Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm not making any money, and all the wonderful characters belong to JE. This story takes place 9 weeks after TS ends. It was my thought for Lean Mean Thirteen. I took the Lean and Mean to heart. I'm sure most people have read this, but if you haven't, I hope you enjoy it. This was my very first fan fiction. I've since went back and did a lot of work on it. Same plot, but I've added and deleted and just all around cleaned it up.
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, foul language, and sex
Thanks to Stayce my fabulous editor.
***Completely and seriously reedited***
Learning Thirteen
Chapter One
I parked my car on North Lenape Avenue just as Lula got out of her car. She wasn't smiling, but she still looked great. She wasn't a super model, but she was down about seventy pounds. She hadn't changed much though. She was still bright as ever in her neon green warm-ups. Thankfully her hair didn't match, though. She was styling brown this week.
As for myself, I didn't have too much weight I needed to lose mostly I just need to tone up. I was soft in other words. The softness was now toned. But most importantly I didn't need to worry about a fat roll hanging over my jeans anymore.
"Hey girl," Lula said, dragging her feet. "Your skinny white ass as tired as mine this mornin'."
"Damn straight." I said. "Let's get to it."
"If we must."
Since it was a weekday we only ran three miles and went to defense training when we were finished. We started with a light jog down the well light side trail where we parked. We slowly jogged along the river's edge and across the bridge. Once the side trail met with the main park path, we stopped to stretch. Then we set our pace at a moderate run and finished three miles twenty-four minutes later. We run an eight-minute mile. It wasn't marathon speed or Ranger speed, but it was fast enough. Once finished with the three miles we slowed to a jog and finally a walk until we were back to our cars. We did another quick stretch and left for our defense training session.
We trained every weekday morning for two hours. It was a private session with just our instructor Tanner, his assistant James, Lula, and I. When we first started we wanted to kill them, but now we loved our sessions. They kicked our asses and made us work really hard, but the end results for the past eight weeks were worth it.
"Good morning ladies," Tanner said, grinning. "You ready to get started?"
Tanner was our main trainer. He was 33, 6'3" with green eyes, dimples to die for, straight white teeth, yummy mocha skin, and light brown hair that he kept short, but I could tell it was curly. He was one finely sculpted man. Not Ranger muscle, but definitely well toned. He was also a seriously sexy man, but not quite in the ballpark with Morelli and Ranger.
We placed all our stuff on the bench beside the mats, slipped out of our shoes, and walked out to start our warm-up. The nice thing about training with Tanner and James was they actually specified the training program to us and they pushed us, coached us, as we worked out. Plus they're fun guys and we'd all gotten to know each other quite well.
James came out of the back room just as we stepped onto the mats. He was wearing an impressive smile this morning. He must have had a fun night. I heard Lula chuckle next to me. James was a nicely toned young black man. He was only 26 and lovin' life as a little player. We knew he had a date last night with a little 23-year-old college student. He must have charmed the pants right off of her judging by the look on his face.
"Somebody got some last night," Lula said to him in a singsong voice.
James didn't care. Nothing was wiping that smile off his face. It must have been good. I was jealous. It had been far too long since I'd sported the smile of a thoroughly satisfied woman.
We did a five minute warm-up, and then our strength-training workout, which was yoga today. After 40 minutes, we were moving onto defense training.
"Review day ladies as you know. Elbow strikes, knee strikes, and take-down twenty minute drills. We'll be striking at about 75%," Tanner said to us as we moved on to our training.
After an hour we packed up.
"See you two next week. Good luck with your announcements today," James said to us. He blew each of us a kiss as he exited to the back room.
Tanner gave us a wide grin and a wink as Lula and I walked out of the building to our cars.
I got to my apartment door and removed the gun from my ankle holster. This was getting old. I didn't want to search my apartment with a gun in my hand anymore. Once I cleared the apartment, I started my morning routine – shower, get dressed, start coffee, apply makeup, and lastly combed the rat's nest I like to call my hair. Beautiful and armed with a cup of coffee, I stared at my phone.
