A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reviewing this story. Your suggestions and input are valued. I apologize to anyone who hasn't received response from me. FF and my e-mail aren't cooperating too well right now. If I've missed you, it was unintentional. All recognizable characters belong to Janet Evanovich. I use them for fun and not profit.

Chapter 14

Anthony picked me up right on time and looked handsome in a blue suit. We headed north out of Trenton, our exact location still a secret from me. The conversation during the ride was pleasant ranging from old experiences we'd shared at E.E. Martin to the more recent trauma of his divorce.

After an hour we arrived at a quaint Victorian Inn. "This is Brightwell's," Anthony said. "Have you heard of it?" I shook my head no.

Anthony smiled, excited to find I was unaware of the establishment. "It's a functioning inn," he said, "but the reason we're here is the dining room was just voted most romantic place in New Jersey, and the restaurant has a five star rating. I wanted to give you a nice evening, Stephanie."

"Anthony, this is great," I said with enthusiasm. "I can't wait to see the menu!"

We were seated immediately at a secluded table. The dining room was lit with Victorian style gas lamps and the ambience was wonderful. I couldn't remember ever being in such an elegant space. Our conversation started in the car continued throughout the meal.

As we were waiting for the dessert cart Anthony turned to a personal subject. "I've not dated anyone since the divorce. This is the first date I've had and you've put me totally at ease. I'd like to see you again. You're not involved with anyone are you?"

Good question since I was legally married to and in love with Ranger. It was the second time he'd asked me if I was involved with anyone. "No, I'm not presently seeing anyone and I would like to see you again, Anthony, but right now I can't commit to anything more than a friendship." I pushed a curl behind my ear and heard his indrawn breath. He reached across the table to where I'd accidentally dislodged the scarf I was wearing. Joyce's handiwork was on full view for him to see.

"My word, Stephanie, what happened?"

I sighed, "Let me tell you a little about my post-lingerie buyer career." I told him about today's incident with Joyce as well as some of my other infamous exploits. Apparently I wasn't as notorious in Newark as I was in Trenton.

Anthony seemed shocked by my exploits. "I can't believe someone tried to kill you today," he said.

"I'm not sure she would've gone through with it," I said. "I think it was just the heat of the moment and I was just about to break her grip when Gazarra pulled her off me."

"This is uncomfortable for me, Stephanie, because I've just indicated that I have a personal interest in you and I don't want you to misunderstand what I'm going to say. There is a place for you at Baldicott. You don't have to put your life in danger to earn a living."

He had my attention. "What exactly do you mean 'a place'?" I asked. "Are you saying you'd find a job for me that would be safer than bond enforcement?" I didn't think I was putting my life on the line every day I worked as a BEA. Usually it was routine and I liked the freedom of choosing my own hours.

He smiled, "I think any job would be safer than bond enforcement, but I'm not talking about finding you a job. I have been thinking about offering you the directorship of my new lingerie boutique project. I was thinking about calling you when you called and asked to come see me the other day. I originally planned to ask Shirley Blanco as she's been a good assistant to me, but I, well, I'm looking for someone more elegant to head up this project."

"You think I'm elegant?" I asked surprise raising my eyebrows.

He grinned sheepishly. "I think you're special, Stephanie, so much so that I asked you out and now I have to convince you I'd been planning to talk to you about a job even if you hadn't called. I assure you that if you came to work for me any private life we had would be kept well out of the work place."

"I'd have to hear more about what the job entailed," I said. "It's been a while since I've been involved in the business world. It would take a bit to readjust my work style, not to mention my wardrobe!"

We talked until long after the Vanilla Crème Brûlée was a memory. "Would people be upset if you hired me instead of promoting someone from within?" I asked.

"I wanted to bring you with me from E.E. Martin, but my hands were tied. Shirley had the experience and the seniority and I had to offer her the position with Baldicott. She does a good job, but she never had the work ethic or enthusiasm you did. At first I thought about offering her this project, but it will require travel and a self-starting disposition and she seems to be content with her present position as my chief assistant."

I noticed the dining room was almost empty and looked across at Anthony. "It's getting late," I said, "and you've given me a lot to think about tonight. Maybe we should be going."

He reached across and took my hand. "We don't have to go home Stephanie, there's room at the inn. To be specific there's a room reserved in my name at this Inn. I'm not trying to be forward but I didn't know how this evening would end and I wanted to be prepared."

I was stunned. The man across from me was a kind, charming and trusted old friend. He was everything I needed to start out on a new life, but I hadn't made the transition to thinking about him as a potential lover. "I'm not ready for that step, Anthony. This has all taken me by storm. I haven't seen you for years and I'm having trouble realizing you're no longer the married man I knew. I think we'd better call it a night."

