A/N - Thanks for all of your reviews! You know I love them!
Thanks again to my Mary Lou, XxTartLoverxX. You help me out when I get stuck like Chuck!
I've made a decision that this part of the story will end right before Les comes back from the mission and then I'll start a third story to deal with the aftermath. This part of the journey is more lighthearted and the tone of Lester's journey will be darker, so I think it makes sense to split them. Not sure how many chapters there are to go in this one but several at least. I'm trying to get ahead a few chapters before I post more, we'll see how that goes. I was going to hold off on this one but I loved it so much, and XxTartLoverxX convinced me to go ahead and post it. So thank her!
Not mine, just playing, but I'm going to figure out how to keep Lester.
Chapter 11
Stephanie was at her desk doing searches, smiling to herself as she thought about Lester's goodbye kiss when her cell phone chirped telling her she had a text message. She grabbed her it and smiled bigger at the message.
Just landed in Boston. I'll call you later, Beautiful. Miss you already! L
"Hey, Bomber, what put that grin on your face? Message from the bossman?" Bobby asked innocently.
"Actually, it's from Les. They just landed in Boston. By the way, what was up with you two in the meeting today? You were both grinning like you are up to something," Steph looked up at Bobby with her eyebrows raised.
Bobby laughed, "You know me and Santos, we're always up to something."
"Spill it, Brown."
"No way, not this time, Bomber," Bobby laughed.
"Fine, be that way, but I'll get it out of you eventually!" Stephanie laughed as Bobby went back to his office. Once he was out of sight, she texted Les back.
Glad you landed safely. Looking forward to your call. Miss you too! S
A few hours later, her phone chirped again.
Situation may be worse than I thought. Hector will be sending you names to search via encrypted e-mail. Thanks for your help. Talk to you soon, Babe. R
It wasn't very romantic, but it was more communication than she usually received from Ranger when he was out of town. Stephanie's e-mail dinged and she saw the message from Hector pop up and got to work.
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At the end of the day, Steph hadn't gotten too far with the list yet. She left the searches running, locked her computer, flipped off the monitor, grabbed her phone and sent a text to Mary-Lou.
Need to talk. My place or yours?
Her phone chirped just as she got to her car in the garage.
Mine if that is ok. Lenny's bowling with the guys tonight. I was about to order pizza for me and the boys.
Steph responded.
Call it in to Pino's and I'll go pick it up. See you soon.
As she pulled into the parking lot at Pino's, Steph's cell phone rang with the Batman theme.
"Yo."
"Babe."
"Talkative as always, Ranger," she smiled. "How's Boston?"
"Hectic. You get anywhere with the searches yet?"
"Nothing is jumping out at me so far. I left some searches running that should be done when I get to the office tomorrow. I'll let you know what I find," she replied as she got out of her car.
"Thanks, Babe. We have a takedown tonight that will probably be late. I'll call you tomorrow. Miss you," and he disconnected the call.
Shaking her head, Stephanie walked into Pino's, paid for the pizzas and headed for Lou's house. Just as she pulled up, her phone rang again playing "I Know You Want Me" by Pitbull, Stephanie was confused at first until she looked at the caller id and smiled.
"How did you change your ringtone and your contact name on my phone?" she laughed as she got out of the car, grabbed the pizzas and headed into Mary Lou's house.
"I have my ways, Beautiful," Lester replied and she could hear the smile in his voice.
"Is this why you and Bobby were grinning this morning in the meeting?" Mary Lou took the pizzas from her and mouthed Who is it? "You two changed your contact name on my phone to Sexy Santos and your ringtone to 'I Know You Want Me'?" Steph replied with a smile as Mary Lou laughed.
"I'll never tell, Baby. Where are you? And what is that noise? It sounds like a herd of elephants," Lester laughed.
"You have it sort of right, I'm at Mary Lou's and she just called the boys down for pizza. The thundering was the three of them running down the stairs," Stephanie laughed as the boys called out hi to her and cheered that she brought pizza.
Laughing, Lester replied, "Have fun with your girl talk, make sure and tell Mary Lou all about your goodbye kiss. How long did you stand in my office after I left?"
"Don't be so smug, Santos, maybe I was stunned that the kiss was average after all your talk about the Santos Magic," Steph teased as Mary Lou gaped at her.
"Come on Baby, don't be mean. I'm too far away and can't give you another kiss to prove that I'm right and put you into another Santos induced stupor," Les replied huskily.
"Santos induced stupor, huh? That sounds promising, Sexy," she flirted back.
"It is definitely a promise, Baby. I'll let you get back to your girl talk with Mary Lou. Tell her hi for me. We have a takedown tonight and it will probably be late before we get back, so I'll call you tomorrow."
