AN: All familiar characters/etc. belong to Janet Evanovich. I am not making any profit from this.
Thanks for reviews and to everyone who's been sticking with the story so far. Your support keeps me going.
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SP POV
"Hi Grandma," I answered my phone, pulling away from the Milano Academy after dropping off Krista for school and heading towards the RangeMan building on Haywood.
"Hiya baby granddaughter. Anything interesting you want to fill me in on," she asked.
"I'm not sure what you mean Grandma. What's going on?"
"Well, according to Betty Klein at the Clip n' Curl you were seen by her daughter-in-law's best friend's babysitter going into a tattoo parlor yesterday. So, is it true?"
"It's personal Grandma, I don't want the Burg to know my business," I replied diplomatically.
"Well aint that a pip! You'll be glad to know I told them to mind their own business and that if you wanted to get your lover's picture tattooed on your bum, you were entitled to do so without their input."
I could always count on Grandma to fill me in on the Burg gossip and for having my back when the Burg busybodies decided to badmouth me. "Thanks Grandma, I appreciate the support. And no, I didn't get anyone's face tattooed on my butt."
"Too bad, I hear men like kinky things like that."
"Thanks for the advice Grandma," I said, pulling into my parking spot amidst the sea of black vehicles that made up the RangeMan garage. "I have to go now, I'm at work."
"Okay Steph, and let me know the next time you decide to go to the tattoo parlor. I'm thinking of getting my honey's name tattooed on either my breast or the small of my back like one of them tramp stamps! It's supposed to be a real bad boy magnet. I'll talk to you later baby granddaughter." she announced then hung up. Oh boy! I really hope Harold could keep up with Grandma, or at least that he had a steady supply of little blue pills, because I'm sure he'd need them.
I spent the rest of the morning juggling paperwork, a few client meetings and thinking through how I was going to exact my revenge on Ranger when we met up for my self-defense training this afternoon. I'd already checked in with Hector (and flexed my Spanish skills) to get some tips on weaknesses Ranger had and how to use a knife to my advantage. I'd also checked in with Lester, Cal and Zip, who I'd spent most of my training time with to get additional pointers on going up against Ranger. Basically they said to use Ranger's cockiness and the fact that he was attracted to me against him. Hopefully I'd do them proud, especially since they were all planning on showing up and watching the sparring match. I was pretty sure Lester was making book on it, but that was okay because he said he'd put his money on me.
After a quick lunch with Krista, I dropped her off at ballet, changed into black spandex capris and a black and blue sports bra and headed into the RangeMan gym. I waved hello to the guys who were pretending to workout in the gym and were really there to see me take on the boss man. It seemed like most of the Merry Men had shown up and I was wondering who had drawn the short straw and gotten stuck with monitor duty. I'd just finished stretching when I felt the telltale tingle in the back of my neck alerting me to Ranger's presence.
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RM POV
I walked into the gym for my second round of training with Babe and was slightly thrown off by the number of my men currently using the gym. It looked like everyone except Binky and Zero who were currently manning the monitors was in here halfheartedly working out. I decided to ignore them and zeroed in on Babe as she finished stretching out her hamstrings. She looked sinful in her skintight capris and black and electric blue sports bra. She'd look even better once we'd gotten warmed up and her skin was infused with a slight flush.
"Hey Babe," I said, facing her on the mats, "you ready to get started?"
"Yeah, I was wondering, could you teach me how to use the sparring knives. Some of the guys had mentioned them, but I havn't had a chance to really learn with them yet."
"Sure Babe," I said, collecting two 6in sparring knives from the equipment locker. "These are made of plastic so no one gets accidently nicked, and there's a little button on the handle here that emits a small shock to whoever is touching the blade part of the knife," I explained, handing her one of the black knives. "Why don't I show you some basic moves, and then we can incorporate the knives into our sparring."
"Sounds good," Steph replied. I spent the next 20 minutes going over how to wield the knife and use it both defensively and offensively. "Okay, I think I'm ready to start sparring," Steph announced.
