Here's the 6th part! Hope you enjoy!
I don't own the story and I'm sorry for all the typos.
Morelli and me... friends... go figure huh.
The next morning I woke up feeling at ease, even tough a part of me was sad that there would be no more me and Morelli, I was happy that things finally was worked out between us. And even happier that it didn't end with fighting, screaming, empty threats and my heart in pieces. This time I knew that we would stay friends and for the first time in I don't know how long, my stomach was calm. There were no psychos stalking me, I would be able to pay my rent and I had no more guilt problems to work out if Ranger tried to kiss me. But that didn't mean everything was fine and dandy, I still had some things to work out with Mr Batman. I still didn't know what he wanted from me. He sent me back to Morelli but keeps on pinning me against walls, I trust him with my life but does he trust me at all? He loves me but "in his own way" And I knew that he cares about me enough to kill for me… but does he care about me enough to let me in under his skin? The questions were many and I had absolutely no intension of sleeping with him until I had answers to all of them. But then again I knew that if he set his mind to it we would be between the sheets within seconds… I had no self-discipline what so ever when it came to that man.
"I really am pathetic huh?" I said to Rex who was running like a mad person in his little wheel. He stopped and looked at me, shaking his whiskers in agreement than started running again. Just great, even a hamster has more self-discipline than me! I mean when was the last time I went running?
For lunch Mary Lou and me went to Pino's for pizza, it had been way to long! Probably about five days or something!
"Are you sure you're okay about the whole birthday thing? I mean I tried as hard as I could to find a babysitter but every freakin' person in town was busy!" Mary Lou was still feeling bad about standing me up. Probably because she didn't know how the night ended.
"Yes of course I'm fine! It's not your fault you couldn't find a sitter. And you'll make up for it when we go out tomorrow night" We had made plans to celebrate a second birthday for me since we didn't get to dance on my real one.
"You bet I will! And I'm gonna make sure that you will be so drunk and have so much fun that you wont be able to walk home!"
"Don't even go there! Not this time, we went trough that too many times when we were young. I have grown since then!" I tried to sound mature.
"Yeah, and the sky is green. Don't you try to deny it Plumsy, we both know how the night is gonna end" she teased.
"Well okay, we'll get hammered, have a great time and feel like shit the morning after. Just like old times" Mary Lou nodded in agreement and we both got dazed nostalgic looks remembering the good old days.
"You didn't tell me how the night ended by the way, you didn't have to spend it alone did you?" She asked after a while looking worried.
"No I was fine, for a while there I thought I would be all alone… but I got some company later." I avoided telling her exactly who held me company.
"Lula and Connie stopped by?" I shook my head no. "Morelli?" I did the headshake again. "Please tell me you didn't have to go to your parents?" she looked desperate.
"No not this time" then her eyes grew big.
"RANGER! You got to have Ranger keep you company on you birthday?"
"Yeah… apparently he knew it was my birthday and decided to stop by"
"Oh you lucky bitch!" I laughed at her growl. "But if he knew it was your birthday… did he get you anything?" I hesitated, did I tell her or not? Oh what the hell, what are best friends for anyway? I nodded my head again.
"Oh shit, WHAT?" I didn't know if I'd ever seen her that curious. I told her about the present, the cake and the quiz and this time I even told her about the kissing. I almost always kept that to myself. She freaked out and screamed at me, and somehow she figured out that there must be more to the story and I had so not expected her to do that. Crap, crap double crap! But I realized that I had no chose but to tell her everything if I wanted to get out of there alive. Everything meaning my and Rangers night together and what happened between Morelli and me last night.
Many hours later I was back at my apartment getting ready for the distraction job. Mary Lou had almost killed me when she found out I'd slept with Ranger and that I hadn't told her about it. Then she milked me for every detail ever going on between us since then. I had tried to keep as much as possible to myself, refusing to tell her anything about our night together other than that it was good and orgasmic. Details about size and positions I kept to myself. She kept pushing me for ages but I managed to tell her a lot without telling her too much. The most private things I wanted to stay private.
