gone to heaven!" Hudson exclaimed, his gaze darted from Lester, to Junior and then to Ranger. He looked Ranger up and down, like a giant candy cane he was looking to lick, Ranger didn't look amused but that didn't deter Hudson. Hudson looked at me eagerly, "Oh, I can't believe my luck. Where and how do I sign on the dotted line to work with these men?"

Huh, apparently there were no hard feelings, I thought. Ranger raised an eyebrow at me and I faked a smile for Hudson's sake, "Sorry, Hudson. They've got about all they can handle with me working for them, but I'll mention you to the boss man the next time he has an opening. I hear he's always looking for a man with good instincts."

Ranger crossed his arms over his chest. Lester and Junior exchanged glances before Junior turned to escort Hudson Grey out the door. Hudson paused for a second longer, looking at Ranger, "Honey, I'll instinct the hell out of the boss man if he looks anything like him." Hudson walked out the door in front of Junior and I could hear him saying, "Mmm, mmm, mmm" as he was escorted out and Lester backed away from Ranger and me.

Ranger gave me a look and Lester's eye twitched. I can't say that I blame him; usually that sort of look doesn't bode well for the recipient.

"And this is where I exit." Lester said, shifting uncomfortably. He backpedaled out the same door Junior had just gone out of, shaking his head, mumbling that I was insane to goad Ranger like that.

Ranger looked me up and down before grabbing a hold of my elbow and escorting me out the back way of the bar. When we got outside, I jerked my elbow away from him and stalked off to the truck. Ranger caught up to me when I was just about five feet from the truck, grabbing a hold of my elbow and jerking me back against him.

"What was that all about?"

I whipped around and pushed at him, "Don't manhandle me, Ranger."

His grip tightened for a second but he let go, "What's with you tonight, babe? I can tell something's bothering you."

I pushed past him, noticing Rangeman had cleared out, and the bar was back to normal. It was just me and Ranger, locked into a standoff of willpower, "Nothing. Nothing is bothering me. I just want to go home. I've done my duty for the night and now all I want to do is take a shower and go to bed. Is that so hard to believe?"

I reached the passenger side door, but it was locked. I shot Ranger a look from over my shoulder, "Are you gonna unlock this or am I gonna have to stand here all night?"

"I'll unlock it when you tell me what's going on."

I stared at him for a moment, "Unlock this door."

"Stephanie."

"Ranger, for the love of God, just unlock the damned door and take me home."

He stood there for a second longer before beeping the truck unlocked. I jerked open the door and slammed it shut behind me. My breathing was coming rushed, hurting when I took too deep of a breath. There was a huge difference between knowing the truth and voicing the truth to the person, and it hurt. I stared out the window and watched as Ranger stood there for a moment, eyes fixed on window I was staring out of. I thought for the briefest of seconds that he was going to walk to me and rip open the door, but he didn't. He walked over to the driver's side and stepped in quietly, silently brooding to himself. Ranger was behind me, getting into the truck quietly. He was being careful to keep his anger in check, though it was obvious to me that he was fuming. This was what I didn't like about Ranger. When he got pissed, he got quiet, and it wasn't in my nature to be quiet when I was pissed off. I didn't like that he could control himself to the point that he stifled every bit of emotion impulse. At first it was a challenge, and then it was just damn annoying and now it was to a point that I was willing to go the extra mile to push him to the edge to see if he'd push me back. I'd seen it a few times when his temper had gotten the better of him, but they had been extreme situations, mostly having to do with my safety.

I cut my eyes to him, "Can we get on with it?"

Ranger pinned me with a single look that scared the breath right out of me, "You're pushing your luck, babe."

So he was a little bit more pissed than I originally thought.

I settled into my seat and mindlessly watched the scenery, not because I wanted to, but mostly because I was tired of thinking. We crossed the town and turned down Hamilton, following it until we got to my parking lot. He pulled into the lot and didn't cut the engine like I thought he would.

"Do you have your gun?" He asked; his voice cutting through the silence of the cab.

"I do."

"Good."

I stole a quick glance over at him and decided not to say anything else. I got out of the truck and went straight into the apartment building without looking back. I ran upstairs, unlocked the apartment, tossing my stuff on the kitchen counter. I walked straight over to the window facing the lot and didn't expect to see the truck still sitting there, but it was. He hadn't moved.

I pushed back the curtain and gave him a finger wave. Ranger flipped on his headlights and pulled out of the lot, leaving me feeling more empty inside than I had felt in a long time.

To be continued...