Thank You all for the positive encouragement, again, it means so much! Harvest is over, but a farmer's work isn't done until the ground freezes so I'm still short on time. But I'm still trying to get some writing in. Enjoy the latest chapter, I made it a long one, and I'll try to get the next one done quicker. J
As always, the characters-most of them anyways-belong to JE, the rest is just the rambling musings of a long-time JE fan.
Chapter 6
Friday was nearly a repeat of the day before. Evidently they were going to be having lunch together in Ranger's apartment every day. And Amy was more than okay with that. They talked and teased and had a great time together. Although she was pretty sure that their second date was going to end back at his place, which may also change how they spend their lunch breaks. At least Amy was hoping their date tonight ended the way she was hoping.
As usual Amy was walking out of her office at exactly five pm that day. Emma's mom had called at four-thirty to let her know she'd just picked Lexi up from daycare. So Amy made the short drive to her house to get ready for her second date with Ranger.
Flynn met her at the door, anxious to be let outside. Amy unlocked the doggy door built in to the dining room wall and Flynn bolted through it. She had about forty-five minutes to prepare for her date, she planned on using every minute.
Amy started by going to her bedroom, stripping on her way across her room to the ensuite bathroom. She perched on the edge of the bath tub and lathered shaving lotion on her legs as hot water ran. After she had thoroughly shaved her legs and arm pits she went to the adjoining closet. She carefully considered her underwear options and went with a matching nude lace bra and boyshort underwear. Back in the bathroom she lotioned her legs and arms, then went back to her closet to start dressing. Carrying her sweater and shoes out to her bed, she glanced at her watch to check the time and was reminded she needed to take off her simple black athletic watch she wore for work. Back in the bathroom she replaced the watch with her nicer white-banded watch with cubic zirconias around the face. And she had approximately twenty-five minutes to finish dressing, touch up her make up, and do something with her hair.
At five fifty-five Amy was sliding on her open-toe wedges and pulling her sweater on simultaneously. She had just started down the stairs when her doorbell rang. Of course Ranger would be early. She rushed to the front door and didn't have the luxury of stopping to compose herself for a minute because of the huge decorative oval of glass in the middle of the front door. It had some patterned and frosted glass but still wouldn't hide her straightening her sweater and making sure her hair was perfect.
"You are frustratingly punctual." She said as soon as she opened the door.
"As if I'd be anything else." He gave her his signature smirk that she had learned he reserved only for her these days.
"Please come in for a moment. I just need to let Flynn back in and grab my purse then we're good to go." She quickly turned back toward the kitchen. "Make yourself at home!" Amy said without looking back. She went to the sliding patio door and Flynn raced in, he knew someone new was over so he was anxious to check him out. Amy detoured through the kitchen after locking the doggy door to get her purse. And after double-checking that all doors and windows were still locked she finally went back to the front entry way/living room and found Ranger crouched down scratching Flynn's belly. Flynn had shameless rolled to his back at Ranger's feet, as he was prone to do with people he liked. That was when Amy noticed the huge bouquet of flowers Ranger had evidently had behind his back when she'd let him in. Or he had them right in front of her face and she was too preoccupied with getting the house locked up for the night to notice.
"For you, of course." He smiled as he straightened up and held the flowers out to her.
"Thank You! How in the world did you know that Roses and Star Gazer Lilies are my favorite flowers? No one here knows that." He winked at her which sent a shiver down her spine and made her body respond automatically. The man was dangerous.
"I have my ways." He said.
"Well, let me put these in a vase really quick. Then I promise I'm ready to go."
He followed her to the kitchen and stood at the island while she set the flowers by the sink then went to the china cabinet in the dining room to find a vase.
"No rush. I honestly wasn't sure if you could actually get ready in forty or forty-five minutes so there's no need to rush. You look amazing by the way."
She blushed as she looked up at him, "Thank You." She held his gaze for a few moments before filling the vase three quarters full of water. "I'm actually annoyingly punctual, like you, ninety-five percent of the time." She said as she started arranging the flowers in the vase one by one.
"And the other five percent of the time?"
"Well I do have a six-year old. So even though I try to make sure there's extra time in our schedule, she sometimes still needs more. And like most women, it's usually because of shoes or clothes. Mostly shoes."
Ranger chuckled at that.
"If your going to give me flowers before or after every date, I'm going to have a gorgeous and amazing smelling house." Amy said as she put the last few flowers in the vase.
"Was that a complaint?" Ranger tilted his head slightly to one side, still wearing his signature smirk.
Amy smiled and her eyes warmed, "Not in the least." She finally looked away only to take the vase and put it in the middle of the dining room table. "Okay, let's go." Amy said as she grabbed her purse off the kitchen island and headed to the front door, Ranger following behind her.
