Thank you all for the great reviews!

Okay this part is a little shorter than I usually write, but that's only because I decided to devide the chapter in two, thought you all could use a little break from those 4000 words chapters so that no one would get tired of reading :)

Hope you all enjoy!

I couldn't help but smile, she was the best friend you could every get. And boy were we gonna have some fun
Ricardo Carlos Manoso... get ready to eat your heart out!

It was Saturday night and I was in the shower, getting ready for Mary Lou's and my night out. I was really looking forward to it. Just as I was washing the shampoo out of my hair, in the middle of singing "Girls just wanna have fun" I heard my phone ring. SHIT! I hated this. I turned of the water and jumped out of the shower, almost slipping. I grabbed a towel but didn't have time to stop and wrap myself in it, instead I ran to get the phone in time. I got into the kitchen and slid the last few feet to the phone. But just as every other time you pick up the phone exactly when the person on the other line decides to hang up. Great, all that running for nothing. Then I felt the tiny hairs on my neck stand up... uh oh, that usually only meant one thing. I spun around and saw Ranger leaning against the back of my couch looking amused. FUCK! I was standing naked and wet from the shower… in front of Ranger. God must really hate me right now.

"Nice outfit Babe" he grinned at me. Then his gaze traveled the length of my body and his eyes went dark. Oh crap. I was frozen to the spot, you know when your mind is screaming MOVE but your body seem to totally how forgotten how to move a muscle. And my towel was on the floor. He pushed himself of the couch and stepped closer. I finally snapped out of my trance and quickly snatched the towel of the floor and wrapped it around me.

"Hey don't get shy on my account... I kind of enjoyed the view." Damn that wolfgrin of his.

"Fuck you Ranger" I turned to walk away but he grabbed my wrist.

"Not so fast" he jerked me around so I faced him again. "Here's your fee for last night" he held up a check and folded it up, then he stepped closer and slipped the check in my cleavage. Bold… very bold. I felt my face turn warm. My gaze went from his hand to his eyes. Then he closed the space between us and threw me in one of those breath-taking-toe-curling-knee-weakening type of kisses. He was such a good kisser I thought to myself. All of a sudden he had lifted me up into his arms and carried me into my bedroom. Wait what was going on? Was Ranger planning on going all the way this time? Oooh shit. I'd become so used to him breaking it off after a while that I wasn't really prepared for this. He laid me down on the bed and settled him self on top of me. His lips never left mine. God this felt good. But I shouldn't be doing this… there were too many issues we needed to work on.

"Ranger… stop" he left my mouth but started to kiss his way down my neck instead. Shivers went trough my body, god this was hard"

"Why?" He just kept kissing me.

"Because I tell you to"

"You want me to stop this…" he gently kissed me behind my ear "or this" he nibbled my earlobe. No I didn't.

"Yes" that came out more of a moan than I was hoping.

"Yeah, I can hear that Babe" he chuckled. Alright that was IT! I put my hands against his chest and pushed him of me as hard as I could. Since he wasn't prepared for the push I actually managed to get him off me. I got up as fast as I could and turned around.

"I said STOP okay!" I had never seen him as surprised as he looked right now "You can't just keep doing this! Because no matter what idea you have about me I don't sleep with people just to have sex. I sleep with someone when I care about them and we have something special" I turned around and grabbed some underwear from my drawer and let the towel fall the floor, not caring that he saw me naked this time. I started to put on the underwear "And since you've made it VERY clear that you want nothing but sex from me, I'm not going to sleep with you. Now if you excuse me I have to get ready because I'm going out with Mary Lou tonight"

I stormed out there and into my bathroom, my adrenalin pumping like crazy. Oh my god! I just did it! I just denied Batman! I couldn't stop smiling! I, Stephanie Plum, had just written history! I was probably the first woman ever to deny Ranger sexually. Maybe there was a little Wonder Woman in me after all. That feeling was better then ten Ranger caused orgasms… okay maybe not, but it was a good substitute. After a while I heard my door close so I guessed he was gone. Good, Mary Lou was coming over in a minute and I didn't want to focus on anything but having a fun night, so I pushed every thought about Ranger out of my head.

An hour later Mary Lou and I was getting ready for our night out together. We had opened a bottle of wine and were giggling like schoolgirls as we were helping each other pick out outfits. It almost felt like we were 18 again.

"What about your red dress?" Mary Lou asked

"No, I wore it yesterday at distraction, besides you can see my panties in it"

"And that's a bad thing?" I gave her a glare and she started laughing.

"What about this one?" I held up a Safire green dress

"That's perfect! You will look so gorgeous in it! Every single guy will hit on you… and probably some married ones too"

"You're out of your mind" I laughed and hit her with the dress. "But you're right, this is the dress… my boobs look big in it."

"Well then it's definitely the one." She winked at me.

A few hours later we were wobbling our way down the street giggling.

"But how do you really feel about the whole Morelli thing? Aren't there any bitter feelings at all?" These kind of things is best to discuss when you're a bit tipsy, you can say what ever you want and if you say too much you can always blame the wine.

"Surprisingly I'm not that bitter. I mean of course it feels weird but I've finally realized that I don't love him… even though I always thought I'd always have him as an option. You know… that he would always want me... and now he has found a new woman. Well that just shows that you never should take anything for granted"

"Hey he surprised everybody, we all thought you two would end up together… until Batman showed up at least."

"What do you mean?"

"Well you'd have to be blind not to see the connection between you and Ranger. You know there's a reason why Joe never could relax when he knew you were with him. He was so scared that you would leave him for Ranger… 'cause as I said, anyone could see the attraction between you. And guess what, he was right" I stopped.

"Now hold it just a second! I didn't leave Joe for Ranger" I was pointing a shaky finger at her.

"Not officially no… but he definitely had something to do with it."

"No no no, I left Joe 'cause he didn't accept me the way I am, he always wanted to change me. Besides, he left me remember."

"No, he just said the words out loud. I can promise you that if there had been no Ranger in the picture, you guys would be married by now. Probably have children and everything and don't try to argue with me! You know just as well as me that you love Ranger just the way you loved Joe in the beginning." She started walking again.

"Wow, wait a minute you think I love Ranger? I care about him yes, I'm attracted to him yes, I mean who wouldn't be? But love? " My hesitation suprised even myself "... no."

"Is that right?" She just smiled mockingly at me.

"Yes! And I am going to show you tonight just how open I am to meeting new guys" Hm maybe I was more drunk than I thought.

"Bring it on honey" she smiled at me and we walked off giggling into the night.