Disclaimer: JE owns the characters.
I know that I said that this was a one shot, but I couldn't help seeing where I could take this.
I was putting the finishing touches on my hair when I heard a knock at the door. I looked down at the small clock that I kept on the bathroom counter. Seven P.M. He was actually on time, I thought as I walked out of the bathroom and down the hall. I peeked through the peep hole and saw Ram standing there. He was looking down the hall at something.
I opened the door and looked down the hall. Dillon, my super, was cleaning the carpet. He was cleaning a large area that led from the elevator to my front door. Dillon gave us a little wave and then went back to work. I smiled at Ram and opened the door further to allow room for him to come in.
"I just need one more minute and then I'll be ready," I said as I shut the door and made my way back down the hall. Then I added over my shoulder, "You can set those beautiful yellow roses, that are behind your back, on the kitchen table."
I heard Ram chuckle as I walked back into my bathroom. I spritzed a little perfume and added an extra swipe of mascara. I took a step back and looked at my reflection. I kept my hair down and curly. I had kept my make-up light with a smoky effect on my eyes. I was wearing a simple black dress. I made up for the simplicity by wearing FMPs and thigh highs with a garter belt. The belt matched the bra and thong by Victoria Secret.
I grabbed my purse off of my bed and headed down the hall into the living room. I found Ram looking out my living room window. He was wearing black dress shoes, a blue dress shirt that was rolled over his beefy forearms, and black slacks that hugged his perfectly round ass. I felt my face start to burn as I recalled the dream that I had about sinking my teeth into it this morning. The fact that I knew he was commando only added to making my mouth water.
"You all ready?" Ram asked as he turned around to look at me.
"Yes."
Ram slowly walked over to me and held out his arm for me. I slid my hand through his arm and smiled up at him. He led me out of the apartment and patiently waited for me to lock up. We said good night to Dillon as we passed by on our way to the elevator.
"Do I even want to know?" Ram asked as we rode down the elevator.
"I had a bad afternoon. I ended up in a dumpster behind Pino's," I said as I smiled at him. Ram loved hearing about all of my misadventures.
"Did you get your FTA?"
"Absolutely. I wasn't about to let him get away after he launched me into the dumpster."
Ram let out a bark out laughter as he slid his arm around my waist and ushered me out of the elevator. He kept his arm around me as we walked out into the parking lot. Ram drives a cherry red convertible Corvette. Every time I see it I think of that song by Prince.
Little red Corvette. Baby you're much to fast.
Little red Corvette. You need a love that's gonna last.
Ram held the door open for me to get in and gently shut it after I was settled. I felt butterflies start to take flight as I watched his walk around the car and climb behind the wheel. It became clear that he never drove with the top up. He barely fit. I felt bad that he was uncomfortable.
"Where are we going?"
"I know this great little Mexican food place not far from here. I noticed that you eat a lot of Italian food, so I thought it might be nice to get something different," Ram said as he fired up the Corvette and pulled out of the parking lot.
"That sounds great. Maybe after dinner, we could go for a drive with the top down," I said. I watched Ram's face light up. I guess he really liked that idea.
The restaurant that Ram took me to was a little place called Beto's. The parking lot wasn't all that full due to it being a Wednesday night. Ram asked me to wait in the car so that he could get the door for me. Wow! A man with manners. I guess 'date time' was different the 'work time'. I took the hand that he offered and let him help me out of the low car.
He kept my hand in his as he walked with me into the restaurant. The outside of the building had been somewhat shabby. Once we walked in, my mouth fell open. It was like walking into a restaurant in Mexico. Everything was soft lines and adobe. There were a lot of earthy tones that were popped by varying shades of red. The hostess gave us a large smile and said something to Ram in Spanish. He smiled and replied.
I raised my eyebrows at Ram as we followed her to a quiet table in the back. He chuckled and pulled my seat out for me. I swatted his arm as I sat down. The only light in the area came from the small tea candles that where sitting in votives on all of the tables. The light from the single flame danced beautifully across Ram's face as he sat down. He reached across the table and took my hand in his.
A cute little Hispanic waitress approached our table and said something in Spanish. Ram quickly answered her without looking away from me. The waitress quickly flitted away with a giggle. He smiled at me and his dimples started to melt away my annoyance. I hated people using a language that I didn't know.
"I was a linguist in the Rangers," Ram said.
"How many languages do you know?" I asked in awe. Most of the Merry Men were arms or demolition experts.
"I know seventeen. Lately, though, I've only been using three."
