Everybody and anything familiar belong to Janet. Mistakes are solely mine.
"Nice try, Mom. But you're not going to use the fact that I have actual emotions to get your way. Not anymore. I'll just go grab a burger for dinner. I don't need this."
"Hold it right there, young lady!" She called, but I was already halfway out the front door.
I didn't even slam it. I clicked it quietly shut behind me and felt myself breathe for the first time since I'd walked into my parents' house four minutes ago. If I wanted to listen to someone insult me while on a date with a neighborhood loser, I would've just gone to Joe's house and skipped almost walking into the latest nutjob my mother dredged up from the bowels of my own personal hell.
She must've accepted that I'd never be desperate enough to call Morelli again after the last tirade he went on at the scene of my apprehension and went looking for an unsuitable replacement. Joe had been swearing and threatening me so profusely, Ranger threatened to shove his Glock into Morelli's mouth and pull the trigger if Joe didn't shut it. I've never swooned in my life, but that was a moment when I came really close to doing that ... and probably a lot more.
I was just reaching the end of the sidewalk when I looked up and saw a black Porsche glide to a stop behind my POS. I shook my head. Either my thoughts conjured him or he was reading my mind again and knew if he wanted an opportunity to seduce me, now would be the perfect time. I blinked back all the images I have of Naked Ranger so he'd have to put some effort into getting me into bed instead of me immediately throwing myself at him. We hang out off the clock, sleep together semi-regularly, and work together it seems like every day now, but nothing about us has been finalized.
That's what I kept in mind as I stuck my head in the open window he'd just powered down on the passenger's side. "Hey, Batman. What are you doing here?"
"You don't have to have a gun pointed at you to need rescuing, Babe. As soon as Ram told me you were headed here, I thought you could use reinforcements."
He knows me and my relationship with my family too well. "Thanks, but I'm not staying. I'm going to pick up something on my way back home."
The 'bad Stephanie' my mother is always accusing me of being - tonight's no exception - wanted to drag Ranger back inside so he can dismantle and dissect my mother into total silence. But I really don't want to endanger the guy who was brought over to fix me in the eyes of the Burg and my image-obsessed mother. Ranger hearing that I was supposed to be on a date would NOT be pleasant for the poor schmuck now stuck on a dinner date with my mom and Grandma Mazur.
"Get in," Ranger told me.
"My car …" I started to say.
"Will be picked up and brought back to your place or mine."
I couldn't stop a grin from overtaking my face. "Feeling pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"
"Always. Now get in."
I did and turned my upper body towards him after I buckled myself in. "Where are we going?"
"Up to you. Since your plans just changed and you sound hungry, we could have dinner at that new Italian place."
"That restaurant requires reservations. And no one can score any. According to my mom and Mary Lou, the waiting list is months long."
As he slowed for a red light that will likely change to green before he makes a complete stop, he glanced over at me with one eyebrow raised slightly. "And?"
Naturally, he already has an in with the owner. As soon as that thought passed, I suddenly got suspicious. "You know if we go anywhere Italian, I'm gonna order Sausage Alfredo. And you hate when I do that. What's going on?"
"You don't trust me?"
"I do, but I also know I have to be careful around you."
His expression didn't change, and his body didn't do anything beyond drive like he's been doing, but somehow I know he's real interested in that comment.
"Why do you say that?" He asked.
No way in hell am I going to admit that with just a little flirting from him, I'd agree to almost anything. My lips are sealed … unless he kisses me.
"No specific reason, just a fact everybody on earth is aware of."
Big surprise, he doesn't believe me. "What aren't you telling me?"
"Wow … look how full the parking lot is," I said, totally changing the subject, thankful that the restaurant's only minutes away.
It's rare that Ranger lets a subject go. He usually just pulls back and waits for the right time to ambush you again so he gets the answer or info he's after.
"You can run …" he began, but I cut him off with another distraction attempt.
"No, I can't run. Nor do I want to."
His lips twitched with an almost smile. "You are correct. You can't run … from me."
Gulp.
He let me off the hook after that and just slid out from behind the wheel and came to my side of the car. He closed my door, beeped the Turbo locked, and escorted me inside Trenton's newest hot spot. My mother is going to have a dual gossip crisis going on. She'll be pissed at me for ditching dinner and causing the Burg to talk, but she'll want details about the place I'm now in to talk to the Burg about. It sucks to be so desperate for approval from people who don't really give a crap about you. I should know, I've been trying to get my mother to like me and my dad to notice me up until about fifteen minutes ago.
"Babe?" Ranger said, bringing me out of my head.
