Chapter 3
Stephanie's POV
I opened my eyes as Ranger climbed into the car. I didn't ask what had gone on upstairs, I didn't care to know. I trusted that Ranger hadn't done anything stupid, just as I trusted him with everything. He turned to face me, picking a piece of garbage out of my hair, letting his hand linger as he tucked a stray curl behind my ear.
"Looking a bit crazy, Babe," he said, amusement is his voice. I got angry at being his amusement again, and jerked away from his hand, which was trailing itself down my tear stained cheek. Why was I always his amusement?
Ranger leaned in closer as I moved away running his hands over the places where Morelli had hit me. As he touched my face, I swear I heard him sigh. "Babe….."
"Can you take me home Ranger? I need to get cleaned up." I said pushing his hand away. I couldn't deal with being his amusement. Not now, and maybe not for a very long time.
Ranger leaned in, his lips so close to mine that I could feel his warm breath tickling my lips, "You've mistaken my admiration at your strong will and perseverance for amusement. When I told you that you were amusement what I meant was that you make me laugh, not at you, but with you. You never cease to make me smile, with the way you stand up to me, to the confidence you portray when you are around my men."
I stared at him. For Ranger, this was a speech. He never spoke more than two words to me, let alone express how he was feeling. I was shocked, and he could sense that, he gave me a 200 watt smile and withdrew his hand. "Babe, I don't think it would be wise for us to still be here whenever Morelli wakes up. That won't end nicely for any of us."
I nodded, but deep down I wanted him to say more. I needed him to say more. He had never opened up to me before, and I was yearning to learn more about him. My mind eased as he turned on the car, the vibrations of the powerful Turbo's engine making me sigh and lean more into the cool leather seat. If I didn't have such bad luck with my cars, I would probably dream of owning one of these someday.
I closed my eyes as Ranger pulled out into the street. I normally talk, but the silence that fell with Ranger's zone was comfortable and I was afraid to break it. In my mind I kept going over everything with Joe in my mind. What had gone wrong? Had it been my fault?
"It wasn't your fault Babe," Ranger said breaking his silence. I opened my eyes and looked into his eyes. "And no it wasn't ESP, I could tell by your body language you think it's your fault. It's not. Trust me."
I nodded at his words, knowing I would trust him with my life. There wasn't anything I wouldn't do for him either. Scrog was the example. I would do it again in a heartbeat to help Ranger, well minus Ranger getting shot.
It was then that I noticed we were pulling into Haywood. "Ranger, why are we at your apartment and not mine?"
"I don't want you staying there in case Joe shows up. Please stay here for a few days until things die down." He knew I couldn't resist him when he said please. I nodded, knowing right now after what he had just done for me, I would agree to anything to please him.
Ranger pulled into his parking spot and turned off the engine. He turned in his seat to look at me, "Babe, how is your face feeling?"
I gently ran my hands over my face, feeling where Joe had slapped me. I knew that it would hurt even more tomorrow. I just hope that the bruises weren't too overwhelming and that I could convince everyone it was a skip who had gotten the best of me.
"Let's go upstairs and sort this all out, okay?" At that Ranger got out of his side and came around to mine. He grabbed my hand and led me towards the elevator. "I'll have one of the guys get your stuff later," he said silencing me before I had a chance to ask. Damn ESP.
Ranger pressed his key fob for 7 and I leaned against him as we stood in the elevator. He felt so strong underneath me and I tried to absorb his strength into myself so that I could get through this. He seemed surprised at first that I would lean into him like I was, but he recovered quickly, wrapping his arms around me and tracing small circles on my arms. My head was resting on his shoulders, and Ranger didn't seem to mind that I was still covered in garbage.
I was sad when the elevator doors opened to Rangers entryway. I had felt something between us and I didn't want it to end. I could have sworn Ranger felt the same way and that he sighed for the second time that night. I reluctantly stepped out the elevator and opened the door, feeling the coolness and silence hit me.
"I'm going to go onto the 5th and talk to Tank real quick okay Babe? Why don't you take a shower and get comfortable so we can talk," Ranger said giving me a quick peck on the lips. "Don't worry about clothes Babe, you still have some here from the last time you stayed."
