Hey all, sorry I haven't updated sooner. The summer's just gotten away from me or maybe it kidnapped me. Oops! But I'm back now and will try to update quicker. Also look forward to longer chapters. Special thanks to Ber for all her help with this story. As we all know, I don't own anything, Janet Evanovich does- even if some of us are wondering what she's doing with them.
CHAPTER THREE
When Stephanie woke up the next morning she was wrapped in mocha-latte goodness. Turning to face Ranger, she smiled up at him. As he ran his fingers through her curls, he gave her his sorta smile. Sighing he gave her a light kiss before rolling away to get out of bed and prepare to start his morning gym torture. She frowned a little and silently followed him into the bathroom, watching him in the mirror. Folding her arms, she raised an eyebrow at him, well, both but who's counting and continued to stare at him, trying to wait him out. That lasted for approximately a minute before she gave up.
"Ranger, what's wrong with you?" He raised an eyebrow of his at that.
"You haven't spoken a word to me. Not even a 'babe'." Ranger sighed again before turning to look her in the eyes.
"Babe, do you even realize what you did at the cop shop yesterday?" Stephanie frowned in confusion for a moment, then her eyes widened in surprise.
"Shit!" Ranger pulled her into his arms.
"Yea, Babe, that about sums it up."
Stephanie pulled out of his arms and started pacing the length of the bathroom, muttering about stupid Italian men and their stupid tempers. Ranger smiled slightly and leaned against the counter, waiting on her to wind down. The ringing cell phone ruined that opportunity.
"What?!" Stephanie stopped momentarily to wince at Ranger's tone and silently wished the person on the other end a speedy recovery of their ear drums…and pants. She heard very little of the conversation after that unsure if she should worry or not. She heard a quiet 'dammit' from Ranger and picked the winner.
Now would probably be a good time to run and was ready to do that when Ranger clicked the phone shut. She grimaced and turned to face him. His blank mask stared back at her and she sighed. His lips tilted up slightly at her and then he let out a sigh of his own.
My, it's starting to get a little bit windy in here. Maybe I should… Stephanie's musings were cut off when Ranger snapped his fingers in her face. She huffed and looked back up at him.
"Stephanie, get dressed. We're needed in the control room." Rolling her eyes she headed back into the bedroom. Not babe, not Steph. Stephanie. I knew I shoulda stayed in bed this morning.
When they arrived down on five, the floor was a hive of activity, well, more activity than normal. A few of the men nodded their acknowledgement as Ranger led Steph straight to the conference room. The sight that greeted Steph was not something she was prepared to see. Sitting at the table were Tank, Big Dog, Carl Costanza, Bobby and Lester.
Subconsciously, Steph took a step backwards and met Ranger's chest. He just kept walking forward, taking her body with his. It was an easy way to travel. Ranger took his seat before wrapping an arm around the still stunned Stephanie's waist and pulling her onto his lap. He nodded at Tank to start, who in turn looked at Big Dog and Carl.
"Steph, we're not here to bust you," Big Dog said softly.
"You can breathe now Steph," Carl added. Ranger put his hand to the back of her head and gently eased it between her knees.
"Why are you here?" Ranger asked
"We're here to let Steph know that the department supports her. No one saw anything yesterday, and gee, guess what, our security camera was on the fritz. She won't have a problem from us," Big Dog said evenly.
"We can't guarantee that Morelli won't cause a problem, personally. If it helps that's a civil matter, which we can help you with." Steph felt Ranger nod as Carl finished speaking.
"We take care of our own," Tank said.
"We know, but she's one of us too," Carl spoke again.
"Nobody's taking care of me. Joe will figure it out or we'll keep going to bat," Steph said as she straightened her spine.
"If you keep going to bat, bomber, no one will be able to help you," Bobby added.
"That's not what I meant. He'll figure it out or he won't but it's not going to always be my problem." Everyone nodded at this, "Thanks guys," she smiled before standing up to hug the cops.
"We're here for you. That's all we wanted to tell you."
"We appreciate that," Ranger stated while shaking their hands.
"Make her weapon disappear," Carl said on his way out the door. When the room cleared out, Ranger cleared his throat to get Stephanie's attention.
"Time to run babe."
"But," Steph started to protest then sighed and decided to not finish her argument. He was right. If she was going to stay aware –and button the top of her jeans- then she would have to stay in shape, even if it killed her.
