SPOV
Today is the day. I hope I can actually talk to the man I realized I love last night. I promised Woody I would after all. Suck it up Plum! It's only your love life at risk here.
I roll out of bed and grumble my way to the bathroom for my morning routine. After a shower and my other morning rituals, I return to my bedroom and dress in a typical Rangeman uniform to face the day.
Coffee cup in hand I head out the door to my Rangeman SUV. Minutes later I am at Rangeman and ready to start my day. Gym time first of course.
I jog up the stairs and mosey into the locker room to change into my workout gear. After switching to yoga pants and a sports bra, I'm ready to hit the gym.
I walk over to my favorite treadmill and start my routine with a slow walk to warm up. Placing my ear buds in my ears, I start up my I-pod with my new playlist of songs that remind me of the guys. I speed up the treadmill to a moderate jog.
I look up when I notice movement to my left. I smile up at the hard body next to me. It's Woody. He grins back, his single-dimple showing. I can see laughter and concern in his eyes. I think he wants to talk to me, so I remove my earbuds not wanting to be rude.
"Hey Cowboy, what's on your mind?"
"Just remembering our talk last night and wondering if you were going to keep your promise and have that talk with 'you know who'. You chickening out or what?" He smirks.
"I take my promises seriously Woodrow, you should know me well enough by now to know that. I'm just trying to work up the nerve to actually talk to him. I'm scared."
"Why are you scared Darlin'?"
"I'm terrified that he will reject me or not want me like that." I cringe.
"Steph, I told you. You have no reason to worry. He feels the same way, I'm sure of it. Take the chance. I promise it will be worth it. And even if he is dumb enough to refuse you, there will be a line around the block to take you out. All of the guys here adore you and would jump at the chance to be your man. Believe me."
"You include yourself in that line up?" I tease.
"Hell yeah!" His responding smile is blinding.
"Thanks Woody. You're a great friend and a wonderful man."
I step off of my treadmill to make my way to my next torture device. I know the rowing .machine is a good total body workout, but I hate it with a passion. I stalk my way over to it and huff out a breath. I really want to skip this today. I jump a mile out of my skin when I hear a voice behind me.
"Hola Chica."
I turn to see Hector standing behind me. I hold my hand over my heart as I reply to him.
"Geez Hector! Make some noise why don't you? You almost gave me a heart attack. What's up?"
"You look like you don't want to get on that thing. Why don't you let me teach you some self defense moves?" He nods his head toward the mats on the other side of the gym.
Contrary to popular belief, Hector actually speaks and reads English quite well. He no longer keeps up the ruse of denying knowledge of English around me and most of the guys anymore.
"Sure Hec, why not? I'm curious to see what you have to show me."
He walks me over to the mats. After he removes the dozen or so knives on his person, he proceeds to show me how to get out of several different types of holds. Our similar sizes makes his tutoring easy to follow.
I am amazed at his speed, skill, and patience with me. Sometimes I am a bit hard to teach. Just ask Tank. I think I'm just scared of Tank's size, not that he would ever hurt me.
After an interesting hour, we stop for the time being. We both have the morning meeting to get to. I head for the shower to get the sweat and grime off of me. I change back into my Rangeman uniform and amble out to the largest conference room on the second floor.
Walking into the room, I see that most of the guys are already there. Tank is sitting at the head of the table with Bobby and Les to his right and an open chair, for me on his left. I plop my butt down in the offered seat and smile at the nearest Merry Men. I look across the table to see Woody's smiling face. He winks at me and jerks his head to the side as a reminder that I need to speak to someone later today. I nod my head as I playfully glare at him.
Tank calls the meeting to order and we all get down to business. Reports are given on all divisions; sales, tech, accounts, and bond enforcement. No problems being brought up. Tank begins to close the meeting.
"Last order of business, we have an outstanding skip, Joel West. After a week of surveillance on him, we have learned that he will be at the club 'Inferno' tonight some time after 2000 hours. A distraction will be the best plan. Little Girl are you up for a distraction tonight?" He concludes pointing out the file in front of me.
