Disclaimer: I don't own Plum characters. A nod of respect goes to Janet Evanovich and her imagination for creating these characters.

Challenge 4: Continuation of a Previous Challenge

(I chose Challenge 1: Conversation.)

I heard the locks tumble and looked up in time to see Ranger walk through my front door. I shot him a look and a look at the clock on the microwave.

"You're early." I said, glancing up at him and smiling, "I had Marsillo's deliver and I got some salad at the store earlier. I was just finishing up the carrots. Wanna help?"

Ranger walked through the kitchen and kissed me on the forehead, shrugging off his jacket and draping it over one of the bar stools.

"Gimme that knife, babe. You're staring at me and not paying attention. You're gonna chop a finger off."

I punched him playfully in the arm, "I can't help myself and it's not nice to comment about it."

He chopped up the remaining carrots, throwing them in the bowl and tossed the knife in the sink. I pushed the bowl onto the other side of the counter towards the two barstools we would sit at and Ranger took my arm and spun me around pining me between the counter and his hard body. I tipped my head back so that I could look into his eyes, and found something there that I wasn't exactly ready for and I pushed the thoughts away. I just wanted to enjoy my time with him.

I put my finger to his lips and he kissed them gently, "Let's just have dinner first and you can tell me afterwards. Okay?"

He nodded, bending down to kiss me on the lips softly and I kissed him back with all I had. He pulled back away from me a few minutes later, both of us breathless and wanting more. I smiled up at him. I'd curled my fingers into his shirt and was holding onto him for dear life.

"The day was long." He said, taking my hands from his shirt and kissed each one, "Manny broke his leg getting out of the Explorer. Tank called it a Stephanie moment."

I snorted, "Ass. He okay?"

"Ice on the running boards and was in too big of a hurry. He's fine. He's gonna catch hell about it for months or until someone else does something equally stupid."

I laughed, "You mean until I do something like blow a car up or roll in some garbage."

Ranger flashed me the 200-watt grin and kissed me quick, "Never."

We sat down and dished out the food. We talked about the day and I told him about the bond's office and told him about my newest skip that had avoided Lula and I at Borders.

"You never disappoint, Babe." Ranger said, still laughing, "Why didn't you just stun him?"

"He looks all of fifteen! I couldn't! It'd be like stunning Albert. And as much as I'd like to most of the time, I just couldn't do it."

"What's your plan? You need Tank to go with you tomorrow?"

I shrugged a shoulder, "No. I think I'll just take Lula and Connie tomorrow and Connie will scare the fear of God into him."

Ranger tipped my chin up, "If he looks dangerous babe, don't hesitate to call Tank."

I shook my head, "I know. Does this mean you're leaving?"

He picked up the plates from in front of us and took them over to the sink, "My flight leaves at eight."

I glanced at the clock, "You don't have much time then. You should've just called."

"I wanted to see you."

"Which means you don't know when you'll be back."

He didn't answer and I sighed, "You've known before today that you were leaving."

"I didn't want you to worry."

I came around the side of the counter and pinned him to the sink. I leaned against his back, loving the feel of him against me, the feel of his hard muscles supporting my soft body and the way that he smelled.

"You've gotta learn to trust me."

Ranger turned and wrapped his arms around me, propping his chin up on the top of my head, "It's not that babe. I just wanted to be with you without this hanging over us."

I looked up at him and narrowed my eyes, "So you lied to me."

"I omitted the truth to keep you happy."

I pushed away from him, "I'm an adult Ranger. I'm pretty sure I know what makes me happy and what doesn't. Don't make that decision for me."

We looked at each other for a few long moments before Ranger nodded his head and took two steps into me and kissed me hard and long, leaving me breathless when he pulled away, walking over to his bar stool and pulling on his jacket, "Listen, Babe. I'd love to stay in chat but I have a job to do."

I moved past him and leaned against the door frame, blocking his exit. He gave me an eye twitch when he pulled this type of shit.

"You know, when you said that we were going to try a relationship, I had my doubts; but sometimes I think you purposely try to jinx it."

His eyes assessed me much like he would do when he was slightly irritated with me and my teeth ground together.

"You're gonna bust my balls about this. I can see it in your eyes, Babe."

"You're damn right I am." I snapped, tapping my foot impatiently on the floor. I crossed my arms over my chest, "I can't say it would be alright if I understood it, but at least I would have some sort of comfort when you walked out the door."

"I'm not turning my back on you."

"Yes, you are. You've been acting strange all week, Ranger. Something's up. I can feel it."

Ranger stared at me for a full minute and he reached out to untuck my arms, pulling me into him. "You knew that sometimes I wouldn't be able to tell you what was going on. You've got to trust me, Stephanie."

His lips were at my hairline and I could feel his heart beating against my hand. I woke up this morning feeling like I was going to lose him and hadn't quite shaken it yet.

He tipped my chin up and gave me a kiss that melted my bones to pure liquid, "I've gotta go babe."

And just like that he was out the door.

Starter Challenge: Ranger/Steph Conversation (Challenge 1) Posted February 19, 2007

Challenge: Continuation of a Previous Challenge (Challenge 4)

Original Posting Date: March 10, 2007