I do not own JE's characters, I just like to play with them. This will be my collection of one shots highlighting ways that Stephanie could break free of Morelli and break up with him. I have about twenty chapters already planned, but none of them will be related unless it is by a request. I will take some suggestions. Just let me know what you think.

And now onto the way Steph breaks free of Morelli:


#4 After She was the Last to Know

Stephanie POV

"Girl you are gonna knock that man's socks off in that little black dress!" I was shopping with Lula and for once I had finally taken her advice. We were at a boutique that she said had dresses for all sizes, even her bodacious body and she was right.

This dress was strapless and had a tight corset bodice and a hem that came to just above my knees. It was almost backless. Oh, calm down, I have a little coat that I will wear with it. It is silver and shimmery. I had my hair done at Mr. Alexander's and we had found the perfect silver silver sparkly 6" sandals that looked like princess shoes.

What is the occasion you ask? It was the Annual Law Enforcement Ball this weekend. On Monday, I had asked Joe what we should do this weekend and Joe had casually mentioned that he was going to an event Saturday night. Then I had received an invitation to the event with a rose. When I asked Joe about it, he denied it and hung up on me. He was being so nonchalant about it.

When I told Lula, she said maybe he was too busy to get excited about it and that all of the men usually wore the same black suits so how could they get hyped about it. Then she grabbed me and instead of looking for Petey Newcomb, a shoplifting FTA, we were dress shopping. It had taken us three days to find this dress.

"Thanks, Lu. I like this dress, too. Thank you for talking me into this." She shakes her head at me.

"Girl, please. You are my girl! I had to make sure you would be lookin tight for the ball on some fairy godmother shit. Now go home and relax tonight. Tomorrow, eat small meals and do that facial I told you about with the oatmeal and the honey. It will look crazy, but you will have a glow and be delicious at the same time." I laughed and hugged her.

On my way to drop her off, we saw Petey and Lu took off running and tackled him and when I caught up to them, she was sitting on him and he was begging her to get off of him. I let her keep the capture money since I had picked up all of my other FTAs this week.

I went home feeling good. It was strange that I had received another rose with the message, "I can't wait to see you." I smiled. Joe was finally treating me with romance. Maybe my mother was right. It would excuse the fact that we had not even had pizza in a month and he had been undercover for a month before that. Whatever. My dress fits me better because of it.

At 7pm on the day of the ball, I was dressed and ready. My hair had even behaved. It was a Cinderella miracle. Lula had called me and asked if I was okay and I said yes. She said that she would come over with some oreos and vodka and I had laughed her off the phone. She was so silly. Mary Lou even called and asked me if I wanted her to get a sitter and some tee pee. I said no thank you. What was with my friends? There was a knock on the door and I rushed to answer it.

I opened the door to a wet dream. Why was Ranger standing outside my door with a silver rose and wearing a yummy black Armani suit with a silver and black vest? I was literally struck dumb.

"You look so pretty, Babe. Are you ready?" Say what now? I stepped back to let him inside and he came in and closed the door. He grabbed my wrap and helped me into it.

"Ranger, what is going on?" He smiled at me and kissed me gently.

"Babe, I sent you an invitation and roses. I was hoping that you would be my date. Tank said that Lula told him you went dress shopping. She would not describe the dress, though. You really look amazing."

I was still so confused. I looked at my watch and it was now 7:15pm. Where was Joe?

Ranger looked blank faced suddenly. "Stephanie, Morelli is taking Miranda Wilkes to the ball. I thought you knew that. They have been seeing each other for almost three months now." What?!

Has it been that long since I have really seen Joe? The last time we even hung out was to have pizza and beer to watch a game and then instead of inviting me upstairs, he told me he had to get up early and I left. Had he really been dating someone else and never told me? That creep!

All of this time, I have been going around thinking he was busy and undercover I even made his excuses to my mother! I felt something give way and I think it was my denial. With that gone, I realized that I am officially over Joseph Morelli. Who needs a man that did not even break up with me before he started seeing someone else. All this time!

"Babe, you are growling. Calm down. I really thought you knew. If you are not feeling up to attending this event, we can go and have dinner somewhere else. You do not deserve to be treated like he treated you, Steph. Let me show you how a real man treats a woman he loves." Whew! I looked around, but I was still in my living room and not heaven. Did Ranger just say he loves me?

I lock eyes with him and he is still smiling. I smile back at him. This was so great! My phone rang and the answering machine gets it. "Stephanie, this is your mother. I hope that you are happy! Joseph is seeing another woman and now he will probably marry her. He was your last chance, Stephanie. You will be a spinster with a house full of cats! This is all your fault! I told you to learn to cook!" The machine cuts her off. Wow. She has no faith in me, but that is a neurosis for another day.

Ranger took my hand. "Babe, are you okay?" I grinned at him and kissed him gently.

"Yes, Ranger, I am okay and I want to go to the ball with you. I am so glad that you asked me to go. This dress deserves to be gawked at and I really want to dance with you."

"Will you wear this necklace? Lula did say that the dress was black."

He handed me a silver sparkly necklace that probably had diamonds on it. I was staring at the wonder woman symbol that would fit nicely into my cleavage. He helped me to put it on and I kissed his cheek. I loved this man. He was perfect! Ranger smiled and escorted me to the waiting limousine. Wow again.

At the ball, Ranger took off my little coat and we entered the event. The hotel ballroom looked amazing and we stopped to have our pictures taken. We were mingling with guys Ranger knew from the DEA when Morelli walked up to us with his date. She was wearing a fire engine red dress that had a split from her thigh to the floor. Her hair was up and her dress was also strapless. She needed straps, though, because she was one sneeze away from setting the girls free.

Ranger had an arm around me caressing my back and I was leaning into him. We turned from our conversation to greet Morelli and his date, Mary? Mira? What was her name again?

"Hello, Cupcake. This is my fiancé, Miranda Wilkes. Miranda, this is Stephanie Plum." No he did not still call me Cupcake!

"Hello, Joseph. This is my boyfriend, Carlos Manoso. Carlos, you remember Joseph Morelli. You helped me to clear his name when he was wanted for murder a few years back." Heh heh. Take that!

Ranger kissed my cheek and shook hands with Morelli for show and he smiled at… Marsha?...and she went into a daze. I know how you feel, sister. Morelli started turning colors.

"I did not expect you to attend this event, Cupcake. It is for real Law Enforcement personnel." Wow. He is catty like a woman. Why was I ever with someone like him? Ranger took that moment to run his thumb across my back and I shivered and leaned into him further.

"Carlos, behave!" He kissed my mouth gently. Time to wrap this up so we can get a drink because Batman packs a punch, ladies.

I turned my attention back to Morelli who was not pleased at our interaction. "You know that I have a 93% capture rate for my FTAs, Morelli. I have helped you close quite a few cases. Anyway, Carlos is my date, so between the two of us, it was a given that I would be here. You have a nice night and congratulations to you and Maria on your engagement. You must have left your ring at home to be safe, huh? Well, that is silly with all of the cops here tonight. Enjoy your evening. I know I will."

And with that, I let Ranger, no Carlos lead me to our table. As he seated me, I saw that Morelli was roughly pulling his little fiancé across the room. Poor Marianne. That could have been me. What the hell was I thinking?