Sorry I didn't get you an update sooner but my mom was back in the hospital (taken by ambulance Sat. night & just got out today) so I haven't had a chance to post another chapter…..normally I'm old school when writing my FF….I write it out longhand then type it up but the last chapter kinda took off & I just went with it so I'm gonna try some free style writing for a change…see where it goes….
Chapter 22
So we left Carlos & Steph driving towards Miami Rangeman and Les called…..
I was handing Carlos his phone back when it vibrated in my hand. I saw it was Les and decided to mess with him by answering.
"Yo" I said in a deep voice as Carlos chuckled at my imitation of his phone skills.
"Rangeman we have a major problem how soon can you get here" Les asked in an agitated voice.
"It's Les he says there's a problem and wants to know how soon til we get there" I said to Carlos while handing him his phone.
"Report" he barked to Les. I saw his face pinch a bit like he bit into a lemon then tell less we would be there in 10 minutes.
"Is it bad Carlos? Are the guys ok?" I asked him hesitantly.
He grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles then looked over at me with a smile "the guys are fine Babe, we just have a situation that needs to be handled right away. They found a possible leak in the Miami office and we need to shut it down ASAP" he said with a shake of his head.
We rode the rest of the way in silence with me glancing over at him every few seconds. "Babe I promise it's no big deal, I'll explain when we get inside I promise" he said as we pulled up to the 7 story stucco office building that housed Miami Rangeman.
It was set up just like Trenton, underground gated garage that opened as we pulled up. Front row parking per usual although I did notice a Harley Sportster 1200 parked next to us.
"Is that yours?" I asked Carlos while never taking my eyes off the bike.
"Yeah Babe it's ours" he chuckled at the drool that was about to slide down my chin. "I like to take it out when I'm down here. I was thinking since we're gonna get married down here we could stay a few extra days and take a ride down to the Keys. Does that sound like fun?" he asked me while I continued to stare at the silver and black work of art next to us.
"uhh huh" I said in a dreamy voice. "Ever since you took me for a ride on your Fat Boy last year I've wanted to wrap my legs around you on top of that chrome Hog" I told him, finally turning around to look at him.
His eyes were almost black and he pulled me over to him for a very passionate kiss.
"Damn Babe you are giving me some very vivid images to fantasize with. The thought of you in a bikini top and leather chaps and boots straddling me while we are on the bike has me hard as a rock" he growled as he proceeded to give my tonsils a thorough check up.
Just then the elevator dinged and we reluctantly pulled away. Lester and Tank walked up to the car with stupid grins on their faces.
"Everything ok Rangeman? We saw you pull in and waited for you to come up to the meeting" Lester said while choking back a laugh.
"Everything is just fine Lester. Carlos and I were just finalizing some plans. Oh I guess we need to tell you guys. We are getting married Saturday night at the house. I'm going shopping with Rachel and Julie this afternoon for a dress and you 3 will need to get proper attire before Saturday. I'll let you know what I want you to wear and what color you need to get after we nail down the details this afternoon" I said in a rush while Carlos helped me out of the car.
"That's awesome Beautiful, Rangeman congrats! Wait a minute you're not pregnant are you" Lester asked with a smirk as I punched him in the arm.
"Santos" Carlos growled. "Yeah yeah I know mats but the look on your face was worth it" he said as he backed away and took off up the stairs.
Tank gave me a big old bear hug and did the man hug thing with Carlos.
"Congrats Bombshell you're the best thing that has happened to him, other than Julie" Tank whispered to me as we hugged.
"Thanks Big Guy that means a lot" I told him. "Umm can you not tell Lula about this just yet" I asked as I looked over at Carlos.
"Babe what's the problem" he asked me with a frown.
"No problem Carlos" I told him with a nervous smile "I was just thinking that I'd like for Lula, Connie & my Grandma to be here for the wedding. I umm also thought I'd like for my folks and Val to be here too but if we invite them I'd want to invite your parents and siblings and well it's such short notice and I don't want it to turn into a circus" I said with a big sigh.
"Don't worry Babe we'll figure it out after our meeting. It'll all work out and if you want everyone here we'll get them here. We'll just tell them it's an engagement party or something and then surprise them with a wedding…then they don't have time to jack it up" he said with a grin.
