Author's note: Most all characters are not mine, they belong to the genius Janet Evanovich.

This is my first writing in a few years, hope I dont disappoint anyone.

I am in the middle of mid terms and just needed a break so here is the first part of an idea i cooked up in my head.

I reached for my cuffs but he was quicker. In an instant I was on the ground covered in mud from head to toe and my skip was halfway across the parking lot running with one shoe, the other was still on his front porch step. I climbed to my feet just in time to see the skip drive off in my old cavalier.

Today was not starting off well at all, I hadn't even gotten breakfast before Connie had called and told me that Nicolò Luzi had been spotted hiding out at his cousins trailer on the east side of Trenton near the mini mart. Unluckily for me, the mini mart had gotten robbed a few months back and had gone belly up. Now there wasn't a store, gas station, or business within five miles. Sure, I could easily begin walking and make it home before dark, but I hadn't eaten yet today. And even if I got somewhere with actual safe civilization, I would still probably need to call for a ride.

Lula was my first choice, not that I particularly needed to hear what she had to say about my current state and wardrobe, but seeing her brought the least anxiety and the potential quickest result so I rang her.

"Hello?"

"Lula, its Stephanie. I need a ride."

"Oh…. That's not good. I am temporarily incapacitated, if you know what I mean." Her voice dropped to a whisper and I knew immediately she was with her lasted catch, he was the fry cook at Cluck-in-a-Bucket. And he had family money that allowed him to own a house in the Burg, a step up from Lula's apartment on Stark. She had been spending a lot of time at his house lately.

In a hushed tone she continued, "I think I may be with my future husband! He cooks fried chicken and everything!"

Lula was in heaven, a man with her favorite style of cooking abilities that worshiped her like a god. I was happy for her, she had had a rough time readjusting to the dating world after her breakup with Tank, one of the Rangeman men who frequently was sent to my aid when I did dumb things like get stranded in the middle of a trailer park at 9am on a Friday morning. I disconnected with Lula, wishing her luck and considering all other options apart from Rangeman.

Morellis and I were in an "off" stage and it was quite possibly the most avowed breakup we had had. It was also the most talked about event in the Burg, possibly in all of Trenton.

Connie wouldn't be able to leave the office, not with Vinnie away on another one of his sex-addicts-anonymous retreats.

My father had had a recent appendectomy which ruled out any family members coming to my aid.

That left Ranger.

My phone buzzed against my hand and I answered it.

"Babe" His Voice was playful, "Your car is on Stark and West at Moe's Strip Club. You are not."

Ranger had the odd habit of bugging my vehicles and random articles of clothing, at first the bugs had been easy to identify, dropped in my purse or attached inside my cell phone. Somewhere along the way they either began being hidden better, or I just stopped caring. Truthfully it was a security blanket of mine to have him and his men tracking me, I was known to get myself in a bind from time to time and they came in quite handy.

"My skip took it" I replied with defeat. I could almost hear a hint of smile from him through the phone.

"Need a ride?"

I hesitated for a moment, weighed my options, but eventually I realized that a ride from Ranger or one of his men would be the fastest way to get from point A, trailer park, to Point B, my apartment where I could take a hot shower and eat. Not that I ever had real food at my apartment but even an olive and peanut butter sandwich sounded good right now. So I took him up on his offer.

"Yes"

I disconnected and let out a sigh. The man was always coming to my rescue, for Christ's sake he had literally jumped off of a bridge for me once. Recently though I had acquired a routine that conveniently avoided Ranger, not that it had worked. After a week and a half he had shown up in my apartment unannounced to "babe" me and asks if I had purposefully fallen off the grid or was just avoiding him. My guess is that his men had picked up on the missing bugs and new driving routes. I had made a lame excuse up of being ill and he saw right through it, to his credit he didn't rub that fact in.

The truth was, I had always had Morelli in my life to fall back to as an excuse when Ranger and my….unconventional relationship, if you can call it even that, got too heated or too close to actual relationship status. Even during our "offs", Morelli and I, I could use our relationship as my own personal "Ranger Shield" to emotions. But I no longer had that. Before, Morelli and I had miscommunications, power struggles, frustrations, or personal stand-offs over petty matters. We had never had another woman between us. Sure, Ranger, and occasionally Diesel, was a hurtle to overcome. Ranger more often because I was attracted to him and he returned that attraction. Morelli had acid reflux from that mutual attraction quite often, he would continuously warn me of Ranger and Ranger knew all of this as well. It was years of Ping-Pong amongst us. But Morelli was the husband type and Ranger was not. Ranger was my man of mystery, my own personal Batman. I kind of always felt that was supposed to live out retirement with Morelli, Bob, and maybe even kids. Maybe. But I have to admit that domesticating Ranger had also crossed my mind many of times.

But this was different; this break up wasn't going to resolve over pizza, beer, and Morelli's Italian libido. Morelli was marrying Giuliana Bassani and raising a child, his child. Sure, Lula and Connie told me that he just felt obligated, he didn't really love her, and etc. etc. the list grew by the day. But he had, he had loved her once and he would again. That is what happens when you live with someone, you cohabitate and raise a child together. These things bring feelings, commitments, and love.

I had accepted all of that and had been adjusting well to it all. Ranger was an entirely different subject. Ranger was not the only man in my life. Before I had had two men in my life, now I didn't have that to hide behind. Diesel liked to think he was now a close number two to Ranger, but truth was, there are no close number twos when it comes to Ranger. Morelli had been in another class, but Ranger…. Ranger was a class of his own. Ranger was over six feet of drop dead gorgeous, perfectly tuned muscle mass that knew how to stop my heart and resuscitate it all in one look, one casual "babe". And that scared the hell out of me.