~7~
Steph woke up and was confused for a few minutes as to whose bed she was in, as well as whose apartment. She smiled when she remembered where she was and what she was going to do today. She got out of bed and walked out to the kitchen to start coffee. Once the coffee was started, she looked around at her apartment. It looked like a grown up's apartment, not like the one she just left. That looked like a college kid's apartment, complete with hand me down furniture from relatives. Even Rex looked happy in his cage. Hal had surprised her and bought Rex a deluxe hamster habitat and he was loving it.
She had just poured a cup of coffee when there was a knock at her door. She walked over and opened it. Bobby and Lester were standing on the other side, smiling like a couple of goofballs. She motioned for them to come in and Lester took the coffee from her and took a drink. She sighed and went back to get two more cups and met them at the kitchen table. Lester handed her a folder with information about her classes, which started on the following Monday. She had three days to get ready from them and to get all of the books, etc. that was needed. He also handed over a laptop that he told her could be used for classes and homework. It was a striped down version of a typical RangeMan laptop so she didn't have to worry about any of the "secrets" that were on the normal computers in the offices.
Bobby handed her a piece of paper that highlighted her upcoming training schedules. She sighed as she looked it over. They had something scheduled for practically every hour of the day. She wondered when she'd be allowed to go to the bathroom. Lester started laughing and looked at her as he wiped coffee off of his face. Bobby looked at her and smiled. "Out loud, huh?" "Yep Beautiful. We'll go over the schedule on your first day and see where we can fit those breaks in for you! Go get dressed and we'll take you school supply shopping!"
When Steph came out of her bedroom about ten minutes later, the living room now held Bobby, Lester, Tank and Ranger. "Is this going to be group shopping trip?" They laughed at her and then Ranger walked over to her. "Babe, I think our shopping trip yesterday was enough to last me a while. Take this credit card to pay for your class related expenses. It's for anything that's part of your job requirements. The card is for you to keep to pay for any RangeMan expenses, but not a trip to get donuts, please."
"Oh Ranger, you take all the fun away. I still have three days to enjoy donuts, you know."
"Babe", said Ranger as he walked out the door.
Steph looked at the three men who were left and sighed. She grabbed her back and they led her down to the garage and they all got into one of the SUV's. Lester pulled into the parking lot of an office supply store and they all went inside. Steph saw the woman working behind the counter was staring at the guys and had dropped the paper that she had been holding. She recognized her from high school and walked over to talk to her. "Hey Gina, how are you?" "Gee, Steph, apparently not as good as you are doing. Three of them all to yourself? Do you share?"
Steph laughed and launched into the story of who they were and that she was starting work at their office in a few days and they were in to get her supplies for her classes as well as for her office. Gina helped her look up the classes online to see what the professors were requiring and then led her to correct department. The entire time, Lester never took his eyes off of Gina. He might have been standing around a display of laptops looking at them with Bobby and Tank, but he was watching Gina. Steph noticed it and came up with a quick plan. She was standing with Gina looking at a group of accounting calculators and then called Lester over to them. Gina's eyes twinkled when Lester appeared. "Ladies, how may I assist?"
Steph looked at him and said, "Les, this is Gina, we went to high school together and I just found out that she works here. I don't know which calculator to buy. Do you have any suggestions?" Lester looked at the row of calculators and randomly picked one and handed to her. He was smiling at Gina and started to talk to her. Steph smiled, grabbed the calculator, put it back and got the correct one she needed and backed away from them. She wandered over to Bobby and Tank, still smiling.
Bobby laughed and said, "I saw what you did. Are you going to play matchmaker for all of us?"
Steph laughed and then pointed out that Lester had his phone out and had handed it to Gina and she was putting in her information. "Looks like it worked for Lester. Who's next?" The guys backed away from her and took off across the store. She stood laughing at them and then finished picking out the rest of her supplies. She headed to the counter to pay and actually had to break up the Gina and Lester huddle so she could check out. Gina came running over and was all smiles. Steph grinned and said, "Looks like someone will be shopping here more often. We could make him the office errand boy." "Steph!"
~8~
They all helped her carry the bags out to the SUV and then headed to the mall. Steph needed to get clothes and shoes for the gym as well as some other clothes that she could wear to classes and the guys told her to pick up some distraction job outfits as well as client meeting suits. One of Ranger's long term plans was to groom Steph in the client side of the business and let her eventually handle all of the client contact. That left him and the guys free to do the physical side of the jobs. Once she had gotten most of the essential clothes and shoes, she led the guys to that specific pink store, which was one of her favorite places to go. All of the guys came to a dead stop and refused to go inside with her. Lester shook his head and said, "Beautiful, are you trying to get the boss man to kill us?" She laughed and called Ranger.
"Babe"
"Ranger, the guys aren't being nice to me. They won't stay with me while we're shopping." When she said that, all three of the men looked sick.
"Babe, are you trying to get them in trouble?"
"Yep. They helped with all of the essential RangeMan clothes and shoes, but now they won't go with me to get new lingerie."
Ranger let out a roar of laughter. "Babe, you're mean. Try not to laugh and act like I'm mad. Those three will be shaking in their boots until you get back. Text me when you're almost back and I'll meet you in the garage."
"Ranger, you can't do that to them. They have been helpful until now so I don't think that much punishment is necessary. Just tell them to stay with me so I don't get kidnapped."
"Babe, you're mean. Use the other credit card I put in your wallet this morning. I want to buy you what you need if you are where I think you are shopping."
"Ok, if you say so. I'll see you when we get back to the building. I hope you're in a better mood by then. I don't like grouchy Ranger." She turned and walked into the store and had to hurry to the back of the store before she burst out loud laughing. She managed to get a glimpse of them out the store window and they were all huddled together looking at Tank's phone. Ranger must have texted him. She took her time and got what she needed and then a few more pieces. She took special care to buy something special in case Ranger finally made a move. The flirtation was always there and other than a few kisses, nothing else had happened. She hoped that with her living in the building, things would progress. Even when she was dating Joe, part of her heart belonged to Ranger.
She paid and went out to find the guys. Tank wouldn't look at her and the other two looked scared. They walked silently to the SUV and got inside. The ride back to RangeMan was quiet except for the tapping of Tank's fingers on the steering wheel. Steph remembered to send her text and when they pulled into the garage, Ranger was standing there, hands on hips waiting for them. Steph bounded out of the car and pulled her bags out and then went and stood by Ranger. The three men stood at attention and just stared straight ahead. Ranger walked over to them and Lester started to say something, but Ranger raised one hand to quiet him. They all stood silently for a minute before Ranger turned around to Steph and said, "Run Babe. I'll hold them off as long as I can." Steph didn't think twice, she took off at a dead run for the stairs and as soon as the door closed behind her, Ranger started laughing. The three men stared at him and then they finally started laughing. "She got you three in one swoop. God, it's going to be fun with her around full time." With that said, they all headed up to the control room.