I think I may have to send Lester on vacation or something just to keep him out of trouble. I already changed one part in this chapter just so Lester would get a break, and he ended up right back in it anyway so I stopped trying to fight it. All characters belong to Janet. The mistakes are mine.
Chapter 10
WHOOSH. The air in my lungs quickly rushed out as I hit the mat. Face first. Again. I took a moment to take stock of my body, and when I couldn't feel anything more painful than what I'd already been experiencing, I pushed myself to my feet and faced Bobby again.
"Okay," I said."Let's try that again."
The guys were nice enough to work with me when Ranger had to leave the building this morning instead of beginning my training program like we had planned, the least I could do is practice until I got it right.
Bobby moved in my direction, arms ready to come at me in another mock attack.
"Take another step, Brown," Ranger said, from the door of the gym,"and you'll be the one face first in the mat."
Aside from pausing for a fraction of a second, Bobby didn't react to the threat.
"I was just showing Steph the basics on how she could get away from someone," he told Ranger.
"You were supposed to teach her how to protect herself against a skip," Ranger said, taking Ram into his glare as well,"not injure her more than the guy she'd be chasing would."
"I'm okay," I told Ranger.
I've seen the men bruised, limping, and looking more than a little dazed after they've done something to piss Ranger off. I didn't want Bobby and Ram to get hurt when they were only trying to help me.
Ranger's eyes turned to me and softened."Babe, you have a bruise starting to form on your cheek."
"Yeah," I said, smiling,"but Bobby was walking funny after I got it."
Although I could see that Ranger was still angry, there was also a slight trace of amusement in his eyes.
"You should have waited for me," Ranger said."I would have been much gentler on you."
"Tank needed you," I told him."And as much as I like having you at my disposal, you do have other responsibilities."
"But none as important," he said to me, kissing my bruise."And I'm with you now. Brown, get your ass over here. You're going to help me show Stephanie how to do this correctly."
"Shit," Bobby said.
"Can't you just watch us and tell me what to do?" I asked.
"No."
Alrighty then.
"We'll start with the holds that you'd most likely find yourself in," Ranger said, slipping easily into a sexy instructor role.
Ranger had changed into his gym clothes before coming down here, and the shirt he was wearing with the ripped-off sleeves and well-worn sweats that fit snugly against some of my favorite parts of his body, had me paying less attention to what Ranger was saying, and more on what he was doing. Which I suppose is good, because as long as I could remember the placement of Ranger's strong hands, I might be able to complete the move without Ranger realizing I'd been mostly ogling him instead. He would enjoy the fact that I found him that distracting, but I didn't want him to think I wasn't taking this seriously.
"Babe."
Damn. I was busted.
"Yeah?" I asked.
It seemed like they hadn't moved much. Bobby was still looking nervous, and Ranger's eyes were focused on me, so I couldn't have missed anything crucial.
"Are you watching what I'm doing?" Ranger asked.
I answered honestly."Yes. I was definitely watching you."
The corners of his lips twitched."That's what I thought, but were you listening at all when I explained what you would be doing here?"
Shit. Ranger had been talking.
"Would you believe me if I said yes?" I asked him.
"No. That's why I didn't do anything yet. I could see your interest shift."
"So could I," Bobby said to him."We were accomplishing more before you came in. Once you show up, you're all she can think about. Maybe we should just teach Steph to throw a punch with her left hand. I bet that rock on her finger would knock a guy out."
"No," I said to them."I'm going to do this. I got a little sidetracked. That's all. There was too much beer last night, and too many muscles on Ranger's arms this morning."
"I have muscles," Bobby said."And so does Ram. You were fine with us."
"Yeah, but yours aren't Ranger's muscles. And I refuse to rely on my jewelry, or your combined muscles, to keep myself alive if it comes to that so tell me what I need to do again. I'm with you this time."
"Okay, Babe. Bobby, grab me from behind," Ranger told him.
