Chapter 4
At exactly eleven-thirty Amy was knocking on Ranger's office door.
"Come In." Ranger didn't have to yell to be heard through the door.
Amy opened the door and found Ranger making notes on some paperwork while Tank lounged in one of the chairs in front of Ranger's desk.
"Bye Tank." Ranger said without looking up.
Tank was surprisingly graceful as he got up out of the chair and left the office.
"Just a minute Amy, I need to finish the changes to this contract from my meeting."
"Your fine." Amy sat and pulled out her iPhone. "I need to add a few things to my grocery list anyways."
Ranger lifted his head to give her a curious look. "You keep your grocery list on your phone?"
"Yeah, I always end up leaving written lists at home half the time. So I just keep a note for groceries on my phone instead. That way when I'm at work and suddenly remember I need to get some crab meat, green onions, cream cheese, and wonton wrappers to make homemade crab rangoons with Lexi tomorrow night I can put them on my list." She was typing the aforementioned items on her list as she spoke.
"You make your own crab rangoons?"
"Oh yeah, you have to. The ones most Chinese restaurants make are terrible unless your lucky enough to find a really good restaurant. I've found a few around here, but we've found that we like to make them at home ourselves."
"Huh," Ranger went back to his paperwork.
"I know they're not exactly healthy for you, which is why we only make them once in a while or for special occasions."
"And is tomorrow a special occasion or just because?"
"Just because." Amy closed her notes and went to her email. After deleting a bunch of junk emails and replying to a few quick business emails, Ranger was finally standing up and walking to the door.
"I hope you don't mind but I had Ella set out a spread for us upstairs in my apartment." Ranger said as they walked down the hall to the elevator.
"That sounds nice." Amy didn't want to think about the fact that they'd be in his apartment alone. She mentally berated herself for thinking like a love-struck teenager. They were adults, surely they could eat their lunch alone together in Ranger's apartment without jumping into bed. But the second the elevator doors closed she could actually feel the atmosphere change as they stood next to each other, with maybe an inch between their shoulders. She knew that Ranger was equally, if not more so, affected by her as she was by him.
"You wore that outfit today on purpose." He whispered without even looking at her.
She flushed a little and a barely noticeable flirty smirk slowly appeared on her face, "I have no idea what your talking about." She said quietly.
He growled, if she hadn't been intensely aware of him and listening so carefully for his as of yet unaffected breathing she wouldn't have heard it. But he had definitely made a gruff little sound in his throat. "I've never seen you wear a skirt and heels to work. You always wear pants."
She slightly lifted one shoulder, tilting her head down toward that shoulder and her smirk grew to a grin that had her eyes glowing flirtatiously. But she still wasn't looking at him and didn't say anything.
Ranger sucked in a quick breath and was just about to turn and pull her towards him when the elevator pinged and the doors opened to his outer entryway. He growled again, louder this time, as Amy stepped out without so much as looking at him.
Ranger opened his apartment door, and Amy wasn't the least bit surprised by what she saw. It was utilitarian in design but didn't lack for necessities. It was a mainly open floor plan. The kitchen was a dream for Amy because she loved to cook. It had a lot of counter space including a large island with stools on the back side, which was where there were plates set out for their lunch. The dining table was off to the far right of the kitchen, the living room took up the rest of the open area.
"I'll give you a quick tour before we eat." He motioned toward the open great room and kitchen, "Obviously this is the kitchen, dining, and living rooms. There's a bathroom to the left here, just in case you need it." He reached a hand in and turned the light on. "Right next to it is the office, it could be a bedroom but I've never needed a second bedroom. And the master bedroom and bathroom is just through there." He watched her carefully, he could tell that she was somewhat surprised by his apartment. "You look like my apartment wasn't what you expected."
She shrugged her shoulders as she walked toward the doorway to his bedroom, curious as to what it looked like. "The overall appearance doesn't surprise me at all, it matches your personality perfectly. But there's no distinguishing features anywhere. No family pictures hanging on the walls or displayed on shelves, no keepsakes. I don't know why, it just kind of surprised me."
