Ranger led me over to his Porsche Cayenne, leaving the Turbo for Tank to return to Rangeman. That would explain the phone call and Tank's brief visit to the office. The Cayenne would have more room to bring in skips.
Ranger and I each shuffled through our FTA files and selected the ones we'd go after first. There were three high bonds for Ranger and four low bonds for me. My stomach growled.
"Feel like breakfast?" Ranger asked me. I just raised an eyebrow, as if he even had to ask. "How about I cook you breakfast this morning?"
I grimaced. "Not one of your awful shakes."
Ranger grinned. "No, Babe, I know you better than that. Come on, I'll make you a breakfast fit for the Bat Babe."
My heart did a flip as Ranger steered the Cayenne in the direction of Rangeman.
I noticed that the Turbo hadn't yet returned when we parked in the garage. Tank was probably enjoying some Lula time. There were several black SUV's that were used by Rangeman staff, and Ranger's other personal vehicles were parked in his spaces.
"Babe, why don't you go on up to the seventh floor and wait for me. I'm going to make a quick stop at the control room to check in."
I used my own key fob to gain admittance to the penthouse. Ranger had given me the keys when I worked at Rangeman a while back, and I still used them occasionally. I dropped my keys in the tray on the entry table and made myself at home in his apartment. Okay, I made myself very at home. I knew Ranger would probably be at least half an hour catching up in the control room, so I stripped down to my panties and slipped into his heavenly bed. I have a history with Ranger's bed. Actually, I have more of a history with Ranger's bed than I do with Ranger.
I snuggled into the coolness of the thousand threadcount sheets, breathed in the lingering smell of Ranger and slipped off to sleep. Some time later, I was awakened by the smell of something wonderful. I could have sworn it was bacon, but I knew better than to think Ranger would cook bacon in his own kitchen.
Ranger entered the bedroom, silent as a cat, and prowled his way up the bedsheets. He stretched himself out beside me and kissed me.
"You up? Your breakfast is ready. And if you don't get out of this bed, I'm going to eat my breakfast right here."
I jumped up and threw back the covers. I had forgotten that I was wearing only my underwear and scrambled to cover myself back up. Too late, though, since Ranger's eyes had already darkened with desire.
"Maybe just an appetizer," he growled, and he slipped his hand under the covers while he placed whisper-soft kisses on my lips. He let his fingers barely graze my skin in a long, lazy line from my collarbone to my waist.
"Oh God, Ranger. I thought you told Joe you wouldn't make love to me. What about your pact?"
"I told Joe I wouldn't do the cha-cha with you. I know lots of dances besides the cha-cha. And most of those dances can make you very happy, Babe."
"But what about you, Ranger? I can't keep all the happiness to myself. It's not fair to you if we don't do the cha-cha."
"I can show you how to dance for me, too."
At this point, I was ready to agree to anything. I had waited for Ranger so long, and it didn't seem fair to deny him after he had taken the risk to share his feelings. He seemed to grasp my acquiescence, because he pulled me closer and deepened his kiss. And then, he let his tongue do a tap dance all over my body. He even went for an encore.
When Ranger had danced to his heart's content, I returned the favor. Well okay, the pleasure was as much mine as his. It isn't often that a girl gets to experience such perfection first-hand. His body took my breath away. Technically, we didn't do the cha-cha, but we did do some very dirty dancing.
Afterwards I lay in bed extremely satisfied. Ranger nudged me and reminded me that my breakfast was getting colder by the minute. When I couldn't move, he wrapped my naked body in his sheet and carried me to the table. He warmed my breakfast in the microwave – I was right about the bacon, but it was turkey bacon, an omelet, fresh fruit, whole wheat toast, and orange juice, all of which I ate while moaning with pleasure.
As I was eating, there was a brief knock at the door and Tank walked in. I pulled the sheet tighter around my body and caught him staring at me, looking guilty for walking in on my state of undress.
"Hi, Tank," I said.
Tank cleared his throat. "Uh, Hi Steph."
