Once again thank you to everyone reading/reviewing/looking! I'm having a great time writing this so it's nice to hear what you all think good or bad!

Again this chapter is thanks to my fabuloso Betas Carol and Julie! I couldn't do this without their support. I'm so lucky to have them as friends!

I own nothing!

Chapter 10

Stephanie's POV

"So what? Six o'clock is the only time you have available to hang out?" I demanded, stuffing my mouth full of the crispy goodness of McDonald's French fries.

"Not necessarily, I needed to hit the road early and thought you could use a little fortification before you go to work."

I rolled my eyes at the thought of work. It was going to be one very long day.

"Not looking forward to it?" he asked, a hint of curiosity in his statement.

"Eh, it's just going to be another day."

If I convinced myself of it, maybe it would be true. Pshh—when had that ever worked?

"Do you like it there?" he questioned while snitching one of my beloved fries.

He chuckled at the glare I threw his way, which made my head pound. I went over to my purse to grab my handy travel bottle of Tylenol, trying my best to act as if his presence wasn't affecting me. I didn't want to scare him away. If I acted upon the giddiness I was feeling, he'd run screaming in the opposite direction. My stomach was turning not only with acid from too much alcohol but massive monarch butterflies as well.

"It's okay—mostly paperwork and calls. I don't find myself in trouble anymore so that's a perk." I tossed back two capsules and chased them with my coke.

"No trouble, huh? Are you sure?" He raised his eyebrows waiting for me to answer.

"Yes!" I said in a tone dictating he should drop what he was hinting at. No doubt he'd seen the confrontation with Alex yesterday, and not only was I severely hung-over but embarrassed as well.

"If you say so. You'd tell me differently if you were, right?"

We stared into each other's eyes for a moment. Momentarily sidetracked by what those eyes could do to me when they turned that lovely shade of melted chocolate, I had to snap myself back into the here and now. He was gauging if I was about to tell the truth, and I was waging which way to go.

"Listen, if I felt I was in trouble, I'd be able to handle it. There aren't any crazy axe murderers around here going after me."

He nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer but the concern was still on his face.

"Have you been able to speak to any of your coworkers? Feel anything out yet?" he asked, changing subjects. God this man knew me so well. Instead of pushing me he'd switched gears instead.

"No, I stay to myself mostly," I replied, licking the last of the salt from my fingers. "Plus, I was on vacation all last week. Have you had any more leads?" I'd been disappointed I hadn't heard anything around the office about the thefts. I'd thought it would be the perfect way to get Joe back into my life on a regular basis. Turned out I just needed to get too drunk for my own good instead.

"Yeah, I told Marisa when I saw her last week that we got a lead on a truck the cargo ring has targeted. Some of your merchandise is on there—among others of course."

"Really?" I drawled. My interest was definitely piqued. I loved a good mystery—when my life didn't hang in the balance of it at least.

"Yeah, Manoso's got an informant on the street. Gave him the lead and everything has checked out so far. The truck should be on the road this Friday, so all we can do is sit and wait."

"You're working with Ranger?" I asked incredulously.

How the hell did those two men always end up around each other constantly? Considering Joe had been working on this case for at least the last eight or nine months, I was sure Ranger had to have been involved for almost as long. It was a wonder neither had killed each other yet.

"Yeah," he snorted, "It's from a distance, and so everyone is safe from our fists."

"That's not funny," I chastised, as the memories of the blows they'd thrown at one another in Hawaii swam into focus.

"No, no, it's not," he agreed, sobering, "Are we still on for Wednesday?"

"Wednesday? What's Wednesday?" I asked, completely stymied.

"Well, I thought I was coming over for dinner. You even promised to make dinner." Amusement was evident in his voice.

We must have made plans after my third shot. Hell—it could've been after my first shot, because I couldn't remember too much after that. Sadly, I remembered everything before I'd started on the hard liquor, and I wanted to forget everything about that.

He let out a full-bodied laugh this time, obviously following my train of thought. I couldn't help but smile, and, since my headache was starting to die, I even let out a little laugh too. This man in front of me knew me so well.

"What time did we decide on? I promise to remember this time," I said, smirking. At least this would give me something to look forward to this week.

"Six thirty. Are you really going to make dinner, or are you going to buy something frozen?"

"Hey now," I went to defend myself, but Mary Lou had made her way downstairs and chimed in.

"Hey handsome, I thought I heard your voice," she said by way of greeting to Joe, and, smiling at me, added, "She can cook. Her sauce may be jarred but she's on to something."

She already had the coffee going and the smell of a fresh brew was making its way around the kitchen.

