A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I greatly appreciated it. I tried to reply to each review, but there's a chance I may have missed someone. If I did, I'm sorry. It's not a sign that I appreciate your review any less.

I also owe a great big thank you to my beta, Alf. Without her, this story wouldn't be half as good. If you haven't read her stories, you should!

No major warnings for this chapter, though the standard warning for possible swearing still applies. The usual disclaimer applies as well. I'm not making any money from this, much as I wish I could.

Chapter 6

After my disastrous date with Nico the family consultant, I decided that I wasn't letting anyone else set me up. From now on, I was going to be the only one choosing the guys I dated. I was hoping this would keep me from ending up with any more criminals or weirdoes living their lives stuck in another decade.

I'd had to disconnect my answering machine, take my apartment phone off the hook, and turn off my cell phone because the calls would not stop. Being cut off from my friends had me feeling pretty miserable, so I hit Macy's for their killer shoe sale thinking a new pair of FMPs might make things a little better.

It took me a while, but I eventually made my way through every aisle in the women's shoe section. In the last one, where the opposite side begins the men's shoes, I bent down to pull a box out of the middle of the stack. When I tugged a bit too hard, the box went flying and hit a guy in the back of the leg.

I turned around to apologize and was stunned into silence. The man I had assaulted via shoe box looked exactly like LL Cool J. He had the same big muscles, the same bald head and, my personal favorite, the same sexy lips.

"I…uh, I'm…uh, I'm sorry." I stuttered, having been suddenly stricken with the inability to form decent sentences. He didn't help matters by smiling at me.

"It's ok. No harm done. I'm Brent." He stuck out his hand to shake mine. "What's your name?" he prompted, still smiling at me while I stared at him as if I was a little slow.

"I'm Stephanie," I managed.

"Nice to meet you, Stephanie. Are you single?"

Wow, get right to the point why don't you?

"As a matter of fact, I am. My last date got me arrested, so I'm pretty sure it's not going anywhere with him."

Brent laughed. "Yeah, I think that might be a deal breaker for me, too. Would you like to go out to dinner with me?"

What could be the harm in it? "Sure. When and where?" A tiny little alarm was starting to sound in the back of my mind, but I ignored it. How much worse could he be than Nico?

"How about tonight? There's a little Mexican restaurant I know called Madres. They have fantastic food and there's usually a live salsa band."

I don't know what possessed me to agree, but I did. We exchanged numbers and he promised to call me later for directions to my apartment.

The rest of the day, I had an odd feeling that this date wasn't going to go well. I chalked it up to the fact that the last two dates I had been on were the kind that made a girl want to stay single forever. Still, I thought I should let someone know where I was going, just in case. I called Lester, but he didn't answer. As I left him a message, I crossed my fingers and hoped that I wouldn't have to call him again later so he could come rescue me.

Brent called at six-thirty and picked me up promptly at seven. On the way to Madres, I told him about my life as a bounty hunter, leaving out the parts about blowing up multiple cars and a funeral home.

Dinner was pleasant enough; Brent even taught me to salsa. It was during dessert that things took a sharp left turn into "What the fuck?" territory. Keeping things short and sweet, Brent told me that he was bisexual and he and his boyfriend were looking for a girlfriend to share. He said I struck him as the type of girl who would be into that sort of thing.

My eyes bugged out of my head and I sat there not speaking for a good five minutes. I wasn't sure whether to be flattered that he thought I would be that open minded or horrified that he thought I was willing to let two men share me. Not knowing what else to do, I said, "I…um, no, thank you. I'm a one-man kind of woman. I have to go now." Then, I threw my napkin on top of my plate, grabbed my purse and quickly walked out of the restaurant.

I started walking without paying any attention to where I was going. By the time I came out of my shocked haze, I realized I had wandered quite a ways from the restaurant. At the next corner, I read the street sign and saw that I was only about seven blocks from the Rangeman building. Much as I didn't want all the guys to find out that I'd had yet another awful date, I knew going there was my best option for getting home as soon as possible.

Since I had left my Rangeman employee ID badge in my apartment, I had to call up to the control room to have someone let me in. I had hoped Lester had already gone home so he wouldn't end up being the one to take me home, but in keeping with my terrible luck, he was waiting for me when the elevator doors opened.

I started to step out, but he motioned me back in. "The guys will tease you mercilessly, and I'm guessing you don't need that right now. I'll take you back to your place."

"Thanks, Les," I sighed, leaning against him. "I just want to go curl up on my couch and forget this happened." Thankfully, he waited until we were in the car to ask about the date so that the cameras couldn't pick up what I said.

