It's been driving me crazy that I haven't finished this story, but I wasn't going to go back to it until I was sure I'd be able to complete it quickly. So when I had a weekend free I forced myself to sit down and start writing. I have ADAD already finished and there will be three more chapters after this one. Anything familiar belongs to Janet. All mistakes are mine.

Chapter 3

After an hour of useless dialing, I still had nothing except for what was already in their files. Seems like no one wanted to answer their phones today. Or they just didn't want to talk to me specifically. I'm not taking it personally, though. If I was in their shoes, I wouldn't want to talk to me, either. And this is how bounty hunting usually works. Just once I'd like someone to say, "Oh your looking for John Nobody? He just walked through the door. Let me handcuff him to a chair until you can get here." Is that to much to ask? Probably. And realistically, nobody but Grandma Mazur would have handcuffs lying around the house unless they worked in some type of law enforcement, too.

I poured myself another cup of coffee and thought about the day I had ahead of me. I know how I want to spend it, curled up on Ranger's couch watching television, pretending that the world didn't exist, but that wouldn't put any money into my dwindling bank account. Looks like I was going to be pretending to be a bounty hunter again today. I'd like to get rid of the pretending part, but I knew that would require a lot of gym time and I wasn't sure I liked my job enough to make that kind of commitment to it. Then again, the Harlo incident showed me that I didn't want to die right now, either. Maybe if I knew some of the things Ranger did, I wouldn't have had to rely on tripping to get out of something like that. That being said, I don't know what magic move I could've done that wouldn't have gotten my head blown off in the process. The way Randy had held me didn't leave much room for error. And I'm the type of person who needs a lot of room in the error department.

I blew out a sigh, drained my coffee cup, and put it in the dishwasher. I picked up the files and grabbed my bag and jacket on the way out the door. The skips I was after today weren't too scary. Only Cortiz's brother would qualify and I knew I'd have Ranger with me for that one so I wasn't as worried as I'd normally be. Ranger had one of the guys stop off at my apartment to pick up my gun when they brought my car back from the mall, and I could feel the weight of it in my shoulder bag. I didn't like the thought of having to use it on someone, but just knowing it was there made me feel better today. Stupid Harlo. Denial was much harder to stay in when someone was threatening to splatter your brains all over a mall parking lot. I shook my head to clear what happened from it. He was in jail so there was no point in dwelling on him. I had a job to get done, Ranger to come back to, and that's all I was going to focus on today.

I left Ranger's apartment and took the elevator down to the garage level. My car sat in it's usual spot. Too bad the guys had brought me a CR-V and a little .38 instead of dropping off a credit card with no limit and a Lexus. I started my car and put the files in order of how easy they looked to catch. First up, Jasmine Disisto. Arrested for punching out her boss over a paycheck. I could understand that one. Vinnie had been threatened by me, Connie, and Lula, on numerous occasions for not wanting to shell out what we were owed. But whether her boss deserved it or not wasn't my call. Like Ranger told me in the beginning of my bounty hunting career, you get paid to bring them back to jail. No more, no less. It's not my job to decide if they belonged there.

I drove out of the Rangeman gate and headed to Market Street. And only then did it occur to me that I should've stopped at the control room and told Hal my plans for the day, but that may have led to an armed escort and I didn't think I needed one for these people. Maybe almost getting killed would be enough for one week and everything else from here on in would be a piece of cake. Yeah right, Stephanie, I said to myself, I for one knew that denial and delusion were very close to each other in the dictionary.

It was another sunny day, but clouds that looked like they could bring rain were moving in. Great. Now I had to worry about getting soaked on top of trying to not roll in whatever was littering Market Street today. Since Jasmine no longer had a job at the 'Blow Dry Beauties' salon, I was betting she was home today. And if she was anything like me, she'd be polishing off her second pint of Ben and Jerry's Boston Cream Pie ice cream.

