Chapter Fourteen

On Friday, Lester and I had two client meetings. One was a new sales call and the second was a follow-up visit to a client who had recently signed up for services. He explained that we always did a follow-up call about a month after signing up new clients, to make sure they were happy with the service so far. I dressed in another of my new Ella-provided business suits, this time with black cropped trousers and a black silk blouse.

But before those two calls, I spent the morning with Tank as we made a new schedule, the first one I'd attempt. The next Friday, I'd be doing it largely alone, so I paid close attention to how he made his staffing decisions. We were entering it into the new software in my office, but the software doesn't calculate the reasoning behind why he assigns certain tasks to certain employees.

When the day was done, with another new contract signed courtesy of Lester, I ran up the stairs to my apartment. I was excited for tonight and I wanted to have as much time as possible to get ready. My hair is a force to be reckoned with and if I'm not tying it up in a ponytail, it takes a while for it to look good.

I had a shower and shaved, washed and conditioned my hair with my favourite strawberry-scented products and stepped out of the shower. I wrapped my hair in a towel turban, snugged another towel around my body and wiped off the bathroom mirror of the steam buildup.

I dried and styled my hair in soft curls, applying liberal amounts of the special products my hairdresser in New York recommended. I applied soft makeup, choosing to enhance my lips with a rich berry lipgloss, rather than my eyes with only light mascara. When I was done in the bathroom, I opened my closet to peruse my options. I didn't have many opportunities to dress up before, so I have very few dresses suitable for going out. It came down to two, so instead of the black I might have selected before I started working for a company whose daily uniform was all black, I chose a royal blue dress with gathered straps that came to mid-thigh. It was cinched in at the waist before flaring out into a skirt made of two flirty layers. It had a plunging V neckline and made my eyes look a little deeper. I've only ever worn this dress once before, to a Christmas party for EE Martin. I paired the dress with my new Louboutin FMPs and declared myself ready. I had texted Mary Lou earlier to find out if she was going to be able to come and she said she would see me there, so I was looking forwards to seeing her again. Of the Merry Men, Tank, Woody and Zip were all bringing their wives and Bobby was bringing his girlfriend. Hector had a date but he said if it went well, he might stop by and bring his date to meet us.

Since it was only eight o'clock, I decided I had better eat. I'm generally a lightweight when it comes to drinking alcohol, so I like to have some food in my stomach first. I don't want to be drunk around strangers, even if I have friends and my new Rangebrothers around.

I took off my amazing shoes and slid my feet into a comfy pair of bunny slippers until I was ready to go. These might be fantastically gorgeous shoes, but I had a feeling my feet were already going to hurt after all the dancing I planned to do tonight. I took the stairs up to the fifth floor and headed into the break room, which was currently empty. I found a turkey and sprout sandwich, topped with a Dijon mustard and dug in. It's amazing how Ella can take something that is so healthy and still manage to make it taste good. I grabbed an empty water bottle from the rack and filled it up from the cooler. Ella had recently stopped providing disposable plastic water bottles and instead we were to use these metal ones she bought to help the environment. I finished my sandwich, drank the water and refilled it again. Just as I was capping the bottle, I felt a tingle in the back of my neck and looked up towards the doorway to see Carlos coming in.

He stopped and stared at me, slowly taking me in from head to toe. When he got to my feet, his lip twitched as if he was thinking about smiling. "Hey babe, you look beautiful."

I smiled brightly. "Thank you. Are you going to come out with us tonight?"

"I was planning on putting in an appearance. I still need to shower and eat, though."

"That's great. So, I'll see you there later then?"

He grinned. "Unless you want to go with me?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Like a date?"

"Not a date, unless you want it to be. But I like spending time with you and we're both going to the same place at the same time so we might as well go together," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "And you can tell me about the rest of your week."

"Okay, that sounds nice. Why don't you come get me when you're ready to go?" I replied.

"Sounds good, babe, I'll see you in an hour or so."

I went back to my apartment and curled up on the couch with my laptop. Ever since Rangeman hired me, I wanted to check out a couple of courses at the local community college that I thought might be useful. I found what I was looking for and decided to talk to Tank about an HR certification.

An hour later, Carlos was standing in my doorway. He looked completely edible, wearing a pair of black dress slacks and a grey button-down shirt. He was wearing that delicious scent that made me feel comforted and a little aroused every time I got close to him. "What is that scent you wear?" I asked him.