"Good morning to you too," I said sardonically, letting her know I didn't like how she'd left me out of her morning greetings. "For the record," I said to Joe, "we'd had a busy day, and we wanted something to eat and fast."

"Jarred sauce or homemade—I'm coming over early just to watch you in action. I never thought there'd ever be a confirmed sighting of Stephanie Plum in the kitchen—cooking," he joked.

"Actually she took cooking lessons," Mary Lou piped up—again. She was staring at me with a funny expression on her face. Slipping behind Joe, she pointed at her hair. Huh?

The look of shock on Joe's face was laughable—and I did. Ignoring Mary Lou, I laughed long and hard.

"Cupcake?" he asked quizzically, and my heart stopped momentarily at his use of my nickname. "You took cooking lessons?"

"Yeah, I was looking to be something different, and that's what I decided to do."

All laughter died in the room. A look of guilt passed across Joe's face, and I internally beat myself up for having used his words against him. I blamed my now mild headache.

"Anyone want coffee?" Mary Lou asked, breaking the tension. She was still staring at me strangely.

"I'll get some in a second," Joe replied, "I gotta hit the road before traffic hits hard."

Now I really wished I hadn't opened my mouth. Joe was barely looking at me, and I wanted to cherish any moment with him I could. Clearly I hadn't this time around. Why wasn't he looking at me? Could my words have affected him that much? They'd been his words! He was the one to have used them first!

"Oh? Where you heading? It's still early," Mary Lou questioned him, probably knowing I wanted a little more time with Joe. I had a while before I needed to get ready for work anyway. "We're heading home after Steph leaves for work. Traffic should be pretty much nonexistent by then."

"Headed there myself. Mooch is ready to bring Bob to the pound."

"What!" I exclaimed, jumping off of my stool, "You cannot be serious?"

"No—but Shirley's about ready to kill him, so I'm going there to bring him back with me." He sounded beyond exasperated.

"Omigod! Can you bring him with you Wednesday?" With the hopeful sound in my voice, he couldn't possibly have said no. Probably there'd been some pleading mixed in there as well.

"Sure." The smile that adorned his face was almost blinding.

I was reminded why I loved the man so much. How much I missed him. And how I hadn't thanked him—yet.

"Thank you so much, Joe, for bringing this," I said, pointing to my now empty fry and coke containers. "And thanks for stopping by when you've been so busy." I tried my best sultry voice and dazzling smile.

Mary Lou waved her hands in the air to get my attention, and again tried to make a subtle hand gesture toward me. She cupped her hands around her head and lifted them high above her. She was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. She laughed when I shook my head, and I shot her a looking telling her to 'shut it'.

"No problem, Cupcake. You mind if I take some of this to go?" he pointed to the coffee.

"Of course not," I said, still looking at Mary Lou to try and figure her out.

Joe turned to pour himself a cup of coffee when Mary Lou lifted a chunk of her hair and teased it.

"What?" I mouthed, and she gave an exasperated sigh.

She acted as if I were testing her patience, when in reality she was more than testing mine. She again grabbed her hair with one hand and made the 'crazy' gesture with her index finger circling her temple. She looked over at Joe at the same time I did, and it was clear we'd been caught—or at least Mary Lou had been. I hadn't done anything.

He laughed and shook his head, saying, "You two."

"You drive safe," he ordered Mary Lou lightly and walked over to me. I was hoping for a kiss, but instead he chucked me under the chin. Not this again! "And I'll see you Wednesday."

I walked with him to the door hoping beyond hope that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't want to leave—and that he'd give me an even better reason to call in sick other than an awful hangover. I was seriously dreading work, and the prospect of spending a day with Joe was a great thought even when I wasn't dreading the day to come.

"Thanks again, Joe," I said with a quiver in my voice.

Jeez—suck it up! He'd be back in two days—unless he changed his mind.

Which he'd better not!

Joe sighed. He knew me well enough that I'm sure he'd sensed my not wanting him to leave.

"Like I said, it's really not a problem. I wanted to make sure you were still alive for our date on Wednesday." Pulling on one of my curls, he smiled.

God, his smile was gorgeous.

Wait! Did he just say date?

He noticed his fumble as soon as I did. "I mean dinner—dinner on Wednesday."

I nodded and opened the door for him. I wanted so much to kiss him, tell him how much I loved him and never let him go, but now was not the time.

When this workday was over, I'd come up with a game plan for Wednesday.

"Let me know if you hear anything at work today—okay, Cupcake?" he asked as he stepped out the door.