I wanted to call Ranger. I wanted him to feel how excited and happy I was this morning. Throughout the past eight weeks I'd called or seen him every four days so he wouldn't get suspicious about anything. It didn't work of course because it was hard to get anything past Ranger. I managed to convince him to let it go, though, and that I would tell him everything soon. I didn't think he knew much more than that I was getting in shape. It was hard not to notice after all. He also knew when I would be calling like clock work, and today was not a designated day for him to hear from me.
"You dial the wrong number?" Ranger said, his voice clearly amused.
"I was looking for Carlos Manoso. Most people call him Ranger, but only I can call him my Professor Higgins. You him?" I asked, smiling.
"Babe."
"Yeah that's what he calls me. You aren't saying that's your name are you, because that would just be confusing if we both go by Babe."
"Careful," he said, chuckling.
I laughed softly. "That just takes all the fun out of everything. I thought you wanted to play this morning Higgins."
"You're playing with fire," he said, his voice dropping to a husky tone.
"I know. I'm hoping to get burned," I said back in my sex-kitten voice.
He groaned softly. "It's not a good idea to bait me."
"My favorite Merry Man told me my Higgins had a doctor's appointment yesterday. Have you been cleared for all physical activity?" I asked, felling braver than I would if I was standing face to face with him.
"Babe," he said after a brief pause.
I laughed softly again. "I'll take that as a yes. So I guess that means you get to exercise again. You up for a five mile run tomorrow morning?" I asked, but didn't wait for a reply. "I'm telling you now though, if you don't keep up you get left behind."
His full on laugh echoed through the phone to my ear, leaving me with a smile that touched my eyes and filled my heart with joy. It was a treasure I didn't get treated to very often.
"God I love hearing you laugh."
"You just made my day. You never disappoint, Babe."
"Hope I never do. I gotta go pick up my partner in crime, but I'll see you in a little bit."
"I get to see you today?"
"Of course you do. You don't think for a second Eliza Doolittle would pass up the chance to see her sexy Professor Higgins do you? Gotta go Baby," I said and hung up. I was flushed and quite flustered. It was strange how easy it was to talk to him now.
I drove to Lula's apartment on 6th Street to pick her up and continued for a few blocks to Marksman's Pistol Institute where we had a range membership and our training. We just finished a week training course of using cover while moving and shooting. Each week we did a different training course for four days, and then spent three days in the shooting range for an hour. By the time the hour was up, I was on a high. I was always on a high after shooting. I couldn't remember being scared of my gun anymore. It seemed strange to me that I ever was.
We left the institute and headed to pick up donuts before stopping in at the bonds office to pick up new files.
We walked through the door at the office and Connie, the pit bull office manager, looked up from filing her nails. Connie ran the office. She handed out the FTAs, and she also handed out the paychecks when an FTA was tossed back in the clink.
"Hey Connie. We took Williams in last night," I said, handing her the body receipt and sat the donut box down on the edge of her desk. "Got any new files?"
"Three for you ladies. There's a bad one in there," she told us with a frown as she took out the book to write out our checks, but not before she grabbed a doughnut. "I don't know if I like you two taking on Ranger's level of skips. I know you've been training up in all, but she's a nasty piece of work."
"She?" I asked, getting a nod from Connie. "Three huh. We already have two out. How many does Joyce have out right now?" I grabbed a doughnut myself.
Joyce is my archenemy. She inherited the position when I caught her banging my husband on my dinning room table even before the ink was dry on my marriage license. She is the antichrist, even if she did do me a favor by helping me get rid of the Dick. She became a bounty hunter just to spite me. She's been a royal pain in my ass since the day she showed up in the office.
"She has four out and one waiting for her this morning. You need to bring Uterway in the next three days, and we lose the bond on Yingler in five days."
"We know. We're working on them, but we're not getting anywhere. Uterway is a regular at Autumn Realm, the nightclub on Victoria Avenue. We talked to the owner, manager, and all the employees, but nobody has seen him since before he was arrested. He also frequents Neon Bar on Hanover Street, but again hasn't been seen since before he was arrested. We have lots of people watching for him, so all we can do is wait. If he's still in the area he'll eventually be seen. If he's not in the area we don't know where to look. We've run out of leads. As for Yingler, he's evading us. Whenever he makes an appearance by the time we get there he's gone again. So either our timing's off or he has just as many informants helping him as we do. We'll catch him. He won't evade us forever."