"Really, you're ready for me?" I said, cocking my eyebrow up and smirking at her.
"Oh yeah, let me see what you've got," she taunted back in a husky tone.
Oh I'd show her alright, I thought as we circled each other on the mats. Whoa, down boy, I thought as I refocused on the task at hand. Besides, I was supposed to be using the training sessions to get her hot and bothered, not to become sexually frustrated myself.
I went in to strike her with the knife and she deftly dodged my advance. After this happened two more times I decided I needed to stop phoning it in and put forth a little more effort. I feinted with my left fist and attempted to catch Babe off guard with my knife wielding hand. She was ready for this and used my momentum to fling me over her back. She followed by expertly deploying an armbar on my right arm, causing me to let go of my sparring knife. Babe then got up and kicked my knife out of my reach and off the mats.
Shit, I thought to myself, Babe had just disarmed me without breaking a sweat. I needed to regain the upper hand, especially since all of my men were intently watching and cheering on the sidelines. I was confident, however, as I did have the superior training and muscle mass. I charged Babe and managed to knock her to her knees with a surgical strike to the back of one of her knees. I then lifted her up from behind and pressed my now slightly sweaty body up against her while keeping her trapped in a hold.
Babe managed to get out of the hold by deploying her elbow into my ribs and retaliated by sweeping her leg behind mine and bringing me down for the second time in the past half hour. Something that was beyond unacceptable. I was about to spring up when she straddled me and pressed her sparring knife into my neck. Shit, I thought as I felt the shock from the sparring knife jolt through me. I tapped out, I had no choice.
Instead of getting up off me, Babe sunk down onto me a bit more, slightly grinding into me as she leaned forwards to whisper into my ear. She let out a small, husky giggle when she felt just how much her body was affecting me. "That," she whispered, punctuating the word by grinding her hips against my crotch, "isn't as intimidating as you think, you should probably use a different… weapon next time. Oh and I've actually come to look forward to my defense training, Carlos," she said, the effect of her expertly rolling the r in my name sending a shiver straight through me. "It makes me feel empowered, like I can handle anything. ANd if you're going to undermine that, I'll retaliate by undermining your authority as the big bad boss man. Me besting you here today is nothing compared to what I'm capable of. Remember, I can play dirty too, very very dirty," she whispered in a husky, sex kitten voice.
She got up and gave a little curtsy to the clapping and cheering men she'd dubbed her Merry Men and headed out of the gym after several high fives and hugs without sparing a look back at me. Once she left I finally scraped myself up off the mats, got a drink of water and tried to avoid my employees while I headed for the gym door.
"Hey Ranger," Lester said, swinging an arm around my shoulders in an attempt to anchor me in place. "So what did Beautiful say after she laid you out for the second time?" he asked with a smirk.
"None of your business Santos," I growled, shrugging his arm off.
"Oh come on Ranger, inquiring minds want to know," Lester called out to me as I exited the gym.
"You heard him, it's between him and Little Girl," I heard Tank say as the gym door swung shut behind me.
I could always count on Tank having my back, even if every now and then we had an uncomfortably candid conversation like the one we had Monday at Lula's behest, I thought as I headed up to seven via the elevator for a desperately needed cold shower.
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Ella POV
"Are you going to be my helper today?" I asked Krista after greeting her with a hug.
"Yes please, Aunt Ella, if that's okay," she responded.
"Absolutely, we've missed having you here. The guys are looking forward to the special snacks they get when you visit."
"I missed all of you too!"
"Thanks Ella, I really appreciate this. I promise I'll give you more notice the next time I need to bring her by," Steph said apologetically.
"She's welcome anytime Steph."
"Thanks! Oh and speaking of giving you a heads up, Krista and I have decided to be vegetarians, right Krista?"
"Yup!" she confirmed.
"And I wanted to give you a heads up for this Sunday's cooking lesson."
"Really, you're vegetarians now?" I asked incredulously.
"Don't ask," Steph mumbled with a sigh. "Do you still have recipes that you could teach us?" she asked tentatively.
