Hi. Sorry. Yep, that's all I got.

So RL has once again been a pain. Between fighting writer's block for this and my letter of intent for graduate schools (as well as picking the schools plus getting the paperwork), work, volunteering, reading and Thanksgiving, I've been trying to get something out, but it was like pulling teeth. I hope you guys think this was worth the wait.

Not mine. I just write it like I see it.

"Well? Is it big? I always thought he'd be huge. Is he huge?" Lula asked me when I walked up to the door the next morning.

I pulled my keys from my purse. "Good morning to you too."

"Hi. It's a wonderful morning. So?"

"What has gotten into you lately?" I asked her. Lula was more feisty than normal.

"I'm just excited. It's nice going out and dating."

I turned to her. "You date all the time!"

"I know that, skinny white girl. I'm talking about you. Do you remember the last time you went out on a date and actually enjoyed yourself?"

"Mark, a few weeks ago."

"As more than just a friend?"

I bit my lip. It was probably Dickie before we got married.

"Uh huh. That's what I thought. This here is an exciting moment. You finally finding a man that you got sparks with. So now you can tell me all the details. And if he has a teeny weenie… You can skip over that part."

I just shrugged my shoulders and pushed the door in. "Don't know."

She stared at me. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"We didn't have sex last night."

"You didn't have sex?"

"Are you going to repeat everything I say today?"

"Possibly. Why didn't you have sex with the man? He is seriously hot!"

"Gee. I hadn't noticed." I rolled my eyes and continued to my office.

"Besides, you're smiling like a woman who was thoroughly relaxed last night."

"He didn't even come in last night." I said, grabbing last night's papers and heading into my office.

Lula followed me in. "So tell me the story! I have a feeling this was going to be good."

Sitting behind my desk, I smiled once and told her the whole story. Lula sat there and stared off into space.

"Holy shit. I think I just wet my pants."

I wrinkled my nose. "If you did, you're buying me a new chair."

"That man is going to woo you. He is going to woo you." Lula started to fan herself. "I don't believe it."

I didn't really believe it either. Most of the men I've dated would have jumped at the chance to come inside my house. Carlos, on the other hand, gave me a great kiss goodnight and left me tingling all over. I couldn't help but grin at every cup of coffee.

"This is so much better than getting some on the first date. No man has ever wooed me."

"What about Tank?"

"Please, that man knows more about being a dentist."

Somehow that made me sad. Every woman deserved to be wooed by their potential boyfriend. I frowned.

"Hey, none of that. I love my Tankie any way he comes. He saved me from death. That's all the wooing I needed."

She had a point. He did something for her that would put any wooing another man would've done. He saved her from a mad man and a life that has a short lifespan.

Still, I think we were going to have a talk about his wooing skills.

Connie came in a few minutes later. "So? How did it go? Is it huge?"

I rolled my eyes as Lula told her the story.

"Wow." She said, sitting down.

"You're not going to wet yourself too, are you?"

"Jeez. No."

"Okay, now that I have divulged every aspect of my love life, can we please get back to work?"

Lula and Connie shrugged but left. The opened the store and I worked on paperwork.

Who got the better deal on this one?

A few hours later, I was ready to shoot myself. Connie came in.

"This came for you." She held out a package. It was tiny and wasn't from my supplier.

There wasn't even a return address. I raised an eyebrow.

"It came by messenger. He was hot too. And dressed in black."

I grinned. I knew of one company that wore all black.

Rangeman.

I tore into the package.

"What is it?" She asked. "And can I keep the messenger?"

"Whatever." I replied. When I opened the box, I barked out a laugh.

"What?" Lula asked when she came in.

Nestled in the tissue paper was a bag of Cuban coffee. I picked up the card. For after coffee…

"I don't get it." Lula said. "After coffee? That is coffee!"

I smiled a secret smile. "Leave." Picking up my cell, I chuckled again. They gave me one last look and shut the door.

"Yo." Carlos said when he answered.

"Yo yourself. It seems I got a strange present today."

"Yeah?"

"Yep. But whoever will I share it with?"

"Whoever you think is worthy enough of your coffee."

"Maybe I should call Mark..."

"Babe." He growled. With one word he was able to say, you better not share your coffee with anyone but me. I shivered. We were nowhere near the boyfriend/ girlfriend stage, but with that word, he marked me as his.

And I wasn't complaining.

"I love it. Thank you." I murmured.

"You're welcome." His voice softened. "So how are you?"

I talked about the boring morning I had doing paperwork. Carlos was sympathetic. He had his own paperwork to deal with. He also told me about the skip they brought in. Along with the security side of his business, Rangeman had a contract with a few bail bonds companies to pick up FTA's, or failure to appears. After being arrested, a bail bondsman goes and bails them out. If they miss their court date, the bondsman sends Carlos and his team to find them.

They can run, but they can't hide from Carlos and his team.

We talked for a few more minutes until Carlos had to go into his meeting. I could hear Lester laughing in the background. Carlos didn't want to get off the phone with me.

