Thank you to everyone for all the kind words. I don't think I've ever been so nervous to post a story before...lol.

Despite my best efforts to keep them at bay, the tears came now. The temporary position I'd been working ended in two weeks, when Jeremy's wife returned. How in the hell was I supposed to find new employment if I was stuck on crutches? I wouldn't even be able to drive to my current job, let alone look for another.

"Hey!" Lester said as he once again moved next to the bed and took my hand in his. "No tears. It's not that bad."

I sniffled and wanted to kick myself for sounding so weak and girly. "You don't understand," I finally said on a sigh.

"Then how about you explain it to me, so I can understand?"

I took a moment to get myself under control. Before I could manage to say anything, he reached out, curled a knuckle under my chin and looked at me. "Come on, cutie, talk to me."

Why did his simple request suddenly produced this overwhelming desire to tell him everything? "You know how I said I don't have health insurance?"

He nodded.

"It's because I've only been here in Jersey for two weeks. I'm currently working a temporary job for a friend of mine's brother-in-law and that job is supposed to end two weeks from now."

Bobby walked up to the end of the bed and stopped; his attention focused on me, but he remained silent.

"Go on," Lester urged when I didn't just continue on with my story.

I raised my arm to cover my eyes from the pain of fluorescent lights shining on me. "I don't even have a place of my own yet," I said without looking at either man. I felt more than a little ashamed to admit I didn't really have my shit together. So, not being able to see them helped me get my story out. "I've been sleeping on my friend Jenny's futon in her husband's home office. Most of my belongings are still in a storage unit in Indiana. This is the last thing I need, right now."

"With that ankle, and the concussion you suffered, you are going to need someplace better than that to sleep," Bobby said. "Your friend doesn't have a bedroom you can use?"

I moved my arm in a way so I could see him yet still hide my eyes from most of the glare. "She has four small children and pretty much no room. I barely get a good night's sleep as it is."

He and Lester looked at each other and another one of those ESP conversations, like Stephanie and Ranger had at the accident site, took place between them. Bobby nodded. "I'll check with Ranger," he said, then turned and headed out of the room.

Lester shifted his attention back to me. "Being injured, you're going to need to rest and if you can't get it with your friend, then you'll stay here with us."

My eyes widened at his statement as I dropped my arm pushed up in the bed, vehemently shaking my head despite the pain. "No. I-I can't. I-I have a little bit of money. Maybe I can get a cheap hotel room."

"Ranger will never allow that," he said. "You saved Stephanie's life. He'll want to repay that debt in any way he can."

It was nearly noon when I saw Stephanie again. She had a soft cast on her wrist and a large bandage on her bicep, peeking out from under the sleeve of her t-shirt. "There you are," she said as she hurried into the infirmary. She stopped at the end of the bed, looked at my ankle and winced. "Damn. That looks bad," she said.

"She did do a number on it," Bobby said as he walked up to her. "How did you make out at St. Francis?"

She scowled as she glanced over her shoulder at Ranger. "I guess it's a good thing that Mr. Overprotective here insisted I go, since I have a sprain wrist and the cut on my arm needed four stitches."

Bobby's attention shifted between them. "I could have taken care of that for you."

Ranger motioned to me. "I wanted you focused on Sienna."

"Understood," Bobby replied. "So, everything else is good?"

Ranger nodded, then angled his head toward me. "How's our guest?"

Bobby glanced at me and smiled, causing a warm tingle to slide through me. His smile was just as nice as Lester's. "She didn't make out quite as well as Bomber. Along with a sprain ankle, she has a hairline fracture in the talus bone and I'm pretty sure at least a mild concussion."

Stephanie's smile instantly faded as she turned to look at me. "I'm so sorry, Sienna. This is all my fault."

"Babe." Ranger placed his hands on her shoulders. "None of this was your fault."

"Ranger's right," I said. "Don't blame yourself."

Bobby nodded in agreement. "They're both right."

Steph sighed. "Yeah, okay, but I just feel so bad for you."

"I'll be okay," I replied, though I'm pretty sure the tone in my voice was less than convincing.

Ranger's attention focused on me and held there, making me squirm under his stare. "Why don't I believe you?"

"I don't know," I said as I lifted my chin in defiance. I might not have much left, but I did still have my pride.

He stepped away from Steph and walked over to the bed. "Bobby told me about your situation. I have an empty apartment on Four that I'd be happy to let you use until you're healed and back on your feet."

I shook my head again and chose to ignore the pain. "That's extremely generous of you, but really not necessary. I'll figure something out."

"I know it's not necessary," he replied. "This is my way of saying thank you for taking care of my fiancé this morning."

"Come on, Sienna," Steph almost whined. "Say yes to Batman's offer. It would be good for you, and it will give us the chance to get to know each other better."