*****

Lester's POV

"So, what was wrong with this one?" I asked as soon as we were on our way to Steph's apartment. I was almost afraid to hear the answer.

"He wanted a relationship with me…and his boyfriend."

Where does she meet these people? "I can see how that might be a problem," I said evenly.

"Yeah. If that's what floats your boat, who am I to judge? But, who asks somebody they barely know to do something like that? Don't you think that's just a little bit creepy?"

"It does seem odd, but at least this one wasn't a criminal." I had to give her at least one small thing to be positive about.

"That's a good point, but I this was the last straw." She sighed again. "You won't have to worry about rescuing me anymore. I'm done with this dating crap. I'm done with men, period."

"Steph…"

"No, Lester. I've made up my mind. Maybe Ranger's life isn't the only one that doesn't lend itself to relationships."

"Do you really believe that?" My frustration at Ranger for the way he treated Stephanie was amplified when those words came out of her mouth. "Do you have any idea how many of the guys that work at Rangeman have families? Hell, Rico's wife just had twins; that brings their total to five. Ranger's life doesn't lend itself to relationships because he won't let it, and because he's a coward, too afraid to lose the bullshit image long enough to really let someone in.

"Someone once said, 'Don't let the chains of the world keep you down. Cast them off and be free to fly.' Ranger has so many chains around him, I'm surprised they're not choking him. You don't have to end up alone like he is, and you don't have to end up miserable like he probably is and probably always will be. You can let yourself fly, Steph."

*****

Steph's POV

Wow. Why don't you tell me what you really think of Ranger, Les? I was rendered speechless by the venom in his voice. I had no idea he felt that way.

"Steph, this is the last time I will bring this up. If you tell me to, I'll act like it never happened. I want you to give a relationship one more chance."

I knew exactly what he meant, but for some reason, I wanted to hear him say exactly what he was thinking. "Any relationship, Lester?"

"No. A relationship with me. I've watched Morelli and Ranger toy with you, and it makes me so angry. I can and will do better than that, if you let me."

"I don't want to ruin your job or your friendship with Ranger. Besides, I've seen some of the women you…date. You can do better than an average looking woman with a belly roll that doesn't listen and gets into a lot of trouble."

"Stop being so hard on yourself. You are one of the most beautiful women I've ever known. I don't see this belly roll you're talking about, but if you think you need to, I'll workout with you. Ranger knows how I feel; he won't interfere because, despite everything, he does want you to be happy. The other things, well, they can be dealt with."

"What do you mean by dealt with?" I wasn't sure I like the sound of that. I had visions of being carried off and locked in a dark room.

"I didn't mean anything but that. We'll deal with situations as they come up, and we'll take it one day at a time."

"What if it doesn't work out, Lester? It's going to ruin our friendship, not to mention that it would be just plain awkward at work."

"If it were to not work out between us, it would only get awkward if we let it."

"I don't know…" Why in the world was I resisting this gorgeous man? It was definitely something to think about.

"I'm not Ranger, Steph. Never forget that. I'm going to be there for more than just a quick fuck. I'm comfortable letting you into my life; you're not going to get that man-of-mystery bullshit with me. In fact, why don't you come to a barbecue at my house tomorrow? It's a monthly tradition with some of my cousins and a couple guys I went to high school with. We grill, drink beer, play some poker, and just hang out."

Lester laughed at what must have been a panicked look on my face. "Don't worry. They're all very nice people, nothing to be afraid of. And, they'll all be very eager to tell you very embarrassing stories about me."

"I'm not promising anything other than I'll think about it," I told him. He seemed satisfied with that.

*****

As soon as I was through the door of my apartment, I headed for the freezer. I dropped down on the couch with the last remnants of my tub of birthday cake ice cream. It wasn't Ben & Jerry's, but it combined two of my favorite things, ice cream and birthday cake. Therefore, I loved it.

I put Ghostbusters in the DVD player and attempted to ignore the real reason why I was so reluctant to date Lester. For once, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray couldn't hold my attention, so I turned the movie off and went to sit on my fire escape to think.

While staring up at the stars, I concluded that, as hard as it was to admit, I was scared. Every major relationship I'd ever had ended badly. I wasn't sure if I could handle another one going down in flames. But was I really prepared to regret not giving Lester a shot? In my mind, regret was worse than fear. My decision made, I climbed back inside to try to get some sleep.

