NOTE: Again, I'd like to thank those of you that have left me feedback. Your support is deeply appreciated and I hope you like this next chapter.

This chapter has got some Ranger POV and some Stephanie POV. Lester and Joe are on the scene and there's some humor involved. I don't want this story to be a complete sob-fest because I just don't think that's who Stephanie is. Heartbroken or not, she's got some great friends and I think they'd be trying extra hard to keep her from wallowing even if she wasn't set on getting on with her life.

I really hope the "funny parts" are funny. I don't do humor often, so I'd love to hear what you think.

SPOILERS: Not this chapter.

RATING: Language, mild violence, sexual tension, and poop. No smut yet, but it's coming.

CHAPTER THREE:

Stephanie was right. He needed another hobby. Disbelief and pride were all roiled together as he thought about how she'd made him in the club's parking lot. He supposed he was lucky to be who he was and not some random fuck following her to her car. Steph on the shooting range had been showing exemplary marksmanship. The wrong person would have been dead, or at least wounded. All the crotch shots she took on the range were a little disconcerting.

Ranger stood in the shadows, watching the light from Stephanie's bedroom window and saw her check her locks and then move out of sight. The light went off and all was quiet. He wanted to slip into her apartment, climb into her bed and gather her tight against his chest.

Not so long ago he probably could have crept in through the front door and sat in the chair near her bed, watching her sleep without waking her. He doubted that was the case any longer. Sneaking up on Stephanie could end up with him getting shot. Maybe even if she recognized him, he thought ruefully.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Ranger had his Glock in his hand and pointed at the shadow in a blink.

Santos stepped fully into the light, blank face in place. A pang hit him in the heart as he remembered Stephanie joking about the blank face being a necessary part of the RangeMan uniform and asking when he would issue her hers. That was before he'd fucked everything up.

Holstering his gun, Ranger returned the look. Santos' brows drew together in a frown as he considered Ranger. His eyes flashed up to Stephanie's window and then back.

"Ranger, don't you think Steph's had enough stalkers?" Santos questioned, taking another step forward.

Ranger suppressed the urge to run a hand through his hair and began moving toward his car, not caring if Santos followed or not. He knew that was exactly what he was doing, but he didn't enjoy having someone else call him on it.

He reached for the door of his car but Santos' hand on his shoulder stopped him. He thought about telling Santos off, pulling the boss card and telling the other man to stay the fuck out of his business. The problem was, Santos considered Stephanie a friend and the consideration went both ways. As far as Ranger could tell, Stephanie didn't consider him much at all.

Ranger expelled a breath and turned to face Les, leaning back against the car and folding his arms across his chest. "I'm not stalking her. I was worried about her."

"For someone that isn't stalking her, you sure follow her around a lot."

Something in his expression must have given away his anger because Santos lifted his hands in supplication.

"Whoa, man, don't take that the wrong way. Steph's got a rocky history with psychos of a serious caliber and you're not the only one that keeps tabs on her GPS. You're just the only one that actually follows her without her knowing it."

That sure as fuck took the wind out of his sails. Ranger gave in and dragged a hand over his face and then through his hair. "She knows," he said finally and opened his eyes to see Santos raising a brow at him quizzically. "I almost got shot following her out of a club tonight."

Santos loosed a low whistle. "Bombshell drew on you?"

Ranger had his blank face back in place, but nodded. "She didn't see me until she was pulling away, but she called me out without even getting a look at me."

The expression on Santos' face said he was thinking of laughing but decided against it. Understandable. Used to be that Stephanie wouldn't know she was being watched until she'd been nailed with a stun gun right in her own apartment.

"Woman's got a sixth sense when it comes to you, Boss," Santos said finally.

Silence stretched between them and then Santos let out a sigh. "Are you worried someone's tracking her? Is that was all the following is about?"

Ranger thought about lying. He could play it off that he was just doing what he'd been doing for years; watching Stephanie's back whether she wanted him to or not. He discarded that plan quickly, though. Blank face or not, Santos had known him long enough to recognize a lie. More than that, something in the other man's eyes said he had a pretty good idea exactly what Ranger's real reasons were.

"I'm reasonably certain I'm the only stalker in Stephanie's life right now," he said finally.

