See prologue for disclaimer. Feedback, please.

Chapter 9

I awoke in the morning with a headache, but was otherwise feeling fairly normal. I looked over to the chair that Ranger had been in last night and was disappointed to see it sitting empty. The smells of breakfast greeted me as I opened my bedroom door. I slipped on a robe and shuffled into the bathroom to take care of business and clean myself up since I had mascara down to my chin and truly scary hair. Yikes!

When I emerged, I found Lester standing in my kitchen, bacon sizzling under his watchful eyes. He looked up at me when I entered. I was a little surprised he was there and I guess it showed on my face.

"Sorry to disappoint, Sweetheart, but Ranger had an emergency this morning he had to handle so he called in the second-string."

I smiled at Lester and said, "I'm surprised, not disappointed." Deciding to ignore Lester's weird mood, "Smells wonderful," I said leaning against the counter opposite Lester. I watched as he removed the bacon from the grease and moved it to a paper plate, the muscles under his black t-shirt bunching and relaxing with his movements. What a glorious body.

"Thank you for last night," I said finally.

He turned around and said, "Ranger told me that you didn't remember anything."

"It's starting to come back to me. I remember that you found me and stopped him and… that you hurt him." A grimace twisted Lester's normally handsome features. "Are you okay?" I asked.

Lester closed his eyes, the pained expression remaining on his face, "I saw him with his hands on you and I lost my mind. I can't believe that we let him get that close."

"Lester, there was nothing you could have done differently. The important thing is I'm fine and we got him in jail where he belongs."

"A few minutes more and…" he trailed off, unable to voice the ugly words.

I stepped up to him and laid my hand over his heart. "It didn't happen, so stop beating yourself up." I wrapped my arms around him in a hug savoring his strength. How quickly I'd become accustomed to leaning on Lester for comfort. I hoped I was able to offer a little in return.

He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and I tilted my head up to smile at him. Our eyes locked and Lester slowly lowered his lips to mine. We shared a long, slow, leisurely kiss that contained a hint of tightly coiled passion and little 'Thank God you're alright.' The kiss drifted to an end and Lester leaned his forehead against mine.

"God, I'm falling hard," he whispered.

Oh boy. I closed my eyes and tried to figure out how to respond. A flutter of panic shuddered through my belly and my mind raced. What could I say? I wasn't great at expressing my feelings even when I wasn't confused. I don't think he wanted to hear that I could fall for him, too, except I'm still in love with Ranger.

Lester pressed a kiss to my nose and as if he'd read my mind, he said, "It's okay, Sweetheart, I'm not in a rush. I can wait until you sort everything out."

I looked at him and said seriously, "Les, you have become very special to me. Thanks for being here."

"My pleasure, Sweetheart."

He grinned when my stomach grumbled loudly and I asked, "Now, did you make this breakfast to share, or do I have to fend for myself?

After breakfast, I got ready and found Lester sitting on my couch channel surfing.

"What are you still doing here?"

"My orders are to take you to the station if you are ready to make your statement and then bring you back to the garage at RangeMan so you can get your car." Oh yeah, I forgot about the pesky transportation issue. "After that you are supposed to come home and take it easy."

Hold the phone.

"No way. I'm going back to work today. There is no way I'm going to come back here and mope around. You guys work with broken bones and concussions and all kinds of things. Well, I feel fine. Really, I'm not just saying that. Plus, Ranger actually apologized last night, so really there is no reason to stay away."

"Wow, the boss-man apologized. Will wonders never cease." Lester smiled and slung an arm around my shoulders guiding me to the door. "Alright, let's go to the station. We'll discuss the rest later."

Things went pretty smoothly at the Trenton Police Department. My statement matched up with what the guys had reported the night before and the officer in-charge, Officer Caldwell, whom I didn't know personally, said he hoped that we could finally nail Simon for his deviant sexual behavior.

After my interview, I walked out to the waiting area where I'd left Lester. "All set?" Lester asked.

"Yup."

As we were walking toward the door, I heard "Cupcake?"

I turned to see Joe standing on the other side of the room. Lester came up behind me and placed his hand on my shoulder in a possessive gesture. "Hi, Joe," I replied.

Joe's gaze flicked between my face and Lester's and his posture became more aggressive. I felt Lester bristling. Wonderful, let the macho bullshit portion of the day begin. Like dogs fighting over a damn bone.

"You never called me back, Cupcake," Joe said quietly, his eyes on mine.

"Weird week. I was meaning to call you, though." Yeah, when I wanted a lecture or a screaming match. Not too high on my list of things to do.

"Do you have a minute, now?"

I looked up at Lester whose face was a blank mask, and I half shrugged. No help there, but the vibe I was getting was that Lester wanted to do bodily harm to Joe.

I turned back to Joe and said, "I guess so. Les, I'll meet you at the car."

"I'll wait here," Lester replied implacably. I gave him a small smile.

I followed Joe into an empty conference room and steeled myself for whatever was coming my way.

"So, how's it been going? I heard what happened, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Like I said, I've had a weird week. Some good things, some bad things, some psycho tries to rape me." Well, actually, that sounded like an average week for me, at least when I was working for Vinnie. The look on Joe's face mirrored my thought and I worried an explosion might be imminent. "Let's cut to the chase, you said in your message that you wanted to ask me something."

"Yeah… What's the deal with you and Manoso?" I blinked. Huh? Not what I expected.

"Why?"

"Well, I just… I wanted to make sure you were okay."

