Eliza Higgins and Henry Doolittle

What if fate had dealt the cards just a little bit differently?

O ~ O

"That hardly seems fair," Ranger said. "The favor is actually for me. At least allow me to buy you dinner."

Stephanie looked him square in the eye. "Thanks, but I don't do relationships."

Ranger gave her his most winning smile. "Then it's a good thing I only asked for dinner."

O ~ O

Chapter 2

"You know what I mean," Stephanie countered.

"Do you have plans?" Ranger asked.

"No."

"Do you like eating alone?"

Stephanie was pretty sure she was going to lose this argument, but suddenly she didn't care all that much. "Sometimes. Not really."

"Can't dinner just be dinner?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and let out an exaggerated sigh of defeat. "I suppose it can."

Ranger grinned. "Do I win then? Please?"

"Are you used to convincing women to agree with you?" Steph asked, pulling her keys and money from her purse.

"To tell you the truth, I've never bothered to try before."

Her head jerked up and their eyes locked. They held steady for a moment, then she blinked. Then he blinked. A shiver ran down Steph's spine and Ranger felt a tingling on the back of his neck. They were so close, he could smell her citrus scented shampoo. She felt light-headed in a good way as she breathed in his shower gel and masculine scent.

"Move," she said, gently pushing against his shoulder.

"What?"

"Out of the booth. Let me out so we can get going. You're going to follow me to my office, right?"

"Right," Ranger replied, sliding out of the booth.

Stephanie tossed a twenty on the table.

"Wait," Ranger said, reaching in the pocket of his black cargo pants for his wallet. "You're not buying my breakfast."

"Then you're not buying my dinner," Stephanie said over her shoulder as she headed for the door.

Ranger easily caught up with her. "That's not right."

Stephanie glanced up and gave him a wink. "That's the way the cookie crumbles, Sugar."

Ranger barked out a small laugh as he held the door open for her. Did she just call him Sugar?

Before he could ask her, he heard her whisper, "Oh, holy hell."

"What?" He looked in the direction she was facing and saw a man headed toward them.

"Cupcake," the man said when he reached them. He was looking at Stephanie like she was dessert.

"Morelli," she said coldly.

"You gonna introduce me to your friend," he asked, putting a sarcastic wrap around the word friend.

"Nope." She grabbed Ranger's arm and steered the two of them around Morelli into the parking lot.

"I'll call you," Morelli yelled at their backs.

"Please don't," Stephanie said.

She turned to Ranger. "You driving the black SUV?"

"Yes."

"I'm driving the red Mustang convertible. Follow me," she ordered, releasing his arm.

"Yes, ma'am," Ranger said with a chuckle. Before he could take three steps, a man in a yellow Corvette zipped into the lot and slammed on the brakes next to Stephanie.

Ranger stopped to make sure he wasn't there to cause trouble, but by the look on Stephanie's face and her hands on her hips, he figured she knew the guy and was annoyed rather than frightened.

"What the hell do you want, Dickie?" she ground out.

"We need you to run a search on the beneficiary of a will. We're having trouble locating her."

Stephanie tilted her head to the side. "I told you the last time you talked me into running a search for you that that was going to be the last time."

"I'll triple your fee," Dickie said.

"Ok, fine. Fax the info to my office."

"Sweet," Dickie said, burning rubber as he pulled away.

Ranger walked the few feet back to her and stood in front of her, tucking a strand of soft hair behind her ear. "Everything okay?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes and nodded. "I'm fine. The first guy was my ex boyfriend, Joe Morelli, and the asshole in the yellow 'vette is my ex husband."

Ranger raised an eyebrow. "That's rather interesting for someone who doesn't do relationships," he said, his eyes twinkling.

Stephanie shoved him lightly on his shoulder. "Hello! You just met the two main reasons I no longer do relationships!"

Ranger reached out and wrapped one of her crazy curls around his finger. "Babe, you can't judge every man in the world based on two losers."

Stephanie used her hand to flip her hair over her shoulder and out of his reach. "I can do whatever I want to do, Sweetie." Turning on her heel, she headed to her car.

Yikes, first she'd called him Sugar and now Sweetie. He was going to have to figure out why she didn't see him as a badass. He climbed into his SUV and followed her for almost fifteen minutes until they reached a small one bedroom wood frame house with an attached sunroom and vaulted roof. It was on the outskirts of town and on a nice lot with plenty of room between her house and her closest neighbor. The grass was neatly trimmed and colorful flowers were planted along the front of the house, along the walkway and in small flower beds on either side of the walkway. He grabbed his FTA files from the passenger seat and stepped out of the truck to join her on the sidewalk.

