Chapter Eight

End of February 2006

Four weeks ago, Steph and I changed the parameters of our friendship, though we hadn't talked about it. We never talked about it. We were together at least every other night, either at her apartment or in my penthouse, but the next morning would come, and she'd go her way while I went mine. We lived in a delicate state of blissful oblivion.

She was still working a couple of half-days per week at RangeMan. I'd been trying, unsuccessfully, to persuade her to quit her job working for Vinnie and work for me full-time, but so far, I hadn't had any luck. She didn't want me to give her a job just because we were sleeping together, and I couldn't convince her I'd have hired her anyway. Even though I had hired her part-time before we'd started sleeping together.

I'd also hired six more employees, all of whom were ex-military. All the men except Woody had decided to take apartments in the building, and I was pleased to note that everyone seemed to get along well. Everybody had easily passed the physical fitness requirements, and the marksmanship evaluation was tomorrow, though I didn't anticipate any problems.

Hector is scheduled to return from Washington in a few days. He called when his job was wrapping up and said he'd be back after taking a long weekend in D.C. with Juan. He was eager to get started with the security systems, and after training the men on installation and repairs, he felt we could jump in and start selling our services.

While we worked to build up our staff, Steph suggested we focus on a smaller area of Trenton first. She grew up in the Chambersburg neighbourhood, better known as 'The Burg,' and thought if we got a couple of people signed up, others would follow for fear of missing out. The Burg was big on spying on your neighbours and ensuring you didn't give anyone any reason to gossip about you. Perception was king, and everybody wanted to keep up with the Joneses. Since she knew everyone in The Burg, Steph would arrange appointments for us to pitch our services, which only served to strengthen my resolve to have her work for me full-time.

"Babe," I called as I walked into her apartment a few hours later.

"Hey, Ranger," she said, coming closer to kiss me. "How was your day?"

"Better now," I said, lowering my head to kiss her again. "How was yours, Babe?" She led me to the couch, sat down, her legs under her criss-cross style, and started talking.

"Crazy! Lula came with me when I went to pick up my skips this morning. Everything was going okay, but then the skip decided to run. He ran through the house out the back door where Lula was waiting. She clotheslined him, he somersaulted over the back stoop, and then she plopped down on him! I got the cuffs on him, but he was wheezing and looked a little green."

I chuckled at the thought of Lula sitting on Steph's skip, waiting for Steph to handcuff him. Steph's captures were never dull, and she always got her man. "Proud of you, Babe," I told her, watching her eyes light up in pleasure. She leaned in and kissed me again, her actions full of promise for a memorable night ahead.

"Honey, I'm home!" Hector laughed as he strolled into my office at RangeMan a couple of days later.

"Yo, man," I greeted, standing to hug him. "How's it going?"

He smiled. "I'm doing good, Mano. How are things here?"

"Good. Do you want to review everything now or wait until later?"

"Let's do it now," he said. "I'm a little tired and will probably drop early."

"All right. The building was completed a couple of weeks ago. Celia came and did the final walkthrough with the contractor. There were a couple of minor issues, which were fixed quickly. Their final invoices are paid, and I gave Celia a bonus for arranging everything for us.

We have eight employees, all ex-military. One of them, Bobby Brown, will be our company medic when we're in need. Ram is a sniper from the Marines, and I think he'll probably run our range for us. Woody is a local boy who was in the Air Force. He's a pilot but was honourably discharged when he lost his leg. He uses a prosthetic now, and you'd never know."

"Wow. Sounds like we got some good men," Hector observed. "Who else?"

"Cal and Hal are twins too, but you'll have no trouble telling them apart. Cal keeps his head shaved and has a massive flaming skull tattoo spanning his forehead. Unlike his brother Hal, he's not shy at all. Both are skilled infantrymen, though, fresh out of the Army. They will share one of the two-bedroom suites on the fourth floor. Vince is a fellow Ranger, though he's Airborne and a few years behind me."

"What's Airborne?" Hector asked.

"Paratrooper. Skydiver," I clarified.

"Oh."

"Anyway, Ramon did his four years and got out. He's been working as a security guard in a bank. He's the youngest of all the men at twenty-four. And finally, we have Junior, who was in the Navy Seals, like Bobby. He got out a year ago."

"It'll be good to meet them all."

I nodded. "We're going to cross-train everyone in every aspect. So you'll spend time with each of them while you teach them the security systems."

"Okay. What else is going on? How's Steph? Have you seen her lately?"

I smiled. I couldn't help it, and Hector noticed immediately.

"What's the smile about?" he asked.

"Nothing. Steph's good. She's been working here as a contractor while you were gone, researching potential employees and the skips."

Hector was looking at me suspiciously. "You know you can't lie to me, Mano. I can always tell. What gives? What was that smile?"

I glared at him, and he just laughed. He's one of the few people who don't take at least a step back from me when I make my displeasure known. Except for Steph, the few others are also related to me.