I look over the file and remember doing the research on this particular skip. He is a 33 year old white male, 177 lbs, 5 ft 11 inches tall, light brown hair, bright blue eyes, wanted for skipping on charges of assault and battery on his ex-girlfriend. Not a nice guy. I glance back up to Tank, who is waiting patiently for me to read the info and respond to his request.
"It looks pretty straight forward. Sure, I'll coax him out for you. So what's the rest of the plan? Who else will be there and doing what?"
"Cal and I will be on the front door as bouncers. Vince, Bobby, Hal, and Les will be inside as customers. Woody will be behind the bar. Zip and Junior will be on the back door. Ram, Manny, and Hector will be floating around as ghosts. You comfortable with that line up?" He asks.
"Sounds good to me Big Guy. I trust your judgement and I trust all of these guys with my life." I reply.
"OK then, said team, including Bomber report back here at 1930. Dismissed." Tank booms.
Everybody then files out of the conference room and to their respected work areas, me included. I boot my computer up and start in on my day of searches. Before he left, Rodriguez left me with plenty of work to do while he was away. He also appreciated the collection I took up for him and the sympathy card. Maybe now he will not be so hard on me, a girl can hope right?
Four hours later I have completely emptied my inbox. Whoa, how did that happen? What am I supposed to do for the rest of the day? I pick up my desk phone and dial the extension for Ranger's office. I know he's there, I saw him walk in an hour ago.
"Yo." Mr. Man-of-Few-Words answers.
"Ranger, I finished all my searches. Do you or Tank have any paperwork you would like me to do?"
"Come to my office Babe, we need to talk anyway." He responds then quickly disconnects. Damn phone manners of a Neanderthal I tell you!
I stroll across the floor and knock loudly on his office door.
"Enter." I hear him bark out.
I open the door and shut it silently behind me. I walk over and take a seat in the guest chair across from his desk.
"What else did you want to talk about Ranger? And you know you have to actually speak right? No more mysterious-o silent shit."
He sighs deeply before responding. Yes, Ranger actually sighed. Is the world coming to an end?
"I was wrong for the way I treated you Babe. I was a complete and utter ass. I can only hope that you will one day forgive me and we can still remain friends."
"Why did you constantly push me away?"
"Easy, I was scared, petrified really, of letting you in. You had the power to destroy me. Emotionally. I know I hurt you and I am truly sorry for that. More sorry than you could ever imagine or believe."
"Wow, see you can hold up your end of a conversation when you have to. Yes, you did hurt me. But you were an ideal for me, unattainable. So I moved on. I'm in love with someone else now. Maybe one day in the future I can forgive you. I just need time to think about it first." I tell him honestly.
"Fair enough Babe. And who are you in love with?" He asks with concern, true concern in his features.
I feel it is safe to be honest with him about who holds my heart. I proudly tell him the name with a soft smile on my lips.
"He's a good man, one of my best. I know he can make you happy. You deserve no less than the best. I'm sorry I couldn't be the one to give it to you." Ranger explains.
"I know he can make me happy, too. I haven't told him how I feel yet, though." I admit.
"I know you're scared to open your heart again, especially after Morelli and me both did you so wrong. But I can tell you will absolute certainty that he will never betray you. I feel he loves you just as much as you do him, if not more."
"You really think he feels the same about me?" I wonder aloud.
"Yeah, Babe. I can guarantee it. Hell, most of the building is at least half in love with you." He chuckles.
"OK, I'll talk to him. So what do you need me to do for the rest of the work day?" I inquire.
"Why don't you take the rest of the day off? You should have more searches in you box by tomorrow morning. You have a distraction to do tonight. How about going to the mall and buying a new outfit for it? I'll give you my corporate card since it is a business expense. Please?"
"You just had to use the P word didn't you? Fine. Hand it over."
He reaches around into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet. He then passes a black AmEx card over to me. It has his name on the front and also the Rangeman logo. At least it is his corporate card and not his personal one.