Stephanie saw him looking at the flowers. "Not me," she confessed. "I pay one of the neighbors to cut the grass and tend to the flowers. Not really my thing. He's a teenage boy, but he does a great job and he's saving for college so it works out for both of us."

"They look great," Ranger said, looking over the beautiful array of colors. I don't know a lot about flowers, but the purple ones along the edge of the house are phlox. My mother grows those every year."

"That makes you more of an expert on flowers right off the bat," she told him. "I can't tell you what any of them are."

Ranger raised an eyebrow. "Certainly you know what the purple flowers that edge the flower beds are?"

Stephanie studied them for a moment. "Umm, no. It seems like I should, but I'm afraid I just don't know my flowers."

"Babe, those are common meadow violets, the New Jersey state flower. Proper name is Viola sororia."

"Okay, Mr. Smarty Pants, are you here to check out my flowers or my software?" Stephanie asked, opening the front door with her key.

Ranger smiled and followed her inside. "Your software, but that doesn't mean that we can't discuss things like flowers, moonlight, good wine and where we should go to dinner tonight."

Stephanie kicked off her shoes at the door so Ranger followed suit and removed his boots, then followed her into the living room.

"Very nice!" he said as his eyes swept the room.

"Also not me," she said with a roll of her eyes. "My best friend Mary Lou helped decorate the house. She's good at that kind of thing."

"Love the plump couch cushions and the overstuffed chairs," Ranger told her. "Very warm and cozy looking. The bookshelves are awesome. You read a lot?"

"Yeah, when I have time. I like mysteries and detective stories, mostly. You read?"

"Yes. I enjoy a good detective novel too, but read a lot of biographies, World War I and II stories, Civil War history, rise and fall of empires and governments, things like that."

Stephanie suddenly had a picture flash through her mind of the two of them sitting in the overstuffed chairs in the winter time, in front of the fireplace, sipping wine, and reading in quiet comfort. She shook her head. Where the hell did that come from?

"I'd give you the tour, but there isn't much to see," she said. "Down the hall is a bathroom and a guest bedroom. I sleep up in the loft which has a half bath," she explained, pointing to a set of polished wooden ladder type stairs on the far side of the living room. "The kitchen is this way," she said, heading off to her right. "I turned the sunroom into an office. The view is great through all four seasons."

Ranger followed her through the small kitchen and into the sunroom. There were two desks set up with computers at one end and at the other was a white rattan settee and chair with matching white cushions covered with pink roses and a coffee table with a white rattan base and glass top. The window ledges were covered with potted plants. "I love it," he told her. What a peaceful place to work. I have a question though?"

Stephanie walked over and sat at her desk and motioned for him to take a seat at the other desk. "What's that?"

"If you work from home, is it typical for you to wear a dress and heels and eat breakfast out before starting work?"

Stephanie smiled. "It's typical for me to wear shorts one day, jeans the next and a skirt or dress every once in a while. I get to dress however I want to and today seemed like a dress day. As far as going out to breakfast, I do that a lot. It gets lonely here working by myself. I'm more of a social person than a loner so I need to get out of the house sometimes."

Ranger leaned back in his desk chair and studied her face for a moment. "No fear or hesitation at inviting a strange man you just met to your home?"

"Nope. If there was some reason to be afraid of you, my spidey sense would have warned me."

"Spidey sense?"

"Yes, I have a ... well I don't know what it is, but I always get a weird feeling when something is off or danger is present or if I meet someone I should be wary of for some reason."

Ranger raised an eyebrow. "So, was your Spidey sense not working when you met Dickie and that Morelli guy?"

She glared at him for a moment, but decided to answer anyway. "It was working just fine, thank you very much. Problem was, I didn't always listen to it. Now I do."

"Good to know," Ranger said. "More people should listen to their gut feelings."

Stephanie moved her computer mouse to bring it out of sleep mode and clicked on her favorite software program. "Let's see those files," she said, holding out her hand.

Ranger handed her the files and watched as she looked through the first one. He didn't know what it was about her, but he found her more attractive and more interesting than any woman he'd met in a long time. She was smart and beautiful and wasn't drooling all over him or trying to determine if his bank balance was worth pursuing like a lot of women he met. "Turn on your computer," she said.

Ranger pushed the button and waited for the computer in front of him to boot up.

"I know this first guy," she told him. Kenny Donovan. I picked him up once when I was bringing in skips and already know where you can find him, but I want you to put his name into the program, look over the info and tell me what you think would be helpful."

"Okay," Ranger agreed. "Which program?"

