Happy Aprilmas! I can't believe its been a month since I last updated...

Okay, so here's whats going on. I had the beginning. I know where this is going and pretty much how it ends. Its the 'how the heck do I connect the beginning to where its going' that's giving me trouble. Then the other day, I FINALLY figured it out. So hopefully the rest of the story comes easy now and it won't take me a month to post. But if it does, stick with me, I WILL finish.

RL will finally slow down... for a month. My final is Thursday and then summer session doesn't start till June. So I'll have some more free time for this, thankfully.

Not mine, but there was some talk of Ranger, me, chocolate syrup and a week in bed...

"It sounds like you're in a bit of a pickle there, dear." Grandma Mazur said. Grandma Mazur was my last living grandparent and my mother's mother. She went to live with my parents after my Grandfather bit the big one, but was currently in the hospital for a hip replacement.

She broke it while rollerblading.

Grandma wasn't a day over eighty-one, but had the skin of a hundred and twenty two year old. Her hair was white and her blue eyes saw everything.

"I love Joe, I do. It's just…" I stopped.

Grandma lifted her bed into a sitting position. "There's no spark left."

I nodded and blushed. There was no one who knew me better than my grandmother and she knew how to keep a secret. The fact that I was having doubts about my relationship with Morelli wouldn't get all over the Burg the minute I left the room.

It would happen when her gals from the Clip 'N Curl come to visit tomorrow. Her rollerblading pals.

"Would it have anything to do with that sexy man you ran into a few days ago?"

I had barely mentioned him, but I felt he was part of this all the same. I bit my lip. Did it? Or was I feeling these feelings way before and he just brought them to the surface?

"I have no idea." I said honestly.

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"What do you think I should do?"

Grandma shook her head. "That's not for me to decide. You need to figure that out. Not me or your mother or even those nosy Burg ladies. And I know what you're thinking. My lips are zipped on this one. Not until you know what to do."

I sighed. My stomach was flip flopping inside me. Somehow I knew she was going to say that, but secretly hoped that she wouldn't.

"Couples go through this. Your grandfather and I definitely did."

"What did you and Grandpa do?"

She sighed. "Got back to the basics. He wooed me all over again." Grandma got a dopey look on her face and a faraway smile started to appear. She may be looking for someone to share her life with now, but right then I knew that my grandfather was the only man for her. Period.

I smiled. My Grandfather was a very quiet man. That was something he would never do.

She nodded. "Like I said, it's a phase. They lose what they had that brought them together. Doesn't mean you can't get it back. The real question is: do you want to get it back?"

"This was a really good idea." Joe said to me. He pulled my chair out of the table and kissed my cheek. After my visit with Grandma, I called Joe and asked him out. Mostly he was surprised, but agreed readily. We chose to go to Marsillo's, the place we went to for our second date. It was a classier version of Pino's, but less families and more cloth tablecloths. The atmosphere screamed 'date' to me.

"I thought we could get back to some basics of our relationship. When was the last time we had a date?"

"Last week. I took you to Pino's."

"The last one where we weren't eating on plastic tablecloths."

He paused. "Got me there."

I rolled my eyes and opened my menu. Joe followed suit and the waiter came over to take our drink order. A few minutes later, we ordered and lapsed into an awkward silence.

"So have you heard back about that job yet?"

"Probably next week. I feel good about it."

He paused. "Are you sure you want to make the move?"

I put my wine down. "What?"

"All I'm saying is that you're good at your job now. Why would you want to leave that?"

"Don't you want to grow in the police force? Don't you want to be more than a detective?"

"Sure." He shrugged. "Someday."

"So there you go. That's what I'm doing." I looked at him. "I thought you wanted this for me."

"I do. I just want to make sure that you're sure."

I felt like we've had this conversation before.

Oh wait, we have.

I didn't want to ruin the evening, so I changed the subject. "How's your mother?"

He went on to talk about how she was waiting for me to come over again for my next cooking lesson. I actually enjoyed learning how to cook some of Joe's favorite's things from someone who wasn't constantly trying to take over what I was doing. Although I could do without his crazy Grandma Bella…

But I couldn't help but feel that he was creating a double standard. What, he didn't want me to advance my career? What if we got married? Would he assume that I would just up and quit my job?

Did I want to marry him? Why was I thinking about marriage? I wasn't ready for marriage and babies. Both of those subjects gave me hives.

I looked up. Shit, he wanted me to respond. So I did what I do best, I smiled and nodded.

The rest of the dinner went smoothly. We laughed, we ate, and we actually had a good time. Joe walked me to my door and kissed me goodnight.

I, however, didn't want it to end there.

We quickly went into my apartment, where Joe practically dragged me to my room. I giggled at his excitement.