Ten minutes later, I pulled up to Jasmine's house and parked on the other side of the street, one house up. I tucked my pepper spray inside my jacket pocket and slid the cuffs into the waistband of my jeans. And since I didn't have any more room back there for my gun, I decided to leave it in my bag. But after thinking about what Ranger would no doubt say to me, I did leave my bag open so I'd have easy access if I needed it.

I climbed out of my car and crossed the street to Jasmine's house. It was a one-story house painted a hideous dark blue. A color blue somewhere between Smurf skin and old blueberries. I was betting that either the paint was beyond cheap, or the person who'd picked it out had a serious eye condition that affected their sight. I stepped around some doggy doo on my way to the front door and knocked. No answer. Nothing barked. Guess the doody belonged to someone else's dog. I knocked again and a slightly older version of Jasmine opened the door.

"I'm looking for Jasmine," I told the woman."Is she home?"

"She's at the mall. Her friend picked her up about an hour ago," the woman said."I'm her sister Crystal, can I help you?"

"I'm Stephanie Plum. I work for the bonds office that put up the money to get her released," I said."She didn't show up for court so she has to go back to the station and do the whole process all over again."

"I knew something like this was going to happen," Crystal said."I told her to quit working for that bitch boss of hers before she did something."

"Before who did something?" I asked."Jasmine or her boss?"

"Both," Crystal said."They've hated each other from the get go, but Jasmine refused to quit and Maureen liked having someone to torment every day."

"Doesn't sound like a good working environment."

"It's fine for everyone else, just not Jasmine. She happens to look similar to the woman Maureen's husband left her for."

"Oh."

"Yeah," she said."Her attitude doesn't have anything at all to do with Jasmine personally."

"So what exactly happened?" I asked.

"Maureen withheld Jasmine's paycheck. She claimed that Jasmine didn't put in all the hours she was supposed to," Crystal told me."Jasmine disagreed. After a half hour screaming match, Jasmine got fired and Maureen got a free nose job."

"Ouch."

"Of course Maureen pressed charges. I don't believe in fighting," Crystal said,"but I saw first-hand just how much Maureen had made her suffer. It's probably wrong, but I don't blame Jasmine for hitting her. I might have been tempted to myself. Her best friend Janine decided to try cheering her up and took her to the mall for a few hours."

I asked even though I knew what the answer was going to be."Quakerbridge?"

"Yes," Crystal said.

Damn. While I couldn't say that I was terrified of the place, I still wasn't in any hurry to go back there. Not yet. Probably the first time in my life that I was avoiding the mall. Freakin' Harlo. Being nervous to go to one of my favorite places on earth was like having the flu at Disneyland. It just shouldn't happen.

"How come she didn't show up for court?" I asked her.

"Her car broke down last month. She's been bumming rides when she needs to, but I had to work that day," Crystal said."If I didn't show up I would have been fired, too. I just assumed that she got Janine to take her. I wanted to ask her how it went, but I've been so busy I'm lucky if I remember my own name in the morning."

I've had plenty of days like that myself so I wasn't going to judge Crystal for not babysitting her sister. Jasmine was an adult after all.

"When do you think she'll be back?" I asked Crystal.

"Knowing them ... I'd say two hours minimum."

"Okay, I'll come back," I told her."Just let her know that I'll have her in and out as soon as possible. It's better for her if she gets this dealt with soon."

"I'll make sure she's here," Crystal said to me.

"Thanks."

I left the house, keeping a look out for the dooky, and walked back to my car thinking that this may not exactly be having my skip handcuffed waiting for me, but it was pretty darn close. That's if Jasmine is actually here when I get back.

I unlocked the door and slid behind the wheel. Next up, Dewy Daigle. I rolled my eyes at the name. Didn't people stop and think about what it's going to do to their kids when they're saddled with names like that? I wouldn't say that being given a stupid name excuses a person's behavior, but it could probably explain it. I picked up Dewy's file to read his address again and my phone rang.

"Babe."

"Hey," I said to Ranger.

"Where are you?" He asked.

"Sitting on Market Street," I told him.

"You're still on the grid so I take that to mean that you aren't literally sittingon Market Street waiting for ride after another car crisis."

