Disclaimer: Characters don't belong to me. They belong to the amazing Janet Evonovich. I simply play with them for a bit and then send them back to their rightful owner.
Here we go again. I'm back, along with my amazing beta Potterwench, for another exciting ride. This is my first multi-chapter Babe story so sit back and enjoy.
Chapter 1 - Man Up!
The Burg grapevine was abuzz with the latest gossip. Word around town is that something is going to happen between the town's hottest couple. Most of the town thinks this is the big proposal. Joe Morelli was seen shopping in a local jewelry store and tonight, he's taking Stephanie to her favorite restaurant. His coworkers and fellow cops had a pool of money thinking tonight was the night.
Stephanie dressed in a long cargo skirt and a tight blue sweater. Her hair was down and curled around her face and shoulders. Make-up was light, just the way Joe liked it. She had done a lot of thinking over the past few weeks and knew that she and Joe needed to have a serious discussion. Tonight's dinner at Pino's was the perfect opportunity. She knew that he had dreams of them getting married and having children, but those were his dreams and she needed him to understand that she wasn't ready for those things to happen. She might never be ready.
She stood tapping her manicured nails on the kitchen counter. Joe was late, as usual and she was beyond angry. Finally, an hour and a half past the time he was supposed to pick her up, she heard her locks tumble. Stephanie swallowed her annoyance as Joe stepped around the corner. She looked at his shaggy hair, which was in desperate need of a haircut, his handsome face covered in a sexy five o'clock shadow. He was dressed casually in faded jeans that hugged his ass perfectly and a grey Henley shirt that showed the contours of his rigid muscles. Stephanie couldn't deny that Joe was a gorgeous man, and her hormones took notice immediately. But she refused to stay in the weird on-again off-again relationship anymore.
Joe smiled sexily at her and kissed her tenderly on the lips. Stephanie couldn't help but melt a little as his lips worked hers expertly. "Sorry I'm late, Cupcake. Something came up at work. Are you ready to go?"
"I'm ready and starving. Let's go." Stephanie grabbed her purse and jacket and followed Joe out of her door. Joe placed his palm at the small of her back and led her to the elevator. The ride to restaurant was quiet as Stephanie and Joe each retreated into their own thoughts. Each one had different outcomes of this night playing in their mind.
Since it was so late, they found an empty table at the back of the restaurant and took their seats. Joe could tell that Stephanie was thinking about something, but he didn't know how to approach the conversation. After placing their order with the waitress, Joe decided to break the silence.
"How was your day, Cupcake?" He decided to go with something neutral. For the first time in his thirty-five years, he was nervous.
"It was good. I picked up Mooner and Dougie today with no problems. Then when I went after Benny Caluchi, he decided to throw his bowl of spaghetti on me. I dodged most of it and got him in cuffs, but the boys at the station still had a laugh about the noodles in my hair." Stephanie shrugged and made polite conversation. She knew that Joe didn't like her being a bounty hunter. She watched his jaw tense and then relax as she told him about her day. She saw him think about something and look intently at her. She knew he was having a war in his head, but wasn't really sure what it was about or who was winning. Finally Joe let out a long sigh and ran his hand through his long hair making it stand up sexily.
"Can I ask you a serious question, Cupcake?" Stephanie nodded at his question and waited patiently for him to continue. "Do you honestly like being a bounty hunter?"
That wasn't the question she was expecting and it took her off guard. Of course she liked being a bounty hunter. She didn't like rolling in garbage or getting hurt, but she honestly loved her job. Joe was keeping a keen eye on her as she thought intently about his question. He knew what her answer was going to be.
Stephanie let out a sigh knowing that she was about to hurt the one man who had been in her life for years. "Joe, I don't just like being a bounty hunter. I love it. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I take a skip into the TPD. I feel like I'm making a difference in this town. Why did you want to know that?" She watched his face fall and he looked down at the table.
She saw him reach into his pocket and pull out a small box. He opened it and sat it on the table in front of her. Stephanie's breath caught in her throat. "I want to marry you, Cupcake. I want to run to Vegas right now and stand in front of Elvis and say, 'I do'. I want to see you get big carrying my child. I want to grow old with you. I want to sit on our front porch when we're eighty and chase off the young whipper-snappers who think they can play in our yard. I want a life with you." Stephanie stopped breathing while Joe talked.
