Put a Girl in it, a janet evanovich fanfic

Right…so I was driving home and this song came on and then this idea popped into my head…that's my only excuse. I hope you like it.

A big Thank You to Stayce for the help with it!

All characters belong to JE

Put a Girl in it

It was easily the stupidest song he'd ever heard.

First of all, it was country, not even music as far as he was concerned. And second of all, it was wrong.

The fact that he was listening to it in the first place was wrong, but he couldn't help it. He was standing at the urinal in Shorty's men's room and they had speakers in every fucking corner under the ceiling, blaring the music out so loud that you couldn't hear the water run. Okay, maybe that was a good thing. But at least in the bar room, you couldn't make out the fucking lyrics because a hundred voices all but drowned out the music.

And the lyrics were what was wrong with the song, it was simply not true.

As if a girl had ever solved any problems, ha! Created them, was more like it.

Ranger angrily hit the lever to flush and went to wash his hands. And still that damned song wasn't finished.

He had ridden in his truck alone many times, and nothing had been missing, thankyouverymuch. He scoffed as he pushed the door open to leave the bathroom.

It was Friday night and for some reason, he'd agreed to go out with his men after the dayshift. That reason was insanity, he figured, or at least an error in judgment. He didn't belong here.

For the past hour, he'd been nursing his one beer while around him, pitchers were refilled with record speed and pizzas and wings were devoured as if the men hadn't eaten in days.

And they were enjoying themselves. Further proof that a girl was definitely not needed to have a good time!

Except he wasn't having a good time. Santos certainly was, but when he thought about it, there'd been this tight piece of ass bouncing on his lap until just before Ranger had left for the bathroom and now Santos was positively beaming.

He shook his head almost imperceptibly. That's not what he wanted either, a cheap fuck after a night of too much drinking.

No, he realized, the real reason that song had annoyed him was because there was a girl. Well, a woman really, she was definitely all woman.

Unfortunately though, she was not in his truck or his house, or in any of those places the song claimed a girl would make better just by being there.

He needed to get out of there, all of a sudden he felt suffocated, even though Shorty's was smoke free like all bars in Jersey. No, what made breathing hard was that the fucking song had touched a nerve.

Ranger had long since decided that there was no room in his life for Stephanie, that she was much better off with Morelli, that he, Ranger, could never give her what she wanted.

So he was definitely doing what was best for her by staying out of her life.

His life was another matter though. The singers were right; it was missing a girl, one girl, his girl.

Ranger stood up, threw some money on the table and told everyone he'd see them on Monday. He guessed they weren't too sorry to see him leave, they were probably holding back while he was there.

He got into his truck and sat in the dark. Angry at himself for letting a stupid song get to him, and angry for doubting himself.

He had everything, the cars, the houses, and the successful company, everything he set out to have. Except for the girl.

Ranger cursed and suddenly wished he'd drunk way more than that one beer. It would have taken a lot of beers, but he could have switched to vodka easily…

And then what? He would have been drunk and still thinking about Stephanie, most likely.

If it wasn't for that stupid song though, he could have continued ignoring that urge to hold her and kiss her and fuck her until she screamed his name. Now, it was all he could think about.

Maybe he should make sure Steph was alright? He hadn't heard anything about crazy stalkers in her life lately, but that didn't mean she was safe, did it? Steph had a way of finding trouble, even if she never caused it. It would probably be the right thing to do to check on her.

So he started the truck and pulled out of the parking spot, now glad he hadn't had too much to drink.

It was a quarter past nine when he pulled into the parking lot behind her building. He immediately scanned the parked cars until he found her Civic. It looked okay, not burned, not perforated with bullet holes. So her car was okay, one down.

He glanced up at her apartment as he got out of the truck. There were no lights on, but he could make out the flicker of a TV screen. He smiled. She was home and watching TV. And there were no other familiar cars in the lot, which most likely meant she was alone.

Ranger reasoned that he had to at least go up and check on her, since the TV alone wasn't proof that she was okay. Some crazy fuck could have her tied up in a corner or something. There was no way to tell from street level.

He took the stairs two at a time and let himself into her apartment. She'd locked the door, but her locks were a joke, he could open them without a sound.

The sound from the TV carried over to him. Some movie, he guessed. And her hamster was running a mile a minute on his little wheel; Ranger could hear the soft squeaking from the kitchen. In a way, it was like coming home. All those familiar sounds and smells. Her apartment had a unique smell to it, the only way he couldn't define it was 'Steph'.

He stepped into the living room and could make out her shape under the afghan on the couch. He hadn't made any sound, but he soon realized she wouldn't have heard him anyway: she was fast asleep.

Walking slowly around the couch to face her, he watched her breathing evenly and his smile deepened.

Without really thinking about it, he turned the TV off and gently lifted her off the couch. She murmured something in her sleep and snuggled into him.

Oh yeah, this was coming home.

Ranger eased her down on her bed and stripped his clothes before lying down next to her, pulling the afghan off of her and the blanket over both of them. He gathered her up in his arms and pressed her to him. Steph sighed contentedly and put her hand on his arm around her waist.

They were right after all, he realized. All he had to do was put a girl in it, and he felt whole.

This is the song Ranger was involuntarily listening to:

Brooks And Dunn - Put A Girl In It

You can buy you a brand new truck
Chrome it all out, jack it way up
You can build you a house up high on a hill
With a pool and a pond and a view to kill
You can make all the money in sight
But you ain't livin' the good life

Till you put a girl in it
You ain't got nothin'
What's it all worth
Without a little lovin'
Put a girl in it
Some huggin' and some kissin'
If you're world's got somethin' missin'
Just put a girl in it

You can buy a boat and a shiny set of skis
Have some fun in the sun, float around in the breeze
You can lay out on a blanket by the lake
Drink a cold beer, polish off another day
Kick on back and watch the sky turn red
A sunset ain't a sunset

You can write you a country song
The DJ wont put it on
They wont dance or sing along

If you're gonna have a party
Put a girl in it

If you wanna live the good life
Better put a gir-r-rl in it