Bobby got Ranger in what looked like a backwards bear hug with Bobby's arms crossed over Ranger's chest. I was familiar with this one, not because I'm irresistible, but this is a common position I find myself in when someone bigger than me gets pissed off while I'm trying to get the hell away from them.
"There are two ways to get out of this," Ranger said to me."If your arms are being held down, you step to your left while shifting your weight to your knees and lift your elbows out and up."
"All of that at the same time?" I asked.
"Yes," he said. And he showed me what he had described so far."If you did it right, your assailant will be leaning forward and slightly off balance, and his hold will have loosened."
"Got it," I said.
"Then you turn to your right, and either go for an elbow to his ribs with your right arm or hit him in the face with your left hand."
Ranger demonstrated that, too. I was afraid that Bobby was about to get a bruise to match mine, but Ranger held back.
"If your arms are held too low to accomplish a rib or face shot, aim for his kneecap or instep with your foot to get your arms free."
"That I know I can do," I told him.
"Now I want to see you try it," Ranger said to me.
"Who's going to be my guinea pig?" I asked him."You or Bobby?"
"I'm all yours, Babe. Attack away."
Hmm, that was very close to what he'd said in my dream last night.
"You're doing that staring thing again, Steph," Bobby said."If you want to learn anything useful today, maybe I should assist you."
"I'm fine. I promise not to jump Ranger in front of you," I told him.
"Can he say the same about you?"
I looked at Ranger."Can you?"
"We'll see," he said, helpfully.
I gave my eyes a workout as well and rolled them at the two of them.
"Okay, I'm ready," I told Ranger.
Ranger came behind me, and between him and Bobby, I managed to stay on my feet and off my ass or face. We practiced it a couple more times before Ranger moved on.
"If someone gets you from behind like we just showed you," Ranger said to me,"and his arms are under yours, there's a different way of getting out of it."
"Crap," I said."This more complicated than I thought it would be. I just assumed that you were going to make me run on the treadmill and then tell me where to punch someone."
"We'll get to that," Ranger told me."But I wanted you to learn these escape techniques first. Now, if you have use of your arms, I want you to use your right foot and take a step sideways towards your right side, then shift your weight ..."
"Like I did with the other one?" I asked."To get the person unbalanced?"
"Yes. Very good, Babe. But this time, you'll bend over and grab his right ankle with both hands, and pull it up while using your butt to keep the top of his thigh from moving."
"And what will this do, aside from cause pain?"
"It should make your opponent fall backwards," Ranger told me,"and give you an opportunity to do some damage if he moves."
"But keep in mind, Steph," Bobby added,"if he keeps his grip on you when you attempt to lean forward, use your hips to hit his stomach so he relaxes his hold, leaving you able to go for his ankle."
"I suppose you want me to do this one, too."
"Got it in one, Babe."
"Let's go," I told Ranger,"but I apologize in advance for hurting you."
"I'll take my chances," Ranger said.
"Ranger has trained some of the scariest men I've had the misfortune of meeting," Bobby told me."I'm almost positive that you won't kill him."
"Aren't you funny this morning?" I said to Bobby.
"I had a good night."
"I think we all did," I told him.
"We need to do that again soon," Ram said, coming back to the mats after the workout he was able to get in when Ranger took over his training duties.
"We will," I said to Ram."I never turn down a chance to have other people cook for me."
"Now I understand why you were attracted to Ranger," Bobby said.
"Didn't we just go over this?" I asked."Remember, muscley arms and tight-fitting sweat pants?"
"Babe."
"Crap. I didn't say anything about your sweats out loud, did I?"
The one time I keep my mouth shut and I still end up embarrassing myself. Though, I didn't really feel all that embarrassed about lusting after the guy I was about to marry.
"No you didn't, Steph, but I'm glad you like them. I'll give you a chance to check out my pants later."
"Tank is right, you two are disgusting to be around," Bobby said.
"I think they're cute," Ram said.