"I missed the class on how to decorate your apartment in college I guess." He teased her. "I've never really thought about it. I've never really had the habit of displaying personal items, working Special Forces I never had anything personal with me. I didn't want the other side to find anything they could ever use against me."
Amy gave him a sad smile and stepped toward him placing a hand on the arms he had crossed in front of him. "I didn't think of that." She lightly squeezed his arm before pulling her hand back. "But maybe at your new house you should try putting a few more personal touches in."
He nodded "Let's eat. Ella made chicken salad sandwiches on whole wheat, fresh cut veggies with hummus dip, and because she knew you were joining me she said she left some of her homemade pickles." Ranger loved the way Amy's eyes got a little brighter at the mention of the pickles. "You like pickles that much?"
Amy nodded as she sat down on the stool Ranger had pulled out for her. "Well, I've always loved pickles but Ella's are hands down the best pickles I've ever had."
Ranger sat next to her, "You know she would probably give you a few jars to take home if you asked her."
"Oh I've gotten some from her. I ran out at home a couple weeks ago, Lexi likes them just as much as I do so they go fast in our house. But Ella didn't have any ready until yesterday. She already left a few jars in my office this morning."
Ranger couldn't help but lift one corner of his mouth in a smile. "That doesn't surprise me."
They were both silent for a few minutes as they started eating their lunch. Ranger suddenly realized they didn't have drinks.
"What can I get you to drink?" He went to the fridge.
"Water is fine."
He came back with two bottles of water.
"Are you sure I can't take you out for dinner tonight?"
She shook her head, "No," she said around a mouthful of chicken salad.
"What if I bring you dinner?"
Amy turned to the side to give him a teasing glare. "I really can't. Wednesday night is girls night, Lexi has requested manicures and pedicures and then we'll go eat somewhere."
Ranger picked up a carrot stick and took a bite, "Fine." He left her alone for a few more minutes as she finished her sandwich and picked up a pickle spear. He had to keep from chuckling as he watched her close her eyes and savor the first bite of the pickle. "So Friday night, if I tell you an idea will you at least let me know if I'm anywhere close to being right?"
"That's cheating." Amy threw him a teasing sideways glare.
"Okay, let's try this. I'll ask you three questions, and in return you can ask me three questions."
"I don't need to know about your ideal date." She teased.
He gave her a small smirk. "My questions will be in relation to your ideal date, but your questions for me can be about anything."
Amy narrowed her eyes a little as she watched him. "I can ask you anything and you'll answer?"
He nodded, "Anything."
She pursed her lips a little and finally nodded. "Deal. But you have to go first."
"Fair enough." He grabbed another carrot stick and took a bite, considering what questions he wanted to ask. "First question, do you like boats?"
Amy turned to look at Ranger, "That's totally not a question I was expecting. But yes, I do like boats." The question threw her off, but not enough for her to changer her first question. "Are we just casually dating or are you hoping this will go some where?"
Ranger found himself equally as surprised by her first question. "I really like you, I'm hoping this will go some where." He didn't miss the way her eyes changed, from guarded to open, but he moved on. "Okay, question two. What's your favorite kind of food?"
"That was expected, and really easy to answer. I love Italian food. I workout strictly to keep the bread and pasta from sticking to my flabby momma belly and hips and turning into a full blown muffin top."
That statement made Ranger laugh, a genuine deep belly laugh. He got himself under control finally and turned himself so he was facing her. "Look at me." He waited until she complied. "I'm laughing because you aren't even close to having a muffin top. I don't know what you looked like before you had Lexi, but I never would've guessed you had a kid just judging by your looks. You are fit enough to challenge Cal to a boxing match, and I'm pretty sure you have once or twice." She nodded while he kept talking. "You don't have to worry about the bread and pasta sticking anywhere."
