A/N - JE owns everything you recognize.

Sorry for the delay. I had some crazy writer's block not to mention I felt fat, hated my job, don't like my new city and was slogging my way through school applications. Basically, I threw myself a pity party and struggled to get out out of my own way. But then magically my amazing beta came back from vacation and gave me a good pep talk. I grabbed some peanut butter m&ms (they make everything better) and the words started flowing once again! THANK YOU VABABE! I rewrote this chapter several times, so I hope it still reads smoothly. Thanks for all the support and I promise we're getting back to a much better schedule!

Chapter 21

Erik's POV

I rolled over and looked at Jeanne Ellen's sleeping form. The sheet was pulled up to her waist leaving her chest bare and exposed. We were at her place and had just spent another amazing night having balls to the wall insane sex. I've never met a woman like Jeanne. She was tough, strong, confident, and she was the sexiest thing in leather I've ever seen.

The last few weeks with Jeanne have been incredible, probably some of the best of my life. She was fun, sexy and surprisingly easy to talk to. I told her about my son Cody and she didn't even bat an eye. It didn't faze her one bit. I still had to tell her about the custody shit and I needed to do it soon now that a court date had finally been set.

Elaina and Shover were right, I needed character witnesses. My bitch of an ex got wind on my treatment of women and was using it against me. Elaina said it was a conflict of interest for her to be a witness considering she was working with Shover to help me. Alex, Steph and Lula all readily agreed to testify on my behalf, though. That was a huge relief. I didn't want to ask Jeanne; I wanted to protect her from all this. It was a weird feeling for me, to feel protective of a woman again. It was …nice.

Jeanne Ellen was everything I could ever ask for. I loved how tough she was. She's a bounty hunter and a damn good one. She didn't need my help, although I'd be happy to give it to her. Sex with Jeanne was also different. It's been so long since I've had feelings for a woman; I'd forgotten what it was like to have sex with someone you actually care about.

Before, I would make sure the woman was turned on enough to let me have sex with her, but I never really paid much attention to whether she got off or not. I figured it was her problem. With Jeanne Ellen, I wanted sex to be as good for her as it was for me. I cared, a lot. I loved making her come, and hearing my name fall from her lips. It was the most amazing sound in the world. After my ex, I never thought I'd be in a relationship again but I can't imagine knowing Jeanne Ellen and not wanting a relationship with her.

All the guys at RangeMan must be fucking crazy not to have hit on her. I can't understand how they didn't. I mean, the other guys' women are hot and cool to hang out with, but they don't hold a candle to Jeanne Ellen.

I imagine sex with Stephanie is a ridiculous affair. Kinda like everything else in her life. Her A.D.D. would kick in and she wouldn't be able focus for more than two minutes. She'd probably burst into sporadic fits of laughter and she'd insist on snack breaks. Lula probably orders Tank around, demanding he perform certain acts on command. Christ, she used to be a professional; I wonder if she ever compares him to the other guys? I wouldn't be able to handle that.

Alex probably fucks like a dude. I bet she's really aggressive and Santos has to be careful he doesn't end up getting killed. Shit, he most likely worries about Alex breaking his neck with her thighs every time he goes down on her. And then there is Elaina. Cold, calculating Elaina. I used to think she had a fire or something underneath that up-tight lawyer demeanor but I may have misjudged her. I picture sex with Elaina as detached. She probably doesn't make any noise and looks bored and uninterested throughout the entire thing. I don't know how Brown's ego could handle that. Mine certainly couldn't.

I crawled over Jeanne Ellen's sleeping form. Her large, soft breasts were laid out before me. I figure if I was going to get some news that I might not want to hear, I'd be much more receptive after a blow job. I began kissing Jeanne's chest and listening to her soft moans. Her hands began running up my back and I felt her nails as I made my way down her stomach and began going down on her. Well, if Jeanne Ellen is anything like a guy, once she comes I can basically tell her anything and she'll be fine with it.

She came hard and moaned loudly; I made my way back up and relaxed once I saw the satisfied look on her face.

"Mmmmmm. That was so much better then waking up to my alarm," she purred.