"I don't like cute," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
"Adorable?" Ram asked, trying not to smile.
I turned towards Ranger."Would you mind if I used Ram for this one?"
Ranger grinned at me."Go for it, Babe," he said.
"Uhh ... Steph," Ram said, sounding unsure.
"Don't worry, Ram," I said, giving him my sweetest smile,"when we're finished practicing, I'll not only have another defense move under my belt, you'll no longer see me as cute or adorable."
"That's my girl," Ranger said.
I kissed Ranger on the mouth and then went to take down Ram.
The four of us spent another hour in the gym together. Ranger gave me instructions on how to get loose if my wrist, or wrists, were being held. And how to get myself out of a choke hold. I had a little experience with that one after going after a guy named Macary who had a few anger issues and didn't want to come with me willingly. I got out of that one mostly on my own, but Ranger gave me some new options to try.
I felt dumber and dumber as I learned more ways to save myself, not because I couldn't do what Ranger was showing me, or was afraid I wouldn't remember the steps, but it was now dawning on me how idiotic I've been in turning down Ranger's numerous offers to get me into better shape. Not only was I beyond stupid, this morning's gym time had brought home just how lucky I've been over the years. And right now I'm as shocked as everyone else that I hadn't been killed a long time ago.
"I want you to also work in some strength training in between cardio this week," Ranger told me, when I stopped to get a bottle of water.
I was glad that I wasn't the only one covered in sweat. Ranger's darker skin took on a sexy sheen, and Bobby and Ram's shirts were soaked. I may have been the intended target, but they had also gotten a pretty good workout, too.
"As much as I like the way your body looks," I told Ranger,"I don't think I can pull off a Rambo-like physique."
"Your body is beautiful the way it is, Steph. I didn't say anything about turning it into a carbon copy of mine."
"Good," I said to him."Because I see how much work you put into yours, and while I may want to improve on what I have, I'm not ready to spend that much time in here."
"You'd be using lighter weights for a shorter amount of time," Ranger told me."You'll have more muscle tone, and be stronger, but you won't bulk up the way we do."
"Will I finally be able to do a push-up?" I asked."Not one of the girly ones where you're kneeling on the floor, but the ones like you guys do by the hundreds?"
"We can get you doing one-handed push-ups if you give us a month," Bobby said.
"I plan on giving you a lot more than a month," I told him."I'm in this for the long haul."
"Good for you, Steph," Ram said."It'll be fun having you in the gym everyday."
"Every day?" I asked Ranger.
"Yes. I can't say that you'll enjoy every minute of it, but I guarantee that you'll learn a lot. And if you build your muscles up, they'll continue to burn calories even when you're not using them."
"Why didn't you tell me that in the beginning? I might have agreed to this a whole lot sooner."
"It was a mistake on my part, Babe," he told me, his eyes crinkling at the corners. When Ranger turned to Bobby and Ram, the crinkling eyes disappeared and were immediately replaced with an icy stare."If she ends up with anymore bruises, I'll make sure you have ten for every one she has on her body. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Sir," Bobby and Ram said together.
Army Ranger was in the building.
"Hey!" Lester called, as he walked into the gym,"you're not wearing our shirt."
"I didn't want to get it all sweaty," I told him, when he joined us."I'll put it on after I've had a chance to take a shower."
"Let me know if you need any help with that," Lester said, giving me a wink.
"There's one more thing I should show you before we leave," Ranger said to me.
Uh-oh.
"Santos. On the mat. Now," Ranger barked.
Good thing I already sweated out all my fluids or I would have lost them at the sound of Ranger's voice. This wasn't the Army Ranger from a few moments ago, this was Street Ranger, the one everyone on Stark was terrified of. And I noticed that Lester was no longer smiling.
It took a total of three seconds for Lester to be flat on his back with Ranger's foot on his throat.
"Bossman went easy on him," Bobby said, as Ranger let Lester up.