I had showered and done my hair and since it was having a good day I decided to keep it down and I had tamed most of the frizzyness into curls. Then I did my makeup, putting on so much eyeliner and mascara I had to fight to keep my eyes open before they got used to it. As a finishing touch I put on some daring red lipstick. The dress I had picked out for the evening matched the lipstick. Daring. It was deep red with halter neck and a band underneath the chest that marked the bust. It was almost too short, showing a little bit too much leg to be okay, but it was perfect for distraction. As I was putting on my FMP's my cell rang.
"Yeah?"
"Yo"
"Yo yourself. I'll be down in a sec"
"Good" then he disconnected. Damn! Someday I would disconnect first!
I grabbed my purse and locked the door. When I got down to the parking lot I saw Ranger, Tank and Lester waiting for me. They all stopped talking and stared at me. I could se Ranger and Tank tense up and Lesters' jaw actually dropped an inch. Wow…
"What's up guys?" the just kept staring. "Okay the dress is short but not that short!" There eyes were making me insecure.
"Damn Bombshell! You're on fire!" Lester finally let out smiling at me.
"Well thanks Les. So are we going or what" Lester and Tank went over to their car but Ranger was still leaning against his looking at me.
"What?" I finally asked since he wasn't moving. He stepped towards me and pressed my body against his. He leant down and whispered softly in my ear
"Sometimes you're too sexy for your own good." Then he went over to the driver side of the car and got in. I was still shivering from his words. Mental head slap! Get a grip woman I thought to myself and opened the door. As I got into the car I could se Ranger eyes roaming my legs. Yikes!
During the drive Ranger filled me in on the details about the guy I was distracting. His name was Robert Matthews, 37 years old, wanted for rape, assault and drunk driving. Seems like a nice fella. Ranger wasn't in his usual driving zone, he talked more than usual and his eyes kept wandering to my legs. I knew it was cruel but I couldn't help but slowly rub them against each other just to tease him. I noticed that his arms were tenser than usual so I knew that it had at least some effect. Mental happy dance!
"Okay you know the drill, we'll be out front waiting." He said as we pulled over. I nodded and he picked up the mic to tape it to my skin. This was always a nerve wrecking moment since Ranger never let me do it myself and instead used it as a chance to stick his hand down my dress and make my stomach turn in to Jell-O.
"You know I can do that myself" I said softly as his fingers touched my skin. His lips curved in to an almost-smile.
"Yeah I know… but it's more fun this way." He looked me straight in the eyes when he said the words. Then his attention returned south. His hand traveled his way down my cleavage and attached the mic but instead of removing his hand after that it lingered. He gently brushed his fingertips against the swell of my breast and didn't dare to breath since the chance that I would let out a moan was big. When he got closer my nipple I lost track for a second and accidentally closed my eyes. He chuckled lightly and removed his hand. Damn! I had decided not to let him see how he effected me… I don't think I could have failed more. He leant over an kissed me softly on the lips.
"There's a lot more were that came from Babe" he grinned and stepped out of the car. FUCK! Why was he always one step ahead of me? I swear to god that I will deny that man at least ONCE in my life! Only once and I would be satisfied. After coming to that conclusion I stepped out of the car.
When I got in the club I scanned the place for Matthews. He was sitting at the end of the bar starring at every chest he saw like the disgusting creature he was. I could see that he'd already had a lot to drink, which was all the better for me. I put on my act and went to work. I stomped up to the bar taking a seat, leaving one chair between us, pretending to be very angry and upset.
"Give me a Vodka on the rocks" I told to the bartender. "And keep 'em coming". The Merry Men had already been inside talking to the bartender, informing him to make all my drinks alcohol free since I wasn't a big drinker. He handed me two glasses.
"Rough night?" I tasted the "Vodka". Yep it was water.
"You have no idea! I came home finding my shitty boyfriend screwing some sleazy blond on my kitchen table! Can you imagine… my own kitchen table!" Who says you can't use the truth?
"Wow, that really is rough" the bartender said before he turned to help someone else. I emptied the first glass and made a pretend this-is-so-disgusting-face.
"Fucking idiot asshole!" I mumbled under my breath, loud enough for Matthews to hear. In the corner of my eye I could see that I had got his attention. I emptied the other glass. Then I turned my head looking at him. He smiled a disgusting smile and I smiled back, looking at him from head to toe, pretending to like what I saw. He seemed to take that as invitation enough since he moved over to the chair next to me. Ew, he smelled bad too.
