I do not own the characters, I am only test driving them today.
Thank you for all of your reviews and kind words, again I am in the middle of midterms and 6 papers on various subjects from Shakespeare to the French Revolution, I just hope to keep them separate from this :) I apologize for the short chapters during this time.
In less than ten minutes a black Rangeman SUV was pulling up beside me. I quickly made a mental wish that is was Tank or Hal or even a newbie.
No luck. Ranger stepped out of the driver's side and leaned against the SUV in front of me. Our eyes locked and I could see a hint of stress in his.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Not much, you?" In his usual Ranger way he was leaving the talking to me.
"My skip stole my car and all I have to show for my efforts is his shoe." I nodded towards the shoe that had been abandoned on the front porch step. Ranger's lips curled up slightly in a smile as he slowly shook his head back and forth.
"You never cease to amuse me babe."
"Well I'm glad I am useful for something." I looked down at my feet and studied the cracks in the pavement until a pair of well-polished black boots came into view. Ranger gently tipped my face up so that our eyes again met.
"You are far more useful than you give yourself credit for."
Our eyes studied one another's for a long moment. Ranger's fingers moved from my chin up my cheek until his hand cupped the side of my face in it. We stayed this way, silent but understanding for what felt like an eternity until Ranger cleared his throat, quickly snapping his arm back down to his side and asked;
"Are you going to ransom the shoe?"
My seriousness was interrupted by a brief smile at his comment.
"I suppose I could keep the shoe, hold a Cinderella hunt for the owner."
Ranger met my smile then walked over, picked up the shoe and placed it in the back seat. He then opened my door and waited until I was safely inside to gently shut it. He climbed back into the driver's seat and headed back towards town.
We rode in silence, neither of us wanted to address the elephant in the room. Or elephants, rather; my absence in his affairs, Morelli, our new standing without Morelli in the mix, the fact that once again he was coming to my aid. Not that he saw the last as an elephant, I'm sure he just saw it as routine by now.
We turned the corner at Fifth Avenue and Ranger pulled the SUV next to the curb and stopped. I looked around confused and he turned to face me.
"How long are you going to avoid me babe?"
I was stunned; this was so unlike Ranger to confront me. I stammered, "W-what do you mean?"
Ranger pressed his lips into a thin straight line and caught my gaze as I tried to shift it to look out the front window. His eyes were black and sincere. I could almost see something in them, something I rarely found in them because he was always so steadfast and composed. I thought I saw pain.
Who am I kidding, Ranger wouldn't feel pain over my avoidance of him, sure he liked to…. Distract me from time to time, or as he liked to put it, ruin me for all other men. But actual feelings that could hurt, who am I kidding?
He withdrew his gaze and softly shook his head again.
"You sounded a little grumpy on the phone earlier, have you eaten today?"
Whiplash, one minute he is sincere and hurt looking and the next he is calling me grumpy? Okay, so he has a tendency to be a big stickler on proper dietary habits and all, but still.
"Grumpy? Did you just call me grumpy?" My eyes narrowed at him. How dare he call me grumpy when he is the one all moody this morning?
"Steph, you know what I mean. And you have a tendency not to eat." He hesitated and I was about to jump back into defense mode but he stopped me. "I was just offering to pick something up for you before I took you back to your apartment, you don't always keep a full fridge and it is going to take my men a few hours to get you a new car lined up."
Okay so now he not only calls me grumpy, offends my dietary habits, and my fridge; but on top of that he is giving me yet another car.
"I don't need another car, I have one."
Ranger was use to this from me; he calmly opened his cell phone and brought up a photo of my cavalier to show me, "Babe, your car is in no shape to be driven around jersey."
My little red car was on blocks, missing a steering wheel, and had in-explicit words written across it that I dared not read aloud in the presence of children.
"That doesn't mean I need a Rangeman car"
"Babe, it's not a shackle, it's a car and I want to make sure you're safe."
"I don't need you to watch over me twenty four-seven."
Ranger looked frustrated now.
"Look, it's not a big deal, it's a car. Now, do you want something to eat?"
I had it in me to spit out a harsh NO and let him return me to my apartment where I could hide, but I was really hungry, and Ranger knew me entirely too well. I took a deep breath and relaxed back into the leather seat of the SUV.
"That would be nice."