Disclaimer: Characters still aren't mine and I'm making no money from writing this.
I'm so glad that you readers are enjoying this story. I wrote this late last night so please excuse any mistakes, it hasn't been betad.
Chapter 3
Cal POV
I couldn't believe it. I was going on a date with Stephanie Plum, the star of my fantasies. The first time I saw her and Ranger together at Shorty's, I knew there was something special about her. She looked at me, but didn't seem scared. I was an intimidating guy if you didn't know me, but she wasn't afraid. She did a double take at my tattoo, but that was it. It shocked the shit out of me then and she continued to amaze me after that meeting.
She wormed her way into the hearts of all the guys at RangeMan. Every single guy there loves her in some form or fashion. Most of them believed that her and Ranger were together, so they kept their feelings hid. I was one of those too until that night in her apartment. I was shocked that she was just as attracted to me as I was to her. I was shocked that she agreed to go out with me, but there we were.
She looked beyond sexy when she opened her door. I was half-way joking about the short and tight dress, but she took me seriously and I was thankful that she did. The dress hugged her breasts and her curves perfectly and stopped mid-thigh. Her long legs stood on impressively high shoes and I could almost feel them wrapped around my waist. We were both correct, I almost blew something right then and there.
The drive into New York was filled with talking. Steph asked me questions and I answered what I could. Since we were partners first, we already knew a lot about the other, so these were more personal questions.
"Who was your first kiss?" She asked from the passenger seat and smiled at me.
"Jenna Thomas, sixth grade dance under the bleachers in the gym. It was horrible because she had braces and cut my lip." She laughed. "Same question to you."
"Carl Costanza, surprisingly. We were twelve and he stood up to Joe for me. That earned him a kiss on the lips. We 'dated' for two weeks after that." I smiled at her. I knew that her and Morelli had history, but I wasn't aware that she grew up with another cop. That answered why Carl and his partner Big Dog always showed up at her car disasters.
"First girlfriend?" Steph was sitting sideways with her back against the door so she could look at me as I answered.
"Gloria...I don't remember her last name. We were young, like six or seven. She was my next door neighbor and I called her my girlfriend for months. Her family moved away and I never talked to her again." Steph patted my hand. I hadn't thought of Gloria in years. She was my first friend.
"My turn. How many of the cops in Trenton do you have history with?" She rolled her eyes and I saw a blush.
"Carl and I, you know about. We also dated some in high school. We were better suited as friends. His partner Big Dog, he was known as Kevin in High School. We went out for two months and he took me to my Junior Prom. You know my history with Morelli so I don't need to go into that. The only other one is Picky." My eyes got wide and I looked at her.
"You can't leave it there. You went out with the twerp?" I was shocked.
"I wouldn't call it going out. He was in the same High School with us, but wasn't part of the same crowd. He was a nerd and I felt sorry for him one day so I asked him to take me home. He got a kiss on the lips and told everyone that I screwed his brains out. I haven't liked him since he lied about that." I growled. Even more reason to hassle the little man the next time I saw him.
"So you didn't sleep with him?" I knew it was none of my business who she slept with in her past. Lord knows that I have a long list of women. I didn't mean to open that can of worms.
"Nope. You might be surprised at the number of guys that I've actually slept with. Well...that I've had sex with." I looked at her with my brow raised.
"I slept with a lot of guys, but that doesn't mean we had sex. Carl got to third base. Kevin, or Big Dog only got to second. His name is misleading if you know what I mean." I laughed. It usually worked out that way. "I've slept with Eddie too, but the only people who I've had sex with is; Dickie, my asshole ex-husband, Joe, Ranger, and a guy I dated in college. His name was Tim, but I called him TJ." I was indeed shocked. She was a beautiful caring woman and she's only been intimate with four men? What tools they were to let her go.
"That surprises me. I figured that there would be more." She shrugged.
"I have to really like someone before I'll go that far with them. I don't just jump in and out of people's beds. I'm not built for casual sex." She turned in her seat and looked out the window. Shit, I hurt her feelings.
"I'm sorry Angel. I think it's great that you have such strong convictions. I admire that about you." She turned and smiled at me.
"I'm not mad at you. I just wish I could take back some of those past mistakes. Out of the four men, TJ was the only one that I truly feel good about now. Dickie was just a giant mistake. Joe and I went around and around for so long that we did more damage to each other than was needed. And Ranger and I were just doomed from the beginning. I knew better than to get involved with him, but I did and I got hurt. TJ was the only guy from my past to treat me good. The others just hurt me and I regret letting them do that." I took her hand and placed a kiss on her palm.
