SOLDIER

Chapter Six

I woke up feeling completely rested. I looked at the clock and jumped when I saw that it was already eleven in the morning. I thought it was weird that Lester hadn't called. I picked up my portable phone off of the nightstand and checked the call history. Apparently he had called. I must have been sleeping like the dead. I wrapped myself in my completely unsexy, ultra-comfortable terry cloth robe and padded out to the living room to find my answering machine flashing. I hit play and smiled when I heard his voice.

"Hey, beautiful, I hope you're sleeping well. I had to run to the office for a few hours. Jase is downstairs watching the building. Call me when you're up."

I was getting ready to call his cell phone when I heard my bathroom door open. I froze in place, turning slowly to look.

A man I had never seen before was standing before me wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. I was still holding the phone so I gripped it like a weapon and held it over my head, ready to take a swing at him if I needed to. The phone was probably not my best choice of weapons, considering my gun was sitting in the cookie jar on the counter right next to me. But I didn't know if it had any bullets in it. Besides, I figured I could hit him over the head with the phone and, if that didn't work, maybe I could dial 911.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked. His dark skin was covered with tiny beads of water and, from the well-defined muscles that covered his body, my first instinct told me he must be a RangeMan…the muscles and the fact that he was drop dead gorgeous. He had piercing brown eyes and a smile that could light up a room. Wait a second, why is he smiling? I felt myself relax a bit, even though I should have been scared out of my wits. I was scared, but something told me I could trust him. The towel barely covered him and I was fairly certain he wasn't carrying concealed at the moment.

"Hey, Steph. I'm Jase," he said closing the distance between us and offering his hand. With my suspicions that he was a Merry Man confirmed, I allowed myself to breath. But that still didn't change the fact that he was inside my apartment, and had taken a shower in my bathroom. I wasn't going to let him off so easily. I stood my ground, phone at the ready, and ignored his offered hand.

"What are you doing here and why are you wearing my towel?"

"I was out all night and didn't have a chance to go home to take a shower. I hope you don't mind, I used the last of your shampoo." I shot him a dirty look, to which he just laughed.

"Lester said you're here to keep an eye on my building. How's that going?" I asked sarcastically.

"Not bad," he shrugged. "Could use a new hot water heater. The damn thing didn't last more than thirty minutes." Thirty minutes? He used the last of my shampoo and all of my hot water! Argh!

He turned and walked over to the couch where his clothes were lying. He dropped the towel and I got a good look at everything before he pulled on his cargo pants. The only thought that entered my head was 'daaaaamn!'

"You got any food? I'm starving," he asked as he raised the zipper on his pants. He may be hot, but he's annoying as hell.

"You may as well check for yourself, you've already made yourself at home here," I said as I retreated to my bedroom to call Lester. I heard Jase laughing behind me. Ha! I thought to myself. I hope you like hamster food, 'cuz that's all I got!

I dialed the number and he picked up on the first ring.

"Santos."

"Plum."

"Mornin', hotstuff, you doing okay?"

"I'm fine. Do you want to tell me about the huge naked guy that just got out of my shower?"

He started laughing. "I take it you've met Jase."

"Yeah, I met him…a lot of him." Not that I'm exactly complaining. I mean, c'mon, I'm not blind. Well, I might be if I see him naked one more time.

"Was he walking around without his clothes on again?" he asked, not sounding the least bit surprised.

"He had a towel on most of the time."

"Hmm, he must have been trying to make a good impression. He's not usually the modest type."

"You call wearing only a towel around a stranger's apartment modest?"

"For him it is."

Oh, great. I have a nudist in my living room. It could be worse, I thought. At least he's nice to look at, as long as he doesn't open his mouth.

"Listen, beautiful, I'm going to be stuck here for the next couple hours. I'll be by around 2:00. I believe you agreed to spend the evening with me." 2:00 isn't exactly evening, but I wasn't about to argue. It's evening somewhere in the world, right?

"I can't wait. How's the surprise coming?"

"Wouldn't you like to know. I just need you to be ready at 2:00. Wear something casual. I gotta go now. I'll see you soon. If you go anywhere, take Jase and try not to strangle him, please."

I made no promises.

Figuring the water should be heated by now, I headed for the bathroom and rummaged under the sink for the extra bottle of shampoo I always keep. I have a bad habit of running out of things like this when I need them, so I always buy in bulk. The cabinet underneath my sink looks like the toiletry aisle at CVS. I stripped my clothes and got under the water. I made sure to shave thoroughly. Have to be prepared for anything, I thought to myself with a smile. I took my time getting ready. He said casual, so I decided on a nice pair of jeans and a fitted white blouse with a matching camisole with lace trim underneath. I put on makeup and added gel to my hair, scrunching it into nice, soft curls.