Joe's mind was swirling with emotions. He wanted all of those things, but he also knew that he was never going to have them. Listening to her talk about her job and seeing the joy on her face, he finally understood that they were headed in different directions. "As much as I want that all, Steph...it doesn't matter because you don't want those things and I've realized that I can't make you want them. I can't force you into this because it would make both of us miserable." He picked the box back up snapping it closed and shoved it in his pocket.
Stephanie released a tense breath when the ring was out of her sight. Her mind was screaming that it was too close for her comfort. "Joe..." Her voice cracked on its own volition. "Joe, I'm so sorry." She reached her hand across the table and rubbed his face.
Joe shrugged and placed a kiss on her open palm. "I love you Cupcake, but I can't wait for you." Stephanie knew he was telling the truth. She was planning on telling him the same things tonight.
"You know I love you, Joe." Her voice cracked and Joe nodded. "I love you too much to keep stringing you along. I agree that you can't wait for me. You shouldn't have to." They were quiet for several minutes as the waitress brought their pizza out. They ate in companionable silence.
Stephanie let Joe have the last piece and she watched him as he ate. She was going to miss him. She wasn't going to miss the ultimatums and the screaming, but she was going to miss the companionship, and…the sex. "We'll always be friends, right Joe? I don't want to lose you totally from my life."
"You'll never lose me from your life, Steph. I'll always be here for you. Just not in the same capacity as we have been in the past." Joe smiled at her from across the table. She smiled back catching his drift.
Stephanie decided to taunt her now ex-boyfriend. "You mean you won't be there to help with my lack of sugar cravings? You won't call me at all hours of the night saying that the boys miss me?" Joe laughed and shook his head.
"Sorry Cupcake, this ship has sailed and you've lost your chance." He was joking and Stephanie laughed. It felt right being with him like this. She knew a while ago that they were always better suited as friends. "I want you to be happy, Joe. You'll find someone who can give you all the things that I can't."
Joe watched her intently as she spoke. He knew her deep feelings for Ranger and before tonight, it pissed him off. Now, he can see that they were perfectly suited for each other. He didn't know the extent of their relationship, but he knew she loved Ranger a lot more than she did him. "You deserve to be happy too, Steph." She got what he was hinting at and rolled her eyes.
"Never going to happen," Joe scoffed and decided he needed to have a talk with one Ricardo Carlos Manoso. He saw more than he let on and knew that Ranger loved her just as much as she did him. "Don't scoff at me. I've come to terms with it and its okay. I mean...it's not okay, but I don't know what..." Stephanie stopped as she realized that she was about to spill her guts to the guy that she recently ended a relationship with. That was too much and she needed to change the subject. "So what brought on your sudden change in attitude?" Stephanie smiled as the waitress sat her Oreo milkshake down in front of her.
Joe chuckled because he knew that she hated talking about feelings, so he let her change the subject. "I was looking at the ring earlier today and I had a thought. The stone is large and sticks out from the setting and I thought if you wore it while bounty hunting, then the stone would probably get lost. I then thought about which you would choose if I asked you to, me or the job. Then I knew my answer when you told me about your day."
Joe let out a sigh and decided to come clean about some other things too. "I also realized that I haven't always been the best boyfriend have I? I mean, the times I've yelled at you at your latest car explosions...all of the ultimatums and demands. That wasn't right of me and I'm sorry, Cupcake." Stephanie's eyes got wide at his admission.
"You don't have to apologize, Joe. We had enough good times to make up for all the bad. I should apologize to you for leading you on for so long. I knew what you wanted and I knew that I would never want the same things." Stephanie hung her head in shame thinking about how much her stringing him along must have hurt. "You deserve the world Joe and you could have had it much sooner had I not been in your life."
Joe reached across the table and lifted her chin up so his brown eyes were staring into her baby blues. "I wouldn't go back and change anything, Stephanie. I have no regrets and neither should you." She let out a sigh and nodded. She understood what he was saying and if he could let bygones be bygones, then so could she.
