"Can…we…please…slow…down," I panted heavily.

My black-clad boot camp sergeant from hell was already ten paces ahead of me, his effortless stride gradually increasing the gap between us with each passing second. He glanced back and grinned. "No pain, no gain, Beautiful."

Whoever came up with that stupid mantra deserved to have their kneecaps shot off.

I paused before doubling over at the waist. Things felt swirly and I was already dripping sweat from every part of my body. I'm not even kidding. Apparently ear sweat is a real thing.

Lester Santos doubled back and jogged in place next to me. He looked like he could do this for days. "We still have another mile to go."

I whimpered. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Wish I could help, but I seem to recall someone telling me that under no circumstances was I to let her weasel her way out of exercising. And I take my promises very seriously." He waggled his eyebrows.

Part of me wanted to laugh, but another part of me wanted to punch him in his smug face. We were on day three of my newly developed plan to lose some weight, and I was hating every moment of it. Which of course was nothing new. Exercise and I had never really been on the best of terms. It always left me panting and sweaty and sore, and the only place I ever wanted to feel like that was in the bedroom.

"C'mon Beautiful, last mile. Grab your second wind and let's get moving. I've got a hot date tonight that I don't want to be late for."

I slowly righted myself and frowned. "What happened to taking me out to that new Thai place?"

He gave me one of those "seriously?" looks before I finally got the joke. I was the hot date. Cute.

"Pretty sure she called and said she was running late," I said on a sigh. "I think I'm gonna walk back."

Les rolled his eyes and grabbed my arm. "No you're not. If it helps, just pretend I've got a big box of donuts that you can have once we make it back."

I rolled my eyes. "Ha. Ha."

Truth be told, that little donut trick was the only thing that helped me make it back to Rangeman in one piece.

###

"You hear anything from Ranger yet?" Les asked while we were waiting for our food.

I frowned and shook my head. "Think I should be worried?"

"Are you kidding? We're talking Ranger here. The guy's a freaking ninja. I'm sure he's fine."

I gave a small smile.

It was nice when the Rangeguys took me out to keep me busy while Ranger was gone. Of course, it didn't really make the separation any easier, but it did make me acutely aware of the family I'd inadvertently become a part of. It was like living with a quirky set of overly protective brothers. If I even mentioned being down or lonely, I suddenly had a handful of invitations for lunches, dinners, margarita nights, and even the occasional shopping spree. If that didn't say love, I'm not sure what did.

Our food arrived and I tried not to look as disappointed as I felt about the vegetable to meat ratio currently occupying my plate. It was another part of my new fitness plan. More veggies, fewer fried and/or sweet things.

I took a bite. The dish wasn't bad. The whole spicy, peanut sauce thing kept it interesting. But it wasn't very exciting. Green just wasn't my color when it came to food.

Brown was. Brown meant gooey, chocolaty desserts and gravy. It meant warm, crusty bread from the oven and crispy, golden things hot from the fryer. It meant caramel and hot fudge, and most importantly it meant Ranger. Granted, he didn't fit on the food pyramid in the traditional sense, but he'd sure found a place on mine. And right now he was the only approved dessert on my fitness plan. Which was a total bummer because he was also currently MIA. Jerk.

Les watched me move some food around on my plate. The gloppy sauce and veggies were starting to make my stomach churn. And not in a good way.

"Think they'll let me get this to go?" I asked as I pushed my plate to a vacant spot on the table.

"You should really eat something, Steph," Les frowned. "Especially after your workout today. Want to try some of mine?"

I speared a piece of his chicken and popped it in my mouth. "No offense, but I think I'll just grab one of Ella's sandwiches back at Rangeman." I shrugged. "Guess I'm just not that keen on Thai food."

He continued eating. "Would Pino's have been better?"

"Maybe. But I probably would've gorged myself on fries, and my pants still seem to think I should lay off for a while."

Lester laughed.

"It's not funny. In fact, I'm thinking about demanding a refund on my training sessions with you. You've been making me sweat enough for four people, and I have absolutely nothing to show for it."

He shrugged. "You know, results don't just happen overnight. You've been at it, what? Three days now?"

"Yeah," I sighed.

"Give it at least a week, Beautiful, and those pants will be right back to hugging you in all the right places." He gave me a flirty wink.

I smiled. "Thanks, Les."

"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you remember this conversation tomorrow when you think about threatening to kill me during our workout."

I feigned a look of shock. "I would never do such a thing."

"Uh huh. I heard what you muttered under your breath this afternoon." He paused before raising his eyebrows with a haughty smirk. "Too bad you'd actually have to catch me in order to use my own gun on me."

"Well, maybe tomorrow I will."

Les laughed. "Tell you what, Beautiful. You catch me tomorrow, and I'll buy you a donut. Maybe even two."

I grabbed the check for our meal. "You're on."