Chapter Thirty-Seven

People always said, when life gave you lemons you should make lemonade. The problem was life had given Stephanie a lot of things. Hair that frizzed, an intense dislike of stupid people, the occasional anger management issue, and a taste for tequila, but life had never given her lemons. Not a single time. It seemed like if life was going to fuck her over, it should at least give her the ingredients to make the best of a bad situation, yet, here she was trying to make lemonade and not a lemon in sight. Stephanie took a deep breath. Here went nothing.

Ranger wasn't a guy that telegraphed his emotions. If his tongue wasn't in her mouth or his hand wasn't on her breast, Stephanie largely had no idea what he was thinking. Even then it was about a fifty-fifty shot.

Today didn't prove to be any different. He studied her and waited. The man had definitely mastered the art of silence. Sometimes Stephanie wished she had learned that particular skill herself. Usually when she was nervous, she babbled, but right now she had lost her voice. And her breath. She was pretty sure she'd stopped breathing.

For a man that had begged her to talk to him for the last month, he was maddeningly silent. Then again, she was the one that had called the meeting.

The waitress came up with an expectant look, her pencil poised over her pad. She was late fifties with bleached blond hair piled high on her head, heavily mascaraed eyes, perfectly arched crayoned eyebrows, and iridescent white lipstick. She had big boobs barely contained in a white T-shirt, and a black spandex miniskirt. She was wearing black orthopedic shoes. Stephanie could relate.

Ranger's eyes had never left Stephanie's face and she was finding it hard to look away.

"I'll have the lemon meringue pie and a cup of coffee with cream." Stephanie finally stammered.

"Coffee, black." Ranger told the waitress without ever looking away from Stephanie.

"No bad habits for you like fat and sugar, I see." Stephanie rolled her eyes so far back in her head she thought she might flip out of the seat.

"Babe. You're a bad habit."

They stared at each other for a moment, the air crackling around them. Stephanie narrowed her eyes a little. Had Ranger just called her a bad habit? That seemed a little rude.

"Excuse me?" She said, palms down on the Formica tabletop. "Coffee? I thought we came here for pie. You are the one that said they had good pie."

"I don't eat the kind of pie they serve here."

Stephanie felt a flash of heat go through her stomach. She knew firsthand the kind of pie Ranger liked. She was pretty sure that strangled sound came from her.

"Honey, we got all kinds of pie," the waitress said to Ranger.

Ranger cut his eyes to her and she took a step backward. "But then maybe not," she said and scurried off.

Ranger waited and Stephanie sighed. She supposed she should just ask Ranger what he wanted to tell her, but part of her really didn't want to hear it. That's not why she had called him to meet today. Whatever was or had been between them didn't have anything to do with this meeting.

Stephanie took a business card out and slid it across the table.

"I have a business proposition for you." Stephanie kept her voice neutral.

Ranger picked up the card and ran his fingers over the lettering. His face betraying nothing.

"Plum & Plum Bail Bonds. You went to work for Vinnie?" Ranger asked cautiously. He had a bad feeling he was wrong. He'd heard rumors.

"Not exactly." Stephanie replied.

"You bought out Harry the Hammer." It was a statement not a question.

Ranger had heard a shell company had taken over the majority stake in Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, after Lucille, Harry's only daughter, finally had enough and left Vinnie. Franky Ranger was surprised Vinnie didn't just end up with a pair of concrete shoes, but apparently Lucille still liked Vinnie. Go figure. Ranger had been unable to trace the owner of the shell company, until now.

"Yes. Apparently, Lucille met someone else on the cruise. The one she talked Vinnie into taking to work on their marriage." Stephanie gave Ranger the go figure look. "Lucille finally dumped Vinnie. Harry was thrilled Lucille had finally gotten smart. Harry wasn't too keen to stay in business with Vinnie, not after Lucille filed for divorce. If was pretty clear, it wasn't just a temporary thing like the last hundred times they split. Vinnie didn't have the money to buy Harry out." Stephanie said nonchalantly like buying out a mobster was an every day thing.

"That makes you the majority stakeholder and managing partner. You now own the bail bonds business." Ranger's lip twitched up in an almost smile. "You're my new competition."

Stephanie's shoulder went up in a half shrug. "Something like that. But only in certain areas, which is why I wanted to talk to you."

Ranger gave an almost imperceptible nod. "You've got my attention, but why the bonds business?"

Stephanie grimaced. "Turns out there isn't a lot of demand for an executive with my skill set."

Ranger just raised his eyebrow.

"You know employed by a company that laundered money for the mob, found her boss dead, stole files, turned state's evidence, may have burned down the office. That sort of thing. If I wanted to stay in Trenton and not work at the tasty pastry again, I needed to get creative."

"And you were bored." Ranger stated.

"And that."

"What do you propose?" Ranger's rich silky voice slid around her, causing her body to react like it had been touched. Stephanie had no idea how Ranger could make everything sound so dirty and sinful. Of course, maybe it wasn't Ranger's voice that was making it that way. Maybe it was her own thoughts, which she forcefully wrestled back under control.

Ranger leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Let me explain my work ethic to you before you make your proposal. I don't do things I feel are morally wrong. But sometimes my moral code strays from the norm. Sometimes my moral code is inconsistent with the law. Much of what I do is in that gray area just beyond entirely legal."