"Have I told you lately how much I love you? I should have known the smartest, best man I know would have solution to me dilemma" I purred as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Ummm Babe hold that thought and later you can show me how much you love me and just how smart you think I am" he growled as he kissed me senseless as we rode up to the conference room in the elevator.
Tank cleared his throat and rolled his eyes in his best Jersey girl imitation. I'm so proud!
"Boss we need to concentrate on our little problem and shut it down so nothing will interfere with your "engagement " party on Saturday night. Yep he used air quotes….I am rubbing off on the Merry Men.
"Babe if you only knew how much" Carlos said in my ear as we walked off the elevator. Holding hands we walked into the Miami Rangeman conference room filled will Miami Merry Men. Wow just like home it's seems that only hot guys can work for Rangeman.
"Babe" I hear Carlos groan as Les, Tank, Garcia, McKenzie and several others I didn't know, were trying to hold back their laughter.
Oops guess I said that out loud. "Yeah you did Babe" Carlos informed me as he smiled.
"Gentlemen before we get to the problem at hand I'd like to introduce you to Stephanie Plum, my soon to be wife, Babe this is the Miami version of the core team. You already met Garcia and McKenzie. Gabe is in charge of the office, Michael is their version of Bobby, he's a trained medic and is studying to be a Doctor. He is also married to Michelle and they have a son named Mikey. Next to Lester is Juan, then Pluto, don't ask Babe it's a LONG story" Carlos said as I gave all the guys a finger wave.
We sat down at the table and Lester started talking. It seems that a woman that they had used for distractions was going around town telling people that she was pregnant with Carlos' baby.
That just pissed me off. Carlos took my hand and gave it a squeeze to let me know it wasn't true. I knew it wasn't true but it really went all thru me that some skank was going around telling people my soon to be husband had knocked her up! I'm thinking I need to locate this Nikki Estrada person. Ugg even her name sounded like some porn star!
That wasn't the worst part! Lester and Tank had seen her out at a club last night and she was with some guy who resembled Carlos from a distance and their pictures were splashed all over the newspaper today with headlines about her "catching" Miami's former bad boy! Now THAT really pissed me off and I could feel myself going into rhino mode.
"Babe it's ok we'll take care of it" Carlos said soothingly while running his hand up and down my thigh. Ummmm yeah that did the trick.
"Babe remember I told you things might get a bit ugly before this was over? This is just one of the many things they are going to try to do to break us up. They see you as the enemy and if we aren't together then they can get me to resign my contract. I was half way prepared for this already. My lawyers are already on it. Nikki should be getting served papers right now for slander and liable and the wanna be in the pictures with her is being arrested of identity theft because he was flashing an id saying he was me. Not very smart of them" he told me while rubbing my back.
"Why can't people just leave us alone? I mean this is my freakin wedding week and they are trying to steal my happy" I whined as he pulled me into his lap and I laid my head down on his shoulder.
"It's going to be ok Babe I promise. They won't ruin our wedding week and they will be shut down and will issue a very public apology" he assured me while rubbing soothing circles on my back.
"Don't worry Beautiful we have it under control" Les assured me as the rest of the men simply nodded and looked a bit uncomfortable. I guess they expected me to break down and cry right here.
"So what do we do in the mean time? I don't just want to sit around and wait for the next big rumor to break" I said snidely.
"Now Babe you and I are gonna go visit an old friend of mine and his wife" Carlos said as he stood us up.
"You going to see Harm, Bossman" Tank asked as Carlos dismissed everybody with their orders issued.
"Yep. I figure it can't hurt to know exactly what we're up against" he told Tank while he wrapped me in his wonderful arms. I always felt safe from the world when I was in my Carlos cocoon. I just wish we could stay this way forever.
"I promise Babe this will be fixed and we will be able to move on with our lives very soon" he said as he kissed me on top of my head.
I sighed and pulled back to look him in the eye "and you've never broken a promise to me yet and you never will" I told him before kissing him soundly.
"Let's go visit your friends" I said as I pulled him towards the elevator to take us back down to the garage. I eyed the Sportster longingly.
"Soon Babe we'll be on there with your legs wrapped tightly around my ass. I can't wait for our honeymoon" my very hot fiancée' told me as he pulled me towards the convertible.
"So tell me about your friends we're going to see" I said as we pulled out into traffic.
"Harm and his wife Sara are retired JAG. They both took their turns at being JAG but in the end they retired rather than taking a new billet" he said while concentrating on the road.