"Huh? He twisted Lester's arm, kicked his legs out from underneath him, and stepped on his neck. That was going easy on him?"
"Is Santos' neck broken?" Bobby asked.
"No."
"And I repeat, Ranger went easy on him. Trust me."
I wasn't asking anymore questions. I know Ranger's lethal, I didn't need any details to prove it.
Ranger dragged Lester over to me.
"Santos has something to say to you," Ranger told me, nudging Lester with an elbow to the ribs."Don't you?"
"Sorry I've been such a prick," Lester said to me.
Ranger cuffed him on the back of his head."Be respectful," Ranger said.
"I was. I called myself a prick, not her."
"Do you want to go another round?" Ranger asked.
"Hell, no. I think you fucked up my shoulder."
"I was nicer than you deserved," Ranger said."If you would shut up and listen once in awhile, you'd get your ass beaten less. I told you to watch what you say to Stephanie, and I gave you plenty of warnings before I did something about it, so quit whining. Next time I won't be as pleasant."
"You know he's just goofing around, Ranger," I told him."Even if he wasn't, nothing would come of it. I see him as an obnoxious big brother, nothing more."
"Oooh, a brother comparison is worse than the humiliation that comes from getting subdued in seconds," Ram said, slapping Lester on his 'injured' shoulder.
"You're asking for it, Ram," Lester told him.
"Can't say I'm scared after watching you drop when Ranger barely even touched you."
"Like I stood a chance?" Lester asked."On top of being freakishly strong, he knows every pressure point."
"Tell me about it," I said under my breath, earning me a grin from Ranger."Are we done here? I'm one step closer to being able to do the same thing to Lester as you did, Lester's sorry for acting like a hormonal dick, and I haven't thrown up yet. I'm ready to call an end to the day's training. I really want a shower before I end up chained to my desk."
"Sure, Babe. I'll give you a rundown later of what I'd like you to do tomorrow."
"See, I can keep my mouth shut," Lester said."You mentioned being chained and I didn't say anything about it even though I could have. That was a perfect set up."
He didn't know just how perfect. Luckily Lester had never found out about the time I'd been chained, naked, to my shower curtain rod. But just to teach him a lesson, I walked over to Lester and grabbed the ring and pinky fingers on his right hand with my left one while clutching his index and middle finger in my right hand. I pulled down on his fingers in my left hand while pushing up the ones caught in my right hand.
"Ouch! Let go."
"No," I told him, adding a little more pressure.
"I'm sorry," Lester said, dropping to one knee.
"That's better," I said, releasing him.
"I think I'm in love," Bobby said to me.
"It's always fun to see Lester begging for mercy," Ram told me."You just made my day, Steph."
"Mine, too. Babe. I knew you'd be a quick study once you decided to give this a shot, but we don't usually rely on finger bending around here."
I offered Lester a hand up, and gave him a one-armed squeeze around his waist to show that there were no hard feelings, at least on my end.
"That one I learned from Connie," I told Ranger."She's used it on Vinnie a few times when she felt brave enough to risk touching him."
"Connie's got a bigger pair than I have," Lester said.
"That's not that big of a compliment," Bobby said to him,"since you just got your balls busted by two different people, one right after the other."
"And you're going to lose yours if you don't shut your piehole," Lester said.
"The last time I heard this much bickering, I was having dinner with my nieces and Albert at my sister's house. I don't want to relive it so I'm heading up to seven. You can stop by my cubby later on and let me know if anyone ended up up nutless."
"I'm right behind you, Babe."
"That is usually where I find you," I said to him.
"You seemed to enjoy me being behind you last night," Ranger said, against my ear.
"All for your benefit," I told Ranger.
We bypassed the elevator for the stairs. Yes, the stairs. I didn't use the treadmill, so the stairs were going to be my cardio for the day.
"You 'benefited' more than a few times yourself last night," Ranger said, softly.
