We picked Connie up and arrived at the club by 7:30pm which was pretty good timing.

I hadn't spoken much since Lula picked me up, but neither Lula nor Connie seemed to mind very much.

I was trying not to think too much about my actions in the apartment or leaving Ranger standing there like that. I wanted to hold on to the feeling it had given me and have a good night out while spying on my skip.

Now that I knew Ranger was back I didn't have to worry about finding him anymore. In regards to Joe, maybe he was really out of town on business.

But something told me it wasn't really all that simple.

Why had Ranger looked so different, and why had he knocked instead of just letting himself into apartment like he usually did.

Shit, no more thinking about Ranger! No more thinking about Ranger!

Lula pulled up a few blocks from the club and parked. We all got out of the car and slowly made our way to the door (the problem with wearing four inch heels).

Outside the entrance was a line up about 20 metres long, I had been hoping that by arriving a little late that the line would have dispersed a little more.

Unfortunately I was wrong.

I groaned in frustration and turned to face Lula who looked equally as pissed. Connie however smiled and pulled three plastic passes out of her bag she handed one to each of us.

'Put these on, I got them this afternoon after we decided to go, I thought they might come in handy' she said with a mischievous grin as she placed one of the passes around her neck.

Curious I looked down at the pass now in my hand. Oh crap!

I turned back to Connie and handed her the pass "No way am I doing that'

Connie just ignored my hand and turned to Lula 'What do you think?'

Lula looked down at her pass and then back up at the line that had amazingly increased in the moments we had been standing there. She turned back to Connie and shrugged.

'It sure beats standing in that line for an hour' and she placed the pass around her neck.

I looked at both of them and felt myself undecided, was it really that big a deal, although present company wasn't a great example of what an ordinary female would consider crossing a line. One was an ex hooker and the other was well I wasn't entirely sure what Connie was capable of. I looked back down at my pass and read it over again.

VIP special immediate entry for a table dance. It wasn't that bad, I could do it. I ignored the questioning glances from Lula and Connie and placed the pass around my neck and headed strode for the door. Connie gave out a hoot and Lula whistled behind me. I ignored them, showed the doorman my pass and made my way inside. If I was going to give a table dance I was going to need some alcohol, a lot of alcohol.

Once we were inside I headed straight for the bar without taking a look around I smiled. Connie and Lula were on my heels. The bar tender came over immediately and smiled.

I smiled back and asked for three strawberry dakeries. The bartender just nodded and went about getting the drinks.

Connie and Lula came up either side of me, I ignored both of them and concentrated on watching the drinks being made. To say I was pissed was probably over doing it. As it had been my choice to use the pass, I was just really not looking forward to doing a table dance for a group of complete strangers. At least I had a little bit of time to down some alcohol, the pass just indicated that you had to do the dance before you left. I guess they checked if you had been stamped as you were leaving the club. The penalty was listed as a 'surprise' which I was guessing wasn't going to be very inviting.

The dakeries came and I passed one to both Lula and Connie. We all looked at each other nodded and skulled them in one go. I turned back to the guy behind the bar and nodded. He seemed to understand I wanted another round as he went about making three more.

After skulling another two drinks I was feeling a lot more optimistic about my up coming table dance. I still hadn't spoken much, which for me was strange. Usually me and alcohol equal blabber mouth. But tonight I wasn't feeling the need to talk. Connie and Lula had been whispering to themselves and occasionally tried to include me in the conversation but gave up after observing my lack of interest. They had been talking about Ranger and his merry men and which one they believed was the hottest. Connie was a die hard Ranger fan but Lula leaned a little more towards Tank. They were practically drooling just thinking about it.

I decided to tune them out. Don't get me wrong I completely understood where they were coming from. But the last thing I needed to think about while getting intoxicated was Ranger and his body. That would just end up with to many hot flushes, too much thinking about the kiss in my apartment and me over analysing my own actions.

I wasn't going to do that.

Especially not tonight.

The drinks must have been kicking in as I was starting to feel like there was electricity running through my veins, I turned and looked at the dance floor.

It was packed, people were dancing in pairs groups and by themselves. I could feel the vibration of the music through the floor and couldn't help slightly moving my body to the beat.

I scanned the dance floor again and I felt like it was beckoning me over and it couldn't hurt to get some practice in before I had to jump on a table. I turned back to Lula and Connie.

