I'm sending you a rare for me Saturday chapter. Thanks for your support and reviews. And now...

Chapter 2

Stephanie pulled into the Rangeman garage and parked in one of the open spaces reserved for Ranger. She climbed stiffly out of the car and made her way to the elevator. Pressing the button for four she leaned against the wall.

Freddie Prince had been a handful. He had taken umbridge to her driving up and disturbing his poker game with his pals. He had politely asked her to return later as he was in the middle of a real win streak and felt the need and the financial desire to take his friend's money.

Stephanie had also been polite but firm. If he came along quietly she would call Connie and they would be met at the police station and she could bond him out quickly. Stephanie had even offered to drive him back to his house and he could continue with the game, but he was not feeling the love.

He had taken a wild swing at her and although she ducked, he had then taken the hall table and crashed it over her back. She had come up swinging, and without a moment's hesitation had sprayed him in the face with her trusty hair spray, then stunned him for good measure.

His buddies had rushed to the hallway to defend his honor and she had been forced to pull her gun and then call for back-up. Vince and Manny had been in the area and quickly responded to her call.

One look at the two imposing dudes in front of them and the poker players had decided that it was in their best interest to head back and play a game or two while waiting for their friend to sort out his troubles on his own. Besides that, the pizza had just arrived and it always tasted better warm.

Stephanie had cuffed and the guys stuffed Freddie in the back of her car and followed closely by the Merry Men in their vehicle had made the trip to the lock-up in record time. She was pissed enough at him that she had not phoned Connie or Vinnie to come and he was forced to wait while they took their time coming to re-bond him out.

Checking that she was OK, the men left.

Stephanie knew that they would be making a report, and wanting to delay the fact that Ranger would insist that Bobby check her over, she took her time and then headed over to Mooner's place. He was in the middle of a Full House marathon and she sat down to watch for awhile. Mooner had microwaved some kind of a bean dip and they snacked until the end and she carted him off to the station and then back home again.

By now, she was feeling the effects of the table attack and predicted that there was going to be a serious bruise growing on or near her spine.

She winced as she settled in her car and regretted saying that she would be over to Rangeman later. All she wanted to do was to go home, take a long hot shower, then maybe a soothing bubble bath and after that climb into her bed. She might even take the covers and covering her head, wish the day to end. She was already tired of this one.

There was a text on her phone and knowing who it was from, sighed. She had an appointment with Bobby the minute she arrived and he was waiting. She could not put it off too much longer without a hunt and capture visit from the Merry Men so headed to Haywood.

As she suspected, he was waiting as the elevator door opened on four and taking her gently by the hand, escorted her to his examining room, all the while unobtrusively checking her over. He helped her to lay face down on the examining table, then carefully rolled up the back of her shirt until he could see where the injury was.

Bobby was the ultimate professional and kept his exclamation to himself as he gently poked and prodded.

"Ok, Steph, I'm pretty sure your spine is bruised and I would really feel a lot better if we could get an x-ray of this, but I can see that you already have your fingers gripping my examining table and short of stunning you or giving you a quick acting sedative, I suspect that you would fight me for a trip to the hospital."

Stephanie nodded her head in agreement. She didn't need Bobby to know that it was already starting to throb even more and she knew she would be having trouble sleeping on her back tonight. At the same time, she had walked in, so it must not be too bad, right?

He headed to the supply room and returned with an insta freeze which he cracked to activate it then laid it gently on the affected area. Stephanie hissed at the cold pack as it touched her back.

Bobby left it on the area for about 20 minutes then gently removed it. He poked and prodded again and nodded.

Helping Stephanie to sit up, he handed her a lollipop. He had begun to stock them in one of his many cupboards. Other than the fact that they tasted good, they had a pain reliever in them.

His sister had told him about them a few months ago when her children had been battling a high fever from some childhood malady. She had said that her kids hated to take medicine and it was an approved way to get some pain relief into them without too much of a fight.

Bobby had immediately thought of Stephanie. She too hated to take pain medication thinking that it made her look weak in front of the guys. He had taken her love of sweets and her hatred of pain relief and had come up with a foolproof way to help her without the usual fight.

Stephanie thanked him and headed for five. Her cubicle was calling her and if she could get in some work, her commitment would be over sooner and she could relax. She hated the fact that she was once again beholden to Ranger.

