Chapter Two

Sets and Snakes

A:N: Thanks to lalalalauren24 and Aaannnaaa for the reviews! I love them so keep them up.

I walked out into the hallway. It was eleven thirty; I had just gotten done with my classes and was heading towards one of the art studios on campus. I was meeting up with Jenni Jreeks. And no I shit you not that was her last name. We were going to head out to a reptile house; I was shooting a set for a website. A Hopeful on SG, my old nickname had been Lizard. I thought it would be sexy to do a set with a python.

I thought back to earlier that morning. I was hoping he'd call but then again he was on a case. I sighed to myself as I entered the studio. Jenni looked up at me, she had a nose piercing and more tattoos than me. She sat in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt and jeans.

"Okay dude I want your shirt," I told her with a smirk as I dumped my bag down beside her.

"Strip me," She stated plainly but saucily at the same time.

"What?" I raised an eyebrow. "Now darling, you know I think you're hot but I don't date any person who is involved with someone else and you're straight."

"At least I got a reaction from you," She stated with a weak sigh.

"Boyfriend troubles?" I questioned sitting down beside her.

"Yah," She looked like shit now that I got a closer look at her. "Stupid Randy. He came home after calling telling me how horny he was. I tell him to 'strip me'. He just brushes me off and goes to bed," She looked at me with her bright blue eyes. "I think he doesn't think I'm sexy anymore."

"Fuck that jackass," I told her with a smirk. "With those eyes and your sexy ass figure of yours, he's a fuckin' idiot. If I was dating you and you said that to me, your clothes would have been ripped right off of you. But like I said you're straight."

She laughed at me when she noticed the door opened. "Can we help you?"

I turned around. CSI Greg Sanders. He stood in the doorway, he looked nervous. But only a little bit, it made me smile. I raised an eyebrow, surprised to see him. "Hi."

"You two know each other?" Jenni questioned nudging me a little and her eyebrows bounced up and down. Another thing she liked to tease me about. She was very open about her sex life. I wasn't mostly because I didn't have much of one. I work my ass off between work and school.

"Hi," He said with a smirk. "Sorry, I called your phone it said you were in classes until eleven thirty then heading to studio seven," I stood pulling my phone out of my pocket. "I left a message."

"My phone is retarded," I told him with a smirk of my own, I looked down at the phone with a sigh. "I always put down where I'm gonna be just in case I don't get messages until later. If it's truly important people come down and find me," I looked up at him. "Important?"

"Good way to get murdered," Jenni chimed in from behind me.

"I'm not as creepy as I appear," He began with another smirk and a blush. "I just got off work for the day and I wanted to know if you'd like to do something."

My phone rang. Work. I shook my head. Irony, my phone truly was the most temperamental piece of shit I had ever seen. "The one time it works," He looked at me as I blushed. "Hey Jon."

"Hey we're overstaffed," I heard my boss's voice come through loud and clear. "Want the night off?"

I looked up at the ceiling and did a 'Thank you God' mouthing. "Yes I'd love it."

"Seeya Friday."

I hung up the phone and looked at Sanders. "I think today is going to be my lucky day."

"Really?" He smiled.

"And yours," I looked at Jenni who was snickering at my shameless flirting. "I'll meet you at the reptile house in a little bit okay?"

"I'll get Betty ready," She smiled grabbing her bag. "Have fun," She smacked me on the ass.

"Perve," I told her with a smirk and I looked back up at Sanders. "No I don't think you're creepy. Weird yes, creepy no."

"So is Ranger your real name?" He questioned as I moved over to my bag.

I shook my head. "No, it's a nickname, I always wanted to be an Army Ranger."

"Nickname?"

"Ever heard of Suicide Girls?" I questioned him with another smirk.

He nodded. "Yah I had an account with them for a while."

"Hopeful," I told him pulling out my lab top and he moved over beside me as I pulled up some of my homework. I knew he understood the term. Hopeful. A clever nickname for any of the girls who want to be a Suicide Girl model. I was among the Hopefuls. The members review your photosets and ultimately decide whether or not you become one. This latest one was probably going to be my favorite. "Turn off?"

"Turn on," He replied with a snicker. Looking over my homework. "Pretty forward about who you are."

"If you don't like me for me," I began pulling up my lab work. I needed to get it done before I headed out. "Then you don't like me at all."

"Good saying."

"One I live by," I told him with another smile. "Sorry I just got to get some homework done. Won't take more than ten minutes."

"What is it?"

"Paper over some lab work," I told him with a smile pulling up photos of the body I had to perform an autopsy on earlier that day. "Determine cause of death."