He gave in graciously and we began our trip home. I was quiet on the ride. I had a lot to think about. If I was going to leave Ranger behind, this was the perfect place to start. Anthony already had the requisite home in the suburbs. He was older than me, but not too old to be a father to the baby I so desperately longed for. It was as if little light bulbs flashed in my head. I didn't want to be a lingerie buyer or seller. I wanted the life I had now, but I wanted, even ached, for a child. When had this happened?

As we pulled into my parking lot I saw a black RangeMan SUV parked in the far corner. Anthony opened my door for me and wrapped his arms around me for a soft kiss. I knew was being watched by someone in the SUV. I was tempted to give my spy a little show, but out of respect for Anthony I maintained my composure. Two doors of the SUV opened at the same time. Joe Morelli got out of the passenger's door as Ranger got out of the driver's side. They started walking in tandem toward me.

I felt a little frisson of unexplainable fear run up my spine. "Stephanie?" Anthony questioned hesitantly.

"It's okay, Anthony," I said. "They're business associates of mine. You can go. I'll be safe." He looked relieved as he got in his car and drove away.

Joe spoke first, "What in the hell are you doing, Stephanie?" He advanced with arms flailing in a full Italian temper. "Where's your phone? Where's your ever present RangeMan tracker? Do you not have a brain in your head?" Ranger stayed quiet, eyeing Joe with a curious interest.

I flipped immediately into rhino mode. "Who do you think you are, Joe Morelli? And why do you think you can talk to me that way." I took in a deep breath getting ready to let round two fly.

The breeze picked up and I pulled my coat around me shivering in the cold. The scarf at my neck slipped loose and I heard Ranger's indrawn breath. He pulled a small mag light out of his jacket pocket and shined it on my neck. "What did that son of a bitch do to you?" he growled. His expression was fierce and I took a small step backward.

I self-consciously lifted my fingers to my neck. "He didn't do anything," I said. "This is left over damage from Joyce Barnhardt. Anthony was a perfect gentleman."

Ranger seemed to center himself and Joe was working hard at regaining his calm. Ranger looked at me and said, "You'll have to overlook our reactions, Babe. We've just spent six anxious hours looking for you while you went completely off-line and spent the evening with your stalker. It's cold out here. Let's go to your apartment and finish this conversation."

"Wait," I said. "What do you mean, my stalker? Terry is my stalker…right?"

Joe took one arm and Ranger the other and they pulled me out of the parking lot and into the building. There were times when Morelli and Ranger worked well as a team and then there were times when they wanted to kill each other. Tonight was obviously a team night. We entered my apartment this time using my key. Coats were removed and piled on the dining room table. Joe went to the kitchen and prepared coffee while Ranger sat unmoving in the arm-chair watching me try to control my nerves. Something was very wrong here.

Joe came in and handed me and Ranger a cup of coffee. He pulled a chair in from the dining room and positioned it equi-distant from Ranger and me. I plopped on the sofa and waited for whatever was going on to be explained to me. Joe straddled the chair and took a sip of his coffee. He looked from me to Ranger. Ranger nodded and Joe began to speak.

"Terry's fingerprints don't match the fingerprints found on your door, but the fingerprints taken from your door do match the partial print found on your E.E. Martin business card."

"I don't understand," I said. "Of course they're Terry's. Dillon identified her and so did Mrs. Bestler."

"Cupcake, just listen," Joe said, his expression tense. "Vito Grizolli and Anthony Fenoglio's father, Salvatore, are best friends. Vito was instrumental in Anthony getting his job with E.E. Martin in the first place. Seems Anthony didn't have the stomach for the family business and wanted a more pedestrian lifestyle. Terry and Anthony were raised together, almost like siblings. Terry is a quite a few years younger than Anthony and she always looked up to him like an older brother."

"How long have you known this?" I asked Joe.

"Since I found out her prints weren't the ones we were looking for this morning. I confronted her with the information we got from Mrs. Bestler and Dillon." I looked over at Ranger who remained motionless and silent, quietly listening to the exchange between Joe and myself.

"Stephanie, I know very little about your time with E.E. Martin. Were you romantically involved with Anthony?"

"No, I was involved with Dickie," I exclaimed. "Anthony was a married man and my boss. When everything fell apart with Dickie, Anthony was good support for me. But there was nothing between us."

"About six months ago Terry and I were at her uncle's house," Joe continued, "and I met Fenoglio. He asked me if I was the same Joe Morelli that you'd been involved with. I thought that was an odd question, but he explained he used to work with you and I didn't think any more about it. He began calling Terry every so often to see if she and I were still together. He confided to her that he was in love with you and asked for her help."

"He asked Terry to stalk me?" I asked, truly confused.