"Nope," I said."Car's fine. I found my skip, but her friend took her shopping so she won't be back for a few hours. I'm going to go after FTA number two while I wait."

"Who do you have?"

"Name's Dewy Daigle," I said to Ranger.

"You're kidding, right?" Ranger asked.

"Nope. That's his name."

"What did he get arrested for?"

I looked down at the file still in my hand."Speeding while intoxicated. He also had an open container of alcohol in said vehicle, and a suspended license."

"I'd drink, too, if I was named Dewy," Ranger said.

"No you wouldn't," I told him."You'd do something show-offy and earn yourself a cool nickname because of it. And no one would think of calling you anything but that ever again."

"Babe."

"Tell me I'm wrong, Ranger," I said, emphasizing his name to make my point."So what have you been up to while I've been gone?"

"Had to check out a break in."

"This early in the day?" I asked. Even after all the crimes and criminals I've been exposed to, I still thought break ins happened in the middle of the night.

"Yes," Ranger said."The only thing missing from the house is a hundred dollars in cash and a handgun."

"Crap," I said.

"You said it, Babe."

"Do they know who stole it?" I asked Ranger."It had to have been someone who knew there was a gun in the house."

"Our clients have an idea and gave some names to the police," Ranger said."Tank just got off the phone, Babe, I've got to get back to work. I'll see you tonight?"

"Yep," I said to him."I may even invite Rex to come along, too."

"I'll have Ella stock extra carrots."

"He'll appreciate that," I said."He'd appreciate it even more if she stocked Pop-Tarts instead."

"Hamsters eat carrots, Steph," Ranger said."Hamsters do not eat Pop-Tarts."

"Mine does."

"Yours would," Ranger said, and disconnected.

"Love you, too," I said into the now dead phone air.

I dropped my phone back into my bag, started my car, and drove to Tasty Pastry. They didn't have Pop-Tarts, but they had plenty of other things to choose from. I parked by the door and was back five minutes later with two Boston Creams. I sat in the parking lot working my way through them, debating whether or not to stop in and see if Lula was at the office. As I took the last bite of my second doughnut, I'd decided against it. Lula would probably just create more problems with Dewy and I did want to pick up at least one skip today. I licked some chocolate off my fingers before wiping them on my jeans and plugging the key in the ignition.

After a fifteen minute drive, I was in the lot of Dewy's apartment building. A building that was a whole hell of a lot nicer than the square block that I called home. Okay, home was a stretch, but it was where Rex and my shoes were so it was as close as I've come to one since I'd moved out of my parents' house. I didn't stay long enough in the house I shared with Dickie to count it. The asshole.

I'd put the pepper spray and cuffs back in my bag before I left Jasmine's place so I now had to do the process all over again. Except this time I added my gun to the arsenal. Sometimes drunks got a little grabby, or a little mean, and I wasn't going to take a chance on getting mauled or hurt by a guy with a name like Dewy. Lucky for me, Dewy lived on the first floor so I wouldn't have to decide between taking the stairs or the elevator. Enclosed places were bad with mean drunks, and stairs were difficult with unconscious ones.

I looked for apartment seven and knocked. A beat later the door opened and I took a step back so I wouldn't get a contact high from Dewy's hundred-proof breath. It wasn't even noon and he smelled like Jack Daniels and Johnny Walker combined.

"Dewy Daigle?" I asked. I knew who he was, I was just trying to gauge how much of his brain was working this morning.

"Yeah," he said to me."Are you sellin' something?"

"No."

He looked me up and down."Too bad," he said."I ain't got much cash here, but you'd have been welcome to it. Any chance of you changing your mind?"

"No!" Guess he was going to be the grabby type of drunk."Bond Enforcement," I said to him.

"Oh fuck," he said."Did I forget to show up again?"

"Yes," I told him."That's why I'm here. My cousin Vinnie doesn't like losing money on people he was nice enough to bail out, so you have to come to the station with me."