"Be careful tonight, Les," Steph pleaded.
"Always. Have fun with Lou, sweet dreams, Baby," he said sweetly.
"You too, Sexy. Bye," as she disconnected. Wow! A Rangeman with phone manners! she thought with a smile.
"Holy crap, Steph! It hasn't even been a full 48 hours since we talked and you obviously have a LOT to tell me," Lou handed her a plate with a couple of slices of pizza and they headed to the table in the kitchen to talk away from little ears.
"You and Lester were all sorts of flirty which is soooooo not like you, plus you called him Sexy! Spill it," Lou's eyes were wide as they settled at the table.
Stephanie began to give her friend the rundown of the past two days. Mary Lou listened in fascination at the course of events and only interrupted once.
"Oh my God! RANGER read 'Twilight'?" and they both laughed. Once they recovered, Stephanie finished the story.
"Wow, just wow! There is a LOT to discuss here. First off, I TOLD you Les wouldn't make a move because of Ranger. I can't believe he stepped aside like that, but damn, I respect him a lot for it. From what Bobby said, it must have killed him to do it," Mary Lou sighed. "So, where is your head at? A lot happened in a short time frame. What are you thinking?"
"I feel like I ended up putting them into competition with each other and I didn't mean to. It just sort of happened," Steph sighed.
"Oh honey, they're men! They'd put themselves in a competition already! Les may not have stepped up to play until you told them you decided who to date and not them, but the competition started the second Ranger realized Les has feelings for you. Why else do you think Ranger showed up for movie night?" Mary Lou laughed.
"I didn't think of it that way, but you're probably right," Steph agreed.
"So, what are you feeling? Your conversation with Les was really sweet and flirty. Is that how you guys always talk or is he stepping up his game?" Mary Lou wondered.
"Well, I guess he's stepping up his game somewhat. He's always been flirty with me but maybe not quite as much as he was tonight, and I usually don't flirt back. But something changed since last night, and now I can't help but flirt back or even start it. It feels natural I guess, easy. Stuff with Ranger just feels forced somehow. Things he's saying are all things I've wanted him to say, but it is like all of it is coming too late. Does that make sense?" Steph asked.
"Yes, completely, and I think it means as far as you're concerned, the competition is over, Steph," Mary Lou stated emphatically.
"I agree, it is, to be honest, I'm not sure there really was one. A part of me didn't want to give Ranger a shot at all. But we have history and I thought it was only fair. I don't know. I think maybe too much water has passed under the bridge for it to really work. He already has his habits in regards to how he deals with me and I don't like them from someone I'm dating," Steph stated.
"But it is different with Lester because he always treated you well, the only difference is that he's showing his true feelings and not just friendship, right?" Stephanie nodded. "I had a feeling that you'd end up choosing Lester. I think you guys have a real shot, Steph, and he could make you really happy."
"Me too," Stephanie smiled at her friend. "But now, I have to find a way to tell Ranger."
And pray neither Les nor I wake up in a 'Stan.
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Stephanie woke the next morning and checked her phone to find the customary "All went well with the takedown back safe" text from Les. She smiled at his thoughtfulness and went about getting ready to meet Bobby for their workout.
After the morning meeting, Steph just sat down at her desk when her phone chirped.
Good morning, Baby! Have a good day. Miss you, SS (Sexy Santos)
Stephanie laughed at the signature and sent back her reply.
Good Morning, Sexy! Miss you and have a good day too! XOXO, B/B (Beautiful/Baby)
Hugs and kisses back at ya, Baby! Hector said I need to stop grinning like a fool. ;-) SS
She smiled wide at the reply, pulled up the completed searches and began printing out the results. She was chewing the cap of her highlighter, lost in reviewing the printouts, so Steph had no idea it was past 1300 until the beast in her stomach roared its displeasure. She grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of water from the break room and returned to her search results. An hour later, she had a list of three names that she felt should be looked at closer.
Stephanie hit the number 2 speed dial to let Ranger know what she found so far, but it went to voicemail. She left a message for him to call her back.
Pushing speed dial 1, Steph waited for Les to answer the phone.
"Hey Beautiful, how's your day?" Les answered.
"Productive, how about yours?"
"Busy. Hold on, let me shut the door," Steph heard as Les set the phone down and the sound of the door shutting.
"OK, Beautiful, I'm going to put you on speaker. It is just me and Hector here. What did you find?" Les inquired.
"Hola Angelita!"
"Hola, Hector. I have three names for you. Let me know what kind of read you get on each one. Javier Sanchez, Chris Timmons, and Jason Gilmore," she supplied.