With time to spare, I decided I couldn't avoid Jase forever, so I went to the living room to join him. He was asleep on my couch and he was still shirtless. He had pulled the blanket from the back of the couch over the lower half of his body and I found his pants thrown across the back of a chair. Thank goodness for the blanket, I thought.

I headed for the kitchen in hopes that something had miraculously appeared in my refrigerator. I blinked twice when I saw the pizza box that hadn't been there earlier. Maybe Jase isn't so bad after all, I thought as I pulled it out and threw a couple slices in the microwave. Thirty seconds later, I grabbed my plate and a glass of water (not by choice, I just didn't have any other options) and headed for my miniscule dining room. I stopped in my tracks when I saw, sitting on the middle of the dining room table, an enormous bouquet of stargazer lilies. They were beautiful and it just so happens that these are my favorite flowers. There was only one person that these could be from…flowers definitely weren't Scully's style. But I don't remember telling Lester that these were my favorite. How did he know?

I grabbed the card and my heart skipped when I read what was written.

One day I met a beautiful woman with big blue eyes and curly brown hair who dreamed of flying.

And ever since, all I've wanted to do is make her dreams come true.

I sank into one of the dining room chairs and blinked back tears from my eyes. No one had ever said anything so beautiful to me before. To think that Lester could be so romantic just made me want him even more. I sat there reading the card over and over until I was snapped out of my reverie.

"Oh, good, you got your flowers. Some guy dropped those off along with a pizza while you were in the shower. It's a good thing, too, I was about to gnaw my arm off I was so hungry. You need to go to the grocery store in a bad way. So, who's the secret admirer?"

I turned around to say something biting, but completely lost my train of thought.

"Oh for Christ's sake, Jase, put some pants on!"

"Huh?" he asked looking down at himself. "Oh, sorry, habit. It doesn't bother you does it?" he asked as he started to take a seat next to me.

"Jase, pants, now!" I yelled. He stopped his downward movement just before his bits and pieces hit the seat and I breathed a sigh of relief. He came back in a few minutes later fully dressed and helped me finish off the pizza. When he took the last slice without offering it to me first, I contemplated strangling him, but then I remembered Lester asked me not to do that. It was probably the only thing that kept me from trying.

A little while later Lester showed up and I had never been so relieved to see someone in my life. He looked really good in his faded blue jeans and pale blue button-down shirt, which, to my amazement, was tucked in. It was as dressed up as I'd ever seen him. Not that he usually looked bad. He always looked good, but in a relaxed, casual sort of way. Either that or he was completely decked out in swat black. The casual thing fit him, though. I couldn't even imagine him in a suit, though I have a feeling he'd be devastatingly handsome.

"Hey, Steph," he said by way of greeting. His lips quirked into his trademark crooked smile and I felt my face flush. Then the blank face slid into place as he nodded to Jase. Instantly, he was all business. Jase gave Lester a status update while I listened in. It didn't sound like there was much new information, so I only half paid attention. After a while, Jase was excused and, I could only assume, he left to go antagonize some other innocent person. I liked seeing Lester in charge. Usually, Ranger was the one giving orders, which makes sense because it is his company, but Lester would probably be fourth-in-command behind Tank and Bobby, and that was only because, at 29 years, he was the youngest of the four. It was cool to see how much respect the other employees have for him. Jase behaved like a completely different person when Lester got here. I don't think Jase would've had the guts to use all of Lester's shampoo, I thought bitterly.

As soon as Jase pulled the door shut behind him, Lester turned to me and the blank face was replaced with a warm smile. He leaned down and brushed a kiss on my cheek and said, "You look amazing."

I felt my face turn red again.

"Thanks. You do, too. Thank you for lunch and the flowers. They're beautiful. How did you know stargazer lilies are my favorite?"

"I didn't. Their name just reminded me of you. I'm glad you like them." Oh, my God! Internal scream of joy!

"I love them."

"Good. So, are you ready to go?" he asked holding his hand out for me.

"I guess so, considering I don't know what you have up your sleeve."

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course."

"Then you're ready."

He led me downstairs where the Corvette was waiting and opened the passenger door for me. I angled in and he came around to his side and did the same. It was amazing how someone so big could even fit in this car, but he did.

I wanted to try and get out of him what we were doing, but I knew it would be a feeble effort, so I decided to find out more about Jase. I figured it's only fair since he'd become better acquainted with my couch than I had.

"So, what's the deal with the naked guy?" Lester smiled at me and my breath hitched slightly. He really is breathtakingly handsome.

"He works for RangeMan. He recently transferred here from the Miami office."

"He's very…interesting."

"Yeah," Lester said with a laugh, "but he's good at what he does, so we put up with him."

"What is it that he does?"

"He," Lester paused as if trying to come up with the right words, "cleans up messes."

"Messes?"

"Sometimes jobs don't go down quite as smoothly as we'd like and there is," he paused again, "collateral damage. Jase disposes of things we'd rather the police not find."

