Morning came far too early for Stephanie. After a restless night in bed, she was not looking forward to a day of work at RangeMan. She glanced at the clock and forced herself to get dressed and walk out into the kitchen. Joe was still sleeping on the couch when she got her coffee made and fed Rex part of a bagel. She grabbed the coffee and rest of the bagel and headed out the door.

Lester was getting out of his car and headed towards the door to the stairs when Steph pulled into the parking garage at RangeMan. He turned around when he saw her get out of her car and realized that his plan for her and Ranger did not happen. He waited for her to walk towards him and was shocked to see how sad she looked. He met her at the door and pulled her into a big hug. Dropping a kiss on her forehead, he raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking about the previous night.

"I don't want to talk about Les. Just leave it be for today and maybe I will feel like talking tonight."

"Sure thing Beautiful. Let's meet after work and you can tell me what's going on that's got you looking so sad."

Somehow Steph got through the day. Lester must have put the word out to leave her alone because none of the guys bothered her during the day. She worked all morning on searches, ate lunch alone at her desk and put in the required time at the gun range and in the gym. After her time in the gym, she realized she left all of her shower stuff in the bathroom of Ranger's apartment on the 7th floor. She always used his shower after her time in the gym because they didn't have a woman's locker room in the building. She didn't want to go to 7 and risk running into Ranger, but she needed a shower.

As she was trying to decide what to do, Lester came into the gym for his workout. He stopped and arched an eyebrow at her, silently asking her what was happening.

"I usually shower on 7, but I don't feel comfortable up there right now. I don't really want to invade the locker room and scare the guys that are in the shower right now."

"Take my key and head up to my apartment on 4 and use my shower. I'll be down here for about an hour so I won't get in your way."

"Thanks Les, you're a good friend."

Les smiled at her, wiggling his eyebrows and said "I can be an even better friend if you let me."

Steph just grabbed the key, laughed at him, dropped a kiss on his cheek and headed for the elevator. When the elevator opened at the gym, she got on and realized that Ranger was in the elevator already, probably heading to his office. She looked at him, let out a sigh and pushed the button for 4 and waited for the door to shut. She tried not to look at Ranger, but she could feel him staring at her.

When the elevator stopped at 4, Steph got out and headed to Lester's apartment. Ranger stood with the elveator door open, watching her walk out. He couldn't believe she was heading to Lester's apartment. First Morelli, and now Lester?

After a quick shower, Steph went back to her desk and worked on searches until it was time for the staff meeting. She was dreading the thought of being in a meeting with Ranger and hoped that the time would go fast and he wouldn't look at her. Les stopped by her desk to remind her of the meeting and they walked into the conference room together. He was trying to make her smile, but as soon as she saw Ranger sitting there, she panicked and turned around, trying to leave the room. Les stopped her, gave her a hug and whispered in her ear that it would be okay. He dropped a kiss on her forehead and pushed her into a seat and sat down in the chair next to her. Ranger watched all of this with a raised eyebrow, but he didn't say anything.

Finally the meeting was over and it was time to head out for the day. Steph closed down her computer and grabbed her bag. Just as she headed towards the elevator, Lester came running after her and said "Don't tell me you forgot about meeting me after work Beautiful."

"Les, I'm really tired and just want to go home. Can we do this another night?"

"Steph, how about if I just grab a pizza and come over to your apartment. I can be at your place in about an hour."

"Ok Les,"

Ranger was standing in the hallway by his office and overhead what was said between Lester and Steph. Steph got in the elevator and he turned around to see Lester staring at him. He turned around and headed back into his office, slamming the door shut once he got inside.

Les heard a loud crash from Ranger's office and he gave a smirk and headed to his apartment to get changed for dinner with Steph.