Note: The characters, places and descriptions in this story recognizable as Janet Evanovich's are used solely for entertainment purposes.

I nodded and changed gears. "You don't have to hurt me to get me to be with you, you know," I said, stripping off my sweater. "I've admired you for a long time." I gave him my sexiest bedroom eyes and began to work the buttons of my blouse. Did I want this to happen? No! But I would do whatever I could to protect my baby, even if that meant willingly giving him what he wanted.

"You have?" He looked at me skeptically. "You never let me know."

"I'm the wife of a famous celebrity. Everyone watches me and I care about Chris. I wouldn't want to hurt him." I moved in, stroking his neck with my fingertip. "But I couldn't get you out of my mind." I leaned in and gave his neck a little nip with my teeth. "Mmm, I could eat you up."

The knife lowered and he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me to him. His mouth closed on mine in a kiss. His tongue was practically down my throat and his hands were all over me. He grabbed my breasts, my hips, and my waist. He put his hand into my hair and grabbed a fistful immobilizing my head as he explored my neck.

He leaned back up and finished unbuttoning my blouse and stood looking at me in my bra. "Oh my God. You're perfect." Now or never, I decided. I reached up behind and unhooked my bra and let it drop. He gasped and reached out to touch one, staring in wonder. What the hell?

"Have you ever done this before?" I asked, becoming uncomfortable at his reaction.

He blushed. "Not really." Oh brother. I decided this could really work for keeping me alive, though, and I wouldn't have to worry about diseases.

I smiled. "I think it's sweet," I said. I pressed closer to him. "I would have you all to myself forever. We could run away together. No one would know. I would disappear from the public eye and then we'd have each other." I started tugging his shirt out of his waist band and pressed my hands to his chest under his shirt. It was too bad he was a slimy little worm because he had an impressive chest. If he wasn't half crazy, he would have made some woman happy.

"We would," he said, pondering the thought. "But Eric would kill me if he found out."

"How would he know? Do you have to go report to him?" I asked, unbuckling his belt. I was going to make him sing Sound of Music in a minute. I was thinking that I'd better get to stay alive for this.

"I have to call him." He gasped when I pushed his shirt off him and kissed his chest. "Oh my God." I kissed my way down his chest and reached his waist band. I sent up a prayer that I could make it through this and that Chris would forgive me and I unbuttoned his jeans and slid down the zipper.

Then I couldn't believe it. The shock of what I was doing sent him over the edge. He began convulsing like crazy and sank to his knees. I stared at him, open-mouthed. Oh, that was bad. That was very, very bad … for him. Great for me.

He sat on the ground, embarrassment coloring his face. Oh no, I have to fix this before he gets angry. I smiled at him. "You lasted longer than Chris the first time I was with him," I said, pulling him close and hugging him.

"I did?" He pulled back and looked at me.

I gave him my most innocent face. "Yes. I was afraid I would never get him trained." I pressed close and rubbed my breasts against his chest. "You know I married him for his money, right?"

He nodded, unable to speak. His mouth was open and he was staring at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ranger coming through the trees, silent as a cat. I raised my voice. "Yes, and then I had to see you all the time and could never get my hands on you." Morelli was coming in on my left. I had to distract him.

"Kiss me, Torrence!" I said, pulling him close and placing my mouth over his. He dropped the knife and wrapped his arms around me. Suddenly, there was a flurry of activity. Ranger tackled him and began using him as a punching bag. Morelli came over to me and scooped me and my clothing up and hauled me back up the hill. He handed me off to Tank and I saw rage in his eyes when he turned around to go back to Ranger and Torrence.

Tank tried to keep his eyes averted while helping me get dressed. I was shaking so bad from cold and fright, I couldn't hook my bra. "Tank," I said.

"What?" he asked, looking up at the tree tops.

"I can't hook my bra. My hands are shaking, I need help." I saw his eyes roll heavenward as if he was saying a prayer and he looked down to help.

"I'm better at ripping them off, not hooking them up," he said. I smiled tightly. He leaned me forward so he could see my back and hooked my bra. Then he reached down and got my blouse, helped me pull it on, and buttoned it for me. I was trembling uncontrollably. He pulled the sweater over my head and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Okay, let's go. The car is up the hill."

"I can't walk. The explosion threw me and I think I either broke or sprained my ankle." He looked down at my foot and then bent to scoop me up. I held tightly to him, soaking in his warmth. It was really chilly out here. "He was going to kill my baby. He had a knife pressed to my stomach, I had to do it. I had to save the baby." Tears were running down my face.

Tank stopped mid-stride and turned around. He brought me over to where Ranger and Morelli were talking to Torrence and dropped me into Ranger's arms. "Requesting permission to take over from here."

Ranger looked at Tank and his furious expression, then he looked at me. "Babe?"

"I think Tank deserves the satisfaction," I said and then I looked down at Torrence. His nose was bleeding and he looked like he'd run into a dump truck. "And I think that he deserves Tank."

Ranger nodded and carried me in the direction of the car. We stopped and looked at Morelli. I could see the moral dilemma. "You're not a cop here, Joe," I said.

He nodded curtly and followed us back to the car. Ranger put me into the back seat and Joe climbed in, not saying anything. I bit my lip. If I thought about it, I would cry. I was terrified. He'd almost killed me and then … I just wasn't going to think about it.

