Ugh, I am such a bad author! I'm sorry it took so long to post! I was relaxing and taking a break, then finals came and I actually have an idea for the next story, but I can't decide to do it AU or keep it real. I like both ideas, but I can't seem to pick one... Maybe I'll flip a coin. I hope to get that one started and up in the next couple of weeks (I'm hoping in the next week, but optimistically, it'll be two weeks.)
Not mine, but man, do I wish I owned Ranger...
There was no place like home after a long undercover job.
Except maybe Pino's. It's definitely a close second.
I opened the door and let the spicy pizza sauce wash over me for the first time in a year and sighed hungrily. My stomach growled. I had no idea how much I missed this place. The feds had taken twice as long as I had hoped.
Which meant that Manoso had more time to steal Stephanie away from me.
Stephanie Plum had been on my radar since we were little kids and I taught her how to play choo-choo. We had a complicated relationship, but I hoped to reconcile that and make it into something more permanent when I got her place tonight with a pizza. She'd open the door, smell the food, grudgingly let me in (because she never had enough food) and I worm my way back into her good graces and he would once again be out on his ass.
Worked like a charm every time.
Everyone knew that me and Steph would end up together. Everyone, that is, except Manoso. God love her heart, she sees the good in everyone, but some people aren't worth her time. Manoso and her friends at the bonds office are some of them. She was better than them. Well, that would all change when we get married. She won't need that job anyway.
I looked over at the counter and saw that Christmas had come early this year.
Stephanie was standing over at the cash register, laughing with Pino. After a year, she was the prettiest thing I had ever seen. Her hair was longer and more wild than I remembered, almost hitting mid shoulder, and she looked hot in a fitted wool coat, blue v-neck shirt and dark jeans. I sidled over and put on my best smile.
"Hey there, Cupcake. Long time, no see." I said.
She looked up, shocked. "Joe Morelli. I wasn't expecting you back for a few more days."
"I thought I'd come back and surprise you tonight. Got plans?"
"Actually, I do."
"Your mom will understand."
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Same old Joe. I'm not going to my mother's."
"Then what…?"
"Here's your order, Steph." Pino said, interrupting us. "Sorry about the mix up."
"It's fine. I'm just glad I caught it now." She handed her credit card over.
That's when I got a good look at the large rock on sitting comfortably on her left hand. My blood pressure spiked.
"What's that?" I asked, trying to be civil. I didn't want to ruin my chances of getting back into her bed if it was a mix up.
She looked at me, her eyebrows raised. "What?"
"On your finger." I gritted out.
Her eyes shifted down. "Oh. That's my engagement ring." She said it so nonchalantly. Like it had been there for years.
"Who…?" I sucked in a breath. "No. Not Manoso."
She blinked. "Last time I checked, whoever I was with was no longer your concern. You broke up with me, Joe. Remember?"
"That man is…"
"Finish that sentence, Morelli, and you're going to need a heart transplant."
"I don't get it."
"It's not for you to 'get'. What happens between me and him is between us and definitely not you."
Pino handed back her card and wisely stayed out of our conversation.
"Look, Morelli, I always hoped we could be friends, but I if you can't handle that I'm married to him…"
"You're married?"
She smiled lovingly. "Almost five months."
"You know that he's just using you to get one up on me."
Her smile turned bitter. "Sure, because it couldn't be because he loves me, right?"
"That's not…"
She stormed past me and out the door. I quickly placed my order and followed her out. She was standing next to her car, talking softly on the phone.
"I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle." She paused, listening to the person on the other end. "Yes, I know. You'll be upstairs when I get back?" She smiled sweetly again. "Good. Love you too."
"Cupcake…"
She whirled around. "Don't call me that. Ever again."
"I didn't mean it like that. But you got to admit, it's pretty convenient that…" I looked down at her middle where her hands were on her hips. Her stomach wasn't flat like I remembered. Actually, it looked a little rounded.
As if she was pregnant.
