All the characters belong to Janet Evanovich.
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Scent of a Woman
Chapter 6
It was very early the next morning when Ranger leaned over Stephanie and kissed her forehead. "Babe, I have to leave."
Stephanie came to consciousness reluctantly, but perked up when she smelled the warm scented moisture coming from his skin. "Mmmm, you brought your shower gel, you smell good." She reached a hand up to touch his cheek. "You know that's your signature scent, don't you?" She lazily stretched. "What time is it?"
Ranger grinned. "It's early, before six. I want you to get some more sleep before you have to go to rehearsal. I'll be back this evening."
"How are you getting back to Trenton? You drove up here in my beautiful car." Stephanie still couldn't help but smile every time she thought of that car.
"Hal and Woody are outside. They came up in two cars. I'm taking one back. They are assigned to you until 2:00. After that, Bobby and Lester will be here." Ranger noticed the 'I don't need babysitters' look on her face. "Don't worry; you won't even know they're around."
Stephanie humphed.
"This assignment has officially begun, and you will always be protected. Don't fight me on this, Babe. Let me do my job."
"Alright, alright," she said holding her hands up in surrender. "I have rehearsal with the band at Dino's at 10:00. After that I guess I'll be hanging around this house, all by myself, working myself into another panic attack." She was hoping that the guilt trip would result in his returning sooner.
"After rehearsal, I want you to relax. I had Ella book you an appointment at a local spa. The details and instructions are on the kitchen counter next to the donuts."
"Donuts! Ranger, what has happened to your sense of my well-being? You have so totally gone soft."
Ranger chuckled "I don't know, Babe, you just have that effect on me lately. I can't explain it."
We definitely have to talk about this later, Batman. Go save the world. Don't get shot."
"Don't go crazy." He kissed her and left.
Stephanie woke again around 8:30. She lay in bed thinking about what the day would be like. She was nervous about singing, but the rehearsals had gone well. Sally was happy. Maybe it would be okay. Her biggest concern was still being able to make contact with Andrew Sullivan and being able to sustain a relationship with him that would allow her to get the information needed. Ranger seemed to have enough faith in her for the both of them, so she decided it would be best to go about her day, focus on the goal, and hope for the best. She showered, dressed in a pair of designer jeans, a fitted blue blouse, a pair of low heels, and went downstairs. After a few minutes, she figured out how to make coffee in the fancy coffee maker. While she waited for it to perk, she picked up the information about her spa day that Ranger had Ella arrange. The brochure was quite elegant, and the services provided by the spa were endless. The note attached said that she was to pick any services she wanted. No limit. It even included lunch. Stephanie was giddy at the prospects of what awaited her this afternoon. She had a cup of coffee, a couple of donuts, and headed to the garage for her beautiful new car. As Ranger promised, there was a child's car seat fastened in the back.
Stephanie arrived at Dino's just shortly before 10:00. Sally and the band were already setting up the equipment and fine-tuning some of the musical details.
"Stephanie, damn this is going to be fun tonight. The guys are really fucking happy to do this gig. We're really getting into this whole cabaret shit. It's kind of fun, and if we can add a few more numbers to our repertoire we could fuckin' add some gigs to our schedule doing this music."
"That's great, Sally. I've always thought this music is fun to perform, and if the attendance at this place the other night is any indication, there is certainly an audience for it." She looked around. "Is everyone here? Are we ready to rehearse?"
"Yeah, I pulled up this fuckin' stool for your first number, like we discussed. Shit, did you bring the cape so you could practice with it?"
"I have it. It's back in the dressing room. I also brought the shoes so I could get used to walking around the room in them like I will with the second number. I don't want to land on my ass."
"You're going to be fucking perfect. Don't worry about shit. Let's do this."
Once the band was ready and Stephanie had retrieved her costume pieces, they rehearsed and, once again, the details (now that they were actually on stage) were tedious. All in all, Stephanie was very pleased with the results. Her confidence level climbed, and she relaxed a little. Once she relaxed, the rehearsal went even better. Sally noticed it right away.
"Stephanie, you are fuckin' blowing me away here. You sound better than you did yesterday. And yesterday you were the fuckin' shit."
"Well, if that means I'm good, then thanks. Hopefully when this room is full of people tonight, I'll feel just as confident as I do right now. This is really important to me, Sally. I don't want to mess this up."