"Javier Sanchez or Snake, he is a good guy. I don't get the feeling like he's hiding anything. Timmons and Gilmore, Eagle and Fish, on the other hand I get the feeling there is something hinky there, Beautiful. What's your plan?"
"I'm going to run more in depth searches on Eagle and Fish and see what I get. Let Ranger know, will you? It went to voicemail when I tried to call him, and I don't know when he'll call me back," Steph advised.
Hector had been busy working on a laptop and pretending that he wasn't listening to the conversation. However, he raised his eyebrow at the smirk on Lester's face at the news about Ranger not answering. "Sure thing we'll let him know. I'll call you later, Beautiful."
"What did Angelita find?" Hector asked as though he didn't know. He already had traces set on Eagle and Fish.
"Come on Hector, give it up with me. I know you speak English and I have known all along. I won't give up your secret. Besides, I already caught the fact that you set the traces on Eagle and Fish," Les grinned.
"How's it going with Angelita? Interesting that Ranger didn't take her call. What do you make of that?" Hector figured if anyone else knew his secret it would be Lester and he knew he could trust him. No one can hide much for long around Santos.
"No idea, but I won't make that same mistake," Les replied.
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Ranger was up to his neck in paperwork and was trying to deal with an irate client when Stephanie called, so he let it go to voicemail. He'd call her later, after all, it was on his To Do list for today.
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Stephanie arrived home and found a package on her dining room table. Shit. This is never good. She grabbed her phone and called Bobby.
"Hey Steph, what's up?" Bobby, and now Les, had at least gotten her memo on phone manners.
"Bobby, I just got home and there is a package on my dining table. You need to get a team over here, it looks like I have another stalker," she sighed.
"Hold on, Bomber, am I the first one you called?"
"Yes."
"OK, good because you don't have a stalker. It is from Les. He asked me to leave it for you and I forgot to warn you."
"Oh thank God, I'm glad I called you instead of the control room! Should I expect any more of these deliveries?" Steph now had her answer about the looks on Bobby and Les' faces during the meeting yesterday.
"Maybe….talk to you later, Bomber."
Stephanie picked up the package and noticed an envelope. She opened the card, saw Les' handwriting and began to read.
Hey Baby,
I asked Bobby to leave this for you. Hopefully, he remembered to warn you before you thought you had another stalker. ;-)
You told me during movie night that you wanted to get to know me better. Here is something to help that process along. It is my favorite.
Call me after you open it.
Missing you,
SS
Quickly unwrapping the package, Stephanie found herself holding a copy of "The Princess Bride." I can definitely see this being his favorite movie. Perfect.
She pressed 1 on her speed dial.
"Hey Baby, please tell me Brown remembered to tell you he was leaving you a surprise," Lester implored.
"No, he didn't, but luckily I called him first instead of the control room," Stephanie grabbed a beer from the fridge.
"Sorry, I should have warned you too. I hope it didn't freak you out too bad," Les apologized.
"For about 5 seconds it did, but once I found out it was from you, I thought it was incredibly sweet, Sexy. I love this movie, too, it fits you," Stephanie laughed. "You took the whole 'Man in Black' thing seriously, huh?" she asked as she sat down on the couch.
Lester roared with laughter, "Yeah, I guess I did."
"It's a good thing I think black is sexy and I had a huge crush on the Dread Pirate Roberts. This is totally working in your favor," Stephanie blushed as she flirted.
"You're blushing aren't you, Baby? You're cute when you blush," Les' voice was tinged with desire causing Stephanie to blush more.
"Do you have me on camera or something?" Steph looked around.
"No, I just know you, that's all," Les laughed and then with a whisper soft voice, "I really miss you, Baby."
Stephanie felt all squishy inside at his words. "I miss you too, Sexy. Any idea when you might get to come home?"
"Not soon enough," Les sighed. "Hector is working on some stuff. He might send you another e-mail tomorrow of some things to search. How are you doing on your searches?"
"OK. I started several after we talked earlier and I have some running now. A couple of things I thought would pan out ended up as dead ends. I'll see what I have for you tomorrow. Did you let Ranger know the status?"
"Sure did. He said he'd be in touch. Apparently, he spent the day getting his ass chewed by irate clients," Les chuckled. "We have another takedown tonight. Ranger wasn't kidding when he said there were a bunch that needed to be done. We still have 5 more after tonight."
"Please be careful, Les," Steph implored.
"Always, Baby, always," he promised.
"All right then, have fun storming the castle! Good night, Sexy."
"As you wish, Baby. Sweet dreams."
A/N 2 - What is Les' ringtone for Steph? Will Ranger finish his To Do List? Will Steph or Lester end up in a 'Stan? Did this chapter make you feel all squishy inside too?
