Author's note: What if Ranger pushed Stephanie away before going in the wind, and one of her Merry Men was there to pull her close? This is the story of Stephanie learning to love someone different and moving on with her life. As is typical for me, it's mostly humor with a bit of steamy romance and a smidge of angst to keep things interesting.

This is not overly friendly to Cupcakes or Helen Plum fans but they won't be too badly damaged. Ranger is a bit bruised up but he'll only need a Bandaid.

I'm a bit stuck with 'Distracting Ranger' and honestly, I fell in love with Lester in that story, so much as I love Ranger (and I do!), it's a bit challenging to write a Babe HEA when I want Stephanie to ride into the sunset with Lester. So I started a story where she does end up with Lester. I promise that 'Distracting Ranger' will be continued and finished (and soon!) because I absolutely loathe unfinished stories and I refused to do that, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy 'Loving Lester'.

Since I apparently am incapable of short stories, it's already a long one, so be prepared for a long ride here. But I already have it mostly done and 80,000+ words written, so it's just a matter of editing, so I should be able to post frequently. (Hint: reviews make me post faster!)

Blanket disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. I wish they did, but alas, they are the property of Janet Evanovich. But should she wish to discuss custody arrangement of one Lester Santos, I'm happy to bring the pineapple upside down cake and grande margaritas for that conversation.

Chapter 1

Why me? How'd my life get so nuts that I sound like my mother?

I guess you could track everything back to when Ranger left to go 'in the wind' the last time. We'd been getting closer, or so I thought, and I really thought we were moving into something more real. Guess I was wrong.

He stopped by to see me before he left. I blame the fact that I was 98% asleep and drugged on what happened next.

"Ranger?" I murmured as the scent of Bulgari filled my nose.

"Yeah, Babe," he said.

I rolled over and flicked on the light, trying to force myself awake. But I'd taken an Ambien and it was tough to struggle up out of the darkness.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I'm leaving, Babe."

"Oh." I had to think for a minute to make that compute. "When will you be back?"

"Don't know, Babe."

"Oh."

He sighed. "Stephanie, I think maybe this is for the best. You seem to be getting too attached."

That got my fuzzy attention. "Seems like you've been getting attached too."

"My life doesn't lend itself to relationships."

Oh great, this bullshit again. "So you've told me. But we're already in a dysfunctional relationship of some sort, Ranger." See, this is what I blame on the drugs. Normally I would have found some smartass comment instead of the truth.

"We aren't in a relationship, Stephanie."

"Then what is this?" I asked.

"All it can be." There was silence for so long that I almost fell back asleep.

"Don't go crazy," he said and then he was gone.

I'd have been tempted to write it all off as a drug-induced dream except that Ranger really was gone. And he'd called on his way to whatever country he was supposed to save to "suggest" that Tank keep the guys away from me for a while. Bastard.

Lester was one of my closest friends at RangeMan, and Tank was a buddy too. Tank must have told Lester because Lester showed up at my apartment the next day at lunch to ask what the hell had happened with Ranger.

I was confused for a minute until I remembered my dream. Guess it wasn't a dream. I tried to keep it all in, but Lester is nothing if not damn persuasive and persistent and before long, pretty much all of the story came tumbling out.

If it hadn't been so painful, it would have been amusing to see Lester standing there with his jaw hanging open. "He did WHAT?" Lester finally roared.

I winced at the sound. Lester immediately apologized. "Sorry, Beautiful!"

"It's okay. No offense, but I think stupid runs in your family."

That made him laugh. "You're going to be okay, Beautiful," he chuckled. "And so far it doesn't seem to be a genetic thing."

"Not so far," I'd retorted, trying to cover my pain with humor. "But I'll keep an eye on you just in case."

He laughed and pulled me into a big, tight hug. "He is stupid, Beautiful. You're a wonderful woman and you deserve better than my lug of a cousin."

Oh sweet monkey butts. I had to suck in a deep breath at that to keep from crying all over Lester's tight black shirt. He knew this and immediately dragged me out of my apartment for lunch. We ended up at this little hole in the wall that would have been scary if I hadn't been with one of the men in black.

"What is this, Les?" I asked.

"Best steak you'll ever eat, hands down," he insisted. "Trust me."

I did. Plus I had no idea where I was at so it wasn't like I could just turn around and go home.

He was right. It was the most tender steak I'd ever eaten. Lester had laughed the whole time at my moans and groans as I'd had mini mouth-orgasms over the steak and what I insisted was also the world's best baked sweet potato. It had just the right amount of butter and cinnamon sugar and it was almost like dessert. Not quite, just almost.

"Do you want to talk about it, Beautiful?" Lester had asked as he found a front row parking spot at my apartment building.

"Hell no!" I replied instantly, making him laugh.

"He'll change his mind," Lester said. "It was probably just the stress of heading off."

I sighed. "Doesn't matter, Les. He all but told me to move on, so by God, I will. I can't live like this anymore. I care about him, but I think I deserve better than this."

"You definitely deserve better than this."

"So got any normal, not emotionally closed off friends who look like you?" I'd asked with an attempt at a grin.

"Why accept second best when you can have me?" he offered with an arrogant smile and smoldering green eyes.

"Because you are the biggest playboy I've ever known and you'd do even more damage to my heart than your cousin!"

"Oh, Beautiful, I'm hurt."

"Give me your gun and you can be."

"Why do you think I'm a playboy?" he asked, not handing over his gun like I asked. Smart man.

"Because that's all I ever hear about from you guys are your legendary conquests!"

"Maybe I've just been looking for the right girl."

"By sleeping with every girl in the world?"

"Not all of them!" he protested. I shot him a look. "Some of them were ugly."

I smacked him upside the head with a laugh. "You're a good friend, Lester Santos. Thank you for today, I needed this."

"If I didn't have the night shift tonight, I'd take you out dancing, let you see how many guys are drooling all over you."

"Lester!" I exclaimed.

He looked confused. "That's what my parents called me, God knows why."

"Why didn't you say you had to work tonight? You should be in bed!"

"Hanging out with you is more fun than bed."

"Only if you're not doing it right," I retorted.

Lester stared at me in shock for a second before busting out laughing. "What's gotten into you?"

No one lately, I thought, but I managed to keep it to myself. So I shrugged. "It's kind of liberating to know that there's nothing holding me back. Hurts, yeah, but he'll probably gone for a long time, so hopefully I'll be able to find someone else who will actually be willing to love me in the meantime."

"That shouldn't be hard," he said. "You're smart, funny and gorgeous. The line of men to ask you out will be long enough we'll need to get some of those DMV numbers to hand out."

My turn to laugh. "If only. No, I don't need masses, just a nice guy would be a good. Someone who won't try to turn me into a Stepford wife like Joe or push me away constantly. Being hot like you guys wouldn't hurt either."

Looking back now, the day after Ranger left was the beginning of a new friendship with Lester. I didn't notice anything changing at first because it was so subtle, but that's when things with me and Les started to change. He'd always been a good friend, but I usually saw him when I had a psycho after me or when I was hanging out with Ranger.

But now, with Ranger gone for God knows how long to God knows where, Lester was always around. We'd go to hockey games and scream our throats raw or out to eat. Unlike his cousin, he actually enjoyed real food and not just salads. He'd show up on the days when I had to wrestle a skip in garbage with take out and a kick ass movie. Mary Lou would always be my best friend, but Lester somehow became my other best friend.

So… what do you think? Please review!