Sorry for the delay, I have a beta now so it might take longer to post plus my work schedule has been hectic. Please note that these characters belong to Janet Evanovich and I am making no profit from them.

Steph pulled into the Rangeman garage and headed to the elevator. She finger-waved at the camera and proceeded towards the seventh floor. Steph was surprised that she did not feel nervous about the dinner. She figured it was because she knew what to expect, and since it was all for the job, she would just have to play along. Stepping out of the elevator, she knocked softly on the apartment door.

"Come in," she could hear through the door.

She opened the door and came to a halt. Standing a few feet in front of her was Ranger in a fitted black Armani suit. "Wow," she whispered.

Ranger stilled in the middle of fixing his tie when he took in Stephanie's appearance. "Take the coat off. I want to see you," he stated. She removed the pea coat and laid it across the back of the sofa. Ranger made a motion with his hand for Steph to turn around so he could see the whole dress. As Steph turned, Ranger's breath got stuck in his throat, and he barely got out, "Damn, you look beautiful, Babe."

"Thanks. So do you. You know you look handsome."

Ranger was still fiddling with his tie like his fingers were not working correctly. Steph approached Ranger and moved his hands and finished the tie. Ranger checked out her handy work. "Where'd you learn to tie a tie?"

"Growing up in the burg, it was one of the things a mother taught her daughter. This way she could take care of her husband," she responded while rolling her eyes at the absurdity of it.

Ranger reached out for Steph's coat. "Are you ready to go, and are you sure you don't mind driving?"

Steph reached up to touch the back of Ranger's head checking out his bump. "Does it hurt? I'm really sorry you got hurt."

"It's okay. I'll be back to 100% before you know it."

"So what car do I get to drive, and let me tell you now, if anything happens to the car, it is not my fault."

"How about the Porsche? And nothing is going to happen."

Ranger helped Steph back into her coat, and they headed to the garage. They settled into the Porsche and headed out of the garage. Ranger gave Steph directions heading towards the outside of town to the restaurant. Steph pulled into a parking lot and found front row parking. She shook her head and figured it must be because she was driving Ranger's car that she got a good spot. Ranger came around the car and helped Stephanie out and started towards the restaurant. The restaurant was called "Terra Nova" and was still pretty packed for it being after the prime time dinner hour. They were shown to a table in the back of the room. Ranger took Steph's coat and hung it up on the back of the booth; he than proceeded to help Steph slide around to the corner of the booth. Even though the restaurant was still packed, the table in the back gave them plenty of privacy. They could be seen, but none of the other diners would be able to hear their conversation.

Ranger ordered a bottle of red wine for the two to share, and they decided on a sea platter as an appetizer. They shared some small talk while they waited for the food. Steph asked how Julie was doing and if he would be spending Christmas with her. Ranger told Steph that they tried to talk on the phone every other day or would share emails. He explained that it was a suggestion from Julie's therapist. As for Christmas, Julie was supposed to go with Ron and Rachel to Ron's parents house for the week. A short time later, their appetizer arrived and they placed their dinner orders.

The sea platter had calamari with three types of dipping sauces, shrimp tempura and crab cakes. They ate in silence, and a few times Ranger would feed Steph with his fork. The food was so delicious that Steph could not help but moan as she tasted the bursting flavors. By the time they finished with the appetizer, their salads had arrived and then their dinner. Ranger ordered a fresh grilled tilapia that had a mango salsa sauce on top. Steph tried something different from her norm and had a crabmeat stuffed ravioli in a light blush cream sauce.

Halfway through the meal Steph noticed that Ranger was not looking well. He looked a little shaky and was sweating some. "Are you alright? You don't look well," she stated.

Ranger responded, "I'm fine." Steph did not believe him but knew to let well enough alone. They finished their main course, and their plates were removed. Ranger slid out of the booth and came around in front of Stephanie. He got down on one knee and took hold of both her hands.

"Stephanie, Babe, will you marry me? Marry me, not for the job, but because you love me like I love you. Marry me because you want to spend the rest of your life with me."

Steph was speechless. Ranger just threw her for a loop. She did not expect for Ranger to ask her to really marry him.

She was not sure how long she stared at Ranger. She was brought out of her musings when she felt a light tug on her hands.

"Babe, are you going to make me ask you again?"

"What, um, no. I mean, yes, I will marry you."

