Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun. I've proofread, but all mistakes are my own.
A/N: Te amo tambien = I love you, too.
Chapter 7
Item 7. Figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
"Come on, come on," I muttered as the elevator descended from the control room. The damn thing was stopping at every single floor. No one else was getting on, so I was smelling a rat. A muscle- bound rat named Tank or Lester, to be exact.
I breathed a sigh of relief when no one was waiting for me when I stepped out into the garage, but before I could make a break for it, Smart Stephanie made her presence known. Annoying bitch.
"Damn it," I muttered as I pressed speed dial one on my phone. I was ridiculously relieved when Ranger answered with a 'Yo'.
"I'm not running away." I took a deep breath. "I mean, I know I ran, but I just need a little time to get my head together. Can we meet for lunch somewhere and talk?"
Ranger was silent for several beats – long enough for me to check to see if the call was still active. "OK, Babe. I have a couple of meetings, but I can see you at one." Hmmm… This was all business Ranger, but at least he wasn't using his 'meet me on the mats' voice. That was usually reserved for Lester.
"Great – the diner?" We'd first met at the greasy spoon on Main; it was kind of 'our' place.
"Sure, I'll reserve our usual booth." Huh. Ranger humor.
I didn't know what else to say. What covers I'm sorry I just ran out of your office in a snit instead of talking things over like a rational adult, but I don't know how to fix things yet?
"I love you," I murmured. It would have to do.
"Te amo tambien, Babe."
I stared at my phone, and slowly smiled. His phone manners still needed work, but Ranger understood and still had my back.
I turned to leave and found myself face to face with Hector. "God, don't scare me like that!"
Hector snorted. "We'll work on you being aware of your surroundings next session."
I rolled my eyes as I zipped up my coat. "Can't wait. Don't you have someone else to terrorize?"
He smiled and it was really… not scary. "Nah, no one is as much fun as you." He nodded toward my phone. "Santos wanted to stun you and lock you in with the Boss, but I knew you'd do the right thing."
I kissed him on the cheek and then flipped him off as I walked away. I had to keep up appearances, but I was secretly flattered that the Merry Men had my back too.
R&S~R&S~R&S
I got into the Explorer I'd been using since my Corolla went to Car Heaven and started toward the Burg. I know – big surprise, but at least no one had tried to blow me up. This time there was a freak accident between the TastyKake van and a garbage truck, and my poor car was just collateral damage. My luck really does suck, but at least I got a whole case of Butterscotch Krimpetts out of it.
The last couple of months since Ranger and I got together had definitely not sucked, though. We'd spent the rest of that first week off-line in Ranger's apartment, only surfacing Saturday night for dinner at Rossini's and dancing. He had somewhat abashedly apologized for not wining and dining me first, but I understood. God knows how many doomsday orgasms later, and we still weren't able to keep our hands off each other in the restaurant. My mother was scandalized and Grandma is still pestering me for details.
Our relationship was both more and less than what I'd expected – more romance and less drama, that is. Ranger was a hot-as-hell badass who probably knew six ways to take out a man with a pen cap, but Carlos had four annoying older sisters who called him 'Ricky', and he liked to cuddle on the couch after dinner. I was totally in love with both aspects of my man.
At some point, the Merry Men had somehow morphed from babysitters to a bunch of occasionally annoying big brothers. Maybe it was because I finally wasn't letting my guilt over loving Ranger get in the way, or maybe I just felt like a member of the team.
Lately, I'd gone out with Hector on a few installation jobs. I don't know why he makes some clients nervous, because he's a real sweetheart. Most of the RangeMen were. Hal was a great stakeout partner, Vince and Woody never failed to crack me up, and Zero and Lester fought over who got to round up skips with me. They said it was my sparkling personality, but I had a feeling that they loved me for the junk food runs, too.
The question was, if I was so happy with Ranger and the guys, why had I just turned down a full-time job at RangeMan?
My phone rang while I was stopped at a traffic light on Hamilton. I hit the button on the steering wheel and Lula's voice flooded out through the sound system.
"Hey White Girl! I'm gettin' my shopping on! You wanna join me?"
I checked the time. 11:00. I had time for a couple of errands, but with the way mayhem and destruction usually followed me and Lula when we were out, I'd better not.
