A/N: This chapter is mostly fluff. I thought our protagonists could use a little vacation from worrying about a gang war. Hope y'all enjoy

Stephanie needed a break.

Carlos sat her down and explained the severity of the gang violence that was coming Trenton's way. He told her, very diplomatically, that while he trusted her to be proactive in her safety, she was a trouble magnet and he'd appreciate greatly if she would agree to extra safety precautions for the time being. Stephanie agreed, not because she thought his concern had merit but because making Carlos smile outside the bedroom was her one of her favorite activities, second only to making him smile inside the bedroom.

So she was outfitted with extra trackers in her purse, a watch that doubled as a tracker and a panic button, her keyring was amended to include a GPS device…she was positively dripping with buttons. She also agreed to an escort when she left the building, be it for business or personal reasons. She knew she would have a shadow regardless, so at least this way, carpooling with her bodyguard at least let her feel that the saved gas from a second covert vehicle was a small contribution to Rangeman's bottom line.

It was with this in mind that she went to Carlos at the beginning of June to ask sweetly if he'd mind her taking a day off.

"I just want to go to the beach for the day, soak up some sun and not worry about the latest threat against our safety. I need a mental donut, Carlos!"

He smiled at her, that special sexy smile only Stephanie got to see, and said, "Babe. You called me Carlos."

Stephanie rolled her eyes back so far she was sure she would be able to see the wall directly behind her. "You! Don't you start with that 'Mr. Sexy Pants' talk and distract me! I'm asking a serious question here; I'm going nuts with the monitoring and I'm really, truly doing my best for you, but the instinct to run from danger is still there. I need permission to run, Ranger. I don't want to do it without your blessing; I've hurt you by doing that in the past and I never want to be the reason you're upset again." She was whispering by the time she finished, and Ranger could see how earnest she was. With a sigh, he walked toward her until their foreheads were touching and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her towards his hard body.

"You take two men with you. You don't invite every friend you have; they all draw too much attention and the men can't focus on keeping you safe. Can you pick one or two of the girls? I'll even let you pick the Merry Men." He smiled at her and she beamed up at him, standing on tip toe to press her lips to his.

"That's perfect! Mary Lou is painting her living room while the boys are at Lenny's mother's house, so I was going to ask Lula and Connie. Can I take Lester and Hector?"

Ranger nodded in agreement, and with a last kiss, Steph left his office in search of her two preferred babysitters.

Her plan didn't execute as smoothly as she planned, however; Lula had an early evening date she had to prepare for and Connie had recently found a suspicious mole on her shoulder. Her dermatologist recommended no direct sunlight until they got the spot biopsied. Then Hector declined the trip when she asked him; he had business down on Stark Street to attend to. There were still no real leads in the gang intrusion, but he had a tip he needed to verify – word had reached M-18's primera palabra that the KDC was preparing to start hunting trophies. Hector was trying to determine what types of 'trophies' the Korean's would want to collect.

It was with a dejected sigh that Stephanie went in search of Lester to tell him it would only be the two of them at Point Pleasant today when her cell phone rang.

"Stephanie Manoso." She answered properly, not bothering to check the caller I.D.

"Hey, Stephanie, it's Gia! Listen, we're sweating our balls off over here and since my pool won't be resealed until this weekend, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the beach?"

Stephanie instantly perked up and said, "Ohmigosh, I was just trying to round up a few people for the beach! That's great, I'd love go…wait, you said 'we'. Who's with you?"

"Just Tate. He's got the day off from Booty Palace and he just dropped Sophie at her mom's house so he stopped by. Should we pick you up at Rangeman?" Stephanie heard Mark's voice faintly, telling Giana to put the 'slutty bikini' on, then the loud 'thwonk' sound of a head being slapped. Stephanie felt a swell of camaraderie behind her bosom; dealing with her coworkers daily required her to dole out quite a few slaps herself to remind the men of their manners.

Stephanie sighed and said, "Let me call you right back. I kind of need to have a couple of the guys with me right now, but since Tate's going I'll see if one is okay with Ranger."

Giana didn't sound phased at all by Stephanie's explanation. "Okay, talk to you soon!" she sang before hanging up.

It turns out, one Rangeman was okay with Ranger, at least after Lester vouched for the fact that Mark worked out regularly and also took some self-defense classes to help him keep the rowdier patrons of The Landing Strip in check.

So after changing into her bathing suit and donning a cover up, Stephanie retrieved her babysitter and the two loaded a Rangeman black SUV with towels and a cooler and headed to Gia's house.

