Disclaimer: I don't own these fabulous characters.

Cupcake warning: A little Morelli bashing.

Steph's POV

"Sorry," I mouthed with an apologetic smile.

"Babe," he whispered. Morelli was silent through it all. I looked over at him and he was grinning. He moved his hand to my thigh. I narrowed my eyes at him. I grabbed his finger and started bending it backwards. His smile faded.

"Cupcake," he said in a strained voice. I tried to raise one eyebrow at him.

"Yes Joe?" I asked sweetly.

Ranger's POV

I had agreed to go dinner with her, at her parents house. I didn't know it was going to be this chaotic. First, another guy shows up. It's obvious Steph doesn't like him. I thought she was going to split when he showed up. She went into the kitchen, followed by her mother, and she sat down between Morelli and I. Her Grandmother was crazy. Then, something was going on between Morelli and Stephanie. I was curious and was kind of jealous. But Morelli didn't look to happy. In fact he looked like he was hurting. Her mother was watching them.

"Steph," he said not using the name cupcake. Why did he even call her cupcake? What kind of nickname was that?

"You don't want me to borrow my father's Buick again, would you?" Steph asked him just above a whisper.

"Come on, Cupcake. You wouldn't need to do that again," he said.

"You're right, because there will be nothing for you to write about in a bathroom so I won't have to run you over again," she told him before she turned away from him and started eating more of her food. Her mother looked uneasy. There was an awkward silence of just us eating. The food was good, but I didn't eat a lot. Stephanie on the other hand ate a lot. I wondered how she kept in shape. She probably worked out or something like that. When it was time for desert Stephanie dug into the pineapple upside down cake. I didn't have any but Steph clearly enjoyed it. She moaned with each bite. It was obvious Morelli was having a hard time eating while she was moaning. It was the same for me. Afterwards her mom gave her leftover dinner and upside down cake.

Steph's POV

I was glad when dinner was over. I could get away from Morelli. My mom gave me leftovers and I left with Ranger.

"Sorry about that dinner. I didn't know she was inviting Morelli. I never would have come if I knew. Okay, so if my mom was making pineapple upside down cake, I would have suffered through it," I told him rambling slightly. He cut his eyes to me.

"Babe," was all he said.

"Yeah. Sorry again. My family is crazy including me. And Morelli is a jerk and should go to jail or somewhere that's bad," I said.

"What happened between you two during dinner?"

"He put his hand on my thigh and I was bending his finger back," I informed him. I saw him smile slightly.

"What about your father's Buick?" he inquired. I looked at him and blushed.

"Gee, you ask a lot of questions. Usually I'm the one doing that," I said avoiding the subject.

"Just curious," he stated. I nodded.

"I'll make tonight up to you. It's just I told my mom I would be coming a couple of days ago, and I should have just called her and told her I couldn't come." I looked back at Ranger.

"No, it's okay. Family is important," he said. I nodded. We got to my apartment and he turned off the car. We walked upstairs and he walked me to my door.

"Do you want to come in? You could have a beer, there might be a Ranger's game on TV," I told him. He looked hesitant.

"I don't know. I have to be up early," he said. I opened the door.

"Okay. Well I guess I'll see you later," I said turning around to face him. He pulled me to him and gave me a passionate kiss.

"Bye," he said and then he walked down the hall.

"He's a hunk," Mrs. Bestler said, from down the hall. I nodded and went into my apartment.

*~*~*~*

In the morning, after I finished getting ready I went to the bonds office. It was nine thirty by the time I got there. I had stopped for doughnuts. Lula was sitting on the chair with a magazine. I shared my doughnuts with the both of them.

"Have any new files for me?" I asked Connie. She nodded.

"A couple low bonds. We have Lonnie Johnson and Joe Morelli," Connie told me. Joe Morelli? What did he do?

"What did Morelli do? I saw him yesterday," I asked Connie. She raised an eyebrow.

"Says here he destroyed some property when he was wasted and missed his court date which was yesterday. Lonnie Johnson is wanted for armed robbery. He stole a car," Connie told me. I nodded and took the files. Since I wasn't getting anywhere with Amos, I figured might as well go after these guys. Might as well go after Johnson first. I might need some back up so I'd take Lula.

"You up for going after Johnson?" I asked her.

"Yeah. We'll take my car on account of I can't be seen in your piece of shit nova. Besides it doesn't have a stereo," Lula said, grabbing her purse. We got in her car and I told her Johnson's address. His car was in the driveway when we got there.

"I'll put a cap in his ass," Lula said taking out her Glock.

"No! No shooting," I told her as we got out of the car.

"Hunh!" We went up to the front of the house and I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?!?" I heard Johnson yell.

"I have a delivery for Lonnie Johnson!" I yelled back. Then a guy in a white wifebeater, that had stains on it, opened the door. I recognized him from his file.

"You aren't a delivery guy," he said.

"Stephanie Plum, I represent your bail bonds man Vincent Plum. You missed your court date, and I need you to get you rescheduled. If you'll come with me to the police station, you can get your new court date," I said and then he pulled out a gun.

"Run!" Lula screamed and we took off running. We got in the car, and she hightailed out of there. I pulled out my cell phone and the card Ranger gave me. I dialed his number.

"Yo," he said.

"Yo yourself," I said slightly out of breath.

"What's wrong Babe? Why are you out of breath?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's why I'm calling. See I'm going after Lonnie Johnson, and Lula and I were at his house when he pulled a gun. We got away uninjured, but we could use some more man power," I explained.

Ranger's POV

I had just gotten a phone call from Steph, when I was in my office working on paperwork. She was out of breath. I wondered if she was hurt or something. Turned out she wasn't.

"Yeah, we can help you. You can drop Lula off and we can go get him together," I told her. I would take Tank and Lester. It shouldn't be too hard.

"Okay. We're going to stop at Cluck-in-a-Bucket and then Tasty Pastry. Do you want anything?" she asked me. I laughed.

"That stuff will kill you, Babe. My body is a temple. I'm not eating that crap," I told her.

"Okay, I'll meet you at Johnson's house in a little," she told me, "bye." I then clicked the end button. I got up and went to five. They all stuck their heads out.

"Hey boss, what's up?" Lester asked coming all the way out. Tank did too.

"Can you guys come with me to help on a take down? Stephanie needs some help and I figure you guys could come along and make sure things go smoothly," I informed them.

"Sure thing boss," Lester said he stepped back inside his cubicle and then came back out. Tank nodded and did the same. Then we all went down and got in one of the SUVs. I drove. We got to Johnson's house and I saw Steph in her POS car. She was eating something. We came up and I tapped on her window. She jumped. Her hand flew to her heart and she got out of the car.

A/N: Hope you guys liked the chapter! Thanks for reading. =)