Disclaimer: Anything familiar belongs to JE and the creators of Criminal Minds.

Warning: Adult language, adult situations

Chapter 74: Thursday, September 1st, 1900-2300

Casa Rodolfo/Club Fuego

Garcia's POV

I rarely travel with the rest of the team anywhere. In fact, I think I can count on one hand how many times I've joined them in the field. But never have we gone out with the investigators we were working with. Maybe this time is different because we weren't working with a law enforcement group, but contractors instead. But either way, I was glad to have the opportunity to experience Miami nightlife with a group of people who knew their way around the city. Not to mention, they were all yummy delicious and excellent eye candy.

Emily told us we were going out to Casa Rodolfo for dinner then to a swanky club called Club Fuego. Me being me, I looked up both online. Both the restaurant and the club were given five-star ratings, and from looking at the pictures, us ladies needed some party clothes. I knock on the door to Emily and Tara's room, as JJ and I are sharing a room.

"What's up, Garcia," Tara asks.

"Okay, I just finished looking at the websites for the restaurant and the club, and I must say, mon ami, that we don't have the proper attire with us. The women down here are, you know, supermodel beautiful. We need to get some dresses or better club wear. Besides, we are going to be hanging out with those super handsome Rangemen. We need to look our best." I say, barely taking a breath.

"Garcia, slow down. I was just about to come and get you and JJ to go on a little shopping trip. Ranger told me a great place to get some dresses in Little Havana. However, we must stick together because many of the merchants there don't speak much English. Considering I'm the only one fluent in Spanish, you need to stick with me like glue." Emily responds.

"Oh, that sounds perfect. Let me go tell JJ and get my purse. I have so much to do in so little time." I say as I hurry back to my shared room. I inform JJ of our plans, she calmly grabs her purse and starts to walk out the door.

"JJ, how can you be so calm in a time like this?" I ask incredulously.

"Garcia, we're only going shopping, not to invade a third world country. You need to relax, Penelope." JJ tells me.

"I know, you're right, but I want to look perfect. We are going to be in the company of some of the hottest men that I have ever met. I want to look deserving of their company."

"And you will, Garcia, don't worry," JJ responds.

I take a deep cleansing breath, before following JJ into the hallway, with my giant purse in tow. We hit the little boutique in Little Havana, finding the perfect dresses for each of us. JJ found a black and white dress that was snug around her torso, with a slight flare at the waist. It ended about three inches above her knees. The front panel and back panel were white, with the sides and skirt black. She purchased a pair of black and white three-inch heels to go with the dress. Tara found a hunter green wrap style dress, that was also looser from the hips down. It ended at her knees, and she got a silvery-gray shoe to match, with a modest one and a half inch heel. Emily found a lilac one-armed dress with a slim fitting skirt. Her skirt didn't really flow, but it wasn't too tight to be constricting to dance in. She found a dark purple, peep-toe three-inch heel to wear with the dress.

I found my perfect dress fairly quickly. It was a lighter green dress with pink and purple flowers of varying sizes embellishing the dress. It had a v-neckline, with cap sleeves. It fully flared, like Baby's dress in the last scene of Dirty Dancing, when I turned. I found a chunky pair of pink heels to go with the dress. With our purchases made, we headed back to the hotel. At six-thirty, we all met in the lobby. While us women looked good, the men of our team looked mighty fine. Rossi was wearing his typical black dress pants with a white dress shirt, no tie, and gray dinner jacket. Simmons went with black dress pants and a blue dress shirt. Alvez wore black jeans that fit him oh so snug with a red dress shirt. Reid was wearing his typical clothes, beige dockers, white and blue striped short sleeve shirt, and his hair a little messy. I must say, we all clean up nicely.

We get into the SUVs, with Rossi and Alvez driving us to the restaurant. We arrive at a nondescript stucco building in a coral color. There is glass awning over the door, with two potted plants on each side of the entrance. We file out of the vehicles to enter the restaurant. Emily leads the way, telling the hostess that we are part of the Rangeman party. The hostess smiles and immediately escorts us to our tables. I start to look around the dining room, noticing large pictures of what must be Havana, Cuba. Whoever took the pictures has an excellent eye. We start to approach the group, and I almost trip over my two feet when I get a good look at our dinner companions. Manny and Bobby are both wearing black dress pants, slim fit that shows off their muscles paired with Henley shirts, Manny's in gray and Bobby's in a deep red. Woody is wearing a pair of tight dark-wash jeans with a white t-shirt and blue and green checkered button-down shirt. He has a cowboy hat perched on the table behind him. Lester has on black dress pants with a green button-down shirt that brings out the color of his eyes. Ranger, on the other hand, could be a fine work of art. He is wearing a pair of black jeans, perfectly molded to his magnificent booty, black t-shirt and blue dress shirt, partially buttoned and untucked. Hector is in black pants and a black polo, looking menacing.