"Speak," Ranger barked at him, and Tank snapped his eyes away from my sheet.
"Boss, I need to talk to you about Jeanne Ellen…she's downstairs in the control room."
Ranger cut him off. "I'll be downstairs in ten." He looked over at me. "Make that twenty."
Tank's mouth turned up slightly at the corner and he turned on his heel and left.
"What's up with Jeanne Ellen?" I tried to keep the jealousy out of my voice, but Ranger raised an eyebrow and appraised me.
"I'm not exactly sure. She's going through some personal stuff right now and she's in a slump. I'm going to offer her some help," Ranger replied. He got up from the table as if to signify the conversation was over.
I knew I couldn't lay claim to Ranger, since I was technically keeping two boyfriends at once, but I still felt a little green-eyed over their former relationship. Well, a lot green-eyed. I looked down at my green eggs and didn't think I could finish my breakfast.
"I'm going to take a shower," I told Ranger.
"I'll help." God help me.
After Ranger had lathered me up in his shower gel and made sure every inch of me was clean, he left me to dress at my leisure. I checked his closet and noticed my black uniforms hanging there. I thought of Jeanne Ellen, and all of a sudden I felt like wearing my Rangeman black. Lucky me, I found the tight shirt that left part of my middle exposed.
I tamed my hair, swiped on plenty of mascara for courage, and wandered down to the fifth floor. Ranger's office door was closed – I assumed he was in there with Jeanne Ellen – so I grabbed a bottle of water out of the breakroom fridge and went to see who was in the control room.
I was greeted by hoots and catcalls. Lester shot me a big grin and when he saw my skimpy shirt, announced the entrance of Rangeman Barbie.
"What's been going on, guys?" I slowly twisted the cap off my water bottle and brought it to my lips. I took a sip and licked my lips to wet them. "Who's with Ranger in his office?"
My mini-distraction worked. All eyes were on me, which left me free to scan the monitors without appearing to snoop. I knew that Ranger's office wasn't monitored, but I was hoping to find something to appease my green-eyed monster. I saw nothing interesting, with the exception of a still frame of me riding the elevator down in my skimpy shirt.
Lester's expression turned sheepish when he saw my eyes on the still frame. "He's in there with Jeanne Ellen. Um, not to change the subject or anything, but what's this I hear about you with two boyfriends? You up to a third? Because I could help you out with that…Looks to me like you could use some more satisfaction."
The noise level in the control room dropped to dead quiet and a hand made contact with the base of my neck.
"Enough," growled Ranger's voice from right behind my left ear. I could feel his breath tickle the hairs on the back of my neck. "Lester, I need you on surveillance duty tonight. I'll give Tank the details. Babe." Ranger's hands wrapped around my exposed midriff and he steered me out of the control room.
Ranger glanced down at my clothes and he raised his eyebrow at me. I gave him an innocent look.
"What? I felt like being yours today."
"I like the sound of that, Babe. You're driving me crazy. You're driving my men crazy." And from the looks of Jeanne Ellen Burrows standing in front of me, I was driving her crazy, too. She didn't look very happy. Her eyes were narrowed to little slits, which were focused on my navel. She let her eyes travel upwards over my tight shirt and looked at me in the eyes.
"Stephanie," she said. Jeanne Ellen came from the Ranger school of using very few words.
"Jeanne Ellen," I said back. Two could play at this game. She was dressed in black, as usual.
"Babe, we're having some problems with a high profile client. I'm sending you and Jeanne Ellen out together to work the FTA files we picked up this morning while I smooth things over. Take the Cayenne." He passed me the keys.
"Wonderful," I said. Just fucking wonderful. At least it was better than Ranger going out with Jeanne Ellen himself.
I turned to Jeanne Ellen. "I'm going to run up to Ranger's apartment to grab my stuff. I'll meet you down in the garage." She nodded and disappeared.
Ranger looked slightly amused at my angry glare. "Babe, like you said, at least it's better than me going out with her myself."
"I said that out loud?"
"Yep."
Shit.