This is what he called me out of the blue to ask? "Not that it is any of your concern, but there is nothing up with me and Ranger. I work for him. Period."

Joe looked relieved, "Oh, good." Well I'm glad one of us is happy with the situation.

"I don't really see how this is your business." I was starting to feel pissy.

"I know. It's not. But, I just heard something the other day and I wanted to make sure he wasn't dicking around on you."

"You heard what?" I felt my mouth go dry.

"Well, overheard more like. It was a couple of days ago and I was in the parking lot when Ranger and that big guy that's with him a lot… built like a skyscraper?"

"Tank," I supplied.

"Yeah, Tank, anyway they were leaving the station, and I heard them arguing. Ranger was pissed. Something about he couldn't believe Tank asked you out. Then the big guy told him that since he was involved with someone else, it wasn't any of his business."

Involved? Shit.

"Are you sure what you heard?" I swallowed down a wave of nausea.

"I am. I wouldn't have mentioned it, but, I figured that after we… Well, I guess I just assumed that you and Manoso would be together by now…" Me, too. Joe continued, "and I wanted to make sure he wasn't… you know."

"Thanks, Joe, but Ranger and I are just colleagues." Maybe that's all we'd ever been. "I appreciate the concern."

"Old habit," he smiled wistfully. He reached a hand out to me, but suddenly let it drop to his side as reality returned.

"So, you really gonna go out with the mammoth? And what's up with the guard dog out there?" I rolled my eyes. He just couldn't resist.

"Lester's feeling a little overprotective because of last night. And Tank hasn't asked me out officially yet, but yeah, I'm gonna go out with him."

"You'd better get back, Lester's probably foaming at the mouth," Joe said with a laugh. "Take care, Cupcake."

"You too, Joe. Hug Bob for me."

ooooooooooooooooooooooo

Lester tried to talk me into going home again when we made it back to RangeMan, but I refused, and determinedly made my way to the fifth floor.

When I got off the elevator, the men on the floor smothered me with attention, asking me how I was, hugging me and telling me that they were worried about me.

"Jeez, guys. I'm glad that you care, but really, I'm fine. No wonder I was supposed to take the day off, it's so you guys can manage to get some work done."

I settled into my desk and saw that my in-box was again overflowing. Evidently Rodriguez wasn't too worried about me. I trudged through the computer searches and wished for something a little more stimulating so that my brain wouldn't keep replaying my conversation with Joe.

Involved. I didn't like that word. I wondered if Tank had really said "involved" or if Joe was just paraphrasing. I couldn't ask Joe without looking pathetic, and I couldn't ask Tank without revealing that Joe had overheard them. Hmm.

I guess it was time to talk to Tank and see what he would reveal on his own.

I knocked on the door to Tank's office, which stood half-way open. He glanced up from the paperwork on his desk and smiled at me as I walked in, closing the door behind me. It always surprised me to see him like this, doing paperwork at a desk – he was just such a totally different guy from what I first thought when he tossed a crack-head out a third story window. Now I knew that while he liked to crack skulls and kick ass, he was also a really smart guy who excelled at managing the operations side of RangeMan.

"Hey, Steph," he greeted me. "I thought you were gonna take it easy today. There's nothing on your desk that can't wait 'til tomorrow or Monday."

"I'm fine," I said, starting to feel like a broken record. "I'd rather be busy. I have nothing to do at home except think, and I can do that just as easily behind my desk while my computer's working."

"Okay." He looked at me for a long moment. "What can I do for you, then?"

"Oh, yeah." I guess I did come in here for a reason. I took a deep breath and decided to confront it head on. "I was wondering if you knew anything about the woman who spent the night with Ranger Friday night."

He just stared at me, unspeaking. I'm taking that as a yes.

"Are they involved?" I asked in a quiet voice. Please say no.

He was silent for long moments, and I was about to turn around and go when he finally answered, "Yeah, Steph, they're involved."

I felt the air get sucked out of the room. I couldn't breathe. "I'm not in a position to tell you any more, though I'd like to. You guys really should talk to each other." Tank looked at me sympathetically.

Ranger-schmanger.

I gave him a wobbly smile and sighed. "That's never been our strong suit."

"Don't I know it," Tank snorted. "You two frustrate the hell out of me."

I stood there for a few more minutes before I spoke, "Maybe I will go home early today."

"You do that. I don't think I want to see you here until Monday morning at the earliest. Although I was hoping that we could get together on Sunday for our date. If you're up for it, that is."

I smiled. "I'm looking forward to it. Thanks, Tank."

I left his office and went back to my desk. I was gathering my stuff up when Bobby stopped by.

"Oh, hey Bobby," I said with as much smile as I could muster.

"Hey, you doing okay?" I'm getting sick of answering that question.

"Yeah, I've just had a crazy week. I'm going to go home early today."

"Yeah…" he looked down at his feet. "If you aren't up for tonight, I totally understand." He looked so disappointed. Who knew that Bobby was so sensitive under all those muscles?

"No, that's not what I meant, Bobby."

He looked back at me and said, "Well, I had an idea. Instead of going out and doing something, why don't I come over and take care of you. I'll make dinner and we can watch movies or play cards or whatever. What do you think?"

I smiled at him and said, "That sounds perfect. I could use a quiet evening."

Bobby smiled and said, "Great. I'll see you around 6?"

I smiled and nodded and he flashed me a huge smile that revealed his excitement and then he turned and walked away.

My smile faded as I wondered what work would be like when this little experiment ended. I hope I didn't end up hurting these Merry Men.