Coming onto the floor, she was greeted by the men, giving them kisses on the cheeks. She missed Cal. It almost seemed that without rubbing his tat for luck, she was tempting fate that something bad was about to happen.

As usual, her in-box was stuffed full. Someday she was going to find that Rodriguez guy and have it out with him.

Quickly she got to work, searching and printing, then searching again. Time passed and her in-box was getting empty and her completed files growing.

Suddenly the floor became quieter and Stephanie knew that Ranger had come on the floor. Well, the fact that it got quieter and her neck tingled probably confirmed it.

Ranger came over to her desk and leaned against it. He looked at her as she pretended to work, her ear-buds firmly placed in her ears. He knew she knew he was there. She was trying to ignore him. Yup, she was still pissed he had assumed and that he had paid her upfront. He was not looking forward to the conversation about the fuel. He realized that he had really over-stepped his bounds on that one.

Lucky for him, he had already talked to Ella. Hopefully Stephanie would accept his offer of supper and Ella was making double chocolate brownies as a peace offering.

He had hoped that she might take him up on the offer of staying overnight, but Bobby had just given him the medical report and he knew that the most he could hope for was his oversized bathtub and a lot of bubbles in her bath. Oh well, he was a patient man and had waited this long for his babe, so one more night, well, he could manage that.

Ranger tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped. He caught the files as they began to slide off the desk.

She looked at him and began to speak. "I know, I know, I have to be aware of my surroundings."

Ranger smiled. She was pretending that she did not know he was there, but he had noticed one hand almost lifting to rub her neck before it stopped and slid back on the keyboard.

She looked up at him.

He stood up with the files in his hand.

"Would you like to have supper with me on seven tonight, Babe? Ella told me she was trying out a new recipe and wanted your input. I suspect it has chocolate in it."

Stephanie's eyes almost crossed. Aaahhh, chocolate. Ranger and chocolate. Ranger undressed with chocolate. Ranger with chocolate smeared on his...

She shook her head to clear the thought.

Ranger spoke again. "That is, unless you don't have something else going on, Babe."

Stephanie waited a minute to calm her hormones.

"I don't have anything important tonight, Ranger. And, if Ella is testing something new, it always tastes better just having been made."

Ranger laughed. "I'll pick you up at 1800, Babe."

Stephanie nodded. Working in the military atmosphere she was finally thinking with the 24 hundred clock now. She had surprised her Dad a few days ago spouting military time. He had smiled. He was quite comfortable using it both in the cab industry and while he had been in the army.

Eighteen hundred hours arrived and Ranger was standing by her cubicle once again. She was just completing the last of the searches and heaved a sigh of relief. She looked at her in-box, wondering if she should hide it. Thinking about it, she dismissed the thought. If she wasn't doing searches she might be picked to man a monitoring station. Now THAT was a mind and butt numbing detail and when push came to shove, at least she could move around when doing searches. Not to mention that she could go to the break room for a snack now and then.

Ranger had threatened horrible things to his employees if he found so much as a crumb or a drop of something liquid near the monitoring stations. They had to stay active and functioning and he would be damned pissed off if he had to call Hector to come up to fix something that had fried. Mat time would be a given and the employee fined.

Stephanie stood up with the folders and distributed them to the appropriate boxes for retrieval. Ranger watched as she gathered up her purse and jacket. He noted that she was starting to stiffen up and watched as she softly hissed with a muscle spasm.

Taking the lead he pushed the button summoning the elevator. Alone and he would have taken the stairs but he was dealing with Stephanie here and she was adamant on a good day that there was a perfectly good elevator waiting to be used.

She had explained to him on more than one occasion that an elevator was like the battery on a car. Not using it and it might refuse to start one day. Ranger had shaken his head at her reasoning.

The elevator door opened and they walked in. Ranger pressed his key fob taking them to the seventh floor. The elevator door opened and they walked to the apartment door. Once again, he used his fob and it unlocked. He pressed down on the handle on the door and placing his other hand gently on the small of her back prepared to gently guide her as she moved.

Stephanie flinched as his hand brushed the bruise. Ranger immediately took his hand away and spoke.

"Sorry, Babe. Bobby said you had a bruise but didn't say where. Do you need another ice pack? A soak in the tub before supper, maybe a closer inspection to make sure you are not getting worse? I have a pretty good grasp of primary first aid. How about a relaxing shower. Remember, I am good in the shower."