"Do I really have to?" Dewy said in a voice that reminded me of my teenage years with my mother.

Maybe Dewy was going to be more whiny than anything else.

"Yes," I said to him."It's kind of the law."

"Oh yeah," he said."I forgot." And he started laughing.

I was praying he wasn't going to wet his pants before we got to the Trenton PD. I slid the cuffs from the front of my jeans and took a step towards him.

"Hey!" He said when he saw them."What're those for?"

I rolled my eyes at him."They're for holding your wrists together."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that, but why're you gonna use them on me?" He asked."Are you one of those kinky women?"

Oh brother.

"No," I said to him."I'm one of those women who'll be using these to secure you while I bring you to the police station instead of just zapping you in the ass with my stun gun." Which was starting to sound like the better idea.

He looked at me with renewed interest."You have one of those? Cool!" Dewy said."I always wanted one. Can I see it?"

"No."

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because you'll probably zap yourself with it and I'll have to drag your drunk behind all the way back to my car."

"I'm not drunk."

Why do all drunk people feel the need to tell you that they aren't drunk?

"Prove it then," I said to Dewy."I bet you can't walk all the way to that CR-V parked over there without falling down."

"Bet I can," he said.

Maybe I wouldn't need the cuffs after all. Dewy walked ahead of me, and I took my eyes off his progress only long enough to lock his apartment door before following him to my car. To Dewy's credit, he only wobbled a bit but didn't actually fall down. He was like a five-foot-six-inch Weeble.

"See!" He said, when he touched my car in victory."I made it! I told you I could do it!"

"Yes, you did," I said, encouragingly."And just for winning the bet, I'm going to give you a free ride in this car all the way to the TPD."

"Wow, I never won anything before," Dewy said to me.

Somehow, that didn't surprise me.

"Well, there's a first time for everything," I told him.

I buckled him into the backseat and slid behind the wheel. I kept an eye on him in the rearview mirror in case he decided to make a break for it since I didn't put the cuffs on him after all, but I didn't need to worry. Dewy passed out five minutes into the drive. As long as he did it after he was inside my car I wasn't going to complain. I could always get someone at the station to haul him out for me.

When I pulled into the PD's lot, I parked as close as I could to the front door and could hear Dewy snoring steadily from the backseat when I turned off the ignition. Guess I was going to need some help here. Dewy was short, but what there was of him was substantial. He was like Lula in a way. He wasn't exactly fat, but he wasdefinitely solid.

I opened the back door to make sure that he was really out cold and not faking it. I could tell right away by the little bit of drool that was trickling out of his mouth, and his tipped to the side head, that Dewy was going to be out for a while. I shut the door and headed into the building. Eddie was the first person I saw.

"Oh good," I said to him."Just the person I was looking for."

"What do you need now, Steph?" Gazarra asked.

"What makes you think I need something?"

Eddie didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. The put upon look on his face said it all.

I blew out a breath."Okay," I said to him."I have a drunk FTA snoring and drooling in my car and I want him out of it."

"That's it?" Eddie asked.

"Yup."

"Hey, Matheson!" Eddie called to a young officer who was walking by."Give me a hand."

The three of us left the building and went to collect Dewy. I looked for any sign of vomit or urine when Eddie and Matheson dragged a still unconscious Dewy from the backseat.

"Jeez, Steph," Eddie said."Do you have to get men loaded just to get them into your car nowadays?"

"He did this on his own," I told him."All I had to do was drive him here. He's going down as one of my best captures ever."

"For you, maybe," Eddie said to me."I'm gonna have to Lysol myself so I don't get accused of drinking on the job."

"He doesn't seem all that bad of a guy, though," I said to Eddie.

"For one of your skips, he isn't," Eddie said,"but for the general public, he is. At least he wasn't behind the wheel this time."

"Good point."

I followed them back inside and got my body receipt. I said bye to Eddie and was halfway through the door when I heard my name being called. Morelli.

"Hi, Joe," I said, stepping back into the building. It would be better for both of us if we talk in a crowded building. Less chance of him saying something personal and less chance of us having a fight because of it. A win-win in my opinion."I was just leaving."