Ranger got in next to me and both he and Joe stared at me. "I had to play along. He told me he would kill the baby." Tears flooded down my cheeks. "He had me in the trunk of the car and a bomb with a timer. The emergency release was disabled and I couldn't get out."

I swiped the tears away and continued. "I found the release for the seats and climbed out and the timer was almost up, so I broke the window and dove through. The car exploded and sent me flying and I must have twisted my ankle because it hurts now."

"He told me he was going to finish what he started in his trailer and I knew he meant it. He told me he was going to kill me when he was done, so I decided to tell him that I've always wanted him." I choked on a sob. "Something in me changed. He held a knife over my abdomen and he told me he would kill the baby and I knew I had to make him believe that I wanted him. And I would have gone through with it, God help me I would have."

I was crying fully now. I had my arms around my middle and I was thinking about how things had gotten so desperate. "Salazar really wants me dead."

Ranger pulled me into his arms and held me. "It was smart, Babe. You were surviving."

"Do you think Chris will forgive me?" I asked.

"I think Chris will be happy you did what you could to protect yourself and your child." He kissed my temple.

I grabbed Morelli's hand. "I'm so glad you're both here. I don't know what I would have done without you." I kissed Ranger's cheek and then kissed Morelli's cheek and hugged him.

"You gave us quite a scare, Cupcake," he said.

Tank returned to the car and Ranger moved to the driver's seat. Tank threw Torrence into the back hatch. I was afraid to look at him, but was relieved to know that Tank hadn't killed him, for Tank's sake. "Okay, he's ready for the police." He looked at me. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, unable to speak.

He pressed his lips together. "I could have killed him, but I knew you wouldn't want me to do that." I hugged his arm and nodded, fighting back all of the emotion welling up inside me.

Torrence made some strange noises and I buried my face in Tank's arm. Then Torrence spoke up, "She s-seduced me. I didn't do anyth-thing."

Tank slowly turned around with a look of death on his face. "If you don't shut up, I'll make it so you can never speak again."

Torrence made a strange noise that sounded like a whimpering puppy and closed his mouth. Tank put his arm around me. "It's alright now, but just so you know, if we get out of this car, I'm cuffing you to me."

I didn't think it was prudent to argue with Tank, but I saw Ranger's smirk and Morelli eyeing him with amusement.

We dropped Torrence off at the police station and I gave my statement about the bomb. Then we headed to the hospital to have my ankle looked at and to have them check that the baby was safe. Luckily, my ankle was just sprained, so I was given an air cast to wear. The baby was happily sucking away on his thumb, so I was content.

I had started referring to the baby as a boy out of habit, but I still hadn't asked Tank the sex. This incident had brought me closer than ever to the baby, so when we got out to the car after I was checked out, I asked Tank, "What sex is the baby?"

"You really want to know?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes, I do."

He smiled. "It's a girl."

A girl. Everyone smiled at me. "Congratulations, Cupcake," Joe said with a wide smile. "Really amazing."

Go figure. I've been pregnant this whole time, but they hadn't reacted to it once until the baby had some sort of identity … men.

"Did we miss our flight?" I asked.

Ranger shook his head. "No, Babe. Our flight is waiting for whenever we're ready."

"Okay, let's find my husband."

***

I was utterly exhausted by the time we reached Paris and climbed into our rental car. I'd had limited sleep over the past few days and, though we were eating when I needed, we didn't stop to sit down and enjoy food. Life was stressful and I don't handle stress well.

"Okay, let's get this over with. I'm ready to get my life back," I said. "Let's just drive down there and start going door to door."

"Impatient, Babe?" Ranger asked.

"I'm tired. I want to sleep, in a bed, for eight hours." I crossed my arms for emphasis. If I'm going to start doing the childish thing again, I need to do it right.

"Let's stay here tonight and get a move on in the morning," Morelli suggested. "She looks like she's ready to drop."

Ranger nodded. "I know a place."

Of course he did. Ricardo Carlos Mañoso knew everything. It was sickening. I scowled at him all the way to the house he pulled up to. He exited the car, went up to the door and spoke with a woman, then came back. "Okay, we're all set. Babe, choose who you stay with."

I looked from Ranger to Morelli to Tank. Ram and Hal, who had been following us in a second car, walked up. "Oh no, I'm not choosing. You guys have to flip for it." I got out of the car and stared them all down. "And whoever is staying with me has to wait outside the bathroom while I take a bath!"

Later, after my bath, I sat on a chair across the room from the bed, staring at the occupant. "I'll sleep in the chair."

The figure got up, walked across the room toward me, and tossed me over his shoulder, flopping me gently onto the bed. "Here's the thing. We're both tired. It's late. You need sleep and I need sleep. I have to watch you and I have to get some rest. So, get over it."

He started stripping down to his underwear and T-shirt. I stared, remembering the muscles, remembering the past. He looked at me, his eyes turning dark. "If you look at me like that, we won't make it through the night. I won't touch you if you keep your hands and your eyes to yourself."

I swallowed and looked up at his eyes. "Promise?"

He gave me a look and then slipped into the bed. "Come here."

**************

Okay, I can't decide here. Reader's choice: who won the bet? The man with the most votes by tomorrow morning at 8 EDT wins.