Thanks to the amazing response to the first chapter and in honor of the not so far away release date for the book, here's a short continuation of S&R's date.

Btw, I understand everyone's got a different preference where Morelli and Ranger are concerned, but this is definitely a Ranger/Stephanie pairing, so I mean… that's that. This isn't a Morelli, fic so… yeah. Sorry, for the 'rant', but it's just a little confusing when people say they hate Stephanie paired with Ranger, when obviously this is a Babe fic.

Anyway, I guess I'm feeling a little fed up with the 'will they, won't they' end up together situation. (I've been reading a different book series, the Dresden files, and I'm a little bummed that in that universe it is a definite 'won't they' scenario. Fingers crossed in the Plum world it'll be a 'they will' for Ranger and StephXD

Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE.

"I'm taking this." I wrenched open the door, angling out of the vehicle while trying to keep my lower half covered with Ranger's suit jacket. I didn't wait for Ranger's reply, closing the door with my hip and stalking towards my apartment building with as much dignity as I could muster.

I got to about a foot of the door when I realized I was missing something. I let out an annoyed huff, turned around and headed back to Ranger's car.

I reached the driver's side, fumbled with his jacket to free one of my hands and extend towards him.

"Babe." Ranger grinned, handing me my driver's license and keys.

"If you keep smiling like that, you're gonna get wrinkles." I muttered, taking my stuff from him.

Mrs. Bestler was playing elevator operator when I boarded the elevator. It was late, so I took a detour and walked her to her apartment before I headed to mine.

I closed and locked my front door, relaxing my grip on Ranger's jacket. I made a quick stop to visit Rex and gave him the gist of my night as I tapped his tank.

"Yeah." I agreed with Rex's initiative and decided to go to bed.

I shimmied out of the ruined dress along with the lacy bra and panty set, threw on a worn T-shirt and comfortable cotton panties before going to sleep.

S&R

I woke up feeling refreshed the next morning. I got up, showered and dressed in my usual outfit of jeans and stretchy tee. I settled for cereal on the go as I headed to the bonds office. I was feeling motivated today, needing to find a good outlet for last night's embarrassment.

Connie was at her desk, looking miserable.

"What's up?" I asked, sinking in the seat across from hers.

"Ah, just…" She shook her head, saying her night didn't turn out how she'd expected.

"Had a date?" I guessed.

"How'd you know?" Connie asked. I pointed to my neck and her eyes widened. "No!" She took out a small mirror from her purse, frantically inspecting her own neck. She grimaced when she finally spotted the hickey.

"Places to go…" I stood and headed for the door. If there were no new skips and I was still stuck with my current ones, then I'd go and see if Rangeman had a check for me.

I bumped into Vinnie on my way out.

"Oh, hey, Stephanie." His eyes twinkled and I suddenly felt very naked. I didn't have time to stop and decipher what could possibly be going through his head at the moment. So, I squeezed past him.

I'd be stuck with Big Blue until I had enough money to get a new car, so I drove as fast as I could to Rangeman.

I rode the elevator to the fifth floor, intent on heading straight to Ranger's office. I had the ruined dress plus accessories in a bag on one hand, Ranger's jacket on the other. Before I could unload the elevator Tank bumped into me.

"Oh, ah…" His eyes turned huge and he actually blushed.

Okay, now something was really going on here.

"Where's Ranger?" I demanded. He'd better not have told the guys about last night.

"Gym." Tank said, still avoiding my eyes.

There were a couple of guys spread out, each focused on their own exercise regimen. Bobby was the closest to me and he too, had a similar reaction to Tank's.

Now, I really think there's something I don't know. What the hell is going on?

"Where's Ranger?" I growled this time. The men looked at each other, unsure of what to say until Bobby pointed to the locker room.

I received a couple stares as I waltz in, searching for Ranger. Most, if not all, of the Merry Men are mega hot, but I wasn't stopping to ogle anyone.

After searching the rows of lockers I finally wound around the room, coming to a halt in the showers.

"Babe." Ranger's shocked gaze met mine before he quickly scanned all around to make sure we were alone. We were. "W-what are you doing?" Ranger asked, shutting the water off, but not making a move to get a towel.

I told him what my original reason for stopping by was. "What's going on?" I asked, wanting to know why for the third time today I'd gotten a strange look from a man.

Ranger cocked his head to the side, not sure what I was talking about.

"Man, you've got to see this. Can't believe you were holding out on…" Lester's voice echoed behind me. I turned around to face him and he swallowed. "Hey…"

"Don't hey me." I growled, demanding to know what was going on. Lester shot a quick glance Ranger's way, before taking out his cell phone and showing me a video.

The video featured the chaos at a black tie event, giving great emphasis to a woman who 'lost' her dress during the commotion.

It was me.

In the little and ruined black dress, giving a free peep show to more than one. A few seconds later, but what felt like an eternity to me, Ranger came out in the video, blocking me from the camera's view.

"It went viral." Lester commented, unsure of what to tell me, which was so unlike him.

I felt a strong hand land on my left shoulder, softly nudging me forward.

Everyone and their mother probably already saw the video.

I dashed out of Rangerman, hoping to find a hole to crawl into and pull it in after me.

S&R

My apartment was the least embarrassing setting for me today, so that's where I went.

Moments later my front door opened and closed. It was Ranger, I just knew.

"I didn't know about the video." He said, sitting next to me on my couch. I believed him.

"What's in the bag?" I asked.

Ranger's grin returned, producing a birthday cake from the paper bag he'd set on my coffee table.

My mouth watered.

I placed a hand over my chest, leaned a little against him as I said, "You know me too well."

"Babe." Ranger chuckled, obviously amused at the effect the birthday cake had on me.

Birthday cake is always a bring-me-upper.