A/N: I hadn't planned on reposting another story, but I've had several requests from readers asking me to share a couple more of their favorites. Dangerous Deals is a story that I had the wonderful pleasure of co-writing with another talented writer, Pat, several years ago. We shared a lot of laughs and had a lot of fun writing this story. We hope you enjoy it whether it's your first time reading it or your whatever time!
Dangerous Deals
Prologue
Damn, that was irritating. Stephanie tried to snuggle in closer to the warm body that was keeping her so toasty and comfortable, but the chirping wouldn't stop.
A shift in the bed, followed by a grunt, brought her to semi-consciousness, that place between sleep and wakefulness that could go either way, depending on the next event or the state of your bladder.
She sighed when the man beside her sat up in bed and whispered a sharp "What?" followed by an even sharper "When?" She wasn't fooled by the silence that followed. She knew he'd be listening intently and planning simultaneously. ESP was not required; she'd seen and heard the stance before.
"Give me fifteen. Don't make a move." Yup, he was already mentally gone. Sighing, she rolled to face him as he rose from the bed.
"Problem?"
"Yes, an emergency." He finished buttoning his pants and hesitated a moment. Pulling his shirt on, he sat on the bed to put on his boots. He leaned over and brushed a soft kiss against her forehead. "I wouldn't leave if it wasn't important." His eyes searched hers, looking for what, she couldn't tell.
"We need to talk, Stephanie. Dinner tonight?"
Boy, did they ever need to talk, at least she did. She had a jumble of emotions racing through her, and no idea what to do with any of them. "Sure."
"Pick you up at seven?"
"Okay." His fingertips brushed the side of her face, then he bent to pick up his equipment, and he was gone. She heard the soft click of her door, and she was alone.
There was no way sleep was coming back anytime soon. Too many emotions were whirling around inside her, too many sensations, and too much confusion.
She released a deep sigh as she flopped back down onto the bed, clutching the pillow he'd used to her chest, breathing in his scent.
For two years, their relationship had been a game of cat and mouse – until that fateful night. She'd been trying to sleep when she'd heard her door click open. He'd come to the bedroom door and requested a light so that he could see her. He'd undressed and proceeded to collect his fee.
And worse, he'd been right. He'd played the role of Superman flawlessly and had ruined her for any other man. And worst of all, she still had no idea what he wanted from her.
Dangerous Deals - Chapter 1
One week later…
"Damn, girlfriend, you need to be getting some sleep. You know what time it is? You want me to talk to your man and tell him you need a break?" Stephanie hadn't even closed the office door yet and already she felt like turning around and heading back out.
"Thanks, Lula, but that isn't what's been keeping me up." It was only a small lie, hardly worth mentioning. In fact, it wasn't even a whole lie, more like half of one. Definitely didn't count.
"You sure? Cause I know just the woman who could help you out." Lula was almost preening. Stephanie knew who'd volunteer to help her out. The thought made her smile. Wonder what he'd think of the arrangement? The smile disappeared. Huh, that was the problem, at least most of it. Wondering what he thought about anything, but especially about them.
He'd been in her bed every night for the last week; not that she was complaining about that, but she was starting to feel dissatisfied. Not about their lovemaking, if you could even call it that. Well, she wanted to call it that. It was what he'd call it that had her lying awake until the early hours of the morning.
For an entire week, he'd been available, attentive, tender and magnificent in bed. What hadn't changed was his conversation level. She knew he wasn't Chatty Cathy, and never would be, but a little more verbal interaction would be nice. Like, who he was, where he came from, what he wanted, specifically what he wanted from her.
While her hormones were fully satisfied, her emotions were not. They'd gone from friends to lovers to… what? She couldn't explain it, even to herself, but there had been a subtle shift in their relationship, something beyond being fuck-buddies. She'd actually gotten up the courage to ask him, receiving his standard 100-watt smile and four-word sentence in reply. "Patience, it's not time."