"Things like weapons or things like bodies?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes."

We settled into a silence while I digested that. I was surprised to find that it didn't really bother me. It wasn't something I would ever be able to do, but I understood why it would sometimes be necessary and I believed the guys when they said that, regardless of the legality of it, they only did things that were morally right. I was so lost in thought that I didn't even notice when he had pulled into an airport parking lot. It wasn't a major airport, but a much smaller one. From the looks of the planes on the ground it was used for personal aircraft more than anything.

"Are we going up in one of those?" I asked, getting more excited by the second.

"You said you wanted to fly, right?"

"Oh, my God, Lester! This is so awesome! I've always wanted to go up in a little plane like this. Is it safe? Because planes in general don't bother me, but I hate the landing part. It makes me so nervous and that's in a big jumbo jet. I might throw up in this little plane when it tries to land." I was rambling and I knew it, but I couldn't stop.

"Don't worry, beautiful, it's completely safe and besides, we won't be in the plane when it lands."

"What?"

"Still trust me?"

"I'm starting to wonder."

"Believe me, you're gonna love this."

"We're not jumping out of that thing, are we?"

He got that mischievous look in his eye and grinned at me. I guess that's a 'yes.'

"You're kidding, right?" I asked, completely in shock.

His grin widened.

"Have you done this before?"

"All the time in the military and a few times since. You don't have anything to worry about. We'll be jumping tandem, which means you'll be harnessed to me. You don't have to do anything but enjoy the ride. I'll do all the work."

He parked the car inside a hangar and as we got out, we were approached by a handsome man who looked to be in his mid-to-late thirties. He was Caucasian, with jet black hair, sprinkled with premature grayness. He was very distinguished looking. He greeted Lester with a handshake and turned to me.

"You must be Stephanie. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Jeremy," he spoke with a British accent.

"Jeremy is my sister's fiancé. He's going to be flying the plane for us," Lester clarified.

"Nice to meet you," I said shaking his hand. He must have felt the sweat on my palm, because he instantly tried to reassure me.

"Please, my dear, relax. You're going to enjoy this. Lester and I have both done this many times, so has Leila, my beautiful fiancée. We wouldn't let either of you do this if it was the least bit dangerous."

"Okay, I'll be fine as long as someone shows me what to do."

"Alright, gorgeous, you can't jump unless you've been through a training course with a certified instructor. Fortunately for you, I'm a certified instructor. We'll go through a short class, and then we'll be on our way," Lester said.

"You're a certified instructor?"

"Yep, I've trained several Army recruits to do this. Now, come on, follow me."

"I'm going to be packing the plane and getting it fueled up. Page me if you need anything, Les," Jeremy said as we made our way to a small room inside the hangar.

Once we were in the "classroom," Lester turned to face me and put both hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye. "Steph, I want you to do this because I know you'll love it. It's an amazing experience and it's extremely safe, but if you don't want to, just say the word. I don't want you to do anything that you're uncomfortable with."

I looked at him for a few beats. My heart was pounding and my stomach felt a little queasy, but I knew I'd regret walking away. I took a deep breath.

"Let's do this." I was rewarded with a grin that lit up his entire face.

He took me through a basic training class, going over the equipment, body positions, and landing. I was relieved to know that we would be wearing a back-up chute, just in case. He was right, there wasn't anything for me to do. I would be strapped to him and, since he is several inches taller than me, he would be doing the actual jumping out of the plan and the landing. He showed me how the chute was packed and what happens when the cord is pulled. By the end, I was feeling much more relaxed and incredibly excited.

I got fitted for a jumpsuit and helmet and then we were ready to go. We walked over to the plane, where Jeremy and another man were waiting. I was introduced to Pete, who works with Jeremy and would be flying with us. We boarded and buckled ourselves in. Twenty minutes later, we were in the air, high above the New Jersey countryside. I hadn't even realized Jersey had countryside, but there it was, trees and all. We climbed higher and higher and my heartbeat was increasing at a similar rate. Sooner than I had expected, Jeremy announced that we were leveling off and gave us the a-ok to jump.

"Are you ready for this?" Lester asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

He gave me a sharp nod, which I returned vigorously, earning me a classic Lester crooked-grin.

Lester unbuckled our seatbelts and put on the harness. He secured me into it and went over everything one last time. I didn't hear a word he said. I was too excited. Pete came in from the cockpit and he and Lester exchanged nods. That must be the universal symbol for 'let's go jump out of a plane.' He opened the hatch-door and Lester walked us up to it, with our backs facing outward. The wind almost knocked me over. If I hadn't been hooked up to Lester, I'm sure I would have blown right out of the plane. Lester yelled a countdown in my ear.

"Three…two…one…"

A/N: Many thanks for taking the time to read this story and a special thank you to all of you who are reviewing it...you don't know how much I appreciate getting feedback!