I hope you guys love this chapter. It makes me giddy that I'm almost over 200 reviews and it's only my seventh chapter!

Not mine, I only own the mistakes and the plot.


We followed Lester back into the hospital wing where everyone seemed to be waiting. He waited outside while we went in. Six pairs of eyes stared at us when we entered. Five pairs looked down at our still clasped hands with surprise. One stared for a minute longer, then gave a big smile to me. Celia.

"Papa," Ranger said, moving closer to the bed to take his father's hand. If I didn't know that the man was Ranger's father, I would now. Everything but his smile came from his father.

I hoped Ranger looked half as good at that age. I'll be riding him till the cows came home.

Mr. Manoso looked at his son, then to me, then back at his son. There was no smile on his lips, but I saw the corners of his eye crinkle. "Good," he said with a slight Cuban accent. "Make your mother grandchildren."

Ranger let out a sigh and I mentally slapped my forehead. We backed up and Mrs. Manoso took over the space and his hand.

"You must be Stephanie." The other man in the room said. "You're way prettier than I imagined."

Ranger growled and moved his hand over my shoulders.

"Cool it, bro, I understand." The man said, chuckling. "No need to get territorial."

"Roberto, stop teasing your brother." Mrs. Manoso said.

Roberto smile and left the room when his pager beeped.

Celia rolled her eyes.

A few minutes later, I let go of Ranger's hand and went to the bathroom. This was a family moment and I felt like I was intruding. Ranger had been spending all his free time either here or with me and right now, he needed to be with just his family. I took my time in the bathroom and walked slowly back to the room.

Ranger was waiting just outside the room for me. "I thought you fell in." He said with a ghost of a smile.

"Just taking my time." I replied. I looked at my watch. "I should go."

He frowned slightly. "Why?"

"You should be with your family. I'm intruding."

"You're not."

I sighed. "I have work I need to do."

He smiled now. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

I sighed again and rolled my eyes. He took me into his arms. "Fine, I'll let you go now, but be ready by eight."

I was confused. "For what?"

His smile disappeared. "Our date."

Mental head slap. "I assumed that you'd stay here and be with your dad."

"You know what they say when people assume…"

"Smartass."

"You like my ass."

Boy did I. It was number one on my list of best asses in Trenton. Maybe the world. Ranger smiled.

"So, is eight good for you?" He asked.

"Eight's great. What should I wear?"

"You pick the restaurant. What's a nice restaurant you'd like to go?"

I paused. "I don't know, you pick."

His brow furrowed. "You must have a favorite restaurant. Where did Joe take you on your last date?"

"Pino's, maybe. We didn't go out much."

He looked at me. "When was your last real date? Not where you sat on the couch, drank beer and ate pizza, then had sex."

"Dickie took me to a little Italian place once before we got engaged."

Ranger's eyes narrowed. "You haven't been on a real date in over a decade?"

I shrugged.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose and spoke rapid Spanish. I didn't know what he was saying at it was making me kind of hot.

He pulled out his wallet. "Here," he said, handing a black credit card to me. "Get whatever clothes you need."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to give you the best first date you've ever had."

"This is sweet, but I have nice dresses in my closet." I think.

"Just in case." Then, he wolf grinned at me. "I'd like to see you in a sexy black dress that's meant for me."

I blushed. I wore lots of black dresses for the distraction jobs, but never for Ranger.

Okay, so maybe they were kind of for Ranger.

"Fine, I'll only use it if I don't have anything in my closet."

"Deal."


Unfortunately, I did need to use it. None of the dresses were good enough for my date with Batman. I hate that I had to. I don't want to just rely on Ranger for everything. I can stand on my own two feet.

I felt that he had his hand in this, but I couldn't prove it. It seemed like some of my clothes were missing, but I couldn't prove it.

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed unreal. I had a date with Batman. We were going out. This was really happening.

After I had showered, exfoliated and plucked myself within an inch of my life, I was ready to do make-up. Surprised to hear the phone ringing, I cracked the door and pulled out my mascara.

"Hey Cupcake," Joe's voice called out into my family room. "I haven't heard from you in a while. I'm sorry about what I said. You should come home. Bob and the boys miss you."

I looked in the mirror and bit my lip. Joe voice had a bedroom quality to it that I missed. Did I really want to go on this date with Batman? Who's to say he won't just get into my bed and then run away? Maybe I should give Joe…

My mind halted. Maybe I should give Joe a swift kick in the ass. I told him we were over and we are. I've moved on. I've got a date with Batman. If he does throw me out the next morning, at least I'll have some great sex as a parting gift.

Even as I thought that, my heart knew that this time was for real. That the doubt I was feeling was unnecessary. Ranger wasn't going to leave the next morning. This was it. No more mind games, no more innuendos about anything, just flirting that will probably lead to great sex.

Either way, I'm getting great sex. And that's more than I'm getting with Joe.

I left the bathroom and deleted the message.

Over the next hour, I spent priming and making sure that nothing was out of place. My hair was in a sexy bun, my make-up looked natural and the black dress and undies (which I paid for) were sexy. I was putting on the black peep toe pumps when there was a knock.

I looked through the peephole and saw Ranger.

"Who are you?"

I saw him smile. "Babe."

I opened the door. "You never knock."

"You never hear it." He pulled his hand from behind his back and held out a beautiful bouquet of red roses.

"They're beautiful."

His eyes traveled my body. "So are you."

I blushed. I liked this romantic Ranger. It was a nice change. He was looking devastatingly sexy with black pants and coat with a charcoal shirt. His hair was pulled back and he had a small diamond stud in his ear, giving him a sexy bad boy look.

"Do you have a vase?"

I nodded and headed to the kitchen. Putting them in water, I placed them by Rex's cage. Rex peeked out, showed little interest and went back into his soup can.

Ranger held out his arm. "Ready?"

I took his arm. "Ready."