They don't belong to me and I'm not making any money…
Thank you all for reading and for all of the wonderful reviews. As always, a big thanks to Harmne and haleigh.l for their help editing! I really appreciate it… And I know I said this chapter would come quicker, but school ended, I moved and we didn't have internet set up in the new house! But it's all good now!
What Happens in Vegas
Chapter 11
Dragging slowly to consciousness, I struggled to figure out what had disrupted my sleep. I was comfy and snuggled into a warm Ranger. All was right with the world. And then I realized Ranger was trying to gently pull his body out from under mine.
"No," I mumbled, tightening my hold on him.
"Go back to sleep, Babe," he said softly. "Unless you want to come running with me."
"Ungh." I grudgingly relinquished my hold and pulled the covers back up over my head, only to hear Ranger chuckling as he succeeded in getting out of bed.
The next time I woke, it was to Ranger, peppering kisses over my face. It felt nice. At least it did until he spoke as he pulled my covers away. "Gym time, Babe."
"No, I went to the gym yesterday," I said, reaching around behind me for my lost blankets.
"It's good for you," he said, seizing my arm and pulling me into a sitting position.
"So's sleep," I argued.
"We're leaving in five minutes."
Grumbling, I drug myself to the bathroom and got ready to go to the gym. Yesterday really hadn't been that bad, and I wasn't that sore… It was just so early.
We didn't quite make it out of the apartment in the five minutes Ranger had given me, but he didn't say anything. Maybe it was the glare I was sending him as we climbed into the elevator to ride to the third floor. I was trying to be angry with him, but as usual it didn't have much of an effect. Instead, he grabbed me and pulled me to his chest, squeezing me in a hug. It felt nice, and I felt myself relaxing into his body against my will.
We stayed like that for the rest of the short ride, until the doors opened with a ping and Ranger led me out by the hand.
The first thing we did when we made it to the gym was a quick stretch before going over the holds and breaks Ranger had taught me yesterday. I actually surprised myself when I could remember everything and managed to free myself when Ranger grabbed me.
Then, Ranger grabbed me in a different way than he had the day before. I immediately tried to get myself free using what I'd learned for the other hold, but it was no help. I was stuck again.
"How am I ever going to get free from someone if I have to learn a different way to get out of every hold? We'll be doing this until I'm Grandma Mazur's age."
"It won't be that bad. I knew that yesterday's move wouldn't get you out of this, so I did it on purpose."
"Meanie."
"Babe, I'm trying to help you."
That was just the opening I needed. While we had been talking, Ranger had slightly loosened the hold he had on me. When I felt free enough, I spun around and dropped out of his arms.
"Ha," I said, bouncing away from him.
He stood there for a moment, seemingly stunned before letting out a laugh. "You think you're smart do you?" he asked, suddenly lunging for me and grabbing me again.
Before I knew it, I was in another hold I couldn't get out of. I struggled for a few minutes, but eventually I gave up with a sigh.
"So show me how to get out of this one."
"You're learning, Babe," he said, pressing a kiss into my hair before helping me work through the steps to get free.
After an hour, I could free myself from the hold, but I couldn't manage to keep a hold of Ranger when I tried it on him. I got frustrated, but Ranger assured me I wasn't doing anything wrong. There was too much of a size difference for me to effectively use the move on him and I needed to learn to recognize when that would be an issue. There were ways to control someone larger, but we'd work on them later, he told me.
Ranger declared the lesson over, but I was pumped and ready for more. I was really enjoying learning self defense and it wasn't like the real exercise that he'd tried to make me do before. It let me use my mind and constantly try something new without wearing me out.
"We've been working for an hour, Babe. I don't want you to be sore. How about I teach you some other escape skills?"
"Like what?"
"How to pick your way out of a pair of handcuffs."
"Really?" I asked. That was something I could use.
"Yes. Even though it will destroy all hope I have of getting another call to free you from your shower."
I rolled my eyes at that. I'd pretty much gotten over the shower incident and was determined not to give Ranger the reaction he was looking for. Besides, he'd seen me naked since then and had gotten a much better view.
My non-reaction caused Ranger to laugh before leading me out of the gym to get a set of cuffs and then into an empty conference room to practice. Looking around the room, I suddenly remembered Ranger had a business to run and started to feel a bit guilty about monopolizing his day.
"Don't worry about it. This is why it's good to be the boss".
Reassured I wasn't wasting his time, I held out my wrist for a handcuff, but Ranger just laughed and slapped the cuffs on a chair.
"First you have to learn to pick the lock."
Learning to open the cuffs took nearly half an hour and I was about crazy by the time I got them open. When I finally did, I jumped up and danced around before wrapping Ranger in a hug.
"I did it!" I said, looking up with a huge smile on my face.