"I can promise you, Angel, to do everything in my power to treat you like the queen that you are. I promise to never hurt you." I kissed her palm again and rested it on the arm rest between us. I kept my hand intertwined with hers. It felt good to hold her hand and she didn't pull it away so that was a good sign.
"Okay, now that you know my whole sexual history; what about yours? How many woman are on your list?" I grimaced. I really didn't want to tell her, but I refused to lie to her either.
"Too many to count or even remember their names. I won't lie, Angel, I wasn't a very good guy to women. I used them to get physical release and that's it. I've only had two serious girlfriends though." She smiled at me and made a motion with her hand for me to continue. I let out a deep sigh.
"The first was Amber. I met her in college and we dated for two years. We lived together for the entire time and I thought it was love. She broke up with me when her previous boyfriend came crawling back to her. She didn't even look back when she walked out the apartment door." That was my first humiliating experience with a woman. The second was worse.
"The second was my fiancé." Steph looked at me shocked. She hadn't heard about Trish because I threatened all the guys. If they talked about what happened, then they would die.
"About three months before you started working as a BEA in Trenton, I was left at the altar by Trish. She was a local that I met at a bar and we fell in love. I moved in with her and we set a wedding date. Turns out, she was a lesbian and was only trying to make her girlfriend jealous. Her girlfriend, Toni, interrupted the wedding and they ran off to Vegas. Sounds like a Jerry Springer episode, I know. Amber and Trish were the only serious girls and they, like your guys, broke my heart." It was her turn to comfort me. She brought my palm up to her lips and placed a kiss on my open hand.
"Was your fiancé Trisha Freund?" I looked at her with an eye brow raised again. I nodded slowly.
"I always knew she was gay. She hit on me in gym class my senior year. Her girlfriend was Toni Vines. They were inseparable in High School. We alway questioned their relationship, but never asked and they didn't tell. I'm sorry that bitch hurt you. I'll kick her ass for you." It was my turn to smile. I should have known that she would know who I was engaged to. I've learned since living here that it's a close-knit community. Everyone knows everyone and nothing is kept a secret.
"That's okay. She apologized to me a month after the non-wedding. Her and Toni still live together, but they're not admitting that they're married." She smiled and nodded. It was good to share my painful past with her because it helped her understand that I was just as damaged as she was.
"If you want my opinion, then it's their loss. You're a great guy Cal and any woman would be lucky to have you all to themselves." She kissed my palm again as I made the last turn into the restaurant's parking lot.
"Are you ready to eat?" At that moment, her stomach let out a growl and we both laughed. I hopped out of the SUV and walked around to help Steph down. She took my outstretched hand and let me lead her into my favorite restaurant.
The host showed us to my reserved table in the back of the dining room. It was secluded and out-of-the-way; perfect for our first date. I helped Steph slide into the booth and then took my spot close beside her. That was not the time to sit on opposite sides.
We were busy reading over the menu when our waiter came to our table. He took one look at Stephanie and smiled or it was more like a leer. Either way, I didn't like the look on his face so I placed my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to me. I never took my eyes off the waiter's the entire time. My eyes were screaming "MINE". He got the hint because he looked away and asked if we were ready to order.
Stephanie ordered a steak and potatoes along with an appetizer of a grilled shrimp kabobs. Her choice sounded good to me so I duplicated it. The waiter excused himself to place our order. Stephanie placed her hand on my upper thigh and leaned in to whisper into my ear.
"I'm usually not one to like macho shows of possession, but how you handled that waiter made me so hot. I like the idea of being yours." She placed a kiss behind my ear that sent a shiver down my spine. I felt myself grow hard and groaned.
"I like the idea of you being mine too. I didn't like the way he was looking at you. He wanted to devour you for dessert and I don't share my sweets." My hand was resting on her upper thigh under the hem of her dress. I squeezed and placed a kiss in the same spot she did to me. I felt her breathing hitch and looked at her flushed face.
"Turn about is fair play, right?" I whispered into her ear and then nipped her ear lobe. I heard her moan and then pulled away. We were in a restaurant for goodness sakes. It wasn't the time for foreplay.