"Here. This card has no limit. So get whatever you need. Anything you need for tonight. Give the card back to Tank before the distraction tonight. I have to leave in an hour to go 'in the wind' again."
"Do you know how long you will be gone?" I ask.
"Not sure this time. Possibly up to six weeks. Maybe longer, depending on how things go." He answers truthfully. I'm shocked. he usually doesn't see fit to tell me these types of things. Maybe he is sorry and ready to change after all.
"Well, be careful and come back to us in one piece. Don't get shot!" I tease.
"I won't. I am the best at what I do. And don't go crazy Babe." He smiles back.
"OK. I'm going to hit the mall wide open and tear up this card that my Boss was crazy enough to lend me." I quip as I get up to leave. I am reaching for the door knob when I hear Ranger speak again.
"Stephanie." Ut oh, I know it's something serious. He used my full name. "Talk to him. I know you will get the outcome you desire."
I turn my head and look back at him over my shoulder as I reply.
"You got it Batman. Take care of yourself."
I then head back to my desk to shut my computer down for the day and grab my purse. After I sling my bag onto my shoulder I race down to the garage, eager to hit the mall and shop till I drop.
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After cruising around most of the stores in the mall, I finally find the perfect dress at Macy's. It's a deep purple, almost black; made of an extremely tight form-fitting spandex material. It has a deep V neckline with thin straps, cut outs on the sides, and the hemline stops no more than 2 inches below my ass. If I bend over in this it will definitely be a full moon, especially with the matching lace thong I bought at Vicky's. No bra needed.
I found the perfect shoes to go with it too. A pair of silver strappy heels with rhinestones along the toe. These will make my legs look a mile long. I can hardly wait for the guys to see me in this. It will be sheer torture. I have such an evil streak sometimes.
The only problem now is it took me too long to find this perfect outfit. It is now 4 hours later and nearing 5 pm. I only have 2 hours to get myself ready, and I still have to eat something too!
I hustle my way upstairs to my apartment. I wolf down a fast peanut butter sandwich and dart to the bathroom to get myself ready. After a quick shower, shaving, exfoliating, and lotioning; I head to the bedroom to pull on my new dress.
Before I can get to the bedroom, there is a knock on my front door. I pull on my short terry cloth robe and make my way down the hall to answer it. I look through the peephole and into the most gorgeous set of brown eyes. I smile as I unlock the door and let him in.
"Hey, what are you doing here? I was just getting ready for the distraction. I'm almost done." I greet him, after a hug and a kiss on his cheek first.
"Just checking on you. Tank is running a little late, but he is on his way." He responds.
"Well, as much as I love standing her talking to you; and I need to talk to you about something important later; I still need to finish getting ready."
"As good as you look in that robe, you're right we're running out of time. Get a move on girl."
I shriek and dash back to my bedroom. Good thing all I have left to do is pull on my dress and shoes. I only have 15 minutes to do that before we need to leave to get to Rangeman on time.
I carefully shift myself into the dress and smooth the wrinkles out. I hear a a masculine voice shout from the living room as I tug on my second shoe.
"Gotta go. Now!"
"Coming. Hold your horses!" I yell back.
I shuffle back down the hall and into the living room to grab my coat from the foyer closet. My attention is too focused on my path to the closet to realize that my company was standing there mouth agape. It wasn't until I had grabbed my coat from the closet and turned back to face him, that I heard his animalistic growl and noticed him stalking toward me.
"Whoa! Hold up. No time for whatever put that look into your eyes mister!"
He doesn't answer right away. Instead he grabs me by my hips and pulls me tightly to his hard body. The next thing I know he is devouring my mouth in a hungry kiss. My knees immediately go weak and I am helpless to his advances. I have no choice but to return his passion with equal fervor.
When the need to breathe becomes a necessity, we break apart reluctantly. I am on fire with need and I know my eyes are glassy and unresponsive. I almost don't hear him speaking.
"Jesus! You are going to be the death of me woman. And you're right we really need to talk."
