I woke up the next morning with an arm over my waist, a rod poking my back and a full bladder. "Good morning", said Ranger as he turned off his watch alarm. He sounded wide awake and much too alert for first thing in the morning.

I, however, was not. I grunted a good morning to him, wiggled my way out from under his arm, used the facilities and washed my hands, and sleepwalked my way back to bed. As I lay down, Ranger pulled the covers up and over my shoulders and kissed my forehead. I think I was asleep before he got out of the bed.

Two hours later, Ranger woke me for breakfast. "How do you do that?" I said.

"Do what, babe?" he said. He looked at me and I could tell that he was thinking about smiling. I checked my face for drool and pushed my hair out of my face.

"We both get the same amount of sleep before you get up for the day, but while you wake up ready to go and are able to do amazing things like pull yourself upright, I need two hours more sleep and, when I do wake up, I am still more tired than you."

"I've never needed a lot of sleep. My mother said that I was always a bad sleeper, even when I was young. My guess is that you've always been a good sleeper."

"That's true. I have. My mother always made me go to bed earlier than all my friends just because I needed the sleep. I resented it when I was younger, but by the time I was in my twenties I appreciated early bedtimes. Even though I now get nine hours of sleep a night, I still feel perpetually tired."

"Did you want to sleep later? I can do work for the office here in the apartment if you want to sleep later in the morning."

"No, because I still have to make it in to the bonds office in a timely fashion, and I have research to do as well. I don't have time to sleep more than nine hours a night."

"If you are sure…"

"In the meantime, I'll just rely on coffee."

"Apples work well in waking you up too", said Ranger. "Ella has stocked the fridge with them for your evening snacks, but you could have them in the morning if you wanted."

"They're for me? I thought they were for Rex, and I couldn't understand why Ella had bought him so many."

Ranger laughed.

I climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth. When I came out, Ranger was holding his housecoat. I smiled. "I don't have to wear your housecoat any longer", I said. "Now that I've moved in, I can wear mine."

Ranger draped his housecoat over my shoulders, held it so that I could more easily put my arms through the sleeves, and tied the sash for me. He pulled me into his body and gave me a deep kiss. "Wear mine", he said as he moved back. "I like the idea that my clothes are touching your naked skin."

I stepped back into his arms and gave him another kiss. "I like it too", I said.

Ella came into the apartment, put breakfast down on the kitchen counter, and called out her wish for us to have a good day as she left the apartment again. We walked through to the kitchen carrying our empty coffee cups, and as Ranger refilled our cups I took the plate covers off and distributed the two plates. Ranger brought over cutlery and set the table, and I looked down at the food. Ella had sent up her buckwheat pancakes and coconut cream sauce, and she had given a bowl of fruit salad to go with it. I'd had Ella's coconut cream sauce before, and I could hardly wait to eat it again. Out of all the things that Ella made, it was one of my favorites, and that was saying something. Ella was an excellent cook.

We started to eat, and Ranger looked at me. "What are your plans for the day?" he said.

"There aren't any skips for me to chase", I said. "Luckily for Vinnie and not luckily for Lula and me, everyone has been showing up at court for their trials. I am thankful that I have the job with you to fall back on. I would really be struggling if I didn't have the money from Rangeman coming in."

"Will Lula be alright?"

"I think she will. After all, she's supposed to be Vinnie's file clerk. That's what she's paid for. The money I give her for helping me is supposed to pay for extras rather than go towards her rent. It might be a lean month for her, but I think it will still be doable."

"That's good. She may be a rotten file clerk and not much better backup for you when you are skip chasing, but she's a good friend of yours and I wouldn't like to see her suffer."

"What would you do if she was struggling?"

Ranger paused. "I don't know. I know I wouldn't want her here in the office. I have a good relationship with my guys. The office is a peaceful place, a place where people can breathe. Letting Lula into the office would be like a shotgun shot into a flock of seagulls. It would result in feathers being ruffled beyond repair."

"That was always my reaction as well. She asks me almost daily for a tour, and I have had to consistently say no."

"How do you enforce that? It's been my experience that Lula is a force to be reckoned with."

"That's true. It's been hard. She is so curious. I've told her that it would be really disappointing to her and that she couldn't talk when she was in the building, but I don't think she believed me. I've also told her that secret things happen in the building and that, if I told her, I'd have to kill her. I don't think she believed that one either."

"We may have to bite the bullet and ask her up to the apartment but not let her into the offices."

I looked at him in shock. "But it's always been your policy not to let people in your apartment."

"I might have to open up about it a bit now", said Ranger. "Your mother and grandmother deserve to see the place. They understandably have questions, and I think they'd appreciate knowing that you aren't settling in a hovel. As for Lula, I think it will be impossible to keep her out."

"But your own family hasn't seen the place yet."

"Maybe it's time to change things."

"Julie hasn't seen the place." Julie was Ranger's teenaged daughter. She lived in Florida with her mother and stepfather. Although Ranger supported her, they didn't have a close relationship. When he saw her, he went down to Florida. Besides when she had been kidnapped, she had never been to Trenton.

"Maybe it's time to change that as well."

"What about keeping everyone at an arm's length away to protect them?" With the covert work he did, he had always been so careful about keeping his distance away from everyone.

"I still will, but this is your home as well and we have to make it work for you, too. I still will only let staff into the first six floors to the building. However, I think it's time to let people into our apartment."

"This is your apartment and I respect your rules."

"No. Now it is our apartment and we can make new rules that suit us. If you want to invite your mom and grandmother, or if you want to invite Lula and Connie, I'm okay with that." Connie was the office manager for the bonds' office. She was a couple of years old than me, a couple of pounds heavier, a couple of cup sizes bigger, and an infinitely better shot than me, and since I started working for the bonds' office, she had become a good friend of mine. "Those people care about you and deserve to know that I am taking care of you properly." He waited until I had finished my meal and, when I got up to move the dishes onto the tray to leave for Ella when she cleaned the apartment later that day, Ranger pulled me onto his lap and gave me a deep kiss. When he broke away several minutes later, I was dazed from more than the change in stance regarding his apartment.

I looked at him. "How soon do you have to be at your desk?"

Ranger gave a half-smile. "I have some time. Why? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I have no clothes on under your housecoat."

Ranger slid his hand under the terry fabric. "That's true. You don't", he said. He started to knead my skin, and I thrust myself into his hands.

I adjusted so that I straddled his hips. Ranger picked me up and carried me into the bedroom. "Good thing I hadn't already put my gun on", he said.

"That's true", I said. "You only have one gun I'm interested in, and I'm not talking about your Glock."