Recap: Ranger gets Stephanie to admit the conversation with Lula about kinks, using his own unusual interrogation technique.

Ranger's POV

I woke Stephanie at 7. Late for me, early for her. I had already been awake, to the gym, showered, and working for hours by the time I got her up. I stood leaning against the wall watching her sleep for a few minutes before I had the heart to actually wake her.

"Hey Babe, time to get up. We have a big weekend ahead of us." She mumbled something profane under her breath, and covered her head with a pillow and burrowing further under the sheets. I jumped into the bed with her, trying to decide if I should try to snuggle her awake or tickle her awake. The night before had been a lot of fun. I might have to interrogate her more often.

My decision was made when a pillow hit me in the face. "Playing with fire Babe" I said, trying to decide what ticklish point was both close to my reach and far from her arm. I lifted the pillow off her face and kissed her. It started as just a gentle peck, but when her lips parted mine my tongue glided in to meet hers. Her left arm snaked out from under the sheets and wrapped around my back, giving me my first look at it since last night. As expected, it was black and blue, with darker streaks where the lip of the trash can had pushed into her skin.

I've seen a lot of injuries in my very violent life. I've seen men walk on a broken leg to escape a firefight, seen organs that should never be exposed to the light of day, evan watched as one of my best friends died from sniper fire right in front of me. It is, sadly, a normal part of my existence. But somehow those gruesome injuries don't awaken my protective instincts the way a simple bruised arm did when it was on the woman I loved.

I gently lifted my head to inspect her arm more carefully. I resisted the urge to touch it, but did kiss her shoulder and elbow around the injury. "How does it feel Babe?" I asked her softly.

She stretched and flexed her arm. "Not too bad. A little sore, but I think I can still use it. I don't think I'm going to be wearing any sleeveless dresses anytime soon, however. Don't want people thinking you'd beaten me up."

I blanched at the idea of ever hurting her. "You know I'd never do that, right?"

"Yeah. Joe saw me last night and asked if you had hurt me. I told him you hadn't. I know you never would."

"You saw Morelli?" I kept my tone as neutral as possible.

"He stopped by when I was getting my things. I told all I wanted from him was space, and to leave me alone until I reached out to him. But he saw my arm and made sure it wasn't you who did it. Then he left."

I nodded. I might not be happy about it, but I couldn't be too upset that he was looking out for her. And if I had been the one that hurt her, I would have deserved whatever Morelli dished out.

My thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the front door. "That's Ella with breakfast. Granola and yogurt for me, and I believe pancakes for you." Her eyes sparkled and she jumped up, grabbing a Rangeman t-shirt to put over her head. Seems there's a fairly easy way to get her out of bed after all.

An hour later we were on the road, me in my zone, and her trying to guess what I had planned for the weekend. All I'd told her was to bring a pair of shoes for walking, a pair for dancing, and whatever she would need for pulling her hair back and securing it well. Her laundry basket (minus Rex) was sitting in the back seat of the Cayenne, holding the shoes and a few pairs of clothes.

"Ranger, why aren't you taking 95 South?" She asked, interrupting her string of conversation.

"Because I'm dropping you off somewhere first." I said, getting onto Rt 1 headed for the Turnpike.

She pouted a little, playfully, and ran her hands up and down my arm. "Our first big date and you won't be there?"

She was making a pretty good argument for me staying with her, but I didn't think the Secret Service would accept being overwhelmed by lust as a good reason to be late.

"Sorry Babe, but I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy what I have planned. I don't think you'd enjoy my meeting nearly as much."

She gave my leg a playful rub that made me strongly consider pulling over to the side of the road.

40 minutes later she realized where we were headed. "Sweet! The King Of Prussia Mall?"

I smiled at her. "It doesn't open for another hour, but I booked you an appointment at the spa across the street. Once that's over, you get a shopping trip." I pulled into the parking lot of the massage parlor and handed her an envelope. She pulled out the two credit cards. "The American Express is a company card in your name. Use that for business expenses. I'll need you to get two outfits to wear for the job. We aren't sure exactly what role you'll be playing, so get clothes for both. First, black slacks, black jacket, white shirt. Second, casual shirt and jacket. Both should be loose-fitting enough to hide the fact that you are wearing a kevlar vest, so you probably want to go a size up. The jackets should be long enough to cover the fact that you'll be carrying. Make sure the white shirt isn't sheer enough that you can see the vest."

She grinned at me. "I'd have thought you'd want me to get clothes that were very tight and very sheer."

Internally I groaned. This meeting would feel like it was taking forever. "That's what the second card is for. According to my research, this mall has two Victoria's Secret stores, and a Soma Intimates. The Visa is tied to my account. I want you to buy enough lingerie that I can tear it off of you without guilt about leaving you without underwear." Although the idea of her walking around without any underwear was driving me crazy. "I'd also like for you to get a good rolling suitcase, you can put that on the company card, since you'll be traveling for work occasionally, and you can't very well check the laundry basket on a flight. If you get that first, you won't have to worry about carrying anything else on your left arm. On my card I'd love for you to get a nice outfit for tomorrow night, I'm sure you can find something here that you like."

