Chapter 25: Stephanie's POV

I spent Thursday catching up with some other friends whom I hadn't spoken to since my return. It was great to catch up with their lives, but I was getting a little tired of explaining why I had left and why I wasn't moving back just yet to everyone. Alright, fine, I was a lot tired of it. I left out the stuff with Ranger for the most part. Almost everyone already knew about my break up with Morelli but I didn't want it to seem like I'd turned tail and ran away because of a man. As if.

Most of my friends and colleagues had mothers much like mine, so they all understood the whole not living up to expectations thing. There were lots of wistful looks, as if they were contemplating just leaving their lives for a year.

I still hadn't heard from Joe, but I expected that I'd eventually run into him again. I stopped by the police station and chatted with the cops who were there. I was teased again about my many past calamities, and I tried to keep a smile on my face and ignore their jokes. I wasn't a joke anymore, but they didn't know that about me yet. It was really hard to ignore Carl and Big Dog's remarks but I did. I glanced longingly at Eddie's gun a few times but I didn't shoot anyone. I got an A+ for keeping my temper.

I was excited about Friday night. I hadn't been out dancing at a club in ages and I was really looking forward to hanging out with Lula and Connie. I started getting ready several hours early, and I shampooed, shaved and buffed myself three ways from Sunday. I fell back into my Jersey girl routine and did a heavy smoky eye look. I lined my lips in a nude liner and applied a shimmery pink lip-gloss. I piled my hair onto the top of my head and left several ringlets down to brush against my neck.

I'd brought a couple of dresses with me so I just had to choose. I finally decided on a royal blue swirly dress that made my eyes sparkle. It had a halter neck with a bit of a plunge and built in bra. It was an empire waist style and the skirt ended just above my knees. The skirt was made of chiffon, and it twirled out when I spun in a circle and moved sensuously against my legs as I swayed. I paired it with nude colored high heels to make my legs seem longer.

I was feeling sexy and confident. Watch out world!

Lula was wearing a hot pink spandex dress that ended just below her ass. She had about an acre of cleavage showing. She had a black feather boa around her neck and crazy high black hooker heels.

Connie had on a tight red dress with a wide black belt accentuating her hourglass shape. She'd gotten her upper lip waxed that morning and she was looking a lot like Betty Boop.

We had dinner first and then got to the club around 9 pm. I'd been dancing with a couple of guys, but mostly I danced with my girls. I'd only had one drink since I'm a lightweight when it comes to holding my booze. Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies" was playing and I was shimmying and shaking for all I was worth when I felt a pair of arms circle my waist.

Tina and I had been going to kickboxing classes a couple of days a week, and our smoking hot instructor had us also working on self defense. He was almost as hot as Ranger, so no one objected to him putting his hands on them. Too bad he'd rather date Ranger than me, but that's how it is I guess. All the good guys are gay or taken.

So when I felt myself being grabbed, I reacted as we'd practiced. Except this time, I didn't pull any punches. I drove my spiked heel into my assailant's instep. I heard an oomph and the arms loosened. I jabbed my elbow hard into the solar plexus of the person behind me, and he instinctively let me go and bent forward. I slammed my elbow in an upward motion and both felt and heard a satisfying crunch as I broke someone's nose. I pulled away, turned and had my hand balled into a fist and my arm pulled back for maximum leverage when I realized that I'd just beaten up Lester.

I stood there for a moment. He had one hand clasped over his bleeding nose and the other clutched his stomach.

"Shit, Stephanie, you bwoke my nose." At least I think that's what he said. It was hard to understand him since he was holding his nose.

I looked past Lester to see Tank, Bobby and Hal clinging to one another and laughing so hard that they were crying. Ranger was even there, doubled over from laughter. Hell, I'd never seen him laugh so hard before. I'd never seen any of them laugh this hard. They better not be laughing at me or Lester won't be the only one with a bloody nose.

I sighed in frustration and walked over to the bar. I grabbed a big handful of napkins and walked back over to Lester. He'd sat down on the floor by now and I squatted next to him. Just so you know, it takes a lot of talent to squat in four-inch heels in a short dress and not fall over or flash anyone.

"What were you thinking, Lester? Never, ever grab a woman like that!" I pushed his head forward and stuck some of the napkins in his hand. I used a couple of napkins to pinch the top of his nose to slow the bleeding. I looked around in annoyance.

"Bobby, a little help? You've got a man down here." That set them off again. They were laughing so hard that I'm sure one or two of them probably had a little accident. Good thing they were all in Rangeman black or the whole world would see that these big, bad, scary dudes wet their pants.

I was staring at them, trying to decide who I was going to punch next, when Ranger recovered enough to flash me his full 200-watt smile. Then he winked. Batman winked at me? Crap, maybe I wet my pants too. Too bad I wasn't wearing pants.