"It's the shower gel. Ella got it for me. I'm not sure what it is, but I can find out if you want."

"No, it's okay, I was just curious. Whatever it is smells good though."

"Are you ready to go, babe?"

"Sure, let me put on my shoes and we can get going," I said, stepping out of my slippers.

"Wait, you weren't planning on wearing those slippers out tonight? They look cute on you," he teased.

I laughed. "While these would probably be more comfortable, I don't think they go with my dress as well as the shoes I originally planned on." I slipped my feet into the heels and stuck my foot out to show Carlos. "See? Much prettier."

"Sexy, babe" he said, and I could feel the blush creep up my neck.

We left the apartment and went down to the garage. He put his hand on my lower back and guided me towards his Porsche, sleek and shiny black. He opened the door for me and waited while I slid into the seat and buckled myself in. On our way to the club, I took a breath and asked, "Carlos, would you tell me about your daughter?"

He was silent for a few moments, and I was beginning to regret asking. Finally, he said, "she's seven years old. She lives with her mom and her mom's husband in Miami. Her name is Julie."

"Were you and her mom married?"

"We got married after Rachel became pregnant. I wanted to make sure I provided for my daughter and that they could both take advantage of my health benefits. We divorced a few months after Julie was born."

"How did you meet her?" I asked.

He sighed. "I was on a week's leave from the Army and Lester, Tank and I went to a nightclub. I got drunk and picked up Rachel. We had a one-night-stand. When she learned she was pregnant, she tracked me down and told me. We were married the following weekend."

"So you were never in a real relationship?"

"No, I barely knew her. I spent most of our marriage out of the country, and I missed Julie's birth. She met her husband Ron a couple of years later and when they got married, I gave up my legal rights to let Ron adopt her. I still send support and I visit when they allow me, but it's not often."

I was a little sad for him. "That sounds rough, I'm sorry."

"It was tough, but ultimately the best thing for Julie. I was deployed into dangerous situations a lot back then and I spent most of my time out of the country," he replied.

"Do you ever regret it?" I asked curiously.

"I regret that I don't get to see her more, but I don't regret doing what I thought was best. I still think it's best for her. I'm still under contract for the government, and there's always a chance I might not return when they send me somewhere."

I was stunned into silence at that pronouncement and changed the subject. I wanted to think about that, but later. "What about girlfriends since your divorce?"

He chuckled. "I've dated, and you know, dated, but I've never had a girlfriend. My life hasn't ever been conducive to relationships."

"So, you don't think you'll ever get married?"

"If you had asked me that a year ago, I'd have said no. But my contract is winding down and I'm not sure yet if I will re-sign it. Tank, Lester and Bobby have all declined to continue and we want to make Rangeman more of a priority. If I did want to get married and have another child, one I got to help raise, it'd be a lot easier now."

"Do you want more kids, then?" I was learning so much about Ranger, but we were nearing the club and my time for asking questions was coming to an end.

"I don't know. But I'm not ruling it out," he said. "What about you, do you want to get married and have kids?"

"I don't know. I've never been in a relationship, save for a three-month mistake in high school. I've never really much thought about it" I shrugged. It was the truth. I've never been around kids. The idea of childbirth wasn't thrilling either, based on what happened to my mom and baby sister.

Carlos pulled into the parking lot and managed to find a space right near the door. He was around the car to open my door before I even got my seat belt off, and he waited for me to step from the car. I smoothed my dress down and he leaned in, pinning me against the car. "You're stunning, babe," he said, kissing me gently.

I smiled up at him and replied, "you clean up pretty good yourself." He stepped back and took my hand, leading me past the short line. He did some kind of complicated handshake with the doorman, and we walked inside. There was a VIP section and Carlos led me there. I was surprised and looked at him in confusion.

"When I found out what your plans were tonight with the men, I made a call to the owner. Rangeman handles the security for the club, so he was happy to reserve some space for us," he explained.

"Wow." When we neared the table reserved for us, I saw some of the men had already arrived. Lester and Bobby were sitting with two gorgeous women, drinking and flirting.

Bobby looked up as we approached and smiled widely. "Steph, you're here. Glad you could make it, Bossman." I sat down across from Bobby and Carlos sat next to me. Bobby immediately introduced me to his girlfriend. "Steph, this is Elena. Elena, this is the newest Rangeman, or I guess I should say first Rangewoman, other than Ella."

Elena smiled and said, "so nice to meet you, Steph. Bobby's told me a lot about you."