Santos considered him seriously for a moment and then nodded slowly. "You should try being one of her friends," he replied and then turned and walked away.

Ranger watched him go and then waited for Santos to get in his own vehicle and drive away before doing the same.

#

The morning dawned bright and warm. Stephanie pulled her pillow over face, groaning miserably. It was as if the weather was spitefully reminding her that other people were happy and ready to enjoy the sunshine.

The storm front must have blown through in the night, and finally rolling out of bed to peer out the window, Stephanie saw that Trenton was sparkling and clean after a hard shower. Well, what passed for clean in Jersey, anyway.

Her digital clock said it was nine in the morning. No work today, but the prospect of the empty hours drove her into the bathroom to tame her hair and pull herself together. She had two skips that needed to be brought in and today was as good a day to get the job done as any.

Dressing in a pair of worn blue jeans, CAT boots, and a white tank top, Stephanie considered her reflection in the mirror.

Last night's crying had been quiet and her face didn't look like it had suffered too badly. She did the make-up thing, pulled her hair back into a messy knot and clipped her gun to her belt.

From the kitchen she heard the phone ring and went to check the caller ID as well as grab her cell phone, stun gun, and an extra ammo clip.

The phone's display said it was her mother. Shit.

Stephanie hadn't talked to her mother in almost three weeks. Studiously ignoring the phone calls and deleting any messages before listening to them, she had a pretty good idea what today's call would be about. As the machine clicked over to pick up the call, she wasn't disappointed.

"Stephanie, it's your mother." As if there was any doubt. "Why aren't you returning my calls? Are you eating? What about Friday dinner? I made chicken and pineapple upside-down cake but could you be bothered to show your face? No. Why do I have to have a daughter that chases criminals and works for them too?"

Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief as her mother disconnected. Pineapple upside-down cake sounded great, but Stephanie was so sick of defending her breakup with Joe as well as her career choice that she was willing to get her sugar fix from Boston Creams and TastyKakes for the foreseeable future.

What her mom didn't know was that Stephanie wasn't avoiding the whole family, just her. In fact, she thought as she checked the time once more, her dad was probably cruising in his cab right now. She could give him a call and see if he'd like to have a cup of coffee with her before she headed to the bonds office to pick up Lula. They'd been meeting for coffee most Saturday's since her incident with the buckshot.

She'd just finished clipping her gear to her belt when she heard the locks on the door tumble, indicating that someone was getting ready to enter her apartment. Morelli never came over without a phone call these days and Ranger wasn't exactly a welcome visitor with or without warning.

Drawing her gun, Stephanie moved quickly and quietly to the wall near the kitchen entry. Anyone passing wouldn't be able to see her until they'd either passed the kitchen or stepped into it.

The door opened and she heard clothing rustle as someone passed into the foyer. The door closed and locked quietly, as if whoever the intruder was didn't want to be heard. The clock on the stove said it was nine-thirty. Most people would assume she was still asleep.

Stephanie did the breathing exercises Bobby had taught her as part of her self-defense training, focusing the adrenaline in her body, stretching out her senses.

"Don't get ready," he'd told her, correcting the position of her feet, moving her hand. "Be ready."

A man stepped through the kitchen entry and Stephanie pressed the barrel of her gun against his temple. He froze.

Relief coursed through her like a river and Stephanie let her arms drop, clicking the safety as she relaxed.

"Fuckin' A, Les. You trying to get dead?" she demanded as she holstered her gun.

"Damn, Beautiful, you 'bout had me shitting my pants there for a second," he replied. He gave her an openly admiring look. "When did you get scary?"

The sudden adrenaline surge and subsequent let down left Stephanie feeling drained. She eyeballed the Tasty Pastry bag and coffee caddy in Lester's hands.

"That better be the reason you're here," she growled in response.

"Merry Men: We deliver," he answered, flashing her the mega-watt grin she'd become familiar with.

The man was entirely too enticing, she decided as she let her eyes wander over him. She raised her brows at him. "I love the skin trade."

"You're dirty," he laughed and placed the coffee and doughnuts on the counter.