"He told Terry he wanted to court you in an old fashioned way. He wanted to be your secret admirer. He asked her to place a letter in your mailbox and then place a padded envelope by your door. She thought she was delivering love poems and lingerie. She had it partly right."

"Why would she do such a thing?" I exclaimed. "That's crazy."

"Terry was inclined to do it because she's fond of Anthony and because…well, she wanted you to be in a relationship with someone. She was worried you and I might reconnect." I shot a sideways glance toward Ranger. The blank face was in full show.

"How did Anthony know that you and I had ever been together?" I asked. "I was far removed from that part of my life when you entered it."

"I don't know," Joe said. "I don't know if you told him or if he stalked you to find out. This may have been going on almost from the time of his divorce."

"I didn't even know about his divorce," I said. "The only time I've seen him since I was fired was one night when I was going out to dinner with Connie. He was still with his wife. I may have mentioned to him then that I was seeing someone else. He was so kind to me after Dickie that I might have wanted him to know things were better. But I still don't understand, why would he try to scare me with the stabbed underwear if he was hoping we'd be lovers?"

Joe and Ranger shared a quick glance, then Joe said, "Lovers?"

"Yes," I said emphatically. "Lovers. He's very gentle and still wounded by his wife's betrayal. He asked me to stay with him tonight. He is not very experienced with other women as most of his life has been spent with just one woman. I told him I thought it was just a little too soon and when I refused he was not insistent. He brought me straight home."

I saw Ranger's eyes surveying my bruises and I readjusted the scarf. "He was a perfect gentleman," I said. "When he saw these bruises he offered me a job, a very good job, working for Baldicott. He wants me to be safe."

"That's hard to believe," Ranger said, "when it appears he's the one putting you in danger."

"Ranger and I think there's a third party involved," Joe said. "Terry claims she knew nothing about any threat to you and I believe her. She thought she was just delivering gifts to you. She brought the bag into your apartment because it was the only one that wasn't in a padded envelope and she was able to look inside and see the quality of the garment. She didn't want to leave it in the hallway and she ran into Mrs. Bestler who offered to let her in."

I looked at Joe. The tension in his face alerted me to what was coming. I'd sensed many months ago that the same sexual tension buzzing between Ranger and me also buzzed between Terry and Joe. He'd said as much to me recently when he tried to warn me away from Ranger.

"Stephanie, I have to tell you. You can press charges against Terry for stalking and trespassing." There was silence in the room.

"Do you believe what she told you, Joe?"

He nodded his head, "I do."

"Then I won't press charges, but I have to figure out what is going on with Anthony." I saw Joe's expression loosen, the tightness leaving his jaw. He stood and put the chair back in the dining room and walked into the kitchen setting his cup in the sink. His familiarity with my apartment made me think of times in the past. When I looked at his face I could see gratitude and knew he was in love with Terry. He'd picked a hard road and I wished him well.

"I can contact the Newark police for you since that's where Fenoglio resides and works. They can handle that end of the investigation. We will keep on it here. For now you need to stay far, far away from Fenoglio. His sudden concern for your safety and his offer of a job seems a little fishy to me. I'll have someone on him tomorrow and we'll see what we can get out of him."

Ranger looked up at Joe. "Give us a couple of days, Morelli. RangeMan can look into this and we'll turn over anything we find to the police. I give you my word."

"I'm looking into it!" I said. "He's stalking me. I can take care of this myself. I won't get in the way of the police, but I'm going to find out what Anthony's role in this mess is." I shot a glance at Ranger and continued, "I don't need any help. I've been getting along just fine on my own for a while now."

Joe walked over to me and ruffled my hair. "I'll let the two of you fight this one out." He put his fingers under my chin and lifted my gaze to his. "You're sure Cupcake, about not pressing charges?"

I nodded my head. Once again there was silence in the room as Joe picked up his coat and walked out. I turned to Ranger, "He was with you, how will he get home?"

"He's a big boy, Babe. He'll find a way." He rose from his chair and came to take my coffee cup from my hands. He walked into the kitchen to set the cups on the counter and returned to pull me up from the sofa. His arms came around me and his lips found mine, but I turned my head to the side to break the contact.

"Where are we staying tonight, Babe? Your place or mine? I'm not leaving you alone as long as your stalker is on the loose." He took my face in his hands and drew me toward him. This time his lips found their mark. Softly, insistently, he moved his mouth back and forth over mine until I capitulated with a groan of frustration and desire. I opened my mouth to take him inside. We stood kissing, making love with our tongues and then I felt him shift his body against mine and slowly move me backward.

I pulled away, "Ranger, we can't do this. We have to talk!"

"We can do this, Babe, and we'll talk tomorrow." His mouth came back over mine and we began a slow dance toward the bedroom.