Second chapter of my first Stephanie Plum fanfic, and I appreciate all feedback, please be gentle.

Spoilers: None really, but then again, we see where it takes us.

Rating: PG13 for language, it's adult language

Disclaimer: I made the whole thing up, I own none of JE's characters.

Out Of my Mind

Chapter 2

Vinnie seemed to consider. I was getting my hopes up. It was my fantasy, but there was no guarantee my made-up characters would go along with it. Well, Janet's made-up characters, but same thing.

"Do you have any experience? You don't look like a bounty hunter to me."

He was stating the obvious. I looked like a tourist, ready to explore Jersey.

I leaned forward in my chair and hoped I was managing a confident tone when I replied

"Looks can be deceiving."

Granted, an old line, but I had always wanted to use it.

And it seemed to be working; Vinnie didn't throw me out of the office.

"Talk to Connie, see what she has. I give you a week to impress me."

And he turned towards his monitor.

Good, I thought, so far my fantasy was playing along with me.

The fact that my entire knowledge of bounty hunting was based on reading each Stephanie Plum novel numerous times did not deter me.

Since I felt like Vinnie had dismissed me, I got up and made my way back to the front office.

I hadn't even realized I had closed the door on my way in.

Connie was still behind her desk, but Ranger was gone. Good thing too, because I had no idea how much longer I could contain myself in his presence.

"Vinnie has agreed to let me start immediately. Do you have any low bond skips?" I said, putting my friendly smile on once again.

Connie raised an eyebrow and stared at the closed door to Vinnie's office.

"Go ahead!" He yelled out, as if sensing her glance.

I got a feeling she was a bigger hurdle than he was, so I felt the need to embellish my story.

"I just relocated, and I'd like to show you what I can do. What's the worst that could happen?"

I wake up giggling, I answered the question, but Connie seemed to still be considering it.

"OK" she said finally, clearly not convinced.

She rummaged through some folders on her desk and handed me a few.

"I've already made copies, they're all really low bonds, and I don't really have anyone who'd consider them worth while. You might as well give it a shot."

Huh, look at that. I had made myself a bounty hunter.

I had to agree with myself, what's the worst that could happen?

Stuffing the folders into my purse, I turned to leave, my next stop already figured out.

I was going to make the best of this, and my first action would be to look the part.

In my mind, I was picturing the outfit I was going to get and was oblivious to my surroundings as I stepped out of the office onto the sidewalk.

My heart skipped a beat when a voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Who are you?"

Ranger was leaning against a black Porsche, his arms crossed.

The pose emphasized his bulging biceps muscles and I almost drooled.

He was dressed all in black; black combat boots, cargo pants and skin-tight t-shirt, which really did look painted on.

His black hair was slicked back, I was guessing in a ponytail, and he was every straight girl's fantasy.

Well, this straight girl's at least.

My fantasy persona had a lot more balls than I did, because I heard myself say

"I've already told you my name, what more do you need?"

He didn't move, but his eyes kept studying me, assessing me.

"Not much in a name."

I sighed.

And decided to change the subject.

"I hear you are the best of the best. Legendary."

This got me an almost-shrug, if I hadn't read about him so much, I would have missed it.

The beeper on his belt chirped and he shifted his eyes away from me. I withheld a sigh of relief with some force. It didn't look like I could hold my end of a conversation with him for much longer.

"I have to go." He said after a glance to the readout on the pager, and within seconds, he was in the driver's seat and gone.

Now I did let out the air in a whoosh, and I was not surprised to realize I was sweating.

'Right, then' I decided, willing my feet to move.

I needed to become a bounty hunter, and I had decided I was going to start from the outside.

I knew what I needed, I just didn't know where to find it.

I drove around some, completely unfamiliar with the area, until I found a strip mall that looked promising.

First on my list was my 'combat outfit', and thanks to my avid reading, I had a clear picture in my head.

I pulled into the parking lot of an army surplus store and headed out.

Black seemed to be the obvious choice, but I didn't really want to look like a Ranger wannabe.

I was lucky to find boots in my size, but then I decided on gray cargo pants and a gray utility belt.

Lucky for me, there was a gun store right next door.

I have never even held a gun, but I figured I had seen them handled in enough movies to have the right idea.

Before I knew it, I had purchased pepper spray, a big-ass maglite, and a semi-automatic gun.

I had picked the gun because it looked like something I could hold, although I had no intention of using it.

The clerk asked to see my driver's license, but didn't take down any information. I had no idea what the gun laws were in New Jersey, I only knew there was no legal way to carry a gun in Massachusetts.

At the risk of exposing myself, I asked if I needed to register the gun, and was told I had to get the permit first, then return to actually purchase it.

OK, that made sense.

Well, as much sense as any of it did at this point.

He wasn't going to trust me because of my innocent green eyes alone.

It surprised me that my credit card went through, but I figured I hadn't maxed it out as much as I had feared and managed to stay calm.

Weapons were frellin' expensive!

I had bagged my legal purchases, got back into the car and threaded myself back into traffic.

Not only was I hungry, I needed a place to change!

I turned into the first McDonald's I came upon, the irony not lost on me, and headed straight for the restrooms.

When I had stripped down to my underwear, I realized I hadn't gotten a matching t-shirt, so the outfit only looked dorky, not bounty hunter-y.

I was going to address it after food, I decided, and made a beeline for the counter.