They got into Ranger's 911 GT3, he of course opened her door for her-ever the gentleman. They sat silently, Amy wondering where they were going as they got on the 295. She stayed silent until they got off the 295 and onto Hwy 206.
"Where exactly are we going for our date?"
Ranger looked over at her for a second and winked then looked back to the road. "You'll see."
She eyed him suspiciously but couldn't stop herself from smiling. Ranger looked so relaxed and happy that she didn't care where he took her on their date. Anywhere that he was would be her ideal date, it didn't matter where they were going or what he had planned. So she just watched the scenery as they drove down the road.
Ten minutes later they were getting off the highway and Amy noticed a sign for Princeton. Ranger's eyes shot over to her for a moment to see if she'd seen the sign, and of course she had. She was starting to get a little suspicious now, he could tell. He was just waiting for her to start asking questions. But surprisingly she just sat and watched everything go by through the window.
He drove further west off the highway and seeming to be heading out of town. They left the last of the new developments behind and it suddenly hit Amy, she knew exactly where they were going. He pulled off the highway onto a gravel road and after a few miles he turned into a gated driveway. Rolling down his window, he punched a code into the keypad and the gates swung open for them. The drive way was about another mile long. Amy was sitting attentively in her seat taking in the huge expanse of the property. If the locked gate wasn't enough, seeing the house through the break in the trees ahead immediately gave it away as Ranger's personal property.
Ranger pulled the low slung car around the circle drive and parked right in front of the house. Ever the gentleman he got out and rounded the hood to open her door and even took her hand to help her out of the car.
"I'm pretty sure you've figured it out, but this is my new house."
Amy smiled and gave a single nod, "It's amazing." She looked straight up at the massive front of the brick and stucco exterior and couldn't believe the size. She wasn't expecting a house this big. "It's huge, but I think it looks gorgeous."
"Wait until you see the inside." He smiled and started up the front stairs to the door, pulling her by the hand behind him. Not surprisingly he had to enter another code at the front door to unlock it, and after walking in he went straight to a security panel to type in another code to deactivate the interior motion alarms and cameras.
"So this is obviously the foyer." He stood in the center and then pointed to the stairs immediately to her left, "That goes to the basement. There's a full size basketball court, a complete home gym with a regulation-size boxing ring. I'm going to be renovating one of the storage rooms to be a home theater. If you want to go down and check it all out we can. Otherwise I thought we could actually start upstairs."
"If you've seen one home gym and personal basketball court, you've seen them all right?" Amy teased.
That comment made Ranger smile, which was a change from his usual smirk. Amy couldn't help but smile even bigger in return.
"Okay, let's head up then." They walked through the foyer and went up the stairs on the left. Once they reached the top and circled around the two level foyer to the upstairs hallway you could go left or right, immediately in front of them overlooked the first floor formal living room. "To the left is two bedrooms. Every bedroom has it's own bathroom."
"Can I check them out?" Amy motioned to her left.
"Absolutely." Ranger led the way and reached in to turn the lights on in each of the bedrooms.
Amy went into the one on the left first and was already impressed. "This is the same size, or maybe even bigger than my bedroom." She walked across the hall past Ranger to the other bedroom and noted that this bedroom had it's own small sitting area with windows and a stunning view of the sunset. "This puts my view to shame, it's beautiful."
Ranger was standing in the doorway watching Amy's reaction, "Your house is also in the middle of Trenton."
She waved a hand dismissively, "I know, but still. This isn't even the Master." Amy walked back to Ranger, "Lead the way."
Walking back down the hallway and past the stairs Ranger stopped between two more doors, "Bedrooms on the left and right again." He reached in and flipped on the lights in both.
Amy looked in the one on the right and saw it was small compared to the other two she'd seen. "This is probably closer to the size of my room." She looked in the one on the left and saw it was much bigger than the first two rooms. "Is this the Master? Holy crap the sitting area is just as big as the bedroom area!"
Ranger just stood in the doorway, leaning against the jam. "This isn't the Master."
"Are you for real?!" She turned and gave him a crazy-eyed glance before continuing across the room to the sitting area. "This room is amazing."
He smirked and gave her a nod. "Shall we continue?"
"How many more rooms are there up here?" She wasn't really expecting an answer so she wasn't surprised when he stayed silent.
They stopped at another set of stairs going down to the right, "That goes down to the hallway outside the family room and the entryway from the other garage."
"Other garage? How many garages are there?"
"Two separate garages attached to the house. A two-stall on the south side and a three stall across the courtyard connected to the house by a breezeway, which we'll walk over in a minute." He pointed to the door at the top of the stairs, "That is another bedroom, kind of a second Master Suite."
Amy just stared at him for a few seconds before walking past him to the door to look in. "This is the second Master? What makes the first Master better?"
