Disclaimer: All characters belong to Janet Evanovich, this story is just something to keep me occupied.

Warning: Spoilers for all books, including Twelve Sharp, may be present.

CHAPTER 1

For my entire life I have had the hardest time making decisions. Up until now I've been able to work around that problem and compromise. Most of those decisions had been about food, you see it wasn't whether or not to eat something it was more which something I should eat; which is most likely the culprit behind the flab of stomach peering over my pants. But even as horrible as my weight gain is, I've had the unfortunate, but not all too displeasing problem of choosing a man.

It has been a week since my visit to the one and only Ricardo Carlos Manoso, or as I know him, Ranger. Although the meeting wasn't at all unpleasant, (I mean sharing a birthday cake with a gorgeous man is quite the treat) it had forced me into a space I had been avoiding, Ranger's arms. Or I should say arm, since Ranger had one arm tied up against his rock hard body after a bullet he received because me and my psychotic stalkers. Well it was that injury that had prevented anything physical from happening, which is good for me because I was screwed up enough already and lacked all self discipline when it came to Ranger's advances.

But it was that exact same injury that made it dreadfully obvious that I had a huge problem, I loved two men. Aside from Ranger, there was the Super cop Joe Morelli my on-again off-again boyfriend, who alone has had me confused about our relationship since the not so tender age of six when he started to look up my undies. We had been engaged for a period of time, at least I think so, but when discussing a future with Morelli, it was always my job that was the problem.

And right about now, I think I understood how he felt. I'm a Bond Enforcement Agent at my cousin Vinnie's bail bonds office, I'm what one would call a "bounty hunter," but I'm mostly thought of as being extremely lucky, or a walking heart attack for my mother, who like Joe would rather I have a nice normal job at the button factory, but as I have tried before, I can't do normal.

But that doesn't mean I can't try again, because right now I'm plain tired of being chased by maniacs wanting to kill me, and I would like to last more than two months without having someone steal or blow up my car. Normalcy sounds nice, yet highly unlikely; I really needed to rethink my options. And now after Vinnie has regulated a manageable amount of bonds, it seems as though now is the time to make a decision. But I couldn't. Usually I could simplify my life by relating it to dessert, but now I couldn't. If bounty hunter-ing was a melted ice cream cone, lost of all appeal, than all the other jobs looked like stale pastries in a dumpster, before they were appealing, then after a while they all ended up looking like crap. The dessert theory hadn't worked for my situation with Joe and Ranger either, both of them being the best looking donuts in the shop, I would normally buy both and eat them too, but I've done that long enough, the flab on my stomach allowed me only one.

"Girl, you just need a vacation, you don't really want to leave me to do all the captures," Lula tried to explain.

"Lula, I'm serious. I'm done with all of the maniacs, tackling old people, blowing things up. I'm tired of rummaging in garbage, and having guns pointed at me."

Lula, Connie and I all sat in the bonds office discussing my new career changes, with the rustling of files being put away by Melvin in the background. I had brought in a bag of doughnuts and some coffee trying to lessen the tension that was sure to commence. But the only one who was tense was me; I was chowing down on a Boston Crème after stating my points to Lula. All the while Connie had stayed silent, in a very eerie way, she was staring at the wall thinking, and I only hoped she wouldn't be as dismissive as Lula was on my claim.

"Well," Connie finally broke out of her trance, "what will you do if you quit here?" She had placed emphasis on the "if" knowing full well what had happened the last time I "quit" being a bounty hunter. I had returned after a month.

This is the same question I had been asking myself over and over again after I had made up my mind about quitting. The truth is I couldn't think of anything, last time I went on a job hunting rampage, I had embarrassed myself in front of many employers, and I was sure that word had gotten around. It would be damn near impossible to find a job. But there was one possibility, yet I was hesitant to take it. When I had my last encounter with Ranger I had expressed my uncertainty about returning to the bond enforcement profession, and he had once again offered me a job at his Rangeman offices. But I couldn't work with Ranger, not if I was going to work out this guy problem. Maybe Lula was right, maybe I should take a vacation.