Stephanie, however, looks fabulous. She is wearing a black dress with deep red, almost wine-colored flowers, and blue peacocks. It had a V-neck that plunged low. There was a tie under her bust before the skirt flared with an asymmetrical line. She had on four-inch black stiletto pumps with an ankle strap. She looked phenomenal.

"Welcome. I'm glad you all could make it. The menu is in Spanish, so if you need any help, any of us can help you, except Stephanie. The food is excellent, everything is good. No matter what you choose, you can't go wrong." Ranger greeted us.

The way the Rangemen were sitting, there were two seats open between them. It appears they wanted us to mingle as much as possible. I quickly chose to sit next to Santos. He was some smokin' hot café latte hunk. And those green eyes…ugh! So, I was sitting next to Lester. On his other side was Spencer, then Rossi, followed by Ranger, Stephanie, Emily, Hector, Bobby, Tara, Woody, Simmons, Alvez, Manny, JJ, and then me.

I was glad that I was sitting across from Hector. It was better for Emily to be seated next to him, being fluent in Spanish and all. Ranger ordered the table a selection of appetizers, explaining each one to those of us who were not familiar with the authentic Cuban cuisine. Everything was delectable. Then, for dinner, we all had several different dishes. I had vegetarian Picadillo, which was phenomenal. It was so delicious that I couldn't even take the time to see what everyone else ordered.

For dessert, I had Tres Leche cake, which was extremely moist with an outstanding icing that must be homemade. Stephanie and Ranger each got flan. I can tell that Stephanie was surprised with his dessert order.

"Destroying the temple?" Stephanie teased.

"Babe, for this flan, I will demolish the temple."

"Good to know, Carlos." She replies.

A moment later, a little old lady came bustling out of the kitchen and straight for our table. "Why you do not tell me you coming? I make you my special dish. The two of you, not very nice. Carlos, I'm not surprised by your lack of an announcement, but Lester, I expected better from you." She finishes.

"Babe, this is my Tia Adaliz, and Lester's mother."

"Carlos, is this the woman the family has heard so much about?"

"Si, Tia, this is my Babe, Stephanie Plum. The rest of our guests are FBI agents."

"Stephanie, dear, please let me know if you want anything else, including scrapbooks showing my boys getting in trouble.

"Mama, please," Lester begs.

"I'm sorry, mi hijo. No can do. If you had told me you were coming, I wouldn't have to resort to this." She replied unapologetically.

Lester groans, then he placates his mother, "Mama, I'm sorry I didn't call you. I didn't want to put you through any more undue stress or work. I knew you would want to spoil Carlos and I and we didn't want to make you tired."

"That's my thoughtful little boy," he mother replies before flicking his ear.

"Stephanie, how did you like the food tonight?"

"It was wonderful, Mrs. Santos. I hope to come here often with Carlos while we are in town." Steph answered.

"Call me Mama or Adaliz, Mrs. Santos is my mother-in-law, God rest her soul." She said while doing the sign of the cross.

Once dessert was finished, we exited the restaurant. "I suggest you leave your cars wherever you parked them. The club is a block to the west." Ranger informed everyone.

We all started walking to the club together, but we noticed how close Stephanie and Ranger were walking near each other. They were walking hand-in-hand, at the back of the pack, clearly having worked through some of their barriers the last couple of days. When we arrived at Club Fuego, there was already a long line, and it was only 9:30. The bouncers saw our crew and went to stop us from skipping the line until they saw Ranger.

"Ranger, good to see you. This is your party?" One of the bouncers asked.

"Yes, Nick, the whole lot of them."

"Go right in and see Pamela. She'll make sure you have a table."

"Thank you, Nick," Ranger replied.

We stepped through the doors and were assaulted by the sounds. The Latin beats were pulsing through the club. There were standing tables along the outer edges and on the middle balcony, giving plenty of space for people to stand and chat. The upper balcony had tables and chairs set around in groups of two, three, four, and larger groupings. On the right and left side were four bars. Two on each wall with a space between two distinct sitting areas barricaded off from the rest of the place. The four sections had a couch, a couple of comfy chairs, coffee tables, and regular table and chairs, clearly able to fit larger groups. The barrier, while solid, could be opened to allow mixing of two sections into one.

A beautiful woman with black hair cascading down her back, high stiletto-heeled boots, and a short black dress approached our group. "Ranger, it's good to see you again. It's been a while."

"It has, too long, Pamela. How's the family?"

