~20~
The next three months flew by for Stephanie. She was learning so much of the business side of RangeMan. Tank worked with her to learn the client side of RangeMan and she was now meeting on her own with current clients and was handling the prospective client meetings. She had made some changes to the process and had brought in more new clients in her first three months than the company had brought in the entire previous year. She had asked Tank if she could have someone assist in her office a few times a week, just helping with the extra paperwork that was generated by her success in building up the client base. He agreed and had asked for a volunteer. The response was overwhelming and Steph ended up needing to interview the top prospects and ended up picking Manny. Manny now helped her a couple mornings a week and if she kept drawing in new clients at the rate she was going now, he would be working for her full time. She loved what she was doing, even though she had to keep up with her training in the gym and the gun range. She still didn't like her gun, but she was comfortable using it.
Her time with Ranger in the evenings took a back seat most nights to her work. They still got together a few nights a week to eat dinner together, either in the building or out at a restaurant. The physical side of their growing relationship was going far too slow for Steph's liking. She had agreed with Ranger that they needed to move slow and not jump into bed on their first date, but seriously, it's been three months and he wouldn't do more than kiss her or hold her hand if they were walking together outside of work hours. She wanted more and by God, he was going to have to step up soon or she was not going to be responsible for her actions. Some of the guys were complaining to each other about the sexual tension in the air whenever Steph and Ranger were in the same room.
Finally, Steph had had enough and was taking things into her hands. She worked with Ella to come up with a romantic menu for a dinner and she had asked Ranger to stop by her apartment for dinner about an hour after she was done for the day. She told him to drop by for dinner and promised that she wouldn't do the cooking. She hurried upstairs to her apartment after her last meeting and jumped in the shower. A quick shower and change of clothes were first on the agenda. Hair and makeup was next and she was just slipping her shoes on when there was a knock on her door.
She gave herself one last smirk in the mirror and headed to open the door. She opened it with a smile and then her smile fell. It was Lester, what the hell? "Les, what the hell are you doing here?" "Well, geez Beautiful, I thought you'd be happy to see me." "Les, I'm waiting for Ranger to come for dinner. You need to leave." Lester looked her over, up, down and back up her body again, and then got a big smile on his face. "Is tonight the big night? Are you finally going to get some and become a nice person again? You really need to get some Steph, you're acting so moody some of the guys asked if you have PMS all the time." Steph hit him in the arm and pushed him out the door. "I'm not going to get anything if you don't leave. Now get-out!"
She shut the door behind him and went out to the kitchen to open a bottle of wine. She had been planning on waiting for Ranger to arrive before opening it, but after the last five minutes, she could use a drink to calm her nerves. She had taken her first drink when there was a knock on her door. She set her glass down and went to the door. This time she looked out the peephole and sighed when she saw it was Bobby. Good god, what is wrong with these men tonight? She yanked the door open and said, "What?" "Jeez Bomber, I just ran into Lester and he said tonight was the night. I just wanted to stop by and make sure you were going to be well protected. Most of the guys contributed so you should have a good variety to choose from tonight." He held up a small, brown bag and shook it. She grabbed it and slammed the door shut. She looked inside and blushed. Good lord, they must think she's a nymphomaniac. There had to be at least three dozen condoms inside, various brands, sizes and from the looks of it, colors. She took the bag into her bedroom and as she was walking into the room, there was another knock on the door. She threw the bag on her bed and headed to the door.
She flung open the door and there stood Ranger. Looking so good in a pair of dark jeans and a button down shirt. Yum Yum! "Babe", he chuckled, almost blushing. "What? You look good." "So do you Babe, so do you." He walked in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She led him to the dining room and had him sit down. She poured him a glass of wine and he smirked at the table set up. Ella had gone a bit overboard with the setting, but still, it looked nice no matter how many candles were lit. She headed into the kitchen and brought out the first course. Ella had left a note for her with when to serve which plate and she didn't want to screw it up. They made idle chit chat about work as they worked their way through all of the courses. Once they finished eating, Ranger helped clear the dishes and when he saw the note from Ella, he smiled, but didn't say anything to Steph. He knew that tonight was different than the past few times he'd had dinner with her. She was up to something and he hoped it was the same thing he wanted.
They went into the living room and Ranger found the remote for her stereo and turned on some music and pulled her into his arms to dance. "Thank you for dinner Babe, it was excellent." She laughed and said, "You know I didn't make it so you really should thank Ella." He pulled her closer and rested his cheek against hers. The shoes she was wearing brought her closer to his height and he planned to take full advantage of it. The longer they danced, the more adventurous their hands were getting. Ranger was slowly working the zipper of her dress down while Steph had pulled the back of his shirt out from being tucked in his pants and her hands were running over his skin. He slowly pulled away from her and leaned down to kiss her. The kiss quickly escalated and when they both pulled away, they were both breathing heavily. "Babe?" Steph didn't say anything, just pulled him by the hand down the hall towards her bedroom.
He stopped her about halfway down the hall and backed her into the wall. He reached down her backside and lifted her up until she wrapped her legs around his waist. He started to kiss his way down her neck and had pushed the neckline of her dress down as far as he could before continuing his path of kisses down her body. She gasped and eventually said, "Bedroom. Now." He started walking again with her wrapped around him and kicked open the bedroom door. He was walking with her towards the bed and stopped short and started laughing. "Babe, what's with the condoms?" She whipped her head and around and blushed. "The guys took up a collection for us. Apparently, we've been moody and they wanted to make sure we were protected." Ranger laughed and dropped her on the bed, right on top of the condoms. "Babe, let's see how many of them we can use."