Stephanie accepted a cup of coffee and a Boston Cream doughnut. "Only in appropriate company." She took a tentative sip of her coffee. Hot and strong. There was a dirty joke in there somewhere, too, she thought, but it was still too early with too little caffeine for her to crack it to Lester. He'd been awake longer and was lighter on his toes when it came to sexual innuendo and blatant flirting.

"Don't get me wrong," she began a moment later. "I'm glad you showed up, but what are you doing here?"

Lester finished taking a sip of his own java and considered her seriously.

Uh-oh, she thought. Lester serious, this must be bad. Maybe Ranger was angry at her for pointing a gun at him and telling him to get a new hobby. Maybe she was being shipped to Somalia. Her first thought was she should have had more sex. Maybe with Joe. She could have made him useful a few more times before getting sent somewhere that didn't have any sugar.

"We're worried about you," he stated finally.

"'We'?"

"The men." He hesitated, scrutinizing her face, but she was pulling the blank look and she could tell by his reaction that it was working. Nothing there. No hints.

"You wanna tell me about last night?"

Anger raced through Stephanie like an electric current. This was the part where she would have been in full-on rhino mode six months ago. The part where Italian temper and Hungarian volume would have gone on a rampage. That never worked with the Merry Men, though. If she wanted to be angry, she would have to 'stay frosty', as they so often said.

"Did Ranger send you here?" she asked, her voice deceptively calm.

Lester leaned back against the counter, crossing his legs at the ankles. "No. I sent me here. Like I said, we're worried about you."

The anger faded some and Stephanie mirrored Lester's stance. She couldn't decide if the day was getting better or worse, but she was ready to crawl back into bed at this point either way.

"And you got the short straw to come check on me?" she asked, suppressing sarcasm.

"Yes, actually, but the short straw was the one everyone wanted. I got lucky."

He was making it supremely difficult to hold on to the anger that had been coursing hot through her just a moment before. She smiled down at her coffee cup and then took a bite of her doughnut.

Gathering her thoughts she decided to answer his original question. "No, I don't really want to talk about last night."

"We know the boss has been following you around," he admitted, watching her face carefully.

She mulled over this. Of course they would know. Even Ranger's personal cars all had LoJack. She was a little surprised he didn't disable it when he was following her around, but then, he'd never cared what anyone thought of his actions before. It wasn't likely that he'd start now.

"I've caught him at it a few times over the last four months," she told him. "I never said anything." She studied his expression. "You talked to him? He told you about last night?"

Lester shrugged, took a bite of a doughnut. Obviously, Lester's body wasn't held to the same temple rules and regulations as Ranger's. "I tracked him down and asked him what was going on. He told me you'd made him in a parking lot and he'd almost gotten shot."

Stephanie snorted. "I wouldn't have shot him."

"What if you hadn't known it was him?" he queried.

"I would have asked him to step into the light, hands raised. I would have made my next step from there." She slumped slightly, feeling the weight of the past six months pressing hard on her shoulders.

"This is fucking ridiculous," she gritted out. "Why the hell is he stalking me?"

"That's what I asked him."

She raised a brow at him. "You used the word 'stalking'?"

Lester let out a little laugh. "Yeah." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "I know why I'd be stalking you."

"Now who's dirty?" Stephanie tried to glare at him, but the sexy grin on his face was making it hard for her to concentrate. "You know, you make it hard for a girl to stay in a shitty mood."

He moved away from the counter and tapped a finger on the end of her nose. "That's the idea." His slate green eyes softened, the laughter fading out of them. He shifted closer to her and Stephanie felt her breath hitch as his eyes dilated.

Whoa. Something was burning and she was pretty sure it was her. Time slowed and Stephanie realized she'd stopped breathing.

Lester sucked a deep breath in through his nose and stepped back, breaking the tension, a small smile on his lips.

"What are your plans today?" he asked, lifting his coffee for a sip.

Suppressing the edge to shake her head clear, Stephanie hid behind her own cup, taking a long pull. Maybe it was time to take up smoking; a cigarette sounded perfect. Nothing like a little self-destruction to keep your perspective. It had felt like he was going to kiss her and she wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that he hadn't.

Shoving those thoughts away, Stephanie met his gaze, not using the blank face, but definitely something more neutral than 'take off your pants'. Six months with nothing but the shower massager was obviously taking its toll.

