Joe's Promise Part 3

I flop back down onto my bed and stare at the ceiling trying to relax after the stress of that phone call. Knock. Knock. Knock. "What?"

"Hey, Gorgeous. You presentable?"

I look down at my clothes from earlier today. I guess I had been too tired earlier to think about changes clothes."Yeah. Come on in."

"You heard from Joe, yet, Beautiful?"

"No. Hopefully, he'll call soon. If not I'll call him in an hour or so."

"Oh. I just heard you on the phone and thought maybe it was Joe."

"Oh. Jeez. Don't remind me." I groan, once again flopping back down, my head landing on the pillows.

"Why? What happened?"

"The usual." I shrug. "My mom called."

"You can't let her get you down. After all, you have a date with me tonight and it would hurt my feelings if you didn't have fun." He flashes me a big grin.

I can't help smiling back. "Ok. I won't be sad any longer. Have you figured out what we're doing tonight?"

"Of course. I had it all planned out before I asked you."

"Don't lie to me. I heard you and Teddy talking."

"Fine." He rolls his eyes. "I had it mostly planned out. I knew what I wanted to do. I just had to find a place that would actually let me do it, especially on such short notice."

"So where are we going?"

"Ah, ah, ah." He shakes his finger at me. "It's a surprise. You'll find out tonight."

"Fine, but what do I wear."

"What you have on is fine or if you want to change it just needs to be slightly warm and dressy, but comfortable. I don't want you injuring yourself for fashion. You hear me."

"I hear you. What time do we leave?"

"As soon as you're ready."

"Crap. That means I have to hurry. I still have a shower to take and I have to find the right outfit."

"Steph. Don't panic. We don't have to be there at a set time. Take all the time you need. There's no need to rush."

"Ok. thanks. I'll see you when I'm ready and hopefully, Joe'll have called by then."

"Ok. Beautiful."

I smile at him and slowly shut the door watching him until I can't see him anymore not wanting to miss any facial expression. Finally, the door is closed and I go about getting ready. First things first, I need to take my shower and then decide what to wear. I take my time in the shower fully relaxing before getting every part of my body clean. After I'm done I look at the time and realize I've spent nearly an hour in the shower. Before getting dressed I decide to check and see if I have any messages on my cell. I don't so, I decide to quickly pull on my rangeman outfit in case I need to leave in a hurry after talking with Joe.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Voicemail. "Hey Joe, I was wanting to check back on what's happening with Sharon. Is it setup, so I can take her back, yet? I've got a date tonight, so call me on my cell and we'll work something out."

Guess I'd better change into something more dressy, so that Lester and I can go. Hopefully, it won't be too big a deal if Joe calls in the middle of our date. After looking through the clothes I brought with me, I finally decided on a blue sundress. Walking out into the main area, I see Tank and Lester sitting on the couch watching a basketball game on the TV. Hearing my door open they both turn and look at me.

"Wow, Steph. I don't think you've ever looked more beautiful." Lester says staring at me.

"Damn. Steph. Will you look this beautiful for our date?" Tank asks.

"I don't know. Depends where you take me. When is our date anyway?"

"Well, if it works for you maybe we can do it tomorrow night. Either here or in Trenton depending on how things work out with your skip. Does that work for you?"

"I think that would work unless I end up needing to work that night. So if you can work around work then we can certainly do it tomorrow."

"That's great. I'll get back to you about time after we hear what's happening with your skip and what if anything you're needed for as far as work goes. Ok?"

"Ok."

"Well that's great and all, but have you heard from Joe, yet?"

"No, I haven't. I figure we'll go out on our date and then hopefully Joe will call my cell. At which point we may need to cut the date short or interrupt it or something."

"That's fine, but if we're expecting to be interrupted we should get started as soon as possible, so let's head out."

"Ok."

Lester is nice. He actually rode the elevator down with me instead of forcing me to take the stairs like Ranger would. We arrive at the parking lot and Lester beeps his car, a silver lexus. We get in and he takes off driving smoothly. It almost seems as if the cars not even touching the ground. That's how smooth it feels. I haven't spent a lot of time in New York City, so I had no idea where we were going and just watched the beautiful horizon. After 20 minutes or so, Lester stops the car and we get out. He takes my hand and leads me up the steps to the Statue of Liberty. The door is locked, but Lester just walks up to the security guard, "Leonard. This is Stephanie Plum. You may have heard of her."

"The Bombshell Bounty Hunter."

"Yep."

"I didn't really blow up the funeral home."

"I'm sure you didn't Miss Plum. So what brings you by here, Lester."

"You know. Is it all set up? I can't wait to show Steph the view from the crown."

"Yeah, it's set up, but you owe me big."

"Come on, Steph, the Statue of Liberty awaits."

Leonard unlocks the door and we start climbing the stairs. It seems to go on forever, but then we were walking up 354 steps, so that probably makes sense. After what seems like 4 hours, but was probably closer to a half hour or an hour we reached the top. The view was breathtaking, but that's not all that was up on the top. Lester had gone to a lot of work to set the stage just right. There was a table set with a candlelit dinner for two, right in front of the great view of the skyline. In the background is the most beautiful and romantic music. Not sure where it is coming from, I look around and see a violinist and a floutist over in the corner.

"Would you like to eat first or would you like to do one of the other entertainments planned first?"

Just then my stomach made itself heard. Blushing slightly, "Eat, of course. This is me we're talking about."

"Ok. Have a seat then."

"So what kind of food did you get me? It's not any of this my body is a temple crap that Ranger eats is it?"

"Nope. Sorry. Hope you weren't expecting that. What you get today will be a delight for the tastebuds and a feast for the senses."