AN: Standard Disclaimer.
Thanks for all the wonderful reviews of this story. I hope to finish writing soon but probably won't post until Monday or Tuesday. I realized it reached 100 reviews at chapter 6 and am so happy with the reviews for this story. Please keep 'em coming and make it 200 reviews.
Beautifulbabeforever – Thanks for your support and help with this story. I appreciate it when I get stuck or don't know which way to go. You are amazing!
The Hotel is a real hotel but my description is not!
Steph's POV
We arrived at the hotel and checked in. We were in a Suite on the top floor it was a very modern hotel. The whole suite was done in black and white. The living room had white walls with black carpet, 2 white chairs, a white couch, black coffee table, flat screen TV, and the couch had red accent pillows on it.
The kitchen area had black marble counter tops and black appliances. It had a small four person black table in it also. The bedroom was also done in black and white. The bed was king size, with a black leather wrapped head and foot board. It had white sheets and a white comforter, and again red accent pillows. There was a medium sized closet that our clothes would fit in and a black dresser.
The bedroom had a door that led out to a balcony with two white Chaise lounges on it overlooking the port. It was an amazing view and there was another door on the balcony that led to the living room. The bathroom had double sinks surrounded in black marble and a full glass shower, and there was also a Jacuzzi bathtub that I couldn't wait to soak in.
The hotel was beyond beautiful and screamed money. Ranger brought all of our bags into the bedroom and I began putting my things away. I hung all my suits and dresses and put my shoes on the closet floor. I put my bras, panties, shorts, tanks, and pajamas in the dresser. I put my makeup and other bathroom necessities in the bathroom.
Our meeting with Mr. Francs is in two days at a suite in another hotel. We had two days to enjoy France before we actually began working. We were scheduled to go on a boat tour of Les Calanques, we would get jump off some cliffs, snorkel, and enjoy the sites. After that we planned on just walking and looking around the area.
I went in the bathroom and changed into my swimsuit and put my shorts and a tank top back over it. I walked into the bedroom to see Ranger sitting on the bed in black, of course, swim trunks, and a black tank top. It gave me an idea I'm going to get him some floral swim trunks and try to convince him to wear them. That's something to look forward to.
"Ready, Babe?" He asked.
"Yep." I couldn't wait for him to get a glimpse of the barely there bikini I was wearing. I got it at chynnadolls, it was a string top with turquoise piping and lace the center was in camo and there was a gold loop in between my breasts. The bottoms had gold loops on the sides, Camo bottoms, with turquoise piping and lace and there was a small black bow on the back of the bottoms right above my crack.
We walked down to the port where we loaded up on a blue and white boat for the tour. As soon as were on I pulled off my tank top and shorts and set down on the bench. Ranger looked dumbstruck for a minute but quickly recuperated. He pulled his tank top off, I had to check myself for drool. He set down beside me and smiled at me.
"Are you going to be able to forgive me?"
"Forgive you?" I asked.
"For not being honest with you in the beginning, for not telling you how I felt, for being with Alexis."
I looked at him and could see the sincerity in his eyes, "I want to but it's hard. I've been hurt a lot."
He nodded and looked out at the water, "Is there any way I can make it up to you?"
I thought over this for a minute, "You know there is, be honest with me, about everything, let me see Carlos the man instead of Ranger the soldier."
"I can do that." I nodded and he leaned over and placed a gentle kiss across my lips.
The boat stopped by some small cliffs and we dived off of them. It was wonderful and a huge adrenalin rush. After we jumped a few times we got to snorkel. It was fun and we both enjoyed it a lot. The boat's captain took pictures of Ranger and I jumping off the cliffs together, sitting on the bench together and he even got one of us in a light kiss.
We rode the boat back to the port in a comfortable silence. We went back up to our hotel and changed into different clothes to walk around in. I dressed in jean shorts and pale pink tank top with a lightweight jacket to cover my gun that was tucked in my waistband. Ranger was dressed in faded blue jeans and gray button up rolled to his forearms and then strapped his many weapons on.
We walked for awhile and stopped to eat at a small bistro. We talked about my training and how many missions I've been on. We talked about what had been going on in the Burg while I was gone. Inconsequential thing but they kept us interacting.
"How's Julie?" I questioned him.
"She's good, she's been making straight A's in school and playing soccer."
"I'm glad she's well. I wasn't able to talk to her while I was in training. I hope to talk to her soon."
"I think she'd like that. She was worried about you, most of the time when she called me she asked about you." I nodded.
"She's a good kid."
