Standard disclaimer applies.

A very special thank you to all of the people that have reviewed and followed this story! I can't believe how much fun I'm having with this, and I love that other people are enjoying it, too. I will say this- I appreciate all of the amazing FF stories I read even more now that I have a better idea of what goes into one! :)

CHAPTER 5

"That stuff'll kill you, babe."

I rolled my eyes. My first choice would have been to stick out my tongue, but since my mouth was full of food I decided against that idea. Lucky man. He just smiled at me between mouthfuls of his salad. I swear, if the man ate any more salad he was going to turn into a rabbit. I was pretty sure that kissing the human Ranger would be much more preferable to kissing a rabbit Ranger. I glanced at him again. Oh yeah.

We were eating in Pino's. I never thought that I would see Ranger in Pino's but hey, there's a first time for everything. All of the tables were full, so we were sitting at the far end of the bar where Ranger could keep his back to the wall. Either that, or he just wanted something to lean on. We could hear the waiters telling the cooks the orders that people were calling in. Pino's was a popular place; especially at dinnertime. The food was consistently good and it delivered.

"One large pizza! Extra cheese and extra anchovies!" I was only half listening to what the waiter was yelling back to the kitchen. When I heard the order for anchovies, I made a face. Yuck. What kind of moron would put anchovies on a perfectly good Pino's pizza?

"He wants it delivered! 1045 Locker Dr. The name's Plum."

Geez, I wish that waiter guy would quit yelling. Makes my pizza go the wrong way. Then my brain registered what the waiter had been yelling. Give me a break. Like I said, I was only half listening. Now, who do we know that is a moron? And who else named Plum would order a Pino's pizza? And who couldn't come in himself to pick it up? Bingo!

Ranger and I exchanged glances. I was so excited I was about to start panting; Ranger was calm and cool. We simultaneously got up and Ranger left a few bucks on the counter to cover our meal. We beat feet out of there and hopped in Ranger's car.

"How are we going to do this?" I asked.

"Knock on the door. Take him in."

Gee, that was helpful. "Gosh, thanks," I said sarcastically. "I didn't realize that we were supposed to take him in. I thought we were just gonna deliver his pizza to him."

Ranger's mouth hinted at a smile. "You could do that, too."

We did a drive-by look-see at 1045 Locker before Ranger parked the car. It was a normal looking house. A few lights were on inside. Vinnie's car was nowhere to be seen, but no doubt he had gotten another car somewhere along the way.

We walked up to the door and gave it a knock. The door was opened by Vinnie himself.

"Shit!" he exclaimed. He turned around and took off through the house. Aw, hell. I wasn't in shape for anything like this!

Ranger took off after Vinnie and I was right behind him. With every step, Vinnie created an obstacle course for us, turning over chairs, tables, and anything else. I shrieked in surprise when a late-falling floor lamp hit me in the middle of my back. Ranger hesitated, torn between catching his prey and checking on me. Vinnie took advantage of the moment, bolting out the back door and into a waiting car in the alley. The engine caught and the car was gone before Ranger or I could stop him.

"Well, hell," Ranger said. "This is serious."

I was too busy concentrating on my breathing to respond at that moment. I'm out of shape. So sue me.

"I don't understand," I said, when we had gotten in the car. "It wasn't that big of a offense. It's not like he murdered anyone."

"Who knows, Babe."

I cleared my throat, trying to hide a smile. "I'll be honest, though. I never thought I'd see the day that Vinnie 'the Pervert' Plum would best Batman."

Ranger's eyes slid over to me ever so slowly. "Watch it. You were just bested by a lamp."

I smiled and closed my eyes, trying to appear totally relaxed and at ease. "You don't scare me," I lied.

Ranger gave a soft chuckle. "I should," he said.

I let my thoughts drift off and the next thing I knew I had the feeling of gently floating through the air. I was in Ranger's arms. This could be promising. In my sleepy haze, I took a deep breath of his unique scent and snuggled closer, feeling his arms tighten in response. I dozed off again even before we reached the door.