I grabbed the three new files and joined Lula on the couch, where she enjoyed her doughnut while watching Marvin the filing machine. She had a satisfied smile playing on the corner of her lips. She didn't miss filing. I opened the top file and began the reading.
"Okay first up is Quincy Pacton. Stats are white male, age 22, 5'11", 170 pounds, brown hair, and green eyes. He's a first time offender. He was released on $25,000.00 bond for charges of paraphernalia, three counts of cruelty to animals, possession of marijuana, and possession of a narcotic. I guess he didn't want his puppies, since he was caught with three in a garbage bag and was attempting to drown them," I read.
"Huh. Sounds to me like we need to stop off at the 7-11 and get us some garbage sacks before pickin' him up. I think we otta personally introduce the little fucker to the inside of a Hefty bag," Lula said with her eyebrow raised.
"Contestant number two is Windy Otto. Stats are white female, age 29, 5'3", 108 pounds, brown hair, and blue eyes. She's also a first timer. She was released on $75,000.00 bond for possession of precursors with intent to manufacture PCP or Meth, abuse or endangering the health of a child, child present at a Meth lab, possession of controlled substance, and paraphernalia. Wow we're just loaded with winners today. Apparently she is the mother of an 18-month-old little boy and the neighbors were getting suspicious of how he was being treated so they called CPS. After investigating they found he was not being fed and bathed properly. The house was filthy and the only food in the house was junk food. They also found the house was a Meth lab. The little boy was taken to the hospital to be treated."
Lula made a disgusted nostril flare and nodded for me to open the third file.
"Rounding out today's lovely felons is Eliza Isakson. Stats are white female, age 38, 5'9", 133 pounds, blond hair, and green eyes. She was released on $250,000.00 bond. She was arrested for disturbing the peace, vandalism, assault with a deadly weapon likely to produce great bodily harm, battery with serious bodily injury, infliction of great bodily injury, possession of false identification, paraphernalia, and commission of felony with use of an assault weapon. She followed her boyfriend of five years to Joe's Mill Hill Saloon and waited outside while he went in. After two hours he came back out but with the company of another woman. Isakson parked her car to block them in and proceeded to scream and threaten the two individuals. She then got a bat out of her car and beat the shit out of his car while continuing to threaten and yell. Once she was finished taking out her frustration on the car she ran after the unsuspecting couple and beat them unconscious with the bat. That's when the cops arrived. When they arrested her they found identification in her purse belonging to her cousin and paraphernalia in the glove box," I read shaking my head. "She's not so bad Connie just pissed about getting cheated on. Munson was worse than her. She just has a high bail because of all the charges they got her on."
"I guess," Connie said. "Just be careful you two."
"We'll careful your ass off Cons," Lula said to her.
I dug in my pocket book and got out an envelope containing my new numbers and address. I handed it to Connie. "For your eyes only," I told her.
She handed each of us a check for $1,250.00. Then she opened the envelope I handed her. She raised her eyebrows at me. I think the fact that I was moving to Ewing was a shocker. I had a feeling my family was going to be equally shocked if not more. I'd always lived in the Burg or just outside of it. It wasn't that far away, but it wasn't Trenton.
"We outta here," Lula told the office.
I had a meeting at RangeMan at eleven o'clock and was mentally preparing myself for the conversations that needed to take place. I wasn't sure how Ranger and the other guys were going to react. I was hoping for pleased, even excited. But at the same time I wanted them to take me seriously. It was important to me for some reason that all the guys respected me and trusted me. I was hoping after I talked to all of them about the past eight weeks, they might start to trust me.
Fifteen minutes later I turned onto Haywood Street and parked in front of the seven-story building. We got out of the car and went in through the main lobby.
