See prologue for disclaimers. Feedback is greatly appreciated!

Chapter 7

I woke up the next morning with a smile at the memory of my evening with Vince. I would never have expected to have so much fun with him. He was just so quietly usually. Guess there's more to him than meets the eye.

When I stumbled into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee, I saw the answering machine and remembered that Joe had called me last night. Must have broken up with his latest bimbo - I mean girlfriend. He had a habit of calling up every time he and his latest Rhodes Scholar slash stripper broke up. Perfect, as if I needed more complications right now.

He wanted to ask me about something. I could only imagine. I wasn't exactly in a rush to call him back.

An hour and two cups of coffee later, I was behind my desk, working on a stack of files for Rodriguez. They were simple searches so it was tedious, but not hard work and I could zone out without too much trouble. These late nights and the emotional merry-go-round were wearing me out.

I think I may have been sleeping with my eyes open when the phone on my desk rang. I jumped out of my seat in surprise, causing Woody, who was watching the building video feeds, to chuckle in the distance. I flipped him the bird via the camera to let him know that I'd heard him and got another chuckle in response.

"Hello," I answered.

"Yo, Babe. I need to see you in my office."

Gulp. "Yeah, I'll be right in."

I entered Ranger's office just moments later and stood in front of his desk feeling liked I been called to the principal's office. Wonder if he's gonna give me a hard time about leaving early with Vince yesterday… or being out of uniform… or kissing Lester.

"You're needed to work a distraction job tonight." Ranger said looking down at a file sitting on his desk. He looked up at me, "Details are in here. Standard stuff." He held out the file to me, "The team will meet here at 8PM sharp, ready to roll. Any questions?"

"Nope," I replied, grabbing the file.

"There's something else. About this dating… thing." He drew in a deep breath. "I'm not pleased," he said seriously. "I considered issuing a policy against interoffice relationships, but it felt a little hypocritical. And I'd rather it not get to that point." He paused with his fingers steepled, eyes locked on mine, looking every inch the executive this morning in his dark suit, sitting in his cushy leather chair behind his heavy mahogany desk. My mouth went dry.

He continued, "However, your actions are distracting the entire team. And in this business distractions can be deadly. I need to know I can count on you to maintain your focus tonight and in the future. And I'd prefer it if you kept your personal life out of the office, especially if it involves RangeMan employees."

I swallowed, a lump in my throat and nodded, struggling to maintain eye contact. I didn't trust my voice and I could feel the prickle of tears stinging the back of my eyes.

"That's all, Babe," he said softly.

I nodded again and restrained myself from running out of his office. Once I was out of sight, though, I ran straight for the bathroom. In my haste, I nearly tackled Lester, but his quick reflexes managed to keep us from falling over. His hands were wrapped around my upper arms, setting me on my feet. Bet the guys would've loved to get tape of me sprawled on top of Lester in the hallway. I could hear Ranger now. 'Babe, was there something about our conversation that you didn't understand?'

Lester laughed, "Whoa, Sweetheart. Where's the fire?"

I kept my eyes down and didn't answer.

He lifted my chin with a finger and looked into my eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he breathed, concern clouding his face.

I looked back into his eyes and just shook my head. My throat jumped convulsively. "I can't do this here," I managed to get out in a whisper.

He dropped his hands to his sides and I brushed past him to get to the sanctuary of the bathroom. I could feel his eyes on me as I rushed away.

I sat down on the closed toilet lid and sobbed for several minutes. I heard a soft knock and the door slowly opened.

Jeez. What did I have to do to get some privacy around here?

Lester's voice called quietly from outside the cracked door, "You decent?"

"Yes," I sniffed. My face buried in a wad of toilet paper.

"Darn," he joked, slipping into the room and closing the door behind him.

"Go away," I said, my voice muffled beneath layers of tissue and my hands.

"What's going on, Sweetheart?" Lester asked gently.

I drew in a deep, shuddering breath. "Ranger is disap-" I gasped in a spasmodic breath "-pointed in me." My words were coming out in a stuttered wail, "He thinks I'm a distraction and I'm gonna get someone hurt or killed." I started balling again. I was practically hyperventilating, breathing in short pants.

Lester crouched down in front of me. "Easy, Sweetheart. Take slow breaths." He breathed slowly in and out, his hands resting on my shoulders. I mimicked him trying to get myself under control. I wiped my eyes and nose and looked at Lester.

"He's right, I should never have gotten involved in this crazy thing. I feel like I'm letting him and everyone down," I said in a shaky voice. "I wish it didn't matter to me what he thinks, but it does. He's my boss, my friend… well at least he used to be." Tears started rolling down my face once again.

"Shh," Lester soothed, running his hands consolingly over my shoulders and upper arms. He wiped away a tear with his thumb. "We all crave Ranger's good opinion around here. I've let him down before so I know how it feels to disappoint him. But, in this case he's wrong. It's not your problem if the guys are distracted." He reached a hand out to my face and brushed my curls back so he could look into my eyes. "They gossip like a bunch of old ladies, they always have. You're just more fun to talk about and we'd all prefer to monitor video of you filing your nails than video of Cal's plumber crack when he bends over to tie his shoes."

I couldn't help but smile at the thought.

"That's more like it, Sweetheart." He rose up and pulled me into a hug, running his hands in calming circles on my back. "I'll talk to Tank and make sure the guys on the floor ease off. It's not fair for you to take the heat for us."

"Thanks," I said, my earlier hysteria easing as I listened to the steady beat of Lester's heart under my ear. I took deep cleansing breaths as he did, feeling his large, muscular chest expand and contract in the circle of my arms.

After a minute passed, I asked, "Do you think that's all I'm good for? Distraction, I mean?"

"What do you mean?" he asked with his lips pressed against my hair.

"I mean… am I just a distraction from real life, someone that's not taken seriously? Am I not worth a real relationship? Am I just… entertainment?" I had a flash of memory and Ranger's words about being a tax deduction from so many months ago haunted me, 'I have you listed under entertainment.' Was it all just a game?

He pulled back and looked in my eyes, saying gravely, "Listen to me. You are worthy of being loved, and cherished, and adored. Any man who doesn't see that doesn't deserve you. I know more than one man who thinks you are worth plenty and would jump at the chance for a real relationship with you." He gave me a soft smile and I responded with a wobbly one of my own.

"Thanks, Les."

He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead and withdrew from me. "Anytime, Sweetheart. Now, let's get you cleaned up."

I moved to the sink, trying to ignore my blotchy face and red rimmed eyes in the mirror. I splashed cold water on my face and felt a little better.

"I know just what you need. I have time down at the gun range in five minutes. You can go down there and spend the next hour blowing the balls off a hundred anatomically incorrect target men." He grinned at me. "What do you say?"

Good idea.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Quoted from Ten Big Ones.