I greatly appreciate all of the reviews so far, they've really helped so much! Keep 'em coming, guys!

Rating: M for eventual smut and coarse language. Maybe some mild violence.

Cupcake: This is a Babe HEA and Cupcakes be warned! May be little unkind to Morelli in upcoming chapters.

Spoilers: Through all the books.

Disclaimer: I do not own JE's Stephanie Plum series characters. Not mine, just borrowing. Note to Janet: I apologize for returning Lester to you in that condition. The bruising to his neck and the swelling to his lips should disappear in three to five days. The limp may or may not clear itself up, depending on how often I intend to borrow him, if you'll even let me again. And for the record, he loves to have his nipples licked. Such a naughty boy.


I stood under my shower head and scrubbed away the last twelve months of blood, sweat, and tears. As I worked the washcloth over my heated skin, I began to reflect on the last two years of my life and the people in it.

Sure, I've had girlfriends. One-night stands, booty calls, even a few long-term things. But all that changed the day I met the sexy brunette in the tan linen suit and red silk shirt, her long, pantyhose-less legs crossed in front of her and her curls wild from the scorching heat as she sat facing me in Mike the Greek's deli downtown.

"Connie says you're good," she'd said to me after I had pretty much told her that going after an FTAed Joe Morelli would most likely be a lost cause.

"There's me, and then there's you, and you aren't ever gonna be as good as me, Sweet Thing." Christ, I'd called her Sweet Thing. I think that was the first time in my life that I'd ever used those words.

That same afternoon, I'd thrown away my little black book and deleted every number from my cell phone that didn't belong to my men or to my family. She was like a new drug, and I was hooked.

After my core team had met her during the Sloane redecorating job, it was the first time in years that they actually had respectful things to say about a woman I was interested in.

"She's seems really great, Bossman," Brown had said.

"Gorgeous and sexy," added Santos. "Not slutty."

Tank had just nodded satisfactorily, his quiet approval meaning way more to me than the other two's verbal ones had. Tank has seen me laugh, he's seen me cry, seen me both happy and sad, he's seen me lose control, he's seen me kill. He's seen me shower, eat, sleep, shit, fuck, piss, you name it. Tank's seen it all. Been close with him since basic training and he hasn't left my side since. He knew me better than I knew myself sometimes.

"Miss Plum's a real nice young lady, Bossman," he'd said.

And my really great, gorgeous and sexy, non-slutty real nice young lady was about to marry another man. But not necessarily a better man.

I pounded a fist on the marble shower wall in agonized frustration and shut off the water. Ella had quickly gotten my apartment ready while Tank was picking me up in Newark and thanks to her top-notch domestic goddess skills, I had a clean, fresh-smelling towel to wrap around my wet body after I stepped out of the shower. At least I could still enjoy some simple pleasures while my heart was busy shattering to pieces inside my chest.

It was so good to be home but the feeling was bittersweet. I knew that the days of finding her lounging in my bed, scared to death to have me crawl between the sheets with her, were long over. Rex's wheel would never squeak from my kitchen counter again. I'd never again witness her sneaking into my apartment following a death threat from a nutcase, she'd never again have to try to figure out the buttons on my plasma remote, and she'd never again open my kitchen cabinet in search of the Tastykakes I'd always kept hidden for her behind the granola, which she would have found if she'd have taken the time to look beyond my cardboard cereal.

My heart began to ache. And not just a little pang, either. A full-blown ache.

I needed to go for a ride, clear out the cobwebs and try to make sense of all this.

For once, I wasn't up to wearing all black like a freaking lunatic and driving an obsidian vehicle like I was Batman or something, although she thinks I am. Or thought I was.

After I'd gotten dressed in blue jeans and a tight white tank top, I commandeered Lester's red Lexus IS F and tore off down the dark street, hearing the hiss of the turbo's blow-off valve echo in my ears and feeling the hum of the hot concrete beneath the 45's.