"Honey, I don't think anyone will be disappointed tonight."
The rehearsal ended just before noon. Stephanie gathered her things and left Dino's to head over to the spa. GPS is a wonderful thing, she thought. She just punched in the address, and the car told her where to go.
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The spa was incredible. Stephanie started with a champagne lunch of grilled Chilean sea bass with tropical salsa, Mediterranean citrus rice, and spiced carrots. Her spa treatments included a deep cleansing facial, a hydrating body polish, an aromatherapy body and scalp massage, an herbal foot treatment, an eyebrow, leg and bikini wax (because a Brazilian wax would just be wrong), and she finished up her day with a French seaweed manicure with silk wrap set and a hot stone pedicure and polish. She was treated like royalty by the entire staff. By the time she left the spa it was after 5:30; she felt like a million dollars, and she looked pretty damn good too. She wanted to be at Dino's by 7:30 in order to have plenty of time to do her make-up, hair and get dressed. She called Ranger.
"Yo."
"Yo, yourself. Where are you right now?"
"I'm just leaving Haywood. I was coming your way to give you ride to Dino's."
"That's perfect. Are you driving the Turbo?"
"Yes, why?"
"Well since we can't ride to the restaurant in my beautiful car, I guess the Turbo will be an acceptable alternative." Stephanie actually adored riding in Ranger's Porsche Turbo, and he knew it, too. The way the buttery soft leather seat cradled her, the smooth ride, the gentle vibration of the powerful engine, Ranger's smell...hmmm. "I just left the spa, and I feel wonderful."
"No, nerves?"
"I left all my nerves on the table. They were massaged right out of me. It was amazing. You have me totally spoiled."
"You deserve it."
"You may change your mind about that later."
"Not a chance, Babe."
"I'll meet you at the house, Ranger. Bye."
When Stephanie returned to the house, she quickly made up a tray of light snacks from the refrigerator for her and Ranger to nibble on before they had to leave. Then she retrieved her garment bag from her car and added the glitzy gown, her lingerie and stockings. She packed a bag of hair products, combs and pins and another bag of make-up. She gathered all her things together on the bed and returned to the kitchen just as Ranger was coming through the door. Stephanie was so glad to see him that she practically ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. She drew his face to hers and kissed him. He responded.
"I've had such a lovely day, Ranger. The rehearsal went well, the spa was…. well the spa was like nothing I have ever experienced before. They wouldn't tell me, but I'm sure it cost a fortune. They treated me like a movie star. Oh god, Ranger, the things they did to my body. It was pure bliss."
"If it means getting kissed like that, I will gladly send you to a spa everyday," he chuckled.
"I think I'm ready for tonight. I feel really good about it."
"Did the spa do that?"
"No. The spa made me feel physically wonderful, but you made me feel better up here." Stephanie pointed to her head. "I had a lot of time today to think about all the things you said to me yesterday, and I've decided that maybe you see me better than I see myself. The way I view myself is all cluttered up with the negative criticism I get from other people in my life. So I've decided to give myself a break and have a little more faith in my own abilities."
"Babe." He leaned in and kissed her again, then poised her face just inches from his and held her gaze. "I'm so proud of you."
"Yeah? Well your job, mister," she lectured, while poking him in the chest, "is to smack me upside the head the next time I decide to hold a pity party for myself. Got it?"
"I'll pass on the 'smacking up side the head' part, but I got it. I'm sure I could find other ways to punish you though," he teased suggestively. "I am a professional you know."
"I know exactly what you're capable of." She returned the tease. "Are you hungry? I put a little something together in the kitchen for us; and before you cringe...I didn't cook any of it! I just assembled what Ella left us in the refrigerator. We have to leave in less than half an hour. I have a lot to do before I go on stage at 9:00. Is that all right?"
"I'm on your schedule, Babe. Let me take a quick shower, change, and I'll be right back down."
True to his word, Ranger was back down in less than fifteen minutes. He looked positively delicious in a pair of gray dress slacks and a black button up silk shirt. This was Dressy Casual Ranger at his finest. They nibbled on finger sandwiches, fruit and raw vegetables with dip. Stephanie briefly thought about eating a piece of chocolate cake, but finally decided that the butterflies in her stomach would consider the intrusion hostile. Cake would be better after the show.