"It's bigger." Ranger followed behind her, stepping a few feet into the bedroom before stopping.
"Okay, seriously, is this house for you and your whole family or what?"
"Eventually."
"This closet is the size of my closet and bathroom!"
Ranger was still smirking.
"Okay, what in the world could be left up here?" Amy asked as they walked back out to the hallway.
"Another bedroom," he pointed to the last door she could see on the left. "And the laundry room." He pointed to the door on the right.
She shook her head and peeked in the last bedroom door. "Almost every bedroom has it's own sitting area. I'm pretty sure two of my entire houses could fit in just the upstairs of your house. This is crazy. If I were in the kitchen screaming for help and you were up here, you wouldn't even hear me!"
"There's intercoms."
Amy actually laughed at that. "Of course there's intercoms." She stood in the hallway and noticed a door at the end. "So where does that go?"
"The guest house above the three-car garage."
"Are you serious?"
Ranger just gave her a single nod.
"Lead the way."
Ranger opened the door at the end of the hallway and they were met with cooler air. "This is above the breezeway below so it's not really heated. The stairs ahead go down to the breezeway and the garage." Amy nodded but stayed silent. "And this is the guest house, or it could be an in-law suite, or a nanny's apartment." He flipped on the light and Amy could see a living and dining room and kitchen that was about the size of her own at home. "It's one bedroom."
"This is insane."
Ranger watched her carefully, but she seemed to really enjoy seeing the house. All of her comments had been teasing or just out of surprise. The house was huge. He would be surprised if she wasn't a bit overwhelmed by the house.
"We'll go down to the breezeway back to the house."
Amy nodded, "Sounds good."
Going through the breezeway gave Amy her first view of the garages. "Planning on getting more cars?"
"I have three, the other two can be for guests. Or you."
Amy stopped just outside the door to the house and turned to look at Ranger, "I get my own place to park when I come out here?"
"Of course."
"Can I pick a bedroom too?" she teased.
"Well I hope you'll pick mine." He put both hands on her waist and pulled her to him.
"Maybe I will. I still haven't seen the first Master bedroom of this monstrosity you call a house." She had her head tilted back so she could look into his gorgeous brown eyes.
"Saving the best room for last." He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a light kiss. Amy's lips were soft and pliant under his. He'd only meant for it to be a quick kiss, but he just couldn't stop. The kiss deepened and Ranger slowly pushed her back against the door. Caught off guard by the way the kiss changed Amy opened her mouth to pull in a quick breath, Ranger took advantage and thrust his tongue into her mouth massaging her tongue with his. His hands started to roam, one to her ass and the other up her back to tangle in her long brown hair.
Amy's hands were doing some roaming of their own. While Ranger gripped her hair and pulled her head further back to kiss his way to her ear and down her neck, Amy was busy mapping his arms and back. He stopped on her ear, nibbling on it for a few seconds, causing her to grip his large biceps in her hands. She couldn't stop the small moan from escaping.
Ranger grazed his way back to her lips, giving her a few short kisses before pulling back just enough to look into her eyes. "Let's finish the tour then we can have supper."
"Where are we going for supper? Or is that a surprise too?"
"We're eating here."
"Here? As in at your house?" Amy looked equal parts surprised and confused.
Ranger nodded, "I've got a grill out on the patio and Ella was kind enough to stock the fridge with everything I need to cook us dinner."
"Your cooking us dinner?"
"Why is that so surprising?"
"I'm not sure. I guess just because I've never really known you to be fond of cooking."
"I'll admit that it's not one of my favorite things to do. However there are times when cooking a meal is much more preferable to eating out, this is definitely one of those times." He reached up and gently brushed the tips of his fingers down one side of her face then cupped her cheek. "I like spending time with you, especially when there aren't outside distractions. If I cook for you, you can sit in the kitchen with me and we can talk while I take care of preparing dinner." He leaned down and lightly brushed his lips to hers. "Now let's go inside and finish the tour."
Amy couldn't do anything but nod. Every time Ranger touched her she could feel all of her nerve endings tingle and burn, she never wanted him to stop touching her. She had already become addicted to his touch. He was a dangerous man to be attracted to. She never would have imagined that he was having very similar thoughts to hers.
Walking into the entryway Amy could see the huge family room and kitchen to their right. "I love this kitchen! Well I love to cook so a kitchen like this would be a dream."
"You're more than welcome to cook in it anytime you like. As long as you share with me." He teased as he pulled her down the hallway. "The dining room on the left, which is right next to the foyer. And the formal living room here." He pointed to their right but didn't stop until he got to the bottom of the stairs they'd gone up before. "The library slash home office is just through here." He pointed ahead. "And a half bathroom just outside."
