A/N: Includes January 2022 Writing Challenge dialogue prompt:

Do you know who I am? Yup, I just don't care.

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Chapter Seven

Ranger focused on his breathing and tried not to grind his molars into dust. The morning had turned into a shitshow of epic proportions, and he didn't have a lot of faith. It was going to get better any time soon.

One junkie had overdosed in the back of the SUV. Bobby had given him a shot of Narcan that brought him around, but he'd puked all over the backseat before they got him to the hospital. Ranger had left Bobby at St. Francis with the guy, trying to get the attention of the overworked staff. Ranger had driven through the cold January morning with the windows rolled down, hoping none of the others were sympathetic pukers or inclined to hurl themselves out the open window, although Ranger wasn't so sure he could blame them on either account. The smell had been horrific, and Ranger thought a couple of times his breakfast was going to make an encore.

Like that wasn't bad enough. Now he was stuck in bureaucratic government hell, waiting for the slow wheels of justice to chug forward. One man had an outstanding warrant for beating up an old lady and stealing her purse. Ranger could let a lot of things slide, but that wasn't one of them.

He resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose and temper the throb behind his eyeball, as the guy handcuffed to the bench stood up, yanked out his business, and pissed all over himself and anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby. Officer Krisak at the desk didn't seem to notice.

Then again, the guy was a tool. Related to the brass, he had landed the job through connections, not skill, and seemed to think he was untouchable. He treated Ranger and all his men like a nuisance on a good day and a threat on a bad one. Ranger had a good working relationship with most of the Trenton Police Department. Even though a few of them thought he was a thug and a loose cannon, it never stopped them from passing on information or asking for help. It was a delicate balance. He did his best not to step on anyone's toes and upend the cooperation between RangeMan and the TPD, but this guy was on his last nerve.

Then again, Ranger had been on edge since that damn New Year's Eve party. All because of that blue-eyed minx. He should have run far away from that woman, instead he'd offered her a job, and insisted on training her. Apparently, Ranger was just a garden variety masochist. There weren't a lot of other explanations for it, or at least none he was willing to admit.

Ranger's phone chirped. It was the command center and unease snaked up his spine.

"Yo!"

Hal didn't bother with a greeting, he just launched right into it. "There is a problem at the building on Sloane."

"Report!" Ranger snapped.

"Hostage situation, possible live grenade."

Ranger's stomach dropped, and he sat down on the bench, hard.

"Hostage? Who?"

"Miss Stephanie sir."

"Route Bobby to the Sloane Street location ASAP! Roll EMS."

"Yes sir." Hal responded.

"On my way. Patch me through to the live feed." Ranger barked as he hauled ass towards the door.

"Hey!" Officer Krisak yelled. "You can't just leave that guy." He waved at the junkie cuffed to the bench.

Ranger just ignored him.

"Do you know who I am?" The little prick yelled loud enough for the den of noise to hush. Evidently, the guy was confused. He thought Ranger was deaf, not that he just didn't give a flying fuck.

Ranger whirled on him, and the man was at least smart enough to shut up. "Yup, I just don't care." Menace was clear in his voice and the guy held up his hands in a placating gesture.

Ranger strode out of the police station, knowing full well there would be hell to pay for that little stunt and not caring.

He could hear the exchange between Les and the junkie. The one that had a live grenade and sounded entirely out of touch with reality. Ranger hopped in the SUV and went roaring out of the lot, tires squealing and horns honking in his wake.

"Just go. Get out of here." He heard Stephanie tell Les. An ache deep in his chest throbbed.

She sounded so calm, so brave. So resigned to dying, and he couldn't imagine a world without her in it. Everything would be gray scale again, no beautiful colors and no light. That's what she was, a bright spot in an otherwise monochrome existence. He wasn't even sure when that had happened.

"Just hang in there, babe. I'm on my way." He whispered as he squealed around the corner onto Sloane.

