I hope that you guys enjoy this, I had a little bit of trouble writing it, but I think it came out good. Sorry it's so short, but the muse decided that this is all I'd write. Ranger gets a little sappy, but hey, we'd all like to see the real Ranger get a little sappy every once in a while.

Not mine. All mistakes are.

Oh boy. We need to talk; the four worst words in the English language that can be put into a sentence together. By the look on his face, it could either be good, or bad. Actually, it could be completely horrible, but I would never be sure because he was wearing his blank face.

I nodded and sat my magazine down. "Sure, what's up?" I asked, trying to be nonchalant.

Ranger looked around the waiting room. "Not here." He held out his hand. "Let's go for a walk."

While we were walking, Ranger laced our fingers and brought our hands to his mouth and kissed the back of my palm. I was lost in my own thoughts and wasn't paying attention so when Ranger led us out to the small garden on the side of the hospital, I was completely shocked. He led me over to a bench and we sat down.

"Babe, what happened with Morelli?"

I told him the whole story, from the minute Hal called to the minute I left. Ranger just sat there and took it all in, only nodding me to go on with my story.

"Did I ever make you feel like a cheap prize?" He asked me when I was done.

"No, you helped me when I needed it and saved me when I screwed up. Joe just yelled at me until his face turned purple and needed to walk away."

He nodded and looked away. "When Celia called, to let me know that my father was in the hospital, I couldn't think past getting there. I was only thinking of getting him better as fast as I could." He paused. "But when you showed up, I was so surprised and relieved. Surprised that one of my men would actually call you and relieved because I felt that I could actually relax. I felt that you would be the only one there that could keep my mind off of everything that was going on.

"You know me, Stephanie, I don't talk much, but I feel that I at least owe you this. When I told you that my life doesn't lend itself to relationships, I was serious. Relationships don't fit into my life. I'm a very secretive, solitary person. Plus with the government job, I don't want to leave a family behind to mourn my death if I shouldn't come back. I don't want to hurt more people than I can."

I could feel it coming. He was going to tell me that he couldn't be in a relationship with me, no matter what I wanted. That I should just move on.

But he gave me a half smile instead.

"What?" I asked defensively.

He tried to rub the worry wrinkles from my forehead. "Don't give me that face. I haven't even finished."

"Sorry. Force of habit." I tried to school a blank face like Ranger, but that just made him give me a full smile.

"You never disappoint."

I rolled my eyes. "You want to continue, or have you talked enough for the entire year?"

He smiled a ghosting smile and continued. "I know that I said that my life wasn't meant for relationships, it was true for me at the time. Now, for the first time in my life, I found a woman that I want to try. I want to come home and go to sleep in your arms, wake up in your arms and bounce ideas off of you about clients and skips. Tell you about my day, and hear about the takedowns that you miraculously pulled off. But…"

But? There was a but? He was telling me that he wanted a relationship with me and there's a but?

"But I don't want to be a rebound. If there's any chance that you'll go back to Morelli, tell me now and I'll let it go. I've waited a long time for my chance and if this whole situation has taught me anything, it's that I'm not waiting this time. I let the last few chances slip through my fingers and you went back to Morelli, but not anymore. If you're done with Morelli for good, there's something I want to know."

I looked at him for a moment. Usually when I looked at him, all I saw was the blank face. But now, all I saw was the vulnerability of a man who was putting his heart on the line. I was known for going back and forth between and Joe and Ranger for years and now it was time to make a decision.

I stared into his eyes. "What do you want to know?"

"Will you go out on a date with me?"

And without even blinking, I replied, "Yes."

He gave me a brilliant smile and leaned into kiss me. When our lips met, it was like setting my body on fire. Every nerve started to tingle and pulse. I moaned and pushed my hands into his hair. His arms wrapped around my body and his hands rested on my back.

Before we could go from PG-13 to R, Lester came running up to us.

"Ranger!" He yelled.

Ranger sighed and put his forehead on mine. "He always had bad timing." He whispered to me. "What's up?"

"Your father's awake."