Date, Shay, & New York

I can't believe she had a date. I had to tell Ashley yes I would, because of course I was going to see who the hell she was dating. She belonged to me...with me...you know what nevermind. I told her yes then left before I got pissed off and upset Ashley. Now I was sitting here in the nursery rocking Sophie to sleep waiting for Ashley to get home. The guy's name was Steven. What the hell kinda name was Steven? To make things worse, he looked like a pretty boy. Blonde hair, blue eyes, not even six foot tall, and he was wearing a sweater vest that was baby blue. He looked like a geek. He looked like he has never even been in a fight much less seen one. And Jeremy introduced them. Figured. I never did like him.

I heard the front door open then close and then the alarm was shut off. I got up and placed Sophie in her crib. When I turned around, Ashley was standing in front of me. She looked beautiful in her light green sundress. I tried to smile, but I didn't succeed.

"Did you have a nice time?" I asked her. She gave me a small smile.

"We did. He's downstairs, I was just coming up here to let you know that you can go home." She told me. I raised an eyebrow. She wanted me to leave them alone in the house with a bed. Um..no.

"I'm not leaving." I told her. Her eyes widened.

"What? Why?" She asked. I knew I couldn't tell her the real reason. That I didn't want them to end up in bed together.

"Why do you want me to leave, Ashley?" I asked her.

"Because you don't need to stay. I can take care of Sophie." She replied; clearly not understanding.

"You want me to leave you alone with him." I stated. She nodded her head. "Not happening." I told her.

"Why? I don't understand." She really didn't. I went a different way.

"How long have you known him, Ashley?" I asked her. "I don't trust him." I then told her.

"You don't even know him." She retorted.

"Doesn't matter, I don't trust him alone with you or Sophie." I repeated. She rolled her eyes at me.

"Fine." She said before turning to walk out the door. But I wanted to make sure she didn't get any ideas.

"Oh and Ashley?" I called her name. She turned to look at me. "Don't kiss him." I ordered. She glared at me then stuck out her tongue. I moved to chase after her. She let out a full laugh and darted down the stairs.

Shay...& New York

It was just after 1700 hours and I was just getting off work. I had two FTAs to pick up today and both of them made me run, so both of them had "accidents". Which was good for me, because I was working on a lot of frustrations right now and beating some scum bag who didn't deserve to be on the streets was a little release for me. I needed to work out some of this sexual tension somewhere because my workouts in the morning were no long doing it for me. Ashley had me so wound up, I was ready to jump down her throat if she even gave me the smallest hint she was interested.

I was on my way to her house now. I thought maybe we could go out to dinner just the three of us. Lula has been driving Tank crazy with wanting to meet Ashley and Sophie. Apparently Steph told Lula about them and now Lula wants to meet them. I wanted to talk to Ashley about it. I knew she would say she didn't care, but I still wanted to ask.

She had left a message on my voice mail stating that she wanted to talk to me about something. I remember hearing that message earlier this morning. She sounded so happy that I almost broke my phone, I was holding it so tight. I hoped it wasn't about watching Sophie again so she can go on another date. Because that was not happening for another night. I couldn't watch her go out with another man. The next time she might actually want him to spend the night.

I managed to talk her out of Steven from staying too long. She told Steven that Sophie was cranky because she was teething, which was the truth, so he left. We ended up fixing popcorn and watching 50 First Dates. It was one of Ashley's favorites. Once the movie was over I asked her if she liked Ghostbusters. Needless to say we watched Ghostbusters next. She loved that movie too. Now that she was more relaxed around me, it was easy to get near her. I was constantly touching her. My hand on the back of her neck, on her shoulder, on the small of her back and even kissing her cheek or forehead. I don't even think she realizes that I was doing it.

I pulled up in front of her house and got out my Turbo. I could hear the music from outside. I got to the door and let myself in. I never knocked anymore. What was the point? Every time I did, Ashley always asked, Why do you knock? You have a key. You're always welcome here. I liked hearing it.

I walked quietly into the house and into the living room. The sight that greeted me had me smiling. Ashley who was holding Sophie, Alexa, and another girl I didn't know were dancing to the song 'All the Single Ladies' that was blaring from the new the new stereo system Ashley had bought. Ashley was wearing a pair of pink yoga pants with a black cami top and she was barefoot. She looked beautiful. Sophie was on her hip and Ashley was swinging, moving and grinding her hips in a way that made a man think of silk sheets, handcuffs, and hot little bodies.

The girl I didn't know saw me and informed Ashley that someone was in the room. She turned to see who it was and when she caught sight of me, her face lit up with that smile that I was beginning to love. She walked over to me and handed me Sophie. I didn't know why I did it, but before she walked away I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to me. She looked up at me with a question in her eyes. I lowered my head and her eyes widened. I brushed my lips over hers and lightly touched my tongue to the seam of her mouth. Before I could go any further, the music was cut off and a voice interrupted.

