Romancing Stephanie Plum

Chapter 5

By MiamiBabe

A/N: Another bout of insomnia driven inspiration. Thank God for Stayce making sense of my mush and ensuring that my ADD muse and my sleep-deprived mind don't spit out too much nonsense. Thanks Babe! I couldn't do it without you J

I also want to say thanks to everyone that sent me reviews. I think I responded to all, but if not please know that I'm truly grateful for your kind words, your gentle nudges, and for not giving up on me. I absolutely loved getting all of your PMs, so I hope to hear from you again.

Happy reading…I hope!

Joe Loses It

I rushed over to Steph's apartment ready to do whatever it would take to get back in her good graces. But by the time Igot to her block, I still wasn't sure what to say, so I pulled over across the street from her building, trying to figure out how to handle it

Shit. I've never had to beg before. What the hell do I say? Like any good cop, I was contemplating every different scenario that might present itself, when I caught movement from across the street.

I watched as Steph, and who I guessed was Jake, came out of her building. I immediately noticed their entwined hands and the brilliant smile on Steph's face as she laughed at something the asshole had said.

Fuck! You're losing her, that nagging little voice in my head taunted.No! I won't let that happen. I felt the bile rise up my throat as I took in how she looked. How could she look that happy with someone she just met? I couldn't remember the last time I saw her smile like that at me. That's because she hasn't looked like that with you in along time. And if you don't pull your head out of your ass, you're going to lose her for good. Like hell I will. I haven't let Manoso take her away, I'll be damned if this fucking fireboy will.

I felt my anger build up at the nerve this punk ass had, moving in on my woman. I didn't give a fuck if he was new in town or not. Everyone in the Burg knew that Steph was mine and it was time that this asshole knew it, too.

I started my POS cop car, slammed it into gear and gunned it into the parking lot skidding to a stop right behind prettyboy's car.

I hadn't finished throwing the car into park when I'd jumped out and was striding towards them, my eyes locked on Stephanie.

But instead of all of the things that I should have said to get into Stephanie's good graces, my Italian temper took over and I said the one thing that I knew would piss her off the most. "What the fuck is going on here, Stephanie? Where the hell do you think you're going with this yahoo?"

Jake started to push Steph behind him. "Whoa, buddy! Why don't you calm down?"

Steph put her hand on Jake's arm and said, "Hey, it's okay. This is Joe." She looked into his eyes and let him know that she really was going to be fine. "Can you give us a few minutes? I promise everything will be okay." He held her gaze and finally nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I won't be long." She smiled at him.

He looked at her with concern written all over his face. "Okay, but I'll be watching from over there," he indicated by tipping his head towards the back end of his car.

What the hell? She told him about me. I was trying to wrap my mind around that idea when I heard him.

She turned back to me. I'd seen guilt momentarily flash through her eyes. Good. Why the hell was she being so deferential to this bozo, so I spat out the words again, "What the fuck is going on here?

And in seconds, I saw the guilt quickly turn into anger. Her eyes sparked with indignation at my possessiveness. "Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are Morelli?"

I could tell she was ready to rip into me, so I cut her off. "Last I checked, I was your boyfriend and I want to know where you think you're going with him!"

"Ugh! You have some nerve, you arrogant bastard! You talk about me like I'm some possession. You don't own me, so you can just get back in your car and go straight to hell. We're done!"

"I don't think so Cupcake," I sneered at her. "You can't just decide to end this because some new meat is in town and you fell for his sweet talk."

She shortened the distance between us. "You disappear for weeks after insinuating we need to take a break and then you expected me to just wait for you like a good little girl. Well guess what?" She took a breath and then punctuated her words by poking my chest. "Not. This.Time. I'm tired of this off and on-again game we've been playing for the past two years. I'm done."

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! This wasn't what I had in mind when I came over here. Think fast Morelli. Pull back that fucking temper of yours and start using your charm. Strong-arming Steph has never been the answer.

I leaned into her and gently caressed her cheek, "Come on Cupcake…don't do this. Lose whoever this clown is and let's make up." I gave her my bedroom eyes that always seemed to melt her resolve and whispered, "The boys have missed you. Let me make it up to you."

But she didn't react like I wanted or expected her to. Instead, she took a step back and with steel resolve in her voice she said, "That's the problem Joe, it's always about the boys and nothing else. I deserve more than that and I'm not going to settle for less anymore."

She turned around and began walking back towards Jake.

"Cupcake...don't do this…"

She looked over her shoulder. "There's nothing left to talk about."

I watched as she walked back to Jake. He helped her into his car and then jumped in and took off.

I didn't move until I couldn't see their car anymore and only then did I let myself react. I leaned against one of her neighbor's cars as I caught my breath and I tried to wrap my mind around what had just happened.

How did my plan to win her over get so fucked up? I've had more blowouts with Steph than I could count, but never before did I ever worry about really losing her or not getting back together. I'd always looked at our fights as just our Italian and Hungarian tempers needing to vent, but this time I knew in my gut that it was different, and I wasn't sure if there was anything I could do to get her back.

So that's it? You're going to give up? What a fucking wuss! What? You heard her. She's done! She thinks that all I want from her is sex. And who's fault is that you asshole? You and your stupid ass line about your "boys" missing her all of the time. What are you 16?

Shit! I've been a real dick, but I've never been good at the whole romance shit, not really, and it always seemed like that wasn't important to her.

Well now you know it is. Now the question is are you man enough to do something about it? Do you love her enough to show her that you want more from her than just getting laid?

I straightened up with a new resolve. I wasn't going to give up that easily. I came determined to fight for her and I wasn't going to let this setback stop me from winning her back.

I ran to my car, jumped in and was ready to peel out of the parking lot when I saw him. Across the street, in almost the exact spot I had parked in earlier, sat Ranger in his Porsche, just staring at me with a smug smile on his stupid face. Fuck! Of all the people that had to hear that, I can't seem to catch a break. I'll be damned if I give him the satisfaction of seeing me doubt myself, so I shrugged my shoulders and stared him down. Silently letting him know that this wasn't over and that not him or fireboy were going to get in my way.

He gave me one of his almost nods, smiled back and took off. Looks like the guantlet has been thrown. I guess we're going to find out if the Morelli charm can live up to the hype now that you have not one, but two, competitors. Shut up! Of course I'm going to get her back.

I should have felt better now that I was taking action but the damn voice in my head planted a seed of doubt that I was having a hard time shaking. Fuck!

A/N: So what do you think should happen next? Should Steph give the two clueless alpha males in her life a chance or should she dump them for Jake? I'd love to hear what you think! Because I love getting reviews for you guys.