'You guys want to go dance' I asked and indicated towards the floor.

They both nodded enthusiastically so we headed out amongst the bodies on the floor and found a little space on the right hand side.

The song had a fairly fast beat which was good as it made it easier to relax and just dance. Almost as soon as we got settled on the floor we had three guys approach us. Connie latched on to one of them almost immediately, Lula smiled and danced with the second one, which left me and number three.

Thinking what the hell I looked number three up and down. I know that is a really obvious thing to do to show you are checking someone out but given my usual male company this guy had a lot to live up to. I must admit though he was pretty hot, He had short dark brown hair, kind of wavy. Bright smiling blue eyes and a pretty darn good body which his clothes helped to exhibit, in a subtle way.

I looked back up to his face and smiled when I noticed he was doing exactly the same thing to me. He looked back up to my face and blushed when he realised he had been caught out. I just smiled and held out my hand. He looked a little surprised but took it anyway.

We started dancing together, in a slightly more than friendly way but not the full ruff and tumble. I had to admit that it felt nice to be held again, over the last few weeks I had missed that feeling of going to sleep and waking up next to a warm body, in a strange way it made you feel safe and protected.

After a few songs I took a look around and noticed both Lula and Connie had disappeared with their dates. Great! Dancing with a complete stranger was one thing but being left alone with him while in an intoxicated state with a table dance looming in the not to distant future left me a little edgy.

My dance partner seemed to notice my anxiety as he placed a hand on my shoulder to get my attention and motioned towards the bar. I nodded in response and we left the dance floor hand in hand. (It's easier to make it through the crowd this way)

I headed straight for the bar and took a seat, the same bartender from before came right over. I asked for the same as before and looked up at my partner who had taken the seat next to me and still had hold of my hand. He asked for a beer, the bar guy nodded and went about getting the drinks.

I turned back to my partner and smiled I guess it was time to exchange names

'Hi, I am Stephanie'

'Josh' he replied

There was a moment of silence and I was starting to wonder if I was doomed be in the company of one word answering guys forever, but Josh surprised me as he broke the silence first.

'I haven't seen mine or your friends for a while, but don't worry the guys cant leave without me they visiting me form out of town and are staying at my place'

'They have to be around here, I am sure they will find us when they are ready' the bar guy came and placed the drinks in front of us and I handed some money to pay but he just shook his head and pointed towards Josh. Confused I turned to Josh and gave him a questioning look.

He looked to grimace slightly and then blushed, 'My brother owns the club, the benefit of being part of the family is me and my friends get free drinks'

I was in a little shock, he was my skips brother, he looked nothing like the creepy I had seen in the photo this morning.

I picked up my drink and sculled it down, I turned back to the guy behind the bar and indicated I wanted another one the same.

I turned back to Josh and found him watching me he looked a little concerned 'Are you ok' he asked me

I didn't want him to know that I knew who his brother was so I answered in a calm voice 'Yeah I am fine, just all the dancing has made me a little thirsty'

He looked at me for a moment seemed to relax a bit 'So what do you do for a day job?'

I had to stop myself from sighing, why couldn't this ever be easy I couldn't exactly tell the truth and say hi I am a bounty hunter and by the way I want to collect your brother. So instead I told a half lie.

'I work in law enforcement' ok so a little more than a half lie

Josh's eyes widened and he smiled 'Really, I wouldn't have picked that as your occupation'

I was curious and really wanted to change the subject so I asked 'Why, what did you think I did'

He smiled and looked at the pass around my neck 'Something more along those lines'

I looked down at my pass (which I had completely forgotten about) and felt myself blush.

'No that was my friends way of getting us in without lining up, I was hoping to find a loop hole before I actually had to go through with it'

Josh shook his head and grinned at me "why didn't you just throw it in the bin once you were inside the door, who would have known the difference'

I must have looked a little confused because he smiled and reached up behind my head grabbed the tag and gently lifted it over my head, he threw the tag over the bar and turned back to face me 'there you go, you have found your loop hole'

Now usually when a strange guy touches me especially the ones from distraction jobs I get a grossed out and have to restrain myself from shuddering in disgust. But with Josh the sensation wasn't unpleasant. Now this could be a mix of the effects of the alcohol and a bit of pent up loneliness from the last couple of weeks. But right now with him sitting in front of me smiling and being kind if sweet, I was acting before I was thinking and I reached over placed my hands on either side of his face and kissed him. He reacted and kissed me back but didn't try and deepen it. After a little bit he pulled back gently and smiled a cheeky smile.

