Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me, except the one's you don't recognize. JE gets the credit for creating such an amazing cast of characters for me to play with. I'm not making any money from my ramblings either.
Thank you to my amazing beta...Rangergirl1234! She made it readable! I did some rewriting of this chapter after her amazing work, so any mistakes are mine. : )
Lifetime of Love
Chapter 2
Before I could even open my eyes the next day, I knew that it was going to be bad. I felt the little drummer boys banging in my head and my stomach rolled from the abuse that I poured down it the night before. I cracked my eyes slightly to see sunlight streaming through my curtains. Ouch...sun equaled bad.
I stumbled into the bathroom and emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet. I'm so glad no one was there to witness that scene. I liked to drink, but I hated the hangover the day after. I decided that a shower would help so I stumbled over to the shower and turned on the hot water. I quickly cleaned myself up and washed the rats-nest that I call hair. Once I was clean and redressed in comfortable lounge pants and a T-shirt, I did indeed feel better.
I didn't have any pressing things to do that day because the cases that were in my range at the bonds office were low and I only had one outstanding skip to bring in. I could pick up Mooner the next day and then stop by the office to see if anything new came in for me. I decided that it was a good day for a relaxing and watching a movie. After all, what else do you do when you have a hangover?
I popped in Ghostbusters and grabbed a pint of Chubby Hubby out of the freezer. It wasn't my normal cure for a hangover, but I was not about to drive all the way to McDonalds. Nope, not going to happen. Fudge covered peanut butter ice cream was going to have to be good enough.
Half-way through the movie, my phone rang and the internal war started - to answer or not to answer. It was probably my mom anyway so I continued to watch the movie and let my machine pick it up. I was right, it was my mother. Let the ranting and raving commence.
"Stephanie Michelle Plum. Why am I getting calls about you being out dressed like a slut dancing with a whole bunch of random men? Why are you embarrassing me? You've already lost Joe and now your making it difficult to find anyone interested in you. Men don't want a party girl for their wife. Why does my daughter have to act this way? Gladys Murphy's daughter, Jaime, doesn't dress in next to nothing and have sex with men in public. Why does my daughter? You will be here for dinner tonight. Howard Parks is coming and he's the only one I've found interested in you. This is your last chance young lady. Six sharp, be here."
Yeah, wasn't going to happen. I sighed as I erased the message from my machine. I remembered Howard Parks from high school. He was math club president and was apparently a genius. He was socially awkward and didn't talk to anyone. I stayed away from him then and I planned on continuing that trend. I'll just tell my mom that I didn't get the message. What she doesn't know, won't hurt her.
I settled myself in to finish my movie, but apparently got too comfortable because I feel asleep before it was over. My cell phone ringing woke me up from my impromptu nap. I grabbed it off the coffee table and hit the answer button.
"Yo." I had definitely worked at RangeMan too much. I was starting to sound like the men there. I didn't recognize the number, but once I heard the laugh on the other end I knew exactly who it was.
"Breá, how are you this morning or should I say afternoon?" I could hear the smile in his voice and could almost picture exactly what he looked like at that moment.
"I'm fine." I lied. "How are you, Noah?" I tried to hide the 'just woke up' sound from my voice.
"I'm great now that I'm talking to you. I figured you would still be sleeping off the hangover from last night, but I'm glad you're not."
"You're sweet. Hangover is here, but I'm dealing with it. Ghostbusters and ice cream is what Dr. Plum ordered for me today." I laid down on the couch and smiled. It was good to hear his sexy voice.
"That's good. Taking a day to relax can be good for you, but I have an idea that would be better." My curiosity peaked upon hearing that he had a better idea.
"You do? Why don't you tell me what that idea is and I'll decide if it would be better or not?" I almost purred into the phone. I was flirting and was enjoying every minute of it. He chuckled.
"Why don't I pick you up in an hour and we go to an early dinner and go see a movie? Does that sound good to you?" Was he asking me out or did he just feel sorry for me because I broke down on him last night?
"Are you asking me out on a date?" The words came out before I could stop them and I heard him laugh.
"Yes, Breá. I'm asking you out on a date." I could hear the smile in his voice again. Did I want to go on a date with Zero? Did I want to open that can of worms? Ranger would find out and be pissed. He still thinks I'm his property, I'm sure. I paused for about five-seconds before blurting out my answer.
"I would love to go out with you." It was the truth, too. I had an amazing time with him the night before and found myself wanting to continue where we left off. I would deal with Ranger later. He went out with someone else, why the hell can't I?
"Perfect. I'll be there in an hour. Bye Breá." Oh my god! He said goodbye. I couldn't believe it. Most of the guys just hang up on me. It pisses me off, but they keep doing it. I sat on the couch for about thirty-seconds before dashing off to my bedroom. I only had an hour to get ready for my date.
I didn't know exactly where we were going, but I wanted to look good. I picked out my most flattering pair of skinny jeans and paired them with a tight fitting V-neck sweater that hugged my curves perfectly. With the help of a Vickie's wonder-bra, I would get the cleavage I wanted to help fill the sweater out. I finished off the look by putting on my black boots that hugged my calves.
Now I had to tackle my hair. I showered earlier so I ran some miracle cream through my curls. It helped relax them into soft waves that fell perfectly around my shoulders and face. I added a few swipes of mascara to my lashes and swipe of lip gloss to my lips and I was ready to go.
Perfect timing too. I had just spritzed my perfume on my neck when I heard a knock on the door. After a quick glance of my reflection, I grabbed my coat and opened the door to see perfection standing in front of me.
Zero wore faded jeans that hugged his ass and thighs perfectly and a light blue button up shirt untucked with the sleeves rolled up his arms. He looked sexy as sin, and I suddenly didn't want to leave anymore. Dinner and a movie could wait because I wanted to drag him inside and have a very good time with him in my bed.