Please just let her be OK. Let Les live. This was just some routine clean-up job. It wasn't supposed to be dangerous. It wasn't supposed to go down like this.

The unmistakable sound of an explosion came across the speaker, followed by an eerie silence. Ranger's heart stopped.

"Report!" Ranger shouted in his comms as the SUV slid to a stop in front of the building and he wrenched the door open and hauled ass towards the entrance.

His order was met with nothing but silence.

Ranger pushed into the building and took the stairs two at a time to the second floor. Tank was there, assessing the damage. The blast had taken out a good chunk of the stairs, cutting off access to the third floor.

"We'll go up the fire escape." Ranger told Tank and headed for the window. He climbed out and eyed the fire escape. It hung precariously lopsided, barely tethered to the building. One bolt was missing, and parts of it were rusted almost completely through. He eyed it with a healthy dose of skepticism. It would hold him, it had to. He had to get up there, get to Stephanie and Les, and help them. Every moment that passed was one more that they could bleed out on that filthy floor, their lives ebbing away with each beat of their hearts. Ranger shoved the thought aside. He figured he was due for some better luck and went with that assurance. Tank was behind Ranger and he moved towards the fire escape, and Ranger held up his hand.

Tank had a good fifty pounds on Ranger, and he gave a negative shake of his head. "It won't hold you."

He could sense Tank's frustration. "Keep trying to raise Les." Ranger instructed. "Get EMS to get a ladder to the third floor when they get here." Ranger could hear the sirens in the distance.

Stephanie's eyes fluttered open, and she immediately squeezed them shut against the gritty dust and debris and the pounding headache. A heavy weight was on her, pinning her down. Everything seemed far away, like she was swimming underwater, and she tried to think. Her thoughts were a jumbled, disoriented mess. She remembered Ranger giving her coffee. Then what?

Les, it was Les on top of her. They had been in an explosion. Stephanie called his name, or maybe she yelled. She couldn't tell how loud her voice was because she was mostly deaf, like she had cotton stuffed in her ears. Stephanie hoped that wasn't permanent, but right now, that was the least pressing problem. She pushed at Les, but he didn't move.

Stephanie rested back on the filthy floor and whimpered. Oh god what if he was dead? She coughed and choked on the dust and bits of sheetrock swirling around her. An acrid smell hung in the air and burned her lungs. She vaguely wondered if this was what a war zone was like. The buzzing, the smoke, the debris, the chaos punctuated with fear and helplessness. Maybe this is why her dad had been so closed off. How did you explain this? How did you get over it? She knew Ranger was ex-special forces. How many times he had felt this way? What had he experienced? Had it been worse?

"Come on Santos." Stephanie shook him harder. She ran her hands over his head. No blood, no brains. She mostly figured that was a good sign.

He let out a low groan and lifted his head a fraction, and she was hit with relief so intense and swift it almost crippled her.

"Shit." He mumbled.

Les shook his head like he was trying to clear it and propped himself up on his arms, taking some of his weight off of Stephanie. He squeezed his eyes shut and scrunched up his face.

"I fucking hate getting blown up." He groused and Stephanie let out a completely inappropriate bark of laughter.

Les looked down at her. "You OK?" Or at least she thought that's what he said. His mouth was moving, but the ringing in her ears was too loud to be sure. She vaguely wished for the silence to return.

Les moved to kneel next to her. His hands skimmed over her with clinical efficiency, looking for injury, and Stephanie pressed her fingers to her ears to stop the ringing.

"That will get better with time." Les told her.

Stephanie wiggled her toes, relieved to find she wasn't paralyzed or missing any body parts. She struggled to sit up, fighting against the dizziness and the weight of the Kevlar vest. Les helped her into a sitting position, and she tried to take a deep breath. Her chest felt heavy and her whole body ached. Her cheek was throbbing, and her fuzzy memories snapped into focus. Some junkie had punched her in the face and blown them up with a grenade. A lone tear popped out and slid down her cheek.