He reached past me to open the door for the stairwell, and I chose not to admit or deny anything - it's usually safer that way - and I could feel Ranger's eyes boring into me as I jogged up the stairs ahead of him.
I was out of breath again by the time we reached Ranger's apartment. I had a long, long way to go, but I now felt confident that I'd be able to pull my own weight around here eventually or, at the very least, be able to lift most of it.
"You really impressed me today," Ranger said, after the door was locked behind us.
The entrance to the apartment was monitored twenty four hours a day, and that still didn't make Ranger relax when it came to our safety.
"I tried," I admitted."I still need a lot more practice, but I feel pretty good about what I walked away with today."
"If you want, you can enjoy your reward while I take a shower," Ranger told me.
"I thought you in the shower was my reward," I said, eyeing him up and down.
Damn, he was hot.
"Not today," Ranger said, his eyes doing a little wandering of their own over my form-fitting workout clothes."I have to get back downstairs and clean up the mess this morning's call left. And if you start anything, I won't want to leave until I'm sure you can't walk, so it's better if we wait until tonight."
"Are you sure?" I asked, trailing a fingertip over his bicep and down his forearm until I curled my hand around his."It might not take as long as you think, my legs are already feeling unsteady."
And only a little bit of that was caused by the exercise I got downstairs.
"Once you go into the kitchen," Ranger said, his lips smiling a little,"you'll forget all about me. Before I came back to Rangeman and met you in the gym, I stopped at Tasty Pastry and got you a Boston Cream and a jelly doughnut. I'm proud of you for making the decision to do this, and for following through with it, and this was one way I could show you that without it taking as much time as what I'd really like to give you would. I told myself that the jelly doughnut at least had a fruit somewhere near it at one point in time."
I threw my body against his, and wrapped my arms around his neck."I love you so much at this moment, Ranger. Will you marry me?"
"I asked first," Ranger said to me, holding my face still for his kiss.
When I was breathless for the third time today, Ranger let my lips go.
"I would've said yes if I hadn't beaten you to popping the question."
"I'm glad you did the asking," I told him."I would have chickened out."
"Steph, I have no doubt that if you wanted to marry me, you would have found a way of doing it. Even if it involved a stun gun and handcuffs."
I smiled up at him."If you hadn't been so persuasive and patient, you might have been the one needing the stun gun."
Ranger bent his head close again."I don't need a stun gun, I have more effective ways of making you immobile."
And vocal, wet, and satisfied, too, I thought to myself as he kissed me.
My fingers were tangled in his hair and I was up on tiptoes, pressing my body along the hard contours of his, by the time he raised his head from mine.
"That's going to have to hold me until tonight," Ranger said, his voice sending shivers of pleasure through the parts of me that had started throbbing as soon as he pressed his lips to mine."I have to get moving."
"Go ahead and hit the shower, Soldier," I said to him, feeling playful."I have a scheduled consult with two doughnuts in the kitchen."
Ranger grinned and walked with me as far as the kitchen, then disappeared into the bedroom.
I was licking chocolate off my fingers when Ranger came back out.
"Not to quote Santos," he said to me,"but do you need help with that?"
"Nope. I got it all. I'm very thorough."
"Don't I know it, Babe."
"I'm going to get cleaned up and then head down to five," I said to him."Will I see you sometime before supper?"
"I should be in my office for the rest of the day," he said."I'll let you know if I have to leave."
"You know where I'll be."
Ranger closed the distance between us and kissed me goodbye. He looked down at me with the barest hint of a smile when we broke apart.
"I might change my opinion of doughnuts if they're served to me like this."
"Sure you would. Sugar is still sugar, even if you lick it off my skin."
"But my heart rate goes up every time I lick your skin, so it might come out even."
"If you keep saying things like that, I'm going to be forced to call Tank and tell him that he can't have you today."
"As much as I'd like to hear that phone call, Tank gets bitchy if he has too much paperwork to do. And no one wants a bitchy Tank."