I chuckled. "I'll be glad to be your wake-up call any time," I said as I nuzzled her neck.

She rolled over and looked at me with her gorgeous, dark almond eyes. "So what's going on?" she asked.

Shit, was I that obvious?

"Maybe I just wanted to do something nice for you and I really enjoy going down on you," I explained as I kissed her dark silky hair. That wasn't a complete lie.

"Yeah, but we usually have sex afterwards and you're not even trying too. Erik, what's really going on?" she asked again.

Jeanne Ellen isn't just a bad ass bounty hunter; she's also basically a private investigator. I was stupid to think I could slip something past her. I sighed.

"I'm about to enter a custody battle for Cody. My ex tried to claim he wasn't mine and I've finally been able to get a DNA test. Now we're about to fight it out. I'm looking for joint custody," I explained.

Jeanne Ellen sat up abruptly. "Hold on, your ex claimed your son wasn't yours? Erik, that's some serious fucked-up shit. Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm getting there. That's one of the multitude of reasons I'm seeing a shrink. I also don't have the best track record with my treatment of women after we split up," I explained slowly.

Jeanne Ellen seemed to mull that over. "You've never been anything but respectful towards me," she said.

"Well, that's because you'd probably beat my ass," I admitted.

"I've seen you out with a bunch of the RangeMan women and you seem to be on good terms with all of them," she pointed out.

"Yeah, they kinda gave me a kick in the ass when I first started working there. They're also helping me with my custody case," I said.

"What can I do? Do you want me to dig up dirt on your ex? Do you need me to go to court with you?" she asked.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. Nothing got to this woman. She was unflappable.

"Jeanne, I love that you want to be there for me, but I want to keep this separate from you, at least for now. I haven't had a relationship with Cody and its going to take some time for me to build one. I talked to my lawyer and a social worker and we decided that if I get custody, we'll start with once a week supervised visits and then slowly build from there until I have full joint custody. Cody's only four. I don't want to scare him by taking him away from his mom several times a week before he has the chance to get to know me. I want to be honest with you, but I think it's for the best, at least for now, if I keep our relationship separate from Cody," I explained nervously.

Jeanne tilted her head thoughtfully. "I understand," she replied.

Huh? I was expecting her to get pissed, possibly throw a bitch fit. I was at least expecting her to have more of a reaction.

"You understand? You don't want to discuss this any further?" I asked quizzically.

"We can if you want. Erik, you need to work this situation out with your ex, than develop a relationship with your son. I get it, and I agree we need to be a little more serious before I get involved in your child's life," she said as she climbed out of bed and threw on a t-shirt and some panties. "Did you want coffee?" she asked easily.

"So...we're good? You're not breaking up with me?" I asked.

"I wasn't planning on it," she said mildly.

This felt too easy. "Is this a woman mind trick thing? Am I going to get it later? Are you going to slip ex-lax into my coffee or something?" I asked.

Jeanne Ellen turned towards me and leaned against the door frame. "I'm glad you're seeing a shrink Tanner because you sure as hell have issues," she commented with a head shake.

I leaned back into the pillows and looked up at the ceiling. "Tell me about it," I sighed.

Lester's POV

I felt a sensation on my stomach and it was traveling lower. Oh for the love of God, please just let me sleep. I'm so fucking tired. Alex's hand started attempting to awake me from my desperately needed slumber. I am so tired I can barely move. Her goddamn hormones during this trimester are threatening to break me. It's like she just got back from a mission, but all the time! We had sex three times last night and she's waking me up so we can go at it again and then she'll join me in the shower. She'll be in my office at least once if not twice today and then she'll want it before dinner and then possibly after.

I can't even bitch to the guys about it! Not after all the complaining I did when I wasn't getting any. I may have been overly vocal about the fact that my wife wasn't putting out and now that she wants to fuck multiple times a day none of the guys are going to have any sympathy for me. Worse, they'd probably call me a pussy and offer to satisfy my wife for me. Then I'd end up having 0500 appointments on the mats every morning to beat the shit out of all the guys who would even think about hitting on my wife. Shit.

Alex's hand was performing her magic and I continued to pretend to be sleeping. I could barely walk and I have a meeting first thing this morning. I would kill for another hour of sleep. I felt Alex's lips on my neck.