"Sorry, but I'm meeting Ranger for lunch. Can I take a rain check?"
"Hunh. I just bet you're having lunch. More like a little afternoon delight. Not that I blame you, 'cause if I had a man that fine, I'd be climbing him like a tree every chance I got."
I shook my head to get rid of that particular mental image. "Hey, I have a 50%-off coupon for Macy's that I can share with you. Why don't we meet up there and then we can pick up Bunky Malloy for you? I heard he's working at the food court."
That was another big change. Lula had taken a crash course with Francine and was handling a few of the lower bonds now. Once I'd convinced her to leave her gun in her Firebird, she'd been doing pretty well. After agreeing to meet at Quaker Bridge Mall the next morning, I hung up and headed toward the 'Burg.
R&S~R&S~R&S
I pulled up outside Giovichinni's a few minutes later. Mom had called me earlier with a lunch meat emergency. I came out with a half-pound of provolone and some olive loaf to find Joe leaning against the Explorer.
"Joe, I really don't want to get into it with you right now."
He held up his hands. "Just hear me out, Cupcake, I come in peace."
I huffed out a breath. "Fine, but don't call me Cupcake anymore."
I stowed the deli bag inside the Explorer and joined Joe. Since it was my loaner SUV, I got to lean against the hood. He had to stand on the sidewalk and fidget. I drew my collar up to ward off the early December chill and waited for him to say his piece.
"Look, I was an ass, but I just couldn't stand the thought of Mañoso winning."
I arched one eyebrow – all that practice with Lester had finally paid off. "Like I'm a prize at the arcade?"
He flushed a dull red. "No, you're not, but Jesus, Cup – Steph, he's sniffed around you for years and then you start dating him…."
"One – Ranger and I started dating a good couple of months after our break-up, and two – can you tell me you never once made time with anyone else when you and I were in an off-stage or when we were trying out that non-commitment agreement?" The grapevine went both ways, buddy.
Joe fidgeted some more, and I finally took pity on him. "I wasn't fair to you, and I'm sorry." He looked up at me sharply, eyes wide. "Yeah, I'm learning how to apologize. Joe, Ranger didn't have anything to do with our breakup. You and I just weren't working."
He shook his head. "I was willing to commit to you."
I smiled sadly. "And could you imagine what I'd be like as a housewife?"
Joe thought for a second and snorted. "We would have killed each other within a year."
"Eh, I would've only given us six months." I held out my hand. "Friends now? I hate fighting with you, Joe."
"Sure, Steph. I'm sorry, too. For everything." He pulled me into a brief hug, instead. "You know, you're lookin' good. I think Mañoso suits you."
"Yeah, because we're both nuts, right?" When he hung his head, I punched him lightly on the arm. "It's OK. I am happy, and I want you to be happy too." After I swung myself up into the SUV, I poked my head out of the door. "Hey, Stella Mancini is single again and she was asking about you the other day. You should ask her out."
R&S~R&S~R&S
Grandma met me at the front door, as usual. Since it was winter, she'd packed away the tube tops, but if anything, the green spandex elf suit was even more revealing. I took one look at her skinny little legs and promised myself I'd do more leg presses next time I was at the gym.
"Hey baby Granddaughter!" She twirled around. "What do you think? I heard that hot Elmer Laskey was playing Santa and I wanted to look extra good when I sat on his lap," she told me as she clacked her dentures furiously.
"You look great, Grandma." I suppressed a shudder. Elmer was at least seventy. I really hoped I wouldn't have to bail her out again – the mall was threatening to ban her as it was.
"Is Ma around?" I asked cautiously. It'd only been a few minutes since I'd left Joe at the deli, but that was plenty of time for the phone to start ringing. Our encounter had been perfectly innocent, but with my luck the grapevine would have me either shooting Joe or pregnant with his demon spawn before the end of the day. I followed Grandma back to the kitchen and was shocked to find my mother stirring something at the stove. The ironing board was in its closet and there wasn't a highball glass in sight. Huh.
"Stephanie! Thank God you got the lunchmeat – you know your father. If lunch isn't on the table by noon…."
"He gets twitchy," I finished for her. "Hey, heard any news lately?"
She set the coffee cake in front of me. "If you're talking about your being seen with the Morelli boy outside of Giovichinni's, I told Linda Giambucco that you were dating a very nice local business owner and you and Joe were probably just talking police business."