Saturday afternoon rolled around and I started getting nervous. I agonized over what to wear, even though I was sure it was going to be completely casual. I finally decided on a pair of faded jeans and a blue tank top that brought out the color of my eyes.

I followed the directions Lester had left with me when he dropped me off the day before to a modest but well-kept subdivision on the west side of Trenton. There were already two cars parked in driveway, so I parked in front of his house on the street. I rang the doorbell twice, but no one answered. I heard laughter coming from the back yard, so I headed around the side of the house.

I found Lester standing on the deck in front of large, expensive looking gas grill wearing a cheesy "Kiss the Cook" apron. He smiled when he saw me and waved me over.

He hugged me and kissed my cheek when I reached him. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you," he whispered in my ear. "You found the place ok?" he asked a little louder.

"Yeah. It was no problem. Looks like I'm a little early."

"You're not early, my cousins are just late, as usual. Let me introduce you to the guys that are here. Hey, guys!" he shouted at the two guys tossing a football in the yard. "Come meet Stephanie." The two guys jogged over. "Steph, this is Marco." Les pointed to the bald guy who looked like he should have been working for Ranger. "This is Frankie." He pointed to the well built but skinny guy with shaggy brown hair. "I've known these guys since we sat next to each other in homeroom freshman year of high school. Don't believe a word either of them says about me. It's all lies."

Marco laughed. "You wish, Santos. Stephanie here looks like she's too smart to believe that."

I smiled. "Definitely. I get the feeling Lester here was a wild child."

"You can say that again." Frankie slung his arm around my shoulders. "Come. Sit with me. Let me tell you a story," he said dramatically. I let him guide me over to the patio table on the other side of the deck. "We were just wee lads of 16 when the brilliant Lester decided it would be a good idea to hot wire the principal's 1964 Mustang and make it ever so magically appear inside the gym. He roped Marco and me into helping him.

"Unfortunately, the principal came back early and caught us. He thought it was pretty funny so all Lester had to do was serve Saturday detention the rest of the year and hand wash the car every Sunday."

I smiled at the story. "What else did he do?" I was eager to hear more about young Lester.

"Well, there was the one time that he forged a note from his mom saying that he had to leave early that day."

"Frankie, shut up!" Lester shouted from his position by the grill. "That isn't a story you want to tell her."

Frankie ignored Lester. "Of course, he was skipping to spend the rest of the day with lovely Carmelita Rocino, captain of the junior varsity cheerleading squad. They were in the football field's press box doing their 'thing,' if you will. The football coach heard funny noises, so he went up to investigate. He chased a naked Lester down the bleachers and across the football field. Did I mention that the coach was the lovely Carmelita's father?"

I couldn't help but laugh at the image of Lester running from the irate dad. "Sounds like Lester got an early start with the ladies."

"Oh, the stories I could…" Frankie's voice trailed off. When I looked at Lester, I figured out why. The look on Lester's face told me, as well as Frankie, that he'd be dead very soon if he didn't find something else to talk about. "…or could not tell. Not is good." Frankie gulped.

"Don't worry, Frankie. I've heard enough. For now." I grinned at Lester and he groaned, knowing that I could pull more dirt out of his friends if I put my mind to it.

Lester's cousins Armando, Benicio, Lucia and Angela finally arrived half an hour after I did. Just a few minutes after them came Miguel, the Fiesta Fernando's waiter with the big mouth. I glared at him and he just laughed.

With their arrival came lots of beer and a rowdy game of poker. Instead of playing for cash, they played for cab fare. Whoever lost the most hands had to pay everyone else's cab fare home.

Since I didn't know how to play, Lester insisted that I be his "partner" so he could teach me. I think that was just an excuse to get me to sit on his lap all night.

After my third Dos Equis, I was no longer following what Lester was saying, not that his teaching skills were intact. He had at least two beers for each one I had, so his ability to focus was in the garbage with the empty bottles.

When the last of the beer had been consumed, the last hand began. Wild bets and bluffs were made in attempt to make sure someone else had to shell out for everyone else's ride home. After a few dangerous bets, Benicio was declared the loser and he pulled out his cell phone to call the nearest cab company.

We all sat around laughing and attempting to hold a conversation until the cabs began to arrive. Lester had decided to wait until he sobered up, then take me home himself, so I stayed where I was in his lap. We sat silently for a while before I couldn't take it anymore and had to run inside to use the restroom.

In my still tipsy state, I miscounted the doors in the hall and opened the second one on the left instead of the third. What I saw threw my inebriated brain for a loop.