Chapter 2

We were interrupted by Ranger's phone ringing. "Yo," he answered, sounding out of breath.

I could hear Tank's laughter through the phone. "It sounds like I interrupted something. Just wanted to know if you'll be here for the morning meeting. It's not like you to be late."

Ranger grimaced and answered, "I have a situation here."

"Yeah," Tank replied. "Since Les spotted your car in Bomber's parking lot while he was doing rounds at 3:00 a.m. and Woody noticed it still there a half hour ago, I can just guess what kind of a situation you have."

"Just have the meeting without me," Ranger barked. "And I am offline until further notice."

He closed his phone and turned back to me. "Now we can discuss what we need from each other to make this work. If we are going to be together I need you to make a promise to me that you cannot break."

"I know exactly what you're going to say. You want me to run, train and carry my gun," I said with resignation in my voice.

"That would be nice, Babe. But it's not a deal-breaker. You have to promise me that when we have an argument or you get upset with me that you won't run away. I saw you do that time and time again with Morelli and it never accomplished anything."

"But that's what I do, Ranger," I whined. "If denial doesn't work, then I run away from the problem."

"That's why you need to make this promise. I am a problem solver and I'm good at it. But, if you don't stick around long enough to work out our differences, it won't matter how good I am."

"So you're saying that if I don't make this promise, all bets are off?"

"I'm saying that I can't be worrying about pissing you off and then having you disappear before I have a chance to fix it. I can't live with that kind of uncertainty."

"I can understand that, Ranger. So I will promise not to run away. I promise to give us every opportunity to make our relationship work. But, if I'm in rhino mode you might want to give me an hour or two before you start problem solving."

Ranger gave a bark of laughter and said, "Don't worry. I'll give you space, just not long distance."

Then I realized it was my turn. Okay, I thought. What evil, wicked, mean and bad and nasty thing can I make him promise to do? After all, he pretty much cut me off at the knees by making me promise not to run away. Okay, what is his worst nightmare? Bingo! Talking. Or, better yet, talking about his feelings! Mwa ha ha ha.

"So, Ranger, about that communication thing on my list that you profess to know about."

"Yeah," Ranger said as he buried his face in his hands. "I knew this was coming. I could see that wicked brain of yours was working overtime."

I couldn't help myself. I gave him an evil grin. "It's more than just carrying on a conversation. You have to talk about your innermost feelings. You have to dig down in your deepest emotions and express what is in your heart."

He stared at me with a look of horror on his face. Then I could see the light go on in his head and he gave me a smirk and said, "This is payback, isn't it? Cause I don't see you digging around in your emotions. And as for expressing your feelings…you can barely even say I love you."

I burst out laughing and gave him a loving punch in the arm. "Okay, you caught me. I was trying to pull your chain. But, it was worth it just to see the look on your face. But, seriously, Ranger, I really do need more than just one word answers when I ask you a question. I need actual conversation."

"What do you think we've been doing all morning?"

"That's true. But, how do I know this isn't an anomaly?"

"Alright, I promise to be more forthcoming. You will have to cut me a little slack until I get the hang of it though, because I haven't shared my thoughts or emotions for a long, long time."

"As long as you it give your best shot, that's all I ask for. Because you are so good at everything you set your mind to do, I know you'll be good at it in no time."

Ranger pulled me close and whispered in my ear, "Flattery will get you everywhere, Babe." And we promptly forgot all about lists and promises, except for the promise of immediate satisfaction.

Later, as I was lying boneless, in the aftermath of Nirvana, Ranger somehow (I didn't know he could be so sneaky) got me to promise to, you guessed it, run, train and carry my gun. Since I was so sated and content, I couldn't think of anything else to make Ranger promise. No doubt I will regret it later. After all, I'm sure Ranger won't let me renegotiate since he got such a good deal out of it.

We were still lounging on the bed, wrapped in each others arms, when I looked at Ranger and said, "I can't believe you are taking all this time off work to talk about our relationship. I never expected this to be something you would do."

"Babe," he replied. "What do you think makes me successful?"

"Well, besides all the time and hard work you devote to your business, I would say your meticulous planning and attention to detail."

"Exactly! Whether I am on a mission or in the field chasing a skip, I try to plan for every possible scenario. So why wouldn't I put as much effort into ensuring success for a relationship with you? I have never been in a relationship before and, let's face it, you don't have a very good track record with them so to me this just makes good sense."