"Come on now, none of that." Les pulled her into his arms. Stephanie's hands went around his neck and he rocked her.

The fire escape creaked, groaned, and swayed as Ranger made it to the third floor. He pushed his way through the window, avoiding the broken glass from the few remaining panes blown out in the blast.

The hall was empty, no dead bodies or dismembered body parts, no blood, just destruction. If Ranger had to guess, he'd say the grenade had been an offensive or concussive grenade used to breach, not a frag, which made the odds much higher that Stephanie and Les had survived.

The blast had blown a good chunk of the wall and half the door frame out, and he prepared himself for what he might see. Alive didn't mean unharmed. When Ranger heard Les' voice, relief flooded through him. He poked his head in and found Les and Stephanie on the floor, hugging.

Something that felt an awful lot like jealousy spiked through him and he forced it down, and focused on the fact he was just glad they were OK. Ranger scanned them both. Les had sharp force trauma to the back of his leg. A piece of the doorframe was embedded in his thigh, but he seemed otherwise unhurt.

Ranger crouched beside them, and Les locked eyes with him.

"She's OK." He told Ranger.

Ranger nodded, unable to speak. His throat had constricted, and it felt like a steel band was crushing his chest. He took in a shaky breath.

"You're going to need to let Bobby look at that leg." Ranger told Les.

What he didn't tell him was that he owed him for keeping Stephanie safe. For being here when Ranger wasn't. Les had protected her, saved her while Ranger was at TPD with his dick in his hand, waiting for some jackass playing power games.

Anger and helplessness boiled through Ranger, with such force it surprised him. Ranger didn't do emotional. Ranger didn't get attached. People got hurt. People died, and that was just a fact of life, but somehow none of those facts mattered. Not when it came to Stephanie.

Les looked behind him at the piece of wood sticking out of his thigh and winced. "That's gonna leave a mark."

"I've got her." Ranger told Les.

Les pulled away from Stephanie and she looked around. Her eyes were glassy, and she seemed dazed. She clenched her hands around Les' forearms like a vise. Ranger reached out and touched her arm, and her gaze swung to him like she hadn't realized he was there.

"Ranger?" Confusion evident in her voice as she looked at him like she didn't know where he had come from.

Ranger reached out and used his thumbs to wipe the tears and grime off her face. It looked like she'd taken a pretty good punch to the face. A dark bruise was forming on her cheek. She had some scrapes and minor cuts and was still trying to process what was happening, but otherwise, Les was right, she was OK. Ranger sent up a silent thank you to the universe, and ignored the warmth spreading through his belly and into his chest. If he didn't know better, he would have said those were feelings, but everybody knew Ranger didn't have feelings. They were a liability in his business.

Her hands let go of Les and she turned toward Ranger and their eyes locked and something raw and primal pulsed around them. He desperately wanted to yank her into his arms, and hold her, convince himself she was OK.

"Let's get you out of this." Ranger told her and she nodded, the connection broken.

Instead of pulling into her arms, he reached for the Velcro straps on her vest and pulled them loose, sliding the vest over her head.

Les staggered to his feet and let out a string of expletives as he put weight on his injured leg. Stephanie's eyes snapped to Les.

"Are you hurt?"

Ranger watched the look of horror that crossed her face when she saw the wood embedded in his thigh.

"Nah, just a big splinter." Les grinned at her, and she gave her head a shake that said he was unbelievable, and then she grinned back.

Ranger wished she looked at him like that instead of that pinched, closed-off you're an asshole look she normally gave him. The easy comradery between the two of them hit his gut like a knife, a clean vicious slice that left him to bleed.

