Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. I'm not making any money from them.

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Ranger drove me to my apartment. After he checked it, he kissed me lightly on the lips and left with the promise to see me tomorrow.

CHAPTER 3

I awoke groggy and sticky. Something felt wrong. It took me a minute to remember. Joe. Ranger. The ultimatum. Ugh.

10am. The day had started without me again. I showered, dressed, and fed Rex part of my peanut butter toast for breakfast. My machine was still blinking from last night. So I pressed the button.

Message One: "Stephanie. A fight with a hooker? Jan Henderson's daughter never gets in fights at bars. I bet she doesn't know any hookers. Why me?"

Message Two: "Dinner tonight. Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Bring Joseph." Damn. I needed to tell them. Or did I?

Ugh. Well, I decided to ignore that problem and check in at the office. And maybe pick up Lula for some shopping. Yes, shopping would be nice and therapeutic. Shoes. I needed new shoes. I was going to Miami tomorrow. New shoes were a necessity.

When I got to the office, Connie didn't have any files for me. Big surprise. Nothing seemed to be going right lately. But it meant I could go shopping and not feel like I needed to be doing something else.

"Lula, wanna go to the mall? Shoes at Macy's? I need some outfits for Miami."

"We're takin' your car. I love that Porsche. Hold up, what do you mean Miami?"

I filled in Connie and Lula who both screamed. The idea of taking a trip with Ranger blew their minds. Connie told me to pack protection and Lula told me to pack the right shoes for a night of seduction.

We started off in Macy's shoe department. Lula tried on about fifteen pairs and bought three. I settled on a pair of green suede espadrilles. They felt appropriate for Miami. Lula tried to talk me into a pair of 5 inch patent leather platform peep toe heels.

"Girl, you know that Ranger loves the black." Sexy, but they didn't feel right for Miami. Miami was all sunshine and bikinis and the shoes were all late night dinner in New York City followed by a night of great sex. I wasn't planning on having sex with Ranger in Miami. Sex would only muddy my mind. In fact, I wasn't planning on telling Ranger about the ultimatum until we got back.

Next we headed to the juniors section. Lula said that I'd find more Miami appropriate attire there – meaning the clothing was tiny and a little slutty. I ended up with a couple of tank tops and a short cutoff jean shirt. Lula ended up with a lot of things in spandex.

On the way out I passed a slinky black scoop neck dress.

"Steph, you gotta try this on," Lula said fingering the garment.

Seconds later I was in the dressing room.

"Wow," I said staring at my reflection in the mirror.

"Damn," said Lula. "I think you need those black shoes."

I paid for the dress and ended up buying the black shoes. My credit card was not going to be happy. I hoped Ranger was going to pay me well for this trip to Miami. After all, he was having me leave the state. I should be compensated for travel time as well.

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By the time I dropped Lula off at the office, I barely had time to run to my parents' home before the pot roast was ruined. The house was full tonight with Valerie, Kloughn, and kids galore. Mary Alice still thought she was a horse, so in addition to chatter and my father's television, there was neighing.

"It's ready," mom said and we all gathered to the table. One space was unoccupied. Joe's place.

"Where's Joseph?" mom asked.

"Um, he's working," I lied. It wasn't time to tell them yet. Plus, I didn't know how to explain it. Well, Mom, Joe doesn't like that I have lustful thoughts about my co-worker. He's given me an ultimatum. I've got two weeks to figure it out.

She looked at me with suspicion. I think she knew I was lying. Shit.

"He's out catching murders, thieves and rapists, huh?" asked Grandma Mazur. "I bet he's using his gun tonight. Maybe one night he'll let me ride shotgun. I'd love to get in on some of that action."

"God help him," murmured my father. He's under-the-breath rant continued and I believe I heard something about a "crazed old loon."

Dinner continued as usual. Mary Alice asked me what kind of horse I would be, Angie told us she made honor role and Valerie disgusted me by snuggling up to her oogy-woolgy umpikins. Gag. Dad ignored everyone.

After the pineapple upside down cake was consumed, I grabbed my allotted portion of leftovers and headed back to my apartment. I needed to pack for tomorrow. Our flight was leaving late tomorrow afternoon and I didn't have a thing packed.

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My apartment was dark when I entered. The last rays of the summer sunset partially lit the rooms. I pulled out my pepper spray and began my ritual of checking for intruders. The foyer and kitchen were fine, but Ranger was sitting in my living room in my one good chair, his elbows on the arm rests, his hands steepled in front of his face.

"Shit. You scared me."

"Babe?" He gave me a half smile.

"I still don't expect people to be in here when I get home. I don't know why. I think every FTA in Trenton has broken in here at some point."

"We need to talk." He looked serious.

"Um. Sure. What's on your mind." He knew. How did he know about the ultimatum? I didn't think his ESP was advanced enough to know about Morelli.

"We need to talk about why you were crying yesterday. Do you want to start or should I?"

I blushed. Crap. I didn't really want to do this. I wanted to heat up my leftovers, eat and go to bed. I sighed. "So what do you know?"

"I know it all, Babe." I was stunned. I stared at him in disbelief.

"You know I have two weeks?" I stammered.

Ranger raised his eyebrows. "Yes, I do."

"How?"

"Morelli called me. He asked me to take care of you for the next two weeks. He also told me after that you had to make a decision and one of us would be in your life and the other was going to be out."

I couldn't believe Morelli called him. I was a little shocked. And I honestly felt like Morelli had overstepped.

"Babe, I think we should make the most of these two weeks." Then he smiled.

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