"I've got a couple FTA's to bring in for Vinnie. Nothing that should be too difficult. I was going to have Lula run backup for me, but since you're here and don't look busy, maybe you'd like to help?"

Lester finished his doughnut and sucked a smudge of frosting off his thumb. Stephanie concentrated on not letting her eyes glaze over as she waited for his reply.

"Sure. You know where these skips are?" His eyes were zoned on her mouth and Stephanie realized she'd just licked her lips.

Oops. Control yourself, Plum, she admonished herself mentally before continuing. "Yeah, I did the legwork already." She headed for the living room to gain a little space and fetch the files from the coffee table where she'd left them, Lester following.

Stephanie picked up the files and flipped open the one on top. "Rodger Fulton, picked up for fourth degree assault. Says he's thirty-six and he got in a fight with his boss at Casey's Garage on Hamilton." She pulled the photo and handed it to Lester.

Fulton was five-foot-eleven, one-hundred and eighty pounds, and looked like a normal sort. No priors. His dark hair was cropped short and his brown eyes looked resigned in the mug shot.

"I'm guessing we're not going to find him at work, then," Lester hedged.

"No," Stephanie agreed. "His neighbor said he spends most his Saturday's at the park playing softball with a local auxiliary team. I thought I'd pick him up there."

"Sounds good. What about the other one?"

Stephanie shuffled Fulton and opened the other file. "Kermit Davenport. Apparently he was distributing prescription drugs to some of the local kids in his neighborhood. An angry parent found out and sicced the cops on him. Probably just forgot his court date."

"Where we gonna find him?"

"At home. The prescription drugs were given to him by a doctor. He worked construction and hurt his back. Probably selling the meds for bill money."

"Let's roll. I'll drive."

#

Ranger ducked and kicked out with left foot, catching Tank in the side of the knee. The larger man went down but used his downward momentum to knock Ranger's feet out from under him with a low sweep from his own left leg.

Ranger landed in a back tuck and sprang back to his feet just in time to block what would have been a punishing jab from one of Tank's sledgehammer fists.

"What's going on with you and Bomber?" Tanks asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet and leaping in for a strike.

Ranger turned the hit with a skillful block and another simultaneous strike from Tank's right before returning the attack.

"Nothing," he answered, his breathing only a little heavy despite the sweat on his skin.

They continued for a moment before Tank replied. "Then what's with the stalking routine?"

"Why the fuck are you all so interested in my business?" Ranger returned, punctuating his words with a rapid flurry of jabs and kicks.

Tank deflected him easily but let out a grunt when a kick tagged him in the side.

"We're not. We're interested in Stephanie's business."

Momentarily distracted, Ranger found himself blinking at the ceiling a moment later, the vivid reminder that Tank could hit really fucking hard throbbing in the side of his head.

Tank stood over him, expressionless. "What's going on, Rangeman?"

Ranger sat up slowly, shaking his head. He took Tank's proffered hand and was yanked to his feet, probably harder than was necessary.

"What makes you think anything's going on?" he asked, rubbing the side of his head. He was going to have a killer headache.

"Shit, I don't know. You never talk, she avoids you like the plague unless it's work related, you're following her but not spending any time with her…" he trailed off, eyeing Ranger shrewdly. "I could go on, but I think you know."

"You're reading too much into this."

"Bullshit. I don't know what you did to her, but I think you're regretting it now and can't get over yourself enough to fix it. She hasn't been with Morelli in months and you obviously have it bad, and it's no wonder. She's one-of-a-kind."

The rage was completely inappropriate, especially since Ranger knew that Tank was dead on. Stephanie had offered him something precious and he'd kicked her down. Now he was on edge, questioning his own motives and actions in a way he'd never felt necessary before, and his next words completely bypassed his brain on their way to his mouth.

"So you fuck her."

Screw a headache, he was going to have a concussion. A nuclear bomb went off in his head and he was face down on the mat. He couldn't remember ever being hit that hard.

He tried to push himself to his knees but Tank beat him to it, kneeling to grab him by the front of his sleeveless t-shirt and haul them nose-to-nose.

"That's disgusting," Tank growled, his tone dangerous. "I was gonna tell you to at least try and fix your friendship with her since you're too chickenshit to tell her you love her, but you don't deserve even that, and she deserves better."