"Ashley, how come you don't kiss me like that?" I pulled back and looked at the source of the voice. It was the girl I didn't know. Wait a minute..say what? Ashley laughed.

"Shay, behave." Ashley told her. "This is Ranger. Ranger this is Shay." Ashley introduced us. We sized each other up and for once I didn't feel like a piece of meat when a woman looked at me. I knew then that if Ashley ever batted for the other team, I would have competition on my hands. Shay threw me a look that clearly told me she knew what I wanted and turned back to Ashley.

"I don't know Ashley. He looks good, but can he deliver. I may not have the goods he has, but I can promise I'm better." Shay teased her and Ashley rolled her eyes and turned to me. I was still stunned to the point I didn't know what to say.

"Shay, lets go outside. I think Ranger wants to talk to Ashley and I know Ashley wants to talk to Ranger. Here, I'll take Sophie." Alexa tells Shay as she grabbed Sophie from arms. She gave me a small smile before walking out the sliding glass doors in the living room.

Shay just couldn't help but make one last comment. "Just remember, Baby, I'm better." She told Ashley before making kissy faces in the direction of Ashley and again Ashley laughed. Shay walked out the sliding door and shut it. Ashley walked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. I followed her and when she turned around I pulled her into my arms. I fist my hands in her short silky hair and brought her lips to mine. I delved my tongue deep into her mouth caressing hers. I then sucked her tongue into my mouth before plunging my tongue back into hers. The kiss was passionate, possessive, and hot. I pulled away just enough to look into her eyes; both of us were breathing heavy.

"I just wanted to make sure you don't get any ideas about switching teams." I replied easily. She looked at me for just a minute before she burst out laughing. It had been awhile since I heard her laugh this much, but I was glad I caused it. She stopped laughing and smacked a kiss on my lips before pulling away. "You are hilarious." She told me. Before I could say anything, she spoke again.

"So you wanted to talk to me?" She asked. I looked at her and nodded.

"Tank wants to know if you would like to meet Lula." I told her. Her eyes widened.

"I would love to meet Lula. Steph has said so many good things about her." Ashley exclaimed and I founded myself nodding my head.

"Good, Tank and myself will set it up." I told her.

"Cool."

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"We're going to New York for the weekend." She informed me.

"Who is we?" I asked; she couldn't go to New York.

"Alexa, Shay, Sophie, and me." She replied. Okay, but she still couldn't go to New York.

"You're not going to New York." I told her.

"Excuse me?" She questioned me. I knew I needed to rephrase that. She was getting upset and that was not a good thing. Ashley rarely got upset.

"I said that wrong. How about I go with you to New York?" I offered. I saw her relax and I knew I avoided that one. She shook her head no.

"You can't go, it's an all girl weekend while Shay is in town." She explained.

"You can't go alone to New York, Ashley." I told her.

"What? Why not?" She asked. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but I could tell she was once more getting mad.

"You need someone with you." I offered once more.

"I have been to New York by myself before, Ranger. And you didn't care then."

"I did care. I do care. Then I didn't know Sophie was mine."

"So you're saying Sophie can't go." She asked.

I pinched the bridge the nose and shook my head. "No, I'm not saying that."

"What are you saying?" I pinched the bridge of my nose harder.

"I'm saying you need a bodyguard."

"Why?"

"Because I said so." I barked out. She rolled her eyes at me.

"Try again." She told me. Damn, she could already see through me.

"Look, I have a lot of people that would love nothing more than to get their hands on Sophie and on you. I would feel better if you at least have a bodyguard." I explained a little more.

"I can understand your concerns for Sophie. But I'm just Sophie's mom, I have no connection to you except that. So I don't mind you putting a bodyguard on Sophie. That's it, but let him know he can't boss me around." Her little hands were on her narrow hips and I couldn't help but smile. She looked so damn adorable trying to be tough.

"You do matter a lot more to me than you think. I don't know who I have available for this weekend, but why don't I just go with you." I tried once more.

"Because you'll actually try and get involve. It's a girls weekend." She whined. Then she did it and I couldn't believe it. She pushed out her lower lip in a pout. It was so damn childish it was fucking cute. "Please Ranger." She pleaded with me. I couldn't believe the little minx.

"Fine, I'll put a bodyguard on you, under one condition." I barely get out the words when she wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a hug; her feet lifting off the ground. "Thank you so much!" She shouted. She pulled back, her arms still around my neck. "What condition?" She asked. I was honestly going to say that I wanted her to kiss me, but the hug she just gave me, meant a lot so I just simply say.

"Please be careful." She gave me a grin, kissed my cheek, and answered. "Always."