There goes that whole friend count issue again. Plus, it would be nice to not wake up every morning to one of Jenny's little ones poking me in the forehead like some toy with an on/off button. "Well…"

"Good," she said before I could finish my sentence. "It's settled. You'll stay here for the next couple of weeks."

Oh boy!

By two o'clock, even after my protesting that I wasn't the least bit hungry, Lester had made sure I ate a nourishing lunch and Bobby had me up and moving on a set of crutches. Over the last few hours, every time I'd tried to make an excuse for not staying, they'd shot it down with logic. My latest attempt at an escape resulted in Lester disappearing from the infirmary in a huff, only to have Steph emerge a few minutes later, with a frown on her face.

She was now standing in front of me, hands on her hips and scowling. "We can provide you with everything you'd need to stay, including clothing."

I wanted to roll my eyes at her answer, but with the way my head still hurt, figured it probably wasn't a good idea. "You guys are already doing enough for me. I'm not going to take advantage of the situation any more than necessary."

"You wouldn't be taking advantage of anything," Steph contended.

"I at least need my laptop," I tried to argue.

Bobby stopped what he was doing to look over at me, his expression serious as he shook his head. "No looking at screens for a few days."

"What?" I asked as I stared at him. I had a self-imposed deadline for completion and release of my latest novel. If I couldn't stay on schedule, I'd miss that deadline. "I have work I need to complete."

"I thought you said you worked for a construction company?" Stephanie asked.

"I-" I started to explain then stopped. Most people who weren't creative couldn't begin to understand the need that lived inside. For me, it's as strong as the need to breath or eat. Without feeding it my mood would sour and depression would eventually set in. While I desperately wanted to try and explain my situation I feared they wouldn't understand.

"She's also an author," Lester said from the doorway where he stood holding a paper.

I closed my eyes and grimaced. Damn it!

When I opened my eyes, I caught Stephanie's frown as she stared at Lester. "What do you mean she's an author?"

His grin was a mile wide as he walked in and handed Bobby the papers. "Since Ranger was offering her a temporary place to stay, he wanted to make sure she wasn't some criminal or anything. So, he just finished running a background check on her."

My first instinct was to be angry at the intrusion into my life without my permission, but I tamped down the feeling as I stared at Lester. If I'd been in Ranger's position, I would have wanted to know everything I could about my guest too.

"It appears," Lester continued, "that Beautiful isn't the only minor celebrity we have at Haywood right now."

Steph cocked her head to the side as she looked at me. "If you're an author, what are you doing working for a construction company?"

"Being an author is more of a hobby than a career," I replied. "There isn't a lot of money in writing, unless you happen to make it to the level of a John Grisham, Stephen King or Nora Roberts."

"Really?" Steph exclaimed. "I had no idea."

"Years ago, before Amazon took over everything, there was some money to be made and I had a few really good years. Unfortunately, the pace at which I needed to write to keep it lucrative had me burning out quickly." I sighed. "I took several years off and only decided to start writing again a couple of years back. Since my royalties are not enough to survive on, I worked as an office manager to pay the bills."

"That makes sense, I guess," Steph murmured even as Bobby's eyes widened, then he handed the paper to Steph.

"Author of erotic romance," he said and grinned. "We'll that's quite interesting and I'd love to read some of your work, but it doesn't change my orders about no screen time for the next few days. No tablets, no television, and no laptop." He motioned to my head. "While I'm still not sure how bad it is, you do have a concussion and you're going to need to take it easy for a bit."

"Can I at least show her around before you condemn her to the silence of the apartment on Four?" Steph asked.

Bobby frowned. "She really shouldn't have any additional stimulation."

"I promise." Steph held up a hand. "No more excitement." She grinned. "I think we've both had enough today."

"Even so, she really should lay down and rest," Bobby argued.

"Oh, come on, Bobby. We all know you'll have her resting for the next week or more," Steph shot back. "Just a few minutes? Please?"

"Well," he hedged, and I was beginning to understand just how much power she held over these men. It appeared as if they would do just about anything for her.

"I suppose it would be okay," he finally said, then pointed a finger at her. "But only for a few minutes and she's to take it easy."

"Thank you, Bobby," she said and damn if she didn't bat her eyes at him. Yep, she was one woman who had learned to wield her feminine power with expert precision.

Using the crutches Bobby provided, I followed Stephanie out of the infirmary and back into the elevator. "So, does Ranger own the entire building?"

She nodded. "He said it's the only way to ensure the level of security he wants to maintain here."

"My friend Jenny said Rangeman was a high-end security company," I replied as the elevator dinged to a stop, the doors opened, and I followed her out into another small foyer with doors on both ends.

