The guys were helping me clean up the rubbish from the food when I felt a familiar prickling on the back of my neck. I turned around to find Ranger leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed and an amused expression on his face.

'Tank' he said

Tank and the other guys all immediately stopped what they doing and turned around to face Ranger.

'Boss' Tank said

'You want to explain what you are all doing in my apartment when you should be downstairs working'

Tank was about to say something but I jumped in front of him.

'They are here because of me' I looked at Ranger as I said this; I wasn't lying to him so I had no trouble holding his gaze.

Ranger seemed amused at my defensive reaction, but turned to Tank 'I think it's about time you got back to work, the party is over'

Guessing that was my cue to leave as well I picked up my bag of leftovers and my hand bag and headed towards the door after the guys. Ranger however had other ideas as he pulled me to the side and closed the door.

'Not so fast Stephanie' he said with amusement

Great, I really just wanted to go home and shower.

'What's up' I asked

Ranger released my arm and headed over to the kitchen; he got out a bottle of water and took a drink.

I followed him into the kitchen and tried to patiently wait for him to speak, but after a few minutes of silence I couldn't stand it any longer

'This has been fun and all, but I really need to get going' and I headed back towards the front door in a bit of a huff.

Ranger however was one step ahead of me and cut me off before I got to the door, I slammed in to a chest that felt like brick and nearly fell flat on my ass.

Ranger grabbed my arms and steadied me while slightly laughing.

'Asshole' I said under my breath not really caring If he heard it or not.

'Heard that' he said with a smile on his face

'You were meant to' I said back a bit pissy; I didn't like being laughed at.

Ranger's smile grew, so I pulled my arms out of his hands and shoved him back a step.

'I am really not in the mood for one of your mind games, so if you don't mind, I really need to go home and shower' I went to move past him again. This time however he gently placed his hand on my arm which caused me to stop and look up at his face.

He was no longer smiling.

'Sorry Steph, but I need to talk to you'

I thought about it for moment and couldn't help the slightly pissed remark that came out of my mouth

'Do I have a choice in the matter?'

Ranger took his hand away and frowned down at me

'Usually yes, but this time no'

I shook my head not really sure why I was so pissed off, I sighed and tried to relax. I nodded to Ranger and headed to the couch where I sat down and waited.

Ranger followed me and sat down in the chair opposite.

'How are you feeling today' he asked with a concerned tone.

Ok this wasn't what I was expecting Ranger to ask me so my answer was a little less convincing than I had wanted it to sound.

'Fine' I said a little hesitant because of my surprise

Ranger looked at me for a moment 'you had me worried last night'

I looked away from his face and down at my hands and let the words come out, I wasn't sure I was ready to talk about last night but I tried anyway.

'I had myself worried as well; it wasn't the reaction I was expecting to have'

Ranger frowned and leaned forward in his chair

'What do you mean Babe' he asked softly

I kept my focus on my hands and tried to explain the emotions that went through my head last night.

'When I first became a bounty hunter, I was hopeless at it, but always managed to bring my skips in without too much trouble. I never really had to use too much force or use too much violence. I always had someone else be the muscle for me'

I looked up at this comment and smiled at Ranger, he was watching me intently. I got up out of my chair and started to pace

'I got a bit better as time went on, and even got used to using my gun a little, I got a little tougher, a little faster and a lot more stubborn. I expected these changes I was comfortable with them, I was still me. But last night, the way I reacted what I did. Wasn't like me. I saw a threat and I eliminated it, without a second thought. I didn't even know I could shoot like that, I didn't know I thought like that, And so after I had realised what I had done I had a little break down. Sure I was shocked that I had killed someone, but I was more scared at what that meant, what that made me now. Had I really changed that much, how cone I didn't notice'

I stopped pacing and turned to face Ranger

'Last night I went to sleep feeling more lost than I have felt in a long time, but this morning when I woke up I had a little more perspective. I was stupid to think that a job like bounty hunting wasn't going to change me, especially when I am a magnet for psychos. After all the visits to the shooting range I should have known that my ability to hit a target would improve'

I looked at Ranger again, but his face was blank.