"C'mon," Hector wheedled. "Just tell me. You know you'll tell me eventually anyway."

I sighed. "Steph and I have been…spending time together," I said.

"What does that mean?" he asked. "You're fuckin'?"

I threw a pen at him. "We're not fucking. Don't talk about her like that."

"Who the hell are you trying to kid, Mano? That's all you've done with women since that disaster with Rachel."

"Well, Steph's different. We're not just fucking."

"So, she's your girlfriend?" he asked.

"Noooo," I drew the word out as I thought about how to categorize my relationship with her.

"So, then what?" Hector persisted.

I shrugged. "I don't know exactly. We don't talk about it. We just spend time together. I like her. We have fun."

"Sounds like she should be your girlfriend," he observed.

"I don't know, Hec. I'm still under contract with the government. I could be called away and not return. Someone could target me and anyone I was with. We're trying to get our business off the ground. It's a bad time to get involved with anyone," I explained.

"It sounds like you're already involved, Mano," he pointed out. "Anyway, I'm gonna go check on my lair downstairs, then I'll probably go upstairs to relax. Call if you need me; otherwise, I'll be in tomorrow morning."

Nodding to acknowledge his plans, I turned back to the paperwork. The business was barely in its infancy, and the paperwork was already substantial. We had two more interviews tomorrow, and I also had high hopes for these men. One of the men had worked closely with Hector at the Pentagon and wanted a less demanding job. His name was Binkie, and Hector promised me that the story behind his nickname was good, but I'd have to ask Binkie if I wanted to know the origins. I ran background checks on him and the other interviewee, Chet, and both returned clean.

Finally, after getting through my paperwork, I went upstairs. Steph was coming over tonight, and I wanted to get everything ready before her visit.

I heard the knocking on the door and strode over to answer it. No matter how often I told Steph she didn't have to knock, she always did. I had given her a fob to get past the security system, but she never used it. She said she didn't want to wear out her welcome.

"Hey, Babe, come on in," I said as I opened the door. I kissed her cheek and ushered her inside. "You look beautiful." She wore a pair of softly worn jeans that clung to her in all the right places. Her red tee shirt had a scoop neck, and the hem stopped at her waist, revealing a tantalizing strip of skin when she lifted her arms to hug me. Her hair was styled in soft corkscrew curls, framing her face, which was naturally made up. She was stunning, even dressed casually.

Her cheeks pinked. "Thank you."

"I made some dinner, Babe. I hope you're hungry."

"You made dinner? Is there anything you don't know how to do?" she teased. "Luckily, I'm starving. What did you make?"

"Come into the dining room; I'll show you."

I led her by the hand into the dining room, smiling when she gasped at the tablescape. I had laid down a crisp white tablecloth. A bouquet of wildflowers was in the center of the table, with tall white tapered candles on either side.

Two plates were set down on placemats, each covered with silver domes to keep the dishes warm. "Have a seat, Babe," I invited.

She sat in the closer chair and looked up, beaming. "This is wonderful, Ranger," she said.

I sat across from her and smiled. "I hope you like it." I gestured at her place setting and lifted the dome off my plate. I watched her to see her reaction as she lifted her silver dome and set it aside. I had made grilled salmon with a citrus salsa verde, a medley of steamed vegetables, and saffron, zucchini and herb couscous.

"Everything looks amazing," she said. "What's the occasion? You've never cooked for me before."

"I just felt like cooking for you. I don't often have time to cook, but I enjoy it."

We settled in to enjoy our dinner, and she moaned over every bite. When she was finished, she said, "Damn, Batman, that was amazing. Is there dessert?" she asked, looking around.

I laughed. "Only you, Babe. Yes, there's dessert, but I'm afraid I'm not much of a baker, so I went and bought it." Other than the pineapple upside-down cake her mother made, Steph's favourite dessert was the tiramisu from Rossini's, and that's where I had picked up a single slice earlier today. I didn't eat dessert, but I enjoyed watching her eat it. I grabbed the plate from the fridge and set it in front of her, and her eyes lit up.

"Wow," she said, licking her lips, then dug in. Her moans grew more pronounced as she ate, and I grew more restless with each moan. She sounded like that in bed, and before long, all I could think about was getting her naked, under me, and moaning like that for me.

When she finished her cake, she licked the fork and set it down before looking up at me. "Thank you, Ranger, that was all so delicious…" She trailed off, her eyes darkening as she looked into my eyes.

Her eyes widened as I stood and stepped in front of her, holding out my hand. She took my hand, and I pulled until she stood in front of me, so close that a piece of paper couldn't have gotten between us.

"Babe, do you have any idea what you do to me?" I whispered, my voice hoarse with lust.

"Probably the same thing you do to me," she murmured. "Every time I'm around you lately, all I can do is picture you naked and deep inside me."

The dam broke, and I couldn't take it anymore. I lifted her off her feet in a bridal hold and strode purposefully into the bedroom.