We decided to call the little Chinese restaurant around the corner for some lunch. While we were waiting for the delivery, Ranger sat down on the couch and pulled me onto his lap. " You know, Babe," he said as he twirled a curl around his finger. "You know how crazy my life can be. I work long hours with no set days off. And I can be called out in the middle of the night if there is a security breach or if we get a line on a skip. I'll never have a nine to five job, so I was thinking-"

"No!" I shouted as I jumped up and started pacing around the room. "You can't change your mind already, Ranger. That's not fair! It's not nice! I won't let you."

"Steph, calm down," Ranger said snagging my jeans as I stalked by him. He pulled me back to his lap and wrapped his arms around me. "I'm not changing my mind. I was just going to say because of my crazy schedule, it might be difficult to spend a lot of time together. It would be a lot easier if you moved in with me."

"Are you crazy? We just got together and you already want to live with me?"

"Just think how much more efficient our lives would be if you lived with me. You wouldn't waste time driving to work. I wouldn't waste time driving back and forth from Rangeman to your apartment."

"Okay, let me get this straight. You want me to move in with you for the sake of efficiency?" I said, quickly approaching rhino mode.

"Yes," Ranger answered, completely oblivious to the steam rising around me.

I hopped off his lap and stood glaring at him, hands on hips, and sarcastically said, "And I suppose next you'll want to have a baby to get a tax write-off."

Ranger, finally realizing how much trouble he was in, jumped up to answer the knock on the door, giving me a little time and space. Smart man. He paid the deliveryman and put the food on the kitchen table. He came back into the living room and approached me cautiously.

"Babe, please, that's not at all what I meant. I meant that we would have more time to spend together."

"Yeah, right."

"See! This is why I don't talk. I inevitably say the wrong thing."

Wow! Batman actually admitted a fault. I always thought that his silence was an intimidating factor. And it is very intimidating. But, who knew that he kept his conversation at a minimum because he wasn't confident of his verbal skills?

We were both silent while we ate lunch. I was thinking about the consequences of moving in with Batman. Ranger was probably just trying to not put his foot in his mouth again. After we finished lunch and put away the leftovers, Ranger asked me if I wanted to go for a walk. Since I was pretty sure he was going stir crazy from sitting around in my small apartment all morning, I agreed. We were soon strolling through a nearby park, holding hands when Ranger finally broached the subject again.

"So, Babe, you have been quiet for quite a while. Have you come to any conclusions?"

I looked up at him and he had his blank face on, but his eyes looked slightly worried. "Well," I answered. "If you are sure you don't mind me invading your privacy, I would love to move in with you."

"Since you have had a key to my apartment for the past year and I never minded you invading my privacy when we weren't even together, I am pretty sure I won't mind it now."

"Alrighty, then," I said. "Let's do it."

Ranger is never one to waste time and now was no exception. He hustled me back to my apartment in record time and told me to gather what I needed to get me through a day or two. We will come back to clean out the frig and get more of my things later. Even though I had promised him I wouldn't run away, I still refused to give up my apartment. He wasn't happy about it, but understood that my insecurities made me cling to my apartment like a safety net. After all, he could get tired of me and kick me out of his apartment and what would I do then?

It was late afternoon when we got to Rangeman. Ranger grabbed my suitcase and I carried Rex. When we got up to the seventh floor, he ushered me inside, set Rex on the counter and pulled me into his arms. "Welcome home, Babe."

The next morning as I dressed in my Rangeman uniform, I was a little nervous about going to work. I had been working at Rangeman for several months and I had been in possession of the fob to Ranger's apartment for a year. I had even stayed with him in it on occasion, albeit completely platonically. Well, maybe not completely. But, none of the Merry Men knew exactly what kind of relationship Ranger and I had. Since I had always had an on again, off again relationship with Joe Morelli, they probably thought I went back and forth between Morelli and Ranger. But because Ranger had been, until now, relationship phobic we had really just been good friends.

Now the time had come for me to go down and face the men that had all become very good friends as "the boss's woman." I wasn't sure how they would react. Probably, they will happy for us, but I was still a teeny bit apprehensive. Ranger wanted to announce our new status at the morning meeting. Since I don't normally attend the morning meeting eye brows were raised as I entered with Ranger. I could feel the speculation in the air as we sat down. Of course they all knew that Ranger had been at my apartment the night before last and that I had spent last night at his. The Burg grapevine has nothing on Rangeman.

Ranger started off the meeting talking business, so I zoned out. I was lost in my own thoughts when suddenly Lester was pulling me out of my chair. He hugged me as he congratulated me. Okay, I guess Ranger made the announcement about our relationship and I missed it.

Tank gave me a big bear hug and said, "It's about time!"

As all the guys were hugging me and wishing us well, Ranger got up and grabbed me away from Bobby and said, "Everybody get to work. And go find your own woman. Stephanie is taken."