Ranger could have caught himself if the other man had just let him go, but Tank threw him face first into the mat. Hard. A few mortars went off behind his lids and it took more effort than he would have thought to roll to his back.

Tank was out of the ring and walking away from him when he opened his eyes, groaning at the thundering in his skull. "She should have shot you," Tank called without looking back.

Ranger laid on the mat staring at the ceiling, thinking it probably would have been preferable to the beating he'd just taken.

#

"You have a concussion."

Ranger clenched his jaw to control the 'no shit' that wanted to leave his mouth but forced it to relax a second later. Even clenching his jaw made fireworks explode in his head.

Zero looked anything but sympathetic as he stepped back from checking Ranger's tracking with a penlight. He grabbed a bottle of migraine medicine from a cabinet and looked like he was going to toss it to Ranger but then thought better of it and handed it to him instead.

"You know the drill. You might as well go upstairs. I'll have someone check on you every hour or so."

From the barely restrained anger Zero was exhibiting Ranger figured he'd been watching the monitors when Tank decided to treat his head like a punching bag. Which meant he'd seen how Ranger had provoked it, as well. He wanted to be angry but it was hard when he knew their anger was a product of their protective feelings toward Stephanie.

Might as well get this over with. "Who else was watching the monitors?"

"Cal, Binkie, Junior, and Ram." Zero's eyes narrowed dangerously and Ranger really hoped he wasn't about to get decked in the head again. "That was low, dude. What if Bomber had been in the building?"

It wasn't often that Ranger felt remorse. He was also pretty sure he was feeling a nasty dose of shame. 'What if Bomber had been in the building?' That thought made him feel sick and he was certain it wasn't just the concussion responsible. He hung his head for a moment.

"You better figure out what you're doing with her, Boss. You're not the only one that's got it bad."

Ranger mentally cursed as his head shot up to meet Zero's gaze. Everything spun, but he managed to grit out, "What the hell does that mean?"

Zero shrugged, palms up, and left the room.

#

"Beautiful! You alright?"

Stephanie pushed the bulk of Kermit Davenport of her with a grunt and took Lester's hand. He pulled her to her feet and they both looked down at the incapacitated Davenport.

"Ouch," Stephanie said, rubbing her ribs.

Lester had gone around front and Steph had taken the back. Before Lester could even identify himself, Davenport's back door had flown open and the two-hundred-and-fifty-pound construction worker had barreled into her like a semi-truck.

They'd gone down hard, but Stephanie had been quick enough to get the stun gun off her belt and into Kermit's side before anything more damaging happened.

"You okay?"

Stephanie nodded and used her foot to roll Davenport onto his stomach so she could cuff him.

"Christ, it was like getting tackled by Tank. He moved good for a guy with a trashed back."

"He's a big guy," Lester agreed and hauled the skip to his feet. The guy was drooling and his eyes were rolling but he managed to keep his feet under him. "C'mon, buddy. This really isn't a big deal."

They walked back around to the front of the house and Stephanie waved at Kermit's duplex neighbors as Lester loaded the man into the back of the black Bronco.

Davenport was quiet on the trip to the police department and Lester was in the stereotypical RangeMan zone. Stephanie didn't mind, staring out the windshield and mentally identifying cars, only half aware that she, too, was in the zone.

She used to wonder why Ranger didn't talk when he was driving, but now she knew it was just another part of 'being aware'. It was easier to keep track of the other cars and maybe identify pedestrians that were FTA, or something else equally interesting, if you weren't running your mouth during a drive.

Lester parked the Bronco and they walked Davenport to the docket officer to collect Stephanie's body receipt.

Eddie Gazzara wandered up to her with a grin and she returned his smile.

"Look at you," he greeted her. "No garbage or anything. Things have really gotten dull around here without you to spice it up."

Stephanie didn't mind Eddie's ribbing. Unlike some of the other cops in the Trenton PD, he was pleased she wasn't the punch line of half the jokes in the department anymore.

"At least they still got you, Gazzara," she teased back and reached out to flick a speck of doughnut sugar off his uniform shirt.

"Someone's gotta give the fellas a laugh," he agreed. He acknowledged Lester with a nod. "Well, back to work."

"Take it easy, Eddie."

