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"Well, thanks for helping me. That could have gotten pretty bad. And I'd appreciate if you didn't repeat any of that. Is there some way I can repay you for helping me?" I asked. He grinned a 200 watt smile.

"Yes, there is. Let me take you to dinner tomorrow or whenever you're free," he told me. I was a little hesitant. A strange man had just saved me and now I was supposed to go to dinner with him. He saved you, the Wonder Woman inside me told me. Yes, but he could just want to take advantage of you, sensible Stephanie warned. Wonder Woman won.

"Okay. I'm free Monday night. You can pick me up from here around six-ish," I told him.

"M'kay Babe, see you then," he told me with a smile. I walked to my car and got in not even thinking about Dickie.

Ranger's POV

I was walking to my car after waiting for the blue eyed beauty to come out of the bar. When I didn't see her for five minutes I decided I better go. I was walking back when I saw her talking to some guy. She didn't seem happy. I decided to stick around to make sure she was okay. I learned this guy was her ex-husband and that he was a cheater. When he was trying to force himself on her, I helped. Then, before I could stop myself, I asked her to dinner. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I knew my life didn't lend itself to relationships.

*~*~*~*

Two days later I was at the bar waiting for Steph. I didn't see her anywhere. She was probably running late. I would wait. An hour later I was getting irritated. Where was she? No one had ever stood me up before. Usually, women were drooling all over me, and just begging to be with me even if only for a night. I got up and walked out the door wondering where she was.

Steph's POV

I had gotten a call from my mother saying I needed to get back to Trenton, on account of my sleazy cousin Vinnie needed help. I couldn't turn down my family, so I obliged. They had moved back to Trenton a couple days earlier. I had to miss my date with Ranger and I had no way to tell him. I was in Trenton and I figured I would be moving back. My friends decided to come with me. I was surprised. Connie who used to be a receptionist for Vinnie got her old job back and Lula became the file clerk. I became a skip tracer aka a bounty hunter. Mary Lou came back because of her fiancé Lenny, lives in Trenton. My mother wasn't too pleased, but Vinnie needed his workers back, and it payed pretty good. Besides, I was getting tired of the club scene anyways. I wasn't doing so well going after my first skip, so I asked Connie to find someone who could help teach me.

"I know a guy. He does high bonds for us. I'll give him a call," she told me picking up the phone. I was eating a powdered doughnut sitting on the couch next to Lula.

"He said he'll do it. He's going to be at Shorty's in an hour." I nodded. This should be fun. I really needed some money. I had sold my car for a plane ticket. I had enough money from working and the car to buy the plane ticket. Now I had a POS Nova. It was spray painted with the word Pussy on it. I had gotten that when I was on Stark street looking for the FTA who worked on Stark. I showed up at Shorty's in an hour. I was a couple minutes early. I would have preferred Pino's, but I can't always choose. Even though I was early, I saw a guy who fit the bounty hunter bill. He was dressed in all SWAT black and his hair was pulled into a pony-tail at the nape of his neck. He looked familiar. I knew I had seen him before. I just couldn't remember where. I tried remembering back to when I was in Miami, and I came up with nothing. I knew, that I knew him though. I sat down across from him. He had his arms crossed and his face was blank.

"Stephanie Plum. The bounty hunter in training," I told him sticking out my hand.

"I remember you. Weren't you in Miami? I was supposed to have dinner with you, but you never showed," he said. My mouth dropped. I guess I did know him from somewhere.

"I thought you looked familiar. Sorry I didn't show. I wasn't sure how to get in touch with you, and my family had an emergency. See Vinnie's my cousin, and he needed help so my parents asked me to come help so I did," I rambled.

"So who are you after?" he asked me getting back to business.

"Anthony Amos . Yeah, yeah I know I'll never get him. But I don't care what you say I'm going after him. I just need to know how to go after him and all that stuff," I told Ranger. He sat back in his seat and raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you set on going after Amos? He's bad and he's not going to be easy to catch." I looked at him with a 'duh' face.

"I'm driving a POS car and I'm going to need rent money," I told him. He nodded.

"Okay then, you'll need a gun, cuffs, and for you, probably a stun gun," he told me. I looked at him. A gun? Was he crazy?

"I don't like guns," I told him. He shrugged.

"Too bad. Let's go. We'll take my car." We got up and he walked over to a black Porsche Cayenne. My mouth popped open in surprise, man this was an awesome car. I moaned as I sank into the leather. We went to a seven story building.

"Since I like you, and I figure you'd owe me a couple dinners I'll supply the items," Ranger told me with a smile.

"Fine," I grumbled. I didn't like taking charity, but how was I going to buy it anyways? I couldn't. We didn't talk at all during the drive. Ranger was in some kind of zone. The building had a gate, and he did something to get in. He parked next to a bunch of black cars. They all looked expensive too. We took an elevator to the first floor. It was a gun range. Just great. We worked at the gun range for what seemed like forever.

"Now that you know how to use a gun, I'll get you some cuffs and a stun gun," Ranger told me. I nodded. We went up a level to a gym type place. He opened a door and came back with a box of stuff. He started sorting through it.

"Here is a stun you just press it to someone," he told me demonstrating. He pressed it to me and but didn't push the buttons. I did the same to him and then I pushed the buttons. He fell backwards. My hand flew to my mouth. I looked around for some water or something to wake him up. I saw a water bottle I straddled him and squirted him. Then, I gently slapped him in the face.

"Are you okay? I'm sooooo sorry. I didn't know it was on and my fingers slipped. Crappity crap crap," I said as he started to come to. I looked behind me to see a massive man standing there and another one who wasn't as big. I looked back at Ranger and slapped him a couple more times. That's when I heard booming laughter behind me. I turned around to see the big guy laughing. It looked like they were trying not to laugh, but they weren't doing a good job. Ranger started to come to. Then I couldn't help it. I started laughing.

"Sorry…*giggle*…I…*giggle*…laugh when I'm nervous…,"I told him before laughing again.

"Are you mad? Please don't be mad. I'm sorry," I apologized. He looked at me a minute and then wiped a hand down his face.

"Why am I all wet?" he asked, looking at the water he had shed off with his hand. I smiled sheepishly.

"Well…I…um squirted you with water so you would wake up." I looked back at the guys who looked quite somber.

Tank's POV

Oh man! Ranger brought a girl into the building. Something he's never done before. Then, he was showing her how to shoot and all these weapons. Then she stunned him! That's the least of it. She then squirted him with water as she straddled him. Then she slapped him a few times. I'm surprised she didn't hear and loud booms from all the guys falling on the floor laughing. But Ranger was probably going to be pissed when he came to. Lester and I ran down to see if he was okay. I couldn't keep from laughing. I was glad the boss wasn't awake to hear it. Lester had already laughed when he was upstairs. I was surprised when she started laughing. Nobody, laughs at Ranger to his face.

Ranger's POV

I had been stunned by a girl. Not only that, but with my own stun gun, in my own building. To make matters worse I was wet. Then she laughed and she smiled that heart melting smile, and I couldn't stay mad.