"Tank just called down, Ms. Plum. The team is just gathering. Mr. Manoso will be arriving within the next five minutes. Go ahead and take the elevator up to the third floor, take a right off the elevator, and go through the door at the end of the hall into the conference room," the guard told us. I thanked him as Lula and I headed to the elevator.
"You ready for this girl?" Lula asked once we were alone in the elevator.
"Sure."
We got off the elevator and paused at the door before knocking and walking in. Every head turned, eyes narrowed, brows raised. The merry men were confused. I'd never been in any of the conference rooms, even when I worked for RangeMan. So I could understand their confusion. Most were probably wondering what I got myself into this time. After all why else would I be entering a RangeMan meeting, right?
"Ranger should be here any minute," Tank said while pointing to the seats directly across from him. "Have a seat ladies."
"What's going on?" Hal asked as we sat down in two chairs between Ram and an empty chair I assumed belonged to Ranger.
I smiled at him just as the conference room door opened. Ranger walked in and looked around the full room clearly confused. He was corporate Mr. Manoso today. He looked delicious in his black suit. It fit him like second skin. This man could wear anything and look like it was custom designed specifically for him. I watched his brows raise in question as he surveyed the room. His body and face screamed control, but I was more interested in the oozing sex appeal. I licked my lips. Damn my hormones. It's been far too long since I'd been laid.
After sweeping the room his eyes landed on me. "Babe?"
I smiled at him. "Told you I would see you in a little bit. Tank called this meeting for me. I have some things I wanted to share with all of you, and then we have some business we need to discuss. Is this okay with you?" I asked him.
Ranger walked to stand between his chair and mine. He looked in my eyes for a moment, and then he eyes fell on the light bruise on my cheek bone. His finger lightly traced it and his eyes moved back to mine. "Why do you have a bruise on your face?" Ranger questioned with his eyebrow raised slightly.
I smiled up at him. "I'm fine, really. And when I'm finished you'll understand the bruise. It's not a big deal."
His eyes got black and his expression cold. Batman didn't like me getting hurt, and he certainly wouldn't think it was no big deal.
"Honestly, Ranger."
He nodded and took a seat at the head of the table. I took a deep breath and looked up at Tank. He gave me an encouraging smile and a wink. I gave him a shaky smile back and looked around the room at all the questioning faces. This was much easier when I rehearsed it in my head.
"Guys this is Lula in case you haven't met her before," I said nodding my head to the side at Lula.
"I asked specifically for each of you to be here for this meeting. Tank has been my partner in crime for the last eight weeks. He's been running interference for me, and doing me a few small favors, however, he doesn't entirely know what I'm going to say to all of you today. I guess I should start at the beginning. Four years and two months ago I blackmailed my cousin Vinnie into giving me a job as a bounty hunter because I needed the money. Four years and two months ago I met Ranger in a coffee shop," I said looking at Ranger. "And he took pity on me. That's when he offered to be my Professor Higgins." I smiled a little at his bemused expression.
"I had zero knowledge or training for the job but I did it anyway, and I had no business what so ever doing it. I was insane and pretty damn stupid for even trying. Not only have I almost gotten myself killed I don't even know how many times, but Ranger as well," I said, looking at Ranger. "He still helped whenever I needed it. It was selfish of me to ask in the first place because I shouldn't have been chasing skips at all. After awhile I think I wore him out because he started assigning big scary men the job of keeping me alive." I paused looking in his eyes. I wanted him to see how much I respected him. How much I loved him. For who he was and for everything he did. Mostly for accepting me, and letting me be me. I smiled a little before turning my eyes to the rest of the room.
"Every man in this room has had some degree of exposure to my insane life. And every man in this room has in some way either directly or indirectly saved my sorry ass from the insane life I lead. So the reason I asked for you all to be here is so I can first off thank you. I know most if not all of you think of me as entertainment, but if it wasn't for all of you I would probably be dead right now. There is no way I could possibly ever repay any of you for all you have done."
"Stephanie," Ranger said, his voice quiet but strangely strong.
I looked at him and shook my head. "Let me finish, please."