"Absolutely, I have several vegetarian recipes and ways to adjust meals so that they are vegetarian," I assured her brightly. "I was wondering, would it be okay to do this week's lesson at your place, Luis is having some friends over this weekend and I'd like to give them privacy and time to catch up."
"Of course, it would be nice to use our kitchen for actual cooking rather than just warming up food and basic meal preparation."
"And Aunt Ella can see the new pictures I drewed for the fridge!" Krista added excitedly.
"Well, it's a date then!" I announced, taking Krista's hand and heading towards the kitchen in my 6th floor apartment. "What do you feel like making today?"
"Hmmm, something yummy with chocolate!" Krista announced.
I helped Krista into the purple and black RangeMan apron I had monogrammed for her when she first started helping me out. "I have just the thing!"
An hour later, we were placing ginger vanilla protein bars drizzled with melted carob chips onto a platter for the break room on the 5th floor. "So, are you ready to drop these off to all of the guys?" I asked my little helper.
"Mhmm, they're gonna love these!" Krista replied in a singsong voice as we placed the platter on a cart and wheeled it into the elevator. Krista hit the 5 button and we exited the elevator a few seconds later.
"So, where do you wanna start?"
"Let's start with the offices, then everyone in that big room with all the computers," Krista suggested.
"Okay," I said, skipping Ranger's office and directing the deceptively healthy treat laden cart towards Lester's office. "Why don't you knock so we know if they're busy or not."
"Mkay," Krista said, knocking on the dark wood door.
"Come on in," Lester's playful voice called out. I opened the door to reveal Lester behind his stately mahogany desk sitting across from Ranger with blueprints laid out on the desk between them.
"Ranger, Lester," I greeted them. "Krista and I made some healthy ginger and vanilla protein bars for everyone today."
"They're really yummy, I promise!" Krista added excitedly.
"Wow, they look really great!" Lester said, rounding the desk to grab a couple of the bars. "Ranger, you have to try one of these," Lester asserted after taking a bite.
"I'm good, thanks though," Ranger replied.
"Mr. Ranger, I don't want you to be lefted out!" Krista cried, handing Ranger a bar which he reluctantly accepted after realizing he was outmanned.
"So Krista, what have you been up to?" Lester asked.
"Well, Mo-Aunt Stephie and I wented to a swimming class and the ballet and we had a picnic day at the beach and got to go on fun rides!" Krista announced. "Uncle Lester, can I ask you a question?" Krista asked, her tone turning serious voice.
"Anything mini-Beautiful. What's up?"
"Well," Krista said, fidgeting with the hem of her plaid jumper and shifting uncomfortably, "I was wondering, do you think Aunt Stephie would mind if I called her Mom. Everyone else I know lives with their Mom and they do things together like I do with Aunt Stephie. I know that she's not really my Mommy because I had a Mommy but now that I live with Aunt Stephie and she takes care of me doesn't that make her my Mommy too?" she rattled out rapidly while keeping her eyes focused intently on her shoes.
"I think that Steph would like that," Lester said, shooting Ranger and myself a look pleading for help.
"I agree with Uncle Lester," Ranger said, rising from his seat and kneeling down in front of Krista. He placed a finger under her chin and he raised her face so that they were eye-to-eye. "Being someone's Mommy is a very special thing, and I know that Steph would be love for you to call her Mommy. But if you're nervous about it, you could always ask her if it would be okay."
Krista sniffled and nodded in response. "I'm scared, what if she says no?"
"I promise she won't," Ranger assured her. "If you want, I can come with you when you talk to her."
"Okay Mr. Ranger."
Ranger rose, held Krista's hand and the two of them left to find Steph leaving Lester and myself staring at each other in shock, surprised at the gentleness with which Ranger helped Krista.
"My cousin's got it baaad," Lester muttered under his breath as I left to place the remainder of the protein bars in the break room, confident that the guys would suss out the contraband on their own.