"I will, Joe." I gave him a sad smile. The further he walked away from me the more I didn't want him to leave.

If I hadn't been in hot pink terry cloth short shorts and tank top, I would've run after him, yelling at him to come back—screaming that this was where he belonged.

I watched him get into his car and start it before I shut the door and locked it. Turning around, Mary Lou was right there with her arms open to me. Not able to resist the comfort she would most definitely bring me, I willingly walked into them and broke down.

"Wednesday will be here in no time," she soothed. When I didn't calm down, she tried another tactic to take my mind off of Joe. "I hate to do this to you, but you should really go look in the mirror."

I picked my head up and frowned. What was she talking about?

I went into the downstairs bathroom and let out a strangled scream.

"Joe saw me like this? You saw what I looked like and didn't tell me?" I fumed at her.

"I did try to tell you," she defended herself; doing the stupid hand gestures my clouded brain hadn't understood earlier. "When you were trying out your sex kitten roll, you were more like a matted kitten." She shrugged. "But look on the bright side—he didn't see the mascara you now have all over your face."

"Omigod! What kind of friend are you?" I yelled.

My hair was a freaking disaster—frizzy and going in every direction! Drool may have made chunks of it stick together. Mascara was now smudged all over my cheeks due to the tears, but I could tell it had been smeared above my eyes before crying.

"Shhhh, Steph—calm down. You can't tell me Joe hasn't seen you looking worse before."

I sputtered at that, because he had most definitely seen me looking worse. This was different though—I wanted to win him back. You can't win back a man when you look like a tornado had come and hit your head!

"Do you really think I'm going to calm down?" I stomped my foot.

Was she kidding me? By getting my mind off of Joe she may have started something bigger.

"No," she rolled her eyes at me, "but you need to, otherwise you're going to have two—possibly three—very annoyed boys throwing a bigger tantrum than you are now."

"Whatever." I huffed. "They don't look like this." I said, pointing to my rat's nest of a head.

"Shut up, beautiful. Go get in the shower, and I'll bring you coffee when you're out."

Calming down because there was not a single thing I could do about the way Joe had seen me, I said, "You're a great friend, Mare. I don't think I tell you that often enough. What time are you leaving?"

"No thanks needed," she brushed me off. "Lenny doesn't have to work today, so I thought we'd leave right when you do for work—if you ever go to work."

I rolled my eyes and went upstairs and made myself presentable for the day.

Thank God for Joe having brought me the cure. It wasn't the Tylenol that had gotten rid of my headache. It'd been the food and his presence.

The thought of seeing him again so soon would be what got me through the next two days.

Joe's POV

After leaving Steph's house, I headed toward Trenton to pick up Bob. No sooner had I turned the first corner, than I decided to pull over on the side of the road. Thumping my head against the steering wheel a couple of times, I shook my head.

Why had I stopped by?

Duh—because I still loved her.

All my reasons of why we shouldn't be together disappeared every time I was around her, which is what had gotten us into our current position in the first place—along with the time before that—and the time before that. It must be the same for her; otherwise, we wouldn't have ended up in the stupid cycle to begin with.

She was like a fucking cosmic pull to me. No matter how much I wanted to I couldn't stay away.

I was excited for dinner on Wednesday and shouldn't have been surprised when she'd asked me to bring Bob along. It would be Rex, Bob, Steph and me—our happy family once again.

I was shocked to hear she'd learned how to cook. For me? When she'd said it was 'to be something different', it'd felt like she'd backhanded me across the face.

Those were the words I'd used to break it off.

In truth it hadn't been something different I'd been wanting. I'd just wanted a one hundred percent commitment from her. Something had set me off that day when I'd found myself in her apartment with the intention of breaking up with her—for good. I'd already been set on letting her go, because our yo-yo relationship had been taking a toll on both of us. Then I'd called her at least twenty times, and she'd never answered. I hadn't been able to help but think her phone had been off because she'd been with fucking Manoso. Or should I say I'd thought she'd been fucking Manoso.

We'd tried not being together before, but that had been because we were mad at one another. I knew if I was a prick and told her she wasn't what I wanted, then that would be the end of it—the end of us.

And it had worked—like a charm.

And I'd hated every moment of my life without her thus far if I were being totally honest with myself.

After the shit week I'd had last week, this one was looking up. Starting Monday morning off with seeing Stephanie had been a good start. Seeing her house had been amazing. She'd always been so casual about her old apartment. No mementos lying around and no decorations. It'd been a place where she ate and slept. This house hadn't been anything like that. There'd been plenty of decorations from what I could see in the downstairs. It looked well lived in, clean and homey. I missed that feeling. It was how my house had always felt when she was there with me.