He gave a barely there nod and I turned my attention back to the rest of the guys. "Secondly I need to apologize. About a year and half after Ranger and I met he told me there's no cost for what we give each other. Freely given and freely received. A lot has changed between us since that was said, but in a way it still applies. I feel it's been a bit one sided through the years. He's doing all the giving and I'm doing all the receiving, between his cars I destroy and his men I send to the hospital. All of you seem to have been added to that agreement whether you wanted to be or not. I know you get paid to assist me, but no amount of money is worth your life. I'm sorry I've been so selfish and irresponsible for not only my own safety but all of yours as well. I have good instincts but I don't listen to them when it comes to my own safety. When I ignore my safety I'm also ignoring yours, and I'm genuinely sorry for that."
I took a few breaths before continuing. "I've been making some changes in my life over the past eight weeks. I realized I hated my job. I didn't want to chase after felons anymore. I had to drag my sorry ass out of bed every morning and force myself to do the work. I hated it because I was 90 percent incompetent. It's tough liking what you do for a living when you suck at it. Realizing this, left me with two choices, and I needed to make a decision. I either quit bond enforcement all together, which means no working here either, or get serious about my job. Grow the fuck up in other words. I decided on option two," I said grinning. "I asked Lula to be my partner and we decided on a route. We've been busy growing up for the last eight weeks. We aren't finished by any means. But, it's getting harder to keep our little operation a secret. We had specific goals we wanted to meet, and we've met them all. Now it's time to move onto our next section of goals. Getting even better, stronger."
I took a deep breath and plowed on. "I didn't have just professional goals in mind, though. My personal life needed some work, too. I have just one more personal goal that I'm completing today. I'm moving into a new apartment; into Woodbrook House specifically." I looked at Ranger again to gage his reaction. He raised his eyebrow at me and looked down at a file sitting in front of Tank. The name on the file read Michelle Stephens. His almost smile appeared on his face.
"When I learned RangeMan was responsible for the security at the apartment complex I was looking at I knew it was the right one for me. Hell you've all be protecting me for so long may as well continue the tradition. Except now I get to pay for the protection," I said smiling at Ranger. "When I decided on the apartment I talked to the owners with Tank. I explained who I was and that I didn't want every person in Trenton and surrounding areas knowing where I lived. We agreed I could rent the apartment under a different name. That name being Michelle Stephens. I won't be assuming the name in any way. It's just an added protection to keep people from getting through the gate if they figure out where I live by chance.
"I'm taking my safety very seriously now. I changed my phone numbers, I now receive all my mail at a PO Box, and every piece of identifiable information regarding me with my address on it has been changed to the bond office address. Too many times my safety has been in jeopardy because every psycho in Trenton knew where I lived. It's not going to happen any more. I don't want to be an easy target for psychos any longer," I said, looking back at Ranger.
The conference room was very quiet, almost eerie quiet. All the men wore serious expressions. I couldn't read Ranger's face, and it wasn't because it was blank. His face was far from blank, but I didn't know what his expression meant. I'd never seen it before.
"Girl I think you finally killed 'em. You straight up shocked 'em to death," Lula said, looking around the room.
Lester cleared his throat and looked right at me as he spoke evenly. "I can honestly say that we, as a group, have an agreement when it comes to you. You don't owe us a thing. We like you, and we don't like seeing or hearing about you getting hurt. I also think you have the wrong idea about us thinking of you as entertainment. You amuse us, but when we smile and laugh it's not at you. You put so much passion and energy into everything you do, and your tenacity is something we all admire. You find the good in people, and you see past preconceived images. When I first met you I thought here's this little girl trying to play with the big boys. You proved me wrong real quick. I'm honored to have your back, and I'm glad you are taking your safety more seriously. It makes our jobs easier. Do you mind if I ask what you've been doing the last eight weeks?"
I had to blink back the tears threatening to escape. I had no idea how the guys felt about me. I was undone. "Oh, um … we run every day, have a personal trainer for strength and defense training, and weapons training."
"Weapons training?"
"You run?"
"You've been exercising?"
I rolled my eyes and looked at Lula.
