Recap: Ranger waxes philosophical about Stephanie, and then they have a lovely morning that includes a lot of smut.

Stephanie's POV

I lay limply on Ranger's chest, trying to catch my breath. I've often describes Ranger as magic in bed, but his actual skill always amazes me. After a few minutes of laying there like a sloth on barbiturates, I looked at the clock.

"Looks like Batman missed his workout. How inconsiderate of me."

He grinned his full 1000 watts at me. "Trust me Babe, I'm not complaining. Though as much as I'd like to stay here in bed with you all day, I have a full schedule today. Do you want the shower first or second?"

I grinned at him. "Wouldn't it save time to shower together? You once told me you were good in the shower…."

He kissed the top of my head and rolled out of bed. "If I shower with you, I won't get to work on time. Or potentially at all. Join me for breakfast?"

I made a face. "It's not going to be tree bark and grass, will it?"

He smiled again, "I'm sure Ella can come up with something. I'll give her a call. You can sleep a bit longer after we eat, but I want you at the gun range by 900 hours."

Oh goody. More time at the gun range. I rolled over and buried my head under a pillow. I heard him chuckle as he went into the bathroom, and soon the smell of steam and Bvulgari permeated the room.

10 minutes later there was a knock, and Ranger went to the door. "Babe," he called out to me. "Breakfast."

I moaned and rolled out of bed, shuffling to the dining room. There was a large silver serving dish sitting on the table, and two cereal bowls at the chairs. "What's that? I asked suspiciously.

"Something I thought we would both enjoy. We don't often eat the same thing. It's yogurt with granola, fresh sliced strawberries, crushed raspberries, honey, and vanilla. Healthy enough for me, sweet enough for you."

I found it adorable that he wanted to eat the same food as me, so found something we would both like. "No tree bark?"

"No tree bark. Though if you want some, there's cinnamon in the pantry. That's the only tree bark I eat unless it's an emergency"

I tried the mixture. It was pretty good. Not a Boston Creme donut, but definitely edible. Halfway through I caught him staring at me. "What?"

"You have yogurt on the corner of your mouth. Want me to clean it off for you?" His eyes got dark, and I'm sure he was thinking of half an hour before. I smiled at him, and he kissed me, licking my lips, then pushing his tongue deeper. Our mouths should have been cold from breakfast, but somehow he still seemed to radiate heat.

He pulled away from me, and tucked a curl behind my hair. "I'd better go. How about we have lunch up here at noon? You can tell me how things went at the range."

I nodded. "Have a good day, Batman!"

"Have a good day, Wonder Woman." And he was gone.

I rolled out of bed at 8:15, still awash in the happy glow from earlier in the morning. I hopped in the shower, spending more time there then I normally would, knowing I was likely going to be naked with Ranger in the next 12 hours. I put on some light makeup, and tied my hair back. It might not be my best look, but if I was going to be at the range, I needed it controlled.

At 8:58 I walked into the gun range. Lester got there at the same time, carrying a roll of several sheets of poster paper and grinning at me wickedly. "Hey Beautiful. How are you doing?"

"Pretty good. How was your date?"

Lester grinned at me. "A gentleman never kisses and tells."

"Shouldn't be a problem. You're no gentleman."

He laughed. "Be nice to me Bomber, or we won't get to play our game."

I raised my eyebrows at him. He retaliated by raising just one, because apparently I'm the only person in Trenton who can't do that. "What game?" I asked, then narrowed my eyes at him. "This isn't going to be a game of Hide the Salami, is it?"

He laughed, throwing his head back. "No, though now you're giving me ideas. What's wrong, the cop not keeping you satisfied? You need me to step in?"

I blushed, and my eyes shifted to the side. In the last lane, the mockup of Morelli I had made last night still hung, including the shot-out crotch. Lester's eyes followed mine, and he spotted the Faux-relli.

"Something you need to talk about, Beautiful?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I already did. Ranger and I talked last night." I started blushing again.

Understanding dawned in Lester's eyes. "Are you telling me my idiot cousin finally got his head out of his ass and told you how he feels about you?"

"You knew?"

"Of course I knew! Everyone at Rangeman knows. The cops know. Your skips know. Little old ladies walking their dogs as they pass the two of you know that he loves you. You only have to look at how he watches you when you're together. The only people that didn't know how much you two love each other, would be the two of you "

He threw an arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. "I'm thrilled for you, for both of you. I'm disappointed he got to you first, but you make each other happy. And you both deserve that, even if Ranger doesn't believe it about himself."

Lester put one of the poster sized pieces of paper on the track for target practice. On it was a grid of squares, each about 3 inches to a side. "OK Bomber, like I said, it's time to play a game."