~26~
Ranger had made arrangements with the hotel to have a bottle of champagne available when the returned to the suite. They toasted and celebrated long into the wee hours the next day. Ranger was able to get Steph out of the hotel by about noon and they were soon headed to Boston. Ranger took the route along the water and Steph convinced him to stop in Mystic, CT for pizza at the famous restaurant from one of her favorite movies. They browsed the shops in Mystic and he added to her jewelry collection with a few new pieces. She bought some photos that were framed of the beach and water.
It was early evening when Ranger pulled into the parking garage of RangeMan Boston. Steph had never been to this office and was a bit nervous meeting these Rangemen. Ranger tried to sooth her nerves and agreed that she should take her engagement ring off when they were with the staff, just until they announced the engagement. They were debating over doing it at the end of the trip or even hold off until another time. Steph was in no hurry to have the actual wedding but Ranger was hoping to convince her to do it when they were in Miami. Just the two of them, Julie and Ranger's brother that lived in Miami. He had looked into having a ceremony at the beach and was going to bring it up once they were closer to that part of their trip.
Ranger parked the car and walked around to get Steph. Together, they pulled their luggage out and before they could figure out how to get it all upstairs, the elevator doors opened and a RangeMan stepped out. "Hey boss man, welcome," said the RangeMan. Ranger nodded and said, "Thanks Gunner. Meet Stephanie Plum, head of client relations in Trenton. She's going to give the guys an overview of how she turned the client area around with an overhaul and it's now the second leading profit earner in Trenton, only behind bonds. Steph, this is Gunner." Gunner held out his hand to her and she shook it. "Nice to meet you Ms. Plum. Welcome to Boston." "Please, not Ms. Plum. Call me Steph or Bomber. The Trenton guys branded me as Bomber." Gunner looked at Ranger and said, "This is the Bombshell? You brought the Bombshell to Boston? Whoa, I better warn the guys and lock up anything that could explode." Gunner and Ranger both started laughing, but Steph was not amused. "Seriously, you guys gossip more than a group of teenage girls." She rolled her eyes and grabbed a bag. The guys divided the rest of the bags and they all got into the elevator. Ranger used his key fob to head to the 7th floor to his apartment.
Gunner helped get the bags into the apartment and then said his goodbyes. Steph was sure he was running down to the control room to share the news that the Bomber was in the building. She looked around the apartment, dropping one of her bags on the bed in the only bedroom. "Seriously Ranger, this looks just like your apartment in Trenton. A little variety or color wouldn't kill you, would it?" Ranger looked at her with a big smile on his face and said, "Babe."
They unpacked their bags and ate the dinner that the Boston version of Ella had left for them. Ranger headed down to his office for a few hours while Steph stayed upstairs and went over her notes for the training in the morning. About an hour after Ranger left, there was a knock at the door. She walked over and found Manny standing there smiling at her when she opened the door. "Hey, come on in. Did you just get here?" Manny came in and they sat down at the table where Steph had her notes for the training spread out. They went over the order of what they wanted to do and before she knew it, Ranger was back in the apartment. He greeted them and went into the bedroom to change his clothes. He came back out and found Manny heading to the door. He stood back and watched Manny give Steph a hug and kiss on the cheek before he walked out the door. He smiled and caught up with Steph, who was putting her notes away for the night. "Babe, you never disappoint." "What?" "Babe, you turned Manny, who is a highly decorated Navy Seal, into a mushy lump. He never hugs or kisses me when he leaves my office." Steph reached over and tried to smack Ranger but he grabbed her arm and threw her over his shoulder and ran into the bedroom.