Disclaimer: The characters belong to J.E.

Spoiler Alert: There may be mention of anything from the series since this takes place just after 18. This story takes place immediately after Explosive 18.

Chapter 1: Love In A Bottle

Stephanie's POV:

Crap! Joe drank the little bottle and suddenly he was looking at me in a way I'd never seen him look at me before. I watched as his eyes darkened to chocolate pools like they did every time he got horny. That look was quite familiar but right now I wasn't willing to fall into bed with him. Not that I really believed there was anything like a love potion, I recalled the last few days and how Lula had acted. I so didn't need this right now. I took a deep breath and turned to face Morelli. He was leaning towards me and I knew what he was leading to so I put up a hand and said, "Not gonna happen. Time for me to go."

"But Cupcake..."

"No."

I stood and headed for the door. I sighed when Morelli fell into step beside me. When I got to his front door I put my hand on his chest and gave him my best Burg glare. "I'm going home alone. You are staying here."

"Aw Cupcake, that's no fun. I want to be with you."

"No Joe. You stay here."

He suddenly looked like he'd just lost his best friend. Man! I didn't have time for this shit. I finally managed to get out the front door and had slid into my car of the moment and headed home. Two minutes into the drive I spotted Morelli. Damn! Didn't look like he was giving up. Okay, change of plans. I turned down a side street and headed towards Haywood. I hit speed dial for Ranger and seconds later there was a "Yo."

"I have a little problem."

"How serious is this little problem?"

"Joe just drank a vial of something Annie gave me. You remember how Lula's been acting lately? You know, with her snuggle bear? Well, Joe is giving me strange looks."

I could hear his silent chuckle and I glared at the phone. A few seconds later he asked, "What do you want me to do Babe?"

"He's following me home. Even a kindergartner can break into my apartment. I need someplace else to stay."

"The only place available is mine Babe. You know what that means."

Shit! Now I had that added threat. "I'll sleep on the couch."

I held my breath hoping he'd give me this. When he answered I silently released the air I'd been holding. "You can have the couch Babe, but if you get in my bed, I'll take that to mean you want me as much as I want you and I'll act on it."

Oh Boy! "Thanks Ranger. I'll be there in 5."

I disconnected and a few minutes later I swung into the garage at Haywood. My phone rang immediately. I answered, "Hello."

"Cupcake, please tell me you aren't going to Ranger. Please tell me you aren't there to sleep with him."

"I'm here because you are following me and my apartment isn't secure enough to keep a 2 year old out. I need some space right now and you aren't giving it to me. You can't get in here."

"I'll find a way. I'm not leaving you here with him."

"Back off Joe. Go home and get some sleep. I'll see you later."

"I'm not leaving without you."

"Then have a good nights sleep in your car."

I parked and used my key fob to get me in the elevator and made my way up to Ranger's 7th floor penthouse apartment. He was waiting for me when I arrived. He shook his head and I could see by the twinkle in his eyes that he was amused. I gave him my best glare and watched as his shoulders silently shook.

"He's parked just outside and says he's not leaving."

Ranger gave a miniscule nod and pulled out his phone. "Morelli is parked outside. Watch him. He may try to get inside."

He put the phone away and waved a hand to the sofa, "All yours Babe. I'll give you first chance at the bathroom."

"Can I use one of your t-shirts? I didn't exactly stop to pack."

"You know where they are."

I went through and got ready for bed. Fifteen minutes later I made my way back through to the sofa. Ranger stood as I walked into the room and gave me a wink before he headed into his bedroom. He'd put a pillow and blankets on the sofa. I quickly made up the sofa and climbed under the covers. I got up a few hours later and padded through to the bathroom. I was still half asleep when I came out of the bathroom and made my way to my bed. I smiled when I climbed in.

I was having the most erotic dream I'd ever had. The sheets were the softest I'd ever felt save for when I had stayed at Ranger's. I smiled wider because the sheets even smelled like Ranger's. I moved, stretching and a naked male thigh insinuated itself between the juncture of my legs as a warm male arm covered my breast. I turned into him and a sensuous male mouth covered mine. I moaned, giving myself up to the dream I was having. When the kiss ended, I heard Ranger's voice calling my name. I opened my eyes and found myself looking up into dark pools of desire. "Just making sure you know what you're doing Babe."

My eyes opened wide, "How did I get here?"

"You came out of the bathroom and climbed into my bed."

I looked at him and bit my lip. I wanted so much what he could give me, but Joe was parked outside and I still had all that to deal with. "As much as I'd love to, Joe's probably still parked outside and I still have to deal with what's going on there."

