To top off all my bad decisions for the evening, I decided to indulge in a slice of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake for dessert. My reasoning being something along the lines of congratulating myself for having at least some will power when it came to Ranger. You know, because we weren't currently holed up in his hotel room testing out the durability of his mattress.

Of course, the night was still young.

Not to mention I'd just foolishly agreed to a job that involved a lot more quality time together. And that slice of cheesecake wasn't nearly the size it should have been to combat all my returning hormone problems. I was so screwed.

Ranger drove me back to the hotel where my car was still parked from the night before.

"Want me to stay at the house again?" he asked as we pulled in to the lot.

I did, actually. Maybe not just for safety reasons either. But considering my recent alien Ranger fantasy and the fact I could already feel my sugar defenses wearing off, I decided it probably wasn't the best idea.

"I should be okay. It's not like I was given a deadline for when to get rid of you."

"Babe."

At this rate, I was probably never going to get rid of him. Not the best news for my new cabbie friend. Hell, who was I kidding? It wasn't the best news for me either. At least according to my brain. My body was having different ideas.

"If all else fails, I think I've got a baseball bat in my closet. I played softball for a few years in grade school, and although my batting average mostly sucked back then, I bet I could cause a lot more damage now. Especially with the right kind of target." Like the terrifying intruder kind.

Ranger's mouth twitched.

"What? My defense moves may not be as strategic as yours, but they've got a pretty good track record for getting the job done." Mostly.

Ranger's lips tightened in what I suspected was an attempt to hold back a laugh.

"Which time are you thinking of?" I asked, eyebrow raised.

He grinned. "All of them."

"I'm really not that funny, you know."

The smile vanished as quickly as it appeared. His eyes turned frighteningly serious as they dropped to my lips. Judging from past experiences, I had a pretty good idea what was coming next. Oh boy.

"I think we're kind of having a moment here," I breathed as he leaned closer.

"What kind of moment?"

The kind I'd been fantasizing about for the past two days.

His lips were just a whisper away from mine when I hesitated. "The kind that maybe we shouldn't be having."

Holy cow. Saved by the brain.

Ranger did one of his almost-sigh things before sitting back in his seat. I practically collapsed in relief.

"I'll be by to pick you up tomorrow morning," he said, focusing his attention out the windshield. "You should probably make arrangements to be away from work for a few days."

"Okay." I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. Of course. I must have forgotten who I was dealing with here. "What about all the other details? Like the whole who, what, when, where, why, and how stuff?"

"We can discuss them more tomorrow."

"Right." I started fidgeting. "How about we discuss some ground rules then?"

Ranger eyed me curiously. "Ground rules?"

"Yeah. You know, like some safety precautions."

"Safety precautions." He thought for a moment. "I can loan you something if that little S & W's no longer in your cookie jar."

I did a mental eye roll. That wasn't the kind of safety precaution I had in mind.

"How about you carry that stuff, and I'll just stick with you?"

His eyes sparked with mischief. "How close are we talking?'

"Not that close. In fact, maybe we should just eliminate the whole physical contact thing altogether. You know, to keep things simple."

Ranger's mouth twitched. "What if I need to push you out of the way from oncoming danger, Calamity Jane?"

"I'm glad you're finding all of this so amusing," I said, giving him a massive eye roll. "But I'm serious. I don't need things getting complicated." As if they weren't already. Jeez.

He gave me a look. More like the look.

I filled my lungs with a generous boost of oxygen and tried to focus. "You know I'm not going back, right?"

"To your house?"

I threw my hands up in the air in frustration. "Would you cut the crap and listen to me? Like really listen?"

"I'm always listening, babe."

Of course he was. Probably in a creepy, I'm-being-watched-by-the-government kind of way.

"I can't go back. And I won't. So if you're only here to bewitch me to the point of hopping on a plane and returning to my life back in Trenton, you may as well give it up now. It's never going to happen. Like ever."

Ranger sat and stared at me for several long, unbearable moments. His expression annoyingly unreadable. "Never thought that it would."

My jaw dropped. "So you're not here to try and get me to go back with you?"

"No."

Something funny suddenly caught in my throat. Like a pill that was too hard to swallow.

"Oh."

A weighted silence filled the car as I stared at my hands. I really should've been relieved. This was exactly how I'd always wanted things to play out. No drama. No fighting. Just two friends coming to terms with a complicated past and moving forward.

It should have been easy. It wasn't.

"So I'll pick you up tomorrow then?"

"Oh. Right. Tomorrow." I gave my head a slight shake to snap out of my daze. "What should I pack?""

"Black's always good," Ranger smirked. "And I wouldn't say no to that little red dress of yours either. If you still have it, that is."

I frowned. "It may have wound up in a donation pile after I moved out here. There's no point in hanging on to things you don't use anymore, right?"

"Too bad. Maybe we can find a replacement."

Yeah. Or not.

I rolled my eyes as I slid out of the car. "See you tomorrow, Ranger."

"Buenas noches, babe. Dulces sueños."

Funny. Considering the current state of things, I had a feeling my dreams tonight were going to be anything but sweet.