OK, if you're still reading, thank you. I hope you're enjoying the ride!

Spoilers: If you hadn't read the books, you wouldn't be here, but you won't be spoiled either way, I blame it all on the gin

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 6

I was trying to concentrate on my breathing, while hoping I wasn't sweating too profusely or displaying any other telltale sign of the stress I was feeling.

So, no, it wasn't the first time a handsome man had me in a state, but it was only the second time I felt close to a heart attack. What, did Ranger and Joe take the same course somewhere "Drive women crazy 101"?

That thought made me want to giggle and I quickly bit my lip to prevent the inappropriate reaction.

"I understand you were the one who found the body?" Ranger's question was more of a statement.

"One of my skips." I confirmed while studying my shoes intensively. Although I knew looking up and into Ranger's eyes would seem a lot more convincing, I didn't have the guts. I had seen the fire in them, and I was afraid to get burned.

For lack of anything better to do, I took out my body receipt and showed it to Ranger.

This got a short sort-of laugh from him. At least he found me amusing.

"What do need from me?" I felt compelled to ask, since he had revealed he was there to see me.

I was hoping the answer would be somewhere in the 'take your clothes off and make me moan your name' vicinity, but didn't put too much stock into it.

"Where you after Moreno for any other reason than the $70 recovery fee?" He made it sound like $70 was more of an insult than money.

Ooh, I finally felt like I knew where he was going!

"You mean, like any information he withheld from the cops but would tell to me?"

Ranger's eyes narrowed slightly and he took yet another step towards me, but he was perfectly calm when he replied: "Yeah, something like that."

OK, so I was enjoying his presence. And some weird part of me wanted to come up with something clever to keep him around. What would I have to say for him to touch me, maybe put his hand on my arm like Joe had? Wouldn't Ranger want me to be careful as well?

One might have argued the seriousness of the moment was lost on me, but I blamed it on the hormones.

I decided on an old trick of mine, telling the truth while hinting at more.

"No, just the money. Getting my feet wet in Trenton, you know?"

Hopefully, I had said it with the right emphasis, so not even my own mother would have believed me, although it was the truth.

I was unable to read Ranger's emotion, but I finally got my touch, he poked me slightly in the chest with his index finger to underline his words.

"You might want to watch out where you stick your nose or you may get a lot more than your feet wet."

Great, could he vague that up for me? What the hell did that mean? I tried to get my mind out of the gutter and wondered if I could ask him for more explanation without losing face.

So I stayed with the truth.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." There, see? Just put it in the right intonation and I could hold my own in a conversation with Ranger! Maybe now I should just leave to be the one who ends it! Ha!

I was turned halfway when I felt Ranger's hand on my elbow, turning me back towards him. Maybe I could fake a stumble and have him catch me, I wondered, until I caught the look in his eyes. It was stone cold.

We were so close now, our noses almost touched, and I for one did not breathe.

"You tell the Senor that I can wait. He slips up one more time and it will be his last mistake. We don't want his kind here!"

"The wannana who?" Oh, I could be so smooth when I put my mind to it. Too bad I didn't have a mind to put to it.

Still, it was hard to miss that Ranger thought I was something I wasn't, and obviously someone he didn't like, working for another whom he liked even less.

Where had he gotten that idea from and what could I do to set the record straight?

I was still trying to come up with something when he abruptly turned and left me standing by my car.

What's with the disappearing acts? Not even a wave or something, let alone 'Good Bye'.

Yeah, OK, I couldn't see Ranger giving a finger wave, but in general. Kinda rude.

So I like to ponder irrelevant questions when I'm confused, sue me. I needed to occupy my mind if I wanted to keep from running down the street screaming.

I was really hoping no one was watching from a window somewhere because I had arrived with Joe, who had driven off without a word, had then been cornered by Ranger who had left me standing in his dust.

For lack of anything better to do, I sat in my car.

I only knew one thing for sure, and that was that, somewhere recently, I had misplaced my script. I didn't know how to talk to Joe and I had no idea what Ranger was talking about.

Also, I had noticed I had zero success in getting either of them to take his clothes off. So really, I felt like a loser.

Wait a minute! I was a loser, but I was a loser with $70! I had my body receipt, didn't I? Yeah, OK, so a guy was dead, but it wasn't like I had killed him or anything. There was no moral reason not to collect my fee!

