When his breathing was finally back to normal he looked down at me draped across his chest. After a kiss to the top of the head he whispered, "Thank you babe."

I rolled my head over and gave his chest one final kiss. "Anytime Ranger."

Then wrapped in his arms, I feel asleep on his chest.

Eleven Days Later

Chapter 3

Eleven days later…

I woke up cradled in the warm arms of Ranger. It had been nearly two weeks since I had surprised him at his apartment with a night of pampering. Since, he had spent nearly every night trying to repay the favor. Last night I had arrived home to find hot Pino's pizza, cold beer, the taped Ranger's game and a homemade chocolate cake courtesy of Ella. Ranger was on my couch watching TV, all-in-all, not a bad sight to come home to. Most nights were spent at my apartment, but sometimes we opted for a change of scenery and ended up at his place.

We still hadn't had the 'discussion' about what exactly was going on between us, but I tried not to dwell on that too much. Things just felt so good between us that it was hard not to get swept up in the excitement of it all. Great sex for 22 nights in a row with an occasional session of afternoon delight thrown into the mix was pretty much the recipe to forget any problem.

Sex wasn't all that was going on. Everyday I seemed to learn something new about the mysterious man in black. Take last night for instance. We had met up at his apartment and after a delicious dinner from Ella we made love for hours on his silky sheets. When we finished it wasn't even dark outside so I opted to take a long soak in his tub. He had some work to do, so I ventured into the bath all alone. An hour and several new wrinkles later, I had emerged from the bathroom and come face to face with the last thing I was expecting.

"Ranger?"

"Yeah babe."

"You're wearing glasses."

He peered at me over the top of a laptop, shook his head then continued to work.

"Since when do you wear glasses?" I asked.

"Since I was in the 8th grade. They're only for reading though so I don't have to wear them very often." He explained.

I made my way back over to the bed, pulled the covers back and curled into his side. He kept plucking away at the keyboard and barely acknowledged my return.

"What other secrets are you hiding?" I joked in an effort to get his attention.

"Babe." Was the only thing he said.

I fell asleep not long after that, only to be woken up in the middle of the night for one more round of mind-blowing sex.

And that's how I found myself waking up in the warmth of his arms. I rolled over slowly and watched him sleep. He seemed so peaceful. During the first couple of nights we spent together he woke up nearly every time I moved, but now he seemed to be use to me. I could even get out of bed for a midnight snack without disturbing him.

"Morning babe." He said before even opening his eyes.

"Morning."

"You're staring." He added.

"Maybe."

"Stop, you'll make me self-conscience." He smiled.

I laughed. "Yeah right. Nothing would make you self-conscience. So if you want me to stop staring you'll have to make me yourself."

Ranger loved a challenge and who said I couldn't be motivating?

His eyes were open in a split second. He scooped my up in his arms, flipped me over and pinned me against the mattress.

"Want to play that way this morning do ya?" He teased.

"What have you got in mind big boy."

"First, don't call me big boy. And secondly, this is what I have in mind." He quickly released my arms and immediately placed his hands on my belly. He started slowly then quickly began to tickle the daylights out of me.

"No! Stop… ti…tickling…me.. No…" I laughed so hard I could barely catch my breath.

"Say uncle Steph. Say it and I'll stop." He said as he continued his tickling torture.

"Oh god.. I'm going to…. Pee…. if….you….don't…stop!" I panted out.

"Then say it Steph. Just say uncle." He teased.

"Fine, Uncle! Uncle dammit!" I yelled.

Ranger released me then rolled over on his back in a fit of laughter.

"Bastard." I mumbled as I jumped from the bed and ran to the bathroom just in time.

When I returned he was still laughing. When I rejoined him in bed I tried my best to pout, but the look on his face melted every bone in my body so it was hard to stay angry. "It's not fair. You're not ticklish, so I have no way to get to you." I whined.

Ranger pulled me close and settled me back against his body. "Trust me babe, you get to me plenty of ways."

The next time I woke up it was nearly noon. Thank goodness it was Sunday and I didn't have to work. I crawled out of the empty bed, tossed on one of Ranger's t-shirts and made my way into his living room. I saw him standing by the refrigerator and I immediately went up behind him. He was wearing nothing but a pair of sweats so I let me fingers slide across his smooth skin as my lips made contact with his shoulder blades.

The moment I touched him, I felt his body tense. It didn't take me long to figure out why.

"Ahem. Are we interrupting?" said a deep voice behind me.

I turned around and came face to face with Tank and several other Rangeman employees.

"Um.. I, um.. no. I was just getting, um, some coffee." I stammered.

When I finished babbling I quickly ran back into the bedroom and threw myself on top of the bed. "Shit, shit, shit." I said into the pillow.

"It's ok babe." Ranger said from behind me.

I flipped over and realized that Ranger had followed my mad dash from the kitchen. I could feel the heat on my face and I could only imagine how red I was. "God, I'm so sorry. I had no idea they were here."

Ranger walked to the bed and took a seat beside me. "It's ok, it was bound to happen I guess. I had totally forgotten that we had a meeting here today. I was just on my way to the kitchen when they knocked. I was going to make you some eggs, but I guess that plan has been derailed."

"Thanks anyway." I said.

"I need to change clothes then get back out there, are you going to be ok?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm embarrassed but I'll be fine. I'll just change clothes and sneak out the door, I need to be getting home anyway."

"You sure babe? You're welcome to stay here."

"I appreciate that, but I need to run by my parents house. I haven't seen them in weeks." I explained.

"We have sorta been taking up a lot of each other's time haven't we?" He said as he stared at his feet.

"Yeah, I guess we have. Do you regret it?" I asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

"Not at all. I've had a blast these last couple of weeks. What about you? Regrets?" He asked.

"Other than my little peepshow for the guys, nope. No regrets from me."

Ranger picked up my hand and placed a gentle kiss on the inside of my wrist. "Good. I'm glad to hear it. But maybe we should take a night off and get some stuff done."

I smiled, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

"Then it's settled. Tonight we take care of business and tomorrow night we make up for tonight."

I laughed, "Sounds like a perfect plan."

To be continued…