"I can see that," Joe said."I'm glad that it's not because of me this time. You alone?"

"Yep," I said."I had a couple of people to bring in."

"And Ranger let you out without a thug or two in tow?"

I narrowed my eyes at him."Joe ..."

"I know, I know," he said."Fuck. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to start anything, but I can't seem to stop myself when I get around you."

"Are you trying to say that it's my fault you're a jerk?" I asked, wondering if I was about to get arrested for assaulting an officer. If he said anything else, I'd risk it. Ranger would probably be able to get me out, I thought to myself. Or, at the very least, he'd visit me.

"No," Joe said. He looked down at his feet for a moment, probably counting to ten before speaking again."I just wanted to see how you were holding up."

I felt myself calming down, too. See, crowded buildings were good for something. Conversations with ex-boyfriends, yes. Holiday shopping, not so much.

"I'm okay," I told him."As long as Harlo is still locked up, I'm good."

"Glad to hear it, Cupcake. And don't worry, he isn't getting out anytime soon."

"That makes me feel a lot better," I told Joe."Harlo doesn't seem to like me very much."

Joe grimaced, but didn't say anything.

"Well ... I'd better be going. I have another person to pick up."

"Busy day."

"Busier than some," I said to him,"but my rent will definitely be paid on time this month."

Joe looked like he was going to comment, but thought better of it.

"Maybe I'll see you when you get back," he said.

"Uh-huh. Sure." Not if I could help it.

"Yo, Morelli!" Someone called out.

"I gotta go," Joe said to me.

"Okay," I said, but I was talking to his back. He'd already started walking away, the ass.

Please, please, please, let Morelli be gone when I get back, I begged God. I didn't think God really gave a crap about my personal life, but maybe he wanted a break from important things like war, genocide, and world-wide hunger issues, and wanted a day of dealing with trivial crap like me not wanting to hurt Joe, and not wanting Ranger to hurt Joe, because of something he said. And probably the only way to keep the peace between us is if we weren't near each other.

When Joe and I were together, we couldn't go more than two days without arguing. I sometimes wondered how our relationship lasted as long as it had. Not wanting to admit that you've wasted years on something that was obviously not going to work may have had something to do with it. And we did love each other, even if we didn't alwayslikeeach other very much. With Ranger it was different. We love and like each other at the same time. And the amazing thing is that we seem to like each other more the longer we were together. Which is pretty much the opposite of every relationship I'd ever been in.

I left the station and drove back to Jasmine's house. There was another car in the driveway and I was hoping that meant that Jasmine was home. I got out of the CR-V and knocked on their front door again. Crystal answered.

"Oh hi," she said to me."I was just telling Jasmine about you. Hey, Jas! Get your butt over here!" She yelled over her shoulder."The woman I told you about is back!"

Three seconds later, Jasmine came to the door. She was about an inch taller than me, had darker hair, and was pretty in an all natural kind of way.

"How long is this going to take?" She asked me.

Okay, I thought to myself, she apparently wasn't big on small talk. Guess Jasmine and I weren't destined to become 'besties' anytime soon.

"Half an hour?" I said to her. If I phrased it as a question I couldn't be blamed if it took longer than that, could I?

"Can my sister follow us there?" She asked me.

"Yeah. That way you'll have a ride back as soon as you're done."

"Fine," she said."Let's go."

"What's going on?" Jasmine's friend Janine asked.

"Jasmine's got something to take care of," Crystal told her."I'm going to go with her. We shouldn't be long. If you leave before we get back don't forget to lock up."

"Oh, okay."

Crystal came out with us, got behind the wheel of a beat up Buick, and waited while I got Jasmine settled in the backseat.

An hour after I left, I was back with Trenton's finest. I took Jasmine in and Eddie was almost right where I left him. No Morelli.

"He caught a murder on Stark," Eddie said, when he noticed me scanning the room.

I let out a breath and watched as the guy who'd helped me earlier took Jasmine away.