Frankly, neither did I.

"Dinner tomorrow?" He asked before I hung up.

"Pick me up at six."

"Later, Babe." And he hung up.

"Carlos? Carlos, are you even listening to me?" A distant voice said to me.

"Don't bother him. He's just thinking about his girlfriend." Lester mocked.

"Girlfriend? Who is she?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. Leave it to Lester to embarrass me and throw me into the fire in one swoop. "She's nobody." I lied.

My mother put her hands on her hips. "You're lying to me. You've got the same look in your eye when you told me that you didn't have sex with that girl in your car."

"That's because her panties were sticking out of his pocket!" Lester chortled.

"Who is she?"

Everyone at the table turned to look at me.

I was going to kill Lester.

It was the first time in five years that I was able to go to my parent's house for Thanksgiving. Sometimes I was out of the country, other times I was hiding behind whatever excuse my mother would take.

This year, she didn't let me get away with it. She even conned me in to bringing a pie.

Every year my mother combines traditional Thanksgiving food with traditional Cuban food. My sisters, brother and any family that was still in the area were invited to share dinner with us. The place was usually a mad house with kids screaming and running around.

And all I could think about was how Stephanie would love this.

"She's just a girl I've seen once or twice. It's nothing serious yet."

Mama stared at me. "I still think you're lying. You have the same smirk on your face that you had when you came in with the panties in your pocket."

"Did you sleep with her already?" Marta, my sister asked.

"No."

"Good. No need for you go rutting around with this girl and getting another one pregnant." Mama made the sign of the cross. "Not that I don't love Julie. I do."

I may not see her very often, but I always make sure she stops by to see her family. My mother would nag me until the next time she came anyway, so this way I save the nagging and she sees her grandparents.

"So what's she like anyway?" Celia, the oldest, asked.

Stephanie was pure perfection. Just thinking about her on our first date causes my loins to stir. Now that I wasn't going to tell my family. Cornered, I told them as little as possible.

"She sounds delightful. When do I get to meet her?"

I paled. No way was Stephanie going to be subjected to my family this early. We hadn't even talked about not seeing other people yet!

I grinned. Talking to her today was the highlight of my day. The minute I saw her number pop up, I grinned. I thought Lester was going to fall off his chair. Hearing her happy over my gift sent me to cloud nine. Most men send flowers, but I figured Stephanie would prefer the coffee. It was more personal than flowers.

Maybe I'll send her some tomorrow…

"Hello! Earth to Carlos!" Celia said. "He's got that grin again."

"Sorry Mama, but I don't think that it would be a good idea." I said, mentally flinching.

Her eyes narrowed. "Why not? This woman is obviously special to you. I've never seen you like this."

My mother had a point. I'd dated a lot of women and none of them compare to what I have with Stephanie. She's the sexiest thing on two legs. She makes me smile and laugh. And feel.

And it scares me. Scares me to the point of running.

But then I think about my life without Stephanie, and that scares me more.

"We need to get to know each other better."

She accepted that with a nod. "Fine. But I want to meet her by Christmas."

Jesus.

"Don't you roll your eyes at your mother! They'll get stuck up there."

"I make no promises."

"Dude. Sorry about that." Lester said after dinner. He clapped a hand on my back and handed me a drink.

"It's fine. She was going to find out soon anyway."

"She's right though. I've never seen you like this before."

"She's a special girl."

"Don't I know it. She fed us when she didn't have to. Even though she just popped things in the microwave, it's the thought that counts, right? She thought about us and the hunger I had been feeling."

Lester had a point. In most home jobs, we were treated like the help. But in Stephanie's, we were treated like family.

"Hell, if you hadn't asked her out, I was ready to."

I growled low in my throat. The day Lester got near my Babe was the day I was dead and rolling in my grave.

Even then, I'd come back and haunt his ass.

The fact that I called her mine didn't startle or scare me. She was mine. When she brought up Mark today, I thought I was going to kill someone. No way was I letting her share her coffee with anyone.

Somehow I knew telling her that would push her away.

That didn't mean I didn't say it with my voice.

And I had a feeling that she knew it too.

But she wasn't running.

I was ecstatic.

Lester put his hands up. "Hey, whoa. You had a thing going. I followed the bro code. But if she turned you down… That made her fair game."

I smiled. He had no idea she asked me out first.

And never would.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. Stephanie. Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your stuffing yourself silly.

Grinning, I shook my head, and typed back. Same to you, Babe. Just finished dinner at my parents. You?

Same. Mom made a delicious turkey and pumpkin pie.

Sounds like you had a good day.

I did. I need to move our date back an hour. Does 7 work?'

Sure. Why?

Grandma needs a ride to the funeral home. Don't ask.

Knowing her Grandma, I didn't have to.

7 works for me. I can't wait to see you.

Me either.

Those two words lifted my heart more than anything anyone had ever said to me. Seven was too far away.

But she was worth the wait.