"I think they actually got a hard on at the mention of weapons trainer. What do you suppose would happen if you showed 'em your gun?" Lula asked.
Ranger raised his eyebrow at me with a grin. "You carrying, Babe?"
I looked at him. Of course I was carrying. He didn't need me to answer out loud he saw the answer in my eyes. He flashed me his 200-watt smile and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.
"So basically, we've been working on improving our skill level. We picked up lock picking and breaking down doors 101. Plus we started talking to people around town gaining informants. And we knew we needed to get in shape and learn how to defend ourselves, so we got ourselves a personal trainer, which we're with for two hours every weekday morning."
Lula leaned forward. "I personally think the biggest deal is that Steph finally realized she needed to carry her gun at all times, and not in her pocket book. She's had at least one gun somewhere on her body every day for the last eight weeks."
That got the guys' attention really fast.
I smiled. "It was hard at first because I hated guns. I got over it by learning to respect my gun and by learning how to properly use it. We've now completed, as of yesterday, eight handgun courses. We start injured shooting techniques on Monday."
"That's impressive," Ranger said, arms folded over his chest.
"We've been taking on higher bonded skips for the last three weeks, so we spend more time doing surveillance and talking to people rather than rolling in garbage," I said, softly with a smile.
"Proud of you, Babe. Proud of both of you," Ranger said, smiling.
"Thanks. I actually feel like I deserve you being proud of me for the first time ever."
"What kind of strength and defensive training are you doing?" Bobby asked.
"We're in a recovery week from weights with strength training, so it's been yoga, core work, kenpo, and cardio this week." Bobby nodded, eyes serious. "Our trainers use the crawl, walk, run method with training us. We add two new methods each day and do a lot of drills for repetition. We did elbow strikes, knee strikes, and take-down drills today."
"Do you work on elements that will aid you with your job?" Bobby continued.
Lula and I both nodded.
"We work on elbow strikes, knee strikes, hand strikes, kicks, falls, throws and sweeps, take-downs, grappling, grab attack escapes, and manipulation holds," I said.
All the guys nodded with impressed smiles.
"If you should be in the communication room now you are excused. The rest of you may stay. Babe, we'll talk about the rest of your little speech later," he said, his voice serious. I rolled my eyes. "How much do you know about the security we provide at Woodbrook House?"
"Not much. Tank didn't really get into it."
"The apartment complex has a gated entrance and a security guard post. The security code, that we change on the first of every month, opens the gate. Two RangeMan employees guard the gate around the clock in eight-hour shifts. Every two hours one guard walks the grounds and the halls of the complex. The guard has a list of all tenants and their apartment number. They can buzz up directly to each apartment by way of the announcement panel next to the front door. If a person comes to the gate and does not have the security code, the guard will announce the visitor to the tenant. The visitor must know the tenant's name and apartment number to even get to the announcement part. As a tenant you may provide a list of accepted guests to bypass the announcement portion. You may also provide a list of people that have no access. There is a camera at the gate that feeds directly to the communication room here. There are also four cameras in each corner of the property securing the perimeter, which is monitored at the guard station. All entrances to the building and the halls are also on camera. The outside cameras are the only feed monitored unless a problem arises," Ranger explained, and then he looked at Tank. "I want Hector to install a panic button in the announcement panel in Steph's apartment in case of emergencies. Call him after this meeting and find out when he can get to her apartment. I want it done before she's sleeping there."
"No," I said, drawing every eye to me.
"It wasn't up for discussion," Ranger said.
"Does the guy across the hall from me get a panic button installed in his announcement panel? How about the lady below me, or the couple above me; do they all get panic buttons installed in case of emergencies?" I asked, in an even tone.
He didn't respond, nor did his expression change. He wasn't budging.
"Ranger," I sighed, "I picked this apartment because of you, because I trust you completely, and I trust your men. I know you make mistakes; that you're not perfect. I know you can't always protect me, and I know you're using the panic button as a way to protect me when you physically can't. There is no saying I'll even be able to get to the panic button. If some psycho manages to get to me in my new apartment you'll have the upper hand and at least know who he is. If he manages to avoid every camera you have installed in the building no panic button is going to help me, and you know that. The psychos that are normally after me aren't smart enough to get past your security measures. You're good at what you do Ranger. Have faith in the system you've established there; I know I do."