Thinking about my home made me more homesick than usual. You can take a guy out of the Burg, but you can't take the Burg out of the guy. Suddenly I missed my life of months ago—the small town atmosphere, the local food and the stupid gossip flowing like a waterfall. At least there I'd always been aware of what Steph had been up to. I hadn't even had to ask if anyone had heard what she was up to. They'd call me—my mom and various members of my family, my brothers at the precinct and even Ranger.

Sigh.

Not here.

And with the way that dickwad Alex had treated her yesterday, I wanted even more to be abreast of how things were going with her. Since I didn't know all the men and women at the precinct in Philly as well as I did at home, I couldn't ask them to keep an eye out for her. I guess I'd just have to be more involved in her life myself.

Feeling as though I had a good enough excuse to put myself in her life—other than the truth of how I really wanted to be there—I headed off to the little town that would always be my home no matter how far away I was living.

Steph' POV

My headache returned as soon as I stepped foot into my office later that morning. Dave was whizzing around gathering all the reports and stuffing them in manila folders. He was also setting up all the samples I needed to go through from last week.

I'd forgotten that taking time off work from a job where there were things on deadlines meant you returned and paid for your leisurely time off. Not that my entire time off had been all that stress free, but I'd needed the break.

Now that I was at my desk I felt like the world was crowding me.

"You have ten minutes to wake up. I heard about yesterday, and you are just going to have to put one foot in front of the other," Dave insisted, taking charge of the situation. "Alex will be gone again next week."

I looked over at him with a furrowed brow.

"I heard Jessica talking on the phone," he added by way of explanation. "That means you only have five days, and then he's gone for two more weeks."

"Five days," I whined, "and then I have forever before Marisa comes back."

I looked and sounded like a petulant child, but it was exactly how I felt. I wanted out of Macy's. I didn't care what I did, but I knew I didn't want to be there sitting in this chair anymore.

That's me—Stephanie Plum, never satisfied with what she has.

"It's only six months more. What did The Little Engine That Could say?" he cajoled me.

"Uh, I think I can?"

"Yes—and what happened?"

"He did?"

"You got it! And you can do this. Now get up and pull up those big girl panties and get your ass in the meeting," he ordered.

Just to be a jerk, I said, "You said I'm wearing big girl panties. Does that mean you just called me fat?"

"Wh—What! No—I meant, you know, like, umm, as in 'I'm a big kid now'." He sang the Pull-Ups song. "Not that you're fat. You think I'd call you fat? Jeez, Stephanie. I didn't call you fat. Why would I call you fat?"

His reaction was exactly what I needed to get my butt into the conference room. If I said the right thing, I could make Dave sputter like Albert, and it always made me laugh. Thinking of Albert forced me to make a mental note to check up on my sister after the meeting.

Oh—and Lula too. She had a second date coming up with a man she thought was the one, and so I wanted to see how that went.

"No bake off needed, girlfriend," she'd told me in our last conversation when we'd been out looking for a skip last week. "You know that really juicy piece of prime rib in the middle? The perfect amount of red meat mixed with fat? That's him. He is the best cut of prime rib of my life!"

I like prime rib and all, but I'd had to change the analogy to cake to really get what she'd been saying.

Joe and cake.

Mmmmm.

Joe was the perfect mix of moist chocolate cake with fattening vanilla frosting—with roses. Or chocolate frosting. Or vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. Screw the roses—any combination was good to me.

And that was Joe. The perfect man—most of the time. Except when he'd broken up with me.

Sigh.

Wednesday I would broach the topic of giving us another try. If he had any questions about why or how, I'd answer them honestly and win his heart back. He still cared. He'd showed that by coming by this morning. As a result, I was absolutely refusing to give up hope. Nope. Not me. It was time stubborn Stephanie kicked into high gear.

The entire monthly meeting Joe was on my mind. What was I going to make for dinner? What if I messed it up and burnt it? What was I going to wear? How was I going to do my hair? Argh! Too bad I hadn't made an appointment with Mr. Alexander when I'd been in Trenton.

I needed to go for a grocery store run as soon as I got off work later that day.

Paul, the cosmetics purchaser, nudged me and gave me a stern look. I gave him a dirty one back, not knowing why he'd been so pushy about getting my attention—when Alex spoke.

"Stephanie, I suggest you start paying attention," he said snidely.

As if I cared about how all the other departments were performing! I gave Paul an apologetic look. He'd just been looking out for my well-being.