I ended up at her apartment building even though I knew she wouldn't be there, thanks to some superior snooping done by my man Hal. I considered calling her to let her know I was back but couldn't work up the nerve to dial her cell number and screw up the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Morelli'd never let me hear the end of it, probably. Nor would her mother.

I just had to be near something of hers. Had to be close to her, smell her scent. Know she was still real, even though she was no longer mine. She really hadn't ever been mine, but the reality of the fact that she'll probably never be had me lurching out of the car and taking the stairs to her place two at a time.

By the time I reached her front door, I was breathing hard and had tears threatening to spill out of my eyes. When I'd caught my breath, I did what I always used to do. Picked the locks, shut myself into the cool, dark serenity of the apartment I knew she still called home, even though I was fairly certain she'd pretty much moved in with Morelli since their engagement. As I looked around, not many of her things were taking up space in the rooms. Rex was nowhere in sight. I assumed he'd taken up residence on Morelli's kitchen counter by now. The thought was so heartbreaking that it left me weak in the knees and gasping for air. All over a fucking rodent.

I flicked on the kitchen light and wasn't really surprised to see that hardly any of her things were sitting on the countertops. I opened the fridge and found a couple bottles of Bud Light and an unopened bag of moldy, pre-washed lettuce. No brown bear cookie jar on top of the stove. No pictures of her and the guys under the magnets on the freezer door. No photos of her family in frames, lining the bar. The place was sterile, devoid of her essence.

I walked into the living room to find a few pieces of her furniture and some household items in a clear plastic garbage bag. Continuing on down the hall, I stopped short when I reached her bedroom. White garment bags hung from the closet doors and from just about every available space in the room. I unzipped one bag and found a lavender bridesmaid dress sporting a tag marked "Mary Lou." Another dress in another bag was marked "Lula." The third and fourth dresses were marked "Valerie" and "Connie." Smaller bags held matching dresses for Mary Alice and Angie. A tiny dress was marked "Lisa." Flower girl. My heart cracked into pieces all over again.

In the closet, surrounded by other clothing, hung the largest white garment bag. I knew, without even opening it, whose name would be on that dress's tag. My fingers shook and my pulse pounded as I rasped down the zipper and caught a glimpse of the white satin gown my babe was supposed to wear the next evening to marry another man. Another man. I choked back a cynical chuckle and re-zipped the bag, being careful not to catch the dress's skirt on the zipper. I stepped around boxes of high heels and overnight bags as I made my way to the door. When I peeked into the bathroom, hordes of makeup littered the countertop and bottles of perfume and lotion covered every inch of available sink space.

I deduced that the bridal party would be staying the night and would be getting ready for the wedding in her bedroom, since it's considered bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her dress before the big moment.

Overcome with sorrow and the realization that I was too late, I felt defeated. Like I'd missed my chance to score the winning goal and someone else had swept the victory. In every sense of the word, she was considered a precious accolade, a gift of untouchable value. She was supposed to be my precious accolade. My gift of untouchable value. My victory.

I went back over to her bed and sat down, thinking back on the night that we'd had together and trying to remember what it felt like to be buried deep inside of her. I shut my eyes and tried to envision it, but the memory wouldn't come. I didn't savor the moment enough. It was too late. Too late. I scrunched up her pillow in my hands and let out a frustrated growl before holding the fluffy object up to my face and breathing in. God, it smelled so good. Like strawberry shampoo, like perfume. Just…her.

For twenty minutes, I breathed into her pillow until I became worried that she'd smell the Bulgari on it and know I'd been here, rubbing my face all over the pink cotton pillowcase like a lovesick weirdo. I arranged everything back the way it had been and carried myself and my broken heart out to the dining room for one last glance around the inside of the apartment that I knew I'd probably never see again. That was when I saw it sitting on the table:

Mr. and Mrs. Francis R. Plum

together with

Mr. and Mrs. Vincent D. Morelli

request the honour of your presence

to witness the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony

uniting their children

Stephanie Michelle Plum

and

Joseph Anthony Morelli

on Saturday, the twenty-sixth of June

Two thousand and ten

at six o'clock in the evening

Our Lady of the Angels Parish

21-23 Bayard Street

Trenton, NJ

I clutched the framed copy of the invitation in my hands and read it over and over again. Seeing it in engraved writing really hit home for me. Soon I was unable to read it any further because my vision was blurred from tears.