"Yeah, it probably wouldn't be good for the guys," I said to Ranger.
"No, it wouldn't. I'll meet up with you downstairs."
I managed to get out an okay before he was gone.
I made it to my cubby a half hour later. I turned on my computer and said goodbye to the outside world until ten past twelve when I finally resurfaced, ready for lunch. Maybe I should have brought some pizza and fries back for Rodriguez last night, because I'm convinced that even a busy company like Rangeman can't possibly have this much computer crap to sort through every day unless Rodriguez was creating it himself just for kicks.
I was just rolling my chair back, wondering if Ranger would want me to bring him something from the kitchen, when my cell rang. I had a perfectly good phone on my desk, so I don't really know why I brought another source of irritation with me except that it's become another bad habit I should work on breaking.
"Stephanie, this is your mother," my mom said, after my resigned hello.
You'd think after thirty years, she would realize that I knew the sound of her voice. Of course, she wasn't aware of me unconsciously going into a full body cringe upon hearing it. Okay, sometimes it was a conscious cringe, too.
"Hi, Mom. What's up?"
I knew what was coming. And there was no way to prevent it. Ranger and I have been engaged for longer than twelve hours and we haven't as yet been to dinner at my parents' house together. A big no-no in my mother's book. And now it was time to face the music, or the crazy in this case.
"When are you and Ranger coming to dinner?" My mother asked, like I didn't know she already had tonight picked and planned out, right down to the side dishes and napkin holders.
"I don't know," I said, hoping for some type of reprieve, like maybe an alien could beam me up and let me hang out on another planet so I wouldn't have to finish this conversation."Ranger's been really busy, and I ..."
My mother cut me off."Stephanie Plum, are you making up excuses to get out of dinner with your parents? We only want to visit with you and our future son-in-law, and you are acting like you're ashamed of us."
I swear I could hear a fake sniffle.
"No Mom, I'm not avoiding dinner." Much."I'll check with Ranger and see when he's free."
She abandoned the dramatics and went back to Burg mother mode."Dinner is at six. We're having salad, chicken with brown rice stuffing, sauteed vegetables, and roasted potatoes. Don't be late." And she hung up.
Damn. She really wanted us there. The dinner was even centered around Ranger's obnoxious diet. I can guarantee that my dad wasn't the one looking for salad or vegetables. I should have asked what was for dessert. I'd need something to get me through dinner. Looks like my life changing goals were all going to start immediately. The gym this morning and my mother tonight. The old Stephanie would have been in Point Pleasant by now, eating ice cream on the beach while trying to avoid her life. I was making progress.
I sighed, heaved myself out of my chair, and went to see who was manning the controls.
"Hey, Hal," I said, walking to the monitors."Are you ever not here?"
"It doesn't seem like it," Hal said to me.
"Do you know if Ranger is busy with Tank?" I asked him."I know he's still in the building, but I don't want to bother him if he's in the middle of something. I haven't seen anything beyond my computer screen for the last hour."
"I doubt Ranger would consider seeing you a bother," Hal said."And I saw Tank leave about forty minutes ago."
"Okay. Thanks, Hal."
"I saw what you did to Lester. It's pretty cool that you can do something like that and both be laughing about it afterwards."
"I get that he's just kidding with all the crap he says, and he knows that I wouldn't seriously try to hurt him, even if I could. I wouldn't intentionally maim any of you."
Hal gave me a shy smile, and nodded at my shirt."Around here, we really do see you as Rangeman's First Lady," he told me, blushing a little.
"Thank you for that," I said to him."I wouldn't want to work with anyone but you guys. Well, you guys and Lula. Or maybe I'd work with you and celebrate the capture with Lula afterwards, that way there would actually be something to celebrate."
Hal laughed.
"If anyone's looking for me, or Lester wants a rematch, I'll be in Ranger's office after I get us some lunch," I told him, and headed towards the kitchen.