Ranger averted his eyes and tried to shake it off. It was none of his concern if Stephanie looked at Les with adoration and puppy dog eyes, and Les just looked at her like she was a tasty snack. That's all she'd ever be to him. Les liked the ladies just fine, he just never liked them more than once, and they were always gone by sunrise. As far as Ranger knew, Les hadn't been serious about a woman since high school, and somehow, Ranger didn't think Stephanie was that kind of woman. She deserved a lot more than Les was interested in and far more than Ranger could offer. Neither of them deserved her, but it didn't stop the jealousy that gnawed at his gut. Ranger would tell Les to back the fuck off. The last thing he needed was to get crosswise with his cousin and business partner over a piece of ass. No woman was worth it, not even Stephanie.

Ranger put his hands under Stephanie's arms and hauled her to her feet. She swayed as her knees buckled, and Ranger pulled her close to steady her. The solid feel of her in his arms, tucked against his body, eased some of the tension streaking through him. She fit against him perfectly, and for one moment as he held her flush against his body, he could breathe. Stephanie was safe and everything felt right.

She took a couple of deep breaths and nodded to Ranger. "I'm good."

He let her go, and immediately missed the feel of her in his arms, the terror and the tension crushing back down on him like a fifty-pound weight.

Bobby poked his head in and assessed the scene. He started treating Les' leg wound and Stephanie started picking chunks of drywall and other unidentifiable debris out of her hair. Ranger was pretty sure she didn't want to know what half of that stuff was, and by the look on her face, she knew it too. Her lower lip trembled, and his heart squeezed in his chest. Ranger wasn't good with women and tears, but Stephanie's had the ability to gut him. He needed to distract her, or she was going to cry, and he was going to do something stupid, like take her in his arms and promise her things he could never deliver.

"So," Ranger said, "what do you think of interior decorating work? You want to be on the team?"

Stephanie gave Ranger a Jersey worthy eye roll and a look that said he was clearly daft. "Am I going to get blown up by some crazed junkie again?

"Hard to say, babe."

A hint of a smile ghosted across her lips, but drifted away all too soon.

"What happened to him? The guy with the grenade?"

Ranger's shoulder tilted up. "Not sure. Probably went down the fire escape."

Stephanie looked at a point behind Ranger, unable to meet his eyes. "I don't know if I'm cut out for this," she sighed.

"I know today was a lot."

Ranger wanted to bash himself in the head and unstick his common sense. She didn't have any business as a bounty hunter. It was dangerous, and he should have just agreed with her. She wasn't cut out for this work, and the sooner she got off the street, the better. Today wasn't all that unique. The danger and dying part, anyway.

"If you don't want to do field work, just say the word. I can use full-time help with searches and other clerical tasks at RangeMan."

Had he completely taken leave of his senses? Why was he offering her a job at RangeMan? Ranger didn't hire women; they were too distracting, and it would break his own rules and protocol. RangeMan wasn't set up for her to be part of the team. So why was he practically begging her to stay? Because he couldn't imagine never seeing her. He was afraid she had become his addiction, the fix he needed more than anything, and his gut gave a vicious twist at the knowledge, even though his rational brain denied it. He was one selfish SOB.

Stephanie thought about it for a minute. "No, I don't want to be chained to a desk anymore. I tried that. It was soul sucking."

She'd just confronted a junkie with a live grenade and knocked unconscious from the blast, and she was ready to keep going. She was resilient. He'd give her that. He'd seen grown men with combat experience quit for less. Ranger took his SEALs hat off and put it on her, tucking her hair behind her ears, letting his hands linger a moment too long.

"You have to believe in what you're doing."

Stephanie studied Ranger. He had that unreadable expression on his face, but she could see the tension in his shoulders, the set of his jaw. Yeah, this could be a problem. And Ranger could be a problem. No, she thought, Ranger already was a problem, the horse was already out of the barn on that one. Ranger wasn't boyfriend material or even safe. Her attraction to him was like chasing after a doomsday orgasm. The problem, safe, just seemed boring, and Stephanie wasn't interested in settling anymore. She didn't want to drift through life in some boring, soulless job, and she wasn't interested in going out with any more boring men. She'd had enough Harolds and Dickies to last an eternity. Her eyes scanned over his perfect body. Yeah, safe was definitely overrated.