Stephanie had been instructed to let herself in when they arrived, so she did just that with Lester in tow. While Steph excused herself to use the restroom and Giana was busy changing in the bedroom, Mark greeted Lester as men typically greet one another – with insults and handshakes. Les accepted his offer of a bottle of water, and took a moment to look around the house. He'd been here several times since the day he helped her move in to watch games, but always with a small group that usually included Hector. Gia was always welcoming and even doted a little bit on the men, making sure there were snacks and drinks available, but Lester knew it was because she wanted Hector's friends to feel comfortable. Still, it was strangely soothing to be in her presence, just spending downtime with her. It was never overly comfortable for him, or any of the men for that matter, as Hector continued to let his presence remind them of his precept regarding her. And while Les was sure he wasn't the only man harboring feelings of desire for her, he was mollified by the fact that the other men were bound by the same restrictions as him.

He was shaken from his thoughts by the very woman who occupied them when she breezed into the living room, smiling in welcome and giving him a quick hug in greeting. She did that a lot, he noticed with amusement. New Jersey wasn't generally an atmosphere conducive to warm greetings, but apparently Virginia was. Since the hugs were often accompanied by the small zing he'd felt the first time he heard her voice, he found that he looked forward to the greetings a great deal more than he probably ought to.

The four loaded into the car after stowing a beach bag and a large umbrella in the SUV's cargo area. When Mark teased her about it, Gia replied, "I'm an Irish redhead. I don't tan, I freckle and then burn."

The conversation on the way to Point Pleasant was light and easy until Giana teasingly questioned the need for Stephanie's 'entourage'. Steph met Lester's eyes briefly in the rearview mirror and said, carefully, "With Rangeman being involved in so many facets of the security industry, there's sometimes a need to be…a bit more cautious than normal."

Gia nodded speculatively, then surprised them by asking, "Does this have anything to do with how worried Hector's been the past few weeks?"

Lester wasn't sure how to answer her without jeopardizing the integrity of their investigation, so he simply asked, "Has Hector been worried lately?"

Giana nodded solemnly and said, "Yes. The last time we went to Mass he was really quiet, and he lit quite a few candles."

"You go to church with Hector?" Lester's shock at this news was evident in his voice.

"Sure. I'm a lapsed Catholic, but I'm a Catholic." She answered. Lester was filled with tender affection at her answer; not at the admission of her own faith, but at her complete acceptance of Hector's. She really, genuinely cared about Hector, Lester mused. The realization that it wasn't just a show of support for her brother, but something much more organic that anchored her friendship with him encouraged Lester to share that Hector was working on a troubling case at Rangeman. Stephanie hid her surprise at Lester's candor while Giana just nodded somberly.

They arrived at the beach and set up near the lapping waves. They all lathered up, Gia with strong sunblock and the rest with tanning lotion, and stretched out on the sand. Stephanie dozed off almost immediately after mumbling a request to 'flip her' in an hour or so, and Mark slid some earbuds into place before closing his eyes. Lester was lying next to Giana, who was ensconced under her beach umbrella, and playfully asked if she was enjoying the sun.

She giggled and said, "I actually really like the beach, I've just got to watch the sun. I'd love to be able to tan like you, but I'm destined to forever glow in the dark." She stuck her pale, slender arm next to his tanned, heavily muscled bicep and sighed. "Yours is so much prettier." She groused.

Lester smiled sweetly and said, "My family is from Cuba, so we're all sun worshippers. You said in the car that you're Irish?"

She nodded and said, "Yup. Can't get much more Irish than 'McGovern'. My dad's mum came over to the States as a child. We've been to Ireland twice to visit relatives, though we haven't been in several years." She lapsed adorably into a faint Irish brogue when speaking about her ancestral homeland, making Lester smile.

"Do you like to travel?" he asked, and they were off. Discussion of the places they'd been – the ones Les could talk about, anyway – led to a discussion of lands unexplored that they yearned to see. When Les mentioned wanting to visit Liverpool to see the birthplace of the Beatles, she excitedly declared her desire to visit the Jane Austen museum in Chawton, and they were off and running again, dissecting each other's favorite authors and music. Lester was surprised at how sexy he found her intelligence and quick wit; in recent years, the only sexy attributes he noticed in a woman were located on her chest. Not that hers were bad, he reflected, sneaking a long look at her body. The bikini that covered her was modest by bikini standards. The dark green two-piece with scalloped edges looked lovely on her alabaster skin, and her full, pert breasts were drawing a lot of male attention. Lester made sure to glare at those he caught staring; just because he wasn't allowed to move in on her didn't mean he was going to sit by and watch some other lucky asshole do it.

They woke Stephanie so she could flip, and Giana handed her a bottle of water with instructions to finish it. She pulled Mark's earbuds out and announced, "Time to flip the Tater." before drizzling the icy residue from the cooler's water on his chest. He gasped and rolled over, grumbling and reaching for the bottle of water. Gia stood, stretched, and asked Les if he wanted to swim for a bit. Their conversation continued in the ocean and as the content progressed and became more personal, Les found that the feeling of tender affection he'd felt for he earlier in the car swelled until he wasn't sure it he was going to sink to the ocean floor or float away from the fullness of it.