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SP POV
"Come in," I replied to the knock at my door which was precipitated by a tingle assaulting my neck. I looked up to see Krista walk in with Ranger in tow. "Is everything okay?" I asked, moving hurriedly around my desk to stop in front of Ranger and Krista.
"Everything's fine, there's just something that Krista wanted to talk to you about," Ranger answered while Krista nodded slightly, her eyes never straying from her hands twisted in front of her.
I led Krista over to the tufted window seat by the hand that wasn't in Ranger's grasp. Once the three of us were snuggly seated with Krista sandwiched between Ranger and myself I turned to face Krista. "What's on your mind munchkin?" After a few moments of silence punctuated by Krista's sniffles I decided to take a different approach. "Krista, you know you can talk to me about anything, right? Anything at all," I said rubbing her back gently.
Krista nodded in response. I shot a look at Ranger to see if he could give me any clue as to what was going on. He gave me a nod and focused his attention back on Krista. I guess in Ranger speak that meant to give Krista some time to get out whatever was on her mind.
"Aunt Stephie, I wanted to ask you something," she said in a timid brittle tone.
"Anything munchkin," I replied, squeezing her hand.
"I was wondering, do you think it would be okay if I maybe called you Mommy instead of Aunt Stephie?" Krista asked, looking up at me with her big puppy dog hazel eyes.
She had completely taken my breath away, so I simply nodded in response and hugged her tightly to myself. I was blinking furiously, trying to keep the tears threatening to tax my waterproof mascara from falling and peppered kisses all over Krista's face. "Yes yes yes!" I finally managed to say, "I would be honored!"
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Becks POV
"Hey, I answered my phone, slightly out of breath from my 5 mile daily evening run, "what's up Steph?"
"Hi Becks, it's me and Mare, we're on a three way call," Steph replied.
"Hi Becks," Mare added.
"So what are you two up to?" I asked, taking a long drink of water and walking back upstairs to my apartment.
"I just called to fill you two in on my day," Steph said. "I finally got one up on Ranger during my defense training lesson for the day, I gave him a taste of his own medicine!"
"And what exactly does that mean?" I asked curiously.
"It means I took his ass down on the mats while giving him a raging hard-on!" Steph said with a chortle.
"Damn, you took down Batman!" Mare exclaimed.
"I also helped Krista finish up her unicorn project. But the most incredible part of my day wa-"
"Waiiit, are you saying taking down Ranger wasn't the highlight of your day? Must've been some day!" I interjected.
"Oh it gets better," Steph said smugly, "Krista asked if she could call me Mommy, and I said yes."
"Wow," Mare said softly.
"Yeah," Steph replied, "It completely took me by surprise, even though she accidently called me that last night while she was half asleep."
"How do you feel about it?" I asked.
"Good, I think. And it helps that I have V's permission, she said in her letter that she wouldn't want us to live in the past but to remember and honor her and Dom's memories while we move forward in our lives," Steph explained.
"You finally read the letter?" I asked, relief flooding my voice. Mare and I were worried that she'd never get around to reading that letter.
"Yeah, it was… heavy, but I'm glad I finally read it. It was like having one last conversation with V about all the things that she didn't get a chance to talk to me about in person."
"I'm glad you finally read it," Mare added. "You said she gave permission?"
"Mhmm," Steph replied, "she gave me permission to… to officially be Krista's Mom."
"Wow, that is heavy," I agreed.
"So," Steph said disturbing the silence on the line, "anything exciting going on with you two?"
"Oh my gosh yes! You remember the creepy guy that works with me in the DA's office? Okay, so I've been really adamant about maintaining professional boundaries so as to not encourage him, especially after the 'accidently having an entire conversation with my breasts' situation."
"Oh yeah, I remember that, the creeper peeper," Steph added.
"Yeah, so I get into work today, and he comes to my desk with some coffee and asks me out," I said.
"Ugh, no way! How can he think you'd actually date him?" Mare asked, enraged on my behalf.
"Yeah, I know! And the best part is that he asked me out to his sister's wedding! In Boston!"