"You're evil Calvin Eugene Bergman ." She sat back and smiled seductively at me. I usually hated hearing my full name, but when she said it...it didn't sound so bad. "But it just so happens that I like evil men." It was my turn to smile at her and I leaned close to take her lips with mine.
When our lips fused together, it was magical. It was almost like her lips were built just for mine. She moaned into my mouth and parted her lips so my tongue could enter her. She tasted better than I remembered and I didn't want to stop, but the waiter clearing his throat next to the table interrupted us. We both glared at him, but he just shook his head and laid the appetizer down on the table and walked away.
We dug into the hot food and I had to endure the torture of hearing Stephanie enjoying the tastes. As if I wasn't hard before, now I could probably split diamonds with what was in my pants. When the shrimp kabobs were gone, our meals came out and we fell into a content silence. Well, silence except for the moans coming from the woman beside me and the curses muttered out of my mouth. She was going to be the death of me.
We had just finished the last bite of our meals when the dessert menu was brought out. I ordered my favorite without even looking and promised Steph that she would love it. It was caramelized crepes with a passion fruit sauce. I don't eat desserts very often, but I make sure to save room for that masterpiece.
I thought the dinner noises were bad, but they didn't compare to the dessert moans. It was such sweet torture. By the time both plates were cleaned, I was desperate for a distraction. All I could think about was Stephanie under me making those noises. I needed to get control of myself before we could leave. I honestly didn't want the entire restaurant knowing just what was under my pants.
"So what made you pose for Playboy, Angel?" Steph smiled at me.
"When I got into college, my parents agreed to help me pay for it. Then Val got engaged to Steve and my mom took my college allowance to pay for the wedding. She thought me going to school was stupid anyway and kept looking for an excuse to not pay. I refused to give up on school because it was something that I really wanted to do. I was dating TJ at the time and he heard that they were looking for college girls for a special photo shoot. I did the shoot and the rest is history. Doing that paid for the rest of my college tuition and I got a part-time job to help with the rest of the bills." She smiled again and took my hand.
"Are you sure that you're okay with knowing about it? TJ thought he was fine with it, but it turned out that he wasn't as comfortable with it and it caused problems between us." I kissed her hand.
"I'm totally fine with it. It's not like I could ask you to take it back if I wasn't. It would be like asking you if you're okay with the flaming skull coming along on our dates." She glanced at the ink on my forehead and smiled.
"If I wasn't okay with him, then I wouldn't have agreed to the date. I think Flaming Fred is quite sexy." I rolled my eyes. Did she just name my tattoo?
"Flaming Fred? I can live with that. The same goes with you. If I didn't like the fact that you posed for Playboy, then I wouldn't have asked you out. You're so much more than what you did in your past." She blushed and turned away. I placed my finger under her chin and brought her face back to mine. I lowered my lips to hers and kissed her gently. I wasn't sure what embarrassed her, but I refused to let her turn away from me.
"So what happened between you and TJ? You said on the way here that he was the only one that treated you good, but if he dumped you because you made some cash for college, then that's not treating you good." She shook her head and looked sad for a brief second.
"He died before he could dump me. We were really close up until my photo shoot and even the few months after. But eventually he became distant and depressed. He started using cocaine and OD one night. I never understood why he distanced himself. I assumed it was because of the photos, but I'll never really know for sure. He became a different person and I didn't like the new TJ." She looked at me with tears in her eyes. I hated that she went through that pain.
"I'm sorry, Angel. I know drugs can make you into someone different. Maybe he wasn't upset at all with you, maybe he was just using too much." She nodded and smiled a sad smile at me. "I can see that you loved him, and that's okay. You are allowed to miss him."
"I know. I miss the original TJ, not the one that was there at the end. He helped me fly when everyone else turned their backs on me." She smiled and shook her head, removing the memories from her mind. I decided that it was time to go.
"You ready to head back?" She discretely burped into her hand and nodded. I threw a few hundreds on the table and we made our exit. The air outside was cool so I wrapped my arm around her exposed shoulders for the walk to the SUV. She snuggled in close and rested her head on my shoulder. In her heals, she was the perfect height to do that.
I helped her into the SUV and jogged around and climbed into the driver's side. I started the vehicle and pointed it toward Trenton. I hated for the night to end, but it was getting pretty late.
"Tell me about the tattoo." I rolled my eyes and laughed to myself.