'What was that for' he asked

'Gratitude for getting me out of the Table dance, I wasn't looking forward to it'

'Those tags are a fun activity for the drunken girls and guys who like doing it, my brother thought it was a good idea to bring people inside. Speaking of table dancing, isn't that your two friends up there'

I turned and looked in the direction Josh was pointing. Standing on a table doing a duo was Connie and Lula grinding away as a crowd of people were cheering them on from below. I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing.

Connie looked trashed and was having trouble staying balanced as she danced. Lula on the other hand had a bottle in her hand that she was using as a pretend microphone and was singing her heart out as she danced to the beat of the music. She was actually quite good. When the song ended they both took a bow and the crowd clapped and cheered.

I guess table dancing wasn't so bad after all.

I turned back to Josh 'I think they are having a good time'

He smiled that cheeky smile at me again 'Looks like'

I turned back to my drink and realised it was empty again, Geez that went quick.

I looked back to where Connie and Lula had been dancing and saw them making their way over with Josh's friends. I went to stand up to go and meet them but as soon as I put my feet on the ground I realised how drunk I really was. The room started to spin and I felt my feet give out a little and I reached out and put my hand on Josh's shoulder to steady myself. He placed his hand on my upper arm to steady me. This simple action sent shivers down my spine, now I knew I definitely had too much to drink. The only other person who had ever given me shivers was Ranger, and while this guy was nice and sweet in a strange kind of way he was no Ranger.

Once I felt secure on my feet I thanked him and smiled 'I just needto go to the bathroom, Can you let Connie and Lula know where I am'

Josh nodded and I headed off in the direction I saw the bathroom in earlier. On my way I had to pass the dance floor so I decided to keep an eye out for my skip. I definitely wasn't going to try and bring him in tonight especially with my current intoxication but a little snooping never hurt.

As I moved through the crowd I scanned the people around but caught no sign of Mr Creepy, he was probably busy with other stuff tonight, I guess I was going to have to try again later.

I finally made my way to the bathroom and headed down the corridor towards the ladies entrance, but as I was about to open the door, I felt myself wrenched into what I guess was the janitors closet and a hand closed it self firmly around my mouth.

I followed my first instinct and stamped on my attacker's foot, I heard a small protest and the hand released slightly on my mouth, I took advantage of the little bit of freedom and tried to kick them in the nuts, but my assailant had recovered and intercepted my foot.

I could feel myself start to panic, here I was in a loud club trapped in a closet with who knows and no one would hear me scream. I felt the anger and adrenaline rise within me again. No way was I going down without a fight. I dealt with this kind of scum everyday and was still alive, what made this one think he was any different.

He still had his hand over my mouth so I did the only thing I could think of and bit down as hard as I could. He immediately released his hand so I turned and kicked him in the groin as hard as I could in four inch heels and a dress. I turned to run out of the room but was halted by a hand on my upper arm and the sound of a very familiar voice.

'Babe. Wait'

I froze at the sound of his voice and turned around, slightly silhouetted in the dark was Ranger, I could just make out the outline of his face but couldn't read his expression.

I was feeling, shit I don't what the hell I was feeling, one minute he is there the next he is gone, then he is back and I kiss him in my apartment, now he is scaring the hell out of me by pulling into a closet at a nightclub.

What the hell was going on?

I needed to get out of this room, I needed to go home, I took one last look at his silent shadow and turned back to the door, I was about to pull down on the handle when I was hurled back and was then pinned against the wall with my arms placed above my head.

Ranger had himself placed up against me so that almost every part of our bodies that could be touching was doing so.

'Going somewhere?' he asked me in his usual quite tone

I took a deep breath trying to clear my head and noticed that Ranger smelt different, he no longer had the intoxicating Bulgari smell. He now smelt like freshly mowed grass. I shook my head trying to get a grip on this. Not that I minded the smell of grass it was quite refreshing, just not on Ranger! I leaned into the side of Ranger's neck and took another sniff.