The front door locks tumbled and I immediately froze. Whoever was preparing to enter her apartment would no doubt see me when they came in, plain as day standing in the dining room. I debated diving into her bedroom and crawling down the fire escape but before I could do anything, the door swung open on its hinges and she gasped when she saw me.

"Ranger!"

I wasn't expecting her to come home before I left her place and I certainly didn't expect her to be alone, but she was. Once the shocking pleasure of seeing her for the first time in a year had worn off, I managed to find my voice. "Hi, babe." My throat felt parched. She was all dressed up in a royal purple cocktail dress and didn't appear to have anyone with her. She looked even more beautiful than I'd remembered, but unhappiness was painfully evident in her surprised blue eyes.

"What are you doing here? When did you get back?"

"Earlier this afternoon. I'm sorry I couldn't call for all those months. I wasn't in a place where I had the luxury of using a phone." Or a shower, or a toilet.

She shut herself inside the apartment with me and hung her purse on the hook by the door. "I'm so glad you're okay," she said with quiet relief. She reached out to me and I folded her into my arms, burying my face in her curls and committing the waves of her silky hair and the feel of her body against mine into my memory. She let me hold her for what seemed like hours before I reluctantly pulled away and moved towards her front door, still clutching the framed invitation.

I stuffed my free hand into my jeans pocket and cleared my throat. "Tank told me the news when he picked me up at the airport today. Congratulations." What the fuck was I doing? Congratulations? Here was my chance to profess my love for her and I was letting the opportunity quickly slip away because of my pride. I was such an idiot. Such a fucking idiot, Manoso.

Her brown curls danced as she nodded slightly. "Thanks," she said, a little surprised. Probably trying to figure out why I was just letting her go like this, without a fight.

"Anyway, I was just leaving. I apologize for having invaded your privacy." I brushed past her and breathed in her scent, wanting to remember it for the rest of my life as it lingered in my nostrils. I handed her the framed wedding invitation I had been holding and watched as expressions of intense sorrow and sadness passed across her features when her mind finally registered what I'd had in my hand. She reached out to take it and the large diamond on her ring finger caught the kitchen light and flashed in my eyes, causing fresh waves of extreme hurt and anguish to roll through my exhausted body.

She stared down at the invitation in her hands and finally looked up into my eyes. "I'm so sorry you had to find out this way, Ranger," she said quietly. That felt like a quick blow to my heart, what she'd just said. My presence here tonight clearly wasn't going to keep her from marrying Morelli. She had truly moved on with her life and had made her decision. For lack of a better action, I simply nodded.

I opened her door and stepped into the hall. "Good-bye, babe." I smiled sadly at her and with that, I left her standing in the foyer and strode through the corridor to the stairwell, the sound of my booted footsteps echoing within the cement walls as I quickly descended down to the parking lot. I shut myself into Santos's ride and stuck the key into the ignition.

Suddenly, I couldn't be near her anymore. I'd done what I needed to do, held her one last time. Smelled her one last time. Felt her against me one last time before I turned her over to her fiancé. I quickly started the Lexus's engine and roared down the street, flying through the gears until I was squealing to a stop in the quiet serenity of Santos's parking space, nestled deep in the underground garage of my Trenton operations center.

I tried to catch my breath as I leaned my head back on the headrest, the leather of the seats rubbing noisily against my jeans while tears pricked at the corners of my eyes for the millionth time since Tank picked me up that afternoon. My hands were shaking as I whipped off the seatbelt and removed the keys from the ignition.

What the fuck have I done?


A/N: So Steph obviously still cares about Ranger, since she's glad he's okay and she hugged him. Should she be pissed that Ranger let her go without a fight? Should Ranger fight back for her? Or should he just let her go and move on himself? Please let me know what you think! Your input could change the direction of the story! Lol stay tuned for Chapter 3, up soon!