The valentines Sequel to Merry Christmas, Stephanie Plum.

Stephanie has to find Cupid, and figure out where she is going with Ranger, while love blossoms all around.

As always, I own nothing nadda zilch! Except Sin, who will likely appear because, well, she's too much of a hellion to stay away!

STUPID CUPID!

Chapter 1

"Babe. Outside."

No sooner had I walked into the bonds office, bearing McDonald's for lunch than Ranger had grabbed the bag, placed it on the counter, then grasped my wrist and tugged me back out the door. I glared back at Lula. She'd better not eat my food.

"You interrupted lunch!" I complained as soon as the door shut behind us.

Ranger didn't waste any time, shoving me into the alley. As soon as we were hidden in the shadows, he pinned me against the wall and kissed me, his tongue invading my mouth. I gripped his shirt in my fists and plastered myself against him, even as he plastered himself against me, the wall at my back. His tongue sparred with mine, and the searing heat was rushing straight to my toes.

He broke the kiss first, and rested his forehead against mine, breathing heavily.

"You realize Lula probably ate my lunch." I told him, between pants.

"I'll buy you more." he told me, and his mouth swooped down and began another sensuous assault.

Fisting my hands tighter, I pushed against his chest, shoving him backwards. I followed, our lips locked together. His arms moved around my waist, holding me tightly against him. I backed up until we had crossed the alley and he was against the wall. I was boneless, plastered against him, kissing him for all I was worth. And oh, I wanted him. I would never get used to this.

We must have both lost awareness of our surroundings. I was completely caught up in Ranger's smell, his taste, and the feel of his body against mine. So caught up, in fact, that the hard crash back to reality really, really sucked. Or maybe that was because the crash to reality came in the form of an arrow in my ass. I shrieked and jumped away from Ranger, spinning around and grabbing behind me at the offensive arrow. I was going to kill the diaper-wearing asshole who snuck up on us. And I was going to do it with my bare hands. Ranger had pulled his gun and was busy trying to jerk me behind him when I blinked and recognized our visitor.

"Diesel?" I asked.

"The one and only. Like the bow?" I stared at him, trying to gather my thoughts. He definitely had a good body, and you could see ALL of it - from muscular thighs to six-pack abs and rock-hard pecs. He looked GOOD. If I didn't have Ranger at my every disposal, I'd probably jump him. The only part of him you couldn't see was what little was covered by the cloth diaper he was wearing. And that was ALL he was wearing.

"Why are you dressed like that, what are you doing here, and was that really necessary?" I asked, rubbing my ass. Ranger handed me the arrow, and I looked at it. Suction cup, no less. Geez.

"Don't ask. Thought I'd check in and make sure I did the right thing at Christmas. And what can I say, opportunities like that don't present themselves every day." He told me, grinning like a Chesire-cat.

"You unable to feel cold, or something? It's the middle of february!"

"Don't go there." Diesel ground out. Ok, I guess it's a touchy subject, then.

"You could say that." He told me.

Ranger wrapped a protective arm around my waist, pulling me against him. "Babe. Who is this?"

"Man. Glad to see you made it home in one piece." Diesel told him. Ranger narrowed his eyes.

"It's Diesel." I told him, before he could pull his gun again. "You know. The guy who saved you before Christmas."

Ranger gave him a good, hard look. "You're right. You look different."

"It's the diaper." I volunteered.

"Fucking Gods." Diesel grumbled. "Look. I wouldn't mind your help keeping an eye out for someone for me. But can we go somewhere heated to talk? I'm freezing my ass off out here."

"Right. Bonds office?" I asked.

"Babe. You hate Diesel that much?" Ranger asked. I looked at him, questioning. "Lula." He reminded me.

"Nah. She's too caught up in Tank." I said. I handed Diesel his arrow back. "By the way, why suction cup?"

"Cupid ran off with the real ones. And I wouldn't do that to you. Although maybe I should." he mused.

Ranger opened the door and we all filed into the bonds office. Lula looked up from her Big Mac, and handed me the bag. "Here yago white girl. Left your food on account of you need more meat on your skinny-ass."

"Thanks." I think. Geez. I unwrapped my cheeseburger and took a bite, then peered into the bag and dug out my french fries. Ranger's arm snaked around me and stole a fry.

"Did Batman just-"

"Yeah. He did." I said quickly, cutting Lula off. Then, just to shock Lula even more, Ranger stole another. "So." I looked at Diesel. "What's the story?"

"Cupid got pissed and ran off. I need to find him. And until I do-" he swung his arms wide and spun in a slow circle. "I'm Cupid. It sucks. If you see him, call me."

"Nice Diaper." Lula said.

"What's he look like?" I asked, interrupting before Diesel could zap Lula into a time warp or something equally weird. "Do you have a picture?"

Diesel shook his head. "We need to go." He told me, snatching a whole handful of fries. I slapped at his hand, and he grinned at me. Jerk. "Can I get a ride?"

"We'll all take Steph's car." Ranger opened the door, and gestured me out ahead of him. We walked to my car and I climbed into the passenger seat, where my fries would be well out of Diesel's reach. I'll share with Ranger, not that he usually eats any, let alone the two he already sullied himself with in the Bonds office. But Diesel, well, he hadn't earned fry-stealing rights.

"He can change appearances. It's one of his talents." Diesel said, as soon as the doors were shut and we were out of all other earshot. "So who knows what he looks like, on any given day."

"So how am I supposed to recognize him, and why do I have to track him down?" I demanded.

"You don't have to. It's just that...You have this knack for stumbling over things. We all know it."

"Who's all?"

"ALL. Sweet pea, you're famous." I saw Ranger's face darken out of the corner of my eye, and sighed. I really didn't want a testosterone war today.

"Ok. So what, keep my eyes open and if I happen to see him, call you? But if I don't see him, oh well?"

"Pretty much. I'd appreciate it."

And I guess I owed him, given that he'd gotten Ranger back safe and sound. "Ok." I told him. Diesel scribbled a number on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

"My cell. Don't lose that. Can't have it getting into the wrong hands. Drop me at the Chicken place?" He asked. Ranger took the next right, and then pulled in at the Cluck-in-a-Bucket. "Thanks." He said. "My next target is here." He got out, waved, and strode off.

"That was weird." I commented to Ranger.

"Babe. Any day with you is weird."

"Gee. Thanks. Where are we going?"

Ranger flashed me a wolf-grin. "Time for dessert."