All familiar characters belong to Janet. Mistakes are solely mine.

In the past, Ranger has been my go-to guy whenever something bad happened to me. Now, I go straight to him for everything ... good, bad, or just plain weird. I know he's in his office and that's where I'm heading. His door was partially open, so I knocked as I walked inside.

"Pinch me," I told him, holding out my arm to him.

He circled my wrist with two fingers and tugged. I landed in his lap, which truthfully is where I would've liked to have stayed all day. But I'd promised Grandma I'd drop her off at the Clip n Curl so she could have her purple curls molded back into place, and I want to spend as much time as I can with the family I do like.

"You know I would never intentionally hurt you."

"I know," I said, sighing happily into him as he pressed his lips to my temple, "but something unbelievable happened and I need to make sure it was real."

"My kissing you?" He teased.

"You kissed my head. It was nice, but not exactly life-altering."

"Let me rectify that so my reputation doesn't take a hit."

If I haven't been proactive when it comes to prophylactics, I would've been knocked-up from just this kiss.

"Now I really need to be pinched just to see if you're real," I told him.

He responded with a smile that sent a new wave of shivers throughout my body. "How about we skip the pain, and you just tell me what happened while you were out."

"I pulled up to the beauty parlor entrance and was waiting for Grandma to unbuckle her seat belt when Mrs. Glanbro walked out of the Clip n Curl, saw us, and made a beeline straight for my car. I groaned, anticipating the crap I was about to endure, but Grandma told me to put my window down because I'd probably want to hear what was going to be said. Grandma had a scary smile on her face, so I almost locked my doors instead of opening my window."

"And what did the beauty parlor woman say?" He asked.

"She congratulated me on getting married, which was really strange coming from someone who isn't Mary Lou or Eddie, the only two people in the Burg beside Grandma Mazur who were happy for us. She went one step further by saying it must be nice being married to such a generous man."

"And that surprised you?"

"Yeah. I'm fully aware of how unbelievably generous you are, but I wasn't expecting someone who doesn't know you to point that out, especially a Burg big wig."

"And you risked further contact by grilling her on what she meant."

That one wasn't a question. He knows me too well.

"Duh! Of course, I did. Unasked or unanswered questions don't sit well with me. When did you decide to provide full scholarships to Chambersburg kids who deserve them but couldn't afford college without some help?"

"When you began changing how you live your life. I can protect you, personally and with my people, in any situation but I don't like you having to avoid places or people you enjoy just because you love me."

"It's not because of you. It's me, my mother, and our vastly different view of what Morelli is."

"Babe, you can handle your mother and Morelli ... you've been doing that almost your entire life. What you can't take is someone criticizing me. So, I'm actively changing how your old neighborhood looks at me so you'll stop being a target."

"You don't need to change a thing ... you're perfect the way you are. I don't want you changing anything for me."

That got me another tingly kiss and then he changed his approach.

"Alright, let's just call this a weapons test. Sometimes psychological warfare can be more effective than brute force. And it's going to give me endless amounts of pleasure to watch your mother become a victim of her own game. She'll either have to publicly accept you and our life together or become the Burgs' black sheep like she tried to turn you into."

"And you call me scary."

"You are to those who refuse to understand you. I've heard some rumblings about Father Canali wanting to raise money to repair and possibly upgrade the church's stained-glass mural. How much would your mother and Morelli's enjoy attending mass and having to see that particular contribution to the community courtesy of me and my lovely bride?"

"They'll haaaate every second of it. You know, Mary Lou always told me that there's someone out there just for me ... my soul's mate - her words, not mine - but I never believed her. This closet sneaky side of yours proves she was right all along."

"Remind me never to let my mother and Mary Lou have unsupervised visits. They think too much alike."

"Now that's scary."

There were two raps on the door from someone with knuckles the size of tanks.

"What?" Ranger asked.

Tank asked a serious question before he entered the office. "Are your hands where I can see them?"

"Yes," I answered, smiling at the question.

Ranger is completely professional on five. The only things the guys have walked in on were kisses that were supposed to be brief but didn't stay that way. They haven't been subjected to anything more traumatic than that.

"The contractor's set to start tomorrow morning," he informed Ranger.

I raised my eyebrows at my hubby so he'd explain. "You can add Tasty Pastry back into your bakery rotation, Babe ... once their new roof and parking lot are completed."