Stephanie swallowed. It sounded more like a gulp. Ranger made apprehensions other agents only dreamed about. Sure, he could get a little creative sometimes, but hey, that's the way it was with a genius, right? Fuck-it, lemons, lemonade she reminded herself as Morelli's voice echoed in her head. He's a loose cannon. He's a shade off normal and I think he kills people. But they were all bad, so that didn't really count. Right?

"Takedowns need to be legal." Stephanie tried for her best stern voice. The one she used with Rex when he kept running on his wheel way after midnight.

"There's all kinds of legal." Ranger held her gaze, challenging her.

Well, that worked about as well as it did with Rex. It all seemed reasonable enough Stephanie told herself.

Stephanie forged on ignoring the little voice in her head. "The way I see it, we will both be going after high dollar bonds. I propose Plum Bail Bonds takes the lead, and partners with RangeMan. Plum does the paperwork and the initial legwork, and takes fifty percent of the bond, but all the public credit."

"Deal. With a couple of conditions." Ranger replied immediately.

Stephanie just looked at him for a beat. They both knew it was a horrible deal for RangeMan.

"Why would you agree to that?" Stephanie didn't want charity.

"Simple, it manages competition, streamlines the effort, RangeMan gets a payday and stays out of the papers. RangeMan prefers to fly under the radar, high profile bonds create publicity. Publicity which is good for Plum Bail Bonds to build credibility, but shines a spotlight on RangeMan and our other businesses that we prefer to keep a low profile on."

Stephanie guessed that actually made some sense.

"What are your conditions?"

"Even as you grow the business, RangeMan keeps the right of first refusal. You come to RangeMan before you take it to Les Sebring or any other competitor."

"Agreed." Stephanie felt a little flush of pride, that Ranger's first reaction was that she would succeed and grow the business, not that she had no business being in the bonds business and she would fail. She held out her hand so they could shake on it. When Ranger took her hand, it felt like she had touched a live wire. The jolt of electricity and awareness made her suck in a sharp breath.

Ranger was still holding her hand. "What else?" She asked breathlessly.

"You agree to let me train you. Well, RangeMan, it doesn't have to be me. It can be Santos if that makes you more comfortable."

"Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins Do Trenton." Stephanie quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Something like that." Ranger replied. And just like that, damp turned into a flash flood. Stephanie was pretty sure she was doomed.

"Why would you do that?" Stephanie pulled her hand away from him. She needed distance.

"It keeps you safe. Do you want to know why keeping you safe is important to me?" Ranger asked.

"You love me?" Stephanie gave him a sarcastic look, that probably looked more like she was having a seizure.

"Yes." Their eyes held.

A sigh inadvertently escaped. "We're really screwed up, aren't we?"

"In a very large way," Ranger said.

They both sat with that thought for a minute.

"You've been seeing Montero." It was a statement not a question.

"Yes." Stephanie shrugged. "He's a good guy. I like him."

"But?" Ranger raised his eyebrow at her.

"But nothing." Stephanie hedged.

"Let me guess, he wants a relationship and you don't want one."

"No." Stephanie elongated the O.

Ranger was only sort of right. Montero had been the one helping her navigate setting up a shell company, getting the necessary licenses, and other things like a concealed carry permit. And, they had been kind of dating. Things had been casual. Montero had suggested she might want to open a branch bail bonds office in DC, and he had made it clear he wanted to make their relationship more official, take it to the next level. Stephanie had to admit the idea held some appeal. A clean break, a fresh start, and a hunky guy. What was there not to like.

"So, what's the problem?" Ranger pressed.

"Who says there is a problem?"

"Babe." Babe covered a lot of ground with Ranger, but today it was clear what it meant by the chiding tone.

Stephanie rolled her eyes and blew out a big breath. "The problem is he's not you. OK." There she'd said it.

Stephanie saw surprise flash across his face, before Ranger quickly schooled his features.

"You know, there are times when I seriously consider marrying you, but then I get yet another black mark on my path to enlightenment and forgiveness and I scratch marriage off my bucket list."

"Really? You think about marrying me?" Stephanie's eyebrows went up about an inch and she was shaking her head, making it clear marriage wasn't necessarily on her bucket list either.

"Marrying you might be extreme, but once in a while I think about sharing my closet." Ranger smiled at her.

"You have a really great closet." Stephanie whispered. She hated the hope that surged through her. She realized she was leaning forward and her heart was pounding.

Ranger looked away and scrunched up his nose in a very uncharacteristic Ranger grimace.

"What did you want to talk to me about Ranger?" Stephanie's voice was soft.

She could see Ranger filing through about a hundred things to say. Finally, he said. "I just wanted to tell you I was sorry about what I said to you at the charity event. I was out of line."

Stephanie sat back in the booth. She felt like she'd been slapped. Why did she let him do this to her? Get her hopes up, and then pull the rug out. "Got it."

"Look at me babe. I'm carrying two guns and a knife. At this point in my life, I'm not exactly family material."

Stephanie pulled out some bills from her pocket, looking down at the scarred Formica tabletop to buy her some time to get her emotions in check. Well, she guessed she knew the answer to her question. They'd gone from lovers, to enemies, to business partners. And that was the end of that.

"You know Ranger, Rex doesn't much care if you have two guns and a knife, and neither do I."

Stephanie stood up and threw the bills on the table.

"There are all kinds of relationships, the problem is you don't seem interested in any of them. I'll have the contract couriered over to your office." With that Stephanie walked out.

The waitress dropped off the coffee and pie. Ranger sat in the Blue Bird Café drinking his coffee and eating Stephanie's lemon meringue pie, wondering how he'd managed to fuck that up so badly.