This is an AU story. I hope you find the characters still themselves even if their world is different.

Sally

The Good Wife

Chapter 5

The room was dark and still. What the hell? My mind was fuzzy. I felt around, hotel bed. Before I could ponder why I was in a bed in a hotel, my bladder screamed at me and I made a dash to the bathroom to take care of Mother Nature. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror when I washed up. Yikes! My hair was all over the place and my makeup was smudged from sleep. I used the standard hotel soap to scrub the rest of it from my face. My mouth felt like I had been snacking on cotton balls. I was thrilled when I found an extra toothbrush and toothpaste. I couldn't do much about my hair. I took out the pins and finger combed it. Not so great. Maybe if I wet it down it might behave a little better. Not wanting to mess with the shower, I just used the sink. The water shot out of the tap, splashing all over me. Crap, I got water all over my t shirt. T shirt? This isn't my t shirt. This t shirt is black and about 4 sizes too big for me. It says something on it, Rangeman. Rangeman? Ranger!

I flew out of the bathroom and ran smack dab into a wall of muscled chest. Yum. I licked my lips at the sight. Looking up, I found the chest belongs to Ranger. Omigod.

"Are you okay?" He was concerned.

"You're not wearing a shirt." Was all I could say.

"Steph, are you okay?"

"You're not wearing a shirt." I seemed to be stuck on that thought. In all honesty if you had seen it, you would be fixed on it too. His dark hair was loose and it hung down brushing the top of his broad, strong shoulders. He had amazing pecs and a six, no make that an eight pack like nothing I have ever seen before. It was all wrapped in smooth skin the color of a mocha latte. Yum. I just wanted to run my lips and tongue all over it, tracing a line from his neck to suck on those amazing milk chocolate nipples before tracing every one of those crevices in his muscled abs to that soft and silky trail of hair that lead to a very promising package if there was any truth in what his cargos were advertizing. I licked my lips.

"Babe," a growl came from Ranger and snapped me out of my musings. His eyes were dark and he was fighting for control. Yikes.

"You're not wearing a shirt." I repeated again. I blinked, not sure if what I was seeing was real. No man looks that good.

"Yeah Babe, I'm real and no, I'm not wearing a shirt. You're wearing my shirt." His eyes traveled up my body. I was wearing his black t shirt, it was so big the neck exposed one shoulder and it hung to mid thigh. I was still wearing my panties, that's a good thing right?

"How? Why? What happened?" This was as close to naked I have been with a man in years; I better not have missed anything.

He led me back to the bed. I noticed it looked like both sides had been occupied at some point. My eyes grew big and I looked at Ranger. Crap, I had had this amazing Latino Sex God in bed with me and I can't even remember it. Ranger just smiled and shook his head.

"Babe, believe me, if something had happened, you'd remember." That damn wolf grin again. I scooted up the bed and sat with my back against the head board. Ranger sat on the side of the bed near my feet.

His hand was on my calf and he was mindlessly rubbing it up and down. "You passed out. I had Bobby come and check you out." I gave him a funny look. "He's a medic. He said that you had a panic attack. You were fine, and it was just your body's reaction to the stress of the situation. It isn't typical, but it isn't completely unusual either." He was trying to reassure me that it is totally normal to faint when you find out you had two stalkers? Good to know. This was all new to me. What kind of person could deal with this craziness every day? I tried to make light of the situation.

"What can I say? I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?" He smiled a little. "Really, I do sleep a lot when I am stressed out. Sorry." There is nothing like a like long nap to help with denial.

He looked a little irritated, "Why are you apologizing? You keep doing that."

I shrugged. "I can't imagine you knew what you were getting into when you took this job. This can't be normal." I can't be normal.

He smiled, "No, you're not what I expected. Not like our usual clients."

I snorted. No shit?

He shook his head, "No, I mean in a good way. Most of the people we deal with want the bodyguards for show, to improve their image. Or they treat us like hired thugs. None of them even care what our names are; much less bother talking to us." He was sincere.