She lowered her eyes to where mine were and quickly wrapped her coat around herself.
"I don't get it. For years, I've been asking you to get pregnant and marrying me and I leave and you do it with him?" I couldn't believe it. She was my woman! That was supposed to be my baby!
"Asking?" She laughed loudly. "Joe, you've got that all wrong. You've been telling me. Not asking. That's the difference. You never thought of taking me to a nice restaurant, getting down on one knee and asking me to marry you. No, what you did is you demanded that we get married and have kids. There was no choice."
"Fine. You want a choice? I can do that."
"I love you, Joe. I really do. But too little, too late. I appreciate that you'd like to do it nicely for me, but I'm in love with him. He makes me happier than I've ever been. I know that we were never meant to be. Because if you had wanted me, not some demented version of a Burg wife, then you would've asked. I hope you'll be as happy as I am someday. Because when the right girl comes along, you'll want to ask her. Goodbye Joe. My husband's waiting."
Stephanie Plum got into her car and drove right out of my life.
Manoso had won.
I slammed my hand into the side of the building and cursed. I needed a drink. Every pair of eyes was on me when I walked back in, but quickly glanced away.
"Bud, please, Pino?" I called. He acknowledged me with a nod.
He poured the mug of beer and eyed me. "She really is happy, you know."
I didn't respond.
"More happy than I've ever seen her."
"I could've made her that happy."
He sat the mug down. "No. You couldn't have."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because you are Burg through and through while Stephanie there is not. She was never meant to be a housewife. I'm actually glad she figured it out."
"She's playing housewife for Manoso right now!"
He shrugged. "I doubt it. It was her turn to pay for their dinner. They come in about once a week and take turns."
"I don't get it. He should take care of her like I would've!"
"He does. Just in other ways."
I couldn't grasp the concept and Pino could tell.
"That's why it never worked out with you two. You wanted to change her into something she's not. Just like the rest of the Burg people. Ranger just wants her. If you had been smart like him and realized that three years ago, it would've been you."
As Pino walked away it began to sink in. Maybe Stephanie was right. Maybe I wanted to change her by demanding things like a Burg husband does. But I loved her. Just the way she was.
I shook my head. I had never wanted to demand that she marry me. I should've asked her nicely.
Maybe the Burg was influencing me more than I thought.
Stephanie was right. I was changing for her too late.
Sighing, I ordered another beer, preparing to drown my sorrows.
Meanwhile, in the Rangeman Building…
"I'm back!" I called. I dropped my purse next t the sideboard and carried dinner to the kitchen.
Ranger joined me a few minutes later. "Hey Babe." He said, wrapping his arms around me, his hands gently caressing our child.
"Did you miss me?"
I felt his nod. "Especially when I woke up alone this afternoon."
Ranger had started taking naps with me when I got pregnant and was too tired to work a full shift. I think he enjoyed them more than I did.
"Well come and eat and you can show me what I missed."
"With pleasure." He grabbed the bag, bottles of water, and headed towards the dining room.
I sighed against the kitchen counter. Joe had definitely done a one-eighty today. It was good to see him change back into his old self. The man I fell in love with.
I hope he shared that side with his next girlfriend.
I knew that there would always be a small part of me that loved Joe, but that was it. Ranger was it for me. It took me three years to finally see it (and for both of us to admit it), but I have to say, it was well worth the wait. He's given me everything I've ever wanted.
And some things I didn't know I did. I rubbed my growing stomach gently.
"I forgot to tell you," Ranger said when I entered the dining room. "Your mom finally e-mailed me the Pineapple Upside Down cake recipe. I thought we could make it tomorrow." Yes, Ranger and I were one of those couples that enjoy cooking together. Turns out, I have a knack for it. Who would've thought?
"Have I told you lately that I love you?"
He grinned. "Not since this morning when I…"
"Okay, I got it."
His grin widened. "I was thinking about repeating that performance."
"Sounds good to me."
And all thoughts of Joe were driven from my mind.
The End.