"You look gorgeous, Breá." He stepped in the door and gave me a kiss on my cheek. "You ready to go?" He looked so unsure of himself and that made me smile. I'm wasn't used to seeing a Merry Man nervous.
"You look pretty hot yourself." He blushed and looked away. "Let me grab my purse, and we can go." I turned and grabbed my bag off the counter and followed him out of the door. I locked up and we headed out for our date.
Zero was quite the gentleman. He held open doors for me, and helped me into and out of the car. He kept his hand respectfully placed at the small of my back to help guide me through the crowds. I was impressed. I've never been treated so nicely before.
He drove us to a restaurant outside of Trenton and we were seated at a back table. Of course his back was to the wall so he could see everything around him. The conversation during dinner was amazing. We laughed about everything from my skip tracing failures to his days in the army. He had a few stories to tell me about the guys at RangeMan and now I had some ammunition to use against Lester and Bobby. Awe, sweet revenge!
Once dinner was done, he smiled and placed the order for dessert. I didn't know exactly what he ordered, so I was shocked when the waiter brought out a crème brulee cheesecake AND a molten lava chocolate cake. He placed both desserts in the middle of the table so we were able to share them. I can't tell you which on was better. They were both amazing, but my favorite thing was watching Zero lick the chocolate off his lip. I wanted to lean over the table and lick it off for him, but thought that would be a little too forward. Don't you think?
After dessert was gone and we were both filled with delicious food, Zero laid a couple of hundreds on the table and we walked out the door.
"There's a park close by. Are you up for a walk before the movie?" Zero shot me a questioning glance.
"I would love that." I smiled at him and he gave me the half-smile that made my knees weak. We walked hand in hand around a gorgeous park talking about anything and everything. After about an hour of walking, we found a quiet bench beside the duck pond and sat down. Zero rested his arm around my shoulders so I snuggled into his side.
We were silent for several minutes before the silence was broken.
"Stephanie, can I ask you something?" There was a hesitance in his voice and it's never good to hear my whole name. That usually meant that I was in trouble.
"You can ask me anything you want to, Noah." Most of the guys didn't need to ask me anything. My life is an open book for anyone to know and gossip about.
"Are you still in love with Ranger?" Damn, why did it have to be that question? I was still in love with him, but I couldn't tell that to the guy that I would like to start seeing more.
"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure." I paused looking down. I was ashamed to admit the relationship that Ranger and I had. "I've loved Ranger for years. It's hard not to love someone who saved your life on more than one occasion. He's always been there when I needed him and I trust him with my life." Talking about that hurt too damn bad, but I sucked it up and continued.
"I know you guys thought there was a lot more to our relationship then there really was. We slept together a few times in the past and then got really heavy after Joe and I broke up." I could feel the tears. Zero didn't say anything, just squeezed me closer to him and rubbed my arm with his hand.
"The thing about Ranger is he refuses to have a relationship. He wants sex and that's it. No strings, no emotions. I can't do that because I already have too many emotions attached to that man. I once hoped and prayed that he would want me for more than just sex, but I don't see that happening. It's time for me to move on." I knew it in my mind that it was time for me to move on with my life, but my heart wasn't quite ready to let go. Maybe it never would be.
"I'm sorry, Breá. I can see how much loving him hurts you. If you want the truth, it's his loss. If he's too stupid to see what a wonderful woman you are then he doesn't deserve you." I turned my face toward his and found that his lips were a breaths away from mine. He looked deep into my eyes asking for permission to close the small gap. I did one better and stretched up to press my lips against his.
The kiss started out gentle. When I felt his tongue trace my lower lip, I whimpered and opened my mouth for him. His exploration of my mouth was soft and caring. It wasn't hungry like so many of Ranger's kisses. I could feel one of his hands run through my curls and the other was gently caressing my face. My hands where gripping his forearms, holding on for dear life. He pulled away, sucking my bottom lip between his teeth before letting it pop out and stared into my eyes.
We were both breathing heavy and neither of us spoke. His hand was still caressing my face and I have never felt so treasured by someone in my entire life. He was moving his mouth back to mine for another kiss when his cell phone chirped. He pulled it off his belt, glanced at the message and cursed under his breath. He looked around nervously and then turned his hard eyes to me. I was kind of concerned, but he gave me a small smile and brushed a piece of hair off my face.
"I'm sorry, Breá. I've got to back to the office. Something came up." I was disappointed, but this is the life of a security specialist so I would need to understand if he were going to work.
"It's okay. I understand." I placed a kiss on his hand in understanding. We walked back to where he parked his car and he drove me home. The conversation wasn't what it was earlier so I sat and stared out the window. He seemed distracted and upset about something. When he parked in my lot and got out, I saw him look around. I didn't know what he was looking for. I didn't think that I had a new stalker.
"Everything okay, Noah?" I asked when he helped me out of the car. He looked at me and I could read the emotions on his face. Shame was the most prominent. I wondered what he was ashamed about, but I didn't ask. I didn't think I wanted to know.
"Everything is fine, Breá. I'll walk you up and check your apartment before I leave." He did just that. There wasn't any lingering afterwards. No kisses or touches. It was quick and before I knew it, he was gone. I was a little shocked and a little hurt as his abrupt departure.
I threw the locks on my door and changed into house clothes. I needed to spend some time in my thinking position. That whole day was wonderful and confusing all at the same time. Zero's abrupt turn from sweet to cold was disturbing and I had a lot of crap I needed to think about. Why did the men in my life have to be so damn confusing!
A/N - Thanks for all the reviews and favorite/follows. I plan on responding to your reviews later today, but wanted to go ahead and say thank you! They keep me writing!