I stared at her in shock. "That's it? No 'you should get back with Joseph'?"
"Honestly Stephanie, you're an adult. What do I have to say about your personal life?" She huffed as she set a glass of milk in front of me to go with the monster slice of cake I'd just cut.
"What your mother means is that you've got that hot Cuban bounty hunter now," Grandma told me. "Even Helen can spot quality and what he's packing is USDA grade prime beef."
"Really, Mother!" Mom cheeks were bright pink. "Carlos is a nice young man!"
"No comment, Grandma." I muttered as I mopped up the milk I'd just sprayed over the table. No, my mom isn't a pod person. Ranger was just that good. He'd shown up to the first dinner we'd had at my parents' with her favorite wine and had proceeded to charm the socks off of my mother. He'd completely won her over at Thanksgiving when he'd single-handedly saved dinner after Grandma and her latest squeeze had started making out at the table and had knocked a lit candle over into Mom's glass of Jack Daniel's.
What can I say? My man has lightning fast reflexes – even Grandma hasn't been able to get a good grope in, yet.
"Why, I wouldn't be surprised if you and he have an announcement to make at Christmas!" Now that sounded more like Helen Plum.
"Ma…." I pressed my fingers against my left temple to stop the twitch. "We haven't even talked marriage yet!" And I wasn't about to mention that he'd asked me to move in, either.
"Well – you're not getting any younger, Stephanie."
"True – and I have been thinking of making some changes." When mom's eyes began to gleam, I quickly cut her off. "With my job! I'm thinking of changing my job!" Ranger's ESP was obviously working because he somehow knew I'd been thinking about quitting Vinnie's – and was there to offer me a job with a ridiculous compensation package.
"Hmm, well that's something at least." She cut me another slice of cake and patted me on the hand. "As long as you're happy, dear."
I took a bite of cake. It beat banging my head against the table top.
R&S~R&S~R&S
After I left my parents' house, I drove around for a while to get my thoughts together. I made it to the diner first and grabbed our usual booth. I was leaning against the back wall, nursing a Coke when Ranger slid in next to me. The lunch rush was mostly over, so we had the back to ourselves.
"Good to see you keeping an eye on your surroundings, Babe."
I gave him a brief kiss on the lips. "Eh, you were bound to rub off on me sometime."
His eyes went dark. "Babe." Translation: I'd rub off on you anytime.
I rolled my eyes. "When we're not in public, I'll take you up on the offer."
"I'll look forward to it." His expression sobered. "See anyone interesting this morning?"
I groaned. The NSA had nothing on this town's gossip network. "Depends on how you define interesting. I ran into Morelli outside of Giovicchini's for a minute. I sort of apologized. He sort of apologized."
Before Ranger and I got together, I would've said that his blank face had just slammed down. Now I knew better – it was subtle, but I could see a whole world of expressions in the press of his lips, his eyes.
"Hey, that's over and done with. We wished each other well, and I suggested that he ask out a woman who's had a crush on him since junior high." I grimaced. "I don't know if I did her a favor or not."
"Babe, I trust you," he said softly. "I just don't trust him."
"I get it, he and I were together a long time." It saddened me to have that between us, but it was true.
"I don't trust Morelli to not hurt you, to not humiliate you," Ranger corrected gently. He brought my hand to his lips, kissing each knuckle in turn. "I've seen you in action, Babe – I know you could and would knock him on his ass if he were poaching."
"Damn right." I grinned. "How's Lester doing, by the way?"
"He'll live, but little Lester might not be up for any action for a while." We both smirked. Lester should've known better than to try to get the drop on me in a darkened alley – my knee was a lethal weapon.
"So, I saw Joe for a second, and then I stopped by my parents'." Which reminded me. "Please tell me you need me to work a triple shift over Christmas!"
"Looking a little crazy there, Babe." His lips twitched. "We front a skeleton crew so everyone gets some family time over the holidays. Which reminds me, we've been invited to spend Christmas Eve in Newark."
"Sold! Will there be more of those little empañadas?" We'd had lunch with his parents when we were passing through Newark on our way to spend my birthday in New York. His parents were perfectly lovely. We were there over an hour and they barely interrogated me.
