Chapter One

Ranger

It wasn't the car explosion that had shaken Ranger so much. The danger had moved on before the bomb went off, tearing open yet another one of Stephanie's cars. Alarms were singing, the air filled with dying embers, and Stephanie Plum was under him. Thrown to the ground in the concussive blast. She was too dazed to answer him at first. It made his precision focus blur until she finally opened her eyes. Reflecting the open sky.

It was a relief that she was conscious, but that was only part of his worry. He'd asked his men to treat her like glass for a reason. He just hadn't told them why. He looked down into Steph's expressive blue eyes and hoped like hell that she hadn't fallen hard enough to do any damage.

He waited a moment before he pulled her to sitting. Letting her get her bearings. Of course, her first thought was the burning car in front of her. The one she'd spent nearly half her recovery money acquiring. That broke through his fear just enough to let him smile. Steph had a talent for that. If she would let him, he'd replace it with anything her heart desired. As long it was bullet proof and flame retardant.

Tank and Ramon came running, but there wasn't anything they'd be able to do now. What Ranger needed now was reassurance that she was okay. Her and whatever else she might have on board. He gave Tank the you're-handling-this-shit look. "I'm taking her to the hospital."

"No, I'm okay," Steph insisted.

"Babe."

"I'm fine. I swear. I'm just a little shaken. It's not my first car explosion either."

He held her gaze, saying with a look what he wouldn't say out loud. Steph had been in deep denial about the possibility from the beginning. Because that cheap test she took had come out negative. He knew this wasn't something she wanted. Knew just how much it would screw up the life she thought she'd have. And he knew it wasn't fair for him to have any feelings on it one way or the other. But the bare fact was, Steph was nine days late. Unless something more concrete proved otherwise, he had to consider the ever growing possibility that she might be pregnant. That she might have a part of him growing inside her that would mark her as his. She frowned a little like she'd read his thoughts. "There's nothing to worry about," she said pointedly.

"Do you know that for certain?"

She opened her mouth to tell him yes, but she couldn't. There was no proof otherwise, and she knew it. "I'm just a little scraped up. I'll be fine."

Digging in her heels. Didn't want to believe it was still a possibility. He wouldn't argue his case in front of his men. This was a private matter between them. Last thing he needed was for a whisper to move through his ranks. She didn't deserve that. But hell would freeze over before he would let this go. On the cruel chance Steph really was carrying his child, he wasn't about to take any chances. He'd just have to prove it to her.

He packed her into the Turbo and started for Rangeman. "You really should let me take you to the hospital."

"No. I know the checking out you want done has nothing to do with my injuries and the last thing I need is for someone at St. Francis to overhear the word pregnant."

"I don't have to take you to St. Francis."

She shook her head again. "It's just some skin on my elbows. Not a big deal."

"We'll see about that," he said quietly.

She'd tried to protest when she realized where they were headed. Protesting wouldn't make any difference. They couldn't do this at her apartment. Especially with the chance Morelli might show up again. If Ranger got his proof, things between he and Steph were about to get very real. Last thing he needed was Morelli getting in the way.

He brought her up to his penthouse apartment and tossed his keys onto the sideboard before he dragged her into his bedroom. He sat her on his bed and got the first aid kit and the box he'd had shipped to the pawn shop. He tossed it on the bed next to her.

"What's that?" she asked when he started cleaning her wounds. He didn't answer right away. Not sure just how to say it. The scrapes weren't that bad. A couple layers of skin on her elbows. No gravel or debris. She winced when he cleaned the worse of the two with an alcohol swab.

"Leverage," he finally said. Her curiosity made her open the package. He didn't stop her. Better to just get it over with. He could see the oh boy all over her face when she saw the pregnancy test. Then she got a flash of panic when she realized it was the box they'd picked up from Gregorio. Ranger shook his head. "He doesn't know what was in it. I purchased it online through an alias and had it shipped to him to avoid a connection to Rangeman. I admit, it might have been excessive as far as secrecy is concerned, but it was safer than walking into a drugstore if you're avoiding gossip."

It was an untraceable technique he'd used to acquire things in the past. Things that were either illegal or incriminating in some other way. This wasn't likely to raise any red flags, but considering the impact even the implication would have on her life, he wasn't about to take any chances.

"So why is it leverage?"

He lifted her other elbow so that he could see it. "If it's positive, you let me take you to a hospital."

