This idea has been floating around in my head and I just had to put it on paper so I could stop thinking about it. I'm not expecting this to be a long story but the idea is kinda leading me and I guess I'll see where it goes.

Just to be safe: Spoilers through LMT

My name is Stephanie Plum. I work for my cousin Vinnie as a Bond Enforcement Agent, better known as a Bounty Hunter. Not my dream job, but hey, I get to make my own schedule and when I get my guy my bank account is happy. My boyfriend Joe hates my job. He thinks I should marry him and have 2.5 kids. Our relationship is complicated and we tend to be off-again more than we are on-again. To make matters worse, I'm in love with my best friend, mentor, sometimes boss, and one time lover; Ranger. Unfortunately Ranger is an 'I don't do relationships' and 'My love comes with a condom not a ring' and my favorite 'I love you... in my own way' kinda guy. Even with all his qualifiers I can't seem to get the man out of my head. He has saved me from stalkers, kidnappers, and murderers too many times to count, not to mention all the cars he has given me that I've blown up. I guess technically his love comes with cars, a job, AND condoms.

It was a normal day for me. I got 3 new skips from Connie in the morning after stopping at Tasty Pastry and inhaling a dozen Boston Creams. Then Lula and I made fools of ourselves as we attempted to bring in Luis Marino, arrested for blowing up his wife's car when he caught her with the milk man. Needless to say I lost another POS shit car to an explosive and by the time I managed to run down Mr. Marino we were at the city dump. Don't ask me why my FTA's enjoy blowing up my cars and covering me in garbage, but they do.

By the time I had Luis on the ground and cuffed I was sweaty, smelly, and covered in something that looked like baby puke. Oh... and half of the Trenton police department was laughing and exchanging money. There were only two men not enjoying the scene, Ranger and Morelli. Ranger looked amused and annoyed at the same time. My guess is he enjoys finding me in these situations, but I know he hates the bets the police and his men make at my expense. Morelli was already red in the face and looked like steam was about to come out of his ears. I knew as soon as the crowd cleared we were about to get into a yelling match that would include a lot of Italian hand gestures.

One of the cops, and a good friend of mine, Eddie, agreed to take Luis in so I could go get cleaned up. I was so frustrated and embarrassed I headed back towards my car forgetting the earlier explosion. Lula was nowhere to be found, as usual when the cops show up. All that was left waiting for me was charred metal and soot. Great... now I would have to ask Joe or Ranger for a ride home. I wasn't quite ready to listen to Joe rant about my job and life but I didn't really want to be in close quarters covered in God knows what with Ranger.

I sunk down on the curb and put my head on my knees trying to figure out which scenario was worse when I felt the familiar tingle on the back of my neck signaling Rangers closeness, his black shoes coming into my line of vision seconds later. "Babe." That one word summed up a whole sentence for Ranger. I looked up to see an amused smile playing on his lips as he held his hand out for me. Today 'babe' meant, 'come on, let's get you cleaned up'. With a sigh I let him pull me from the curb and looked over my shoulder to see Joe already driving away. I guess he was okay with Ranger cleaning up the mess this time. Ranger guided me towards his Porsche Turbo and opened the passenger door for me. The smell of new leather wafted out and I closed my eyes keep the tears at bay. If I got in his car the leather would be ruined. As if he read my mind he took his black Rangeman jacket off and placed it on the seat. Sighing in defeat I got in as Ranger slid into the driver's seat. The smell intensified in the enclosed space and I was now pretty sure I had the contents narrowed down to a mixture of tuna and something that most likely came from a baby's diaper. Thankfully Ranger rolled down both our windows as he headed towards my apartment.

