I do not own any of the characters, and I'm not writing for a profit. This is my first fanfic and just wanted to toy around with the plot line. Thanks so much for the reviews so far!


I woke with a start to feel the SUV bouncing around and half expected us to be driving down a mountain side with the commotion of it, but come to find out we had reached the hotel and everyone was unloading.

I took a couple seconds to pull myself to full awareness and realized Ranger was nowhere in sight.

"Hey where are we?" I asked Tank.

"Just hit a small town outside of St. Louis. Ranger is out checking the rooms, but he'll be back soon."

I took a look around and everything had been shifted out of the black SUV and we were parked outside of a plain Jane hotel that offered free Wi-Fi and breakfast. I made sure not to complain about any of it, the fact that I was free to be out of the SUV was a heavenly thought.

I got out, stretched my arms to the sky and immediately brought them to my head. My curls were probably an untamed mess, and the thought that everyone was here to witness it was getting to me.

"Hey Babe, here's your room key." Ranger said from behind me, causing me to jump a little at the sound of his voice.

I looked at him and just took him in. 17 hours on the road hadn't even made a dent in his appearance. His hair was perfectly pulled back, his shirt painted onto his torso and biceps, and his black pants didn't even produce a wrinkle.

"Thanks, I'm going to take a shower. Do we have anything to go over tonight that I need to know for the distraction tomorrow?" I tried keeping myself a good arms reach away from him.

"How about I come by your room tonight and fill you in?" Ranger had closed the distance in the blink of an eye and had his hand underneath my chin lifting it towards his face, causing my heart to skip a beat and accelerate all together.

"Um, yea, sure. Sounds good." I looked up into his chocolate eyes and noticed them getting a shade or two darker. Uh oh Steph, back away now or forever hold your peace.

It seemed like Ranger could feel me tense and took one last look at me up and down. "Are you ok from the long ride?"

"Yea, just a little stiff. Nothing a hot shower won't fix." And with that his eyes went dark again and he planted a kiss on my forehead and walked away.

I flipped the key over in my hand and held it up to the light to catch the room number. Bobby and Lester had already left carrying all the bags to the room. Tank was messing with something in the hatchback.

"Hey Tank? Could you tell me where my room is?"

"Sure, Bombshell. You're right in between us and Ranger. Right up the staircase and to the left. Lester already has your bag in the room."

"Thanks. See you for the meeting tonight?" This earned me a funny look from Tank.

"Uh there is no meeting. We went over everything we needed to back at RangeMan."
"Oh…I thought Ranger had said we had something to go over…." I let the sentence trail knowing Tank had picked up on it and was probably laughing on the inside.

"Well maybe Ranger has some intel for you alone." Tank looked amused with himself so with that I swatted at his arm and walked off towards my room.

Finding it just like Tank had directed me I went in. No need to turn the light on, Ranger had done sweep checks and everything was bright as could be. I grabbed my bag and made my way to the bathroom setting the shower to as hot as I could stand it.

I knew getting in the shower that I would have nothing more to do than think about my Ranger/Joe dilemma and I might as well get it over with.

It's not that I didn't want Ranger to kiss me right then and there, but I maybe had felt little guilty about the whole Joe break up not having happened just a week before.

Joe.

I had really tried to keep the relationship going. Joe had taken up a huge chunk of my life. But becoming a housewife and sporting a kid on each hip didn't really calm my nerves about the whole marriage thing. I mean, how was I supposed to take down an FTA with a toddler crying about something I probably would have no idea how to fix?!

Kids were not my forte, and Joe had made it clear that they were in his visions of our future.

The last conversation we had was threatening to come to the front of my mind, and with suds falling down my back from my hair I let it.

"Cupcake! Your job is driving me crazy! Why can't you just take my marriage proposal seriously?!"

"Joe, I'm not meant for the Burg housewife life! You know I can't stand this place, the gossip and all! And you're job is just as crazy as mine!"

"I'm not constantly getting shot at and having stalkers decide to become my number one fan! And don't even get me started on all of the gigs you have been taking with Ranger!"

And with that comment alone everything had escalated to an even higher pitch of voice from me.

"Ranger has nothing to do with this!"

"I see the way he looks at you! And the jobs he puts you on are just as bad as the situations you put yourself in!"

"I don't put myself into situations! Do you really believe I do this on purpose?"

"Cupcake, with you, I never know. I figure you get bored and find a way to make a little more excitement, at the expense of my blood pressure. But the running off with Ranger on night long stake-outs is where I have to draw the line! It's the job or me!"

And with that I knew we were done, maybe we had never even started. I knew that the only thing that kept us going had been the sex. But even great sex couldn't keep an ill fitted relationship hinged together.

"I'm leaving Morelli."

The hurt in his eyes was so easy to see. And I knew that when this got around my mother was never going to let it go.

"No, Cupcake, I'm sorry. We can make it work. Really, we can. I'll be more understanding of your job, and I'll back off of the marriage proposal for a while."

"That's just it Joe, I would need you to back off of it for more than a while. I don't want to end up here just like everyone else. Because the second I say I do, I know I'll be stuck here until the end of my days."

This caused Joe to get even more pissed.

"Yea well just get on with it then! Ask if we can still be friends! Go ahead and ask!"

"Joe….I don't want you out of my life completely. We just both want different things from one another and you want more than I can give."
"Well Steph, that about takes the cake. You may want friendship, but that's something I can't give. Now go run off to Ranger. Seeing as how you're a free woman now, I'm sure this is what you wanted all along!"

I hadn't even let the comment completely register in my brain before I was out his front door and in my car. The drive to my apartment was a long one, and the thought of Joe insinuating that I had broken up with him only to run to Ranger made my heart hurt on a whole new level. If only Joe knew, Ranger wasn't open for a relationships, and that I had genuinely meant what I told him about friendship and not wanting to be married and tied down to the Burg. So afterwards I did what any sane person would do, I got myself some sugar packed ice cream and went home to Rex, watched Ghostbusters, and fell asleep with the thought of having to face my mother and the rest of the gossip grape-vine the next day.

By the time I had rehashed the whole thing I was wrinkled from the water. I took it as a sign to get out, and wrapped the towel around myself. I looked at my reflection in the foggy mirror and realized how tired I looked.

Nothing like a good break-up to make a girl look like her worst.

I tightened the towel around me and let myself out of the bathroom to the cold air of the hotel room. And after I looked up I should have expected what I saw.

Ranger sitting on the queen sized bed, looking great as usual, and analyzing me from head to toe.

"So when were you going to tell me about Morelli, Babe?"