I sat back down on the couch and stared at my hands again

'I don't know how I feel about these changes, but I do know that I have lived so long in the land of denial that I am suffocating down there, I need to know who I am now, what I am now. I don't want to wake up one morning and see a stranger in the mirror because I denied or pushed away the opportunity to change. I want to embrace it and for that I need your help'

I looked back up at Ranger, he was watching me with a strange look on his face.

I held his gaze.

After a beat or two I recognised the look on his face.

It was pride, he was proud of me. I felt a warm tingly feeling well up in my stomach at the idea. It wasn't often I made someone proud of me.

'I am proud of you Babe, how can I help'

I held his gaze and told him my idea

'Obviously if I am going to keep this up and continue bounty hunting, I need to get into shape, I need to learn some self defence and I need to be able to run more than a hundred metres at a time. But most of all I need more options. I need to learn how to use a gun so that shooting to kill is not my first thought. I need to know about other places you can shoot someone to disarm or disable them. I thought that if you can spare the time, someone here at Range man could help me with these things'

Ranger nodded and smiled

'Tank can hep you with the gun, he is probably the best and would be more than happy to help you out, Bobby can help you with eating habits for getting into shape, I can help you with the self defence and running'

I frowned for a moment

'Are you sure, I mean Tank and Bobby are fine, but aren't you working on a job at the moment, I don't want to take up your time if you have other commitments'

Ok so I was kind of fishing for info while feeling a little guilty for taking up any free time Ranger might have.

Ranger watched me 'Do you want someone else to teach you' he asked with an edge to his voice.

'No, it's not that, it's just….I thought……I mean…..with your undercover job at the club and Alisa I thought you might be too busy, that's all'

I was all flustered and I knew my face would be flaming bright red.

Ranger looked serious 'What has this got to do with Alisa?'

I needed something to focus on so that I didn't blurt out something that I might not be able to take back, I looked around for something, anything. I came up empty so I looked back at Ranger's face and tried to keep my face neutral.

'It's just the other night I got the impression that you were seeing each other and I don't want to get in the way of that'

Ranger's expression softened a little 'in the way?' he asked

Shit that didn't come out how I meant it 'Yeah I didn't want to take up any of your free time or anything, you know since you would most probably be spending it with her that's all'

Ranger looked at me a little strangely, then he smiled

'Babe, your training will be considered business, not personal; they won't interfere with each other'

I looked at him a little confused.

What the hell was he talking about? I admit I was a little offended that in the past when I had bee referred to as entertainment, But now I was strictly business that didn't sound or feel right. For me with Ranger it was always personal. Had things changed now that he was training me? What the hell was Ranger going on about?

'I don't understand?' I said letting my confusion show.

Ranger held eye contact 'that's what I wanted to talk to you about, once you have started your training and feel ready I could use your help on a the job I have been working on'

I felt a little excited at the prospect 'what do you want me to do?' I asked eager for some info.

Ranger smiled 'You have already done the hard part without intending to, As you know I have been working undercover at the club gaining information on the owner and his brothers'

I nodded,

Ranger continued

'We haven't been getting the information we need as fast as we would like, what I want you to do is to get close to the youngest brother'

I already knew who he was talking about 'Josh' I said

Ranger nodded 'you have already made contact and he is interested, all you have to do is go out with him a few times, get invites to the club, look out for anything suspicious. You will be wearing a wire so Tank and Lester will be able to hear everything that goes on, in case of any danger back off and get out'

'How will I know when I am in danger' I asked a little worried that I always seemed to find out after I had been whacked on the head.

Ranger smiled at me again 'You have good instincts Babe; you just need to trust them. I will help you with that over the next few weeks'

I nodded again 'when do you want me to start'

'The sooner the better, Josh thinks your interested so you don't want to leave it to long before you follow up on the other night, go for coffee, a date, what ever you feel comfortable with, try to avoid being alone with him, just in case'

I took all this in feeling a little bad that I would be leading him on, he seemed nice the other night and I wasn't sure if I was cut out to pull this off.