This could be promising, my ass. I'd fallen asleep...again! I can't believe myself sometimes. I'm such a dope. I huffed out a sigh and took stock of my surroundings.

It was 8:30 the next morning. Sunlight was streaming through the windows of Ranger's bedroom. I couldn't believe it. I was in Ranger's bed...again. Ranger was already up and gone...again. Was it me? I mused to myself. Am I that scary in the morning? Something to dwell upon on a rainy day, which was not today.

Once again, I stole Ranger's robe and padded out of the bedroom. This was beginning to feel pretty darn domestic. That's even scarier than how I look in the morning. This time when I found Ranger he was in the pool, effortlessly swimming lap after lap. I sat in a deck chair and just watched him. The rhythmic movements of his body cutting through the water were hypnotic.

Fifteen minutes later, Ranger pulled himself out of the pool. My breath caught as I watched him walking towards me. He was beautiful.

I was treated to the 200 watt grin. "Hey, Babe."

"Morning."

"You fell asleep again."

I blushed. "I know. Sorry about that."

"You wanna swim?"

"Umm...no thanks. I don't have a suit."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you need one?"

Eek. "What's for breakfast?" I asked, changing the subject. Avoidance is my motto. When you hit a sticky situation, change the subject. I've gotten pretty damn good at it, too. I could see the beginnings of a smile. Ranger knew that I had changed the subject. Couldn't fool Batman.

"Come see."

I followed him in the kitchen and found a bowl of fruit salad on the table. I scooped a generous amount into the bowl that was waiting for me and dug in. It was pretty good. Not exactly Bostom Crème good, but it would hold me over until I got to Tasty Pastry or McDonald's. I figure the pizza that I had last night is balanced out by all the healthy food I'm eating over here. Hell, I could even be losing weight!

"So what's the plan for the day?" I asked between mouthfuls. "Anything new?"

The morning went about the same as the morning before. Ranger worked on his car, Tank came over with some smartass comments, and I eventually got fidgety and left. I was driving one of Ranger's cars, seeing as how mine was still in the parking lot of Pino's. I rolled my eyes, thinking how that probably made for good Burg gossip over coffee this morning. This time I was driving another Beemer. Ranger was apparently undaunted by the fact that the last Beemer he loaned me was stolen.

I went back to my apartment, retrieved Bob from Dillon, and went through my morning routine. My machine was about to speed blink itself right off the counter. I pushed the play button and grabbed a glass of juice from the fridge while I listened to the messages.

The first was from my mother, of course. "Stephanie? Where are you? I heard that your car was parked at Pino's all last night. Are you hurt? I'm going to send your father over soon if I don't hear from you. I want you to come to dinner tonight." Click.

Next up was Mary Lou. "Stephanie? Where have you been? I heard your car was at Pino's all last night and that you left with some guy in a Beemer. Was it Ranger? Dear God, he's hot. I want the details! Call me!" Click.

The next few messages were from my mother again. Another message was from Mr. Alexander, reminding me that I had an appointment today at 3:30 to get highlights. Shit. I had totally forgotten about that.

The final message was from the last person I least expected to hear from- Morelli. His voice was quiet and serious. "Hey, Cupcake. Just wanted to know if you were okay. Your mom called me this morning, looking to see if I was at your house and she told me that your car was at Pino's all night last night. She thought you were with me." Alright already. So my car was at Pino's last night. Get over it people. It's not like we did anything. I mean, we slept together and all but we didn't sleep together. Yet. Okay, one step at a time, Steph. Morelli's voice cut back into my thoughts. "I want you to call me. I don't care what time it is. I need to know you're okay." Click.

Okay, so I felt a little bad. Joe obviously still had feelings for me. But what was I to do about that? Call him, a little voice said in my head. Go ahead and call him. "And say what? I stayed with Ranger?" I replied. Oops. Was that out loud? Bob was looking at me a little weird. Poor guy, he probably thought I was a nut, too. Just then, there was a knock on my door. Still preoccupied with my thoughts I opened the door without looking through the peephole first. I opened the door, looking into those beautiful whisky brown eyes. Damn. I didn't want to go through this again now.