"Thanks." She knew she was decent shape but she hadn't been able to totally get rid of her 'momma pouch' as she usually called it. Spanx were her best friend when she wore any kind of dress. "My turn. Do you want any more kids?" This question had her holding her breath. She definitely wanted more kids. If he didn't it could be a deal breaker for her.
"I'll be honest, if you'd have asked me that a year ago I would've said No. But now," he stopped and looked into her eyes to be sure she saw that he was completely open to her. "I wouldn't mind having more." She nodded. He continued. "And my question. Where would you go on vacation if you could literally go anywhere?"
She cocked her head slightly, thrown again by his question. "You know, I've never really thought about that before. But I would love to go somewhere tropical that isn't really touristy. The private ocean villa's in Bora Bora would be amazing. Or a private island in the Maldives. The one thing I miss about Florida is warm beaches." Ranger filed that information away.
"That's my kind of vacation." He admitted.
"You promised you'd answer any question right?" He just nodded, a little afraid of where she was going. "What happened with you and Stephanie?"
He took a slow deep breath and let it out. "She and I just couldn't ever get to the same page at the same time. We had that big capture about eight months ago, that jackass Larry Flynn. My mom really took that one hard. Worse than that thing with Scrog a few years back. She literally smacked me upside the head when she saw me in that hospital bed, after she found out I was going to make a full recovery that is. We had a big talk. It mainly centered on my past working special forces then doing some not totally official jobs for the government from time to time. She knew I was afraid of settling down and my past coming back to haunt me. Then she reminded me that even without my past, there were no guarantees in life. About a month after I got out of the hospital, I sat down and talked to Stephanie. I told her that I wasn't going to do the casual thing any more, I wanted to settle down and maybe start a family. As you can guess, we weren't on the same page. It actually ended amicably enough. But she really doesn't want to settle down. And I found that I couldn't sit around and wait to see if she'd change her mind." He watched her eyes go back to guarded. "I'm not waiting, Amy. I don't ever want you to think that I'm passing the time with you. I was serious before when I said that I really like you. The feelings I have for you, I've never had for anyone before."
"It's the same for me. I've never felt like this about anyone else."
Ranger closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, "I wish I didn't some really important meetings this afternoon. Being here with you in my apartment is just so tempting."
Amy sucked in an unsteady breath at his admission. "We still have thirty minutes." Here eyes got huge and she covered her mouth with one hand. "I can't believe I said that! I'm sorry. That was crass. I have no idea…I feel like an idiot. Please erase that from your memory." She knew her entire face was quickly turning from pink to red the more Ranger just stared at her with his nostrils slightly flared.
"Thirty minutes is nowhere near enough time to do what I want to do to you right now, especially not for our first time." He grabbed her hands in his and brought them to his mouth, lightly brushing a kiss to the back of each hand. "Friday night."
"Oh, well then I hope you have the perfect date planned." Her voice was a little husky and she gave him that subtle seductive smile that drove him crazy.
Ranger gave her an intense and heated look before winking at her. He turned back to his lunch and could tell that she was still sitting there dumbstruck.
They spent the rest of their lunch break just talking and learning more about each other. Both were reluctant to go back to their respective offices, Ranger walked her back to hers.
"I'll pick you up at 6 on Friday, I hope that gives you enough time to get home and be ready for our date."
Amy nodded, "It's enough time for sure."
Before she could retreat into her office Ranger grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to him. She was looking up into eyes for one second before he lowered his mouth and kissed her. They were kissing in her office doorway where anyone and everyone could see them. He pulled back after about a minute and gave her his barely noticeable smile that she was learning was something he did around her a lot.
"Later." And then he was gone.
Amy looked around, suddenly remembering where she was and what they had just been doing. No one was looking at her, but she saw a few heads of employees in the cubicles. She was pretty sure they all had seen. Suddenly feeling a little embarrassed she retreated to her office, leaving her door open as was her habit. As soon as she sat at her desk she saw the ridiculously huge vase of flowers and just smiled. Friday really couldn't get there any faster.
