I'm actually pretty happy with this chappy, but let me know what you think – Heather

Sleepless in Trenton

Chapter 5

We followed our normal routine as normal, and it was only when Ranger was finished brushing my hair that I mentioned the night before.

'About last night,' I said, turning to face him and straddling his lap. 'Thank you for telling me, it means a lot that you trust me with stuff like that.'

Ranger smiled, 'I trust you Babe. Have done for a long time.' He paused, the smile fading. 'I'm sorry that I was too late to stop the nightmare.'

'It's ok,' I said, hearing the hint of guilt in his voice, 'it wasn't your fault. The most important thing was that you were there for me when I really needed you.' It was my turn to hesitate, 'you always have been.' I said.

Ranger met my eyes and leaned forward, his eyes flicking down to my lips and then back to my eyes. He moved his head slowly towards me, tilting it slightly, giving me plenty of time to pull away. I moved my head forward and met his lips in a gentle kiss. Ranger pulled back slightly, his eyes asking if I wanted more.

I licked my lips, and his eyes darkened. I leaned forward and we kissed softly again, his teeth gently tugged on my lower lip and I parted my lips: opening my mouth to him. His hot tongue dipped into my mouth, stroking slowly against my tongue, exploring my mouth intimately. The kiss was tender and sweet, rather than hot and demanding, and instead of sending bolts of heat between my legs; it sent bolts of something else to my heart.

We reluctantly pulled apart, both of us affected by our kiss, neither of us saying anything. A slow smile drew across Ranger's face and he reached out and tucked an errant curl behind my ear. I smiled; we stayed like that, saying nothing, just gazing into each other's eyes, holding hands. Eventually Ranger's cell phone rang, and with a grimace of annoyance, he answered it. He listened, occasionally saying the odd word, then he hung up.

'I've got to go Babe, apparently I'm late for a meeting.'

'Sorry.' I apologised.

'Don't be.' Ranger smiled.

'Have a good day.' I said, kissing him lightly on the lips.

'You too.' Ranger replied, stroking the side of my face tenderly, before tilting my chin up so he could kiss me softly. 'I'll be back by eight.' He said, 'I'll bring salad, ok?'

'Ok.' I replied. I hopped off his lap and walked him to the door. 'Bye Babe.' Ranger said, curling his hand around my neck and pulling me to him for another brushing of our lips. Then he was gone.

And I was flustered.

What was going on? For a month we'd co-existed platonically, but it looks like Ranger's just changed the rules.

And the only thing that worries me is how happy I am that they've changed.

It was Thursday, which is the day Lula and I go to the gun range. During those terrible two weeks where I struggled to stay awake, the gun range became a safe haven. All those loud bangs ensured I wouldn't fall asleep. Weirdly, I came to associate that safe feeling with my gun, and now I'm not afraid of my gun at all. I actually look forward to going to the gun range, which is why Lula and I set a special day where we would go and practice.

Lula and I pulled over at the ATM so I could get some cash out. I checked my balance, and was flabbergasted at the amount there. A whole load of that money should have disappeared for rent. I should just let it slide, but I'm an honest person, so I dialled my Super, Dillon.

'Hello?'

'Hey Dillon, It's Steph. I was wondering if my rent had been paid, because no money's been taken out of my account.'

Lula rolled her eyes at me, muttering about stupid skinny ass white girls with more money than sense.

'Hang on Steph, let me check on the computer system.'

He ummed and ahhed and tapped on a few keys and then said, 'it looks like your rent has been paid by a Mr Manoso.'

'Oh. Thanks Dillon.'

'Sure thing. Bye.'

'Bye.'

Disconnect.

I hesitated a moment, then I speed dialled one.

'Yo.'

'You-'

'Yeah.' Ranger admitted.

'But-'

'Deal.'

'Fine.' I sighed.

'Later Babe.'

'Later.'

Disconnect.

Lula was staring at me.

'What?' I asked.

'What the hell was that?'

'Ranger paid my rent.'

'So?'

'So I phoned him to talk about it.'

'All you said were 'you, but, fine, later.' That's not a conversation.'

'Yes it was. I phoned to say 'you paid my rent'. Ranger admitted he had, I basically said 'but you shouldn't have done that', he said 'deal with it'. I said 'fine', then we said later and hung up. We just shorthanded the conversation because he's in a meeting.'

Lula was looking at me like I head an extra head, 'Girl, you had a Batman conversation.'

'Yeah.'

'And you understood it?'

'Yeah.' I was beginning to see her point. A month ago, that conversation would have made no sense to me. But now it did. In those few weeks it seems I've developed a bit of Esp. myself.

The more I thought about it, the more true I realised it was. I had Esp.! But only with Batman; I could tell when Ranger was hungry or thirsty at a glance, or if he'd had a bad day, or if he was amused, or…

We could conduct whole conversations with our eyes.

Eek!

'Next stop, Dunkin' Donuts.' Lula said, stomping her foot on the gas pedal.

'How did it happen?' I asked Lula as I scarfed down the donuts. 'When did it happen? When did I start understanding Ranger so well?'

'Don't know.' Said Lula, 'Probably the most important question is when did you start loving him?'

'A long time ago.' I said. Then I threw my hand over my mouth and stared wide eyed at Lula.

She nodded, looking satisfied. Then she stared at me like she was giving me an appraisal; finally I could see that she'd made her decision.

'Supercop's back in town.' Lula stated.

'Oh.' I thought about that. Normally I felt happy that Morelli's back. Now I felt…kinda disinterested. Don't get me wrong, I hope we can be friends, but I'm not going to call him and arrange to have Pino's at his place tonight. Why would I do that when I could have salad with Ranger?

Did I just choose salad over Pino's?

No.

I just chose Ranger over Joe.

Something must have shown on my face, cos Lula nodded in satisfaction.

'Damn skippy.' She said.