He deftly dodged the purse she was swinging his way, but the smile on her face took away any heat from the remarks. Oh, yeah, she knew exactly how good he was in the shower, in a bathtub full of bubbles, or in a bed.

She could already smell the delicious smells coming from the kitchen and dropping her purse and jacket on the hall table, headed that way. Ranger smiled and followed. Together they took out the plates and cutlery and pulled bottles of water from the fridge.

Ranger dished up the delicious meal. As usual, there was grilled white meat with lots of vegetables, a salad and then, off to the side, a cake tray with a dome over the top.

Stephanie's hand itched to lift the lid, but one look from Ranger and she kept her hand by her side. He had a rule about no dessert until after the main meal. Stephanie had always thought it was sad. In what book was there a rule about dessert being last?

Supper, as usual was delicious and full of flavor. Ella had prepared it with enough spices that salt was never necessary.

Finally the moment arrived. Her plate was clean and she looked at the dome with eyes that refused to blink in case it disappeared.

Ranger put his hand on the cake dome lid and then paused.

"I would give money to have you look at me that way, Babe."

He was smiling as he spoke.

Stephanie gulped. Her cheeks felt red and she was trying not to hyperventilate at the thought. A Ranger-shaped cake dome. Yum.

She looked up at him and smiled shakily.

Ranger laughed and lifted the dome.

There were two pieces of heaven just sitting there waiting to be worshipped. Ranger put a brownie on a small plate and grabbing a fork, placed it in front of her.

He sat back and waited for the show and he was not disappointed.

Stephanie took the fork and make a small corner cut into the brownie. Ella had drizzled chocolate sauce over the top and it had dripped down all four sides. She lifted the fork to her lips and her mouth gently closed over the tiny piece.

Ranger prepared himself.

Stephanie let out a moan that evoked instant tightening in his cargoes. Her eyes were closed and he could see every emotion as she swallowed. He placed his hands on the counter and counted to ten as he tried to rein in his emotions.

Just as he felt he had succeeded, she took another bite and once again, her moan escaped.

He swore under his breath. Darn that Ella. Dios, he might need to stand up soon to relieve the pressure.

Ranger endured her eating the brownie and looked at its companion still sitting on the cake plate. He took the lid and placed it over the top. He was a strong man, but there was only so much he could take. He firmly believed that if Stephanie ate that second brownie he would grab her, throw her over one shoulder and run to the bedroom, beating his chest all the way.

Stephanie looked longingly at the now covered plate and a sigh escaped. She vowed to tell Ella later how good that was. Better than her mothers, better than any bakery, better than any cake chef on tv she had ever watched.

Eventually, but maybe only a few seconds after realizing that it was going to be a one-brownie meal, Stephanie lifted her eyes from the covered treat, and she looked at Ranger.

"I'm still mad at you for assuming that I would come in to help you. And, while we are on the subject, I want the bill for the gas you put in my car. And also while we are at it, I assume you put a tracker on my car too. Ranger..."

Ranger leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss.

"No price, remember, Babe."

She sputtered and fell silent. She realized that she was fighting a losing battle. She would neither see the bill for the gasoline, or ever find the tracker on her car. She had taken a quick look over at Mooner's place. As for the early payment, well, she would make a chart and post it on her cubicle wall in big letters, carefully keeping track of her hours.

Ranger could see that she was tiring. He would prefer that she stay with him but she was not a prisoner and he wanted her to stay because she wanted to. He waited for her to speak.

"Ranger, I think I really need to go home. I'm not feeling like the best of company this evening and besides I did not expect to stay this long. I forgot to feed Rex."

Ranger nodded. She had obviously made her decision and while he was unhappy, he could see it in her eyes. She wanted to go home and take some pain relief out of sight of prying eyes and try to get some sleep.

He helped her with her coat and walked her down to her car. He opened her door and watched as she gingerly sat down. All his instincts screamed that she should not be alone tonight. He decided that he would be making a late night appearance at her apartment later. He hoped that she would not turn him away.

Ranger watched her leave the garage then he checked his watch. He would give her a couple of hours to get home, take a bath and crawl into bed. He set his watch then headed to five. He could do some more paperwork until then.