I don't own anything and I don't make any profit.

I hope you'll like it.Thanks for all the reviews and thanks to XJerseyGirl for helping me.

Temptation

Chapter Three: Feelings all-over

Steph's alarm woke her up at 8 the next morning. She got up and got ready to go to RangeMan. She had been so tired last night that she forgot her notes there and she wanted to look for Jackie this morning.

Fifty minutes later she got out of her car, when another one drove into the garage.

It was Tank and his smile told her that he had spend the night with Lula.

"Morning, Tank. How was your night? Did you sleep well"

He grinned even more if that was possible.

"Yes and I had wonderful dreams."

They both laughed and together stepped into the elevator.

"Do you know about the meeting at 3?"

"No, I wasn't able to talk to Ranger yet."

"I guess he's still sleeping, there was a problem at one of the companies and I guess he was up until 4."

"Oh, maybe I shouldn't bother him then!" The thought of Ranger in a bed made her feel nervous and…..other feelings she didn't want to think about.

Tank had to smile, Steph was so sweet. It was funny to see how careful she was around Ranger sometimes. If she only knew, that she had him wrapped around her finger.

"And, what are you going to do now? Wake him up?" He grinned.

She blushed and quickly stepped into the elevator.

Tank chuckled.

It was nice how relaxed they were together, ever since he and Lula got together Steph seemed more confident and at ease around him. He liked her, Ranger had a good taste.

Steph liked Tank, too. Since he got together with Lula, he was more open. He had a good sense of humor and was a gentleman. He was everything you didn't expect a man named "Tank" to be. She really was happy for Lula. She deserved to have a great guy.

The elevator stopped on the 4th floor, where Tank's appartment was. Instead of getting off, Tank held the doors open.

"Steph, could you come to my appartment before the meeting? I have to show you something!" He was nervously playing with the bottom of his shirt and Steph wondered, what was bothering him.

"Of course, I can come now, if you want."

He seemed relieved. "No, that's not necessary, later will be ok."

"See you then."

The doors of the elevator closed and 3 minutes later Steph stepped into Ranger's appartment.

It was dark in the appartment and she tiptoed to the office. She passed the open door to the bedroom and couldn't resist peaking.

Ranger was lying on his side, his sheet only covering him up to his waist. She looked at his throat, where his skin was all soft and seemed so vulnerable down his strong pulse to his chest. She's a sucker for chests. And Ranger's is the best on earth. Morelli might have the finest ass, but Ranger's chest is …….okay, no more thinking about Ranger's chest. She would just cover it up, so she wouldn't have to look at it on her way back from the office. It would be better for him anyway. It's mid-October, you just don't sleep uncovered then.

She moved towards him and grabbed the blanket. She was so deep in thought that she actually forgot who she was dealing with.

When she started to move the covers, she was grabbed around the waist and a second later she was lying beneath a very naked, very muscular, very good-smelling, very…..Ranger.

And from what she could feel he was very happy to see her.

"Babe."

And he kissed her. His hands moved under her shirt and he shoved it up, exposing her chest. Then his mouth moved down and down…and her back moved up and up…and her moans got louder and louder…and the ringing got louder and louder…Wait ringing?

Ranger groaned and kissed her belly one last time. This was a very bad joke.

She reached for her purse and got her phone.

"Yeah."

"Cupcake? Is everything ok? You sound annoyed."

"Everything is just wonderful" She said through her teeth.

Ranger pulled her shirt back down and sat back on her thighs, chuckling.

"What do you want, Morelli?"

"I can't reach Ranger, his phone is off."

"Wait a minute."

She covered the phone.

"He wants to talk to you."

He sat down on the side of the bed and took the phone.

"Yes."

"Shit. When?"

Steph stood up and went to the office to gather the notes she had forgotten.

When she turned to go back our Ranger was standing in the doorway. Dressed. Unfortunately.

"Babe, we have to make a field-trip. You up for it?"

She nodded and he hurried down the hall.

"Where are we going", she asked while he locked the door.

"A body was found at the CM company." CM is short for Computer Marshall, a company belonging to one of the wealthiest men in Trenton, Patrick Marshall.

"Okay and now tell me that this body is up and running and just wants to tell us something."

He looked at me and raised one eyebrow.

Shit.

-+-

20 minutes later they reached the company. The parking lot was full of cars. Police cars, a vehicle from the Coroner's Office, an ambulance and a car to take the body to Morgue. After Ranger proved his identity (there are people in Trenton who don't know him?), and had proved that he did the security they made their way through the cars and parked in front of the locked area.

She turned to open her door when Ranger put his hand on her chin, turning her head towards him.

"And babe. We have unfinished business. Don't forget it."

He kissed me and got out of the car.

She sat there, speechless.

He moved towards Big Dog, who was trying to make the press stand back, and she watched his muscles move, remembering the way it felt when he moved. Images of their night together crossed her mind.

Suddenly, there was a rap at her window. She shot around. It was Carl Costanza.

"Morning, Steph." He grinned at me.

"Morning Carl." She got out of the car and together they walked towards the scene.

"Are you working for Ranger?"

"Yes, I'm working for RangeMan."

"I bet Morelli is really happy about that."

She rolled her eyes.

"First, I don't think, that he knows and second, we aren't together anymore and even if we were it would be nothing to him. Besides, we don't see each other very often."

