Disclaimers: The characters are not mine, Janet Evanovich owns everything.

Alert: Minor spoilers though book Eighteen.

I wanted to thank everyone who has taken time out to review and or add an alert to Holiday Weekend; it makes me feel good about finally getting over the fear of sharing my ideas. Any mistakes you see are my own. :(

A fair warning that this is a shot chapter- but felt it was best to set the story up this way. Enjoy!

I can never resist when he uses the world please, so I let it drop for the time being and began to stare out the window in front of me. The last thing I remember was us merging onto I-195 East.

Chapter 3

"Babe..."

"Babe it's time to wake up"

I shift in my seat and rub the sleep out of my eyes. I glance over to the man whose voice and soft caresses pulled me from my slumber.

Ranger very quietly said "we're here Babe"

I glance around and realize we have pulled into a long shell covered driveway. I continue to look around, and observe a stunning house to the side of us and the breeze coming in the open windows leaves the lingering fragrance of ocean air. I notice the clock on the dash reads Six Twenty, wow I slept for over five hours. As my brain begins to regain the ability to think I realize I have no idea where "here" is. I know that I have been in the car the entire time so we can't possibly be at the Jersey Shore. I turn to Ranger to ask where exactly "here" is and his ESP is on the job before I even have the chance.

"We are in Westerly, Rhode Island Babe at a house on Misquamicut Beach."

Okay so far I am following, we are at the beach in Rhode Island, but I can help to think why Ranger brought me five hours away when there are beautiful beaches on the Jersey Shore, including my favorite Point Pleasant. Before I got the chance to voice this to Ranger he was out of the car and walking over to my door. I can't help but look at his sexy form as it moves my way. He gives a whole new meaning to 'I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave.' Once he opens the passenger side door, Ranger reaches across me and unbuckles my seat belt while placing a sweet kiss to my lips in the process. He proceeds to give me his hand to help me from the car, once I am finally situated on my feet he begins to speak again.

"Come on Babe, everyone is waiting for us and dinner should be ready."

That very sentence has my feet firmly planted on ground shells underneath me as Ranger closes the Turbo's door. I feel the panic beginning to build with the realization that not only is this not a "Ranger and Stephanie" alone type of weekend which I was envisioning (yet still very nervous about) but I also have no clue who "everyone" is. I finally find my voice that has been silent since I awoke but when it comes out it is just above a whisper. "Ranger, who exactly is everyone?"

Ranger's reply was equally as soft "my family Babe."

If I looked like a deer caught in headlights last night when he asked me to go away with him, I can not even begin to think of what I look like at this point. My voice came out in a stutter when I spoke "your...your family?"

Ranger gently traced my jaw line with his callused fingertips before speaking. "Yes Babe, my family. My parents Maria and Ricardo, you were introduced to when I was in the hospital. My sister Celia and her husband Diego and their three kids. My other sister Pillar her husband Marcus with their two little ones. My sister Sophia is away in Paris so she will not be joining us and my only brother Fernando will be arriving tomorrow with his partner Hector."

After Ranger finished speaking he closed my jaw which was obviously hanging open. I don't know what surprised me more the fact that Ranger could say so much in such a short period of time or the fact that he actually believed I was going into that house with him. Now don't get me wrong I have always wanted to learn about the bat-family but the overwhelming feeling of panic and dread that were taking up residence in my body left me feeling as if I was being thrown into the shark tank.

"Not sharks Babe, just the Manoso's" replied Ranger to my unvoiced thoughts while gently running his hands up and down my arms. Damn him and his ESP.

I proceed to give him my best 'Burg' glare and was just about to tell him exactly where I would not be going. I was in the starting phases of 'Rhino Mode' because of my feelings of being setup by Ranger but before I could unleash my furry on him a tall man step out onto the deck above the driveway and yelled down to us.

"Are you two going to join us anytime soon? I'm wasting away in here waiting for you guys to eat." With that he turned around and walked back into the house.

Crappity, crap, crap!

Edited 12/28/12