"We are," Steph replied. "The business itself covers several different aspects of security."

"I'm not sure I understand," I said. "He needs a building this big to run his business?"

She grinned. "The short answer is yes. Basically, each floor is used for something different. We have a gun range and weapons storage in the basement and several conference rooms and small offices on One. Two contains an industrial kitchen and laundry facility along with storage rooms. The gym and infirmary are on Three. Four and Six are employee apartments and Seven is the penthouse. That's where Ranger and I live." She pushed open the door and motioned for me to pass through.

I hobbled into the room and stopped. The entire floor appeared to be an open plan with individual offices along the outside walls and cubicles in the middle. "And Five is the control room," Stephanie said as she walked in behind me. "This is the nerve center of Rangeman."

I followed her as she made her way to the right. On the back side of the wall that created the elevator foyer was a large bank of monitors with men sitting in chairs watching the screens. The two men, who I might add, were also handsome, glanced over at us, then immediately returned their attention to the screens. Steph motioned to them. "We have twenty-four seven client monitoring services."

"So, in addition to security systems and monitoring, what all does Rangeman do?" I asked as I slowly followed her around the floor and tried to ignore my growing headache.

"Our biggest department is high end security systems for business and private residences. That's what the monitors are for. We also have a Fugitive Apprehension department."

"You mean like bounty hunters?" I asked.

She nodded. "Pretty much, though we also enforce eviction notices, handle the occasional government contract and on very rare occasions back up Trenton PD on particularly dangerous warrant executions."

We continued our way around the floor, and she introduced me to some of the men working while pointing out the various departments. "We also provide security detail for private parties and celebrity events. Protection for witnesses testifying in high profile trials or for people in danger."

"That's a lot of different departments you have on one floor," I replied as I considered the layout. Everyone seemed to be entering and exiting out of two rooms. One of which looked to be a large file room and the other housed a large printer and office supplies. As we made our way around the room we talked a little more about the layout and procedures. What they had going on here obviously worked, but from this outsider's perspective, it seemed inefficient.

Ranger stepped out of his office with Tank and joined us. He walked up to Stephanie and pressed a kiss to her curly hair. "Babe. Showing our guest around?"

"Yep," she replied. "Bobby is going to confine her to the apartment on Four soon. So, I figured I'd show her around while I got the chance."

Ranger almost smiled at her statement. "So, Sienna. What do you think of our little operation?"

"Impressive," I said as I shifted to try and make myself more comfortable on the crutches.

Ranger angled his head as he looked at me. "Thank you, but I clearly hear hesitation in your voice."

I shook my head and was immediately sorry I did as the room shifted in my field of vision. "It's not my place," I said as I struggled to focus.

"Ah, but you do have some thoughts," he said. "Please, share."

After a moment, the room settled, and I glanced at Stephanie who nodded. "Go ahead. Ranger is always up for suggestions on how to improve things around here."

"Well," I started. "I was wondering where your teams meet when they're working on projects."

"In a conference room on One," Tank offered. He arched a brow. "Why?"

"Don't you think that's a bit inefficient?" I asked. "I mean, if someone forgets something or needs to look up additional information, they have to leave the conference room and come back up here. Plus, how often have you been entertaining a prospective client in one conference room while your men were planning a takedown in another?"

After a moment Ranger nodded as if he understood what I was saying. "It has happened," he replied. "I am aware of your background in office management. So, I'd be happy to listen to any suggestions you might have for improving efficiency around here. That is if you're interested in creating a proposal."

My brows winged up in surprise and a sudden shot of excitement coursed through me. "Really?"

"I'm always about improving my company," he replied. "And sometimes it's good to have an outsider's perspective. So, I'd be extremely interested in what you have to say about the matter."

For reasons I couldn't really explain, the thought of trying to improve efficiency in his company had me both anxious and grateful for the challenge. "I'm honored and I'd be happy to put together a proposal…" Before I could finish my sentence, the room began to shift around me again. Only this time it was accompanied by nausea as my stomach rolled and a sudden flash of heat blasted through me. I paused, blinked, and struggled to keep everything in focus. It wasn't working.

"Sienna?" I heard Steph's voice as the room didn't just waver this time but began to spin and I teetered on my crutches.

"She's gonna go out on us," Ranger said right before I felt his two strong arms catch me.

"Shit," Tank cursed, then yelled. "Somebody get Brown up here on the double."

We all have different idea of how Rangeman is laid out. This one is mine and I know others see it differently. Also, when Sienna talks about being an author and Amazon...that part is all true. At least it was for me. I was making decent money for a few years, then Amazon became the dominate factor, and my publishers closed up shop. I became discouraged and burned out. I really only started again in August 2020 when I ended up in renal failure and needed something else to focus on besides being sick.