Only JE can claim the rights to any recognizable characters – I'm only playing for fun

**Mild Smut Warning**

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Prologue

I wasn't sure what I was waiting for. The view hadn't changed in the thirty minutes I'd been watching the building, but I couldn't seem to make myself get out of the car.

My phone rang and I actually jerked at the sound. Ranger Manoso - badass mercenary - startled by a ringing phone. I checked the display and greeted Tank curtly, mildly irritated by the interruption of my staring at an unmovable object. Jesus, I needed to get a grip.

"What?"

"Everything okay?" He asked, surprising me. I figured he was calling with a report on some intel I'd asked for, not a question about my status.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the control room just called and said you've been sitting across the street from Tina's bridal shop for the past half an hour. They thought that was odd since you're supposed to be boarding a plane at the Newark airport in fifteen minutes."

Fuck. I glanced at my watch. Even if I left right now I would probably miss my flight. "Turn off the GPS on my car," I demanded. Perfect. Just perfect. I didn't even want to think about how fast this would spread through the building. I hoped Lester wasn't on monitor duty today.

More than one beat passed before Tank responded. "No problem. Should I reschedule your flight?"

I looked at my watch again. I would never make it. I needed to be in Miami for a meeting with my business partners so I really should have him get me on another flight. I cut my eyes to the building across the street and something painful twisted in my gut. "No. I'll take care of it later."

I listened as Tank inhaled and exhaled slowly and then he spoke softly – almost gently in my ear. "You missed your chance. Let her get on with her life."

"Call Silvo," I said, ignoring him. "Have him change the meeting to next Thursday." I disconnected and dropped my phone onto the seat beside me.

Tank was wrong. It wasn't too late. Not yet. But this would be my last chance. I opened the door and slid out from behind the wheel. After I locked the car, I took a deep breath and headed for the building. The thought that this was a bad idea and that I was an asshole for even thinking about it tried to force its way into my brain but I squashed it down into the box it had been in, locked it up and threw away the key.

A bell above the door jingled when I pushed it open and Tina herself looked up from the mannequin she was dressing when I stepped into the shop. She was short and round with long black hair that was teased to within an inch of its life. Her ruby red painted lips smiled at me as her brown eyes raked over my entire frame. She reminded me of Connie.

"What can I do for you, gorgeous?" She asked huskily and I was just about to answer when Mary Lou and Lula appeared, each holding a hideous pink dress and talking about the color.

"They're supposed to be ugly," I heard Mary Lou say as they moved further onto the main floor. "That way the bride looks even better. And it worked – she looks amazing!"

Lula opened her mouth for what I knew would be a very graphic response but must have seen me out of the corner of her eye because her head suddenly whipped around making the beads in her hair dance and clack together loudly.

"Well, shit," she said, locking eyes with me. I nodded and reached into my pocket for my clip of money.

"Take Mary Lou and Tina to lunch," I said, my eyes never leaving hers. I peeled off several bills and handed them to her. Mary Lou made a small strangled sound when Lula took the cash from me without a word. I slid my eyes to her and she looked like she was scared I might shoot her.

"But what about my shop?" I heard Tina ask from beside me.

"I'll make sure it's secured before I leave," I assured her, looking at Lula again. She nodded once and took Mary Lou by the arm.

"Let's go," she said softly and tugged her toward the door, Tina following in their wake. I could feel curious and concerned eyes on my back but I didn't turn around until I heard the bell and then their footsteps on the concrete walkway outside. I locked the door and flipped the open sign in the window to closed.

I silently stalked across the shop toward the dressing rooms and toward the woman I knew was behind one of the doors, getting the final fitting done on the dress she would wear when she married another man.

She was in the middle of the three rooms and I paused outside the door and dropped my forehead onto the smooth surface. This was a dick move, I knew that. The wedding was just over a week away and I shouldn't be anywhere near here – but I wasn't going to leave. I knew I wasn't going to leave.

I closed my eyes and was assaulted by images of her walking down the aisle to the waiting arms of the man who wasn't me. I barely bit back a lament of dismay before I ripped open the dressing room door and stepped inside, nearly slamming it behind me.

She was facing a full length mirror and her head was bent, inspecting something in the lace on the bodice of her dress but it came up at the sound of my entrance. Our eyes met in the mirror and my breath caught in my throat. Mary Lou was right, she looked amazing.

We stood frozen in place, watching each other and not speaking until Stephanie's eyes abruptly filled with tears and she whispered out a plea I could not ignore. "Give me a reason. Please give me a reason."

Blood rushed in my ears as my heart lurched underneath my shirt. I crossed the short distance between us and grabbed at the back of her dress. "Take it off," I growled barely recognizing my own voice. In lieu of a zipper, there were a million tiny buttons holding the dress together and my fingers couldn't move fast enough so half way through I ripped the back open, roughly yanking the material away from her body. Buttons popped and flew in every direction. "Get it off!" I said more forcefully, not able to stand seeing her in the dress for another second.

She clawed savagely at the sleeves and pulled them off her arms. The material pooled at her feet and she stepped out of it entirely before kicking it away. We were both breathing heavy as she stood before me in a white lace bra and matching panties.

"All of it," I commanded, also not wanting to see her in lingerie I knew was for the benefit of someone else. The bra disappeared and she slid the panties down her legs and pitched them somewhere near the dress with her foot.

I launched myself at her naked form and our lips crashed together as my arms came around her back. It had been too long since I'd touched her, since I'd tasted her and I couldn't get enough. My tongue plundered her mouth over and over and her delicate moans of pleasure shot potent ripples of electricity through every nerve ending of my body.

"Ranger…please," she murmured when I finally broke away so we could get some much needed air.

"I know," I said and jerked my pants down to release my raging erection. I felt like I would die if I didn't get inside her. I lifted her by the back of her thighs and she wrapped her legs around my waist. I slid into her with one sure stroke as I pressed her back against the wall of the small dressing room.

I was fully sheathed inside her, my balls tight against her skin but I didn't move. I had nearly come at that initial thrust so I stayed still, resting my forehead against hers with my eyes closed and my breath expelling from my lungs in short bursts. "Don't marry him, Stephanie."

Her breath hitched and then she implored, "Why, Ranger? Tell me why."

I withdrew from her, sliding almost all the way out and opened my dark eyes to her shining blue ones. "Because, I'm in love with you." I pushed back in slowly and stroked her until we were both lost in the throes of a shattering release.