They headed back out into the parking lot and Stephanie was pleasantly surprised to see Morelli leaning against the Bronco. He looked good and more than a little disreputable with his hair needing a cut and a five o'clock shadow darkening his jaw even though it wasn't even noon yet.

"Hey, Cupcake," he called. He nodded at Lester and pushed off from the Bronco to greet her.

Joe enveloped her in a warm hug and Stephanie just let herself lean into him for a second. He smelled like coffee and a scent she recognized distinctly as his; warm, male, and sexy. Just because they were only friends didn't mean she didn't notice.

"What's up?" she said, pulling back.

"Heard you were here and thought I'd say hi. I was gonna head to Pino's for some subs. You guys wanna come?"

Stephanie looked at Lester.

"I could eat," he said.

Morelli smiled. "Great. Meet you guys there."

Stephanie gave him a little finger wave and unstrapped her flak vest. She tossed it into the back of the Bronco and then climbed in next to Lester. As they pulled out, she could see Morelli following in a Crown Vic that didn't look like it had any right running. There was an artistically rendered pig head sprayed on the hood and it didn't have any side-view mirrors.

They pulled into Pino's and Stephanie got out and eyeballed Joe's car with a little smile. "That's a nice paintjob," she said.

"Yeah, I'd recommend the shop that did it, but they were kind enough to do it anonymously and for free," Joe replied as they entered Pino's together.

Lester led them to a booth in the back and Stephanie slid into the seat facing the door. Lester sat next to her, his thigh warm against hers, and Joe sat across. They placed their orders and talked amiably for a few minutes as they waited for their food.

"How's bounty hunting?" Joe asked, taking a sip of his Coke after their food arrived.

"Can't complain. We got another skip to pick up at the park after this. Shouldn't be a problem." Stephanie took a bite of her sub and leaned forward just in time to miss catching a blob of sauce on her shirt.

Lester handed her a napkin and she wiped her mouth. "Thanks."

"And the RangeMan bit?"

"I almost got my shirt ripped off during a distraction job last week," she answered.

Lester laughed. He'd been there, running backup, and had seen the whole thing.

"Yeah? Tell me about it," Joe prodded, and she could see he was expecting something humorous. She had to admit, in hindsight it was pretty funny.

"Long story short, I was supposed to convince a guy in a theme bar to follow me out to the parking lot."

"The bar has a different theme every weekend," Lester added. "Last weekend it was Dungeons and Dragons."

Morelli raised a brow expectantly.

"You're not going to believe what the guy's name was," Lester continued.

"What?"

"Hawk Talondoom."

"You're kidding," Morelli laughed.

"No, no joke. He legally had his name changed," Stephanie picked up. "I get told I have to dress the part and the outfit I had to wear was so ridiculous I thought I was going to end up in the funny farm."

Lester eyeballed her appraisingly. "I don't know. I thought it was kinda hot."

Stephanie socked him in the shoulder. "You would. Anyway, I've got on thigh-high fuck-me-boots, and green leather shorts with a matching bustier, the whole thing topped off with a cape and, best part, a sword on my belt. I'll admit, the sword was kinda fun."

"What did you guys wear?" Joe asked Lester.

"Stereotypical warrior wear. It was like going to a Lord of the Rings convention or something.

"So, Bomber comes in looking like the Elf Queen and spots Talondoom," here he broke off to laugh. "Fuck, I can't even say that name without cracking up."

They were all grinning now, subs momentarily forgotten. "I spot the guy and strike up a conversation. He's going on about point levels and ogling my goodies while I'm trying not to let on that I haven't got a clue when there's a screech like something out of a horror movie," Stephanie continued.

"Steph turns and there's some crazy broad dressed up like Xena: Warrior Princess. She's got a plastic sword and she's yelling something about elf sluts trying to take her man and then she starts hacking at Stephanie."

"I managed to disarm Xena, but not before she got a hold of my bustier and yanked the front down in front of the whole bar. After Talondoom got a look at the goods he'd been eyeballing it wasn't hard to convince him I needed a shoulder to lean on and help to my car."

"Sorry I missed that," Joe laughed. "And I really mean it."

"I love running distraction gigs with the Bombshell," Lester agreed.

"You just liked getting to ogle my tits," Stephanie accused and Lester shrugged.