Ranger slipped the ring on Steph's hand as he pulled her out of her seat and passionately kissed her. The rest of the diners started to applaud as they realized what had just happened. Even though they could not hear Ranger pop the question, they did see Steph nodding her head yes as she responded and Ranger slipping the ring on her ring finger. A few of the diners had their phones out and snapped a few pictures when they recognized that the female was in fact "Trenton's Bombshell Bounty Hunter" and the man was in the papers before when his biological daughter had been kidnapped and he was the owner of Rangeman.

Ranger pulled Steph to sit next to him in the booth. Ranger put one arm around Steph's shoulders and using his other hand, held onto Steph's hand, playing with the ring he just put there. In all the excitement, he noticed that Steph never even looked at the ring. The server came back over asking the couple if they would be celebrating their engagement with any dessert tonight. Steph ordered a five layer chocolate cake while Ranger declined any.

Ranger tried to enjoy watching Steph eat every last bite of the chocolate goodness, but he was still not feeling good. He was hoping that his Babe would be finished soon because he had the feeling he would be sick. He would feel bad if he rushed her through the dessert. Ranger finally paid the bill and helped Steph back into her coat. They headed out of the restaurant receiving a few more congratulations on the way.

Back in the car, Steph turned to Ranger preparing to ask where he wanted to go now, but she could tell that he was still sweating and looked shaky. These were both things out of the norm for Ranger. "Ranger, are you sure you're okay? You're not looking too good."

"Are you trying to back out of this engagement already, Babe? I didn't think you were one that only cared about looks," Ranger responded, trying to make light of the situation.

Steph put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking spot. She figured she would drive around for a little while since Ranger did not say where he wanted her to head. About fifteen minutes into the drive, Ranger spoke out suddenly. "Pull over!"

Steph started to slow and pull towards the side of the road. "Pull over now," Ranger gritted out. She hardly had the car stopped when Ranger wrenched the door open and barely had the seatbelt off and was out of the car. Not sure what just happened, Steph unhooked her seatbelt and got out of the car, heading towards the passenger side. As she rounded the car, she saw Ranger hunched over loosing the dinner and wine he had just consumed. Steph went back to the passenger side door that was still ajar and reached into the glove box for some napkins.

She headed back to Ranger and slowly rubbed up and down on his back trying to console him. It was not everyday that she saw Ranger sick. They normally played the opposite roles. Steph handed Ranger some of the napkins that she had found in the glove box so he could wipe his mouth and face. After a few minutes, he started to move and stand up. He was very shaky in his movements, and Steph helped him back to the car.

Not sure what to say, she got back in the car and pulled back onto the road. She knew they were at least an hour to an hour and a half away from Trenton now since she had just been driving around, and she was not sure Ranger would make it that long. Ranger was in the passenger seat with his head tilted back and eyes closed. Steph, seeing a hotel sign up ahead, made a decision and pulled into the parking lot. "I'll be right back."

She headed into the hotel and got a room for the night. She then went back to the car and helped Ranger out of the car and towards the hotel. Being out of it, it took Ranger a few minutes to realize that they were actually heading into a hotel and were not back at Rangeman. "Babe," he said.

"Just trust me."

Steph got Ranger up to the hotel room and directed him to the bathroom. She turned on the shower to hot and helped Ranger out of his suit. "I'll be back in a few minutes," she said and headed back to the car. She pulled back out of the lot and headed down the way they had come and pulled into a Kmart parking lot. She figured if they were spending the night, they would need a few things. She grabbed a cart and headed in, trying to make it fast. She first grabbed two toothbrushes and some toothpaste, deodorant, and a hairbrush, then she made her way over to the medicine aisle. She was not sure if Ranger was sick due to the concussion or having second thoughts about the marriage. So she picked up a couple stomach aids before heading to the clothing section. She found a pair of Levi's for both of them, and two t-shirts and some undergarments. Steph made her way to the front to check out and grabbed a few bottles of water and Gatorade.

Steph got everything up to the hotel room and went in search of Ranger. He was still in the bathroom, but this time, he had a towel wrapped low around his waist, and he was hung over the toilet losing anything else he might have had left in his stomach. Steph went back to where she dropped the bags and pulled out the pair of boxers and the toothbrush and toothpaste before heading back into the bathroom.

A half hour later, Ranger's stomach seemed to have settled down with the help of some of the medicine, but he was still out of it some. Steph helped him into the bed and then got herself ready for bed. While brushing her own teeth, the light caught on the diamond in the ring, and she took notice for the first time how absolutely beautiful the ring was. It had a platinum band with what had to be at least a two-carat princess cut diamond in the middle with a one-carat princess cut diamond on each side. She finally finished brushing her teeth and headed into bed also.