Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Janet Evanovich owns everything. The only one I own is Peter Atolo (he'll show up later. Aren't you in suspense?) and the skip in this chapter, and if anyone can get JE to agree, I'd gladly trade them for Ranger. Fantastic deal for her, really, a 2 for 1 special… ;)

I apologize in advance because the chapters will all very likely be short. So, sorry about that. Hope you enjoy it anyway. Please R&R.

Chapter 1

"Babe." As I got into his truck, Ranger looked me up and down, eyes almost black. If that 'babe' meant what I was pretty sure it meant, I had to agree. I looked hot. At the moment, I was wearing full distraction get-up: black FMPs, a short, low cut, clingy black dress. My hair had cooperated today, so it was in nice ringlets as opposed to 'I just got electrocuted' frizziness.

I didn't know what to say in response to that, so I just gave him a little smile and closed the door. He returned the smile, although his was a lot more of a 'I'd rather have sex with you than take my skip to the police station', as opposed to a 'Let's go, because I have no clue what to say' type smile.

As he drove to the bar, he was in his zone, so it was silent. He parked and got out the little microphone that he needed to put down my dress, giving me another smile. This was a 'My hand's going down your dress now to put on the microphone, but I can't promise that's all I'll do with it' smile. Five minutes, one rather intense kiss, and several moans later, I got out of the truck, all set to go kick some bad-guy butt. Or rather, to go seduce the bad-guy so he'd come out and Ranger could kick his butt. But hey, it's the same thing, basically, right?

Once inside the bar, I located the skip right away. Will Tusen, wanted for assault and battery and indecent exposure. He'd run down the street naked after his dog got out of the house while he was changing. He caught the dog, and, while walking it home, someone made a not-so-nice comment about Mr. Floppy, whereupon he proceeded to beat up the commenter. I swear, I get all the weird ones.

I sat down next to him and gave him a tiny smile and ordered 'whatever he's having.' When the beer came (honestly, couldn't he be a bit more original?), he smiled at me.

"Hi, I'm Will."

It was generally a bad idea to admit that you knew this already, along with facts such as where he lived, what kind of dog he had, what his female neighbors' assessments of his body were, what his male neighbors' assessments of his body were, etc. Not only did it sometimes come off as a bit stalkerish, it also had the unfortunate side-effect of revealing that I was a bounty hunter.

So, keeping this all in mind, I just returned the smile (I was doing a lot of smiling tonight) and said, "I'm Stephanie." Tiny pause, as though I was trying to figure out how to display my interest without sounding like a gold digger, then, "So, what do you do?"

"I'm a car salesman."

Or, you had been, until you got arrested and then, the next day, fired. "Really? That's interesting." I gave him another smile, this one teasing and flirtatious. "So, if I buy a car from you, can I get a discount?"

I'll admit, I wasn't using any good lines tonight. If I were him, I'd be about as interested in leaving with me as I was interested in sleeping with Albert Kloughn. And in case you're wondering how desperate I am to sleep with Albert Kloughn, I'll give you a hint: I'd rather shoot myself in the foot than sleep with him. Apparently, however, Will wasn't me, because he chuckled in a way that I think was intended to be sexy but sounded like he was sick. "Sure, why not? Speaking of cars, want to see mine?"

I was pretty sure that was an invitation to go home with him, but it was the weakest one I've ever heard. Luckily it hadn't taken very long to get him interested (maybe he was just desperate for female attention), and apparently my dress alone had done the trick, because, for some reason, I was less up for distraction tonight than normal.

Weak or not, though, I was going to seize the opportunity. I stood up and smiled. "Now?"

He nodded and, after paying for both of our drinks, we went outside. We had barely stepped outside when Will was pulled back and his hands were cuffed behind his back. I was distracted from Will's protests immediately by Ranger.

Ranger backed me up two steps so I was against the wall, and then put one hand on either side of my head and leaned in to kiss me. A little while later, he pulled back and smiled at me. We were broth breathing hard and his voice was ragged as he asked, "Want to see my car?"

I laughed and went along. "Now?" He nodded and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was serious. He was actually asking me to sleep with him. Well, no, I'm sure he wasn't planning on sleeping, at least not at first, but I knew what he wanted.

I returned the nod and we got into his car. As we drove over, I thought about what I was doing. Unfortunately, sex with Ranger always gets really complicated. For one thing, there's the whole Joe-guilt problem. Plus, I don't like doing one night stands. Burg girls don't do one night stands. We're raised 'with better standards'. And all Ranger wanted was a one night stand, and he didn't do relationships. On the other hand, though, it's hard to resist Ranger, and Joe and I were on a break. So, in a way, it was completely alright to sleep with Ranger. At this point, I noticed that we were in the RangeMan parking lot, which means Ranger must have been going about twice the speed limit. I'm pretty sure that if any cops had been anywhere nearby, Ranger would have gotten quite a few tickets for speeding. I wonder if he'd have paid them?

"Probably not, Babe." I barely had time to figure out that I'd asked the question out loud before he got out of the truck. I hopped out too, as I know he'd expected me to. I pushed my doubts away and walked over to him, giving him a smile and then walking towards the elevator with him. As soon as we got into the elevator, he pulled me up against him and kissed me. When the elevator stopped and the door opened, we were both breathing with a lot more difficulty. We quickly went into his appartment and then there wasn't any more talking. Or, at any rate, no more talking which required much intellectual input.

Several hours later, I woke up to a shrill ringing. I was snuggled against Ranger, my back to his front, and wanted to stay there and ignore whatever phone was ringing. Ranger, apparently, had different ideas, because he disentangled himself from me and reached out to get his cell phone.

"Yo." There was silence for a while, as Ranger listened, then he spoke again. "I'll be there as soon as possible." He turned off the phone and then rolled away from me.

I frowned and sat up. "What's happening?"

"I have to go. I may be gone for a few weeks." As he said this, he was getting dressed.

"What? Leaving? Where are you going?"

"I can't tell you that, Babe. If you need help with anything, call Tank. When you need a new car, call Tank."

I glared at him. "What do you mean 'when'? What makes you think I'll need a new car?"

The corners of his lips lifted. Definite amusement but not quite a smile. "Babe, you've had this car for four months and you haven't blown up anyone else's cars or garages or places of business or any such thing in all that time. Something is overdue to explode."

I was still trying to figure out what to say to defend myself (not much I could say; I'd been thinking the same thing a few days ago) when he walked out the door.