Thank you for the wonderful reviews on the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this one as Steph and Ranger continue the evening.

Janet Evanovich is the queen of Stephanie Plum land and owns all the royalties.

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Scent of a Woman

Chapter 8

Once outside and in Andrew's car, Stephanie gave him the safe house address, and he punched it into the GPS on his dash. It would take about fifteen minutes to get there. She was relieved she wouldn't need to verbally give the directions she had tried to memorize earlier. She was pretty sure that Tank and Lester were still close enough to pick up her signal from the wireless mic, but Ranger was probably out of range. She needed to keep up some kind of conversation so they would not worry about what was happening.

"Andrew, I 'm embarrassed about how I went on and on this evening with the details of my life. I've never felt so instantly connected to someone before. I've shared things with you tonight that I have never shared with anyone. I'm sorry if it has resurfaced some of your own sad memories."

"Maria, don't be embarrassed. I'm flattered that you felt comfortable enough with me to share those things. Maybe it's easier to say things like that to a complete stranger; someone who may not judge you so quickly."

"Perhaps…, but I believe I've made you very sad."

"Maybe it's my own sadness that makes it easier for you to share with me as well. What's the old saying? Misery loves company? The memories you have resurrected in me tonight may make me sad, but I loved my wife and daughter, and I would never want to forget that either. I come to the cabaret nights at Dino's to forget for a while. I guess you could say that it is my own vacation to "denial land" as you put it. But tonight, I met a beautiful lady who showed me that the good memories should be cherished and not forgotten."

This was getting to be very difficult for Stephanie. Until now, all of her distraction jobs had been to remove despicable criminals from the streets. They were typically very shallow, unsavory people, and she used shallow and morally loose characters to lure them to capture, with no guilt whatsoever. This was different. Here was a man who was in obvious pain for the loss of his beloved family, and she felt as if she was denigrating his memories by deceiving him with claims to have experienced the same thing. Taking advantage of his grief felt shameful, and it bothered her. She could only hope that in the end he would be able to forgive what she had done in order to bring the real criminal to justice. Stephanie was brought out of her thoughts by their arrival at her "safe" house.

Andrew parked in the driveway, exited the car, and, while Stephanie was rummaging through her purse to find the key, he appeared at her side of the car to help her out. They retrieved her bags from the back seat and walked to the front door.

"Andrew, I can't tell you how grateful I am to have met you this evening. You've been a perfect gentleman, and I had a wonderful time. It's been a long time since I've spent an evening out with a man."

"Maria, I would like to see you again, if it's alright with you."

Stephanie smiled up at him. "I'd like that, too."

"How about I take you to dinner Saturday night? There is a lovely restaurant not too far from here that I haven't been to in a long time. I think you would enjoy it. Do you like Italian food?"

Do I like Italian food! Are you kidding? Is the Pope Catholic? "That sounds great. Let me give you my number. Hand me your cell phone, and I'll type it in. What time should I be ready?"

"Is seven okay?"

"Seven would be fine." Andrew handed over his phone, and Stephanie dialed in her number, pushed send, and, when her own phone rang, she opened it and closed it. "Now I have your number, too!" She smiled and gave Andrew a quick kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight, and thank you for bringing me home." She put the key in the lock, opened the door, took her bags from Andrew, and disappeared inside. Andrew returned to his car and drove away.

Stephanie leaned against the front door, for a moment, to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She then laid her bags to the side and stumbled in the dark toward what she thought was the direction of the living room. She had only taken a couple of steps when she ran straight into a solid, warm, great smelling wall.

"Babe." The wall wrapped his arms around her.

"Ranger." Stephanie shuddered as his hands slowly slid up the front of her dress and approached her…wire. He carefully pulled the tape, removed the unit, and switched it off. Still holding her by her waist, he reached over, turned on a table lamp, pulled out his phone, punched a button, and spoke. "We're in for the night. Yeah, head on back to Trenton. I've got her covered." Stephanie wasn't finished being held, and she stepped back in to the embrace and hugged Ranger almost desperately. He seemed to understand her need and remained quiet, just holding her.

After a minute or so she finally spoke. "Ranger?"

"Yeah, Babe."

"Can we sit down? My feet are killing me. Did you see these shoes?"

"Oh, I saw them alright. I kinda like them. Very sexy."

Ranger picked her up and carried her to the couch. He sat Stephanie at the one end and turned her body by lifting her feet to rest in his lap as he sat next to her. Slowly he removed each shoe and began to massage her feet.