"I—"

"Don't bother giving me an excuse. You are obviously too preoccupied to do your job. Was a week away from your desk not enough for you?" Alex's tone was harsh and his eyes narrowed. Mary Lou had been right. His eyes had taken on a crazed look. They were hard and dark.

Not waiting for my response, he went on, "You need to focus if you want to keep your job."

There were audible gasps, and the jaws of everyone in the room were agape. But nothing was louder than the choked laugh I'd allowed to break through.

"It is your turn, Stephanie," Alex continued. "All of your coworkers would appreciate your respect in listening to them while we finish going around the table."

I opened my mouth to let him have a piece of my mind, but better judgment came through for once, and I decided to let his words and attitude slide—for now. I'd have to come up with a plan of action for Alex. If we'd been anywhere but at work, there would have been no way I'd let his behavior go. Seeing as we were at work, however, I didn't want to give the office biddies any more chitchat than what they'd just been handed.

I took in a deep breath and started stating the monthly sales figures for my department. I was about to move on with next month projections when Alex interrupted.

"That's all you bought and then sent to the stores?" he asked, and Jessica, his assistant who was to his right taking notes, snickered.

"It's a five percent improvement from last year and in a down economy that is a good thing," I hissed back at him. "If you'd waited a moment, you would have found that next month our projected buying is going up almost nine percent based off of last month's sales."

"Keep going then," he barked. His voice was much louder than it had been prior to his little outburst. Never in any of the meetings I'd been in with him had he ever questioned anyone on their sales numbers. He was singling me out, and I was most definitely not appreciating it.

I went on and finished my part of the meeting. The moment everyone was done with his or her projections, however, I started gathering up my paperwork. I was still fuming over Alex's treatment of me, and my first order of business when I made it back to my desk was to call human resources. Surely they could help me, or at the very minimum document Alex's behavior.

Before I could make it through the crowd of people leaving the conference room, Jessica approached me.

"Don't forget Ashley is coming tomorrow for an interview—since you don't know how to do your job." She laughed a sinister type laugh. "I thought it was my job to remind you."

"Thanks for the reminder, but none was needed. I know how to do my job. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do just that." I rolled my eyes and exited the room. In the hallway, Barbara was talking to Alex. He was deep in conversation with her when I strode past. Lifting his eyes from Barb, he gave me a penetrating gaze.

I tried to ignore the shiver that ran down my spine when our eyes met. I needed to find my gun and pepper spray. I'd searched on Saturday night for my gun, but hadn't been able to find it. Probably it was in a box in the storage shed in my backyard. Ugh! Another item to add to my ever-growing list of to-dos for the evening.

"Any messages?" I asked Dave when I passed his cubicle.

"None. Alex is here and not out of town." He laughed at his own joke, and I gave him an icy glare in return. "Oh—Sue stopped by, wondering if you all were still on for lunch at Jed's."

"As far as I know we are," I said, stepping into my office.

I looked around at the mayhem that was my office and sighed. My eyes hadn't been fully open when I'd stopped in earlier, and now, with a clearer head, the damage was almost too much. There were papers everywhere—on the desk, side table, even on my guest chairs. I thought I was unorganized, but I'd come a long way since I'd started at Macys. My desk was usually extremely clean, but having had Marisa take over for a week meant I was starting at square one again. She knew her job and did it well. She just never put anything away. I smiled at the thought of when I'd first started working here. Marisa had been immensely pregnant and constantly going on food runs.

Thankfully, I'd lost all the weight I'd had gained following my break-up with Joe. I just needed to overlook the fact it'd been because of Alex.

The paper organization could wait. I had human resources to talk to and lunch with the ladies at Jed's.

"What was done to you was an injustice. You can't stand back and just take their word for it," Sue, from Juniors, exclaimed. She was angrier than I'd been at Alex's embarrassing treatment of me.

"You have witnesses, Stephanie. There is no way you can let him get away with his—his despicable behavior," Amy agreed.

It was the usual after monthly meeting lunch with Sue and Amy from Misses. Of course they'd both been in our little conference room during Alex's outburst. Human Resources had said there was nothing they could do to reprimand him "at this time'. However, if it continued, he would be written up, and the write up would go into his employee file for six months.

I'd asked what would happen after he received his slap on the wrist for demeaning an employee, and her response had been, 'He would get another write up. It really is a lengthy process before he would get in real trouble, Ms. Plum. We are talking about Alex MacLaine, correct? I'm looking at his file and we've never had an issue with him."

I'd scoffed at that and had politely thanked her for her time before hanging up.