When he mentioned to Giana that her mother had seemed like a very nice lady, she smiled and agreed. "It sounds babyish to say, but my mom really is one of my best friends. If I shot someone and needed help burying a body, mom would probably say 'I'm sure the miserable bastard deserved it, love. Now where shall we dig?'" Lester laughed loudly, then waved at Stephanie when she raised her head to check on them.

And even though it was along the natural flow of conversation, when Gia asked about his parents, Lester cringed and felt his blank face slam down.

"I'm not in touch with my mother; I haven't spoken to her since I was around eleven years old. And I guess technically I'm not in touch with my father, though since I've never met him I don't think that counts."

Lester was aghast that he'd shared that with her, little that it was. He'd had a handle on the animosity, the disgust he felt for his mother for such a long time. To admit the minute amount he just had was more than he'd spoken about the woman in the last several years, collectively. He braced himself, expecting an embarrassed apology for having asked that would no doubt put a damper on their afternoon together, or worse, questions about why he wasn't in touch with his mother.

But Giana surprised him again when she simply smiled, touched his forearm, and said, "So is it true about all Cubans having rhythm?" while winking at him. He laughed and promised to take her dancing at a salsa club one night soon.

The light atmosphere resumed, they continued their conversation. They talked of everything and nothing, and neither could remember a time when such a pleasing discussion had been had. Too soon, they were being summoned to the beach by a thoroughly browned Stephanie to find some air conditioning and some food. After loading their things into the SUV, they drove to a beachside restaurant that specialized in desserts. The second half of the afternoon passed as pleasantly as the first and by the time they arrived back at Giana's small home in Trenton, they were all thoroughly wiped out. They exited the car and Mark began unload their beach gear while Gia thanked Stephanie for coming and the two made loose plans to get together soon. The memory of Gia's sweet giggle and benign conversation bolstering his courage, Les stepped forward and wrapped her in a gentle hug.

"You owe me a dance." He murmured close to her ear, and was filled with masculine satisfaction when he noticed her pink-tinged cheeks as she nodded. He climbed behind the wheel of the SUV and tried to ignore Stephanie's pointedly curious stare as they pulled back onto the road and drove towards the Haywood building.

"Soooo…." Steph crowed, obviously enjoying his discomfort. "I noticed you two were awfully chummy today." She had a cat-who-ate-the-canary grin on her sun kissed face. Stephanie was relentless when trying to gather information. Les groaned; he so wasn't in the mood for this.

"She's nice. She's also really smart so we had a lot to talk about." He allowed, hoping that would satiate Steph's curiosity. No such luck.

"Do you ever…I mean, do you think you'd ever want to, well…would you be open to the idea of having a girlfriend? Like, an actual girlfriend?" She started out hesitantly, but she hit her stride quickly. "Because Giana's great, I think she'd be really good for you, Les, you two could be really happy and you have to start thinking about where you want your life to go – " Stephanie was hurriedly trying to spit out everything she wanted to say before Lester cut her off, which he did quickly. He didn't know if he could bear to hear her say all the things he ached to hear.

"Beautiful, you're right. She's great – better than great, actually – but it's not going to happen with us. I'm just…I'm not at that place. She deserves somebody who is absolutely sure about what they want from her."

After listening to Stephanie cajole him and recite his 'good qualities' (though he thought she was far too generous with them), he cut her off again just as they were pulling into Haywood. Stephanie Plum-Manoso was like a dog with a bone when she got something in her head, and he needed to shut her down. He couldn't afford to listen to her matchmaking attempts anymore. He couldn't afford to let hope bloom where there was no chance of it surviving.

"It doesn't matter. Even if I did want to try something with her, I can't. Hector doesn't want any of us dating her. He's already reminded me once, I don't think he'll appreciate having to do it a second time."

Stephanie's mouth fell open and she sputtered a protest. "That…that's just…what the hell?! How can he think it's okay to do that! How can you listen to him!?"

Les smiled sadly at her and shrugged. "Because he's right, Beautiful. I appreciate all the nice things you say and think about me, about all of us, but the fact of the matter is, Giana can do a lot better. She deserves a lot better. I can't manage more than half a night with any woman, and there have been a lot of women, Stephanie. I don't even have anything left to give her." He exited the SUV, walked around and opened Stephanie's door for her, pulling her out of the car where she sat in sad retrospect. Lester wordlessly walked to the elevator with her and hit the button for four, then hit seven for Steph.

As the elevator stopped on the floor where Les's apartment sat, empty and dark, he turned to Steph to thank her for the day and hopefully sooth any hurt feelings caused by his dismissal of her in the garage. He was surprised to see not the melancholy expression he expected, but one of determination.

Just before the doors slid shut, Stephanie squared her shoulders, looked him straight in the eye and said, "One day, Lester, you're going to see yourself the way everyone else sees you. Then you can stop trying to make all of us happy and start making yourself happy."