This one will be a real challenge for me, but the idea wouldn't shift so here you go. I've finished my original novel so I'll have a break from that with a bit of this! As always, I live for reviews, so thank you for taking the time to R and R.
Also, I've had some horrible reviews because my work is R & S - It's clearly marked as such, if you're a Joe fan, then this isn't for you. Don't read it and then flame me, just don't read. I'm not making anything from this, so there's really no need to be nasty.
Chapter 1
I quit working for Vinnie. He wasn't happy. There was a lot of yelling until I explained why. Then he actually looked a little sympathetic.
"Rather you than me." He grimaced. "I'll find someone. Lula can pick up some slack in the meantime."
He agreed to secrecy and I left. I didn't want to give him a chance to be the asshole I usually expected him to be.
I called Grandma Mazur next. She had frequently offered me my inheritance from her in her lifetime. She was living with Mom and Dad and had little to no outgoings. She had offered Val the same, and they had taken her up on it. No way they could afford their 5 bedroom house without Grandma Mazur giving them a significant roll of cash.
I wasn't hurting for money, but quitting working for Vinnie would change that quickly, and I need options. There was a more obvious option but I wasn't thinking about that yet.
Grandma Mazur said she would go to the bank right then and there and wire me $100k. It was more money than I needed, I tried to protest but that's what she had given Val, and that's what she would give me. She didn't ask why I needed money, she just gave it to me. I didn't offer an explanation. I would, but not yet.
I had quit my job, and soon I would have money in my bank. There was another thing on my to do list but I was too chicken to do it. So I motored off to Point Pleasant.
It was October and I was pretty much the lone mad person strolling along the beach. The wind was whipping round and I didn't have a windbreaker. I was going to have to get better at stuff like this.
Cold or not, I sat. I took my shoes off and squelched my toes in the cold sand. The roar of the sea comforted me, as it always did. I was putting off a conversation that needed to be had, but it wouldn't keep much longer. Nor would the man I needed to have it with.
I have options. I told myself firmly. They were limited, but they were there. There were lines I wouldn't, couldn't, cross. I hadn't known that about myself until last night. But now I knew it, and I'd deal with it.
I'd dealt with a lot over the last few years. This was something I could handle. Probably. Maybe. Dammit.
I felt eyes on me and I didn't have to look to see who it was. I kept my eyes on the sea as the sand shifted next to me.
Ranger took off his windbreaker and wrapped it around me. I instantly warmed and the familiar and comforting smell of Bulgari and something else uniquely Ranger wrapped around me.
We sat in silence for a good ten minutes.
Finally, Ranger broke the silence. "Do you need me to kill someone?"
It shouldn't have made me smile, it said a lot about me and our relationship that it did.
I shook my head and we sat in silence another 5 minutes.
"Not even Vinnie?" He sounded hopeful. Ranger humour.
It made me snort and I shook my head again.
The silence reined.
"Babe." He finally said. "You quit your job and your Grandma wired you $100k. Whatever you need, just ask."
It should have maddened me that he was monitoring the state of my bank account, but nothing really surprised me about Ranger anymore. The man knew secrets on secrets. I didn't even feel angry. Mostly I felt grateful. He monitored my finances so he could throw me a pity shift when I needed it. Not ideal. Not Mrs Independent. But, helpful. I had learnt a long time ago to accept the help he threw my way, pride be damned.
And we were more than employer and employee, more than friends. We'd been lovers on a few spectacular occasions. One such occasion had been about 5 weeks ago. Joe had been out of my bed for a good few months, one flirty distraction job later and here we were.
I had thought about the phrasing of this. I wanted to be clear from the beginning.
"I'm pregnant with your child." I stared at the sea as I said it, not wanting to see him frown or cast a blank mask down on his handsome features. So I was a little surprised when he gently held my chin and turned it to force me to face him. Him and his amazing smile. Relief rushed through me. He wasn't mad.
"No." Ranger agreed, grinning. "I'm not even a little bit mad Babe." Then he leaned down and kissed me seriously until I started to contemplate the kind of action that had gotten us into this situation in the first place.
Ranger quite happily took off his shirt while we made out but he stilled my hands when I went to do the same. "Babe." He said, laughter in his voice, "I want you, I always want you, but it's fucking freezing."
I blinked and looked around a bit dazedly. It was cold. He just heated me up. Looking around I spotted Tank and Snake at discrete distance.
"You brought back up." I said dumbly.
"Didn't know what would be required Babe."
I smiled at him a little, "Just you."
His eyes darkened and flashed with something male and possessive. "That's all you'll ever need." He promised. He tugged his shirt on with no hint of self-consciousness that his men had just been watching him roll around and make out on a beach with me. "Come on." He said. "Let's get you warmed up."
He threw an arm around me and walked us to a café that was still open out of season. He gestured for Cal and Manny to sit at a table a few feet away, and Tank and Snake set up outside.
My eyes widened. "How many men did you bring with you?" Half embarrassed, half exasperated.
He gave a fractional shrug. "Enough."
Well I couldn't argue with that. He ordered us both a hot chocolate. His was plain. Mine had whipped cream, marshmallows and chocolate sauce with a chocolate flake. It made me grin.
"Thanks."
He knew his health food kick had a time and a place. Telling me to eat tofu wasn't going to be well received. Besides, I needed the sugar and he knew it. We sat next to each other, so Ranger and I could both watch the door and have a wall to our backs. Also I just wanted to sit next to him. He kissed my forehead. A gesture of simple affection that always melted me.
He let me eat my hot chocolate, it was definitely more of an eating experience than a drinking one. By the end I was warm and filled with some cautious happiness. He hadn't frowned at me, he hadn't demanded an abortion, he hadn't sent me to a 'stan. All round, things were going better than I had hoped. He had offered to give me a baby once but also a kitten so…
I rested my head on his shoulder. I closed my eyes and the scent of him made me feel safe. Enough that I felt comfortable to say what I was thinking. I kept my eyes closed in case my courage faltered.
"I found out yesterday. I want to keep it Ranger. I'd really like to have you in our lives too."
"Look at me." He growled out. Uh oh. Reluctantly I opened my eyes and twisted a little to face him.
"I am so fucking happy right now, I can hardly contain it. To have a child with you is literally everything I have dreamed of. We're going to do this Babe, and it's going to be good. You and me, together, til death do us part." His eyes were dark and flashing with a fierce protectiveness that warmed the depths of me.
I wanted him. Wanted a relationship, wanted his Baby. But … "I don't want you to feel I'm cornering you into anything."
He snorted. "You're not."
I held up a hand to forestall his protests. "I don't need promises from you, I don't need rings. I don't need anything you can't give me." I wanted it, sure, but not from a place of societal pressure. I wanted him to want me.
He shook his head in denial. "I'm giving you everything. We're going to do this Babe."
Finally, I smiled. "Really?"
"Really." He agreed.
"Thank God." I said on an explosive breath. "Because I really need you."
He smiled. "Thank God." He echoed. He leaned forward and kissed me for the second time that day, but this one soft and gentle and full of promises.