Ranger leaned down and gave me another bone melting kiss before he turned over and said, "Better hurry Babe before I change my mind."

I scrambled out of bed and made my way back out to the sofa. The next time I opened my eyes it was 9 a.m. and Ranger was sitting on the sofa at my waist. He had a cup of coffee in his hands and it was that aroma that had pulled me from sleep.

I sat up so my back rested against the arm of the sofa and Ranger put a hand on my leg. I took a sip of coffee and closed my eyes and moaned as the rich flavor rolled off my tongue as I swallowed. "What's on your agenda for today Babe?"

"I need to stop by the bonds office and see if there's any skips and then I thought I'd see what happens."

Ranger smiled. Apparently my plans amused him. "I'll send Lester with you today in case you need help dealing with Morelli."

"As much as I'd like to say I can deal with him, I appreciate the loan of Lester. He won't hurt Joe will he?"

"Not unless its necessary to protect you Babe."

I nodded. I had figured as much. I finished my coffee and threw the blanket over Ranger's head and made a dash for the bathroom. I heard his chuckle as I closed the bathroom door. I showered and shampooed my hair. After drying off I went into the closet and found some clothes that Ella left for me here. I dressed in black cargo slacks, black t-shirt, black socks, and black work boots. Big surprise that the clothes Ella stocked for me here were black. I raised my eyebrows at the black lace thong and push up bra set with Rangeman embroidered in pink. Now this I didn't mind being in black because it was sex personified when I put it on. Hmm, was Ella trying to tell me something here?

I put gel in my hair and brushed it out, managing to tame my wild curls. I pulled my hair back and wrapped a hair tie around it. After adding a light coat of make up I headed out to the kitchen. Ranger was already seated at the table and there was a covered plate across from him just waiting for me to sit down and enjoy. I lifted the cover and moaned. Ella had made me Belgian Waffles and topped it with powdered sugar, sliced strawberries, and whipped topping. There were three strips of bacon beside the waffle. My eyebrows shot up and I looked at Ranger.

"I can smell the smoke Babe."

"I'm a little shocked is all. You let Ella fix me bacon? What horrible news do you have for me?"

"No horrible news Babe."

I smiled at him. His gaze fastened on me and he watched as I dug into the food before me. It didn't take me very long at all to finish what was on my plate. I pushed the plate away and met Ranger's gaze, "What are you up to today?"

"I have the pleasure of wading through payroll today so the men can get paid Friday."

I nodded. "I guess I better get going."

"I'll tell Lester to meet you in the garage."

I smiled, "I can't wait to see him fold himself into my car."

"You can take the Cayenne Babe."

"No way! As long as I have a car I'm not taking any chances on blowing up one of yours."

He chuckled and stood, pulling me into his arms and giving my mouth a very thorough exam with his tongue. When he released my mouth I rested my head against his chest. His hand moved caressingly on my back and at that moment all I wanted to do was stay in his arms and let these feelings I was experiencing have the lead. But I knew Morelli was still parked outside and as much as I wanted this I couldn't hurt him like that, especially now when he was under the influence of whatever was in that damn vial. So with great reluctance I moved away from Ranger and whispered, "I'll see you later."

"Call me if you need anything Babe."

I nodded and made myself turn and walk out of the apartment. When I got to the garage, Lester was leaning against the side of his SUV waiting. He smiled when I stepped out of the elevator and said, "Hello Beautiful. Looks like you and I are going to be spending some time together."

"Yup. Looks that way."

"Can I convince you to let me drive?"

"Nope." I stopped at my car and slipped into the drivers side. I was belted and the car was running before Lester gave in and climbed into the passenger seat mumbling about being scrunched to death. I smiled and pulled out of the garage. I frowned when Morelli's Jeep pulled into traffic behind me. I knew he was scheduled to work today and didn't like that he might have called off to follow me. My first stop was the bonds office.

When Lester walked in behind me I noticed Connie sat up a little taller in her chair and put a hand up to check her hair. There was a slight pink tinge to her cheeks and I wondered if she might have some feelings for Lester. Lula was on the sofa and she smiled ear to ear when she saw us.

"What's happenin' girlfriend?"
"You know that little vial Annie gave me?"

"Sure do."

"Yeah well, Morelli drank it."

"Say what?"

"Morelli drank it. Then he started looking at me kinda funny and when I left he followed me so I went to Rangeman. He was parked outside all night. Then this morning when we headed out he was following us again. As a matter of fact he's parked outside right now."