"He's not giving you any trouble is he?" Eddie asked.

"Morelli?" I said to him."Not really, but you know how Joe is. He gets something stuck in his head and he has trouble seeing past it. I don't want the idea of us getting back together to be one of them."

"So things are going good with Manoso?" Eddie asked.

"Yes."

"I thought so," Eddie said."The way he was holding you when you got away from Harlo looked pretty damn serious. If Ranger'd been willing to let go of you we may have had a situation on our hands. I was glad that we had armed police officers between him and Harlo."

"Harlo should be, too," I said to Eddie.

"I still don't know how you manage to find trouble even if it didn't directly involve you in the first place."

"Some people can play the piano," I said."Some people can write stories. And some people can attract a boatload of crackpots on a daily basis."

"I don't know," Eddie said,"with you, Steph, it may be two boatloads of crackpots."

"Thanks a lot, Eddie. Aren't you supposed to be actually doing something around here? My tax dollars don't seem to be hard at work here."

"You mean you pay taxes?" Eddie said.

"Yes, I pay taxes," I told him,"but if I'm paying for law officials to harass innocent citizens, then I may not next year."

"The IRS will love that. And since when can you be considered innocent?"

"Very funny," I said to him."Now if you'll excuse me, I have a receipt to pick up and a hamster to see."

"Rex is still alive?" Eddie asked.

I glared at him."Of course, he's still alive. Even I can take care of a hamster."

"I know you can, Steph, but you've had him forever," Eddie said."I thought hamsters only live for a couple of years."

"Rex and I made a deal when I brought him home," I told Eddie."I'd give him good snacks as long as he didn't die on me."

"Guess it's working."

"It'd better continue to work, too," I said. I didn't want to think about losing Rex. It'd been just the two of us for a long time before Morelli and Ranger entered the picture.

I stopped at the desk, got my proof of capture paper, and went back to my car. I was going to stop in and see Connie before heading back to Rangeman, but I figured I caught two skips, the rain that had held off all day had started, and I, so far, haven't been threatened, so I was going to quit for the day while I could still consider it a successful one. All I wanted to do was pick up Rex and spend the night with Ranger.

I drove through town and parked in the lot of my building. I took the elevator up to my apartment and let myself in.

"Hi, Rex," I said, dropping my bag onto the counter."We're sleeping at Rangeman tonight." I didn't see any movement coming from the can so I took that as a sign that he was okay with the idea.

I checked my phone messages and email while I was already here, since tomorrow looked like it was going to be another busy day. I didn't need to pack anything since I still had some clothes at Ranger's, so after I shut the computer down I hiked my bag onto my shoulder and picked up Rex's cage. I was glad that he'd still be asleep on the way to Ranger's because I didn't know how I'd explain the idea of rain to him.

It was still relatively early, and I'd started wondering as I drove back to Rangeman how Ranger would feel about going to my parents' house for dinner if he was through for the day, too. I'd much rather spend the night cuddled up next to him on the couch, or wrapped in Ranger's arms in his bedroom, but we could still do those things when we got back. I kept thinking about Eddie asking how things were between Ranger and I. I didn't want anyone to have to question it.

I drove down Haywood and noticed that all Ranger's vehicles were accounted for. I picked up my shoulder bag and Rex, closed the car door with my hip, and hit the seven button with my elbow. I stepped off the elevator and just as I was starting to wonder if I could unlock the door without putting Rex down, it opened for me.

"You beat me back," I said to Ranger.

"Got everything done," Ranger said."How about you?"

"I caught two of my skips," I told him."I figure the other two could wait a day."

I moved past him, walked to the kitchen, and set Rex down on the counter. Still no movement. Nothing. I had a moment of fear that Eddie asking if Rex was still alive had somehow killed him, but once I crouched down so that I was eye level with his cage, I saw the shavings move in his soup can. He was probably laughing at me. He wouldn't be the first.

Ranger had followed me into the kitchen and was watching me with one eyebrow raised. Probably picking up on my mental panic attack.