Stephanie took a steadying breath. "I want to stick with bounty hunter and field work. See how it goes."

"Understood. Let's get you to the hospital."

"No, I don't want to go to the hospital. I just want to go home and take a shower." Stephanie told Ranger.

Mainly because she couldn't afford a hospital bill, and she didn't need the Burg gossip tree knowing someone had blown her up the first day on the job.

"Let EMS check you first, and if they want to transport you to the hospital, you go." The look Ranger gave her told her there was no room for discussion, so she just nodded her agreement.

EMS shuffled into the room, followed by Tank. Les and Tank did some complicated handshake thing, which Stephanie assumed meant Tank was glad Les didn't get blown up. Tank gave Stephanie a nod and motioned Ranger over to talk to him.

The paramedic waved a light in front of her eyes and asked Stephanie a bunch of annoying questions.

"You should stay at the hospital overnight for observation." The paramedic told her.

"No, I'm good." She assured him. He looked a little dubious, but shrugged and went over to help his buddy work on Les.

Ranger strode over to her. He was clearly in command mode. "EMS is going to transport Les to the hospital for a few tests and stitches. I've got to stay here and sort this out, but Bobby will drive you home."

Stephanie understood as the boss, Ranger had a lot to deal with, but she couldn't help the disappointment that drifted through her that he was sending her home with Bobby. She had just been blown up. Surely that warranted a ride home. Well, it would if he cared, which he didn't. New Year's had just been sex, and the only reason he was helping her now was because how owed Connie a favor. Stephanie blew a curl out of her face.

She removed the cap and held it out to him. "Don't forget your SEALS hat."

Ranger looked at her, his thoughts hidden, and his face unreadable. His voice soft. "Keep it. Looks good on you."

"It's a righteous hat."

He smiled. "Live up to it, Babe."

Stephanie held his gaze and waited. The way he said babe felt intimate, like there was more to say. Suspended between them in that moment was an awareness that shifted the landscape under her feet. Everything she thought she knew about him came into question. Her hand trembled, and she reached out to touch him. She needed that connection, to feel his touch like she needed oxygen.

Ranger's nostrils flared, and he took a step back, staring at her like she was dangerous. Stephanie's hand fell to her side.

"Got it." Stephanie was just an employee. Anything else was just in her head. With that, she turned and headed to Les.

"Hey Santos. I hear you got out of the rest of the clean-up."

Les grinned at her. "Yes ma'am. Anything to avoid those rats."

Stephanie gave a soft laugh. She locked eyes with him. "You saved my life. I don't know how to thank you. I don't know what to say."

Les gave a shrug. "How about you buy me dinner?"

Stephanie's mouth went dry. The smile on his face was all charm, the gleam in his eye was all predator. She'd been wrong. Les and Ranger weren't so different. Les just hid in plain sight a little better.

Stephanie could feel Ranger's eyes boring into the back of her head, but what did he care. He'd made it clear he wasn't interested, that this was all business, and that suited her just fine.

Stephanie smiled at Les. "I'd like that."

Bobby gave her a nod. "You ready?"

Stephanie didn't spare a glance at Ranger because she was afraid of what she would see on his face, or maybe she was afraid of what she wouldn't see. She wanted him to care that she had a date, and how sick was that? She was playing with fire, and she would probably get burned. Les was a player, but so what? Maybe a little fun was what she needed. As long as they both knew the rules, no one would get hurt.

Stephanie trailed Bobby out to a waiting SUV, wondering what she'd gotten herself into, and she didn't mean just the whole bounty hunter thing.

Bobby insisted on doing another quick exam when they got to her apartment. Stephanie sat on the couch and Bobby crouched in front of her, taking her blood pressure.

"Is Les really OK?" she asked Bobby.