Ranger did his ESP and caught on to my doubts

'Don't do anything that you aren't comfortable with, from what I gathered the other night you shouldn't have any trouble convincing him that you like him. All you are doing is gaining his trust enough to be shown around the place a little. You don't have to do anything illegal. Just do as Tank and Lester say and you will be fine. I am going to be coming in and out of the scene working with in the club. They already know we are friends so we can play that line'

I remembered something

'I told Josh I was In Law enforcement, what will I say I do'

Ranger smiled 'Tell him you have a desk Job with a security firm, just say you elaborated on the details a little, play the frustrated female looking for adventure'

I wasn't sure if Ranger was having a joke at my expense or not, at the moment it didn't matter.

I thought about the details for a moment, did I really want to do this 'What about my work with Vinnie, and do I get paid?' I smiled with the last part

Ranger raised an eyebrow at me

'Bobby and Hal have volunteered to look after your skips, we want you to keep a low daytime profile while the job is on, it will free up your tine and allow you to get some training in, try not to blow anything up. You can still do your regular day to day activities just don't go after any skips'

I nodded at this it did make sense 'what about the pay'

'You will be looked after Babe, don't worry about the money, I will supply a car and money for clothes and what ever other expenses you may incur, as well as pay for the job, so will you do it'

I thought about it, I would be getting paid to date a cute guy while spying on him and his family. I asked one last question that had been bugging me from the beginning 'When the guys left you were going to ask me to do this job, how did you know I was going to suggest training'

Ranger smiled a full Ranger smile at me 'just a hunch' he replied

'Just a hunch, I could have given up and thrown the bounty hunting away' I said

Ranger's smile remained 'there was that possibility and I did consider it, but it's not in you to give up, I was pretty sure you wouldn't'

'Thanks, I think' I said and felt myself smiling back, I couldn't help it he had that effect on me.

'And yes I will do the job' I stood up and held my hand out to Ranger 'lets shake on it' I said half expecting him to laugh at the gesture.

Ranger raised an eyebrow and stood up 'Very professional, welcome to Rangeman' Ranger joked and placed his hand in mine he gave it a light shake but didn't release it straight away.

'That's our relationship, strictly business' I half joked back, not being able to stop before the words left my mouth, I was really going to have to work on that.

Ranger's smile faded and he released my hand.

'Babe?' he asked

I just smiled and shook my head 'just my bad attempt at a joke, sorry wont happen again'

I looked at the clock on the wall and noticed it was three o'clock; I really needed to get home and charge my phone so I could let everyone know I was ok.

'Shit look at the time, I better go, was there anything else. I will make the call to Josh tomorrow and go for coffee I will let you know the details'

Ranger looked at me intently for a moment then took a step towards me

'Are you going to be ok?'

All of a sudden I felt I few tears prick at the back of my eyes what the hell was it about Ranger that could break my composure. When anyone else asked if I was going to be ok, I could give the standard answer. But when he asked it touched something inside of you that hid all your problems from the outside world. The truth is that I was ok and I knew once the training started and I got going in this job that I would adjust. But right now I was still vulnerable and needed to get out of there fast, before I started to cry, before I let Ranger get too close.

I put on the best blank face I could muster and knew I must look constipated and looked at Ranger's face 'Yep just peachy' and I started to head for the door

'Babe' Ranger called out behind me.

I turned and keep my face in place 'yeah'

'You want that car' he said with a smile

'Now, you already have it'

Ranger nodded and handed me a pair of keys 'it's in the garage, I will show you, the guys organised it this morning as a thankyou'

I looked at the keys in my hand; there were three sets of keys

'What are all the keys for 'I asked happy to be focusing on something else?

Ranger gave me that intent look again 'the red one is for the car, the blue one is for the front gate and the third one is to this apartment'

Our eyes met for a moment 'Why?' I asked unable to help myself

Ranger looked serious 'in case you need refuge, or just a place to stay, my door is always open Steph'

I nodded in a little shock last time I had broken into his apartment in a time of need and Ranger had let me stay, this time he was saying I was welcome anytime I guess stranger things had happened.

I smiled at Ranger 'thankyou, I appreciate it' and we walked down to the car park in silence.