"I was drunk in Tijuana, Mexico. Too much tequila and I'll do just about anything. Some friends and I were on leave and decided that getting drunk was the perfect plan so we drove down to Mexico and stayed for about two weeks. I don't remember those two weeks. I woke up one day with Flaming Fred on my forehead. My friend, Will, told me that it was my idea and I was debating between this masterpiece and a unicorn jumping over a rainbow. I'm just thankful that I ended up with the flaming skull." Stephanie laughed.
"I'm trying to picture you with a unicorn and rainbow tattoo in that spot. I can't see it." She was hysterical and had tears running down her face. I joined her and we laughed for a good while.
We finally got ourselves under control and stopped the laughter. We were silent for a few minutes, each in our own thoughts when Steph spoke up.
"I have a tattoo too." I looked at her puzzled. I've seen her in next to nothing distraction clothes, in barely there work-out clothes, and thanks to Playboy...in nothing at all. I've never seen a tattoo before. She sensed my confusion and leaned in close to whisper. Her breasts were pressed up against my arm again ad they felt so soft.
"I got it done after the photo shoot, and it's in a place that you haven't been privy to see just yet. But play your cards right and you'll see it soon enough." Holy fuck! The painful erection from the restaurant came back full force. She leaned back against the door and started biting her lower lip.
"I'll be playing my cards perfectly, and I'll see that artwork when the time is right." I smiled a sexy smile and looked at her with lust behind my eyes. She returned the sexy smile.
The rest of the drive home was quiet. I was thinking about where that tattoo was and what it could be. I knew it was going to be hot when I finally found it. I finally pulled into he apartment parking lot and parked in a spot right by the door. I thought I heard her curse under her breath, but didn't question what she said.
I helped her out of the SUV and walked her to her apartment door. She unlocked it and stepped aside so I could check it before I left. I didn't want to leave her in harm's way. I found nothing except dust bunnies and normal stuff so I stepped back out of the door.
"Thank you for tonight, Cal. I had a great time." She stepped closer to me and I cupped her face with my calloused hand.
"It was my pleasure, Angel. I had a great time too. How about I take you to lunch tomorrow. We're both off and it's supposed to be good weather. We could go to the beach and just walk along the boardwalk. It's not warm enough to get into the water." She smiled and kissed my palm resting on her face.
"Sounds great. I love the beach." I knew that. That's why I suggested it.
"I'll pick you up around 1000. Sound good?" She nodded and I felt my heart flutter in my chest. God, she was beautiful.
"Good night, Stephanie." I bent my head down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. I wanted it to go further, and from her moans so did she; but I stopped and pulled back. I really wanted to do this the right way.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well." I kissed her again and pushed her into her apartment. She let me close the door and I waited until I heard all the locks click into place.
I smiled at her closed-door and turned toward the stairs. The quicker I got back to RangeMan, the quicker I get to sleep, the quicker I get to see her again. God, I was already in deep and it had only been one date.
I drove back to RangeMan and parked my SUV in the private vehicle lot. Les was coming out to go clubbing and raised an eyebrow when he saw me. I wasn't one to go out on dates and not bring the girl back with me. I could only imagine what he was thinking.
"Struck out? That sucks man. I'm headed to Juice. I hear there are some hot ass women there tonight. Want to tag along?" Of course he was headed out to where the hot women were. I shook my head.
"Nope. Sorry, I got plans tomorrow and want to sleep." He looked shocked. Then he smiled his full Lester Santos smile.
"This girl is special. Whoever you went out with tonight means a lot to you. It's not like you to turn down Juice or hot women. Do I know her? Is it that girl from a few weeks ago? She was smoking and she was into the tattoo." I rolled my eyes. I didn't know if Steph wanted to share our new relationship or not.
"It's not her, but she is something special. You know her, but that's all you're getting from me." I turned and headed toward the elevator. Les yelled something else, but I ignored him and took the lift up to the fourth floor where my apartment was located.
I took a fast cold shower and collapsed into bed. I thought about my date with Stephanie and our plans for the next day. I fell asleep thinking about the curly-haired brunette that was sleeping just a few miles away. I was already in love with her, but there was something deeper forming between us and I was beyond excited to see what it developed into.
A/N - Another chapter done! I hope there weren't too many mistakes in it. Thank you for all the reviews and favorites/follows. They are what keeps my fingers gliding over the keys. : )
The next chapter probably won't be out until Monday or Tuesday. : ( I promise to make the updates faster in the future.