"Yeah, you did. Good job, Babe." With that, he leaned down and gently touched his lips to mine. Fisting my hands in his shirt, I instinctively tried to pull him down to deepen the kiss. He pulled away, though, and just wrapped his arms more tightly around me, burying his face in my hair. "You're hard not to love," he said after a long minute.
"Same could be said about you," I whispered into his chest.
As I pulled back, slightly embarrassed and unsure what to say next, I was saved by the bell as Ranger's phone went off.
"Yo," Ranger barked into his phone, never breaking eye contact with me. Looks like he wasn't happy about being interrupted.
"What's up?" I asked as soon as Ranger disconnected. I was hoping to keep him from bringing up the little display of feelings we'd just had. He'd told me I was hard not to love. Did that mean he was trying not to? Or that he did, despite himself? And I couldn't believe what I'd let slip out. I didn't want him to know how deeply I felt about him in case it made him back away…
"I've got a crew installing a security system and they're having trouble with the client," he said, interrupting my thoughts. "I have to go take care of it."
"Oh." Did he just tell me what he was going to do?
"Babe," Ranger said with a laugh, obviously reading my thoughts. "Don't forget to take someone with you today. And I'm sending a pair of guys with you to lunch with Morelli, so they can watch your back and give you some space."
"Thank you."
We headed up to the seventh floor, and Ranger showered first. When he was dressed, he brushed a kiss across my lips, reminded me to be safe and was off to do his thing. With a big sigh to get myself moving again, I headed for the bathroom to take my turn in the shower.
The bathroom was still slightly foggy and the air was heavily scented with Bulgari, making me painfully aware that Ranger had just been in here. I never had this sort of reaction to sharing a bathroom with Joe. Sure, I got happy feelings when I walked in and smelled that clean, manly smell, but it rarely made me want to drag him back into the bathroom with me. But if it did, I could give into the urge. Somehow, I don't think that sort of behavior with Ranger would be good for my emotional health.
Determined to cast thoughts of Ranger from my mind, I climbed into the shower. I was impressed with my own willpower as I avoided the Bulgari and managed to use the amber and sandalwood gel Ella had left for me. It was different from what I normally used, but good, and the smell mixed well with the lingering scent of the Bulgari without being overpowering.
Out of the shower, I toweled off and got myself dressed for the day. I ran gel through my hair, dried it into loose curls and then applied my makeup. In preparation for lunch with Joe, I applied a few extra swipes of mascara for courage and then deemed myself done.
I looked at the clock and saw I only had about two hours until I had to meet with Joe. Not enough time to bother going after skips in case I got messy and had to come clean up. But I didn't want to just hang out in the apartment for that long either.
Heading to the fifth floor, I wandered into the control room and found Tank checking something on Zero's monitor. When he stood to head out, I flagged him down.
"What's up, Bomber? You going after skips?"
"No, I'm gonna hang out here until my lunch with Joe. Do you have any work I can do? Maybe some searches?"
"I'll see what I can find. Why don't you go get settled into your old cubicle?"
Wandering through the maze of cubicles, I headed for the corner of the building that housed Ranger's office. Poking my head into the cubicle, I noticed that no one was using it any more, so I settled into my chair and spun in circles to keep myself from thinking while I waited on Tank. Not long later, I heard I pile of folders drop onto my desk and turned to find Tank watching me with a look of amusement.
"There you go. I went to visit your favorite person, and immediately got a stack of requests."
Looking at the folder on top, I confirmed my suspicions when I saw Rodriguez's familiar signature. "How come I've never met this guy?" I asked, looking up at Tank.
"He makes Ranger look like a social butterfly."
"Huh."
With that, I grabbed the folder from the top of the stack, booted up my computer and got to work. I didn't stop for nearly two hours until a knock on my door interrupted me. I'd forgotten how much I liked this cyber snooping.
"Hey, Bomber," Lester said when I looked up. "You ready to head for lunch?"
"Uh, yeah." Looking at the clock, I was shocked to see that it was already time to leave. "Who's coming with me?"
"Me and Cal."
"Okay, just let me get my things."
I rounded up my purse, made sure my gun was in there and loaded and then found the guys to head for the garage. We loaded into a Bronco, me in the back, hidden behind heavily tinted windows and made our way to Pino's.
Once there, the guys ushered me in and accessed the area before they let me take a seat. Joe wasn't there yet, so the guys secured the back corner booth and sat with me while I waited. It wasn't long before Joe showed up, and Lester and Cal stood and took a booth where they would give me space but be able to keep an eye on me.
"Body guards?" Joe asked as he slid into the booth. I had to give him credit for keeping his voice relatively neutral.
"I'm sure you've heard Ranger and I have a stalker," I said, trying to remain calm also. I wanted to clear things up between Joe and I, and I couldn't do that if we fought.
"At least your husband's taking care of you."
"Joe," I said in a slightly warning tone.