And then I would go spend the money on something irresponsible, like shoes!

My mind made up, I checked my map to find the shortest way back to Vinnie's office and started the car.

Rush hour was over, so I made it through to the office with minimal swearing.

I even found a parking spot fairly close to the entrance, remembered to leave my bulky purse in the car and marched into the office with an air of confidence I didn't feel.

Connie looked up from what she was doing, but other than that, the office was empty.

Should I ask for Stephanie? Or how about Lula? In all honesty, I didn't know how much more I could take, and I had always been more of a loner. I was going to try to keep truckin' the way I had started.

"Got a body receipt for you. Moreno." And I placed the piece of paper on her desk.

"He is dead. It doesn't count!" Vinnie yelled through his closed door.

"Damn him and his damned bugs!" Connie groaned and started looking under pencil holders and her telephone for listening devices.

"The court pays you back dead or alive." I yelled back.

"Hmpfh!" was the answer.

Connie had located the tiny bug and smashed it under her heel.

Then she dug up a checkbook from one of the drawers and started writing me a check.

She handed it to me with a polite smile.

"That was quick."

"I got lucky." I felt the need to say. As much as you can count finding a dead guy in his bathtub lucky.

"You get any new ones in?"

Before Connie got to answer, she looked past me to the door, and I figured that was what she looked like when Ranger or Brad Pitt approached the door. My money was on Ranger, since my fantasies never go as far as Brad Pitt for some reason. Sure enough, as I glanced over my shoulder, Ranger was already closing in, eyes fixed on me.

The situation was so familiar that I half-expected him to greet me with "Babe."

'Cause that would have been too cool.

He didn't greet me with anything, although it was possible I had missed an almost imperceptible nod because I was busy trying to look cool.

I was under the impression that I looked good. For lack of self confidence, I had put all my effort into my appearance. So if Ranger didn't like what he saw, I was out of luck because it was as good as I was going to get.

Unfortunately, I had already fired off my cool greeting at our earlier meeting, so now I just uttered the lame "Are you following me?"

Yes, a line, but it was getting really hard to think straight.

Ranger was simply too hot.

I found it very difficult to think about anything not rated NC17.

"No, I was waiting for you outside."

'Oh. Well. Shit.' Was all I could think. Nothing remotely resembling a response was forming in my mind.

I don't know why, but the harder I try to come up with something to say, the blanker my mind gets, it's been happening for as long as I can remember.

Connie was busying herself, shuffling file folders. I believed she was as flustered as I was.

For lack of anything intelligent to say rather than out of rudeness, I turned my attention back to her and repeated my question about new skips.

It seemed like she hadn't found her voice yet either, since she wordlessly handed me a couple of folders.

I couldn't blame her, Ranger would put any hot-blooded woman into a state, regardless of age or marital status.

I took the folders and got an idea.

Slowly turning to face Ranger all the way, I finally gathered up the courage to meet his eyes.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked, inclining my head towards the door as in, 'outside, without anyone eavesdropping'.

That time, I did see his head move about a quarter of an inch (I interpreted it as a nod), moments before he turned around and left the office.

"No time like the present." I said to Connie, hoping for an encouraging smile or maybe even pep talk.

But Connie had her eyes firmly fixed on Ranger's backside and was ignoring me.

So I gave myself a little inner pep talk, took a few deep breaths and followed him.

He was standing 2 steps to the right of the front door, and his face was expressionless.

I jumped right in.

"Can I buy you a cup of coffee?"

His left eyebrow definitely moved that time, amazingly expressing "Excuse me?" as if he had said it out loud.

"I like to sit while I talk."

As stupid as it sounded, it was true.

Ranger didn't seem to think it was amusing, but he almost-nodded towards the curb behind me.

"My car has seats."

Oh, now he was a comedian.

I turned to see what he was focusing on and spotted the Explorer parked three spots down. I also saw what looked like three people in the driver's seat.

"Looks like Tank if filling up most of them."

Too late, I remembered that I didn't know Tank. And I couldn't even be sure the individual was Tank, but I couldn't come up with a better name if I had tried, the man was sitting and still looked taller than anyone I knew.