In the silence I tried the count the number of FTA's I brought in where I wasn't on the front page of the paper the next day. Maybe Joe and my Mom were right. A normal job would make my life a lot easier. Not only would I not have to worry about my car exploding or crazy people stalking me and breaking into my apartment all the time, I would have a constant income to pay my bills too. I could try to get a job at the Tasty Pastry again, but that could be dangerous for my waist line. Victoria's Secret was hiring the last time I spent my rent money there. I have the experience too since I was a lingerie buyer for Macy's.

"Deep thoughts babe?" Ranger was holding my door open for me. I hadn't even realized we were at my apartment building yet. Ranger saw the realization hit me and I knew what was coming next.

"Yeah, yeah... I need to be more aware of my surroundings." I saw more than heard Ranger chuckle as we headed into my building. I gave up on insisting I didn't need an escort a couple years ago. Turns out there are crazies in my apartment more often than not and it comes in handy to have someone like Ranger confront them rather than me. Except for the time he got shot... but I try not think about that.

Reluctantly I followed Ranger up the stairs and the ache in my legs confirmed my need for more exercise. Once in front of my door panic set in, my purse was in my car, which is now nothing but ash. Ranger raised an eyebrow as he pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and opened my door. My mouth dropped "Since when do you have a key to my apartment?" This only earned me a full on Ranger smile as he upholstered his gun an motioned for me to wait in the hall. After thoroughly checking for stalkers I was allowed entrance into my own home.

"I can't do this anymore." I sighed and I kicked my soiled shoes off. Ranger raised an eyebrow at me waiting for me to go on but I just waved him away and headed to my bedroom. Grabbing a change of clothes I stripped and jumped in the shower to wash away another horrible days work. After scrubbing a layer or two of skin off I was pretty sure I no longer smelled like a rotten sandwich and baby poo and made my way to the kitchen. I jumped when I realized Ranger hadn't left. He was leaning on my counter with his arms crossed over his chest. In front of him was my gun, which he must have pulled from my cookie jar, and the key he used to get into my apartment.

"There's no bullets in your gun."

"I'll add it to my grocery list." My reply was sarcastic as I opened my fridge and pulled out two beers.

"You don't have a grocery list." Ranger accepted the offered beer and took a long pull before walking into the living room and settling in on the couch. He flipped the TV on before I could protest and did the one eyebrow thing again when all he got was snow.

"I had to choose between food or cable. Food won." I shrugged, food usually always wins when I have to pick between it and something else. What can I say, I like to eat.

"What food babe? You cupboards are empty and you only have beer and a rotten orange in your fridge."

Giving him my best burg glare I squared my shoulders and replied "If I wanted to be nagged about how I live I would have had Joe bring me home." Drowning my beer I slammed it down on the counter and grabbed the last one in the fridge. I knew I was being childish taking out my bad mood on Ranger. Without turning around I chugged down my second beer hoping Ranger would silently slip out while I was throwing my tantrum.

The hair on my arms raised and felt the tingle in my neck as his placed his hands on either side of me on the counter, pinning me where I was. His breathe tickled my neck and sent tingles further south as he whispered "I'm not nagging babe, just worried about you is all." My heart sped up as he placed a kiss below my ear and continued to work his way down my neck. Closing my eyes I relished the sensations running through my body. Boy did this man know how to kiss. I felt him laugh as I realized I had said that last part out loud. He pushed off the counter and I turned to see him headed towards the door. My Italian temper kicked in again as I realized this man had yet again got me all hot and bothered and was walking away.

"Why do you always walk away from me?" I demanded. He stopped but didn't turn around. "You get me all flustered and then just... leave." I threw my hands up in the air and opened the fridge hoping that it miraculously stocked itself. The empty shelves just made me more mad and I growled in frustration as I shut the door. I jumped as Ranger appeared behind the door and pushed me back into the counter. This time we were face to face and I could see the lust in his eyes.