"JAG that's some sort of military court system isn't it" I asked him while trying to remember where I had heard the term before.
"Very good Babe. It stands for Judge Advocate General and Harm was a Navy lawyer and his wife Sara was a Marine lawyer. They were partners in JAG and later became a couple and married after 10 years. They have 2 children, a boy and a girl. Harm Jr is 8 and McKenzie is 4. I'm hoping between Harm and Mac they can give us some ammo to use against the government. I'm not above playing dirty cause they are after you now. That really pisses me off" he growled as his grip on the steering wheel caused his knuckles to turn white.
"So who is Mac? Is that Harm's partner now or something" I asked him trying to get him to relax. He seemed to be happy sharing his friends' story with me.
"Sara is Mac or Mac is Sara" he chuckled at my puzzled look. "Sara's maiden name is McKenzie and when she was a marine she didn't want to be treated any differently than the guys so she became Mac to everyone. You actually remind me a lot of her. Mac has gotten into some pretty strange situations that were not of her making and Harm has had to come save her" he snickered. "Of course Harm's been in some tight spots too that Mac has bailed him out of so I guess they are a lot like us" he said with a grin.
"Umm when exactly have I saved your life" I looked at him confused. He had been to my rescue more times than I'd ever want to mention but I couldn't remember a time I'd come to his.
"Babe you save me every day by being in my life. Before you came along I had nothing to live for. When I went on missions I was pretty stupid sometimes. I knew if something happened to me Julie would be taken care of for life and I had nobody else that I cared for, then you walked into my life and I've spent every day since then trying to be a better man, one that you deserved" he said in a choked up voice as we pulled into an underground parking garage.
"Oh Carlos don't you know that you are the best man I know? I love my dad and respect the heck out of him but YOU are the most honorable, loyal trustworthy person I know. I'm sorry if you felt you had to change for me. I love every aspect of you….from the street thug you tried to convince me was the real you when we first met, to the Army Ranger that has given more than he should have for the country he loves, to the corporate business man who runs a multi-million dollar corporation while trying to save the world ala Batman. And finally I love Carlos, the loving, generous, honorable father, husband, son and friend. I intend to spend the rest of our lives convincing you of just how worthy you are and how lucky I am to have you in my life" I finished the last breath with a sob.
Carlos pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly. After I calmed down some I pulled back and gave him a watery smile. He kissed me gently, wiped my tears and simply said "Thank you Babe. I love you so much it hurts".
He got out and came around to help me out. "You ok Babe" he asked as he wrapped his arm around my waist and steered me towards the elevators.
"I'm wonderful Carlos, thank you for asking" I told him with a twinkle in my eye. "How's my make up? Do I look like a raccoon" I asked trying to see my reflection in the elevator wall.
"You look beautiful Babe. You have a beautiful glow to your skin and your lips are plump and look very kissable" he said while giving me a wolf grin.
"Down boy we are in public, although I wouldn't mind finding a dark corner somewhere and showing you just how worthy of me I think you are" I said while giving him my own version of the wolf grin. Hummm it must have worked if his onyx eyes meant anything.
About the time he pulled me back against him and I felt just how worthy he really is, the doors opened into the foyer of the penthouse. Wow I guess being a JAG lawyer must pay pretty well.
"Babe Harm's grandmother left him a small fortune when she died and his mom and step-dad are very well off but don't let the location fool you. They also own a farm in Pennsylvania that they live at during the school year. They have a law firm down here and they come down during the summer months. They are very down to earth people, you're going to love them I promise. They already know all about you and Mac will be very excited to know that we are getting married. Speaking of that, I'd like to invite them to the wedding if it's ok with you" he said while ringing the doorbell.
"Wedding what wedding Uncle Carlos" a small voice exclaimed as the door opened.
A/N: ok for any of you who don't know who Harm and Mac are they are characters from my very favorite TV show JAG. I thought they might be able to help Carlos and Steph find a way to put the government in their place. Hope you don't mind me introducing them to the story. Also it seems like the wedding is getting bigger and bigger…LOL. About the Harley….our local Harley Davidson dealer and the radio stations I work for are giving away a customized Harley Sportster 883 in August so I'm on a Harley kick these days. Blame it on having to hang out with bikers on the weekends….LOL..yep I've got it rough! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think. I love reviews…:D