"What? I can't remember the last time we did this." He said between kisses.

Huh, neither could I.

We quickly divested each other of our clothes and fell into bed. I grabbed a condom and quickly dressed him. Joe grinned and pushed me onto my back.

And then I was flying.

After, Joe and I laid next to each other and tried to catch our breath. We smiled at each other.

"Yeah, our basics are rock solid." He said, panting.

I just grinned. "Fuckin' A."

Ranger's POV

The phone rang next to me on the table. "Yo." I said.

"Good morning sunshine!" Lester called out to me. I shifted the phone away from my face and looked at the clock. 3:18.

"What do you want? I'm offline for a few more hours." Jesus, I just needed a few to get some fucking sleep.

"Yeah, but you said to call you if someone was dying…"

"Is someone dying?"

"Not technically no. But Bones broke his leg trying to clear a fence after a skip. I know, I know; I love the irony."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I'll be in soon." I put the phone back on the table and started to look for my pants.

"Where are you going?" Jeanne asked. She rolled onto her side and faced me. The sheet had slipped to her waist and exposed her breasts.

Jeanne Ellen was one of our freelance workers. She usually took the smaller government jobs and was a bounty hunter for Les Sebring. We met a few years after I got out of basic and have had an on and off non-relationship ever since. Her blonde hair was still mussed from our last round and her grey eyes were still glassy.

"I've got to go in. Bones is hurt."

"And he needs you to hold your hand? He's a grown man, Ranger."

I pulled my shirt on. "It's my job, Jeanne. You know this. I'd be there for you."

"Really?" She batted her eyes. "Would you bring me flowers?"

I didn't respond to her. Most of the time she can be a cold as ice bitch. "I'll see you later." I left the apartment and headed up. Lester met me at the stairs door.

"It's not as bad as the doctors thought. It's a hairline fracture and he'll be good to go in a few weeks. They're going to fit him for a cast and then let him go."

I nodded. "Good. Who's his partner today?"

"Hal."

"Make sure he makes a report of the accident. I want to talk to the doctors when they're ready to discharge. I'll make sure all the insurance is covered."

"Word. I hope I didn't pull you from anything important."

"Nope."

The rest if the day went by quickly. I run my own company called Rangeman. We handle security, bodyguarding, failure to appears (or bail jumpers from court) and government contracts. Most of the days putting out fires and making sure Bones got home comfortably. Bobby, our company medic saw him home and then gave me a full report from the doctor. When they were ready to release him, I was in the middle of a meeting with a client that had their house broken into.

"It's a small fracture on the left tibia. He'll be immobile for a while, but we can put him on light duty until the cast comes off. We can reassess him when that happens and decide when he can come back to full duty."

I nodded. "Good. Make sure he's accommodated when he comes back to work." I looked at the schedule. "Give him tomorrow off as well."

"He said if you tried to do that, he wanted me to decline. He wants to come in."

I'd rather him rest and recuperate, but like Jeanne pointed out icily, he was a man. I nodded again. "Fine, but if he only wants to work a half day, let him."

"Will do."

"Here, I've got that file you wanted." Tank said as he came into my office. I held up my hand, and took it without looking up and dismissed him without a word. Tank is my second in command. He lives up to his nickname standing at six foot, seven inches and more muscle than the Governator. His skin was the color of chocolate and his dark eyes stayed alert 24/7.

"It's pretty late."

I was surprised to see that the sun had set. "Most of the paperwork has to be signed by me." I slit my eyes to him. "You want to do it?"

"Hell no. You keep your paperwork." I figured we were done.

But still, he stayed.

I sighed internally. "What."

"I saw you leaving the fourth floor earlier today."

I stopped doing what I was doing. "And?"

"And then I saw Jeanne Ellen leave."

"And?" I repeated.

He just crossed his arms.

I put the pen down now. "Do I judge you on your personal life?"

"That's not even the point. You know what you're doing with her is a slippery slope."

"My life to lend itself to relationships right now."

"Will it ever?"

I wasn't sure. I couldn't even see past next week. "Someday, maybe." I said honestly. "And she gets it. She understands the lifestyle. With the contracts we've done, having a significant other is impossible."

"Do you honestly believe that or do you like thinking that so you don't let anyone close?"

I didn't answer him.

"Yeah, think about that." He scratched his bald head. "When you meet her? Just remember this conversation. Every day you wake up and protect these men. You need to have faith that you can do the same for her. Because we both know that you can."

I didn't want Ranger to appear just yet, but once you let that man out of the box... you kind of can't put him back in... And don't be mad at him for sleeping with Jeanne. I made him more human. Ranger wasn't a virgin when he and Steph slept together and I'm not going to portray him that way. He feels he can't have a romantic connection, but still has his... um... man urges?

Leave me some love!