"Well, I hope you got a nice long look, because I will never wear them again. These things practically killed me tonight. The may be sexy as hell, and Sally did say they did nice things to my ass, but they are the most uncomfortable shoes I have ever worn."

"And your legs, Babe. They did nice things for your legs, too." Ranger was now moving his magic fingers from her feet up to her calves. Stephanie moaned in pleasure. "Babe, you were fantastic tonight. And if the reaction from my men is any indication, I'd say that you could expect at least eight marriage proposals by morning." Stephanie smiled. "You played everything perfectly. He likes you."

"We have a date Saturday."

"I know, that's very good."

"He's a nice man… so sad though." Ranger noticed Stephanie's thoughts start to drift and then suddenly, she tried to stand up. Ranger tightened his grip on her legs to stop her.

"Where are you going, Babe?"

"I thought I'd get something to drink."

"You stay here, I'll get it. What do you want?" She relaxed back into a cushion, and he stood up and set her legs back down on the couch.

"Wine, maybe?" Ranger nodded and walked away. Stephanie could hear cupboards opening and closing and other typical busy sounds as Ranger moved about the kitchen.

"I'll call Andrew tomorrow, thank him again for bringing me home, and get the name of the restaurant he's taking me to, so you can scope it out. I'll tell him I need to leave the information for the babysitter. You don't think I really hurt Lester when I hit him, do you?"

"He'll be fine."

"I don't know; I slapped him pretty hard."

"He's had worse." Ranger returned to the room with a tray of food, the wine, and two glasses.

"Ooooh, that looks wonderful!" Stephanie surveyed the tray of cheese, fruit, and the remaining sandwiches from their earlier dinner. "I didn't realize I was hungry until you brought that in here." He sat the tray on the table in front of the couch and poured the wine. He handed her a glass and lifted his in toast fashion.

"To you, Babe. You never disappoint." They touched their glasses together. Stephanie nodded and took a drink.

"Thanks, but I didn't do it alone. Did you notice the band?"

"Was that really Sally Sweet? He was wearing a suit! A man's suit!" Ranger was grinning as he took his seat again next to her on the couch.

Stephanie giggled and nodded, "I know, strange wasn't it? Really though Ranger, I couldn't have done this tonight without him. He put all the music together, made all the arrangements with the manager, and picked out my costumes. All in three days! He's a miracle worker. His whole band was great."

"I'll make sure they are well compensated."

"Thank you." Stephanie produced a little devilish grin. "What did you think of Lula?"

"We should have known about Lula, Babe." His tone was very serious. "I don't like surprises like that and neither does Tank."

"I know, I'm sorry, but I didn't expect her to be there either. She just showed up in the dressing room, and right before I went on stage, I realized that she could come in handy in securing my need for a ride home. So we went with it. She did a great job don't you think? And she was so excited to help, Ranger. If you could have seen her face…. How mad was Tank? Lula thought he would be mad, but that he'd get over it. She has plans to smooth things over…of course it involves lots of sex…and…" Stephanie was rambling her way through the explanation; Ranger put a finger up to her mouth to stop her.

"It's okay…I don't want to know any details. Eat something, Babe." He lifted the tray and held it in front of her. "You're right, Lula was great, and, once he got over the initial shock, Tank was rather amused and proud."

Stephanie selected a finger sandwich and ate it. "Proud?" she mumbled through her full mouth.

"You know how he feels about her, Babe, he was positively beaming."

She swallowed and took a drink of her wine. "Do you think he'd let her work other distractions? You know, she would probably work out great for luring skips who aren't attracted to 'skinny assed white girls', as Lula so lovingly refers to me."

Ranger flat out laughed, he almost choked on his wine. "I think it would take a lot of sex to convince Tank of that. Tank doesn't share."

"It was just a thought." She took another sip of her wine. "What about you? Do you share?"

"Never." He leaned toward her and kissed her lips. As the kiss deepened, he took the wine glass from her hand and set it on the table without ever looking away. He pulled her into his lap and wrapped her tightly in his arms. "Dios, Babe. You were so wonderful tonight." He spoke against her lips, and then his mouth traveled down her neck. Stephanie leaned her head back to give him better access. "So good." He muttered against her neck. While his lips were busy on Stephanie's neck, his hands moved to the hem of her blouse. Slowly they rubbed in circles upwards under the chiffon fabric until they brushed the bottom of her breasts. Stephanie's skin was burning. She had wanted this so desperately, and now…

"Carlos…. Oh god, Carlos…Stop!" Stephanie pushed back from him. Ranger stopped. "Damn, I can't believe I just told you to stop." They were both breathing hard. Stephanie leaned her forehead against his. "Carlos, I'm sorry, I can't…oh my god…I want to do this with you…but…please."

