OH MY GOSH.

I woke up to 18 emails from reviews and adds from this story.

I love you all sooo much. I'm going to send Ranger to your house for your own enjoyment.

Due to some of the reviews, I'm going to be changing my outline for the story a little, so if this breaks your heart, it'll get better.

~kj

Ranger and I drove quickly down the street, to the person's house.

"You set up this system." He told me the background while we drove. "I don't know if you remember, but the Stevens family."

"Oh! Was that the one with the really fat wife and skinny husband?"

"Yes."

"They were so picky."

"I know."

"So, what happened? Alarm went off?"

"Yeah, one of their outside pressure sensors went off, and we were alerted."

Ranger and I pulled up to their house and parked on the street and simply walked through the gate. We carefully walked around the side of the house, trying to find where the sensor went off.

There was a rustle in the bushed, and Ranger and I knelt down simultaneously. We crept to the rustling, Ranger with his gun out and aimed. We got closer to the house, then suddenly, someone's head popped up and started moving towards us.

Ranger stood, holding his gun up. "Hold it." He told him.

The guy screamed and put his hands up. "Please don't kill me, do you want my wallet?"

"Come with me." Ranger grabbed the guy by the collar and dragged him to the door. He rang the doorbell and the husband opened the door.

"Is everything alright? Someone from Rangeman called and said to stay inside until we saw you."

"Do you know him?" Ranger asked, referring to the guy.

"Yes, he's our gardener."

"Okay. Your alarm was set, so when he was working near the house, we got a alert that meant that your alarm was going off. Next time, turn your alarm off when he's working."

"Okay, will do."

Ranger and I left and drove back to our house. We took our showers and got properly ready for work. I checked my phone, but there were no missed calls or messages. I made sure to put the phone in my pocket before Ranger and I went to work.

"Why do you keep checking your phone?" Ranger asked while we were driving to work.

"I'm waiting for the doctor's office to call with the results."

"When are they supposed to get back to you?"

"They said one business day."

"There's someone new who is going to be starting. Very experienced with the security business and knows all of the latest technology. We're going to have sort of a welcoming dinner tonight with them and a few of the guys. Just so you know ahead of time."

"As long as you're cooking."

Ranger laughed.

We arrived at work, and Ranger put me on monitors. I sat all day in front of my phone, but no call arrived. Finally, when Ranger was ready to go home, I called the doctor's office myself.

"We usually only call when the result is positive." The nurse told me. "When it's negative, we send written notification. The lab put the results in your file though, and they came back negative, but the thing is with pregnancy, the hormones are slightly different, and may not show up until a little later, so it may not be one hundred percent accurate, but there is a very high probability that you are not pregnant."

"Thank you!" I hung up with her and Ranger and I went home.

I took another shower and got ready for the dinner. When I got out of the shower, I got dressed in a black dress and applied a coat of mascara. I glared at my hair, but nothing happened.

I got a strange feeling, and got excited as soon as I realized what it was. I sat on the toilet to check, sure enough, I got my period!

I took care of everything, then ran downstairs, where Ranger was preparing dinner.

"Ranger! I got my peri….od." I was halfway through the sentence when I got down the stairs, realizing that there were people standing in the dining room.

Ranger was in the back of the room, grinning at me.

I was probably turning seven shades of red when I walked through the room of the merry men laughing at me. I pulled Ranger by the shirt into the kitchen and closed the door.

"Ranger, darling," I said in a slightly irritated tone. "You didn't tell me anyone was here."

He chuckled and pulled me into his arms and kissed me. "You got your period?"

"Yes. I'm not pregnant, just like I told you."

"Oh." He took a deep breathe, almost sighed.

"Ranger, oh my gosh. Are you disappointed?"

"A little. When I started to think about it, I was thinking about all the positive things."

"Oh Ranger, I think it's best. It's not the best timing right now."

He kissed my forehead. "It's okay. I'm fine. Come on, lets get back to the party. The guest of honor hasn't arrived yet."

"We don't throw a party for anyone else, why this person?"

"Old friend."

We went back to the dinner party. I served drinks and Ranger put out appetizers. Ranger had dinner completely ready when the doorbell rang. He pulled me along with him and opened the door.

His new associate was definitely not a guy. She was definitely a woman. A slim, sexy, pretty woman. Her blonde hair was curled to perfection, in contrast to my crazy tendrils. She was wearing a flattering brown dress that showed off her assets, and did she have assets. Her green eyes were standing out against her perfect complexion. She had long, shapely legs and a very slim figure.

I hated her.

"Carlos!" She purred. "It's been so long!" She embraced him tightly.

Get your hands off my man.

I tried to push the mean thoughts out of my head and be nice. She pulled away from Ranger and touched his face.

"You haven't changed a bit." She told him.

"What about you? You look amazing." He told her.

I cleared my throat to break up their little love circle.

"Oh, please, come in. Brittany Peterson, this is my Stephanie. Stephanie, this is Brittany."

I faked a smile and shook her hand.

"Stephanie, it's so nice to meet you. I've heard so many wonderful things about you."

"That's funny. I haven't heard a thing about you. Ever. But it's great to meet you. If you'll excuse me, I need to get back to serving drinks."

I went to the bar and poured a shot of tequila and drank it quickly.

Lester was standing in front of me, watching.

"It's going to be a long night." I assured him.

"Hate her already?" He asked.

"With a burning passion."

At dinner, Ranger sat at the head of the table, and I sat next to him. Unfortunately, Brittany was sitting on his other side. While we ate, they were absorbed in conversation. Brittany kept breaking out in fits of laughter with Ranger. I turned to Lester and rolled my eyes.

He handed me his cup of wine, as I had already chugged my own.

Hours later, everyone except Brittany had left. She and Ranger were deep in conversation on the couch, and I was well on my way to finishing the tequila bottle.

"I should probably get going." She finally said, standing up. "I have to get to work early tomorrow." They laughed again. He walked her to the door, she hugged him again, then kissed him. On the lips. It was a light, less than a second kiss, but it still bothered me.

"Goodbye, Stephanie." She called to me and I waved just as the door closed behind her.

"Lets go to bed." Ranger put his arm around me and helped me up the stairs. We got ready for bed. I was in the bathroom, washing my face and brushing my teeth while he was on the bed, talking about Brittany.

"It's been so long since I've seen her, it was great catching up. So much has changed. Last time I saw her, we were breaking up because she was moving away."

"Breaking up?" I asked suddenly.

"Yeah. We were together for awhile, but she moved across the country."

"You dated."

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"Babe, why does it matter?" I went into the bedroom and changed into my pajamas.

"Uh, because there was a sexy little thing in my house tonight, she was all over you, and she kissed you, and now we're going to be working with her."

"Babe, the kiss meant nothing. She and I go far back, it was just a friendly gesture."

"Okay, so you wouldn't mind if I greeted Joe like that every time I saw him?"

"That's completely different-"

"No, it's not. Joe and I go way back. I've known him for as long as I can remember."

I laid down in bed and got under the covers. I turned my light out and turned away from Ranger.

"Alright, I guess I see your point. If it makes you feel better, I won't let her kiss me again."

"Mhm."

I felt Ranger shift so he could hold me.

"Stay on your own side." I told him harshly.