Fine, it wasn't time. She could deal with that, right? She didn't really need to know more. She could wait. She didn't need to know what he wanted, besides the obvious. She was Stephanie Plum, the original 'go with the flow' woman. At least that was how she'd felt in the beginning. It was after they'd made love that she'd stay awake, watching him sleep, wondering.
Stephanie gave herself a mental wake-up call. If she got any further lost in thought, she'd fall asleep right here, and who knows what she'd be mumbling. Connie and Lula had been grilling her for the entire week for the details. So far, she'd managed to fend them off, but if she let some of those details slip they'd be like a terrier with a rat, no letting go.
Turning to Connie, she changed the subject. "So, any new skips?"
Connie nodded, pulling out a couple of files. "These two should be good for you. I'm waiting for Ranger on this one." She gestured toward a third file sitting to the side of her desk.
Stephanie sat on the couch opening her files. She read through them for a minute before being distracted by Lula's voice. "Speaking of the devil, his mighty fine ass is about to sashay right through our door."
Stephanie lifted her head just in time to see Ranger close the door behind him. Her mouth went dry, her heartbeat accelerated. This was the first time in the entire week that they'd been in the office at the same time, and she had no idea how she was supposed to act. The flow, Steph, go with the flow, she reminded herself. Take your cue from him.
"Ladies," Ranger nodded to Connie and Lula as he lifted the lone file from Connie's desk. Fine, Stephanie thought, two could play this game. She went back to reading her files, slowly simmering.
Connie and Lula stared and nodded back at him, mouths hanging halfway open. Stephanie could only imagine the speculation running through their minds. Ranger shook his head at their stupor and settled himself on the couch next to Stephanie.
"Morning again, Babe." His lips were close to hers, his voice low. "How do you want to play this?"
Stephanie's eyebrows rose. "Whatever you're comfortable with." Jeez, you'd think he would have thought it out. He always had a plan.
Ranger used one hand to caress the side of her face. His lips lightly met hers, brushing back and forth before locking on. It wasn't quite orgasmic, but if she let herself start remembering, it soon would be.
Pulling back, he flashed one of his brilliant smiles. "Dinner tonight?" At her nod, he smiled again. "Dress up, I'll be by at six." Pushing himself off the couch, he gave her ponytail a tug. "Later, Babe," and with a nod to Connie and Lula, "Ladies."
Three pairs of eyes tracked his progress out of the door and into the black SUV. The spell was broken when he pulled into traffic. "Damn, girlfriend, he kisses you like that in public, I really want to know what he does in private."
"Uh huh," Connie added her two cents. "And does Joe know?"
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "I have no idea what Joe does or doesn't know."
"Who cares if the cop knows? I'm more interested in the details. Spill, girlfriend." Lula had a look on her face that reminded her of someone watching a really, really good movie, and it was about to get to the best part.
"Oh no, you two, no way. It's personal and private and I'm not going to share. Besides, if I did, he'd probably ship me off to some third world country."
"Yeah, but you could be his personal sex slave there." Lula still had that dreamy look on her face.
Connie's face had a more speculative look. "Well, this is interesting. You've always shared before. What's so different now?"
Before Stephanie could get a word out of her mouth, Lula had snapped to attention. "You're right Connie. Steph here has never had a closed mouth before." Turning to face Stephanie squarely in the eyes, Lula continued, "So what's the deal, girlfriend? You in love?" Watching as Stephanie's face turned bright pink, Lula slapped her knee. "Damn, that's it! You're in love!"
Between the squeals of her friends, Stephanie managed to sputter, "No, I'm not. It's just that he's very private, you know that. I don't think he'd appreciate me filling you in with the details."
"Oh sure, Steph, right." Connie was trying to hold back her laughter. "Like that's ever stopped you before."
An hour later, Stephanie was seated in her car, checking the files on her skips, completely unable to concentrate. She still couldn't believe that Connie and Lula had given her such a hard time. Yet she'd managed to escape relatively unscathed with secrets preserved. Well, most of them. She'd had to drop a few hints to appease them, but they were both general and complimentary. Ranger shouldn't have a problem with that, she hoped.
