I smiled at him then slowly inched up the bed toward him. "I'm not hardly as messy as I'm about to be." I said as I passed the bottle of syrup to him.

Eleven Days Later

Chapter 9

I woke up with a something poking me in my back. Remembering the marathon with Ranger the night before, I grinned slightly as I rolled over expecting to see him ready for action. However what I found wasn't a horny Ranger and instead was something much more disappointing, serious Ranger.

His elbow was poking me in my back as he struggled to hold the telephone in one hand while he flipped through the TV channels with the other. He managed to flip through 100 channels at lightening speed without finding anything acceptable, all while he barked into the phone.

"What do you mean? I was only out of touch for one damn afternoon. How the hell could you guys loose him?" he yelled.

Noting his irritability I slid out of bed and padded into the safer confines of the bathroom. A quick glance in the mirror convinced me that it would indeed be a ponytail day, so 20 minutes and a few swipes of lip gloss later I returned to the bedroom ready to start the day.

Ranger was still yelling into the phone, but had somehow managed to get dressed while he was talking.

"To hell with this. Have the men in the boardroom in 30 minutes and by god someone better have some answers for me."

I flinched when he slammed the phone shut and said a silent thank you that I wasn't on the other end of that conversation.

I was about to slip into the living room when Ranger spoke.

"Morning babe." His face soften the instance he turned his attention to me.

"Morning. Sounds like you've got a busy day ahead of yourself." I said as I made my way to the kitchen for some coffee.

"Yeah. Something went wrong with a job yesterday so I have to go in and take care of it. What are your plans for the day." He said as he followed me from the bedroom.

I grabbed a cup from the cabinet and waited for the coffee. My eyes drifted back into the living room where I Ranger was lacing up his boots. "I guess I'll swing by the office and see if Connie has anything for me. But other than that, it'll probably be pretty calm."

Ranger finished messing with his shoes and stepped towards the door. I met him halfway and walked into his chest. His arms instinctively wrapped around me as I slide mine around his waist.

"Damn. Wish I could stay here all day." He mumbled into my hair.

"Me too." I moaned back.

He kissed the top of my head then slowly pulled away. "Gotta go babe. I'll call you when I get done."

"Okey dokey." I said as I turned to retrieve the coffee.

I heard the door open then I waited to hear it close, but the sound never came. I turned around and saw Ranger staring down at the floor outside my door. I immediately cringed.

"Oh God Ranger. What is it? Do I have another freak after me. Is it a bloody rose? Or a frozen kidney? What is it?"

Ranger lifted his head to look at me and flashed me a predatory grin. Then he reached down and scooped the newspaper off the floor. "Looks like your day won't be as calm as you first thought."

I was next to him in two steps and I gasped in sheer horror when I read the headline.

Local Businessman, Carlos Manaso's Bombshell Girlfriend Proves To Be Good Samaritan

"Front page? It made the front page?" I said to him in shock.

Ranger laughed, "Looks like it. It's actually a pretty good article so don't get yourself too worked up over it."

"Too worked up! Are you kidding me! Do you have any idea what my mother…."

Ranger cut me off before I could finish my sentence. "Don't worry about it."

"Don't…" I started again.

This time he placed a finger over my lips. "Yes Stephanie. Don't worry about it. This is what I want you to do. First, call your mother and tell her we would like to join her and the rest of the family for dinner tonight. Ask her if there is anything she would like us to bring."

I took a step back to get away from his finger. "We're going to my parent's for dinner?" I asked, still in shock.

"Yes. Then we're going to my parents for dessert."

"What!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs.

Ranger smiled then pulled me back into his chest. His arms held me tight with the promise of safety.

"Do you trust me?" He whispered.

"Yes, but…"

"No buts. I love you and there's nothing your or my family can do to change that. So tonight we'll march ourselves over there and make sure they understand that." He explained.

I sighed then lifted my head back to meet his gaze. "You sound so brave."

"You make me brave and I wish I could stay here and describe all the other things you make me but I really have to get going. If you don't want to deal with this today then hide out here and we'll deal with it when I get back."

He gave me another kiss on the head and parted for the door. He glanced back before closing it and said, "Don't worry babe. We're in this together."

When the door finally shut I sulked to the couch and flopped into my thinking position. I briefly thought about getting dressed and going into the office then remembered what Ranger had said. Hiding in the apartment all day didn't sound like such a bad idea. Who says ignorance isn't bliss?

--------------------------------------

Inside of Rangeman's boardroom the meeting was finally coming to a close. Ranger stood in front of the packed room and laid out the assignments for the day. As luck would have it, the missing skip from the day before had been spotted not long after Ranger's early morning phone conversation with Tank. So by the time he had made it into the office, things were back on track.

"Any questions?" He asked before dismissing his team. When no one spoke up he shook his head and the room quickly began to empty.

Within a minute Ranger was left all alone with an extremely happy Tank. Ranger had noticed his smile all through the meeting but hadn't yet asked him about it.

"Why are you so happy this morning? Have a good night?" Ranger teased.

Tank stood up and walked toward Ranger's end of table. As he leaned against a nearby chair he tossed a copy of the days paper in front of him. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He shot back.

Ranger smiled at the picture on the front of the paper. Stephanie's eyes beamed with surprise as Ranger placed a kiss on her lips just before the cameraman took the shot.

"So you guys are finally together?" Tank asked.

"Appears so." Ranger answered.

"About damn time man. So is it all you expected it to be?" Tank asked, urging him on for details.

Ranger tried to fight the smile from creeping across his face but failed miserably. "It's better than I could have ever imagined. I've seen her every night for the last seven weeks and it just keeps getting better." Ranger explained.

"Seven weeks huh?" Tank asked.

"Yup, seven incredible weeks." As the words crossed his lips Ranger suddenly turned twelve shades lighter. He let the thought cross his mind again. Seven weeks, every night, no interruptions. Seven weeks! Holy shit!

"Oh fuck!" Ranger shouted before leaping for the door.

"Where you headed man?" Tank said, sounding obviously confused.

Ranger didn't take time to respond and he didn't stop running until he had reached his truck. At that moment the only thing on his mind was getting to Stephanie.

To be continued…