"Or molest you," I added. Shit, I didn't mean to say that out loud.

I got the wolf grin again, "Just another thing about you that surprised me. You didn't hear me complain did you?"

I blushed. "I don't know what got into me. I hope you don't think I do things like that normally. I mean I've never done anything like that in my life. I was upset about having to wait and I wanted to do something to make him pay, not that it worked. I shouldn't have used you like that."

"Still not complaining. That's all it was, revenge?" He was doing that eyebrow thing.

My blush turned deeper, "No, that wasn't the only reason. For some reason I seem to have a hard time thinking clearly when you are near me. You may have noticed the occasional inappropriate outburst. I seem to be willing to do and tell you things I shouldn't."

He just looked at me, his eyes fixed on mine, like he was looking for something. His gaze was intense. I dropped my eyes from his and changed the subject.

"Umm...What happened to my dress? Why am I wearing your shirt?" Did you see me naked?

He nodded towards the closet where my dress was hanging, "Your dress didn't look very comfortable to sleep in."

"Did you undress me?" Did you like it?

He looked a little embarrassed, "Well it was me or Lester. Did I make the wrong choice?"

"Nope." I'm good.

Just one question left, but I didn't want to ask, so I nodded to the other side of the bed where someone had obviously slept.

He explained, "You wouldn't calm down, you were having horrible dreams, like night terrors. I'm sure they were about the photos. I tried to wake you up, but Bobby said it was best to let you keep sleeping, but that I needed to get you to calm down."

"And?" I made the sign with my hand that means go on.

He smiled, "Holding you was the only way to get you to calm down and let you get the sleep your body needed. Every time I tried to move away, you started up again. So I slept there with you."

Needy much Steph? "Sor…" I started to apologize.

He interrupted, "Stop apologizing, please." He looked frustrated.

"Okay, but only because you said please." I relented.

He gave me the 100 watt smile. Damn. I needed to change the subject before I jumped him again.

"Did you find anything out about the note?" If we talk about the mildly disturbed person who sent the note, we don't have to talk about the completely deranged lunatic who sent the photos. Good plan Steph!

He shook his head, "We have been checking all the cameras, but we haven't found anything yet. I have someone working on the note card and envelope. They were pretty basic, but we may get lucky." I nodded and yawned. Looking at the clock I noticed it was three in the morning.

He stood up, "You need to get some sleep. In the morning I will have a lot for questions for you, you need your rest."

"What about you? I can't have you falling asleep on the job." He raised an eyebrow in question. Why not? He had already been in bed with me once, this time I might remember something.

I held up my fingers in the Girl Scout pledge. "I promise not to molest you."

"What fun would that be?" He gave me the wolf grin again. Gulp.

He climbed in on the other side and turned out the light. I was exhausted from the preparation of the past few days and the stress of now being hunted, by not one, but two psychos. Willing myself to try and sleep, I rolled to my side away from Ranger. I nearly nodded off when I saw the picture of me with my throat slashed. Shit. I stared at the wall and tried to forget that there was a man in bed next to me. And not just any man. This is not working. I flopped onto my stomach and tried to count sheep, all I could manage to count was the number of ways some nut job wanted to kill me. I could feel Ranger's body heat. He hadn't moved. He was breathing slowly, but he wasn't asleep. I snuck a peek at him. He was watching me.

"I can't sleep." I whined.

He chuckled, "I noticed."

"I just about get to sleep when I see one of the pictures that crazy sent me and I start to panic. Then my heart starts pounding and I can't breathe." My voice started to rise.

He reached over and started rubbing circles on my back. "You need to calm down or you are going to have another panic attack and pass out again." God that felt good. I planted my face in my pillow to keep from moaning.

"I can't. I don't have any Xanax." I said into my pillow.