"Hi, I'm Robert" he put out is hand.
"I'm Michelle" I said as sweetly as I could while I shook his hand.
"I'm sorry but I couldn't help but overhear what you just said, and let me just say, what a stupid idiot! I mean who would screw another girl when they had a knockout like you in their bed!"
"Well my asshole boyfriend would! What did I do wrong? Am I not pretty enough? Are my boobs to small?" I could imagine Lester laughing out in the car at the boob comment. Matthews gaze traveled down towards my chest.
"Oh no, they're just perfect I can assure you, he just have to be out of his mind" he was still starring at my boobs. Disgusting freak!
"Aw, you're so sweet… you seem like a fine man" I leaned over putting my hand on top of his. "Very fine" I gave him the I-want-you-SO-bad-look.
"Yeah, I could treat you good." He put one hand on my thigh. I edged closer to him.
"I don't doubt that you would"
"Say…" he looked around the room. "You wanna get out of hear? Go some place more quiet?"
"I'd love too" In your dreams dickface! "My car is out front, let's go" he said and stood up.
I got up and we started moving towards the entrance. Yes! I didn't even have to kiss him to get him outside, I must be getting better at this. Or slutier, depending on how you see it. Right now I just wanted to get home, take a shower, put on my pajamas, eat some of my wonderful cake and watch a movie. When we almost were outside he grabbed my arm and pulled me into a little empty corridor, pinning me to the wall. Then he shoved his tongue down my throat. Damn! And I thought I wouldn't have to do this. This was the worst part, kissing a disgusting creep, who has his hands all over you and pretend to like it. I moaned a little so that he would think I was in to it. He put my hands above my head and held them in a steady grip that I couldn't get out of. Then he stopped kissing me and shoved his hand down my dress and ripped up the microphone, throwing it on the floor and stepped hard on it so broke in pieces. SHIT.
"Don't you think I know what you're doing? Don't you think you know who you are?" Oh fuck! He knew exactly what I was doing and held my arms so hard in his grip that I had no chance in getting loose. On top of it all Ranger didn't know what was going on.
"You're that bounty hunter bitch that works for the army guy! You've put some really important friends of mine in jail." Oh no! He's gonna kill me! He is actually gonna kill me. I started to scream and wriggle the best I could to get out of his grip but he hit me hard in the face.
"Shut up bitch!" he hit me again, this time in the stomach and I lost my breath. "Shut the fuck up!" I tried to knee him in the groin but he saw it and stepped aside. He hit me in the face again and threw me down on the floor. The next thing I knew he was pointing a gun at me.
"If you try anything else I'll blow you fucking head off! Get it gorgeous?" I could feel blood and tears running down my face. He bent down next to me, pulling my hair.
"You thought you could trick me didn't you? But I have to admit, for a second there you almost had me" he started to lick my face. "You like that, don't you" That was it. I screamed as loud as I could.
"I thought I told you to sh…" before he could finish the sentence someone knocked him hard in the head and he fell to the ground. Ranger came into my vision, pulling me on to his lap.
"Are you okay?" this time I actually saw worry in his eyes.
"Yeah… I'm fine. We caught the guy right?" I smiled weakly. In the background I saw Tank and Lester hauling Matthews out to the car, not being to careful with his unconscious body if you know what I mean.
"I'm… I'm so sorry Babe, this shouldn't have happened. I should have protected you and…"
"But Ranger you did protect me, otherwise I would be dead by now." I gently stroked his face. He seemed to ease up a bit and put his hand to my chin. I winced at the contact.
"Damnit you're not alright. I need to take you to a hosp…"
"No Ranger! I'm fine! It's just bruises, what I need is for you to take me home." I looked him straight in the eyes so that he would understand that I was okay. "Please". He stared at me for a while and seemed to reassure himself that I would be fine. He wiped the tears of my face.
"Okay I'll take you home" He lifted me up and carried me out to the cars where Tank and Lester were waiting.
"You okay Bombshell?" They both looked worried.
"I'm okay. It's just some bruises, I'll be fine in the morning."