"Oh yeah! So where are we going to go white girl? Probably somewhere like Hawaii or California, cause you need some color." Lula was overjoyed at my slip of tongue.

"You should go to Florida, it's warm and it has a whole bunch of amusement parks. I used to go all the time with one of my boyfriends, they're great!" I looked over at Connie I never knew that about her, but…

"Wait, what is all this we business?" As soon as I said this Lula's hands balled into fists and moved up onto her purple spandex covered hips.

"Of course we, you don't expect me to just stay behind while you go to a beach with all of those grade-A hunks in their Speedos. We go everywhere together, we're partners in crime." I should have known that Lula wasn't about to let me go alone.

"Alright, I can take a hint!" I threw my hands up in defeat, and Melvin let out a loud snort, before that I had forgotten he was still here. I glared at him and he hurriedly returned to filing.

"Wait a minute," Connie looked over at Lula and I and we gave her questioning glances. "You just can't up and leave here, there are skips."

"Melvin can take them over." My eyes widened my arms and my jaw dropped, I looked over at Connie who was just as surprised, but it was Melvin who spoke first, "WHAT!" he yelled, attention moving from the files to Lula, wanting an explanation.

"Yeah, well you've been hear for a while, and if a skinny white girl can do it, it should be easy for you. We could teach you, it's simple you can do it Melvin." At this encouragement, Melvin looked like a giddy school girl, while Connie and I still had shocked looks on our faces.

I reached down into the bag of doughnuts, grabbed another and took a huge bite. I plopped back down on the uncomfortable couch, and realized that I may be actually on my way somewhere warm and sunny with long white beaches. I let myself enjoy that doughnut just a little bit more.

"Where are we going?" I looked over at Lula who had just sat down next to me and smiled as I told her.

"Florida." Lula joined my smile and grabbed herself a doughnut.

The sandy beaches weren't the only things that attracted me to Florida. The fact that Ranger had a branch of his company in Miami made the idea much more appealing. The reassurance that there would be somewhere close that could help me if need be settled some nerves. Not that I intended on needing any help, it was just that, do to my previous record, it felt like it was a necessary precaution.

Just thinking about him made my neck start to prickle. But when I looked up at the door, Batman was standing there in all of his glory.

"Babe"

Ranger made his way over to Connie's desk and placed down a stack of files and body receipts.

"Good to see that you're back to work Ranger," Connie said while looking at the files and corresponding them with each of the body receipts.

Lula turned back to me, after the shock of Ranger's entrance had worn off and asked when we were going to go.

"Where are you going?" Ranger turned towards me, blank stare in place. But before I could respond, Lula answered.

"Florida, we're going on vacation."

Ranger turned back around to Connie and told her to mail the check to Rangeman, along with any new skips. He turned back around towards me.

"Babe, do you mind?"

He gave a nearly unperceivable nod towards the door, and I followed him outside. When we got outside he continued towards his Porsche which he had parked out front and opened the passenger door and ushered me inside. He got into the driver's side, and pulled out onto the street before he said anything.

"You didn't tell me you were going to Florida."

"I didn't know I was until a few minutes ago."

We sat in silence for a few more minutes. When we got to a red light Ranger turned his head towards me.

"I wanted to ask if would do a job for me."

"A distraction?"

"No," then after a few moments of silence he continued, "It's in Florida."

A million things flooded my mind, ok maybe not a million, but it was enough for me to tense up and my palms started to sweat. What type of job would I have to do if I had to travel across the country to do it? Didn't Ranger have much more qualified employees that could do it better than me? Why me?

"She already trusts you, so it will be easier than having one of my guys with her who will scare her."

Her? Who is he talking about? What does he mean by "already"? Why doesn't just come out and say it?

"I need you to watch Julie."

A/N: This is my first ever fanfiction, I plan on continuing it, though the next chapter may not show up for a while. I'd appreciate any comments and suggestions, and any help in general. The plot is in its very early stages, and if anyone has a suggestion for the direction of my story please share!