"You know my team?" This time, it was a question, but I couldn't sense any surprise in it.

I shrugged.

"As much as anyone not part of RangeMan, I'd figure."

For good measure, I threw in a gesture that was to say 'All in a day's work', or maybe 'Part of my job', or hopefully 'I did my homework on you'.

Technically, I wasn't lying, since everything Janet had ever wanted to share about Ranger and his merry men was in the books, right?

Honestly, I was glad Ranger wasn't alone, because Tank had provided the perfect excuse not to get into the car.

Being alone in a car with Ranger was not something I felt ready for.

"Coffee?" I tried once again.

He let out a short, defeated sigh, turned and walked, away from his car.

I took that as a yes and followed him. He really could use a course in communication.

Sure enough, he stopped a few houses down at a small diner and held the door open for me. I didn't know if he let me enter first out of courtesy or out of the need to be able to watch me, I just enjoyed the moment.

And since I had was now in the diner first, I quickly walked over to a booth in the back and sat down with my back to the wall.

I looked at Ranger expectantly, not quite sure if he would shoo me away because I was sitting in 'his' seat or what.

No reaction.

He just followed and took the seat beside me.

So much for flustering Ranger. For a second, I wished I was a bigger girl and there hadn't been enough room on the bench.

The way we were sitting now was just awkward, I couldn't look at him without craning my neck.

So once again, he won. I excused myself and took off for the bathroom.

In addition to providing a perfectly acceptable pause, it also gave me the chance to check my reflection for mascara smudges and other embarrassing things.

Satisfied with my appearance, I returned to our table and took the seat across from Ranger, but I didn't check his expression for any signs of victory, I was still trying not to grumble.

"So talk." He simply said after we had ordered our coffee.

"I didn't kill Moreno." For some reason, I felt the need to state the obvious, I needed to find out what Ranger thought I had done.

"I know."

God, would it kill him to form sentences with more syllables?

Mostly, I was jealous that I could never come across that cool, that I could never express myself in 5 words or less.

"Then what do you think I did? Who is the Senor?"

My voice was still calm, but my heart had started hammering again.

"Your boss."

"You're wrong."

'Ha, take that!' I thought, still able to look straight into his eyes.

The waitress approached with our order at that moment, so we were both given some time to plan our next move. Probably, I was the only one who needed some time, but still.

One of my weaknesses is that I can't stand uncomfortable silences. No matter how much I am waiting for the other to say something, if it takes more than a minute, I have to jump in.

Ranger just looked at me, a response didn't seem likely.

"I don't work for anybody. And I'm a good girl."

I flinched at that expression, that hadn't come out the way I had intended.

The ghost of a smile appeared, but he still didn't say anything.

"What I meant is," Here we go again, my mouth and its own mind "I didn't kill Moreno or anyone else. I am on your side."

More than he could imagine.

"My side?" His left eyebrow definitely looked raised now, but I was still waiting for a whole sentence from him.

"The good guys, the law, knight in…yadayadayada." Oh, that had been close! I just finished with an all-encompassing gesture and focused on my coffee.

Ranger was silent, maybe to take my statement in.

"Prove it." He finally said, getting up.

He put a few dollar bills on the table and turned to leave.

I mentally squeezed my eyes shut as I reached out and tried to stop him with a hand on his arm. Unfortunately, my hand came to rest right on his biceps and that sensation momentarily wiped all thought from my mind. Hoping I hadn't drooled, I cleared my throat.

"How can I get in touch with you?"

Ooh, I didn't think I had that in me. A perfectly sane question, not 'Do you really go commando?'.

I hoped he wouldn't bring up the fact that I had told him I knew all about him.

Ranger looked down to my hand and I pulled it back as if I had been burned.

To my surprise, he dug into one of his pockets and handed me a card.

Neat.

I now had all the numbers for two of the hottest men I had ever met.

Too bad I didn't have anything to say.

I was really proud I resisted the urge to study the card right there and then, I was even able to meet his gaze, smile and say "Thank you."

Of course, I didn't know if my smile had looked hot, seductive, irresistible or all of the above, but I sure hoped Ranger now had the need to see me again, and soon.

Then he was gone.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and yearned for a shot of Jagermeister, even though it wasn't even noon.