"If you need anything just call" Tank said before they jumped in the car and drove of.
Ranger carried me all they way up to my apartment.
"I think I can walk for myself you know" I said smiling slightly.
"Better not take any chances". I guess he was feeling bad for what had happened.
When we got inside he finally put me down and I went of to take a shower. When I saw myself I the mirror I started to cry. I had dried blood and makeup everywhere and my hair looked like Frankenstein's. Why me? I asked myself. I felt like my mother. When I got out of the shower I put on my jammies and sat down on my couch. Ranger had made me a sandwich and handed it to me as he sat down on the other end.
"Thanks" I took a big bite. As we sat there neither of us spoke and for every minute passing by I was getting more and more angry… at myself.
"Are you sure you're okay" Ranger seemed to have noticed the tension building up inside me. I jumped off the couch and started wandering back and forth in my apartment.
"I'm so god damn sick of this!" I let out.
"I know, I'm sorry I didn't do a better job at…"
"That's not what I mean! Hell if it wasn't for you and the other guys I would've been killed a hundred times over by know! What I mean is I'm so fucking tired of not being able to defend myself. As soon as someone tries something I'm helpless… and I can't keep taking for granted that you are gonna save me every time." I was rambling and almost running back and forth in my frustration. "Maybe Joe and my mom was right… I'm not cut out for this. Maybe I should be working at some god damn button factory…" I stopped in my tracks, slouching down on the floor and leant against the wall. Ranger bent down in front of me and grabbed my arms.
"Don't say that cause you know it's not true. Okay I admit you weren't the best bounty hunter in the beginning but you're a lot better now! I promise you that"
"And the sad thing is even tough I've gotten better I still can't defend myself in an easy situation like this…" I said dejected.
"Steph, even I can't handle every situation on my own, that's why I have Tank and all the other guys. That's why you have us."
"But you don't need help in every got damn situation like I do" tears started coming down my face again. "Don't you think I know how much money I've cost you? How many of you men I've sent to the hospital, how many of you expensive cars I've blown up… or how many times I've endangered, not only my life but yours. I bring a lot more trouble than I'm worth."
"Do you think I would still be around if that was how I felt? Do you think I'd still do those things if I didn't think you were worth it?" he was getting angry.
"Well I don't know"
"Have you ever thought about that I may actually like being there for you?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know anything about how you feel? You're like a closed book god damnit… what exactly do you feel?" everything was pouring out of me.
"What do you mean?" I stood up.
"You send me back to Morelli but keeps on kissing me, you keep lending me cars even tough I blow them up and you know way to much about me and still I know almost nothing about you. What exactly do you want from me?" We just stood there, starring at each other for what seemed like forever.
"Babe… we've talked about this…" he began.
"NO we haven't! Because if we had I wouldn't be bringing it up." All the emotions I had seen earlier in his eyes were gone and the mask was back on.
"Steph… I've told you how my life…"
"Doesn't lent itself to relationships, I know! But then why do you keep kissing me?" And just when I thought I was going to get some answers… his cell rang. He flipped it open and I sighed and went in to my bedroom. But I could still hear the conversation.
"Talk. Yeah… I'll be there in ten" then he hung up. I was sitting on my bed with my face in my hands. Ranger appeared at the door.
"I gotta go. But I'll swing by tomorrow with your fee from the distraction."
"Yeah… See you then." I said dejected and he was gone. The moment to get Ranger to talk had passed anyway.
As I sat there I realized how tired I was and how badly I wanted to sleep. As I went back in the living room to hit the lights I saw my answering machine blinking. It was Mary Lou.
"Hey Honey, just calling to remind you about our night out tomorrow! You better have a cute dress picked out because you are going to be dancing your ass off, every guy in place is going to be drooling all over you. God I'm SO exited! I can't wait until tomorrow night! Oh well, sleep tight and I'll see you soon."
I couldn't help but smile, she was the best friend you could ever get. And boy were we gonna have some fun. Ricardo Carlos Manoso… Get ready to eat you heart out!"
Okay I know these last two chapters have been kind of boring and I'm sorry about that! I hope you will find the next one more fun! At least I'm having fun writing it ;)