"Click the icon with the eye peering through the magnifying glass."

Ranger clicked on the icon and when the program opened, he typed Kenny Donovan's name, city and state into the search fields.

"It'll take it a few minutes to build a report," Steph told him. "Would you like something to drink while we're waiting? I have coffee, iced tea, bottled water and lemonade."

"Water would be great."

Steph got up from her chair and headed to the kitchen. Ranger watched her as she walked away, mesmerized by the sway of her hips and her long sexy legs. Stephanie looked over her shoulder and caught him staring and he quickly averted his eyes back to the computer screen.

He heard her phone ring and knew she was talking to her mother when he heard her say, "mom ... mom! mother!" trying to get a word in edgewise in the conversation. It was quiet for a few minutes, then he heard her say, "Yeah, I'll be there."

She returned with two bottles of water and handed him one then took her seat at her desk again. "I'm sorry. That was my mother reminding me I promised to have dinner at her house tonight. Can I get a rain check on dinner?"

"Of course," Ranger said graciously, though he was disappointed. "Are you free tomorrow night?"

"Yes, tomorrow night would be fine, thanks. Is your report finished?"

Ranger looked at his screen. "Yes, it says it's finished and there are five pages to print."

"Good. Hit the print button and we'll look over the information."

Ranger printed the report, then gathered the pages off the printer tray and started to read through them. It didn't take long since some of it was information that was already contained in the FTA file. "Okay," he said looking up at Stephanie. "I think I have an idea of where you picked him up."

"Tell me," Stephanie encouraged him.

"Well, if I had a drinking problem and my brother owned a bar, that's probably where you'd find me most of the time."

"Exactly! You see, even though his FTA file listed his home address and the name and address of his brother, it doesn't have the important piece of information about his brother owning a bar."

"This is great," Ranger told her. There's a lot of other information here too. I'm already sold on this software."

"They're not all going to be that easy," Steph told him. "But the idea is the same. You look for places they frequent, people they contact on a regular basis, places they spend money at on a regular basis. Also, you can eliminate places they would want to avoid when they know they're wanted by the law. Things like that. Sometimes you have to put yourself in their shoes and sometimes you just have to read between the lines or think outside the box."

"Connie says you're the best at this."

Stephanie blushed a bit. "I just seem to have a knack for it." Then she laughed. "I'm not sure it's such a compliment that I have a knack for thinking like a fugitive though."

They laughed together and Stephanie was curious about how comfortable she felt around him. She wondered who painted his black t-shirt on for him this morning. It was stretched tight over his bulging muscles. Then she found herself wondering if he had a six pack or an eight pack.

"Steph?"

She brought her eyes from his abs to his face. "What?"

"I was asking if you have a partner?"

"No, it's just me."

"Oh, I was wondering about the second desk and computer."

"It's mostly just a backup computer, but it comes in handy if Vinnie or Connie stop by. Also, I watch my nieces once in a while and they like to play games on it."

"Ah, that explains the Legos icon and the My Little Pony game download." Ranger said with a grin. "I thought maybe this was your downtime computer."

"Very funny."

"Listen, I have an idea. What do you think about renting out this desk and computer?"

"Renting them out? What do you mean?"

"You said you get lonely working here alone. How about if I pay you a monthly rental fee and I just stop by here in the mornings to run my searches. I'm sure I wouldn't be here more than a few hours a week, but it would save me from having to get my own setup and it would give you a little company and some extra money toward your mortgage every month."

Stephanie's head said no, her heart said yes and her eyes drifted back to his abs and put in a vote. Looks like the yeses won, two to one. "Sure, why not?"

They worked out a price and then ran a search and picked out some vital information on the second FTA.

When he was ready to leave, Stephanie walked him to the door and watched as he put on his boots.

Once he straightened up, he gave her a bone melting smile. "If I have new searches in the morning, I'll see you then. If not, I'll pick you up for dinner at 6:00, if that works for you."

"Sounds great. What should I wear?"

"You like steak and seafood?"

"Yes to both."

"Dress for Randy's Waterfront Inn," he told her.

"Oh, that place is new and I've been wanting to try it." She opened the front door for him.

"I ate there last week," Ranger told her. "I think you'll like it." He tugged on one of her curls, gave her a wink and walked out the door.

Stephanie closed the door and then turned and leaned against it. Holy hot tamales, what was she getting herself into?

A/N - Thank you all so much for the tremendous feedback for chapter one. I've been working my way through replying to them, but I'm only part way through. I'll try to get to them all, but know that I read and appreciate each and every one.

Kristine