Bobby stopped what he was doing and studied her for a moment. "He will be. He probably has a mild concussion and his leg is going to be sore for a while, but he was lucky. You both were."

Stephanie didn't know how to tell him getting blown up by a strung-out junkie on her first day of work didn't feel too lucky, so she just nodded instead.

"What's the deal with you and the boss man?" Bobby asked, as he used his thumbs to palpate around her eye. He took out a field ice pack and gave it a good whump, and shook it before he handed it to her.

"Me and Ranger?" Stephanie squeaked.

Bobby's eyebrows went up, and he waited.

"Nothing." Stephanie tried to be all casual about it, but she could feel heat flush across her face.

"It didn't look like nothing." Bobby noted as he took out an alcohol swab and a syringe.

"What do you mean?"

"Bringing you on the team. The way he looks at you."

Stephanie didn't know what to say about that either, so she pointed at the vial he was holding. "What's that."

"The first shot for Hep A and B."

Stephanie pulled up her sleeve and Bobby swabbed her arm and gave her the shot. "You'll need a second shot in a month and the final one six months after that."

He dug around in his bag and came up with a bottle. "You have some scrapes and minor cuts. Normally, I wouldn't do this, but that place was a cesspool. This is a round of antibiotics. Do you take hormonal birth control? Pill, patch, shot?"

"Yes."

"Then you'll need to use a back-up method like condoms for at least seven days after you finish the antibiotics. Do you need some?"

"Some what?"

"Condoms."

Stephanie shook her head. "No."

Bobby quirked his eyebrow at her and handed her a box of three condoms. "Just in case."

"Thanks," Stephanie mumbled and felt her face go nuclear.

"The ringing in the ears will be better in a few hours, maybe a day or so. You're going to be sore, and you may have a headache. try to take it easy the rest of the day."

Stephanie walked him to the door.

"Bobby took her phone and punched in his number. Call me if you need me. I'll check on you in a couple of hours."

"Thanks." Stephanie took Ranger's SEALs hat off her head and gave it to Bobby. "Can you give this back to Ranger?"

Bobby nodded and with that, he left.

Stephanie picked up the box of condoms and dropped them in her brown bear cookie jar. It wasn't like she'd be needing those any time soon. Rex was asleep in his soup can, oblivious to the surrounding chaos, and how close he had come to being an orphan.

Stephanie's phone chirped and she let out a why me groan. It was her mother.

"Hey mom." Stephanie tried to sound chipper. Maybe this wasn't about the explosion, dates with freaks, or her pathetic life.

"Stephanie, it's your mother." Stephanie resisted rolling her eyes, like somehow, she wouldn't know who it was.

"What's this about an explosion? Edna Gluck heard from her son, Ritchie, that you blew someone up? Is this true?"

Stephanie scrunched up her nose. "No, I didn't blow anyone up." She hedged. Technically, Stephanie was the one blown up, but she thought it was better not to share that pertinent detail because that would just elongate this conversation.

Her mother gave a long-suffering sigh. "You could have a good job. You could take lessons from that place that advertises on television and teaches you to be a computer operator."

Stephanie's head ached and unfortunately, the ringing in her ears wasn't loud enough to drown out her mother's voice. "I have to go now."

"How about dinner? I'm making a nice pot roast with potatoes and gravy."

"I don't think so."

"Pineapple upside-down cake for dessert."

Um no, Stephanie had ended up on a date with Harold the last time she let cake cloud her judgement.

"Can't. I have work. I'll talk to you tomorrow." With that, Stephanie hung up and wondered if she was the worst daughter in the world. She thought about it for a moment. Nope, definitely not.

Stephanie double-checked all the locks on her door and headed to the bathroom to wash the horror and the stench of the morning off. She took a hot shower, wrapped herself in a towel, stepped out of the bathroom and came face-to-face with Ranger.

"Yikes!" Stephanie screeched, jumped back and clapped her hand to her chest, wondering if he had given her an actual heart attack as her heart hammered wildly in her chest. She might need Bobby after all.