"Angel, I love you more than anything but my dick is going to fall off if we keep going at it like this. I'm exhausted baby," I tried to explain.

Alex sat up abruptly. I opened my eyes and looked over at her. She was clutching the sheet over her body and her eyes were filled with tears. "Is it because I'm too fat now? I know I've gotten so much bigger this trimester," she said with a shaky voice.

Oh for the love of all that is holy. This woman is trying to fucking kill me. I hauled myself up and pulled my crying wife into my arms.

"Angel, you are the most beautiful, sexy, incredible woman that I've ever laid eyes on. I love your pregnant body, you always look fucking incredible. I'm just tired, that's all," I said as I kissed her hair.

"You don't have to lie to me! I know I don't look like I used to," she sniffed.

I hate hormones. They're the fucking devil. They've kidnapped my sane nympho wife and have replaced her with a hypersensitive succubus who is literally fucking the life out of me.

"I love the way you look," I said firmly. Alex continued to sniffle. I've been on insane missions with Alex and seen some really fucked up shit and she's never been a crier. But ever since the pregnancy the tears flow regularly and easily.

Alex didn't seem moved by my assurances. I mentally sighed and then began doing what I do best: showing with actions instead of words. I kissed my wife and pushed her back onto the bed. I lifted her leg over my shoulder placing kissed up her legs and settled between her thighs. Alex let out a sigh and then a moan. My wife got the release and assurance she needed while I lost out on my last hour of sleep.

Once Alex was satiated, we showered and I headed to my meeting. Maybe I can nap under my desk today.

Tank, Ranger, Bobby, Elaina and Elaina's assistant Ben were waiting for me.

"You look like shit," Ranger commented as I entered the room with a giant cup of coffee.

"You know, you're supposed to sleep before the baby comes," Bobby said eyeing me.

"Fuck all of you," I grumbled.

Elaina and Tank both raised their eyebrows and shot each other a glance.

"Well, I brought Ben in with me because he's been instrumental at finding qualified candidates for the assistant's positions. I have several for you to look over. Tank and I were discussing possibly hiring two assistants, one for Lester and Bobby and another for Tank and Ranger. I thought someone with some sort of medical background would be good to help out Bobby. Especially with the medical inventory, which takes up a lot of time. So the candidates I have in this folder are trained nurses or first responders who also have an admin background. The candidates in the other file have an admin/HR background which I thought would be beneficial for Tank with all the insurance and time-off issues," Elaina explained.

"I've already called the references on every one of these applicants, so all you guys need to do is pick who looks good and set up a few interviews," Ben added.

I began to feel myself nodding off while everyone began discussing the candidates. My head bobbed and all I could think about doing was curling up in my bed…alone.

"Lester!" came Ranger's sharp voice.

"Huh?" I mumbled. I realized everyone was looking at me.

"Did you want to look over the candidates or have any questions for Elaina or Ben?" Tank asked.

"Uhhh," I stumbled. I could barely see straight, let alone come up with anything intelligent to say.

"Dude, I'll make sure we get someone good. Why don't you go lay down. You look like shit," Bobby finally said.

I glanced at Ranger and Tank who both gave me a nod.

"Yeah…thanks. I'm sorry, I'm a mess," I apologized.

"Don't worry about it, we can handle this," Tank said.

I got up to leave and before walking out the door, I turned back. "Just do me a favor and don't tell my wife where I am for a few hours," I pleaded.

Elaina's POV

It was the night of my bachelorette party. Actually, it was the night of Alex and my bachelorette party. We were going to get dressed up, go for a nice dinner and then out dancing. Not the craziest night, but it was definitely more my speed. I'm not really into this stuff but it was kind of sweet to see Alex so excited about a ritual that most of us have become pretty jaded about.

She was positively giddy. I was just looking forward to a night out and a stiff martini. As long as they didn't make me wear a veil or, god forbid, a sash I'll have a good time. Along with Lula and Steph, my friends Vera, Robin and Allie were also coming out.