After the milkshakes were gone, Joe drove Stephanie back home and walked her into her apartment. She stood in the small entryway with his front pressed tightly into her back. She could smell his cologne and feel his warm breath on the back of her neck. If they hadn't just broken up, she would have thrown him down on the floor and rode him like the Stallion he claims to be. Stephanie turned around in his arms and stared into his dark eyes. She read the desire and passion laced throughout his gaze.
"I had a good time tonight Joe. Thank you...for everything." Her voice was whisper soft as they stared at each other. Joe bent his head slowly, taking her lips with his in a soft goodbye kiss. Tears flooded her eyes as he pulled away.
"You're welcome, Stephanie." Joe kissed her on the forehead lingering a little longer than normal. He turned quickly and left the apartment before she could see the tears in his eyes. Stephanie closed and locked the door before sadly walking into the bedroom. She wasn't sad about the relationship with Joe ending. She was sad that a relationship with Ranger would never happen. She was destined to be alone, but she knew she would have to live with that.
Joe left her apartment on a mission. He decided that he was going to tell a certain Cuban man just exactly what he's missing out on if he doesn't step up. He drove his car to RangeMan and parked in the front. He didn't really care that it was after ten o'clock at night. He knew someone would be manning the front desk and he knew that Ranger would see him regardless of the time. He walked into the building and approached the front desk. He recognized the man from one of Stephanie's many disasters. He tried to come up with a name, but for the life of him couldn't pull it out.
The man in black looked up with a blank face when Joe got to the desk. "I need to see Ranger." The man raised a brow but didn't say anything. He picked up a phone and dialed a number.
"Boss, this is Binkie at the front desk. Detective Morelli is here to see you." The man hung up the phone and pointed to the small sitting area close to the elevator. "Boss will be down soon. He asked you to wait." Joe nodded and silently sat in a comfortable chair to wait.
On the seventh floor of the building, Ranger hung up his phone and let out a long sigh. Morelli being in his building at this hour worried him. He hadn't seen much of his Babe since her and Joe had been on-again this time. He wanted to give them space to see if they could make their relationship work. She hadn't asked him to do it, but he was frustrated and didn't know what else to do.
Ranger loved Stephanie and it scared him. He didn't know how to act on those feelings because they had never happened to him before. He'd been with women in the past, but they were always one night stand and never meant anything to him. Even his first wife, the mother of his daughter was nothing more than a casual thing. He married her out of obligation, not love. He was happy being a bachelor and playboy until he met Stephanie. She changed his world and that terrified him more than being in wars.
That fear is why he guarded his heart. She held the power to crush him if he allowed her to.
That's the reason he kept her at arm's length. Everyone around him told Ranger that she had deep feelings for him, but he just didn't believe them. He saw that she respected him and liked him as a friend, but he never got the read on her that she wanted more. Even after that one night they spent together, she went back to Joe. He knows that it was his fault because he practically gift wrapped her for him, but she didn't put up much of a fight. She chose to go back to Joe time and time again. He wouldn't survive if he let her in and she then went back to Morelli.
The man of mystery let out a long sigh before picking up his cell phone and calling his second in command and best friend Tank. "Yo," Tank's standard greeting sounding in his ear.
"What's been going on with Stephanie?" Ranger used his no-nonsense voice. Tank was silent for a few minutes trying to determine how much to tell his friend. "Just tell me. Morelli is here to talk to me and I need to know why."
Tank let out a deep breath and told Ranger the heartbreaking news. "Word is Morelli proposed earlier. He was seen buying a ring and then presenting to her at Pino's earlier tonight." Ranger ended the call then ran his hand over his face. He decided that Morelli was downstairs to rub their impending wedding in his face. He grabbed his guns and went downstairs to face the truth.
Joe Morelli stood up out of the chair when Ranger stepped off the elevator. Joe observed Ranger's rigid stance and hard face. He was in full-fledged alpha-male mode tonight. Joe smirked to himself as he watched Ranger stalk to him.
"What can I do for you tonight, Morelli?" Ranger crossed his arms over his broad chest.
Joe didn't want to have this conversation in front of Ranger's man and the cameras that he knew were all over the lobby. "Can we speak in private?" Ranger stared intently at him for a moment before directing him into a nearby conference room. Joe watched Ranger send a text and then notice the camera above the door turned off.
Ranger was annoyed with Morelli and glared at him to get on with the conversation. Joe sensed the attitude and decided to just jump into the topic he came to discuss. "I proposed to Stephanie tonight."