Before he could respond, the waitress came over to take our orders. We both ordered meatball subs and a coke. Guess Joe was on duty.
"So, what'd you want to talk about?" Joe asked once we were alone again.
"Us."
"I thought there was no 'us' anymore. Even if there had been, you marrying Manoso put an end to it."
"Ranger and I getting married was a mistake. A mistake we made while we were drunk. You can't honestly tell me you never woke up in the morning and realized you did something while drunk you hadn't meant to."
"No I can't. But I can tell you that those things were done because of a loss of inhibition. Somehow, I don't think you would have married me drunk." This was said a bit bitterly and I wasn't really sure how to respond.
"Joe, we don't work as a couple and I know that eventually you'll agree with me. I'd really like it if we could be friends, though. We're good as friends."
"Can you answer a couple questions for me first? And answer them honestly, Cupcake?"
"I'll try," I said warily.
"When you said it was the end before your trip to Vegas, did you really mean it?
"Yes. Somehow I realized we want different things from life. That doesn't mean that I don't love you."
"Do you love Manoso too?"
I stared at Joe in shock, unsure what to say. Eventually he just nodded his head, letting me know my face and silence had given my answer away.
"I'm sorry. I don't know how it happened. I never meant to love both of you," I whispered.
"Don't be sorry. I've had some time to think, and you're right when you say we want different things. I'm trying to settle down and you're fighting to fly. I always tried to hold you back."
"I'll never be what you need, Joe."
"And I'm not what you need. As hard as it is to say, you need Manoso."
I squeezed my eyes shut at that, because I knew it was the truth. Too bad I would never have him as more than a friend. But if that was all I could have of either of these men, it's what I'd take. What hurt was that I thought that Ranger and I, if we actually tried, could make it work.
In the end, I ignored the comment about Ranger and hoped Joe would ignore my reaction.
"I need you too," I told Joe. "Just as a friend. You never answered my question about us being friends. Please remember I never meant to hurt you."
"I know you didn't and of course we'll still be friends, Cupcake." He paused for a minute. "The 'Cupcake' thing may take some time to quit, so be patient," Joe said sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it, it would feel weird if you quit."
After that, we were interrupted again by the waitress brining out food. We didn't speak much after that as we enjoyed our subs. There also wasn't much left for us to say. Now we were just bonding again over greasy, delicious Italian food.
We paid the bill when we were done and I even remembered to wait for Cal and Lester before trying to leave. That got me an approving grin from Joe and I had to roll my eyes.
"What? No smart ass comments about the mess I got myself in?"
"Nope. I'm just impressed that you're cooperating."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. By this time we were making our way to the door, followed by the guys. I guess they figured I was safe with Joe to one side.
"Cupcake, you know that you usually get stubborn and impulsive when someone tries to protect you."
"Well, I'll have you know that this time, I happen to agree with the protection." Joe just gave me an incredulous look. "And Ranger has bodyguards too," I said more softly. "If he can put up with it, I can too."
"That's the Steph I know," Joe said, chucking me under the chin as we made our way into the parking lot.
I was about to protest his last comment, when suddenly shots sounded from somewhere near by. Before I could react, I found myself pinned to the ground under Lester. Straining my neck, I looked up to see Cal and Joe standing over us with guns drawn, accessing the area. After a few minutes, they decided it was clear and I was pulled up and hurried to the Bronco.
Joe followed us in and was watching Lester and Cal with new respect.
"Thank you," Joe said, holding out his hand. "You just protected Steph with your lives."
"She's one of us," Lester said with a shrug. Cal simply nodded. Joe had never really trusted Ranger's men, but then again, he never really saw them when they weren't working with criminals and junkies.
Joe nodded before speaking again. "I can take your statements here and save you all a trip to the station. I'll also update Catori."
"Thanks," I said, before recounting the shooting that had just occurred… Basically hearing shots and being thrown to the ground.
The guys didn't see anything more than Joe himself did, so we were done quickly and Joe was out of the Bronco.
"I think we made a new friend," Lester said, as he fired up the truck.
"Yeah, you did." I think Joe had finally realized that Ranger and the guys did protect me rather than promoting dangerous behavior. Their protection was just different than his.
"So are you and he okay?" Lester asked.
"We will be. He admits that our relationship wasn't going anywhere and believes that I didn't run away to Vegas to marry Ranger. Both good things."
"Yeah, but now we have to go tell Ranger you got shot at again. Not a good thing."
"You don't think he's going to try to lock me in a safe house do you?"
"Not sure," said Cal, finally speaking up.
"If he does, will you listen?" asked Lester.
I bit my lip and thought for a minute. I hated safe houses and the entire idea of hiding. "I don't know. Probably only if he decided he needed to be in one too."
That just made both of the guys grin. They knew it would never happen.
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A/N: Thanks for reading and please review, I appreciate any and all feed back!