Title: It's all about living life
Chapter 14: He's back!
Author: Ann (Chrystalsandsnowflakes)
Rating: (G to NC-17): G
Spoilers/Warnings: Takes place in the future, so after EOT
Summary: Ranger is back.
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, I just play with them

Sorry it took so long. Life seems to be happening while you were making other plans. It is just a short chapter, to get started again. Hope to continue this soon. Please review!

He's back!

He is back. That has been the one thing on my mind for the past 2 hours. I don't know how I feel about it really. I was sooo happy when I heard his voice on the telephone again, telling me he was back in town. Or actually on his way from the airport to the city. And then he asked me if I was available for a distraction job tonight. I said yes. Of course I said yes, I have never said no to him, and I don't expect that to happen anytime soon. So here I am in my newly renovated apartment, preparing myself physically for tonight while my mind tries to prepare mentally. I had just finished shaving, washing my hair and face and putting lotion all over me. I had selected my outfit with extreme care. I was nervous. I felt like my body was betraying my mind. Not even a week ago had I reached the conclusion that my life and lifestyle didn't lend itself to relationships, and I get one call from Ranger and I am feeling nervous and jumpy and excited and I don't know what else. I haven't even been officially divorced yet from Morelli. I feel bad. I started putting my makeup on. Ranger's description of the clothes had been "mildly slutty", which had made perfect sense to me, but I just hoped we had been on the same page when he said it. So I had chosen a black short dress, with nice neckline and a few sparkles on it that showed when I moved. Nice FMP's complemented this outfit. My makeup was medium heavy, using dark colours around my eyes. My curls hanging loosely around me. I looked in the mirror and felt satisfied. Yes, I looked good.

The doorbell rang, and I checked my watch. Mmm, either Ranger was early, or someone was paying me an unexpected visit. I checked the peephole… Shit, Morelli. I opened the door and he looked surprised at my outfit.

"Hi."

"Hi, you look nice."

"Thanks."

Then a shadow fell over his face. He probably started thinking about the reason why I looked the way I did. I was wondering if I should volunteer any information or leave him hanging.

"Are you going out tonight?"

" Ehm, no, not really. I have a distraction job." He looked slightly confused, I hadn't done distraction jobs for ages, since I had stopped working with Ranger a long time ago. It felt like a long time anyway.

"For Vinnie?"

"No." Suddenly realisation crossed his face and I could see him getting irritated.

"The man didn't waste much time." I couldn't really blame Morelli for saying it, but I still didn't like it.

"It's just work, Joe." I said softly. And suddenly I realised that that was what I wanted it to be. Just work. I didn't want to think about ulterior motives, about possible feelings, about opportunities. I just wanted to do my job tonight and get paid for it in hard currency. I needed to take a break from this relationship shit. I might still enjoy looking at Ranger and being close to him, but I know realised that part of my nervousness tonight had been about HIS expectations for tonight. I didn't want him to think I was really available yet. I simply wasn't. I had been married for 3 years, for God's sake, nobody expected me to just go on like nothing happened. I probably was the only one. I might have my old apartment back, but that didn't mean that I had my old life back. Just as my apartment looked very different from the old days, so did my life. And that was okay, but I did need some time to get used to that. Joe seemed to see in my eyes that I really wasn't that interested in Ranger at the moment, and just had a job to do tonight.

"Sorry."

"No need, it's okay." I smiled softly at him and gave him a small hug while I whispered in his ear:

"Don't dare to think that I would forget you that fast." We looked at each other, and I felt two huge tears forming in my eyes. He looked apologetic and I swallowed. It was still hard to get physically close to him and then having to realise that we weren't in that kind of relationship anymore. He gently brushed my tears from my cheeks and gave me a small kiss on my cheek.

"I didn't think you forgot about me, but I thought that maybe Manoso did." He smiled cheekily at me to lighten the mood and it helped. I smiled back at him.

"Why did you come over?"

"I just wanted to drop some stuff off and see your new house." He handed me a bag which was filled with some little things. I quickly looked and saw a book, a few cd's and some other stuff.

"Come in, I have about 10 minutes before I have to leave. Would you like a quick drink?"

"No thanks, just had dinner."

He walked in and looked around, admiring the new kitchen, bathroom and colours.

"Looks nice, Steph."

"Yeah, I am really pleased that I got back my old place with all these improvements. How about you? Do you like your new place?" He had found an apartment not that far away from the police station, on the other site of town.

"Yeah, it's nice. You should come by some time."

"Yes, I'll do that." And then there was this awkward silence that is between former lovers who are trying to establish a friendship but aren't quite there yet.

"Well, eh, I'll better get going then."

"Thanks for coming by."

"Take care."

"You too."

He turned around and opened the door, to reveal Ranger standing there. I couldn't quite read the look on his face, but somehow he didn't seem very pleased to see Joe at my place.

"Manoso."

"Morelli." Joe turned around and gave me a last smile and wink and left. I couldn't help but smile back, because Joe had read the mood just right. He knew that I wasn't after a relationship with Ranger, at least not now. The dressing up was for the job and not for Ranger. But that didn't mean that he wouldn't try to get Ranger off balance, even if it was just for old time's sake.