"Oh boy. All good, I hope!" I joked.

"Nothing bad," she promised.

Lester was pretty focused on his date but he kissed the back of her hand and said to me, "Steph, meet Melody. Melody was gracious enough to agree to come out with me tonight."

I smiled. "Nice to meet you, Melody."

She pasted on a vague smile in my direction and turned her attention back to her drink. Okay, I guess we're not going to be best friends.

Carlos leaned in to me to be heard over the music and asked, "do you want something to drink, babe?"

"Hmm. Something weak? I can't handle much liquor and I don't want to get drunk."

He nodded and disappeared into the throng of people. As soon as he left, Woody and his wife, Zero, Hal and Cal all arrived. Woody introduced his wife Isabel to me and I liked her immediately. She spoke in a soft southern drawl to complement Woody's stronger southern accent, and she was very polite and sweet when she gave me a hug and said it was nice to meet me. Woody was one of the men I'd talked a lot with by the pool and in the range. He had a kind nature too, but a little reserved.

I received a text from Mary Lou letting me know she'd arrived, so Bobby and I went to the entrance where the bouncer let her in at Bobby's say-so. We came back to the VIP section and I introduced her to everyone. As I was sitting down to talk to her, Elena, and Isabel, – Lester's date Melody was more interested in Lester – Carlos came back with two bottles of water and two short glasses of what looked like vodka & tonic. Following him was a club employee who proceeded to take everyone else's drink orders.

"It's really weak, babe, and I'll cut you off whenever you want," Carlos said to me as he handed me one of the vodka tonics and a bottle of water. I thanked him and took a sip. I continued the conversation with the other women and fifteen minutes later, Tank arrived with a stunningly beautiful voluptuous black woman about five inches shorter than me, dressed in eye-catching yellow. She made a beeline for Elena, Mary Lou and me, giving me a hug and introducing herself all at the same time. Tank was right; she had a big personality, but I warmed to her immediately.

"Girl, Tankie has told me so much about you, I feel like I know you already," she declared as she commandeered a chair from the table next to us to sit down. "He's been telling me all about your great ideas at work and how nice you are. I think you may know my co-worker from the bonds office too, Connie Rosolli? She said she was in your sister's class in high school."

I remembered Connie vaguely. I was in her younger sister's Francie's class and we were pretty friendly with each other.

"Yeah, I remember her. How's she doing?" I asked her.

"Connie's doing good. She just got married for the second time."

"Good for her. Tell her I said hello."

We all chatted for a few minutes more and then a song I really liked came on. I grinned and said, "I'm going to dance, who wants to come?" and Carlos stood up immediately. He'd been talking with some of the guys but I guess he had one ear on me too. Lester and Melody had already disappeared from the table but I wasn't sure if they were dancing or what. Carlos and I went to the dance floor and started dancing together to the heavy Latin beat. It wasn't a Latin club but so far the music selection was pretty eclectic.

I looked around and saw the other couples from our group also dancing, and Lula was plastered against Tank. She was saying something to him and his smile was wide as he laughed at whatever she was saying. He looks happy, I thought. I turned my attention back to Carlos and he drew me in closer, leading my body in the sensual dance. Just when I was starting to get seriously turned on, the dance ended and I was able to step back a little. Bad idea, Steph, keep telling yourself that.

Carlos seemed to understand though, and he merely led us back to our table. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and said, "thanks for the dance, babe," and winked at me.

The rest of the night passed in a blur of dancing, laughing, and talking. ML and I had fun reminiscing about some of our high school hijinks, and we kept the others entertained with stories of stealing her dad's car to drive to New York City for a concert, going skinny dipping in a lake and the time we had an all-night bonfire that led to the fire department being called in to shut us down. By the time it was two am, I was beat and ready to go home. Half of our party had made their departures, and Mary Lou had left a couple of hours before. I had been drinking only water since then. Carlos leaned in and said, "you ready to go, babe?" I nodded gratefully and we said our goodbyes to the remaining few men who had by now attracted attention from some of the other women in the club.

We drove back to Rangeman in a comfortable silence. I was trying not to doze off but failing and Carlos was in a driving zone. When we arrived in his parking spot, he opened the door for me and picked me up bridal-style and carried me to the elevator and up to my apartment. He deposited me down in front of the door and waited while I unlocked it, then kissed me on the forehead and said, "I had fun tonight. If you want to go out with me again, just let me know." He waited until I went inside before he left and I used the bathroom, got ready for bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.