The real problem was that both Connie and Lula had convinced themselves and each other that she was in love. Stephanie shook her head. She liked Ranger, she trusted him, he was a superhero both in and out of bed, but love? No, she wasn't in love. Okay, what was a word for more than like but less than love? With a lot of lust thrown in. Hmm, she was…she was…she still didn't know what she was. Maybe she'd have to buy a thesaurus to find the right word.
Damn, she needed to concentrate. Funds were getting low and these two skips would have to be brought in soon to make the rent. Infatuated! That was the word! Sexually infatuated. Good, she could skip the book and save twenty bucks. Helped the budget.
Back to the files. The first one looked the easiest. Paul Kennedy, 20, malicious destruction of property. Looked like he and his buddies got a little out of hand with a fraternity prank, no serious damage done. He probably had just forgotten his court date. Plus, a very big plus, he worked at the KFC franchise just a couple of miles away. Probably, Stephanie thought, she could catch lunch before bringing him in. Who knows what Ranger expected her to eat tonight?
Turning the car in the direction of both her quarries, Stephanie let her mind drift to Ranger and Joe as she drove. Connie had insisted that she must have Ranger's best interests more in mind than she'd ever had Joe's, this based on the fact, and it was a fact, that she'd always been willing to share the details of their sexual encounters.
Stephanie pondered for a few moments, finally deciding that no, it was more that Joe might get mad if he knew, but he'd never do more than yell. Besides, he'd written all about their youthful encounter on the walls at Mario's. Consider it payback.
With Ranger, she didn't know what to expect. She didn't know him well enough to gauge his reaction, although she suspected it would be disappointment. Even though he wasn't sharing an awful lot with her, he was sharing an intimate part of himself. She guessed he wouldn't take kindly to having the details broadcast. She trusted her instincts on that one.
Sighing, she pulled into the KFC parking lot. Time to deal with the immediate matter at hand. She took one last look at the photo of Kennedy and made her way into the restaurant. Sure enough, there he was, taking orders.
She waited in line for her turn, ordering extra crispy, potato wedges, and a Coke. Taking her meal back to a table, she studied Kennedy under her lashes as she ate. Small and scrawny, kind of nerdy looking. Probably give her a rough time, looks being deceiving and all.
Finishing her lunch, Stephanie made her way back to the counter. "Is the manager here?"
"Was there something wrong with your food? Is there anything I can help you with?" Kennedy asked, his eyes round with panic.
"No, the food was fine. I need to speak to the manager on another matter."
"Okay, hang on a minute." She really hoped the little twerp hadn't skipped out the back door. She gave a sigh of relief when Kennedy returned with an older man in tow.
"I'm the manager. May I help you?"
"Yes, I need to speak to you about a private matter." She glanced in Kennedy's direction.
"Get lost, Paul." When the kid had made his way behind the counter, Stephanie explained who she was and what she wanted.
"Thank God, just get the kid out of here. He's got to be the most inept kid I've ever hired." The manager led her through an 'Employees Only' door, and then called Kennedy to the back of the room.
Stephanie explained who she was, cuffed him, and led him out the back entrance. No fuss, no muss, and lunch too. Could it get any better?
Having safely escorted Kennedy to the waiting arms of the law, Stephanie was loitering around the front desk waiting for her body receipt when Carl Costanza came by.
"Hey Steph, how ya doing?" They chatted for a few moments. "You seen Joe lately?"
Stephanie started in surprise. "No, Carl, I haven't seen him for over a week, since, um, you know, since we broke up. Why?"
"Just curious. I haven't seen him for a couple of days and no one else I've talked to has either. Guess I was hoping he was holed up with you." Carl wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "You know, doing the whole make up thing?"
Stephanie shook her head. "Sorry, Carl, can't help you. We're as done as a dry pot roast."
"Well, if you're sure about that, how about dinner tonight?"
"Sorry, Carl. Ranger and I have plans."
It was Carl's turn to be startled. "So that's the way the wind blows."
"Yup, that's the way."
"Joe isn't going to be too happy with it."
"Not my problem."