He still didn't look like he was convinced. His eyes were a bit softer, but not giving in, yet.
"Besides home is my safe place now. I don't plan on having any emergencies there. I'm also not the same person my typical psychos went after before. No panic button please," I said, my voice calm and tender.
Ranger locked eyes with me for a moment. The guys were probably thoroughly interested in our relationship, wanting to know exactly what I was to Ranger. Hell I'd like to know that as well.
"Let's make a deal. For now we do things your way. No panic button, but if somebody finds a way to get to you, we do things my way. No complaining. Deal?"
"Deal. Thank you." He gave me the barely there nod.
I looked down at my watch and saw it was twelve o'clock. "Crap. Boy how time flies when you're having fun. I'm meeting up with my family and a few select friends to have this conversation all over again in 30 minutes. I want to start moving before night fall."
"You're moving today?" Ranger asked, shocked.
"If you think I want to spend even one more night in that death trap of an apartment we need to reassess your intelligence level," I said with a smirk.
"Babe." He lifted his eyebrow at me and shook his head slightly. Hard to say if he was amused or appalled.
"The security code for this month," Ranger said, handing me an envelope. "Who's helping you move?"
"As of right now Lula. I'm sure my dad will help, and probably Sally as well. Other wise I don't know."
"I'll be there to help after four Steph," Tank said.
"I have a meeting at two, but I'll be over as soon as I'm finished. I'll call when I'm headed over. What's your new cell number?" Ranger asked.
I grabbed an envelope holding my new information and a key to my apartment out of my pocket book, and slid it across the table to Ranger. The other men watched the exchange between us with interest. This was the most interaction any of them had seen between us. Lester was grinning. He was sitting next to Tank. I was almost positive he knew there was a key in the envelope. I smiled at him almost daring him to say something. His grin grew and I, for a second, thought he might take the challenge.
"I'm off today Steph, so I can help as soon as you're ready to start. Just let me know when and where," Hal said, breaking the silent challenge happening between me and Lester.
Lester smirked one last time and then looked at Bobby. They did some form of silent conversation then Lester said, "We're in the field today, but we can help as soon as our shift ends at four."
"Cal and I relieve Les and Bobby, so we can help until then. When and where?" Junior asked.
"Thanks guys I appreciate this. I'm thinking 2:00 at 1411 Parkside Ave. My storage unit is number 24. I've rented a truck to haul it all to my new apartment. I'll keep you fed and watered today." They all smiled.
I dug in my pocket book and took out five business cards, handing one to each of them. "That way you have my cell number," I told them.
"How are you doing with the high end skips, Babe?" Ranger asked me while watching my exchange with his men.
"Good. Tank provided us with some muscle a few times, but we're fine on our own for the most part. I'm sure there will still be times when we might need an extra set of hands. We still do our regulars, but other than that Joyce does all skips under $25,000. We do the rest. We're busy to say the least. For some strange reason about sixty percent of bonds Vinnie issues lately go FTA. This month alone we've had thirty-one fail to appear." Ranger raised is eyebrow at me. "We gotta get going. Places to go, people to see," I said, standing up.
"I'll walk you out," Ranger said as everybody got to their feet.
Tank walked around the table quickly and wrapped Lula up in his arms. We all froze in place as he gave her a bone-melting kiss goodbye. The guys' mouths all dropped open in shock, and then just as quickly turned into mischievous grins. I guess they didn't know about the happy couple. I didn't know they were so into public displays of affection. A little kiss was good, but this was like placing claim. Tank was showing his boys whom this woman belonged to.
"I'll see you later, baby," Tank said, his voice soft.
"Sure, big guy," Lula said to him.
I grinned at the pet name. "You two are disgustingly cute," I said, grinning.