I picked up two bottles of water, a couple of sandwiches, and a yogurt parfait as a poor substitute for the bag of chips and Tastykake that I really wanted. I carried everything down the hall to Ranger's office, and gave the partially open door a knock with my elbow before pushing my way past it.
"I brought lunch," I told Ranger, and set the food down on his desk.
"Thank you, Babe," Ranger said, giving me a quick kiss when my hands were free."I would have forgotten to grab something."
"I would have been here sooner, but my mom called," I said to him.
"What did she want?" Ranger asked, unwrapping a roast beef sandwich on whole-wheat bread.
"She has a dinner planned for us tonight, but if you have to work ..." I said, sitting down in the chair across from his desk.
"Babe, we're going. I'm not about to give your parents the impression that I'm purposely avoiding this conversation. If they have a problem with me based on something I've done, then I can't do much to change it, but I'm not going to shoulder anything that I don't deserve."
"If I know my mother, I'm the one that's going to be in the hot seat tonight, not you."
"Why?" Ranger asked me, after he finished his food and reached for a water bottle.
I rolled my eyes at the question, and crumpled up the plastic wrap from my own sandwich.
"The wedding. She's going to want in on planning it. And I'm going to have to break the news to her that she's not getting a say. It could turn ugly before dessert."
"I have faith that you can control the situation and your mother, Babe."
"I don't know about that," I told him,"but I'm going to do my best."
"That will be more than enough, Steph. And just remember that I'll be with you this time."
"I won't forget that, believe me."
We ended up sharing the parfait, since I only picked one up and also only one spoon. Ranger didn't mind sharing, though. I sat on the edge of his desk while he fed me spoonfuls of not sweet enough yogurt and not exactly terrible granola. When the cup was empty, and Ranger's hand moved to my leg, I let out a contented sigh. I really couldn't imagine feeling like this with Joe. Morelli either wanted sex, or for me to go get him a beer. I couldn't see him feeding me just because he enjoyed doing it without expecting something for himself in return.
"Steph," Ranger said, interrupting my thoughts which I learned was actually his intention,"I don't like you thinking about other men, especially when I'm sitting right here in front of you."
I smiled at him."I guess it's a good thing that you've blown the other man out of the water a loooong time ago, so you have absolutely no reason to be upset."
"Glad to hear it. Is dinner at six?"
"Is there any other dinner time in the Burg?" I asked.
"Not that I've heard," Ranger said."I'll make sure I'm done here by five."
I slid off his desk and dumped our trash in the wastebasket by Ranger's desk. I'd be concerned about leaving food wrappers in here, but as soon as Ranger steps out of the office the trash will magically be removed. This building is weird like that.
"Thank you, Ranger, for doing this."
Ranger stood and pulled me to him."There's nothing to thank me for, Steph. This is our life from now on."
I laughed into his chest."And you still want to go through with marrying me?"
"Yes. Are you going to wait for me down here?"
"Yeah," I said to him."I can get the rest of my work done so tomorrow I might have a chance to check in with Connie. That, and my hair has been mostly under control and I won't need the extra hours to tame it."
Ranger put his hands on my waist and gave me a gentle kiss. I opened my mouth and enjoyed the feeling of his hands and mouth touching me, if only in this small way.
"Do you think there's ever going to be a time when we'll be sick of each other?" I asked, when we broke apart.
"Why do you think I've kept so many secrets from you?" Ranger said.
"Because you're annoying?"
"No. It's so I can keep your attention," he said with a grin."You bore easily. And if I lost the 'mystery' surrounding me, you might move on."
"Yeah, I'm sure that's the real reason," I told him."It's got nothing to do with national security or secret government agencies. And your abs alone would hold my attention."
"You do spend a considerable amount of time running your fingers over them."
His abs among other things. What can I say? I'm naturally drawn to all the hard areas of his body.
"And to answer your question, no, I don't think we'll get tired of any part of each other."
"Good answer," I said."Okay, I'm going back to my cubby now. I'll see you at five."