He left and I heard the door shut softly. I started towards the bedroom and gazed at Ranger's bed. God, how it would be great to lie down on that bed and sleep between the silky sheets with Ranger's body curled up next to her… Oh! She had to stop thinking like that. But she knew she couldn't. Ever since she had started to stay at Joe's house more she had also begun to think of Ranger more. She didn't know what was getting into her, but more and more she had begun to wish that Ranger's life lead to relationships.
I sighed, knowing that my thinking was getting me nowhere. I walked into Ranger's amazing bathroom, that smell that was uniquely Ranger reaching me. Pushing Ranger thoughts out of my mind, I stripped out of my clothes and hopped into the shower, letting the water run down me, washing away all the dirt and grime I had acquired while out on the job. I washed myself off, letting myself the luxury of using Ranger's shower gel. I stood for a few minutes under the hot spray before finally turning off the water and climbing out. I wrapped myself in Ranger's terrycloth robe and walked into his dressing room to find some of my clothes still hanging in his closet. My clothes looked so right hanging next to his, like they belonged there and were meant to be paired with his.
I again started to shake those thoughts from head, knowing that thinking those thoughts could be dangerous for me. Ranger's life didn't lend itself to relationships, and I was only getting my hopes up to have them crushed. I pulled on my Rangeman black smiling as I looked down at Ranger's name imprinted across my breast.
I left Ranger's room and went into the kitchen having just heard the beast in my stomach roar its head. I smiled when I saw a Pinos bag sitting on the counter. I felt the tingling on the back of my neck and I knew he was there. I looked up to see Ranger learning on the doorframe with a hint of a smile on his lips.
"You are a God," I said to Ranger as I opened the bag and dug into my meatball sub. I moaned as I took each bite savoring the taste of it. One look at Ranger told me that perhaps I should stop moaning with every bite because of the effect it seemed to be having on him. I smiled apologetically as I finished up my sub.
"Come sit on the couch for a minute Babe," Ranger said holding out his hand. "We need to talk about what you want to do."
I nodded and took his hand as he led me over. He sat down and I made a move to sit next to him but he was quicker than I was and he placed me on his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist and holding my hands in his. I leaned into him, laying my head in the crook of his neck. We stayed like that for awhile, me listening to his heart beat against me and feeling his warm breath on neck.
"Babe," Ranger whispered into my ear, "Are you going to want to report this to the police?"
"No," I didn't even need to think about it. "I just want to keep this to ourselves. Everyone I knows is aware of the garbage incident. They will all believe that some skip got the best of me."
"I understand Babe, just don't expect me to be able to keep myself or my men in control the next time we see him."
"Just don't get yourself in trouble on my account batman."
It got quiet again, the only sound being our breathing. Ranger finally broke the silence by asking me to remain at his apartment for a few days until Joe had time to calm down over what had happened and to come to his senses so he wouldn't do anything stupid. I agreed, knowing it would do no good to tell him no.
"Babe," Ranger began in a different tone of voice. I knew some serious talking was going to happen just by the tone of voice that he was using. My heart rate went up thinking of all the possibilities of what the conversation could be about. It couldn't be that he wanted nothing to do with me, I mean he just asked me to stay with him for a few days. I hope he didn't have to leave again. He had just gotten back from being in the wind for 3 months. I needed him now he couldn't go away.
I was just about to respond when his phone went off. I heard him sigh, yet again, as he shifted to answer the phone. "Talk." He said tersely as he put the phone to his ear. "Be there in 20."
"Sorry Babe, one of our skips just showed up, I need to go after him. I'm sorry Babe. We can finish this talk when I get back okay? In the mean time try to get some sleep." He lifted me into his arms and carried me into the bedroom. He laid me down carefully and pulled the covers over me giving me a quick peck on the lips before whispering goodbye and leaving. My heart was still racing as I curled into his pillow, feeling the safety that came with Ranger. I was anxious to know what Ranger wanted to talk about but those thoughts were erased from my mind as sleep took me over.