"Damn girl."

I turned to Connie, "You have any skips for me?"

"I got three. I don't know about a couple of these though. They're low level bonds, but the guys are pretty violent according to their sheets."

I grabbed the files from her and checked them out. I had a David Sayers arrested for robbery with a $5000 bond. He'd been armed with a knife when the cops arrested him and resisted arrest, using his knife to slice a 5" long cut on one of the officer's arms. The second skip was a woman who'd been arrested for prostitution. Didn't look like there'd be much difficulty to this one. The third gave me a real pause though. Donald Morgenstine was arrested for assault and battery. He'd beat his girlfriend bloody and raped her before leaving her for dead. I bit my lip. As much as I hated taking this one on, the $1000 I'd get for the recovery would pay my rent for two months. I slipped the folders into my purse and quietly told Connie thanks.

I headed back out to my car with Lester on my heels. Once we were in the car I handed him the folders. "Since you're riding with me I figured I should let you in on who we'll be looking for."

"Beautiful, I don't like the looks of these two. Wish you would have passed on them."

"I can't exactly afford to pass on skips."

I saw his mouth tighten but he said no more. We drove by and checked out all three skips. Lucky for me none of them were home. I kept checking the mirror and couldn't help but notice Morelli's Jeep kept pace with us the whole time. Lester smiled but wisely remained silent as I grumbled about some people being idiots.

We stopped for lunch at Shorty's because I didn't want Joe's friends to witness his behavior yet. I wanted to try and figure a way to get him back to normal. Lester and I shared a loaded pizza. We opted for soft drinks since we were working. Joe came in while we were waiting for the pizza and sat down at our table. I was ready to pull my hair out the way he was acting towards me. Lester, the bastard was smiling ear to ear.

Morelli took my hand and lowered his voice, "Cupcake, please listen to me. I love you and think it's time for us to be together always. I want you to marry me and we can start having babies."

"Joe, your not yourself. Please, just go home and give me some space for a few days."

"Cupcake, I don't ever want to leave your side."

"I need to do my job."

"I can help you sweetie cums. We can make the best team ever. I have contacts that would seriously help you with your job."

"You hate my job."

"Cupcake, I could never hate anything about you. Ever."

"What about my cars blowing up?"

"We can always get you another car. Just as long as your safe, that's all I care about."

"Who are you and what the hell have you done with Joe Morelli?"

"Cupcake, I'm right here." He smiled widely.

I turned and looked at Lester to see he was still smiling and although he wasn't making a sound his shoulders were shaking silently. I glared at him and folded my hands across my chest. Damn I really didn't need this now. We finished our pizza and Joe insisted on paying. Lester and I headed to my car and I decided to give Morgenstine another look so we headed back to his location. I looked again at the file and took a good look at the picture. We'd been sitting there about 5 minutes when the man in question pulled into the driveway and got out of his car. I looked at Lester and he gave me a grim smile. We got out and I made my way towards my skip.

I reached him before he got to the front door and asked, "Donald Morgenstine?"

He turned and I could see he was half drunk. He weaved and slurred, "Yeah. Who wants to know?"

"I work for Vincent Plum and you are in violation of your bond agreement. I need to take you in and get you re-bonded."

"Fuck you bitch. I ain't going nowhere."

I pulled the handcuffs out of my pocket and went to snap one on his wrist. He went to backhand me but his wrist was held in a firm male grip. Lester cuffed his wrist and easily got the other hand cuffed as well. Morgenstine wasn't happy with this development and he let out a loud roar and slipped out of Lester's grip. He put his head down and charged like a bull at a Matador's cape. Lester moved sideways out of his way making sure I was out of the way as well. Morgenstine ran into the trunk of a huge old Oak tree and stilled before his eyes closed and he crumpled to the ground. A few seconds later the tree started listing to the left and we had to scramble to get out of the way before the tree landed across the road. I heard the sound of metal crumpling and glass breaking. I had an awful feeling and looked to where I'd parked my car. My mouth opened in shock. My car was no longer visible. All I could see was a giant tree across the area where I knew my car to be. On the way down the tree took out a power line and said power line was now sparking. Suddenly one of those sparks landed on the tree and before I knew it the tree was up in flames. Within seconds the tree was fully engulfed in flames. I took a step forward but Lester grabbed me around the waist and started running the other way with me. I didn't understand what he was doing at first but then I got to thinking about the full tank of gas I'd just bought earlier today. At that moment there was an explosion as the fire reached the gas tank and flames shot up into the air. A large branch had been blown into the air and it landed on Morgenstine's house. At that point I heard the sirens.