I am not able to respond as there is another knock on my door followed by Tank's booming voice.
"Little Girl, you ready?"
I look up into the eyes of the man in my arms and whisper. "Later." Then I pull out of his grasp to let Tank in. I slide my coat on and tie the belt up before I open the door to him.
"Ready, Big Guy, let's do this." I tell him as I grab my purse from the table in the foyer.
I close and lock up the door behind us, then we head down the stairs and to our separate SUV's. Tank and I will be taking one back to Rangeman, my guy will take the other that he drove over here. On our way down the stairs I remember that I have something to return to Tank.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Ranger told me to give this to you. He let me borrow it earlier to buy my outfit for tonight's distraction." I inform him as I hand him the black AmEx. Tank only nods as we climb in the SUV.
After a quick run down of the plan at Rangeman, the team loads up and heads out to the club. Several of the guys are already in place. Woody has been 'at work' for an hour now. Ram, Hector, and Manny left a few minutes before us to get in their hopefully hidden spots. The rest of us are on the way now. We plan on parking several blocks away, well the rest of them will. Tank and I will be parking in the club's lot.
After parking and shutting off the SUV, Tank hands me my wire. He leaves me in the SUV for privacy to tape it on. It only takes me a minute to fasten it to the underside of my right breast, then flip the switch to activate it. I exit the car and remove my coat.
"Good Lord! Any man with an ounce of testosterone flowing in his veins would follow her to the ends of the Earth in that dress." I hear Cal's voice, letting me know that the wire is active.
I smirk to myself. I should have no problem what-so-ever getting this creep out the door tonight. I want to get it over with fast, I got plans for later, big plans!
I strut my stuff through the door to the club between Tank and Cal. Tank nods to me and Cal winks.
As soon as I enter the darkness hits me. I allow my eyes to adjust to the absence of light before I slowly start scanning the area looking for our skip. I spot him on a stool in front of the bar.
I amble over to the bar and lay my purse down on the stool to my left. The skip is three stools over to my right. I call out to Woody too get his attention to order my drink, which I know Woody will 'doctor' for me so that it contains no alcohol.
"Hey hot stuff, what does a girl have to do to get a drink around here?" I tease.
"What can I get for you little lady?" Woody drawls back.
"Gin and tonic with a slice of lime please," I reply.
"Coming right up." He returns rather quickly with my 'special' drink. It's probably just tonic water with that slice of lime decorating it. I take a tentative sip to make sure. Yepp, just tonic water and lime. I can always count on my Merry Men to do their jobs perfectly.
I peek out of the corner of my eye to check on our skip. He is still sitting three stools down nursing a beer. I reach down to my left to grab my purse off of the stool to pay for my 'drink'. Unfortunately I knock it off the stool and onto the floor.
I bend over to pick it up and start hearing curses in my earpiece.
"Madre de Dios!" This from Les.
"Holy fucking hell!" That from Vince.
"Jesus! Is she even wearing underwear?!" That one from Bobby.
And I hear from in front of me, "lucky bastard" in Woody's silky voice. He must have had a bird's eye view down the front of my dress while the other's were treated to the rear view.
"At ease. We still have a job to do ladies." Tank mutters.
I agree with Tank there. We need to hurry and get this scum bag off the streets. I have something important to do later at home. I need to talk to someone very special to me about something extremely important.
I glance back over to my target as I am straightening myself back up. He is still nursing the same beer, although he looks a lot more flustered now. I think I have him hooked.
I move down to the stool beside him and start my spiel. I have him eating out of my hand and following me to the front door like a little lost puppy dog in record time, right into Tank and Cal's waiting hands.
Tank gives him the basic "you're under arrest and we're here to drag you back into the system" script as they cuff him and lead him to an awaiting Rangeman SUV. Hal and Vince will be escorting him back to the station this evening.
I reach into the bosom of my dress, rip the wire off, and pass it back to Tank. I then inform him.
"Stick a fork in me, I'm done. Who's taking me back home?"