"That stuff will kill you Babe. Come here." He turned me onto my side, tucking me into his body, my back to his front. He put one arm under my pillow and the other one wrapped around my waist. If the goal was to get me to not pass out, and my heart rate to slow, this might not have been the best idea. His body behind me, his arms holding me, it felt so good my eyes nearly rolled back in my head from the sensation.

I went for a diversion, "I hope I don't kick you in my sleep. I'm usually all over the place. I'm not used to…" It was too depressing to continue. I tried to cover, "Unless you count the sleepovers I have with my sister's kids."

He was quiet for a long time before he asked, "How long?"

"Six years," I whispered. He hugged me a little tighter.

Another long silence, "Why?" His voice was soft.

I shrugged. I didn't know why. I tell myself it is because of the church. If I were honest I would admit that of the times I use the words, God, Jesus, and Christ, maybe 1% of it is in prayer. Other than Christmas and Easter the only time I have been to Church in the last few years has been for the occasional wedding or funeral and the baptisms of Val's kids. It wasn't the church. I tell myself I can't do casual. Like I could really have a relationship? If I was really honest with myself, I just wasn't willing to put myself out there. Hours and hours of therapy had convinced my brain that Dickie's problems had nothing to do with me. It was not my fault. I was not any less of a woman. My mind understood perfectly, my heart wasn't so sure. What if I wasn't enough for any man? Could I survive that? Maybe I stayed with Dickie so I would never have to find out.

"How much do you know about Dickie's infidelity?" Did I really want to go there with him? I guess I did, it's already out there.

His hand was drawing small circles on my stomach. "Just what you told me in the car. I haven't had a chance to interview him yet."

"Do you have any idea how many women my husband had sex with in the first two years of our marriage?" My voice was shaking. He didn't answer. "Fifty," I whispered. "He couldn't go a week without sleeping with another woman, even when we were newlyweds." Took a deep breath before I continued, trying to make light of it, "Kinda hard on a girl's self esteem." My voice was thick with unshed tears.

The next thing I knew I was on my back pinned beneath Ranger's body. He supported his weight with his arms as he held my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him. His eyes were fierce, "You can't think that is about you. He has a problem, but it isn't you. You know that. He knows that." Ranger's thumb caressed my cheek and I tried not to cry.

I swallowed hard, "What I know and what I feel are two different things."

He shook his he slightly in disbelief, "You are amazing. You don't understand. You can't see what others see, what I see." His eyes were still locked on mine.

I needed to know, "What do you see?"

"I see a beautiful, sexy, woman." He smiled, "You frustrate the hell out of me because I am supposed to be guarding your body and since I first saw you outside your bedroom door all I have been able to think about is how to get you here, like this under me. I want you so much I can't think straight." He paused and placed a soft kiss on my lips. "Not just because you are beautiful, but smart and funny and loyal too. And you are genuine. With all you have been through and what you have achieved, you are still real."

I stared at him, my eyes full of unshed tears. I didn't know if it was my voice didn't work or I just didn't know what to say. I brought my hand to his cheek, tracing his jaw. I reached up and ran my fingers through his silky black hair. Fisting my hands in it I pulled his mouth to mine, kissing him gently. I let my tongue trace his full lips. As I ran my tongue down the seam he opened his mouth allowing me entry. I caressed his tongue with my own before I sucked it into my mouth. He groaned and took control of the kiss. It was intense as he hungrily explored my mouth with his tongue, teeth and lips. My hands left his hair and traced the muscled chest and abs I had appreciated earlier. His hand moved to my thigh and roamed under my t shirt and up to my breast. I moaned. I could feel him harden, pulsing against my hip. I reached around to stroke the muscles in his back before moving down to grab his perfect ass. He growled and flipped us over so I was on top and he reached to yank off my t shirt.

Before he had a chance his phone started to vibrate as it danced across the night stand. He ignored it and fisted his hands in my shirt, not willing to break the kiss to get it over my head. The phone stopped briefly before starting again. At the same time someone started pounding on the bedroom door.

Ranger pulled away groaning.

"Fuck." He muttered.

I sighed, "I guess not."