I went shopping with Greg who was my partner at The Chase Foundation and also my best friend and he helped me pick out a fitted gold dress and some really high heels. It's much flashier and sexier than anything I would normally wear; I would say it's more Stephanie's style or maybe even more Lula's. I'm a touch more conservative.

I decided to pin my hair back and Stephanie did my make-up for me going much heavier then I usually do. I glanced in the mirror at my reflection; I looked sexy. I felt a little shy being dressed like this out in public. I haven't even dared leave the bathroom yet. I took a breath and applied a final layer of lip gloss before exiting the bathroom.

Bobby, Lester, Vince and Ram were sitting in the living room drinking beer and watching TV. I mentally cringed when I walked in. I was hoping to see Bobby alone. "Damn, Thumbelina! Where the hell have you been hiding that ass?" Lester said with a grin as his eyes traveled up and down me.

"Looking good Merritt," Ram said with a nod of approval.

Vince was looking at Bobby whose eyes were wide and staring at me unblinking. "I'm not a doctor, but I think you may have given you fiancé a stroke," Vince said as he clapped Bobby on the back.

Bobby swallowed hard. "You look pretty," he said in a tight voice.

Lester cackled. "Dude, she doesn't look 'pretty', she looks fucking smoking hot!" Lester teased.

I could feel my face flush slightly. "Yeah, Brown. You gonna be okay with her out, dressed like that, at a club with a bunch of single guys sniffing around her?" Ram taunted.

Bobby's jaw tensed. I shot the guys a warning look as I walked to Bobby and slipped my arms around his neck. "I'm glad you think I look nice. I'll be home late, most likely drunk," I said as I gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

Bobby's body was tense. I know that he trusts me but this is the first time I've really gone out like this without him. I go to work functions all the time dressed up and I've had plenty of girls' nights but they're usually much more casual then this.

He wasn't giving me much of a response so I decided it was probably best to leave and let him brood in peace. The guys will feed him beer and bust his balls but Bobby's bad moods usually last all of ten minutes.

"Have a good night. Don't wait up," I said with a wink. Okay, maybe I shouldn't be taunting him but he needs to lighten up a little.

I grabbed my clutch and headed towards the door. "Elaina!" I heard Bobby call.

I stopped at the door and turned. He walked over to me and grabbed me and kissed me in a way that I wanted to say "fuck the bachelorette party!" and then kick the guys out of the apartment. He broke the kiss and stared into my eyes. "You look incredibly beautiful. I was speechless when I saw you. You are the most gorgeous woman I've ever laid eyes on," he whispered with my face in his hands.

"Nice recovery," I said as I smiled back up at him.

"Have fun tonight, I love you," he said as he gave me another quick kiss.

"Thanks. Love you too," I said with a smile.

I went to Alex's place where Steph was doing Alex's make-up. I walked into the apartment just as Steph was finishing up Alex's lip gloss. Both women looked stunning. Stephanie was in red dress with a fitted bodice and a structured flared skirt. Alex was in an extremely tight black number which showed off her ample cleavage and leaving no doubt that she was pregnant.

"Elaina! You look amazing!" Stephanie said beaming at me.

"Thanks you both look gorgeous," I said.

We headed over to the restaurant where we met up with Lula, Vera, Robin and Allie. Everyone was dressed up and bottles of wine were immediately ordered. Half way through dinner everyone had a decent buzz (except Alex) and the conversation turned to the guys. Steph was currently telling us about Ranger's infatuation with pedicures and how he feels the need to have them done alone.

"He loves them! But he refuses to let me go with him. I walked into the nail shop one time and by the expression on his face you'd have thought I caught him jerking off! God, he's not even that shy about jerking off, I've caught him doing that plenty of times and he didn't even blink," Steph laughed.

"At least he's not OCD like Tank," Lula chimed in. "The man can't handle when the wine glasses aren't in order from ports to reds. I feel like I'm living in a china shop sometimes, I'm not allowed to touch anything! Sometimes, I go in his office and just move things an inch or two, just to mess with him. He goes in there and gets all huffy when he realizes I replaced his blue pens with black," Lula said.

Alex cracked up. "I heard his cursing the over day because he ended up marking up a report with a black pen instead of blue! He ended up redoing his changes because he didn't like the way they looked!" she laughed.