Ranger loaded up Stephanie's things into the Turbo and they headed off to Dino's. As Ranger pulled up to the back entrance of the restaurant, Stephanie looked at him in question.
"Why are we back here?"
"This is the employee's entrance. Less chance of our mark seeing us together from back here. He always has dinner first. I spoke to Lester when I got out of the shower, Sullivan is already here."
"Oh, good idea."
"That's why I'm the boss. I have lots of good ideas. You should remember that."
"Okay, boss, I'll remember that." She gave him a slight grin, and then she looked out the window towards the restaurant and sighed. "I guess this is it. Will you be inside later?"
"Wouldn't miss it." He leaned across her and opened his glove box. "This is your wire and a roll of tape. You know what to do."
"Yes, but I'll miss having you put it on for me. You always do it just right." She was playing the game again.
"I'll be there to take it all off, I promise." He was playing too...and winning again.
"I'm going to hold you to that promise."
Ranger leaned in. "Go get 'em, tiger." Then he kissed her.
The kiss was different. Stephanie felt as it began, it contained a little concern for her safety and a little wish for luck, but it transformed quickly and ended with a lot of passion. It had been a while since he had kissed her like that. When they finally separated, Stephanie got out of the car and was slightly unsteady on her feet, still dizzy from the kiss. She took a deep breath, grabbed her bags from the back, and disappeared through the door. It was time to get to work.
Stephanie found her way to the dressing room and was shocked to find Lula waiting for her.
"Lula, what are you doing here?"
"White girl, you know you can't get that dress on without help. What were you going to do, ask Sally?"
"Well…."
"Un huh. That's just what I thought. You didn't have no plan for tha,t did you? It's a good thing you got me coverin' your ass, girl. You'd be lost without me. I drove all the way up here to help you out. B'sides, I couldn't miss your show, girlfriend."
"I am glad you're here, Lula. I could really use your help. I hadn't thought about needing help with the dress."
"And your hair. You know you white Jersey girls know nothing about professional hair. You all about big puffy hair. Well, give me those bags and let's get started."
Stephanie and Lula spent the next hour doing hair and make-up. Lula was a big help. Stephanie's hair looked great. Sally stopped by at one point to make sure she was on schedule. Stephanie pulled a picture of Andrew Sullivan from her purse, gave it to Sally, and asked him to check the audience. She wanted confirmation that he was there and a general idea of where he was sitting. Sally returned, confirming that Sullivan was in the audience and could be found at a table near the 'fucking' stage on the left side of the room. Sally left to finish setting up with the band. Stephanie was mentally walking herself through her plan, when an idea struck her.
"Lula, how would you like to play a very important role in my distraction tonight? Tank will probably be out there, he'll be surprised to see you, and he might get angry that you're part of this, so if you don't want to do this, just tell me no."
"Honey, I am ready, just tell me what you need. This is great. I always hear you talk about this stuff, but I never seen you at work. Don't you worry bout Tanky. If he gets mad, he'll get all huffy and yell about it, then the make-up sex will blow his mind. What should I do?"
Stephanie spent the next couple of minutes going over her plan with Lula. Lula was so excited to help, she was about to burst.
"Now remember, Lula, if you have to use my name at all, its Maria Granger. Got it?"
"Sure, sure, I got it, Maria." Lula rolled her eyes.
"Wow, it's 8:40, help me into this dress."
Lula carefully lifted the dress over Stephanie's perfect hair and let the dress drop into place. In a few minutes they had all her parts stuffed into the right places and Lula zipped it up.
"Thanks, Lula." Stephanie checked her hair one more time, put on her jewelry and was ready.
Right before leaving the dressing room Stephanie slipped the wireless mic beneath her left breast under her costume and Lula handed her tape to hold it in place. They left the dressing room and headed toward the stage.
"Lula, can you peek into the crowd and let me know if the guys are picking up my sound? I am too nervous to look at the audience. I'll turn it on and ask them to give me a signal."
Lula peered around the side of the stage. Stephanie turned on the mic and spoke "Looking for a mic check confirmation, boys. If you can hear me…uh… scratch your head."
Lula giggled as she counted five Merry Men all scratching their heads. It was kind of comical. "Huh," she grunted. "Either those boys can hear you, or else they're all allergic to Tank's cats." She turned around and gave Stephanie the thumbs up.
Stephanie nodded. "Okay, gentlemen, it's show time."
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