Joe was beside me in seconds. His hands were running over me checking to see if I'd been hurt. He wrapped me in his arms and kept saying how glad he was I was okay. Carl and Big Dog where the first cops on the scene and they looked surprised when they saw Morelli.

"I thought you called in sick today Joe."

"I'm doing better."

Carl nodded and looked at me. He smiled, "I just made a killing with this one."

I grimaced. Before I could say anything, Joe had Carl by the collar of his shirt and had put him up against his car with force. "You are going to stop these fucking pools you guys keep getting up. How dare you belittle Stephanie like this. Can't you see she's just been through a traumatic incidence and doesn't need your childish behavior. She could have fucking been killed and all you can think about is how much money this made for you."

We all looked at each other with widened eyes. Carl, Big Dog, Lester and I. I'd never seen Morelli act like this and I was getting a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. This didn't look good. I had to get to Annie today. No way was I taking any chances and letting this continue. Carl and Big Dog agreed to take my skip in and said I could stop by anytime to get my body receipt. I thanked them and after answering their questions Lester and I made our way over to the Cayenne. I'd noticed Ranger had stopped by with the Cayenne when Morelli was telling Carl off. He watched silently for several seconds to make sure I was okay and then got into another SUV being driven by Tank and they'd left.

Morelli came over and grinned at me, "I don't think you'll have to worry about anymore bets being placed on you Cupcake."

"Uh, yeah. Thanks Joe. Well, we really have to be going. I need to swing by the apartment and pick up a few things."

"Why? Are you going somewhere?"

"Well, I'm going to be staying at Rangeman for a few days."

Joe looked incredibly hurt by my statement but I felt it was necessary. I didn't trust him not to try and seduce me and I wasn't totally sure of my willpower to hold out. "Nothing is going on between Ranger and I." I tell him.

"Would you tell me if there was?"

"Yes. I'd tell you."

"Your not sleeping in his bed?"

"I slept on the couch last night and I'll do the same tonight."

"Then I guess I'll be camped outside his building so I can watch over you."

"I'd rather you go home and get a good nights sleep."

"I love you Cupcake. I need to be near you."

I sighed, "Joe, you need to go to work and let me do my job."
He gave me a sappy smile, "Naw. I need to be close to you."

I rolled my eyes and turned to the Cayenne where Lester was waiting with a smirk on his face. I gave him my best Burg glare and headed over. As I neared I could see the twinkle in his eyes. He moved so I could climb up into the driver's side and he went and climbed in the passenger side. I started the car and headed for my apartment. I called Annie and when she answered I asked, "How fast can I get an antidote?"

"What do you mean dear?"

"That little bottle you gave me...my on again off again boyfriend drank it and now he's acting just like Lula did with my last skip."

"Oh dear." I think I hear her mumble it wasn't meant for him and then she says, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to be out of town for two weeks. I can have something for you as soon as I get back in town though."

"Two weeks! I can't spend two weeks at Ranger's."

"At Ranger's?"

"Well yeah. Morelli is a little amorous. I'm not taking any chances. My apartment is as secure as a refrigerator box."

I felt like if I was looking at her she'd be grinning ear to ear as she said, "Well, I won't need to worry at all since I know you'll be in very capable hands." With that she disconnected.

As I threw my phone in my bag I peeked over to see Lester's shoulders silently shaking. Damn! I didn't need this. I pulled into my lot and parked in my usual spot. I got out and made my way into the building. I know I surprised Lester when I bypassed the elevator and took the stairs, but I needed to work off some serious frustration. I stepped into my hallway and my stomach bottomed out. I had a weird feeling in my stomach.

I turned and looked at Lester. He took one look at my face and stepped in front of me. He had his gun out and cautiously made his way to my door. I carefully followed, feeling more anxious the closer we got to my door. I heard Lester swear and peeked around to see what had his attention. My door was covered in blood with a white note folded over and pinned to the door with a wicked looking knife. My first thought was getting inside to check on Rex but Lester held me in place when I went towards the door.

"We need to call the police first Beautiful."

"But Rex..."

"I know. We'll check on him as soon as we can."

I sighed, knowing he was right but not liking it. If anything happened to Rex...I pulled out my phone and called the police. I gave them my address and asked them to hurry. As I was talking I was aware of Lester on the phone to Ranger. In three minutes, Ranger and Tank stepped out of the stairwell into the hallway leading to my apartment. Two minutes later Bobby, Hector, and Manny joined us. Bobby spoke softly to Ranger and Ranger's eyes cut to me as they were talking. Ranger stepped over to me and wrapped his arms around me.