I couldn't imagine he'd never been written up before. Probably if he had been, his write up had been thrown away seeing as they only stayed in a file for six months.

"At least they have it on file that I called and complained," I said to the group at my table. "She told me that covers my ass in case he tries to say I did something wrong. At least I'd know I'd goten my call in first," I finished triumphantly.

"Did they say anything else? I swear I have never—and I mean never seen a meeting run like that. Alex is always so calm. He almost never talks in meetings unless it's to joke. Today it was like he was ready to pounce as soon as you opened your mouth," Amy observed, wiping her mouth.

"Yeah, did you see the dirty looks? It was funny." I shook my head and laughed.

"Whom are you talking about? Jessica or Alex?" Sue said laughing with me before adding, "Isn't Marisa's husband an attorney?" I shrugged my shoulders. I had no idea.

"He's a tax attorney," Amy corrected her.

I knew it'd been something with numbers!

"Let's talk about something else," I suggested. "Like Dave's going away party since we didn't let the assistants come. That's what we're supposed to be talking about."

"Yeah, but I can't get over the meeting." Amy sighed.

"We have no choice. I'm just going to document everything Alex says or does and eventually something's got to give." I didn't want to waste any more time thinking about Alex the jackass.

Hmmm, I had an ex-husband I called a horse's ass, and now I was calling an ex-boyfriend a donkey's ass. What was I going to add next—a Cow's ass?

No! I wouldn't be adding any more asses to my collection except for the best ass in the world—Joseph Anthony Morelli's. And once I got his, I was going to make sure it stayed put where it should've been all along.

In my hot little hands.

By the grace of God, I was somehow able to not run into Alex for the remainder of the day. Dave and I came up with a plan of action for our interview with Ashley tomorrow. Since he knew the ins and outs of exactly what needed to be done in his position, I wanted him right by my side during the interviews.

We'd had twelve candidates apply, but on paper Ashley had been the only one that truly qualified. We would interview four more people that had come close. Basically my Tuesday would be packed. I had five conference calls with vendors on top of the interviews on my agenda.

Since I didn't want to think about what tomorrow would bring, I thought about something more positive as I made my way out to my car-namely what I was going to make Joe for dinner come Wednesday night. And what I was going to wear. I wanted to go shopping, but I didn't have a buddy to go with since Marisa had never returned my call from earlier, and I didn't want to go alone.

I picked up my phone to dial Marisa when Alex came out of nowhere.

Shit!

He ripped my phone out of my hand and dropped it on the ground. With his other hand, he yanked my wrist just like he had the previous day at the barbecue. This time he held on tight—too tight.

"We need to talk," he ground out.

"Alex," I said, trying to keep a stoic appearance. Best not to let him know just how scared I was. "I think we're done talking. I said what I needed to and frankly—" I paused, taking a deep breath because his hold was so tight. Without a doubt it was going to leave a bruise. "Frankly, I don't give a shit what you have to say. We. Are. Over. Now let me go." I demanded, trying to take back my arm with all my strength.

"I can't let you go," he said. His fingers dug deeper into my skin.

"You don't have a choice. Now let me go before I start screaming."

"You won't fucking scream! Do you hear me?"

As I opened my mouth to go directly against what he was telling me, he covered my mouth with his hands. It felt like an eternity, but could have only been ten minutes or less that I stood there being berated by Alex. I had found myself in countless scary situations, and this was probably a top three on 'Bad Situations Stephanie Has Found Herself In'.

Not soon enough, Mark, Marisa's husband, came screeching to a halt in front of us. His face was a dark red, and the cords on his neck were sticking out.

I wondered if he was Italian. He looked an awful lot like Joe did when he got mad. He'd reminded me of Joe again with the squealing of his tires too.

"Get your hands off of her," Mark ordered, using both hands to shove Alex away from me. "Who the fuck do you think you are? I told you to stay away from her, and you didn't listen."

"I'm her boss," Alex yelled.

"And her work day is over. She isn't even in the building. You better get your ass inside that building or get home. I'll be watching." He shoved Alex again.

I was rooted to the asphalt. I couldn't move. What had just happened? I just stood there staring.

Alex looked my way, but Mark used his strength to turn him toward the building.

Reluctantly, Alex started walking away with Mark and me watching him. Before he made it into the building, he made sure to turn around and give me an icy glare, to which I gave him my middle finger.

"Not that I don't appreciate your coming, but how'd you know?" I asked Mark.

He laughed and bent to pick up my phone.