"English, Spanish and what else?"
"French."
"French?"
"Yeah. I made quite a few contacts the last time that I was in France. I talk to them on a regular basis," Ram said as he started unconsciously playing with my fingers.
The waitress brought over two bottles of Corona and then silently stood there.
"Do you trust me?" Ram asked with a wicked smile.
"Implicitly," I said with an equal smile.
Ram looked over at the waitress and rattled something off. I didn't catch any of it. The waitress quickly scribbled something down on her pad and then grabbed our menus. Where did those come from? I had a sudden flash and grabbed the waitresses arm. She turned and smiled at me.
"No guacamole!" I said to her, almost in a shout.
She smiled and nodded her head. I blinked and she was gone. I looked back over at Ram and he was just smiling with a raised eyebrow.
"I can't eat green mushy things," I said with a shrug.
This earned me a full hearted laugh. Ram slowly stood up and offered me his hand. I froze in confusion. Exactly what was he doing? He reached down and took my hand. Ram pulled me out of my chair and walked me around a low wall. There was a dance floor that I hadn't seen when we walked in. There was slow music playing lowly over the speakers in the ceiling. No one else was on the dance floor.
Ram twirled me out onto the floor and then slowly brought me back in. He wrapped his arms around my waist as we started moving across the floor. He whispered something in my ear in a low, husky voice. I giggled into his chest and then smiled up at him.
"What did you say?" I asked when he smiled down at me.
"You look beautiful tonight."
"It sounded a like a lot more then that."
"That's the beauty of French."
"Someday you'll have to tell me what you really said."
Ram laughed quietly as he pulled me closer. "Maybe later."
One song turned into two. Two songs turned into three. I was looking up at Ram when I saw him give a slight head nod over my head. I looked over my shoulder and saw our waitress standing at the edge of the dance floor. Ram twirled me off the floor and walked me back to our table.
I had never seen so much colorful food in my life. The whole table was covered by plates. I smiled up at Ram as he pulled out my chair for me again. I squeezed his hand before I released it to sit. He slid into the chair across from me and gave me a full smile. He looked as excited as I felt.
"What did you do, Ram? Order everything off of the menu?" I asked as I took in the sight in front of us.
"Would you laugh if I said yes?" he asked sheepishly.
"No. I'd think that it was sweet that you'd want me to try everything," I said with a smile.
"I ordered everything on the menu," he said with a sigh. "I'm going to have heart burn for a week."
"We're definitely going to need Tums."
We slowly started eating our way through the food. I asked about all of the different places he had been to while he was enlisted. For once, I actually got someone to tell me where they had been. He couldn't give me dates or reasons for going to the countries, but he told me about Europe. He told me a couple of funny stories about Ranger, Tank, and Lester. He was so alive as he told be everything that there was to know. I envied him. He had been to so many wonderful places. I wanted to go to Italy, Spain, and Greece.
"You okay?" Ram asked.
"Yeah," I said on a sigh as I propped my elbow on the table and placed my hand under my chin. "I'm just a little jealous, I guess."
"You've never been to Europe?"
"Never. Hearing you talk about it makes me want to go."
"I guess we'll just have to save up some vacation time."
"Vinnie doesn't offer vacation time, Ram," I said on a sigh as I shook my head.
"Ranger does. You should have quite a bit by now."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Don't you ever look at your pay check stub?" Ram asked with a frown.
"No," I said with a shrug. "I never paid attention."
"Look when we get paid on Friday. Let me know how much time you have."
"I don't think that I could eat another bite," I said as I pulled my napkin off of my lap and placed it on the table. See how nicely I can change a subject. I didn't want to start thinking about a future trip that may never happen. "I surrender."
"Where do you put all of that food?" Ram asked.
"Just wait until I stand up," I laughed. "You'll see."
"So you're having fun?" Ram asked a little nervously.
"I'm having a wonderful time," I said as I reached across the table and slid my hand into Ram's. "You picked the perfect restaurant."
"I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself."
I glanced down at my watch. Ten thirty! Where did my night go?
"You go another date lined up tonight?" Ram asked when he caught me frowning at my watched.
"Nope. I'm yours until nine tomorrow morning," I said with a smile.
NO! Smart Stephanie shouted. Have you lost your mind? You just told Ram-
A loud bang echoed through my head and I winced. The good news was that Smart Stephanie was silent. The bad news was that Stupid Stephanie was the only one left to give me any advise.
"You okay?" Ram asked.