Amy stepped ahead into the library. "I love this room. It's my favorite." She turned a complete circle admiring the finish on the oak and the beamed ceiling above her. Finally her eyes met Ranger's. "We still haven't seen the Master bedroom."
"I saved the best for last. This way." He led her by the hand back to the formal living room and they walked across it to the double doors at the back of the room. He pushed both open at the same time and Amy stopped about two feet inside.
A massive California King bed sat on a platform in the middle of the wall to the left. Windows on the other sides of the octagonal-shaped room let in the last of the setting sun. The walls in this room were newly painted, whereas all of the other areas had paint chips taped to the walls for ideas. While she soaked in the amazing light teal-colored walls and different shades of grey from the carpet to the ceiling and the bedding, Ranger made his way to the fireplace and pushed the button to light it.
"You've already done this room?"
He nodded but stayed by the fireplace, "My contractor technically can't start until I officially take possession next week, but I was anxious to start on the house. And it was a foreclosure so it was already empty, my realtor and lawyer were able to speed up some of the paperwork. The house is mine technically, just not officially yet. So I paid my contractor extra to have his flooring guy come out to replace the carpet in here. Tank and I painted, believe it or not. I chose the colors and bedding. But of course if you absolutely hate it, it can all be changed easily enough." He stopped when he noticed Amy was just staring at him.
"You keep dropping hints and aren't exactly being subtle so I'm going to just come out and ask, are you asking me to move in with you?"
Ranger walked to her and took her hands in his. "No, I'm not asking you to move in with me. Yet. But I've told you already that I'm not a casual dater. So I expect that you'll be here a lot. And I'm assuming that at some point in the not so distant future I will be asking you to move in here. So I care what you think about how this room is painted because eventually it'll be yours as well. Just like I'll be asking for your opinion on how all of the other bedrooms should be painted and decorated. Lexi can pick any bedroom upstairs she wants and paint and decorate it however she'd like as well. I told you before, I'm all in."
Amy just stood there in total shock for a full thirty seconds before her brow furrowed and Ranger could almost literally hear the wheels in her brain turning.
"Ranger!" he watched her with his usual carefully blank expression. "You bought a freaking mansion!"
"Well that's a bit of an overstatement."
"How many square feet is this house?"
"I'm not sure."
Amy pointed her finger at him with barely an inch between her finger and the end of his nose. "Bullshit. You know everything. This "house" has six bedrooms," she did air quotes when she said house, "and it has a freaking regulation size basketball court and boxing ring in the basement! Not to mention the one-bedroom in-law suite/apartment over the second garage. You know how many square feet this house is probably down to the nearest inch. Tell me."
"Ballpark, about 8500 square feet."
Amy just stared at him for a full minute. Then she turned a circle in the large Master suite. "Okay, before we go any further tonight I have to ask," she watched him carefully and could tell that he was steeling himself for a really hard question. "Just how many more kids do you want to have?"
Ranger watched her for about ten seconds before he suddenly started laughing. Amy watched him curiously with her eyebrows furrowed but stayed silent for the three minutes it took Ranger to finish laughing compose himself. "I was expecting something else entirely to come out of your mouth."
"Like what?"
"Like, if I expected you to clean the whole thing or be a stay at home wife. Tank asked me today if I was dating you to have someone to clean this place. Honestly I thought you were going to tell me you had changed your mind about dating me."
Amy gave him a small smile, "First, I know that you wouldn't expect me to clean this whole thing or stay at home. Second, considering I haven't dated…at all…since my now ex-husband you should already know I'm not that vapid. And third, how is what I asked any less serious?"
"What you asked is definitely serious. It's just not at all what I was expecting. In answer to that question, We will how ever many kids you and I decide to have." Ranger noticed her eyes widen and her mouth open slightly as she sucked in air suddenly. "I keep telling you that I'm serious about us. I haven't dated really since Julie's mom Rachel actually. But if you want one or two or none, I'm okay with whatever."
Amy just nodded slightly then cleared her throat. "So do you need help making dinner?"
"Changing the subject?"
"Yes," she turned and started walking back out to the formal living room and down the hall to the kitchen. Ranger followed behind her silently and stopped at the large island in the kitchen as she walked around and finally turned, keeping the island between them. "I'm here on a second date with you so I'm obviously serious. And we've had this discussion already. But after only two dates should we be talking about how many kids We want to have? I know I asked the question but it wasn't in direct relation to us."
Ranger was wearing his signature smirk, "I'll get started on supper and we can talk about all of that." He circled around the island to her and pinned her against the counter with a hand on each side of her. "But I think now is probably a really good time to talk about exactly what we both are wanting and where we want this to go. If we don't have the same overall goals and expectations, what's the point of even dating?"
"Fair enough." Amy could tell by the gleam in Ranger's eyes that he was glad she was amenable to the topic of conversation.