"You still there?" he spoke into it. "You recorded it? Okay, good. Don't worry about it. I'll do that. Love you too. Give them a kiss for me." He hung up and handed me my phone, which was amazingly still intact albeit scratched and cracked from Alex's tossing of it.

"Marisa," He answered my dumbfounded look. "You'd dialed her, and she heard Alex, so she called me from the house phone. I was on my way home from work and flipped a U-turn. Did you call her because he was here?"

"Uh, no. I—I just wanted to go shopping," I replied, and my lips started to quiver. Now that the adrenaline was subsiding I felt the urge to cry and then sleep.

Mark brought me into a one-armed hug and started patting my back. The geyser inside of me burst into obnoxious choking sobs.

"Shhhh, it's alright now. Come on—let's go home." Mark started walking me toward his passenger door.

"But—but my car. I ca—can't leave it here. How am I sup—supposed to get to work?" I got out in gasps.

"You're coming home with me. Marisa can bring you back or drop you off in the morning." He tucked me into his car.

"Okay, thank you again, Mark." I gave him a watery smile.

He nodded his head, turned on the car and stared driving. I was asleep within seconds.

The next time I awakened I was lying in a feathery canopy bed. I bolted upright not knowing where I was or how I'd arrived here.

I heard a light knock on the door and let out a little shriek. A baby's coo came from the other side, and suddenly the smell of the Chance household hit my nostrils.

"Come in," I croaked.

Sophia's eyes lit up as did mine when I saw her. They went even brighter when I saw what was in Marisa's other hand—cake.

I put my arms out, and Marisa asked, "Which one do you want? My baby or the cake?"

I laughed and said, "Both, but I want chubs McGee first."

Marisa sat Sophia on the bed with me, and she started crawling away.

"No way—you get back here," I said, pulling Sophia onto my lap. I let out a grateful sigh.

"You want to talk about it?" Marisa asked me after letting me raspberry Sophia a few times.

"No, but I know you well enough to know you won't let me not talk about it."

She laughed, and it was such a nice thing to hear after my torturous day. I needed to hear and do it myself, and Marisa's laugh was perfect for such a need. Once she started laughing, you couldn't help but do the same thing. So I did. I hadn't a clue why I was laughing, but I howled until tears streamed down my cheeks.

Marisa lunged toward me and squeezed the living daylights out of Sophia and me. It wasn't until Sophia let out a scream that Marisa let us go.

"I'm so sorry, Steph," she apologized, tears running down her face—no longer from laughter. "If I would've known, I never would've said anything to him or you."

"I know, and I've told you—"

"I just hope that one day you'll be able to forgive me," she talked right over me.

"There is nothing to—"

"Yes there is!" she cried louder. "What kind of person sets up a friend with a freaking psycho?"

"A friend that didn't know any better!" I yelled at her, feeling as though that was the only way to get through to her. "If saying, 'Okay, Marisa, I forgive you' makes you feel so much better, then I'll say it!"

Sophia didn't appreciate the volume of our conversation and let out a loud baby babble of her own, which again made us burst out in laughter.

"Since you're staying here tonight—"

Marisa had long ago earned the reputation of not letting others speak, so of course she didn't let me protest when I tried.

"And because you called me for the purpose of shopping, we are going to the mall. Get your shoes on." She shook her head when I again tried to protest.

"I'm really not up for this tonight, Marisa." I grumbled as I got into her car a few minutes later.

"You will be. Did I hear you and Mister Detective have a date this week? My bet is you have no lingerie or at least not a single pair of sexy panties. What else brightens a mood more than thinking about a man like that next to you?"

"That man naked next to me?" I inquired.

"Uh huh," she agreed.

"With cake?"

"You haven't had much cake lately, have you?" she teased.

"Nope—and you didn't even give me a chance to eat the piece you brought me," I whined.

"It will be there when we get home. You can enjoy it while envisioning yourself in your new purchases with Joe and cake."

Jeez, she knew how to make me cave. Thinking of cake and Joe made my heart skip a beat. It seemed likely that both were a possibility on Wednesday. Even if I didn't get the chance to mix the two, I was elated that he wanted to at least spend time with me again.

Thank God for savings accounts! Marisa and I did serious damage—as in I spent over half of a usual paycheck at Victoria's Secret alone. Of course it hadn't been my fault. It'd been all Marisa's fault.

Every bra panty or baby doll she'd picked up she'd 'Oohed and aahed' over it, telling me how great it would look against my skin and then say, "Hey look—here's your size."

