I do not own JE's characters. I just like to play with them.
A/N: This a new story. Brace yourself, Babes, this is a TART. I welcome your reviews and input. The rating is for future scenes.
Thank you for reading and reviewing.
Stephanie POV
Since the guys decided to hang out by the pool, I dressed in a turquoise blue halter bikini top with a bikini bottom that was skirted. It was more like a ruffle, but it was the thought that counted. I had my terry cloth cover-up and my matching wedges on.
I was stopped from going outside by someone clearing their throat. I turned to see Ranger. He was wearing black swim trunks and a sleeveless white tee shirt. He was very handsome when he smiled. He was not smiling. I had my weapons in my bag. Hmmm. What is wrong with him, I wonder.
"Yes, Ranger?" He gives me a nod and gestures to the side patio. I follow him and we stand there staring at each other. Finally he speaks.
"I know that you care about Lester, but you do not know what kinds of people we are. If you have some sort of fantasy about this relationship being all hearts and flowers, you will be disappointed. We have done many things that we are not proud of in the name of our country." He is still blank faced. I step forward and hug him.
"Thank you. I know it must have been hard. Do you think that maybe you should see someone about those dark feelings you are holding onto?" He takes a breath and lets it out.
"Maybe. What about how you feel about my cousin?" I smile and step away from him.
"You do not have to worry about that, Ranger. I love Lester. He has my heart and I have his. I meant my wedding vows and I waited for him to come home. Now that he is here, I will take each day with him as a blessing. I am in it for the long haul. I won't hurt him." He finally smiles and hugs me back. Good.
"We are good at what we do and it is because of you that Lester did not sign another contract. He convinced us all to get out and that we can build a company with our skills. Thank you for that. It is easy to get sucked in because of the money, but you miss so much time." I nod at him.
"Okay, so now will you stop looking at me all suspiciously?" He puts an arm around my shoulder and leads me towards the pool.
"Sure, Steph. You are good for Lester and he is completely in love with you. You were all he talked about. I am eager to hear your ideas about the company. You can call me Ric. The guys do and like you said, we are family now." I grin at him and spot Mateo in the pool. He sees me and throws the ball back to Tank and gets out.
"Hey there, are you trying to make off with my wife, Ric?" He playfully punches Ranger.
"No, we just had a talk. I hope she has a friend for me, though." I giggle.
"Please. If you aim that smile at any woman, they will come willingly." He smiles.
"Yes, but I want a quality woman, not just someone who likes my looks. Now let's play water polo." We do just that and the guys are good at this of course. My team loses, but Ram and Axe do not hold it against me.
After another costume change, we settle in the family room near the kitchen. Lula has banned us until she is finished cooking. She gets like that sometimes, but I know it is because she cannot keep her hands off of Bobby. He keeps looking at her and she is dancing while she cooks. We both do that.
I am on Mateo's lap and we are kissing. The guys throw pillows at us to get us to stop. "Come on, Steph. Tell us your thoughts about our business."
"You guys, you should buy a building and then customize things. It is cheaper and quicker. We turned down a few properties while we were looking for a place, but there is one that shares a backyard so to speak with our business. If you guys bought that one, it would be great. There are three floors of apartments and there is even a sub-basement. There is even a parking garage. Lu and I did not need a dungeon and we live here, so that building was just overkill for us. You should take a look at it. I can call Savanna and see if she can show you guys later today."
They have an eye conversation and nod at me. Good. "Come eat, y'all!" We gather at the table and I notice the guys look leery. Lula huffs and sits down. I look at Mateo and he is dishing up food and so is Bobby.
"Okay, Ric, what is the deal?" He gives me a weak smile.
"It is just that we do not eat so much bread. We are on a food plan." Lu and I crack up laughing and she tells him to eat it or plan to go hungry. They bite into it and all of them moan. I give Lu a high five.
"Girl, I got it!" She had been trying to get Miss Bea's recipe right. I am happy for her.
"Lu, the guys want to see the building that is behind ours." She nods while she eats.
"That is the bomb. Savanna is going to buy us a cake or something for bringing her all of these fine men to look at. If she touches my man, though, she will pull back a nub." I laugh at her. She looks pretty in her red and white halter top with a short ruffled red skirt and heels. I am dressed similarly but in teal blue.
"Lula, this is delicious. Sometimes I forget we are not still enlisted. I guess I can be a little strict. May I have more, please?" She sucks her teeth at him, but gives Ric more and she relents and brings out the tossed salad as well. They attack the rest of the food and soon it is time to leave to meet Savanna.
Savanna Reynolds is a no nonsense mixed race ex socialite that has her own agency despite her trust fund. She said she would make sure people took her seriously. Lu and I liked her immediately. Lu liked that she was part black and part white so we could share her. She is hilarious. Savanna greets us both with hugs, and then she gets a glazed look on her face. I turn and see that the guys are standing behind us and that she is staring at them and licking her lips.
"Down girl. Two of them are taken. Don't make me and Lu fight you." She giggles and introduces herself to the guys and I see that Tank likes her for her height. She is tall without heels. The heifer. We follow her around the building and I know by the time we reach the penthouse that the guys like it.
