Turmoil

Chapter 12

Crap. Stephanie being Stephanie was late to work on her first day back. She had set the alarm for 7am so she could have enough time to shower and get ready. But did she wake up at seven? No… instead she kept slapping the buzzer until she realized it was 8:15am. She had to be at Rangeman at 9am.

Ranger had given her, her old job back doing searches. Of course he restricted her schedule to just 9am to 1pm, Monday to Friday 20 hours a week. He was following doctor's orders by the book. She tried to persuade him to let her work 30 hours a week but he refused.

Shit, Crap, Shit… crap. She was so late. It was 9:20am when she pulled into the underground parking lot. When she made it to the second floor Ranger was by the elevator waiting for her.

"Babe." He was leaning against the wall arms crossed over his chest. His hair was long enough now and it was tied back. He had a devilish grin on his face, Oh man.

"Hi Ranger. Sorry I'm late."

"Its ok babe, you didn't have to rush." He walked over to her and sweetly placed a kiss on top of her head.

"Thanks." She let go of shaky breath. Ranger still managed to make her nervous.

"Come on, let's get you settled." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and nudged her towards the communication room where some of the merry men were working.

Tank sprinted off the chair he had been sitting on and came towards her. "Hey Steph, looking good." He chuckled.

"Do not laugh at my hair. I didn't have time to blow dry it." She yelped defensively. She felt Ranger's chest shake in quite laughter. "That goes for you to!" She separated herself from him and glared at both of them. They stopped laughing immediately. That's right! Burg glare in effect.

Ranger gave a bark of laughter. "Glad to have you back, babe, we missed you."

"Yeah, I happy your doing so much better, welcome back." Said Tank as he walked back to his chair.

"Bomber! Shit, girl nice to have you back." Lester sprang towards Stephanie enveloping her in a bear hug. She tried to breathe but his embrace was tight around her chest.

"Lester…" She whispered. "How are you?" Was all that she managed to get out.

Ranger narrowed his eyes. "Santos! She can't breathe man, let her go!"

He did. "Sorry. How are you?"

"Ok. Happy to be out of the apartment. I was getting a little cluster phobic." She looked over at Ranger. "My sitters wouldn't let me out of the house too much."

"Just doing what the doctor said babe." Ranger said "You're better now, but not 100 yet, so don't get any ideas about me easing up."

She turned towards Lester and said "See what I mean."

"Yeah… Ranger patrol 24/7. Well anyways, glad you're back. Let me know if you need anything." He rubbed her shoulders and Steph swore that she could see steam coming up from Ranger's head.

"Thanks Lester." She said in a sheepish voice. Lester walked away and left Ranger and Stephanie standing in the middle of the communications room everyone staring at them.

Ranger took hold of Stephanie's elbow and continue to steer her towards her cubicle.

"I'm telling you there is going to be a murder on my account in here." He locked eyes with Stephanie. "I hate the way I get when the guys drool over you."

"Ranger you're exaggerating. They don't drool. I'm sure they think of me as their co-worker, better yet, like a sister or something"

"Yeah… Right." He sighed. "Babe, you're a beautiful woman. Any man is going to drool over you, and it's a natural reaction."

"I don't think your guys look at me that way, especially when you are standing behind me." She began to unbutton her jacket. "You know I've missed this place." She slid the jacket off her shoulders and they heard a few gasps coming from the communications room. She was wearing a spaghetti strap black top that showed cleavage and low riding black jeans embellished with a thick rhinestone belt.

Ranger looked her up and down, raised an eyebrow and leaned his head backwards looking out of the compartment that made up her cubicle. All of a sudden she heard lots of papers being shuffled, keyboards clinking and printers printing.

"Babe"

Stephanie looked at him in complete innocence, and shrugged. "What? It's just a black shirt."

Ranger took a step closer to her. "A black shirt that shows… you off incredibly." His eyes ran down to her breasts. "And these jeans… hmmmm" He placed his hands on her waist. "Let's just say that now we all know for sure who wins best ass in Trenton." He pulled her so that their bodies were tightly pressed against each other. Then he circled her waist and hooked his thumb on her belt and let his hands fall over her ass. He lowered his head and placed a kiss on her jaw.

"uhmm, Ranger." She squeaked. "There is a camera in this room." Man was it hot in this office or what. She couldn't take her mind of his hands, which were settled on her ass or his mouth which was planting small kisses on her jaw line.

"You smell so sweet." Ranger pulled away a bit to look in her eyes. His eyes were now the color of warm brandy; they were half lidded and very sensual. Oh Boy. He lowered his head again but this time he kissed her, hot and heavy. There was no mistake… he has the best kisser in the world. She opened up her mouth and his tongue invaded her, she felt small sweet touches and then he went on a full invasion.

He let out a grunt from deep in his throat and she answered with a soft moan. They ended their kiss but their bodies were still glued together. "Babe, you taste sweeter than you smell." He gave her a wolf smile. She gulped and kissed him again. Only this time they jumped apart as they heard a cough and a chuckle by the door.

"Excuse me guys." Tank said as he let go of another chuckle. "Ranger, we need to leave in about 10 minutes, I just wanted to give you a heads up." He looked down at Ranger's crotch and laughed, a loud belly laugh. "What I meant was… never mind, just wanted to make sure you didn't forget about our FTA."

"Funny wiseass!" Ranger never stopped looking at Steph. "I'll meat you downstairs in ten." With that Tank walked towards the elevator, laughing the whole time.

"Oh God, that was so embarrassing. I told you there was a camera in here!" She screeched.

"That was the whole point babe." He pulled her close again. "I don't want the guys to get any ideas about you." He gave her a gentle peck on the lips and let her go. "I was just applying pressure… again."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind." He pointed toward a stack of folders. "Those are first priority, they're mine. When you finish them run the rest from your inbox."

She couldn't believe him! He was just going to ignore the subject. Well two can play this game. "Ok. I'll get to them right away." She sat down on her chair and pulled her hair back. "I'll be leaving at 1pm, will I see you before that?"

"I don't know, we have to pick up a skip that has proven to be a little slippery." He ran his fingers through her ponytail and yanked on it, tilting her head back. He leaned forward and kissed her non too gently. "If not I'll see you tonight? Maybe I can stop by with dinner."

"Sure, I have some errands to run, but I should be home by 5pm. Bring Chinese." She smiled up at him. Damm it, he is definitely better at this game than she was. "Am I going to have a merry man all too myself this afternoon?"

"Babe." And with that he walked out of the cubicle.

Oh boy she thought, things were starting to heat up again between her and Ranger. Ever since her accident he had been nothing but caring, the best of friends. He hadn't made a pass on her until today. Morelli was gone, so that was not a problem this time. She wasn't tied to anyone. Maybe this time they could see where this could go.

Bozo! What was she thinking? He didn't do relationships. He said it himself, that his love for her didn't come with a ring. Not that she wanted one, but still it meant that he didn't want to be attached. Either way, she loved the way he made her laugh, the way he made her feel altogether. He was fun to be with, easy to talk to, and cooked. Now lets not forget his body… that's where she ran into trouble. When she got too close to him, when she smelled his scent mixed in with his shower gel. Her kneeswere weak just from thinking about it, thank God she was sitting down.