"Donated body?" He questioned and I nodded. "Well, usually rules out anything that isn't health related. What did you find out?"

"Male, fifty-five," I began going through the photos. "He had a heart attack. His coronary arteries were completely clotted. Just got to put it into scientific jargen so my professor will be happy. Always lived in Vegas?" I questioned typing in my results into the computer.

"No I lived in San Gabriel, California," He began telling me as I typed. "Moved to New York for a while and came here to work. You?"

"I lived in Wisconsin until I was seventeen," I told him. "My parents kicked me out of the house the summer I was turning eighteen."

"Why?" He questioned.

I looked up at him with a smirk. "You sure you wanna know?"

"You drop out?"

I shook my head. "I graduated when I was fifteen," I told him with a sigh and he began to say something. "No I'm not a genius, I took summer school to get ahead. I wanted out of my house. My dad was a pastor and my mom a nurse. Do I look like Daddy's little girl?"

"You wanted to leave?"

"Oh hell yah," I told him. "I wanted to be me. They found out and I got kicked out."

"Found out?"

I looked at him. "You've asked two questions in a row," I stated with a funny pouty face that made him laugh. "My turn. I'm guessing you didn't do sports in high school?"

"Good guess," He snickered. "No I was captain of my chess team though."

"I'll have to play you some time."

"You any good?"

I shook my head. "Not really. According to the last guy I played I have no strategy. What made you come down here?"

"A hot girl gives me her number," He began leaning against the table. "I call her cell and the voicemail says if you want to see me come down here. Had to come down didn't I?"

I smiled and blushed. "You think I'm hot?"

"Smokin'," He smiled and I laughed. "So what was the call?"

He noticed I wasn't good about talking about my family. I smiled softly to myself. He had took note of it and moved on to something else. I liked him more already.

"My boss," I told him with a smile. "I got the night off."

He smiled. "Nice."

"You?"

"I head back for a late shift," He told me with his own little pout then he smiled. "I'm good until about eleven thirty though."

"I have a crazy idea," I began with a smirk. "How about you hang in my world today? I just got a set to do for the site and then I'm pretty much free for the rest of the night," He began to smile. "You can come out to the set if you want."

"You'd let me come out?"

"If you want," I told him. "Never said you could watch," I told him with a grin. "You came down here, means you find me interesting, figure it's only polite you see what I do. I've seen your job."

He nodded. "You do have a point," He raised an eyebrow at me. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't," I told him with a smirk shutting my lab top. "Isn't that one of the reasons you find me interesting?"

He chuckled at me. "How do you know you can trust me?"

"You're a CSI."

"Means I can get away with murder," He stated.

"Ha!" I told him with a grin from ear to ear.

"It's true," He stated shifting his weight. "So a look into your world?"

"Let you decide if you want to hang out more," I told him leaning towards him with a seducing smile. "The set shouldn't take more than an hour, after that I can see how good of a shot you are."

He looked at me concerned. "Is it wrong that I'm disturbed but highly intrigued by what you just said?"

"Not at all," I snickered putting my laptop away. "Now you said you had an account?"

"Yes," He stated grabbing my bag and carrying it for me.

"Thank you," I smiled twirling around him. "Such a gentlemen. How long ago?"

"Expired two days ago," He began walking with towards the door. "I actually think that I've seen you on there."

"You'd remember me," I told him with a smile looking at him over my shoulder. "Jenni, the girl in here earlier, is my photographer, she'll meet us at the reptile house. Tell me that you don't have a problem with snakes please?"

He opened the door. "Not really, why?"

I looked at him with a 'duh' look. "CSI guy can't put two and two together?"

I could see his brain fire. "Oh..name of set?"

"Snake Charmer," I snickered as we walked down the stairs towards the main entrance. "One of my friends works at the reptile house down town. He's letting us use his Burmese Python for the shoot and he's got this awesome stage they show some of their larger friends on."

"Oh you're talking about Turtle Theatre," Sanders told me. "I went there when I first moved out here. Outside of the zoo, it's one of the best places in Vegas to get up close with reptiles, spiders, scorpions. You like snakes?"

The way he said it was more of a dirty question than an actually question. I chuckled at him. "I have a two foot Ball Python at my apartment. You'll meet her later."

"Only the first date and your taking me back to your apartment already?" He questioned with a broad smile.

"I know," I told him smiling as he opened the door. "You may feel lucky but you won't be getting that lucky," I walked out past him towards my car.

He looked at me hurt. "Oohhh!"

A:N: Once again thanks to lalalalauren24 and Aaannnaaa for the reviews. I love them so keep them going.