"The police got delayed a bit by the elevator Babe."

I gave him a puzzled frown. He shook his head, "Just glad you decided to use the stairs Babe."

"What did they find."

"Lots more blood and a body."

I swayed slightly in his hold and he tightened his grip. "Do you know who it was?"

"No one you know Babe."

I felt enormous relief at that. Not that I was happy for anyone's death, but I was just so relieved it wasn't someone I knew. It took another 5 minutes before the stairwell door opened again and Carl and Big Dog stepped out. They had grim looks on their faces as they made their way over to where we were standing.

Carl nodded to Ranger and the guys before his gaze met mine. "We gotta stop meeting like this Steph."

"Hey, it's not my idea."

Carl asked me for my key and I handed it over. A minute later another man joined us in the hallway. Carl said he was the crime scene expert and we waited for him to get the evidence he needed from my door. He worked on the note first and once he finished he handed the note to Big Dog. Big Dog opened it and showed it to the rest of us. Whoever had left the note had gone to a lot of trouble. Each letter was cut from a magazine. The note read, 'Sweet Stephanie. You have to thank Ranger for getting us together. Till we meet sweet Stephanie.' Big Dog put the note into a baggie and zipped it closed before removing the gloves he'd put on before accepting the note. After several minutes the crime scene guy nodded to Carl and motioned for him to open the door. Carl cautiously put the key in the lock and opened the door. He pushed the handle so the door would open and we all stood back.

I watched as Carl, Big Dog and the crime scene guy entered my apartment. They had barely taken two steps when I had this overwhelming feeling of something going seriously wrong. I called out to Carl, "Carl, I think you need to come back out. Please, I just think you guys need to get out of there. Is Rex handy? Can you bring him too?"

When they didn't answer I looked up into Ranger's eyes and started shaking. I was terrified. I didn't want Ranger or any of the guys going in there but I also didn't want Carl or Big Dog getting hurt. Suddenly all three of them came barreling out of my apartment and we were all running for the stairwell when Carl said, "Run!"

I couldn't keep up with Ranger's longer strides and suddenly felt myself airborne as he lifted me and carried me down the stairs. We burst through the door to the lobby and never slowed as we headed outside. Carl yelled to the cops at the elevator, "Get out now!" We didn't stop to see if they were following.

When we got outside we headed to the far end of the parking lot. Suddenly there was a loud explosion and I looked back to see a hole where my apartment used to be. My first thought was Rex.

I went to step back towards the building but Ranger still had his arms around me. Suddenly a vehicle came barreling into the parking lot and the guys took up positions around me with their guns drawn. The car skidded to a stop and Morelli jumped out and came running over to me.

"Cupcake, are you okay. Are you hurt? I just heard."

"I'm okay...but I don't know about Rex..."

Carl came over and he had Rex's cage. I didn't see him anywhere and worried whoever had been in my apartment might have let him out. I tapped the cage and then reached in and tipped the can. Rex came sliding out onto the floor of his cage. It was easy to see something had scared him but he looked relatively undamaged. I gave Carl a watery smile, "Thanks Carl."

Carl put a hand on my shoulder, "Thanks for the warning Steph. If you hadn't said anything none of us would have made it out of there.

I nestled into Ranger's arms and heard a fierce growl. I turned and saw Joe standing there glaring at Ranger, his hands clenched into fists. Ranger didn't react to Morelli, he just held me. I had the feeling I was being watched and I looked around. My gaze going over everything I could see. Ranger must have felt me tense because his hold tightened and he asked, "What's wrong Babe?"

"I feel like I'm being watched."

Ranger called Carl over and told him they were taking me back to Rangeman where it was safer. Carl nodded and said, "Good idea. If we need anything we can come there and talk with her." He turned to me and gave me a serious look, "You stay safe, you hear."

"Thanks Carl."

Ranger helped me into the Turbo and then slid behind the wheel. The others got into their SUV's and we made our way back to Haywood. In no time we were pulling into the garage. Ranger came around and helped me out. I had Rex's cage in my hands. He led me to the elevator and we headed up to 7. I set Rex's cage on the kitchen counter.