"Babe, what's the matter?" Ranger looked concerned.

Stephanie wanted to make this right. She needed to explain. She grabbed the fabric of his shirt in both her hands and closed her eyes to think. She finally opened them and looked directly into his.

"You're sending me mixed messages here. I don't know what to think. You tell me that you want me…but that you shouldn't. You pull me in…and then push me away again. You touch me, and my whole body goes crazy. It responds to you like it has for no other man…and you tell me to find someone else. I'm so confused. I've tried so hard to put what we have into perspective. I trust you with my life, but my heart is drowning at the same time."

"Babe..."

Stephanie lifted a hand to stop him from speaking. "Carlos, Lula told me once, that you and I are just magic waiting to happen. I smiled when she said that, because that's exactly what I thought we were, last year, for that one night we were together. It was magic for me. The next day...you had regrets and were gone." She looked down into her lap. "You wanted me to go back to Joe. For a very long time, I fantasized that you would change your mind, and we could go back to being magic." She lifted her eyes to his. "But then I realized, Carlos, that magic isn't real. It's illusion…a trick to make you believe in something that isn't really there." Stephanie had tears in her eyes now. Her heart hurt, because it was so painful saying these things. "I want what we have to be real. I want us to do this because we feel something...more...for each other, not just to relive some lustful fantasy."

"Babe, the only regret I have about that night is that I let you go. I convinced myself that I was protecting you by leaving. I knew the history you had with Morelli. I knew he could offer you what I couldn't. If I had stayed, it would have killed me to love you and then lose you. But, Babe, I will never regret what we shared that night."

"Carlos, I'm not afraid of your life. I don't know the details of your government work, but I know it's dangerous. I'm not naïve; I was in a relationship with a cop! I have lived the reality of not knowing if someone you love is safe, if they're going to come home alive and unhurt, the loneliness of separation when assignments take them away for weeks or months at time. It wouldn't be easy, but I can handle all of that with you. What I can't handle is thinking that I disappointed you when we were together, or not knowing if you really want me in a way to risk opening your heart to me."

"Oh god, Babe, is that what you think? That I was disappointed that night? Oh, Steph, no…you were amazing…the whole night was amazing. I have never spent a night like that with anyone else." Ranger was desperately trying to make her see the truth. He held her face in his hands and met her eyes, brushing tears away with his thumbs. "Opening my heart is something I don't have a lot of experience with, but willing or not, I don't have a choice anymore, because it's already happening. I have fought this so hard, but you have become too important to me. I miss you when we're not together, and I think and worry about you all the time. I have no control over it, and that scares me."

"It scares me, too." Stephanie whispered to him. They were quiet for a long time, Stephanie lying against his chest, his arms around her. "You're staying here tonight?"

Ranger nodded.

The stress of the day, the emotional tenor of the evening, and Ranger's comforting hands were taking their toll on Stephanie. She yawned before nearly falling asleep. "Babe, it's been a long day. Why don't you go on up and get ready for bed. I'll clean things up down here and lock up."

"Okay, are you coming up, too?"

"Is that what you want?"

"Yes." She whispered. "Stay with me."

Stephanie took a quick shower, and, by the time she finished, Ranger was already in the bedroom. She slipped into one of the cute little satin pajama sets she had picked up at the mall and climbed into bed while Ranger finished up in the bathroom. He came out, turned off the lights, and snuggled her up into his arms. They lay quietly just enjoying the peace and thinking through the days events.

A deep chuckle broke the silence. "Babe?"

"Mmmhmm?" She sleepily replied.

"Your son's name is Carlos?"

"Yeeesss." That woke her up!

"And your husband was a very stubborn man who didn't do relationships, but flirted shamelessly with you and kept an emotional distance, until he was overwhelmed by your feminine charms?"

"Yeeesss."

"He was in the military as part of a Special Forces outfit, died while serving overseas, and his name was Ric Granger?"

"Yeeesss."

"Trying to tell me something, Babe?"

"I don't know what you mean."

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