~17~
Lester knocked on Steph's apartment door and when she didn't answer, he tried the knob and it was unlocked. He walked in and didn't find her in the living room or kitchen. He headed down the hallway and found her laying on her back on her bed, still dressed, but just lying there. He walked over, kicked off his shoes and flopped down next to her. She looked over at him and sighed. She had fallen asleep after she got back but she didn't sleep for long. Lester reached over and wiped the tears away that she didn't even realize were falling down her face.
"Hey Beautiful. You okay?"
"I don't know Lester. What is so wrong with me that I can't keep the interest of a man for more than a few hours?"
"Hey, nothing's wrong with you. In this situation, Ranger is the problem. Ranger doesn't do well communicating his feelings. He's totally in love with you."
"Sure, Les. If he's so in love with me, why did he sleep in another bedroom? The day at the beach was perfect and the dinner and dancing were something out of a romance novel. He truly wined and dined me last night. No one has ever taken me out on a date that was so full of fun and love. I thought things were perfect until he tucked me in bed and left the room. He tucked me in bed, Lester. Like I was two years old. What the hell is wrong with me?"
Lester reached over and turned to her face him. "Listen to me, there is nothing wrong with you. Ranger is in love with you but he does more harm than good with sharing his emotions. He wants to take things slow with you. Formally court you for lack of a better phrase. Right now, all he can think about is the fact that until tomorrow, when you officially start working for Tank, that he's still your boss. He didn't want you to think about the fact that you would have been sleeping with your boss and make you feel uncomfortable. It truly was a good thing he was trying to do, he just fucked it up."
Steph looked at him and said, "That's what he was worried about? That I'd think I was sleeping with my boss? What a dumbass." Lester started laughing and then Steph joined in and soon they were both laughing hysterically and rolling around the bed. It continued for a few minutes before they heard someone clear their throat. They both looked up and saw Ranger standing in the doorway. Seeing him standing there caused Lester to start laughing louder and Steph couldn't stop so the point of having tears run down her face. She looked at him and said, "You slept in the other room because you're my boss for all of another twelve hours. You dumbass." With that said, she started laughing again. That started Lester laughing again and he choked out, "You called him a dumbass." Ranger stood looking at them and shook his head before turning and walking out of the doorway.
Steph jumped up and ran after him. She caught up with him before he could leave the apartment and grabbed his arm. "Hey, don't leave." And then she pulled him down to her and kissed him, long and hard. "Babe." He pulled her into him and kissed her again. "I didn't want to make you feel weird, but I guess I screwed it up. Once you get to work in the morning, you report to Tank instead of me. After work is over tomorrow, you belong to me." He gave her one last kiss and then left the apartment.
~18~
The next day, Steph skipped to Ranger's office at the end of her shift. "Knock-Knock," she said while knocking on the door. Ranger looked up from where he was sitting at his desk and smiled at her. "Babe."
"My day is over." "I can see that. Come here." He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her. "How about dinner in my apartment?" "Sure Ranger, let me go shower and change and then I'll come up. About an hour?" Ranger nodded and then she left, heading upstairs.
Almost one hour later, Steph was knocking on Ranger's apartment door. He opened it and she felt week in the knees. He was wearing faded jeans with a button down white shirt that was unbuttoned at the top. He had put his earrings in and his hair was still damp from a shower. The smell of his shower gel was overwhelming and Steph had to shake her head to get back to the present. Ranger chuckled and pulled her into the apartment.
"Ella just dropped off dinner, so let's go eat." He led her into the kitchen and helped her fill a plate. They sat in the kitchen and ate, talking over the day's work. Once they put their dishes in the dishwasher, Ranger led Stephanie into the living room and pulled her down on the couch, next to him.
"Babe, I want to apologize again for how our weekend ended. I should have told you why I was doing what I did, but sometimes, you make me feel like a 14 year old boy again."
"Ranger, you are far from a 14 year old boy. You are a wonderful man. Yes, you should have told me, but we all make mistakes. Yes, even you Mr. Perfect. You make mistakes." She leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips. "I agree with your original thoughts though." He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I want to go slow with you as well. I think if we would have slept with each other this past weekend, it wouldn't mean as much as if we wait and go slow. When we finally do sleep together, it will mean more to both of us. Ranger, I love you and think that you are my forever guy, but with all of the screw-ups I've had in my dating past, I don't want to screw up with you."
"Babe, I love you too. I will agree to anything you want because I don't want to lose you." He leaned over and kissed her and pulled her onto his lap. The spent the next few minutes kissing each other and just enjoying each other. Ranger eventually pulled away and turned on the television. They spent the next few hours watching a movie and kissing each other. When the movie was over, Ranger pulled Steph to her feet and walked her down to her apartment. They stopped at her door and kissed again for a few minutes. "Babe, we're giving the guys on monitor duty a free show." He pulled back and kissed her on the forehead. "Good night Babe." He gave her one final kiss. "Night Ranger", Steph said. She walked into her apartment and about screamed when she heard, "Nice date Beautiful?"