"Babe." He winced. "There'll be forty people there. My family is Cuban and extremely loud."
"Have either of your grandmothers ever been arrested for public nudity?" We both shuddered. "Will any of your brothers-in-law make inappropriate conversation and/or faint at the dinner table?"
"Babe."
"No? Then it sounds like a pretty good time to me. I'd be happy to go if you're there." That Ranger was making holiday plans with me gave me the courage to acknowledge the elephant in the room after the waitress dropped off our orders.
"I'm sorry that I ran out like that this morning." I took a deep breath. "One of the few things you asked was that I stick around and talk things out with you and I didn't. But I will now if you want to."
He nodded. "Was it the car?"
"It didn't help." I shrugged. "Seriously – a fully loaded Porsche Cayenne? What were you thinking? I'd destroy it within a week!" I'd probably only need an hour to blow it up.
"Breathe, Stephanie." He cupped the back of my neck, instantly calming me. Ranger's hands should be a registered UN peace keeping resource. "I was thinking that it had every possible safety feature. Armor cladding, bullet proof glass…."
"And alarms and bomb sensors out the wazoo," I finished for him. "It's just too much." I whispered.
"Babe." He turned me to him and rested his forehead on mine. "Nothing is too much for you."
And he meant it. I'd never been loved quite that much, but still… "I just feel like a kept woman sometimes." I said quietly. "I know you don't feel that way, but part of me can't escape the idea that I'm just a big sucking drain on you and RangeMan. You give me cars whenever I need them and offer me a full-time job I'm not qualified for out of… I don't even know!"
"Babe, I don't want to ever hear you say that again." Ranger's expression hardened slightly. "I don't do pity. One thing you should know by now is that I don't mess around with my business. You're exactly qualified for the job I offered you - helping out in bond enforcement and in client relations. Silvio and Rodriguez may be the best at searches, but you have the best instincts I've ever seen for putting together information to find a skip. You always get your man, Babe." Ranger pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "You have a way of putting clients at ease, too. Whether or not you accept it, you have skills that I want for RangeMan."
"Oh." I swiped under each eye as discreetly as I could. "OK, I stand corrected."
His lips quirked into a half grin. "Don't think I haven't noticed the way you have with my men, either. They used to be the biggest, meanest SOBs around, and now they're all friendly and shit."
"Oh, they're still plenty scary." I giggled. "When they're not being big softies."
He shook his head. "They're pathetic. Tank gets mani-pedis with you, and half of my men are wandering around like love-struck fools. I'm not running a dating service."
"Tank only went the once." Well, maybe it was twice, but who's counting? "And I only set up Cal and Hal." Francine's daughters were perfect for them. Little Francine had a flaming pink skull on her shoulder blade and Darla had really brought Hal out of his shell. Hal liked her kids, too.
He shook his head. "Still pathetic. Just don't let the cops see Binkie and Lester at the Build a Bear store again. It's bad for our rep."
"Yes. Sir!" I grinned, sketching a snappy salute.
"Babe." He tipped up my chin, his expression solemn. "I've offered you a place in my company and I want to make a home with you, so you know what I want. What do you want?"
What do you want? Such simple words but they made any frustration or anger that I was holding onto evaporate.
"I've been thinking a lot lately," I said slowly. "I know I don't want to work for Vinnie anymore and I'm getting pretty tired of chasing naked old men, but I don't think I can work full time in the office either." I blew out a breath. "I think I want to get my PI license."
Ranger's eyes widened in surprise. I smiled. "The most satisfying thing I've done lately is to track down guys who were delinquent on their child support." After I'd helped Francine and Darla, they'd referred me to several of their friends. "I didn't even sick Jimmy Rosolli after the last couple of ex-husbands. I helped the women file with the courts and the deadbeats' wages were garnished." Maybe it wasn't as satisfying to the ex-wives, but it was a hell of a lot more legal.
"I can still work half-time at RangeMan, at least until I can build up my client list. Is that OK, with you?" I asked uncertainly.
"Babe. I just want you to do something that makes you happy." His lips tilted up into a slow, lazy smile that made my hormones sit up and take notice. "If you want to negotiate, you split your time however you need to, but you take a company car and I get extra-long lunch breaks with you."