I looked up into his eyes at the sound of his voice. He looked concerned. I beamed up at him and squeezed his hand. "Silence is bliss."
"Stupid Stephanie beat the crap out of Smart Stephanie?"
"How did you know?" I asked in awe of the fact that he knew of my inner voices.
"You get this funny look in your eyes every once in a while. I asked Ranger about it one night and he told me about the wars that erupt in your head," he beamed.
"I'm going to need to have a discussion with Ranger about him talking about my mental stability to other people," I growled.
"I think it's cute. You ready for me to roll you out of here?"
"Yeah. Where to next?" I asked as I stood out.
"Steph," Ram said as he took in the sight of my slightly extended belly. "We really need to get you on an exercise program."
"I'm going to pretend that you didn't just imply that I'm fat," I commented as I pulled on his arm. I knew that I couldn't actually get him out of his seat, but I tried anyway. He laughed as I teetered when he stood. I quickly found myself wrapped in his arms.
I felt Ram's warm hand slowly move up my back. I looked up at him as his fingers tangled in my hair. He bent his head down towards mine and froze half way. I saw doubt flicker through his eyes. Without any hesitation, I lifted myself up on my toes and pressed my lips to his.
Ram's arm tightened around my waist as he took the kiss deeper. I opened my mouth to allow him access. My bones started to melt as his tongue danced across mine. Everything around me dropped away as his mouth assaulted mine. I was, unfortunately, brought back to Earth when I heard two female voices giggle from somewhere nearby.
I broke the kiss off as I felt my face burn. With a goofy grin plastered across my face, I pulled a very stunned Ram out of the restaurant. I could have sworn that I heard him whisper 'holy shit' as I steered him to the Corvette. Being the gentleman that he was, he opened my door and shut it for me once I was tucked inside. I giggled when he tripped over something as he made his way around the front of the car to his door. I noticed, when he finally got in, that he had the same goofy grin that I did.
I twisted my hair into a bun and secured it with a clip from my purse as Ram lowered the convertible roof. I reached over the center console and placed my hand in his as we moved out into traffic. It was a beautifully clear night in Trenton. A perfect night for a drive. Ram weaved us in and out of traffic as we drove the dark streets.
We took a brief trip down the freeway, but exited since we couldn't hear each other talking over the wind. We spotted Lester and Bobbie in a RangeMan Bronco. I waved and smiled as we cruised by them. I heard Ram chuckle when I told him that Bobbie got his cell phone out faster then he could draw his gun. I knew that he was calling Tank. Frankly, I didn't give a rats ass because I was having the time of my life.
Disappointment flooded through me when we pulled into the parking lot to my apartment building an hour later. One of the best nights of my life was quickly coming to an end. I let out a long sigh as Ram made his way around to open my door. I tried my hardest to smile as I held out my hand to him. His smile faltered when he looked down at me.
"What's wrong, Steph?" he asked as we stepped into the elevator.
"Nothing," I muttered as I tried really hard to smile up at him.
"Don't start lying to me now. We haven't even gotten out of the honeymoon phase of our relationship," Ram said as he guided me to my apartment door.
I was stunned speechless. Our Relationship? We had one? I felt several emotions run through my body. Nervousness. Excitement. Relief. Relief? Why was I relieved?
Because you want him! Stupid Stephanie shouted.
Get serious, I thought. This is Ram!
He's perfect. He knows all about all of the crazy shit that you've done and he doesn't care. He asked you out on a date and then you got disappointed when we pulled into the parking lot. You know that you want to try this.
I looked up at Ram as we stopped in front of my door. He was waiting for an explanation for my sudden downward spiral. I couldn't fake my way through this one. It would be all or nothing as soon as I opened my mouth. And I had nothing to use to stall. Damn It!
"Steph?"
"I'm disappointed!" I shouted. "I had such a good time with you and now it's over! This blows monkey shit!"
"Are you done having a minor break down?" Ram inquired as he smiled down at me.
I stared at the floor while I took a couple of deep breaths. Where was a rock when I needed to hide under one? This was beyond embarrassing. I tried to be sneaky and use my peripheral vision to get the door unlocked. Ram's hand swiftly shot out and caught mine.
"Please look at me," Ram whispered.
I stood there for a moment, weighing my options. I could always just bolt. That option was quickly dismissed when I saw the tip of my FMPs. Shit! I slowly looked at Ram as I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth and sunk my teeth into it.
"Tonight doesn't have to be over," Ram whispered as he brought his head down to my lips.