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Chapter Four

I woke up the next morning wrapped in Ranger's arms. I'd started the night out in a tee shirt and panties, but around three he'd woken me up in the best possible way – his mouth on my promised land, making me forget my own name. We'd spent the next two hours worshipping each other's bodies, and even though I was trying to keep my distance until I'd figured out who we were as a couple, and who he was beyond Ranger the Bad Ass, I couldn't bring myself to say no to the look in his eyes.

Sex with Ranger was out of this world. Always. He could wring an orgasm or six from me without hardly touching me, and when he touched me… well, it kind of made my world stop. It's like he had majored in How To Worship Stephanie's Body and graduated top of his class. I'd never felt as good as I did with him, and that was saying something because Morelli was no slouch.

A lot of times, with Morelli, I think what we did was fuck. We scratched an itch, and we loved each other, but our sexual life was rarely sweet. It was hard, and it was comfortable, but it wasn't making love. He'd never taken the time to love my body. He'd taken the time to prepare it, and make sure I was pleasured for sure. But it wasn't the love that Ranger gave me.

Even when we were fucking hard and fast, even when it was quick and sudden and I ended up with bruises on my body from where his hands gripped me too tight, with Ranger it felt loving.

"What are you thinking about, Babe?" He mumbled sleepily into my shoulder.

"Sex with Morelli," I answered without thinking.

He stiffened behind me and then rolled out of bed. Fuck.

"Wait, wait! That came out wrong, Ranger."

He looked over at me, pulling his cargos on, "there's not much right with thinking of sex with another man when you're in bed with your husband."

"Ugh. I was thinking of the differences," I told him. His eyes had that hard glint to them that I usually didn't see when we were alone, so I hurried on with my explanation, "I was thinking of how no matter rough you and I get, no matter how hard it is, how hurried I always feel loved… I didn't feel like it was ever making love with Morelli, Ranger. Only with you…"

His eyes softened at that, and he seemed to accept it.

"That's because I do love you. That's the difference. I love you, Stephanie. I have to get to work soon, okay? I'll see you later, Babe."

Aw shit. I'd hurt Batman's feelings. I hadn't meant to, but once again my dumb mouth got me into trouble. I decided I wasn't ready to face today and went back to sleep.

When I woke up a few hours later, I decided it was too late to bother with work. Instead, as a sign I wanted to try to make this work with Ranger, I put away the clothes we'd bought yesterday in his closet. Having clothes there that I placed by choice, not that Ella placed, showed I was willing to try to make this work right?

I wrote a note for Ranger that I was going out for the day but that I would be back to take him out for dinner. I called Ella after that to let her know she didn't need to cook for him, and to ask her recommendation on a nicer place to eat.

She recommended The Place, an upscale restaurant about an hour out of Trenton with a limited but classical and healthy menu. It was cooked for and owned by a Gordon Ramsay protégé and I was excited to try it even if I wasn't into health food. Ranger was and tonight was about him, especially because of my faux pas this morning.

I headed to my apartment and fed my hamster, Rex. I perused my closet for something to wear that would be more elegant than my distraction wear but still sexy. I didn't want something I'd worn for Joe, either. I finally found it in the back of my closet. It was a gray sheath dress that came to my knees. It clung in all the right places, and it had a v-neck that didn't show much cleavage. It covered my shoulders and had lace sleeves down the arms, and when I wore it I felt beautiful.

I paired it with the pearl choker Grandma Mazur gave me for my birthday a few years ago, and the matching earrings. I did my hair up very simple in a half updo, with waves rather than curls hanging down, I wore lower heels than I usually did because I wasn't going for a take me to bed look tonight.

Tonight I wanted to be about showing Ranger I was committed to learning more about him, to decide if I truly wanted to stay in the marriage. Yes, I love him, and yes, he loves me. But marriage is more than that. There's all these different things you have to be at least somewhat compatible in to make a marriage work. To make living a life together work.

Joe and I loved each other, but we argued. And argued. And argued. We'd cohabited his house several times and it doesn't always work the way it should. Living with Ranger was something I'd never really done. Sure there was the slayer incident, and there was the random times over the years I had stayed with him but I had never really lived with him, and before I could commit to even trying that I wanted us to learn about one another.

When I went to pick him up for our date, I thought about the things I wanted us to talk about. I knew we were both catholic raised, and I knew he'd grown up in Newark and Miami. He had a sister named Celia and other sisters and brothers. He'd gone to Juvie and he had a daughter who I thought was a pretty awesome person.

There were other things though. I know I could assume his favorite color was black, but I wanted to know for sure. What was his favorite food. Favorite childhood memory. These were things I should know, right? As a wife.

I stopped off at the local florists and I got Ranger a bouquet of flowers. I was going to woo him tonight, and I knew I needed to bring flowers to woo my man. I also grabbed some fruit from the farmers market. Normal people like chocolate, but Ranger isn't normal. He likes roots and grass and weird shit like that. Like salads.

I fobbed my way to the seventh floor and knocked on the door. He opened it wearing a black dress shirt open at the collar, with a sports jacket and dark grey slacks. He smiled when he saw me, and I handed him the flowers and fruit.

"These are for you."

He laughed out loud and kissed me lightly on the lips when he took them.

"Just let me grab my keys and I'll be ready to go, Babe."

I drove his car because it was nicer than mine, but it was my date and I was leading it. When we arrived at The Place I told the hostess we had reservations under Manoso and she immediately sat us. I selected a wine, even though I knew nothing about it, and Ranger and I ordered.

"I decided I'd like to maybe try to see where getting to know each other takes us. I'd like it to take us to living together before I decide for sure what it is I want. I know that might not be fair, but I feel like I don't know enough about who you are and what made you who you are to make that decision right now."

He nodded and looked into my eyes, "I understand that, Stephanie. I'd like to start by you trying to call me Carlos. It's my name, Babe."

That was going to be weird, but I'd give it my best shot.

"Okay, Carlos. Tell me about your favorite food."

And he did. He answered every question I had. The night was perfect all the way until we got back into Trenton. He had held my hand through the drive, and I'd let him drive the car home. I had planned on staying with him on seven instead of returning to my apartment, and we had just pulled into Trenton city limits when a car screeched through an intersection and t-boned us.

Ranger's Porsche was well equipped to handle being t-boned since he had all his cars reinforced with bulletproof glass. His Porsche wasn't equipped to handle being t-boned twice, though, and right after the car t-boned us, so did a huge delivery truck. The car had gone into the drivers side, and the truck into the passenger side. The airbags deployed, and the car crunched, and all I could feel was pain everywhere. Blood dripping down my face from where I must have hit my head.

I was so fuzzy, and everything was happening in a weird sort of time. Ranger trying to talk to me, and the paramedics showing up the next second, and then suddenly being in the hospital with nurses running and screaming over me.

I hoped I'd be alright. I was just going to take a little nap now, though.

My last thought before slipping under was that I hoped Carlos was okay.