Holy ruined panties. I had a feeling they wouldn't be working lunches. "Well, I don't know what the boss would say," I said coyly, "but I've heard an after-lunch nap is very beneficial." When Ranger went to throw some bills on the table, I stopped him. "Not so fast." I smirked. "We're still negotiating."
"Babe." Translation: You little tease.
"Oh, I'll follow through, but we're not done. I'll use one of the fleet Explorers. No Cayenne."
Ranger started to protest, but he thought better of it when I glared at him. "Fine." We'd finished, so we paid up and Ranger tucked me into his side for the walk to the back parking lot.
"What are your plans for the rest of the day, Babe?"
I bit my lower lip. "Well, Zip and I are supposed to round up a skip. It should be a quick pick-up."
"I have the time, so I could go with you." At my nod, he made a call. "I'm with Steph this afternoon. Have the open area on the first floor unlocked."
I rolled my eyes as he opened the driver's side door of the Explorer for me. "I'm going to hold a workshop on phone manners one of these days."
I pulled up in front of a sign shop a few minutes later, and passed a folder over to Ranger. "Gilbert Barkley, out on bail for aggravated assault." His mom had left the family silver to his sister and he'd expressed his displeasure by clocking her with a candlestick. "He rooms with one of Vito Grizzoli's bagmen, so I figured it was better to scoop him up at work."
I nodded toward the sign shop. "The manager dated Valerie in high school, so he agreed to cooperate."
The takedown went down smooth as silk. When I called the shop, my sister's ex sent Gilbert out to measure the SUV for a door sign. Gil spotted me and started to run, but Ranger had him subdued and cuffed before I could even go for my stun gun. I would be jealous of his abilities, but Ranger is just too freaking hot in action.
After we'd dropped the skip off at the station, Ranger pushed me up against the SUV and kissed me until my knees gave out. "God, I love to watch you work." He glanced at his watch. "Twenty minutes door to door. Are you sure you don't want to work for me full time?"
I was too busy trying to catch my breath to do anything but nod.
R&S~R&S~R&S
We pulled into the RangeMan garage shortly after that, but instead of going up to seven to continue our 'negotiations', Ranger led me up to the first floor. I aimed a finger wave toward Woody, who was on lobby duty.
"Huh, I've hardly been in here," I said as I looked around at the marble and glass interior. "It's nice."
Ranger led me over to door on the far side of the elevator and ushered me inside. "This is what I wanted to show you, Babe."
We were in a sparsely furnished office suite, still painted contractor beige. I raised a questioning eyebrow as I turned from checking out the outer office.
"The main office is through there, and there's a small meeting room on the other side." He said as he guided me through the rooms.
"This is great, but why are you showing me this?"
"I'd intended to turn this into a meeting room, but never got around to it." Ranger took a deep breath. "Promise me you'll hear me out, Babe?" At my nod he continued. "When you mentioned going into investigations, I thought you might need an office."
I looked around, dumbfounded. Ranger was always three steps ahead of me. "It's great, but I'd never be able to afford the rent."
"Babe." Translation: What part of 'no price' don't you understand?
"Ranger." I narrowed my eyes at him. "In case you don't understand 'Burg death glare, I don't accept charity."
"Don't I know it," he muttered. "Babe, why did Francine ask you to hunt down her son-in-law in the first place?"
"Because she couldn't afford a PI – they're freaking expensive!"
He nodded. "So you were going to continue taking cases for the cost of gas money?"
My cheeks flamed. "I hadn't thought that far, but you're right, I can't charge the full rate to my target clientele." I flopped down in the lone office chair. "God, I'm such a ditz!"
Ranger lifted and nudged me around until he was in the chair and I was in his lap. "You're big hearted, but you're not a ditz, Babe. Want my thoughts?"
I nodded against his chest.
"You could set yourself up as a not-for-profit. Charge clients on a sliding scale, according to financial need. You can even take some pro-bono cases, since you won't have much overhead."
"That's great, but I still can't squat here rent-free."
"That's the beauty of it. RangeMan provides the not-for-profit with office space and IT support in exchange for a huge tax write-off." He shot me a crooked grin. "My accountant would be overjoyed."
I sat up and looked around. "It is a pretty nice office. Much nicer than that place on Stark Lula told me about."
Ranger shuddered. "Tell me you're joking."
