Wow. Sorry. That's all I got. I've been a bad author lately. Here's what happened. For anyone who: 1. Actually reads these and 2. Remembers that Ranger blocked the last chapter, the sort of thing happened again. Instead of just Ranger, however, it was EVERYONE. I felt like I was chairman of the board and every character was yelling at me to tell their story. Jeez. After some yelling of my own (mostly to Joe to shut the hell up), I finally got the chapter out and the way I wanted.

Yay.

I hope I don't as long on the next one. You guys are truly awesome for sticking by me. I hope to have some sort of schedule, but that doesn't seem to be happening. I'll get the next chapter out soon as I can. Promise.

Not mine, but oh, how do I wish I owned Ranger!

Most days, I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall.

Today, however, I settled for banging my head against my desk.

"Jeez, white girl. You're going to give yourself a concussion doing that." Lula said when she stepped into my office. I smelled the coffee before the cup hit my desk. "Here, drink this."

"Thanks." I grabbed the cup and looked at Lula. She was wearing a polka dot dress and a pink sweater over top. Her hair was thankfully still brown and her arms were crossed. "What can I do for you?" I asked, taking a sip.

"Everything okay?"

I blinked once. "Sure. Everything's fine."

"You'd tell me… right? If there was something I needed to know?"

"Of course!" I paused. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

"Nope. Not a thing." Lula replied quickly. I narrowed my eyes.

"Is something on fire?"

"No."

"Someone pregnant?"

Lula snickered. "No."

"Then what?"

She sighed. "Look girl," Lula started as she sat down. "We're worried about you. You've been working so hard lately and you've barely had a day off."

"So? I have a new business. I need to make sure that we stay in business."

"This place is a well oiled machine, my friend. All you can do now is enjoy the ride. You should take a few days off."

I looked down at the order sheet. "I'm fine."

"Are you? What day is it?"

"Thursday."

"Bzz. It's Tuesday."

"Right. That's what I meant." I lied.

"Girl, you need a break."

I sat down my pen. We both knew she was right. I hadn't had a day off since I opened the store seven months ago. I couldn't remember the last time I watched Ghostbusters. Sighing, I looked back at her. "I'll take a few days off soon. I promise."

"You better, girl, or we'll change the locks on you."

I smiled. "How's the floor?"

"Everything is in tip top shape."

"Good."

"You should come out and run the register. Do some mind numbing work for an hour. Relax a little."

I smiled. "You just don't want to do it."

"Sure. That may be the other reason."

"Give me five minutes."

"You're on."

Five minutes later, I was out among the people. Lula was right. This place was a well oiled machine. Everyone knew their job and the customers seemed really happy.

We were going to make it.

When I graduated from Douglass College, opening the shop was never part of my plan. With a business degree, I could've gone anywhere. And unlike all of the other students in my class, I ended up in Newark selling panties at E.E. Martin.

Until the FBI shut us down for fraud and embezzlement. The CEO and CFO were stealing from the company at the same time.

Go figure.

So I was out of a job and unsure what to do next. I talked to Dickie, who was my husband at the time. Since the job market was in the toilet, I was going to take some time off and become a housewife. He'd support us both working at the law firm.

Well, he decided that. I just agreed.

Two months later, I found him on the table with Joyce and that was that.

Rat fink bastard.

So with half his money, and a nice house in Hamilton Township, I had no idea what to do next. I decided to go back to what I was good at.

Selling panties.

I talked to my father and some of my business friends and sunk some of the money into the business. The other portion I gave to my Wall Street genius friend and she earned me a nice little nest egg in case things go belly up.

But from looking around, I knew that I might never need to use it.

"Man, you've got quite a place here." Joe said, coming up behind me.

I froze. Maybe if I didn't talk to him…

No such luck. He moved so that he was standing in front of me. Drat.

Joe gave me his 'winning' smile (one that just made me want to throw up) and fiddled with the tie on his chest.

Oh lord.

It was grey.

I rolled my eyes at the ploy he was not so subtly hinting at. I read the books like everyone else and sure, they were a good read.

That didn't make me into a submissive like it did to the rest of the population. I still had my standards and all I wanted to do right now was laugh in his face. If he thought he was going to charm me with a tie… he had another thing coming.

"I'm busy, Joe."

"You look like you could use a break."

"I can't take a break, Joe."

"I'm sure the boss wouldn't mind." He smiled again. "I brought you these." He held up a bouquet of flowers.

"Actually, the boss does mind." I sighed. Time to nip this in the bud. "Look, I know what my mother told you but I'm not interested. Thanks, but no thanks."

"Come on, you'll know we'll be good together."

Sigh. "Have I given you any indication that I want to date you? Any at all?"

"Well… no."

"There you go. So stop calling. Stop dropping by my mother's house and just leave me alone."

The smile fell from his face. "Look…"

"No. I will not look. Please leave."

As he huffed out the door, I realized that every eye was on us.

Great.

Lula came over. "Jeez."

A headache started to form in my frontal lobe. "I'm going back to my office, okay?"

"Sure."

I didn't know why I was here. After three hours of searching, I knew all there was to know about Stephanie Plum. I knew she never left the state except for family vacations. I knew that she sees all her physicians regularly and gave a generous package of insurance to her employees. I knew that her favorite food was Italian and managed to go to Marsillio's at least once a month.

I knew the facts.

But I wanted more.

So here I was. In her little shop.

At least that's what it was on paper. In reality, she had a strong business that would survive even in the terrible economy.

For some reason I couldn't put my finger on, I was proud of her.

Speak of the devil.

Stephanie emerged from her office and she took my breath away. The picture didn't do her justice. Her hair was a shining chestnut halo. Her curvy body was in a dark green sweater and black jeans. Her black heels made her legs longer and sexier. Her big blue eyes popped as she surveyed the room and the knowing smile on her face made my skin tingle at the back of my neck.

The picture made her look ordinary, and she was anything but.

I saw the man come up behind her and I frowned. There was no mention of a boyfriend. If anything, she was married to her job.

I jolted. Why did I care who this man was?

When she pushed him out the door, the man muttered sullenly as he passed me. I grinned, the feeling of pride bubbling back up.

My girl could handle herself.

Wait, my girl?

I shook my head and started to go over when I heard her tell her associate she was going back to her office. From the looks of it, she had the beginnings of a bad headache and wanted to be left alone.

This was not the time to introduce myself. Our meeting would have to wait.

I looked back at Stephanie one last time, I noticed her rub the back of her neck. She turned around and looked around the store. Our eyes briefly met and she gave me a small smile. It lasted a second and then she was gone.

I grinned at her back. When it finally happened, I knew it was going to be good.

Please review. I'm already working on the next chapter which will definitely have some R/S action that we've been waiting for!