We finished eating and started walking again. We stopped at some shops but just looked around for today. Maybe tomorrow we could come back and I could shop.
"Babe, Why didn't you come to me for training?"
"I knew you would train me but I felt you would go easy on me and I didn't want that. I needed to be pushed and someone to be hard on me. I didn't feel like that would happen if you or your men trained me."
"You're probably right. Why didn't you try to contact me?"
"I couldn't. The only person I was allowed contact with was dad."
He stopped and looked at me, "I know it's going to take time but please let me back in." I nodded and he held my hand as we continued to walk.
"Do you like doing missions?" He asked me.
"I do, it's an adrenalin rush and I enjoy knowing I'm doing something good."
"How do you feel about this one?"
"I feel good about it and positive that we can get these jerks off the streets. By the way, where did these rings come from?"
He looked away and I stopped walking. "Ranger, where did these rings come from?"
"Carlos." He said.
"What?" now I was confused.
"Carlos, Babe, call me Carlos." I nodded.
"Carlos, where did these rings come from?" I asked again.
He finally looked at me and I could see the sheepish look on his face. "I bought them."
"When and are you going to be reimbursed? If not I'll cover mine."
"I…uh…bought them a while back. I'm not worried about the cost."
"Carlos, you are supposed to be honest with me."
"I, well, I bought them after you left and put them in my safe for when you came back. I planned to ask you to be with me when you returned."
"Where does Alexis fit into this?"
"After a while I figured you weren't coming back so I left them in the safe and began seeing her. I told she was filling my time, I never would have proposed to her or married her. I didn't and don't love her I just needed someone to get my mind off you."
"So, you have had these for over a year in your safe?" He nodded.
"And you planned on us having a relationship when I returned." He nodded.
"If that's what you wanted, Babe." I nodded and kept walking.
"Carlos, what do you want? Honestly."
"Honestly, I have had a lot of time to think about it. I want to be with you and you only. Beyond that I don't know, I want to take it slow and do everything in my power to make you happy. What do you want?"
"I don't know, I love you and have wanted to be with you for a long time but I'm scared, you're the one person that can break my hurt like it's never been broken before." He nodded as we turned ourselves around and headed back to the hotel.
I couldn't believe how much we talked. Ranger, the man of one word sentences has actually talked to me in multiple sentences at a time. It was weird but refreshing. Maybe the time apart did us good and he knows he has to talk to me to win me over again.
I actually told him how I felt, which surprisingly, took a huge weight off my shoulders. I hoped he could prove to me that he loved me and wouldn't hurt me. Just as I hoped we could continue talking in sentences. I know once everything is worked out he'll probably be back to his one word sentences but as long as we work everything out first I guess that's okay.
We walked back in to our hotel room and I grabbed us each a bottle of water. We went out to the balcony and set on the chaise lounges.
"What do you want to do tomorrow, Babe?" He questioned.
"I'd like to do some shopping I can't come to France and not shop." He chuckled and pulled my chaise closer to him.
He grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers together, "Anything else you want to do?"
"I need to go down to the fitness center in the morning and work out." He nodded.
"We can have a room service breakfast afterwards I need to work out too. Then we can get ready and head out for the day." I nodded agreeably.
"What would you think about trying to find us an apartment here instead of a hotel room since we are going to be here for a while." He wondered.
"That sounds like a good idea." I told him. Maybe keep it even after our mission is over and I could vacation here.
"I'd like to take you to Paris at some point while we are here."
"I'd like that." He nodded and got up grabbing his laptop from the bag in the bedroom and opened it sitting down next to me.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"I'm looking at apartments and houses in the area." I nodded and looked back over the view.
He handed me the laptop with a beautiful house, It had an amazing view of the water, 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, and was completely modern and contemporary. It looked amazing like our hotel room in blacks and whites with yellow and red accents on the walls, and furniture.
"I like it." I told him.
"It has two offices, one we could turn into a small gym." I nodded.
"Would you like me to contact the realtor?" He asked.
"Are we going to buy it under Moreno?"
"Have to, we can have it changed over when all this is done." I nodded.
"We can both own it." I nodded again and he used the hotel phone to contact the realtor.
"The realtor will pick us up at 10 for a tour of the house."
"That's good, gives us time to get up around."
"When we get back I'll take you shopping." He told me.
"Sounds like a plan, but I'm beat and going to head to bed." I said.
I walked into the bathroom and took off my makeup, brushed my teeth and stripped down to panties and my tank top and crawled into bed. I felt Ranger crawl in a little bit later and wrap his arms around me. Right before I fell into sleep I heard him whisper, "I love you, Babe, Always."