Ranger's jaw clenched. "Congratulations." Ranger turned to leave the room but was stopped by Joe's voice.
"I never pegged you for a coward." Ranger turned slowly and glared into the other man's eyes. Joe wasn't intimidated and pressed on. "I'm curious. Are you so willing to walk away from her because you're scared or just incredibly stupid?" Ranger raised one eyebrow at Joe in command for him to continue.
Joe shook his head in disgust and decided to lay it all out on the line. "You don't deserve her and you're going to lose her if you keep up this shit so drop your eyebrow and open your ears because I've got some things to say." Ranger didn't like being spoken to like this but decided to humor the irate Italian man.
"You couldn't leave her alone. You had to drag her into alleys to kiss her. You had to encourage her to do this stupid job. You had to support her better than I can. You had to make her fall in love with you." Joe was yelling by the end of his speech but he didn't care. Ranger let Joe's words sink in but one phrase kept looping through his mind, 'in love with you'. He tried to keep his face blank, but he must have slipped because Joe's eye got wide in amazement.
"You didn't know?" Joe's voice was filled with the amazement that was in his eyes. Ranger shook his head and stared at the other man. "Then you're stupid. Anyone with half a brain can see the way she looks at you. I've known that for the past two years and I chose to ignore it. When I proposed to her earlier she had no intention of agreeing to marry me. She was actually going to end 'us' tonight. She's waiting for you."
The room was silent for several seconds before Ranger finally spoke. "Why are you telling me all of this?" Joe studied the man in front of him for a second.
"I don't hide the fact that I don't like you. I think you're dangerous and you have the potential to hurt Stephanie or get her killed. I think you're all wrong for her, but I can't deny the fact that she loves you and she would be happy with you. I could never make her happy like you can. She lives and breathes for you. I'm telling you all of this because she's important to me and I want her to be happy. I want her to have the life she deserves and if she thinks that's with you, then I'll support her and do whatever I can to make it happen." Joe fell silent again as Ranger absorbed everything he said.
Ranger couldn't believe what he was hearing. Joe had no reason to lie to him and Ranger knew how much it must have cost him to admit the things he did tonight. Ranger, in an uncommon show of weakness, ran his hand over his face. "What do you want from me Joe?"
"I want you to be honest with yourself and with her. If you honestly don't love her, then leave her alone. Leave the city or the country, whatever you have to do to give her time to get over you because it's going to crush her."
"You'd be there to comfort her. She'd be fine." Anger coursed through Joe's veins and he snapped.
"Are you fucking kidding me? You haven't heard a damn word I said tonight. SHE doesn't want ME. Even if you leave, which I have a feeling you're going to chicken out and run; even if that happens, she will NEVER love me like she does you. Stephanie and I will NEVER be together as anything other than friends. If she's not with you, then it will be some other lucky ass man. Maybe even one of your employees." Ranger's back straightened at that thought. "I see you don't like thinking about that but that's what is going to happen if you don't get your head out of your ass and get your girl. Man the fuck up and tell her how you feel."
Ranger was silent again and it was Joe's turn to be frustrated. "The choice is yours Ranger. She's alone right now and could probably use a friend. Go to her and tell her how you feel. You won't be disappointed." Joe walked out of the conference room leaving Ranger standing there in shock. Joe left RangeMan feeling a sense of absolution. He did everything he could think of to make Ranger see reason. It was up to the man to finish it.
Ranger collapsed into a nearby chair after Morelli left. He heard everything that Joe had said and knew what he needed to do. He had to see his Babe and tell her what was in his heart. He had to take a risk because she meant too much to him. As he stood up to leave, his phone chirped and he hung his head reading the message. He was called for a mission and he was due to leave in just four hours.
He called his handler and spoke with him briefly about what the mission entailed. He and four of his men were headed to Columbia to take out a drug czar. The mission didn't sound complicated or very dangerous and it would only take around one month to complete. Questions swirled in Ranger's mind. Did he go to his Babe that night and tell her how he feels or does he wait until he got back? Making that decision was one of the reasons Ranger didn't do relationships. His life was just too damn complicated!
A/N - You know the drill. Please review and let me know what you thought. Good, bad or ugly...I don't care. I read them all!