'You smell different' I said little more husky than I had intended.

Ranger laughed and shifted back a little breaking body contact 'Part of the job I am currently working on, all part of the image'

I tugged at my arms that were still pinned above my head, trying to get Ranger to release them.

He smiled slightly "are you going to run away'

My arms were getting tired 'No'

Ranger nodded and released my arms but placed his hands on my upper arms instead, I got goose bumps at the contact, it never failed to amaze me the effect this man could have on me at one simple touch.

I looked up and met his eyes for the first time since entering the closet. He looked amused, but tired, I hadn't really taken time to really look at him in my apartment I had been so wrapped up in my own feelings that I hadn't stopped to think about why Ranger had been away.

Now I felt a little guilty.

Ranger however broke me out of my musings.

'Babe, I need to talk to you about something'

'Now' I asked a little apprehensive.

'Now' he said

I nodded 'ok'

Ranger seemed to be relieved and took a step away from me so that he was no longer touching me. I felt cold at the loss of contact but took the opportunity to stand up from against the wall. I watched him waiting for him to start.

Eventually he did.

"Babe I know why you are here tonight, to check out your latest skip, but I need you to back off this one'

I guess it wasn't the first time that Ranger had asked me to give up a skip, but I couldn't help but be a little curious. "Why'

Ranger looked at me for a moment 'I don't suppose there is much chance that you will just back off without an explanation'

I was going to hold my ground 'you guess right'

Ranger sighed and took a step towards me 'I cant tell you all the details but this guy is involved in the job I am working on at the moment, and if he gets the inkling you are on to him he might end up being more suspicious towards other people as well could break my cover'

I was curious 'what is your cover exactly'

Ranger smiled 'I am a labourer at the club, some of the work upstairs isn't finished yet, it gives me an opportunity to see what is going on'

'Is that why you smell different, you aren't trying to smell to sexy'

Ranger smiled a full ranger smile 'You think I am sexy babe'

I rolled my eyes and felt myself smile 'What do you want me to do'

Ranger turned serous again 'You can come to the club, just don't seek out your skip, and stay away from any of his associates'

I must have looked a little guilty as Ranger frowned at my expression

'Babe' he asked in a questioning tone

'It might be too late for that'

'Explain' Ranger asked me

I didn't really want to explain how I after I had kissed and left him at my apartment, I had come out to the club only to hook with my skips brother, but their was something about my relationship with Ranger that made it almost impossible for me to lie to him, so I bit the bullet and told him the truth.

'I may have accidentally already made contact with his brother'

Ranger took a step towards me 'how much contact?'

I looked down at my hands 'Just a bit of dancing and drinking, I may have slipped in a kiss somewhere' I couldn't bring myself to look Ranger in the eye

'Which brother' he asked. I felt him move closer to me so that we were almost touching again

'Josh, I didn't know it was his brother until after we had been dancing for a while, otherwise I wouldn't have ...'

Ranger however cut me off 'Don't worry about it, are you ok to get home?'

I was a little dumbstruck 'Yeah Lula is driving us'

Ranger smiled at this 'I don't think Lula is going to be driving anywhere tonight Babe, especially after that table dance'

'You saw that' I asked already knowing that answer

'Yes, I was waiting for you to join them'

'But if you knew I was here you would have known who I had been dancing with'

Ranger smiled and nodded.

'Then why the questions' I asked a little pissed off.

'I wanted to see if you knew who you were dancing with'

I shook my head and smiled, he was always one step ahead of me and I wanted that to change. I looked back up at his face; he was close to me now, very close. So I took a chance, stood on my tippy toes and placed my lips to his in a gentle kiss, well what I meant as a gentle kiss but soon turned into something more heated. Ranger pushed me up against the wall and proceeded to kiss the living daylights out of me until I lost sense of everything but him. When he pulled back he looked me in the eye and smiled.

'If you are going to play with fire Babe, be prepared for the consequences' he said in a thick voice.

I was still in a head spin from the kiss but managed to respond

'No complaints here'

Ranger gave me one more swift kiss and then moved away so that I could stand up properly 'You need to get back, if you need a ride home let me know'

I nodded "yep will do' and left the closet with my head spinning and my heart racing fully aware that I hadn't actually agreed to do anything Ranger had asked.