"I got her. I'll make sure she gets back home safe Boss." My guy tells Tank.
I grin like a Cheshire cat. Great, makes my night a whole lot easier. He offers his arm out to me, elbow sticking out. I eagerly lace my arm through his and smile big up at him.
"Thank-you. Let's get outta here."
His eyes sparkle with mischief. I am now beginning to believe that Ranger and Woody were right. He loves me too. I can't wait to get home and find out for sure.
I grabbed my coat out of Tank's SUV and we continued on to the one he drove here tonight. He lets go of my arm to guide me into the vehicle. He reaches across my lap and buckles me in also. Then he jogs around to the driver's side and we are on our way.
The ride to my apartment is quiet. All I can think is 'do I really want to do this? I'm not one hundred percent sure that he feels the same way.' I finally scream at myself to 'shut it! What's life without a little risk every now and then?'
We pull into the parking lot and he shuts the car off. He turns to me and says.
"I'll walk you up too. Gotta make sure there's no boogey men waiting to pounce."
I can only shake my head at his attempt at humor. As we are walking across the lot I startle him by confessing.
"After you banish all the killer dust bunnies under my bed, we need to have a heart to heart talk."
"Oh," is all he says in response.
Once the standard Rangeman security check is complete, I lead him to the sofa in my small living room. After we are both seated comfortably, I turn to face him; bending my leg at the knee to rest on the cushion. I take a deep breath and begin.
"These past four days without sugar have been hell on my hormones. I have found myself wanting to jump almost every guy at work at least once. But I also realized something very important too. I'm in love." I sigh.
"With who?" He asks with a look of honest curiosity on his handsome face.
"You. I love you, Bobby." I admit freely.
I see a look of shock flash in his eyes for a split second before a full fledged, bone-melting, and huge smile takes it's place. And here I was worried he wouldn't be happy with my confession. We sit in silence for a few minutes until I can no longer take it and break the tension in the room.
"Say something. You're making me nervous. Please tell me what you are feeling right now."
"I just can't believe how lucky I am. You actually love me. I love you too, Baby. I have for a while now. You had to have known that."
"I had a feeling. I think that's why it was so easy to fall in love with you. You take such good care of me. You're so gentle and caring when I hurt. You always make me feel better and feel loved."
"So where do we go from here? Do you want to be with me?" He manages to state.
"I would like that very much. What about you?"
"You know it would make me the happiest and luckiest man in the world if you were my girl."
"Then I'm yours, as of this moment. I love you Dreads."
"I love you too, Steph."
We just sit there staring into each other's eyes for endless moments it seems. Then suddenly his hand snakes around my neck to pull my face to his for a fierce and passionate kiss.
I feel his other hand deftly rubbing up and down my bare side through the cut out of my dress. I moan into his mouth. He nips at my lower lip as he growls out.
"Damn, Baby, I have to know. Are you wearing panties under this dress? It didn't look like it when you dropped your purse at the club and bent over to pick it up."
"There are some things a man should find out for himself." I tease.
He growls lower and louder in his throat as his eyes dilate fully black with lust. I feel his hand on my thigh inching higher when his mouth returns to mine hungrily.
My sugar deprived hormones are in maximum overdrive now. I hear myself screaming in my head, 'Yes!' His fingers are now tracing the lace edge of my ruined thong. He breaks the kiss to gasp out.
"Christ baby, you're dripping wet. I don't know if I can control myself much longer. If you want me to stop please tell me now."
I couldn't stop now if I wanted too either. So I told him exactly what was on my mind.
"I don't want you to stop. Make love to me Bobby, please." I plead with my chest heaving.
He jerks up to a standing position, bends back down, and gently lifts me bridal style. I snuggle myself into his strong arms, resting my head on his chest and enjoy the ride down the hall and to my bedroom. #######################
A/N : I may write one more chapter. It's up to you all. If you want "more", I'll pick up right where I left off here, and if you want an epilogue-type after that. Just let me know. ~~~~~~ J