"Don't ask?" I said to him.

"I have tomorrow afternoon free," Ranger said."If you want to take care of Cortiz then."

"Sure," I said to him."That will give me the whole morning to catch Macary."

"Are you going to need help with him?" Ranger asked me.

"I don't think so."

"If there is any question, wait until I get back and we'll pick up both of them."

"I will," I told him."I'm not in any hurry to have a gun pointed at me again this week."

"This week, Babe?"

"Well, I don't want to have one pointed at me ever again, but somehow I don't think that's an option for me."

"It could be," Ranger said.

"Yeah, I know," I said to him."Work out, run faster, be able to point my gun in the vicinity of the person trying to kill me ..."

"It does cut down on problems," Ranger said.

"To some degree," I told him."But you guys do all that stuff and you still get weapons pulled on you."

"But how many injuries do my men receive verses the ones the skips get?"

"No need to brag," I said to him.

"It's not bragging when it's true, Babe."

"Spoken like the one whose bragging."

Ranger looked like he was thinking about smiling. He pulled me to him and kissed the top of my head. I leaned into his chest and wrapped my arms around him.

"Maybe if I just stick real close to you, your skills will transfer onto me."

"You can stay as close as you want to me, Steph," Ranger said."I don't mind. In fact, I'd enjoy it, but I don't think that will help your skip chasing."

"I didn't think so," I told him. I took a deep breath before sealing my fate."Umm ... since we're both here, and it's not six o'clock yet, what do you think about having dinner at my parents' house tonight?"

"Babe, you know I'd do anything for you, but that's asking a lot."

"I know it is," I said to him,"but I know you're a guy who can handle it. I just thought that since my mother has made a point of inviting you over, and attending a family dinner would show that we're really a couple ..."

"Is this about Morelli again?" Ranger asked.

"Maybe a little," I said.

"Did he do something at the police station?"

"No. We just talked for a second," I said to him."You know, the how are you doing after almost killed again conversation. But Eddie asked about us when I went back the second time."

"And?"

"He said that we looked serious in the mall parking lot, but I don't want anyone to assume that you're a fling to me, or that I'm only a fun distraction to you until someone better comes along."

Ranger's body tensed."You don't believe that's what you are to me, do you?"

"No. And I don't want anyone else to, either."

"And having dinner with your family will make believers out of everyone?"

"No," I said, honestly,"but it'll quiet the grapevine down a bit."

"I thought you said two dinners with your parents had you engaged in the eyes of the Burg," Ranger said.

Crap."Umm ... I may have said something like that."

"And that's what you want? To be engaged?"

"Not exactly," I told him, not wanting Ranger to think that I was pushing him into anything. I didn't think I was ready for marriage anymore than he was.

"You can't live your life for other people, Steph."

"I know," I said."And I'm not." And I was mostly telling the truth. If I had listened completely to my mother and buckled under the Burg pressure, I'd be married to Morelli and probably pregnant with my second child by now. I had to suppress a shudder at the thought."I just hate when people don't take me seriously. And it pisses me off that they don't think that what we have together is real."

Ranger looked at me for a long moment. I hope he wasn't wondering what the hell he'd been thinking to get involved with me.

"We can leave now if you want," Ranger said, finally.

"Thank you," I said, and kissed his cheek.

"This is just the beginning for us, Babe. And your family is going to be part of it."

"Maybe you should wait until after dinner to say that," I said to him with a smile."You wouldn't be the only guy my family scared off."

"I think I'll be okay, Steph," Ranger said."It would take more than dinner to keep me away from you. Morelli couldn't even accomplish it."

"Much to his annoyance," I said to him."Just don't smile too much, or flex around Grandma, or she may have a stroke over the mashed potatoes."

"Wouldn't want that," Ranger said to me.

He leaned close and gave me a quick kiss. A little taste of what was sure to come later. "Let's go, Babe," Ranger said, when he pulled back,"before I come to my senses."

I grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the door.

"Let's go," I repeated,"before I come to mine."