I grinned. "You'll never know, Batman."
Ranger chuckled. "Well, it doesn't have quite the ambiance of Stark Street, but there's easy access to the street for your clients."
And it was in a secure building, monitored constantly by well-armed ex-commandos. That feature didn't escape me, either.
Ranger dropped a kiss onto my forehead. "All I want is for you to have options. Just think about it, Babe."
I burrowed into his chest and just let his words wash over me. Options. Ranger was obsessed with my safety. Four years of trackers and the Merry Men watching over me could attest to that. But he'd never once told me I was a disaster or suggested I work at the personal products factory.
I closed my eyes and tried to imagine a future with Carlos. Hmmm. Occasional arguments over my junk food and exercise. His idea of a 'just because' present was a canister of pepper spray, and I was pretty sure the earrings he gave me for my birthday came with GPS. Secretly, I liked that he cared that much.
There would be a few missed dinners or holidays. My lips curved into a smile against his chest. My man was a workaholic, but he always made it up to me. There'd be lots and lots of sex. And love. No one else had ever made me feel like I was their whole world with just a look, like he could.
One thing he wouldn't do would be to clip my wings. Ranger thrived on order and routine, but he bent over backwards to give me options. He didn't seem to care that chaos followed in my wake and he got along with my crazy family. He 'got' me. We'd talked enough that I knew he wanted a partner, not a housewife. So why wasn't I grabbing everything he was offering with both hands?
I turned in the chair so I was straddling him. "OK. Are we still negotiating?"
He nodded.
"Great, then I'll conditionally accept your offer of the office space." I dropped a brief kiss on his lips to cut off any protests. "I still have to work out a business plan, and I'd insist upon better office furniture."
My lips curved into a lazy grin as I gestured toward the inner office. "I think a nice big comfy couch would look good in there – for all of those after lunch naps we'll be taking."
"Babe." His gaze went lava hot as he slid both hands under my T-shirt. Translation: That's the best idea I've heard all day.
I swallowed a moan, and tried to stamp down my pesky hormones. Talk now. Play later. "Is your other offer still on the table? To move in with you?"
He nodded, but his expression was cautious, guarded even. I hated that I'd put that look on his face. "I wouldn't have offered if there was a chance I'd take it back."
Sweet relief. "I would like to live with you, but only if Rex is welcome."
He chuckled. "Babe, I'd counted on that. He can have his own room for all I care."
"Not necessary, but thanks anyway." My expression sobered. "I'd also insist upon buying all of the groceries."
He groaned. "Steph." Translation: No freakin'way. I can't live off of cheese puffs and snack cakes.
I rolled my eyes. "Ella can still do the shopping, I just want to contribute to the household." When he didn't answer, I continued. "I know you won't take rent and you've just doomed yourself to keeping me in cars, which at the rate I destroy them, adds up to a whole lot of scrap metal. I just don't want to feel like a total free-loader."
"OK." His voice was quiet. "One of the first things I loved about you was your independence." He sighed. "So, OK. But I have a couple of requests, too, Babe."
I cupped his cheek and laid the mother of all kisses on him, trying to convey everything that I couldn't find words for at that moment – love, happiness, a promise to back him up as surely as he did me.
"Yes, I'll carry my gun and cooperate with you if there are ever security issues," I told him when we finally broke for air.
A wolfish grin spread over his face. "Much appreciated, Babe, but that wasn't what I was talking about."
"Oh." A spike of heat shot straight through me. "Welllll. Do those requests involve costumes or anything particularly freaky?" I asked with a mischievous grin.
Carlos smiled – a full two hundred watts that did strange things to my heart and libido. "Maybe."
I scraped my teeth over the column of his throat as I pushed his T-shirt up to expose his abs. "Then it sounds like we have a lot to negotiate, Mr. Mañoso. Why don't you show me exactly what you were thinking of?"
There were still things for us to work out, but I knew one thing without question. I wanted to spend the rest of my life negotiating with this man.
The end.
A/N: Well, so ends this story. Thanks again to all of you who took the time to read and review my little story. The support meant a lot to me as a first time writer.
This story was born out of my frustration for the lack of growth in the last 15 books or so. I had a pretty simple idea – what if Stephanie listened to that little voice of reason that we all have?
Thanks for following along.