"Your point?"

"That's all I got."

"They're good tits," Joe added and waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Why me?" Stephanie moaned, looking to the sky.

They finished their lunch, Joe adding to the humorous mood with a story of Bob crapping out shoelaces that didn't belong to any shoes he recognized and a pink, plastic Easter egg right in front of Grandma Bella at his niece's birthday party.

"Gives a whole new meaning to holy shit," Lester commented.

"I think it might have still had candy in it," Joe speculated.

"How do you know?" Stephanie gasped, laughing too hard to catch her breath.

Joe looked a little sheepish as he answered, "I shook it when I scooped it up, but there was no way I was cracking it open to look."

Stephanie wiped tears of mirth away from her eyes with a sigh and sat back in the booth, folding her hands over her stomach.

"This was fun," she commented.

"Yeah," Joe agreed. He checked his watch. "Shit, I gotta run. Walk me out?"

Lester slid out of the booth and helped Stephanie up.

Joe tossed a few bills on the table. "My treat." He winked at Stephanie and offered her his arm.

They left Pino's, Lester following behind.

Joe and Lester slapped hands and pounded their knuckles together in a manly gesture Stephanie was now familiar with and often called on to perform herself working with so many men on a daily basis.

Lester climbed into the Bronco, giving her and Morelli a moment of privacy.

Morelli turned her to face him and tucked a curl that had come loose from her knot behind her ear.

"How you doin', Cupcake?"

Just like that the pain was back. She'd been able to forget it for most of the day, and lunch had shoved it way back, but Morelli's chocolate eyes saw deep and he knew her well.

"Shit, I'm sorry," he said and gathered her into a hug.

Stephanie buried her face in Joe's chest and took a deep shuddering breath. He held her for a moment, letting her collect herself.

"That good, huh?" he said when she finally met his gaze again.

She shrugged noncommittally. "He follows me around but I can't even remember the last time we talked about anything other than work. Ranger's not exactly Mr. Communication, but even talking about work he says as little as possible." She made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. "I don't know what the fuck to do, so I just do the blank face." She demonstrated and Joe knuckled her under the chin.

"Damned good at it, too. Bet it's driving him fuckin' batty." He winked. "Pun intended."

Stephanie couldn't help but laugh.

She gave him the short version of the previous night's confrontation and Joe turned serious.

"Listen, Cupcake, Ranger's crazy. Even more than I thought if he's following you around and pretending it has nothing to do with the way he feels about you. I think he's doing this because he's in love with you and too scared to shelve his own insecurities about commitment."

"I wish he'd pull his head out of his ass and at least treat me the way he used to. I feel like I've lost my best friend."

"And what am I? Chopped liver?"

"One of my best friends," she amended and gave him a squeeze.

"Don't give up, Steph. Ranger's being dense, but he's a smart man and I think he'll figure it out. Until then-," Joe looked past her to Lester sitting patiently in the Bronco, "maybe you should go out on a date."

Stephanie grimaced. "I'll think about a date, but maybe not with Lester. I think he might be in it for more than the jealousy factor."

"Whatever you do, keep your chin up." He checked his watch again and frowned. "I really gotta go."

Stephanie went up on tip-toe and kissed his stubble roughened jaw. "Go catch some bad guys."

Joe dropped a kiss on her forehead and stepped back. "Take it easy, Cupcake."

"Joe?" she called, just before he slid into his car. He halted, looking at her expectantly. "Thanks."

"No problem. I'll call you in a couple days."

She waved goodbye and slid into the passenger seat next to Lester as Morelli pulled out of the lot.

Lester winked at her and started the SUV. "Ready for a take-down?"

"I was born ready."

They both laughed at the cheesy line and headed toward the park.

#

YO: So, no Diesel, and I'm still undecided about him making an appearance. If it happens, it'll be naturally and it really will be a cameo. We'll see if it fits in with the story.

Ranger got concrete evidence that his little stalking routine hasn't gone unnoticed by anyone and even more evidence that the Merry Men will protect her, even from him. Did he have the concussion coming, you think?

I can't wait to hear what you all think of this chapter. Still not sure what's going to happen next, but I promise, the Happily-Ever-After will be good and the smut will be explosive.