Stephanie realized her towel had slipped precariously low, and she yanked it tighter. "Do you break into everyone's house? Have you never heard of knocking?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you doing here?" She snapped.

His focus dropped to the towel and then back to her face. His brown eyes dilated black, and she took a stronger grip on her towel. The look on his face spelled danger of the most pleasurable kind and heat pooled between her thighs, even as she called herself a weak idiot.

"I'm starting to think you're deranged. Maybe even a little stalkerish." Her voice didn't sound mad. It sounded way more like sex.

"Afraid?"

"Cautious."

Ranger's lip tipped up. "Returning your hat, babe." He put the SEALS hat on her head and adjusted it over her damp hair. His fingers traced her temple and a tiny, strangled whimper escaped her lips. "You left it with Bobby."

"Thanks." Her voice was husky and if his thoughts got any louder, she was going to drop that towel and beg him.

Ranger smiled. Apparently, her thoughts were plastered all over her forehead.

"What?" she asked and narrowed her eyes.

"Nice." His eyes flickered over her again.

The room felt like it was a hundred degrees and all the oxygen had been sucked out. She knew she should step back, move away, but he held her captive in his force field. The roughness of the towel was scraping across her sensitive nipples that strained and begged to be touched. His eyes flickered down again. Stephanie caught her bottom lip in her teeth to keep from saying something stupid that would lead to both of them being naked.

"Next time, I want you naked. I want to see you and taste you. All of you." The silkiness of his voice slid over her like a gentle breeze caressing her skin and inflaming her.

His fingers skimmed down her neck and his thumb absently rubbed the pulse point at the base. He moved closer, and warning bells clanged in her head. This was a bad idea on so many levels.

"There will not be a next time." Not even Stephanie was convinced that was true.

"Liar." He taunted in that silky purr that made fire streak through her veins.

The certainty in his voice should have sounded arrogant, but instead, it sounded like a promise that caused her belly to flutter like butterflies trapped in a net.

She kept a death grip on her towel with one hand and used the other to push against his chest. She jolted at the contact and sucked in a sharp breath.

Ranger raised one eyebrow in question, but took a step back.

"Anything else?" She squeaked, trying to put mental and physical distance between them before she did something irrecoverable.

Ranger reached behind him and came up with a gun. He tucked the gun under the top edge of her towel, wedging it between her breasts. His knuckles brushed softly against her, lingering far longer than necessary. He could feel the wild cadence of her heart.

Ranger locked eyes with her. "I'm really glad you're OK. You scared me, babe."

His finger traced a line of fire across the swell of her breast, and her breath caught in her throat. For a moment she thought the towel might catch fire right along with the rest of her.

Ranger smiled again, and Stephanie did more eye narrowing. Not that it seemed to have any effect on him other than to amuse him.

"Be at RangeMan in the morning by eight for firearms training." Ranger said.

And then he was gone. Stephanie slowly let the breath she was holding hiss through her teeth. Shit, that had been close. She carefully extracted the gun from the towel and put it in the cookie to keep the condoms company. Two things she wouldn't be using, she assured herself. The little voice in her head scoffed. It was even money on which one she would need first.

Stephanie eyed the freezer, thinking maybe she should stick her head in there and cool off. The man was as infuriating as he was sexy. So cocky, so sure of himself. Stephanie rolled her eyes and tried to pretend like she didn't know he was right about there being a next time.

She was just lucky next time wasn't right now, and she hadn't wrestled him down the hall into the bedroom. Jumping Ranger was a dangerous deal. He'd made it clear that his emotional involvement would always have limitations, but the clenching between her thighs made her think she wasn't lucky, just disappointed. She'd held out for true love, and where had that gotten her. Fucked on the floor of the tasty pastry and married to Dickie. Maybe it was time to try a different approach.

She padded over to the door and examined the locks. Worthless pieces of junk.