Three days later I was ready to pull my hair out. I'd been closed up in Ranger's apartment and hadn't stepped outside once. Ranger had arranged for me to do some skip tracing and I'd gotten through the stacks and stacks that Rodriguez kept sending me. Then there was the added hassle of Morelli constantly calling me and pleading with me to let him come in and make sure I was okay. I told him I was fine and he needed to get back to his life. Nothing worked. He refused to leave his spot in front of the building. I said he could help with the investigation if he was at work, but even that didn't work. He said Carl and Big Dog were keeping him up to date on everything. The Captain had agreed to let him keep an eye out for me. Then there was the matter of being so close to Ranger. I was having serious problems keeping everything platonic.

By the end of a week I was climbing the walls and Ranger had directed Ella to make sure she bought Tasty Cakes in bulk and that I had a serving of cake with every meal as well as doughnuts for breakfast. When the Merry Men heard they all cheered and I gave them my best Burg glare. It's not like I was that difficult to deal with! Geez! The tip of the iceberg came when I caught Rodriguez taking files out of the guys in boxes and adding them to the stack he was giving me. I had him cornered when I heard running feet behind me and I knew by the tingle at the base of my neck just who was standing behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and said, "Babe."

Like that said it all. I don't freaking think so. I turned and glared, "He's giving me the guys work to do along with my own. I caught him red-handed."

Ranger winced and looked to Rodriguez. The other man was pale and had a panicked look on his face. "I'm not going down alone."

"Sorry Babe. I thought you'd feel better being busy and he didn't have enough to keep you busy. With all the sugar you've been eating and being confined and all, you're getting more work done than any three of my men put together."

"I hate being confined! I feel like the walls are closing in on me. Not only am I stuck in here having to stop myself from jumping your body, Morelli's sitting in his truck outside waiting to pounce with all this smothering shit and then there's the idiot stalker who keeps sending me black roses and telling me we are destined to die together. How the fuck would you handle it?"

The ass had the nerve to smile. Not just a small smile but a full blown 2000 watt smile. Shit!

"Didn't you say Annie was due back today Babe? How about if I call her and ask her to stop by? We can have lunch in the conference room off the Lobby and invite Morelli to join us."

"Please, I can't wait! One more day of him acting like this and I'm going to get the chair for killing a cop." I gave Rodriguez a parting glare and let Ranger lead me to his office so we could call Annie.

I felt enormous relief when Annie answered. She laughed and said she'd be thrilled to meet us for lunch and she had just the thing to help the situation. Ranger called upstairs and had Ella make something to bring down in half an hour and then I called Joe and told him he could come in for lunch. Thirty minutes later Morelli and Annie walked through the doors to the Lobby together and Ranger met them. Ella had just brought the meal and set it out when the three of them walked in the door. She smiled and told us to enjoy. Ranger took the one chair beside where I was sitting which forced Morelli to sit on the opposite side of the table with Annie. Morelli tried all our patients before the meal ended. Then Annie took out a little vial and while Morelli was pleading once again with me to marry him and make him the happiest man on Earth, she dumped the contents into his water. I told Morelli to just drink his water and it was time for him to leave. He gave me a sad, lost puppy look but drank his water and belched. He sat still for a couple seconds and then shook his head and looked around. His voice pissed and his look guarded as he asked, "Cupcake, what the hell is going on here?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Ranger showed Morelli out as I watched from the window. I felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I turned back to the table to see Annie placing her hands back in her lap. Ranger returned and smiled at me, "Well that's finally over Babe."

He sat back down beside me and lifted his water glass and drained it. I had a sudden uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach and I looked over to Annie. When I saw her smile I thought, 'Oh Shit!' I turned to Ranger to see him setting his glass down. He had a funny look on his face and looked up to meet my gaze. "You're water taste off Babe?"

"No. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good. I gotta get back to work though. I still need you to stay inside till we can get your stalker taken care of though."

I sighed in relief. "I guess I can handle that. After all, it's not like I have an apartment to go back to."

I waited till he left before turning to Annie, "How could you do that again?"

She just smiled, "I'll give you a call in a couple weeks and see how things are going. I'm heading back out of town and won't be available till then."

I narrowed my eyes thinking that was convenient. I headed back to my cubicle and got started on the searches. I didn't know what to think of Annie putting love potion into Ranger's water. I remembered the headache of the last two weeks and I was dreading the next two weeks. I would have to fight Ranger and myself to stay out of his bed. I sure as hell couldn't go to Morelli's because Ranger would make Morelli disappear to a third world country. More than that though, I didn't want a love potion to be the reason for us getting together. I wanted Ranger to love me because he did, not because he was under the influence of some type of love potion drug. Damn!