"So do y'all like the building or what?" She is looking at Tank again. Ranger clears his throat and speaks for all of them.
"Yes, how soon can we have it inspected and all of that?" She preens.
"I already did all that, hun. I don't sell anything that is not the best. Now let's meet at my office tomorrow and iron out the paperwork. Here is my card but the girls have my number, too. See you all later!" She walks to her car with Tank following her.
"Another one bites the dust." Mateo is funny. We kiss again. We really cannot keep our hands off each other.
"Mitch, will you meet my family?" I look at him. Behind him, Carlos is nodding. Fine. If they are like mine, I am leaving.
"Sure, you have not talked about them much, Mateo." He smiles.
"I thought families were a touchy subject for you, love. You will love Mama and Tia Maria and Tio Ricardo. You know Ric is named after his father." I just smile and nod.
"We are all due to be there tomorrow night, Mitch so you have time to plan your wardrobe with Lu. I know you want to. Let's get into the cars. What do you want for dinner?" I snuggle with him in the backseat. Ranger is driving the Escalade.
"I think we should go out. We can have dinner and then we can go dancing, Mateo. What do you think, Ric?" He sighs and shakes his head.
"Can we go dancing another night? I have no desire to see these fools hung over tomorrow and we need to get our plans together, Steph." He makes sense.
"Okay, but that means after dinner we can have a Call of Duty competition. Lu and I are great at that game. We are even better at poker." He laughs.
"I like you, Steph." I smile.
"Good. You can give me the scoop on the family later. Your turn is coming up." He gets us back to the house and we all split up to get ready for dinner. They all voted and decided on the Crab Shack, so we will be in jeans.
I would be in a cute denim skirt and a baby blue tee shirt that says "I got a man" on it. I have matching baby blue sparkly heels and I am leaving my hair down. Mateo is wearing an army tee shirt and dark blue jeans. He tops it with a dark blue button down shirt that he wears open.
Lu is in a black denim cargo skirt and a bright red asymmetrical top. We both have our weapons. I tried to hide my trepidation, but she hugged me and said, "Girl, you know I will bust a cap in someone's ass if they step to you wrong. Now you have your husband and all these fine men. Let's have a good time." I love her. It was time to face the Burg, and I am ready. They can bring it on.
At the Crab Shack, we get two tables and have a feast of corn on the cob, sweet potato fries, and of course cracked crabs. Tank gets teased for getting shot by Cupid's arrow and he does not deny it. We were drinking iced tea and laughing at a story Ram was telling about writing on Lester's face when he fell asleep one time when we were ambushed.
"I thought for sure the calls I was getting were lying, but here you are surrounded by all of these men and acting like a scarlet woman! Stephanie Michelle Plum, where have you been! The whole family has been worried about you!" I wonder how she got here. She is bobbing and weaving drunk. I lean back in my seat.
"Actually, mother, Gram knows where I have been and I have spent time with her often. That is not my name, either. This is my husband, Lester Santos. We have been happily married for two years now." The room gets quiet when I say that and show her my rings. My mother stares at them for a long moment before I continue to talk.
"You are making a scene and you are not making a good impression on your son-in-law. Why don't you get someone to drive you home and stop giving these people something to gawk at?"
"But, he, but you" She sputters for a few minutes before she responds with, "How could you marry an outsider?!" No she did not. Lula gets to her feet and aims her gun. I reach over to stop her and wrestle her to the floor. My mother cannot believe she almost got shot and she backs into the table, but she misses and falls to the floor.
She gasps and looks around sees all of the people staring and moves to get up, but she had been holding onto the tablecloth and the whole thing moves with her and she gets covered in crab shells and everything. Even through all of that, I can hear the why me.
I tell Lu that the cops here would not be on her side, so she puts her gun away.
I call Gram and she agrees to send my father to pick her up. We pay the bill and Axe and Ram wait inside until my mother gets picked up and then we all leave to go home. That could have been worse. She could have knocked everything over before we finished eating. I think I won that round of me against the Burg, though.
I send several text messages to Gram to give her the real scoop and she responds that she is on it. At the house, the guys set up the game and they are in awe of me and Lu with our tactics. Heh heh. We used to play with retired soldiers. We beat them and I go to bed feeling like I am the bomb.
"Mitch, I do not want you to feel nervous about meeting my mother and my aunt and uncle. They will love you, trust me." I kiss him and continue to undress him.
"Mateo, I love you, but if your mother is like mine, I will leave you there." He laughs and tickles me. I run for the shower and he catches me inside and slams me against the wall and kisses my neck while he grabs my legs to rest them around his waist.
"Are you ready, Mitch?" His eyes are such a dark green right now. He looks so powerful, but he is still being gentle with the way he is holding my hips. I want it and I want it rough.
"Yes, Mateo. Give it to me. Don't hold back." He does not hold back. We spend almost a half hour in the shower before we move our little party to the bed. I love my husband.
Before I can fall asleep, I hear a scratching at the door. I get up and let Romeo inside the bedroom. He jumps up onto the chest at the foot of the bed and goes to sleep on his blanket. He even has a pillow. My dog is spoiled. Les laughs and we cuddle and go back to sleep.