"You want to know why I walk away from you Stephanie?" Great, he used my name. Without giving me a chance to respond he continued; "If I don't walk away from you, we would do something that you would regret. If I don't walk away from you I would keep you from a future with Morelli. But more importantly," he brushed his lips across mine, "if I don't walk away from you" another soft kiss, "then I would have to see the hurt in your eyes again when I send you back to Morelli in the morning." He finished with another soft kiss and then left.

Ranger's parting comments to me were emotionally exhausting and I decided to just call it a night at 6pm. I unplugged my home phone after the umpteenth call from my mother wanting to know why her daughter has to blow up cars. Does she think I do this on purpose?

It was dark out when something woke me. The clock told me it was just after midnight and I heard my front door closing. I froze, not knowing who was in my apartment. With my history it could be anyone from my Grandmother to Freddy Kruger. Lucky me I left my gun on the kitchen counter where Ranger put it. Not that it would have done any good since it was out of bullets.

"You awake Cupcake?" I let out the breath I was holding and sat up to see Joe standing by my bed. "I know it's late but I just got off and didn't want to wait to talk to you until tomorrow." I knew our routine break-up was coming but I didn't understand why he couldn't have waited until the morning to tell me we were off-again.

"You scared the bejeezus outta me Joe!" Maybe if I started yelling first things could go in my direction. "Couldn't you have called or something?"

I saw his jaw clench and un-clench before he responded. "Yeah well I tried but I kept getting your answering machine and, if you have forgotten so quickly, your cell phone went up in flames today. Again." Right... I guess I had forgot.

"Listen Joe, I've obviously had a bad day. Can we wait to break-up until the morning? I don't really have the energy to argue with you right now." He smiled down at me and started removing his clothes to climb into bed with me. Once he was down to his boxer he lifted the sheets and pulled me down beside him.

"I don't want to break up Cupcake." Okay, now I was confused. He was clearly pissed off this afternoon and he didn't seem to be in the best of mood now either."I think we should get married." I stared to pull away and Joe sensed the rhino in me coming to surface. "Just hear me out Steph." Joe and I were never great at communicating so I decided to settle back and let him have his say. But if he even tried to suggest I quit my job and live off his money barefoot and pregnant, I'd tase him and leave him in the hallway naked for all the old people to see.

"Okay talk" I said smiling to myself as I pictured old Mrs. Bestler finding Joe naked and passed out in the elevator. The guys at the station would love it.

"I know you don't want to quit your job, it gives you a sense of independence. Maybe I've been wrong trying to get you to do what I want you to do." I was speechless. Joe admitting he was wrong? And telling me he doesn't want me to quit my job.

"What about my friends? And Ranger? Are you going to tell me I can keep my job but I have to get new friends?" He had to have some motive behind his change of mind regarding my job.

"Let me ask you something, and be honest with me Steph. Do you really like your job? Do you want to worry about your car blowing up and chasing criminals and rolling around in garbage every day?" Now this I've heard before. But something about the way he was asking this time was different. He wasn't chastising me but honestly asking me if this is what I wanted. It mirrored my thoughts earlier in the day about not wanting to live like this anymore.

Resigned I answered him honestly "No."

"Then marry me Stephanie. Do this bounty hunter thing for however long you need to do it. Take your time finding a job that you really want. You can move in with me to help save money on the bills. Hell, don't work for all I care! Just... marry me, please." My conversation with Ranger from this afternoon came back to me and reminded me that he would never be able to offer me the commitment Joe could. His words rang through my mind 'I don't want to see the hurt on your face when I send you back to Morelli in the morning'. Maybe I didn't love Joe like I did Ranger, but I did love him... in my own way. I unamusingly chuckled at my thought as it again reminded me of Rangers qualifiers.

Maybe it was time to grow up and settle down. My hope for a 'someday' with Ranger was clearly not happening anytime soon. Hell, Ranger would probably never be ready for a relationship. At least with Joe he didn't send me away in the morning.

"Okay." I sighed as I let sleep take me again.

I promise this is a Babe story... just need to get through this first part.

Reviews are appreciated!