"Come on Alex, we need some dirt on the reformed Casanova," Steph said.

"Well, since we're all sharing, I've recently discovered Lester is irrationally afraid of mice. We were moving stuff back into the townhouse and the door was open and a field mouse slipped in. We were in the kitchen unpacking and it ran across the floor. Lester screamed and jumped on the counter and refused to come down until I got the mouse out of the house. I've never seen him move that fast!" Alex exclaimed.

I couldn't breathe, I was laughing so hard. 6'6'', giant, cocky, badass, Lester Santos jumping on a counter because of a mouse. I would've paid anything to see it!

"How are things going with Woody?" I asked Vera Patel as we got control of ourselves. Vera and I have been friends since college. She's a surgical resident and operated on Woody after he was shot a while back. It was actually the night Bobby and I met. They just started dating recently.

"Pretty good, now that I've finally got him to stop calling me Dr. Patel," she said with a grin.

"He didn't!" Steph exclaimed.

"Oh he did, multiple times on our first date. He still slips up but it's much better," Vera explained.

"Alright, Elaina. Your turn, give us some dirt on Bobby. He can't be as perfect as he seems," Allie said.

"Not a lot to give. He's kind, smart, funny, absolutely gorgeous and apparently loaded," I said as I took a swig of wine.

"Boooo!" said Robin. "Give us something, I know you're holding back!" she said.

Of course I was. Bobby and I have plenty of serious issues, just not enough petty ones.

"Well, as most of you know from meeting Bobby, he's incredibly smart and has a photographic memory, but he can't remember to put down the freaking toilet seat to save his life. I can't tell you how many times I've fallen in! I've asked, begged, nagged, cried and yelled and yet he still can't remember. BUT, if you asked him what happened to Ram during a takedown six years ago, he can give you a play by play and then breakdown all the injuries and recoveries. But putting down the toilet seat? Not so much," I said with a grin.

We all continued to laugh and drink and I finally began to relax.

By the time we got to the bar I had a decent buzz on and was feeling much more comfortable about my appearance. We got drinks and danced to a few songs then finally settled at some tables for a break.

We were all just hanging out when a group of guys approached us. "Hey ladies, are you out celebrating tonight?" one of the guys asked.

"We are!" exclaimed Lula. "This one's gettin' married and this one is married and about to pop one out," Lula explained gesturing towards Alex and me.

"Well congratulations! I'm Dan," the guy said as he held out his hands for us to shake. "Let me introduce my friends. We're out for Todd's bachelor party," Dan explained as he made introductions. "This is Todd, Patrick, John, Dave, Brian and Austin," Dan said as he introduced all of us.

"Is it your first?" the man named Austin asked Alex.

"It is! We're having a girl in three months!" Alex said as she lovingly stroked her belly.

"Congratulations. My wife and I just had our first a month ago. A little boy named James," Austin said as he pulled out his iphone and began showing pictures. Austin and Alex immediately fell into conversation about all things baby. Stephanie recognized John from the Burg and they fell into an easy conversation. Some of the guys asked the rest of the girls to dance and everyone began pairing off.

Todd came over and sat next to me. "So you're the bachelorette? When's the big day?" he asked as he held out his hand.

"Elaina," I said as I shook his hand. "Not till April. We wanted to do this early because Alex was eager to have a night out before the baby is born," I explained.

"Understandable. We're getting married next month," Todd said.

"Congratulations. Where's the ceremony?" I asked.

"Indianapolis, it's where my fiancé, Michelle, is originally from," Todd said.

"Nice. Big or small?" I asked with a smile.

Todd sighed. "I really wanted a small wedding but somehow we ended up with this god awful monstrosity," he said with a laugh.

"I know how that it is. My fiance's family gave me a huge guest list and my tiny little beach wedding has now been fire bombed by some gaudy 500 person affair," I commiserated.

"Shit, and I was pissed about the 300 people. I may owe Michelle an apology," Todd said.

"Nah, 300 is still huge," I said.

"Listen, I love my fiancé and there is no way I'm getting in trouble tonight, you seem like the safest option for me to dance with. What do you say? We can have some fun, maybe even flirt a little bit without having to worry about it getting weird," Todd suggested.