"Oh, you're definitly going to see him more often, Steph."

She looked at him, waiting for more, but they reached Ranger and Big Dog.

Ranger shook Constanza's hand and then nodded towards the scene.

On their way to the body, Ranger told Steph what happened.

"The Pit Bulls wanted to break in to get the new computer-chips. They disabled the security-system and got to the patio, but then we got a call because of the system and the place was full of RangeMan. We didn't find them and doubled security, but they were already inside so they went on. They got the chips, but then Ryan Marshall, the son of the owner of the company, saw them. He had worked late and was on his way to his car. They killed him with a knife and escaped. Everything was silent and fast. The body was found, when the security guard walked his usual round this morning."

Stephanie was shocked. They got past the RangeMan security.

"Yes babe, they did. And I can tell you that I'm not happy about that."

She knew him well enough to see that. His eyes were a little more narrowed and if you looked closely there was a grim line to his mouth. It got to him, that a person was killed, he probably thought that this was his fault.

"I'm sure, you did everything you could."

He smiled and slid his arm around my waist, pulling me to his side.

"Mr. Marshall wouldn't let me put any added security around or inside of the company, because he wnted everything to stay "normal", so I guess you're right. But you always feel responsible."

Go figure.

-+-

Two hours later we were back in the car and driving towards RangeMan and Steph remembered that Tank wanted to talk to her.

She hoped there wasn't a problem with Lula, because she wasn't sure how much she could take after this morning. She had had to look at Ryan's body while pictures were taken and it hadn't been a pretty site. They has stabbed him from behind a few times, the knives going directly through his neck. They also talked to Mr. Marshall, who first yelled about making Ranger pay for his son's death and then broke down crying, knowing that he would never see his son again. Afterwards he just sat in his chair and looked into space, not talking or reacting in any way anymore. She thought that this conversation might be the worst she had had in her whole life. It was horrible to see this man, whose world had just shattered.

He had had an intact family, his company had made more profit than ever and now this.

When they got to RangeMan, neither of them had said a word. They were both thinking how short life could be and that you should cherish every minute you had. Together.

They got out of the car and walked towards the elevator. Ranger put his arm around her waist and pulled her against him, needing to keep her near. The desperation of the father, trying to realize that the son he loved was gone, had been harder to see with Steph sitting next to him. He hadn't been able to keep his emotions under control. He was sure that nobody noticed his effort to keep from grabbing her hand or pulling her into his lap, everything to assure himself that she was sitting beside him.

He had already experienced this after the Slayer- kidnapping and even stronger after finding her in the cabinet, where Stiva had put her. It became harder to keep calm every time she was in danger, but this time she hadn't even been in danger. Even the thought of the possibility of losing her made him fight for control.

After sleeping with her he had made the decision that his life was too dangerous for her. Seeing her sleep, smiling, with her hair spread out, had made her look so innocent. He realized that he wouldn't be able to bear it if she got hurt because of him, so he kept her at distance, sending her back to Morelli, who provided steadiness and safety.

But that hadn't worked out and there was a voice in his head growing louder every day , telling him, that if he wanted it bad enough he would be able to keep her safe. That she could be his. And that he wanted pretty bad.

-+-

Steph got out on the 4th floor, promising Ranger to tell Tank about the meeting taking place in an hour.

He had kissed her softly and had kept hold of her hand until they couldn't reach each other anymore.

Something between them had changed in during the last days and it was more visible than ever today.

She reached Tank's appartment, number 2 and knocked.

Tank opened the door, wearing dark blue jeans and a white shirt, bringing out his dark bombshell, come in!"

He took her arm and pulled her in, directing her towards a small living room with a nice sofa and a big screen tv and a cupboard full of books. Everything was neatly arranged and there even were a few plants.

"You look exhausted. Was it that bad?"

She told him about the body and the father's breakdown.

"Ah, pretty bad, huh? Sit down and I'm gonna bring you some coffee, that will help."

"Thanks big guy." I smiled and sat down on

A few minutes he came back in balancing two cups, that looked very fragile in contrast to his big hands.

"There you go." He handed her one cup, sitting down in the other corner of the sofa.

The coffee smelled wonderful and she felt better with every sip.

"So, what did you want to talk about."

He suddenly seemed nervous again.

Then suddenly it all boke out of him.

"See I want to ask Lula to marry me, but I don't know, how she will react. I love her and I know she loves me, too, but our relationship is still pretty new. But I really love her and I'm ready for marriage. I even arranged that I'm not going to be out on any dangerous missions anymore. I am ready to settle down and start a family with her. I arranged a table at Rossini's for this evening and I have a ring. Wait, I'm going to show it to you."

He ran out of the room, while she was still trying to handle everything he had told her. She had just gotten the hang of it, when he rumbled back into the room, holding a little box in his hand.

He went down on his knees in front of her, the excitement evident on his face and opened the box.

"Here, what do you think of this?"

The ring was…..Lula. Yep, that's the only discription that fitted.

It was made out of gold. There were two parts, on each end was a hand and this hands held a red diamond heart. The diamond was big and flashy…Lula.

"Stephanie?"

He was looking at me, unsure of my reaction.

I smiled.

"It's perfect, Tank!"

Review, please.