Disclaimer: The characters are owned by JE. The story is mine.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have you ever felt the need to belt out a line or two of a song at a completely inappropriate time? I'm suffering from this strange phenomenon right now.

"There's nothing wrong with me lovin' you. Givin' yourself to me can never be wrong, if your love is true," I sang. I don't have the greatest voice in the world, but I was really diggin' Marvin Gaye at the moment.

I was singing to no one in particular. There were several people running around me. Everyone doing one thing, or another. I was laying on the ground. I had landed here when my apartment building blew up about five minutes ago. I think that I may be suffering from some type of disorder. Songs keep on coming into my head. This may be some type of new defense mechanism for myself. I gave the paramedics a thumbs up that I was okay and they went on their way.

I could hear a deep laugh coming from my right. I looked over and saw Eddie Gazarra laughing at me. He's one of Trenton's finest and is married to my cousin, Shirley the whiner. He now lives vicariously through my misadventures and my stomach. Shirley always has him on a diet. I had already given him my statement and told him that the fire inspector should keep an eye out for bomb pieces in front of my apartment door.

"Well, I don't know why I came here tonight. I got a feelin' that something aint right. I so scared in case I fall off my chair. And I'm wonderin' how I'll get down the stairs. Clowns to the left of me. Jokers to the right. Here I am stuck in the middle with you. Yes, I'm stuck in the middle with you. And I'm wonderin' what it is I should do."

I was starting to wonder how long I could keep this up when I saw my reflection in a pair of mirrored sun glasses. I looked at my reflection instead of the man. I wiped some soot off of my face and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Are you done primping?"

"Yes. Do you think that you could give me a hand up?" I said as I held up my arm.

"Sure," he said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me up. "Marin Gaye and Steelers Wheel?"

"Yep," I said with a smile. I turned at looked at the window that use to go to my apartment. "This isn't good, Santos."

"You're telling me."

"The tide is high, but I'm holding on. I'm gonna be your number one. I'm not that kind of girl who gives up just like that. Oh nooooooo!" I sang as I smiled and danced over to the black Bronco that was parked close by.

"I think that you've finally lost it, Bomber," Junior said with a smile as he watched me dance over to him.

"Nope. Everything's good," I said as I danced around him to the music in my head. I stopped dancing and looked at Junior. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Your GPS went off line. Tank called us because we were nearby. We came to check up on you. I'm gonna call Tank to let him know that you are okay. You are okay, right?" Junior asked.

"I'm fantastic," I said with a huge grin. "Tell Tank that I'm sorry. I dropped my purse when I was running out of the building. I'll get another GPS tracker from him when I get a new purse."

"Steph," Lester said getting my attention.

"Lester," I said turning towards him. I smiled at the tall man in front of me. He had chopped off his long blonde hair last week and now uses gel to spike it up. He had moved his sunglasses up so that he could clearly see my eyes to get a feel of how I really was. His bright green eyes looked deep into mine and I thought that he could see straight into my soul.

He was dressed in his usual RangeMan uniform. His tight black shirt showed off his broad shoulders and impressive torso. He has amazing rock hard pecks. I could just barely make out the eight pack of abs that ran down his stomach. His cargos hung low on his narrow hips. I know that he has a fantastic ass because I accidently walked in on him going to the bathroom. I immediately wanted to bite it. I still do.

"Rex," Lester said bringing me back to reality.

"Rex is at school with one of my nieces. She took him to school for show and tell," I said as I started to dance around again.

"What's going on Steph?" Lester asked as he grabbed my shoulders to keep me still.

"I had an epiphany as I ran down the stairs. I'm done with Joe and Ranger. They can have each other."

"You decided this while you were running for your life?"

"Yep. I realized while I was laying on the ground that I'm okay with it. Joe wants me to be a Burg wife and Ranger won't commit. I'm never going to be a Burg wife and I'd like to get married some day. So… I need to find a new man. Someone who likes me for who I am and won't be afraid to marry me."

"You just came to this conclusion?" Lester asked.

"Yep," I said as I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. "I need Lula."

I dialed her number and danced around as I waited for her to pick up.

"What's up white girl?" Lula said when she answered her phone.

"We need to go out tonight. We need alcohol and dancing."

"Sounds good."

"I'll pick you up at eight."

"Cool."

I hung up my phone and turned to Junior as he walked back over to me and Lester. He was smiling. Junior never really fits in as a Merry Man. He always looks like he just walked out of the ghetto. My Hispanic Merry Man had a lot of tattoos. He has dark brown eyes and a Mr. Clean shaved head. I found out a couple of months ago that he uses Nair. His six foot frame is lean and hard. Muscles on top of muscles.

"You guys wanna go out with us tonight?" I asked.

Lester and Junior looked at each other. I watched as Lester leaned over and whispered something into Junior's ear. Junior's smile broadened and he nodded his head affirmatively.

"We're in," Lester said. "Call me later and let me know where you guys end up."

"Okay," I said.

"Tank said that you could crash on the fourth floor if you need to," Junior said.

"Cool. Tell him I'll see him in a bit," I said as I turned and made my way to my car.

I climbed into my car and headed out. I needed to go shopping. Luckily, I had picked up a few high end skips in the past few weeks. I had roughly thirty grand in my bank account. Plenty of money to get a whole new wardrobe.