The afternoon passed slowly. Ranger had pegged me correctly. By four o'clock I was bored out of my mind. I played solitaire on my computer, checked for messages on my phone - there were none since I already answered my mother's call - and doodled all over one report cover. Which did give me something to do since I had to print out a new one.
God must have taken pity on me and sent in Ella. Okay, Ella came everyday at this time to bring the guys working here food, but today she let me help her carry and arrange things to pass the time, and she also stayed to keep me company when we were finished.
I was telling her about Tank dumping Joyce outside Pino's when Ranger walked into the control room kitchen.
"Ready, Babe?"
I stood up from the table Ella and I were sitting at."Yup. I was just filling Ella in on our night out."
"It sounds like you had a good night," Ella said.
"We did," I told her,"but we missed you and Louis."
"We'll try to make it next time."
"I'm going to hold you to that," I said."Now I have to go give my mother a completely different version of what went on last night."
Ella smiled."Good luck," she said."I would make sure to leave out what you said to that Joyce woman."
"I will."
Ranger slid his arm around me and didn't remove it until we reached the front door of his - soon to be our - apartment. I stopped to give Rex a baby carrot from the fridge before I came face-to-face with the walk-in closet and my clothing choice for the night. Ranger ditched his gun, the one that I could see anyway, swapped out his T-shirt for a dress shirt, and he was all set to leave. This is one of the only times I wanted to be a man. It took them only five minutes to get dressed up, ten if they had to shower first. During a stakeout was another, because guys can pee anywhere, while women have to go find the nearest store or restaurant, usually leading you to miss the skip altogether by the time you returned which sometimes forced you into contact with the bad guys who were also chasing your FTA.
After ten minutes of deliberating, I decided on a black swirly skirt, black FMPs, and a tight pale blue sweater. I refluffed my hair, added more mascara, a darker lipstick, and a little concealer to my cheek, and I was ready only fifteen minutes after Ranger. Not bad.
Ranger gave my legs and chest an appreciative glance when he saw me.
"I know what I'd like to have for dinner," Ranger said to me.
"What or who?" I asked.
"Definitely a who," he said, and took my hand.
We stopped in the little entrance way so Ranger could get our jackets. I picked up my bag after Ranger helped me with my coat. I was going to tell him that I could put it on without assistance, but then he lifted my hair out of the collar and kissed my neck before he let it back down, so I snapped my mouth shut. I was independent, not crazy. Ranger shrugged into his own coat and took the keys for the Turbo. Five minutes later, I was sinking into the Porsche's leather seat. Ranger got in beside me, and drove out of the garage and towards the Burg.
All too soon, we were pulling into my parents' driveway. I didn't see Valerie or Albert's vehicle so it looked like it was just going to be the five of us tonight unless Grandma had plans. But I doubted she did. Grandma Mazur was out late last night with us, and she never missed a chance to visit with Ranger. As soon as my mother confirmed that we'd both be coming, Grandma would be looking for the perfect outfit to wear for him, kind of like what I'd done.
Ranger parked and took the key out of the ignition. I reached for my door handle, but his hand caught my wrist, stopping me.
"I want to say one thing before we go inside," Ranger said, turning in his seat to face me."I married Rachel because I felt like I had to. I asked you to marry me because I want to be with you for the rest of my life. And however, or wherever, we decide to have the wedding is our choice, not your mother's. This is the last time I'm making a commitment like this, and I want our wedding day to be about the two of us only. Don't let your mother, or anyone else, fuck with that."
"I won't," I told him. It was a promise to him as well as to myself.
I could go a long way on just those words from him. And I knew I'd remember every one of them during the month or two we'd spend planning our wedding, on the actual day itself, and all the way through our life together long after we'd been declared husband and wife.
A/N: Since I don't have Ranger's self-defense skills, I used the book How to Kick Someone's Ass by E.R. Silverman to get an idea on holds Stephanie might find herself getting caught in.