I was actually jealous. It'd been far too long since my toes curled because of a kiss. Sure Ranger kissed me every time I saw him, but he'd been holding back. He hadn't kissed me with intense passion like Tank just kissed Lula with since the day he got back from Florida and that was over nine weeks ago. I snapped out of my daydream and realized Ranger was watching me with his head tipped to the side. We were the only ones left in the conference room.
"I guess I got lost in my thoughts," I said to him.
He closed the distance between us and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. He gently kissed me on the hairline above my ear as he drew me in for a hug. "You want to share those thoughts?" he asked, lips moving against my temple.
I shook my head as I breathed in his scent. "It should be illegal for any man to smell this sexy," I mumbled into his neck.
I felt more than heard his laughter. "Let's get you to your car, before I'm tempted to take you upstairs instead."
"Actually I was wondering if you might be able to join me at my Parents' house. I plan on talking more about the personal side of the last eight weeks. It would be easier if I only had to do it once. There's more stuff that I want to talk to only you about as well, but we can do that later. If you're not busy I would like you to come."
He looked at me for a moment. "Sure. I'll meet you there."
He took my hand and we walked to the elevator. He continued to hold my hand in the elevator, rubbing his thumb softly across my knuckles. We didn't talk at all the entire trip down to the lobby or the walk to the car, but we didn't need to. He held my hand in his and it felt so intimate, so loving. When we reached my car Tank and Lula were waiting on the passenger side.
Ranger tugged at my hand so I looked up at him. He gently brushed a thumb over my bruise again. "You get this training?" he asked.
"Yeah. I told you it wasn't a big deal."
He chuckled lightly. "I'm glad you're doing this. It makes me feel better, but I still don't like seeing marks on your face."
I didn't say anything, as he searched my eyes. What he was searching for, I wasn't sure, but I didn't hold anything back. My heart was beating at heart-attack rate, and I was getting quite hot all over. His gaze was like a caress, touching me all over. He looked at me for a second longer before lowering his mouth to mine. It was slow and soft. Then his tongue touched mine, and my knees buckled. Holy hell! This was a whole new kind of kiss. It wasn't a 'pin me up against a wall and fuck me' kind of kiss, it was love, and it confused me. He pulled back and looked into my eyes again. He smiled and kissed my forehead.
"I'll see you in at your parents'."
I nodded not trusting my voice at the moment. I watched him walk away for a few seconds then I turned around to get into my car and caught Lula and Tank's expressions regarding the display Ranger and I just put on. I smiled slightly and got in the car. What the fuck was that? How do I deal with that? I was use to pressure, but that was above and beyond pressure. That was … shit! I didn't know what that was. I needed to figure out what that was. Ranger was not getting away with what he just did. He was going to explain his actions.
I was startled out of my thinking by the passenger door closing. I didn't even chance a look at Lula. I just started the car and pointed it towards the Burg.
"What was that?" Lula asked me.
"I don't know," I said in all honesty. "But whatever it was thoroughly ruined my panties." I mentally sighed, thinking about the way his lips felt on mine, the way he tasted. I could still taste him.
"No shit. That was hot Girl. Damn and what was with the intense staring contest you two were having before the kiss and the hand-holding. You two looked like a couple when you left the lobby."
"We've held hands before, but this time it felt different. I liked it if I'm being honest. It felt great, and he didn't let go until he walked away. It was so intimate. How can something as simple as him taking my hand feel so intimate? I feel so guilty for allowing something that intimate to happen. I think that might have been worse than just having sex with him."
"Why are you so hung up on SuperCop? He's not even here. I can't believe he expected you to just wait around for him for eight weeks. That ain't right if you ask me. You deserve to live your life, not sit around waiting on something that qualifies as a bad habit," Lula said.
"I'm not hung up on Morelli, Lula. You know where I stand with that relationship. He thinks I'm here waiting for him, being faithful to him. I don't like cheating on Joe. And Ranger deserves more than to be the man I'm cheating with. I can't give myself fully to anybody until I've dealt with my relationship with Joe, and Ranger can't or won't give himself fully to me at all. So I refuse to delude myself that something more than friendship and sexual tension exists between us."
"Right," she said, rolling her eyes.