She'd then pushed me into the fitting room. Once there, I'd diligently tried on each and every item, looked in the mirror and pictured Joe's face. That's all I'd needed to make me say 'yes' to purchasing each item. Of course I already knew Joe would appreciate my wearing all of it—or none of it. Even my infamous granny panties hadn't persuaded him to back off, so I wasn't too concerned with disappointing him.

Sigh, if only I could turn back the time. Since I knew that wasn't a possibility, I needed to focus on the future. Winning back Joe was my future, and those purchases were justified by that thought alone.

We'd barely made it to Macy's in time to pick out a work outfit for tomorrow before they'd closed.

We were both exhausted by the time we'd made it back to Marisa's. All the kids were in bed, but Mark had stayed up waiting for us.

"Did you two buy out the mall?" he wondered, smiling at me and leaning in for a 'welcome home' kiss to Marisa. I let out an envious sigh.

"Just about—you know how it is," Marisa replied.

"I don't know how it is, but I do know what it's like to shop with you." He winked at me.

"If you no longer want to get the best Christmas and birthday presents, I suggest you keep going. If you want to see what I bought," she said, dangling the pink-stripped bag in front of his face, "I suggest you take the alternate route and keep it quiet."

"You know, I am feeling a little tired." Mark feigned a yawn and stretched.

"Mmmm hmmm, yeah, I'll let you two go to bed." I teased, "Are you sure you're okay with driving me to work?" I asked Marisa.

"Of course!" She patted my head and I tossed her arm away. "Even if I'm not, Mark has to go to work," she assured me.

"Alright—then I'll see you in the morning. Night." I gave them both hugs and made my way into the guest room.

I put all my bags on the dresser and changed into my new pajamas. Usually I liked to wash my clothes before wearing them. I wasn't about to sleep naked or in my work skirt, however, so I did what I had to.

Settling in my bed, I realized how tired I was. I hadn't forgotten Lula though. My sister was sure to have already gone to bed, so she'd have to wait until tomorrow.

"Girlfriend! Are you prepared to be a mother truckin' bridesmaid?" Lula asked by way of greeting.

The wonders of caller ID.

"Excuse me?" I laughed, not understanding what she'd just said.

"I'M GETTING MARRIED!" She yelled excitedly.

Uh oh.

"Was this a mutual engagement?" I questioned, remembering the Tank fiasco.

"Huhn. What're you sayin'?"

"Nothing really. Just—" I faltered.

She let out a giant laugh.

"I'm just messin' with you, girlie. He proposed to me. And you're gonna be my bridesmaid or whatever the important one is."

"Maid of Honor?"

"I don't know, and I don't care what they call ya. All I know is I'm GETTING MARRIED!" She yelled again.

"Okay, got it. Um—congratulations. Second date and a proposal, huh?"

"You know it! Now when you coming back into town?"

"Not sure," I replied. "I'm waiting to see when Grandma's surgery is."

"You let me know. We need to do some shoppin'."

"I think I'm done shopping for at least a year."

"Say what? No way, not you! What happened? I've known you to be more broke than your hamster, and you still shop."

I proceeded to tell Lula about the day's events and how I ended up with more shopping bags than any one person should ever be allowed to have.

"Girl, I could use a few days off. I'm coming up there to protect your skinny ass—and get some meat on your bones too. I can't have you that skinny if you're gonna be my bridesmaid. You won't show up in the pictures. You got any tanning places around there? We hafta get you in one of them too. Maybe I could bronze my sweet body up too."

"No, Lula. It's okay. I'll be fine."

As much as I'd love to have Lula keep me company, she'd probably put an unintentional damper on my dinner with Joe.

"I ain't takin' no for an answer! I'll be up there tomorrow. What's your address? I'll Google directions."

"No, Lula—you don't understand. Why don't I call you when I know when Grandma's appointment is?"

"I said I'd protect you. Now give me your address."

I sighed. I didn't want to tell Lula the truth, knowing she'd give me hell.

"Joe's coming over for dinner this week, and well, I'd like some privacy."

"Officer Hottie's coming over? Oh, girl, you have to call with all the deets."

"Deets?" I asked.

"Details," she explained with a huff, and then went on to chastise, "I don't know how you go through life without knowin' the English language."

Instead of arguing, I agreed. After promising to call her with all the 'deets' of my dinner with Joe along with when I'd be back in town, we hung up, and I tried to fall asleep.

Every time I'd close my eyes Alex's face would appear, and I'd sit straight up. I'd then have to wait until my heart slowed to a regular beat before I could lie down again.

Finally, I pictured Joe lying next to me, holding me and rubbing my back. The beauty of that picture was the only thing that eventually allowed me to fall to sleep.