I blinked and realized he'd pulled my chair out for me and was waiting for me to sit down. "Thank you," I told him and quickly sat my butt down.
I'm sorta on a date with Batman and I'm going to enjoy it. While he took a seat across from me, I looked around.
"I think I might be underdressed for this place," I said after a beat. My jeans and blue T-shirt are clean and hole free, but they still feel more appropriate for a living room than an upscale dining room. "I don't know what I'd expected, but it isn't this."
I was picturing a dark wood, cigar bar-type atmosphere. Not a bright, open space that has you feeling like you're dining outside while still being inside a building.
"We can come back if you'd like to redo the wardrobe choice," Ranger said.
"Like for a real date?"
"This is a real date, Babe. We can make the next visit our second."
I was bouncing between feeling shocked and curious but couldn't respond until after our orders were taken. "Did we become a couple without me knowing?" I was finally able to ask him.
"Have you dated anyone besides me since Morelli became a non-issue?"
"No. You weren't far off when you told Joyce that you were going to ruin me for all other men. You should've seen my face when I discovered that my mother's back to setting me up without warning me. I don't want another guy. I'm happy with who I've been spending my time with."
Too late I realized I wasn't going to tell him about the shell shocked-looking guy trapped in my parents' living room.
"What's his name?" Ranger asked in a tone that sent a shiver through my body, and not the usual kind that starts with a smile and continues because of what his lips do afterward.
I forced myself to give a casual shrug. "I don't know. I didn't stay long enough to participate in an introduction." To get his mind off of dinner dude, I pressed for a more specific answer to my earlier question. "Did you really show up to be my partner in pissing off my mother?"
"Yes, but no."
"I hope you plan on explaining that."
"I can. Since I was in a meeting and couldn't have lunch with you, I wanted to remedy that with dinner."
"Even if it was a meal with my family."
"Especially if your family were around you."
Thankfully, the waiter came back with our drinks - coffee for Ranger, wine for me - so I had a moment to regroup and prepare for whatever he's going to say.
"People usually want to avoid my parents' place, but that was your destination?" I had to ask.
"If you were staying, yes. If doughnuts or a job aren't involved, you typically only venture into the Burg when you're not feeling good about something, and you want corroboration that your life or you are a mess. Which your mother is all too happy to help you out with. If that were the case tonight, I was going to head that shit off. But it sounds like you beat me to it."
I nodded, though I'm a little unnerved that he picked up on that. "I was tired of hearing my list of screw-ups and how some Burg idiot is the only cure for my problematic independence."
"I will be getting his name even if you don't have it."
"I figured. That's why I wasn't going to mention that part of her dinner invite. But that was the last straw. I realized I'd rather be alone than with my family."
He reached across the table to curl his fingers around mine. "You aren't alone, Steph. That's what I was coming to show you."
"Because we're in a relationship?"
"No. I would've shown up even back when we were technically just friends. I don't like how you're treated there."
I'm getting a few-word but in-depth glimpse into his actions. "You do love me, don't you?"
His fingers tightened. "Yes. And that's why you feel you have to be careful around me," he said, circling back to the statement I'd said in the car that I knew he'd return to eventually.
I sighed. "Yeah. You see me … I'm not used to that. I'm more comfortable hiding behind the scenes rather than being the star of the show."
"Hate to break it to you, Babe. But you've been in the spotlight your entire life. Why do you think your mother has been trying so hard to crush you?"
"She's an evil stepmother, minus the step?"
He smiled and released my hand to take a sip of his coffee. "She is. You have enough trouble seeing how remarkable you are, you don't need her standing behind you with a figurative knife to stab in your back or a manipulative compliment to backhand you with ... when you have more accepting places to be."
"Like Rangeman?"
"I was going to say my apartment, but my building works too."
When the waiter brought my death-pasta and Ranger's uber-healthy whatever he ordered, I made a last-minute decision. "Ah, can we get these dinners to go?" I asked our server. "I just remembered that I have somewhere to be."
"Sure. I'll be right back with your to-go bag."
"Can you add an order of Tiramisu?" I called before he got too far away from our table.
"If you don't mind waiting a few extra minutes," he replied.
Why would minutes matter when I'm picturing an entire new life ahead of me. "That's fine. Thank you."
When he was gone, I turned my head back to Ranger and felt something like a blow land right between my eyes when I met his dark ones.
"You want to leave?" He asked.
"Yeah. This place is beautiful, and the Burg is going to be jealous that you got us a table, but I prefer your apartment. I know without a doubt, everything will be better there."
He can assume I mean the food when I really meant everything will be better ... me more than anything else.