I finished my gin and tonic. "You buy me another one and watch your hands and you have yourself a deal," I said.

Todd laughed. "I like your style Elaina. I promise I will be the perfect gentleman but will still make sure you have a good time at your bachelorette party," he said as he helped me up.

Todd bought me another drink and we started dancing. He kept his arms at my waist and we were a little flirty but kept a comfortable distance. Todd was a pretty cool guy. He was a CPA and his fiancé Michelle was a junior high school teacher. They met at a trivia night three years ago when they were on teams who tied and then went to a sudden heat round. They all ended up hanging out after Michelle's team kicked Todd's team's ass and they've been together ever since.

We talked and joked and I have to admit I enjoyed the little bit of attention when Todd told me that I was beautiful. I told him all about Bobby and Todd laughed and said he was always planning on watching his hands but now he wants to make sure that the "holy ghost" could fit between us so my bounty hunter fiancé didn't kill him. I laughed and explained that Bobby wasn't like that and I was very lucky.

"So is he," Todd said with a smile.

"Thanks. You seem like a pretty cool guy too. Michelle is also lucky, I have some single girlfriends," I explained gesturing to some of my friends dancing with his. "Good guys can be hard to find," I explained.

Todd laughed. "I believe it. Those guys are my best friends in the world but they can be complete assholes," he said. "You wanna see the move I used to get my future wife?" he asked me.

"Move?" I said quizzically.

"Oh, yeah. After the trivia, the bar became a little more club like and everyone was dancing and that was when I made my move," Todd explained.

"Alright, I'm in. Show me the move," I said.

"Okay, but you gotta walk away from me," he explained.

I looked at him suspiciously. "Come on Elaina! Just do it," he said.

I turned and slowly began walking away from him. Todd's hand clamped down on my wrist yanking me back to him. Somehow he had me spinning around and then he dipped me down low so my foot was off the floor and my back was arched. My arms were around his neck and he was looking down at me grinning while I looked up at him in complete shock. I had no idea how he managed to do that but I ended up throwing my head back and cracking up.

"I wasn't expecting that!" I said breathlessly as I finally stopped laughing and Todd placed me back on my feet. "Is that how Michelle reacted?" I asked.

"Well, there wasn't quite as much laughing," he admitted sheepishly.

"I'm sorry! That was a really good move. Very sexy, I can totally see why she fell for it," I said.

"Trust me, when you're a CPA you need a move like that. I wouldn't have had a shot with someone as incredible as her without it," he said with a smile.

"It's a great move," I reassured him.

Todd's face suddenly changed. "What's going on?"I asked him.

"There's a guy staring at us. He looks pissed and scary," he said.

I turned slowly to where he was looking and across the bar I saw Bobby's face. It was completely blank but his eyes held a scary intensity. "That's Bobby, my fiancé. Come on, I'll introduce you," I said.

"Uh, I thought you said he's wasn't the jealous type," Todd asked.

"He's not!" Usually. "I don't know why he's here but trust me and he just got the wrong impression," I said as I had to physically drag Todd across the bar to meet Bobby.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Bobby lightly as we approached.

"It's almost 3am. The bar's closing so I thought I'd come by with some of the guys to give you all a ride home," he said coldly.

"That's really nice of you," I said trying to diffuse whatever the hell this situation was. "Bobby this is Todd. We just met tonight, it's his bachelor party. His fiancé Michelle is a school teacher and they're getting married next month in Indianapolis," I explained. "Todd this is my fiancé Bobby," I said. Bobby seemed to relax a little as they shook hands.

"Hey man, you have a great girl. We figured we were the safest people to hang out with tonight," Todd explained with a smile.

"Thanks," Bobby said as he placed his arm around me possessively.

"Thanks for tonight Todd; I had a lot of fun. Good luck with everything and congratulations," I said as I broke out of Bobby's arms and placed a light kiss on Todd's cheek.

"You too, Elaina. Thanks for dancing with me. Nice meeting you Bobby," Todd said as he left to go find his friends.

I turned and folded my arms and looked at my fiancé.

"Really?" I said.