"Great. The kids are six and eight, just starting first and third grades. Holly is home with them now. You have the two VIP sections on the right." Pamela replies, leading us to the nice VIP section. "I'll send over some Cristal and appetizers, on the house. Any chance for a dance later?"

"Pamela, this is my Babe, Stephanie Plum," Ranger said, introducing her to his woman. I could see that Steph was a little peeved at Pamela's interaction with Ranger. "Stephanie, this is Pamela. Pamela lived next to Abuela Rosa when we were younger. Her mother used to spend a lot of time with my Abuela."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. If you would excuse us, I'd like to dance a little, Carlos." Stephanie purred.

Ranger took the hint, excused himself, and went out on the dance floor with Stephanie. The rest of us stood there mesmerized by them, the way they moved together almost as if they were one person. Even though he was darker than she, they complimented each other completely. It is like they were made for each other.

"I'm not happy that Julie had to be hurt, but I am glad that she was a catalyst for them finally getting their act together. I don't know how much longer I could have handled watching Beautiful go back to the cop." Lester said to no one in particular.

"It is a relief to see them together after they pushed each other away for so long. I can't believe that Steph and Ranger couldn't see what was right in front of them the whole time." Manny answered.

"But I understand Stephanie's hesitations at committing to Ranger. Based on her past experiences with men, and those who claimed they loved her, they all betrayed her in some way. They cheated on her, treated her badly, and took from her body regardless of whether she was willing to give her body to them. With the mixed messages Ranger sent her between his actions and his words, I don't blame her for holding him at arm's length. For Ranger, it had to be hard watching the woman you love constantly going back to another man." Tara replies.

"True," Bobby said. A second song ended, when Ranger and Steph made their way back to us. We sat down in our area on the couches, with Ranger pulling Steph onto his lap. We talked in small groups, getting to know more about each other. It felt like we've known each other for years, not only a couple of weeks. We all took turns dancing. Watching Stephanie dance with her Merry Men was fun, especially watching how Ranger was shooting daggers at his men if their hands drifted more than a centimeter below her waist. Lester really seemed to enjoy goading his cousin when he planted a kiss on Stephanie's lips. Ranger was ready to yell at Lester when Stephanie straddled his lap, kissing him senseless. The catcalls and whistles broke the two of them up before they could be charged with indecent exposure and public sex. I swear, watching them made the temperature of the room go up at least ten degrees.

At around eleven thirty, though, we started to fizzle out. The last two weeks have been exhausting. I was looking forward to being home, in my own bed. I don't know how the rest of the team deals with traveling so much. Hotel beds and pillows are never comfortable, no matter how much they claim them to be.

For the last hour or so, Manny and Emily have been chatting away, almost nonstop. They even danced together for a while. I can't help but think that maybe there's a love connection in the making between the two of them. They look good together, and lord knows he can handle our hours as much as Emily can handle his.

The other Merry Men, Lester, Bobby, Woody, and Hector; had no problems gathering numbers, and I must say that Alvez and Reid got several of their own. Matt and Rossi were putting out the not interested vibe that normally doesn't work, except that there were six other hot guys to take the heat off. Hector got the numbers of a couple of men. I guess he bats for the other team, not that it matters to me. I was enjoying myself. The only way this night would be better was if my yummy Derek Morgan was here, but alas, he's home with his wife and son. Speaking of Derek, there's this show on CBS called SWAT, and the lead actor looks so much like Morgan…it's scary.

I was busy talking with Woody and Tara when I glance at Ranger and Stephanie. Stephanie is still sitting in Ranger's lap, but now her head is leaning against his shoulder, and he is rubbing circles on her back. They look so content and happy, so right. I watch as Lester comes over, pulling Steph up for one more dance, and she goes with a huge smile on her face. When they return to our VIP section, we call it a night, considering we are leaving at six in the morning. Apparently, our plane is needed for another team after theirs broke down. We say our goodbyes and leave the club. Ranger and Stephanie follow us out, leaving the rest of the Merry Men behind. I watch as Ranger escorts Steph to his sports car, where he kisses her before helping her in. I can only hope to find a man someday that loves me to the extent that Ranger loves Stephanie.

TNTCE

A/N: Susan has now had the opportunity to beta this chapter, so the mistakes should be gone. If you want to see Steph's dress, follow the link below. Thank you for your wonderful reviews, I'm enjoying every single one. I'm desperately trying to finish this story, so I can start on my next tale. To all who are following this story, especially those who started following back in September, thank you for your dedication. It's been eight months, and I can't believe that it is still going strong. I'm humbled by your dedication to this story. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Steph's Dress

https: [slash] [slash] [slash] listing [slash] Black-Floral-Cuban-Style-Flowy-Dress-size-XL-5aa7274eb7f72b117b27d8f5