I got out of the car to open her door, and extended a hand to lift her out. "I'll call you when I'm headed back here." I shut the door, then pinned her to the car with a kiss. My hands ran through her hair and hers settled on my hips. I deepened the kiss, running my tongue along her teeth. She responded by wrapping her legs around my waist. If she had been wearing a skirt instead of jeans I would have entered her right there in the parking lot, but I managed to restrain myself.

I set her down gently and managed to pull myself away. "Have fun shopping. Get a mani/pedi if you like, but don't get your hair styled. Don't worry about the money, Rangeman is getting paid very well for this gig."

"Are you sure? I thought the Sequester meant the Secret Service was struggling financially."

"The campaign reimburses the government for certain costs related to political rallies." I kissed her again, then looked into her eyes. "I mean it Babe, get whatever you want. But I do want a fashion show later tonight." I whispered into her ear "And I'm hoping there will be several little pink bags in your suitcase when I pick you up." I kissed her once more, then got in the car and drove away before I pulled her into the backseat and made myself late for my meeting.

Stephanie's POV

OK, so a dream date with a hot guy usually involves the hot guy being in the same city, but a massage and hours at the KOP mall was a pretty sweet deal. It's the second largest mall in the US, nearly 3 million square feet of retail space, and I had a black AmEx and a Visa Platinum burning a hole in my pocket.

First stop was the massage parlor. A kind-looking woman met me at the front desk. "Do you have an appointment?"

"Um, I guess so. Is there a reservation for Stephanie Plum?"

She looked at her book. "Certainly is. Reserved as a gift by a third party. Full package, hot stone massage, facial, aromatherapy. Is this your first time with us?"

Two hours later I was feeling nice and relaxed, my skin was glowing, and I smelled wonderful. I headed across the street to the mall for a day of shopping.

Shopping without Lula wasn't at much fun, but I did get through my list faster without her getting distracted by every pair of shoes she saw. It only took me an hour to get the suitcase, both sets of clothes for the security job, and a killer dress. It was deep blue with veins of sequins. I thought it brought out the blue in my eyes. I'd found a matching set of FMPs and a purse as well.

I decided to go to Victoria's Secret before getting a manicure, so I wouldn't have to worry about smudging the polish. At least here I knew I wouldn't feel at all guilty about spending Ranger's money. I know he sometimes makes up jobs for me that he doesn't really need, or catches a skip at a bar instead of at home so I have a role to play. I take the jobs because I do need the money, but it's awkward to have him spend lavishly on me. It's even more awkward to spend lavishly on myself with his money, when he isn't here. But I'm pretty sure I'll feel no guilt buying the sexiest lingerie I can find. As he said, he might well want to tear them off me, and I didn't want him to have any guilt about ruining clothes I had paid for. So i was doing him a favor spending his money on it, right?

I was in Spencer's Gifts when Ranger called me. "My meeting is done, and I'm on my way. It's rush hour traffic, so it will take me at least an hour to get there. Did you have a good shopping trip?"

"Yup. Got everything on the list, plus some other things I bet you'll enjoy."

"I can't wait. Meet me outside Nordstroms, I'll call when I'm in the parking lot." And he disconnected.

An hour left me enough time to get a manicure, and I was feeling playful. I got bright yellow nails with tiny little black bats on them, then headed over to Nordstrom's to wait for Ranger. I waited for him at the scent counter, buying a small bottle of Bvgari Green shower gel in case he had forgotten to pack any. OK, I admit it, I just wanted to be able to smell him before he got here. I was getting impatient. Having a rolling bag to put everything in had certainly helped with carrying everything, but I was anxious to continue what we had started in the parking lot of the massage parlor.

55 minutes after he had called me, Ranger texted to say he was outside. I rushed to the door, happy to see him leaning against the car waiting for me. He took me in his arms and kissed me like we had been apart for weeks instead of hours. I whispered in his ear, "want to see all my new purchases?" I'd bought enough bra and panty sets, teddies, and corsets to keep him tearing clothes off me for a month.

"Soon Babe. One more stop before we go to the hotel." He lifted my suitcase into the backseat of the car. I got in, but before he put the car in gear he told me to close my eyes.

"What are you planning?"

"It's a secret Babe. Just close your eyes. It will only be for a minute."

I closed them as he drove off, fidgeting at not being able to see. I felt the car move slowly, then pull into a parking space. "Alright, Babe. Open your eyes." I could hear the smile in his voice.

I opened them up and looked to see where I was. "Ohmigod!" I squealed. "This is so cool!"