It took her a second to run down all her options. She didn't have any. "Fine," she said on a sigh. He fought a smile. He was in such deep trouble and he didn't even care.

He finished patching her up and she closed herself into his bathroom. He stretched out on his side of the bed, willing himself to relax. Trying very hard not to think about what might happen next. Nothing good ever came from considering the future, but staring down the barrel of possible fatherhood again made it nearly impossible not to.

The door opened too soon. Steph standing in the opening looking nervous and unsure. Cute. She'd come to wait with him. He crooked a finger at her. "Come here."

"Haven't we done this before?"

"The circumstances were a little different then."

"How."

He grabbed her the second she entered his strike zone, dragging her on top of him until he could roll her underneath. Relishing the feel of her. She always felt incredible rubbing against his body like that. But it was more this time. The deep, glowing heat in his chest stronger than in the rest of him. "For starters," he said, gathering her into him. "We weren't sexually active at the time, and you weren't in my apartment taking a pregnancy test."

She made a little whimper when he kissed her. Relaxing into him like she knew they should be one. He let his knee press into her center when her thighs parted for him. Wanted to touch every part of her at once. A promise of what could be if they let it. The test only needed three minutes, but it was getting harder to care. She melted when he tasted her throat. "I'm not sure this is a good idea."

He grinned against her skin. "Babe, I might have already knocked you up. What's the worst that could happen?"

She didn't get a chance to answer. Her phone had started to ring. Pulling her attention away. "Don't answer it."

"I have to answer it. What if it's important?"

"What if it's not?"

"My car was just blown up. There are people who will want to know I didn't die."

Damn. She was right. He was already being unforgivably selfish just putting her in this position. Not only had he knocked her up, he couldn't even keep his hands off her long enough to confirm it. Letting the people who love her suffer so he could be inside of her would be beyond selfish.

He lifted off her enough to let her reach her bag. She made a guilty little grimace when she saw who was calling. "It's Morelli."

Perfect. Morelli would have already gotten the full report by now. He'd know there hadn't been casualties. Ranger focused on her neck again, gratified when she trembled. He already had his hands under her shirt, but it wasn't enough. He pushed the shirt out of the way and kissed her sternum, then her belly, inching his way down toward the place his baby might be growing.

"I can't not answer."

"No one's stopping you." In fact, the longer that phone rang, the more he was liking the idea of pulling her pants down while Morelli was listening on the other line. Kissing the parts of her that would make it hard for her not to pant and coo. Steph held out as long as she could before she answered, half desperate. "Joe?"

"Steph, you alright?" Morelli's voice came through the phone. "Where are you?"

About to come in Ranger's bed, that's where. Ranger didn't stop the wicked grin. Steph rolled her eyes at him. She got a reprieve when the alarm beeped in the bathroom. Literally the only thing that could pull his attention away. He got off the bed. Shutting down the emotions that were fighting in his body. It wasn't productive to get invested in the answer. Not yet. Not until he knew what she would decide. No matter the results, there was no guarantee things would work out well for him.

The test he'd bought was expensive and high tech. Digital readout that would tell them not only whether she was pregnant, but how many weeks she might be if she was. He detached his thoughts as he picked up the little white stick and read the display.

ooo

Steph

Ranger stepped out of the bathroom and leaned against the doorframe, the little white stick in his hands, his expression infuriatingly empty. Oh god. Oh god oh god. What did it say?

Joe's voice was in my ear again and it took me a second to understand it. "You want me to come pick you up?"

"Umm. Aren't you working?"

"We're waiting on some forensics reports. I could slip away for an hour or two."

"No. That's okay. I'm in good hands here."

"That's what I'm worried about," he said quietly. Don't think I was supposed to hear that part. "You'll call me if you need anything, right?"

"Yes. I will, I promise."

"Okay," he said, realizing he didn't have much of a choice. "I love you."

"Me too." I waited until he disconnected and then looked at Ranger, dread filling the pit of my stomach. "Well?"

His eyes dropped to the test again before they held mine. His face still empty. Then he crossed the room. Sitting on the bed in front of me. My heart in my throat when he gave me the test.

1-2 weeks.

My brain shut down. Completely blank. "What does that mean?"

"It means you're one to two weeks pregnant."

"That's not possible."

The corner of his mouth twitched. "Babe."

"But—I don't understand! How did this happen?"

"Well, Babe. When a man and a women love each other very much—"

UGH! I punched him in the arm, but he didn't care. He just laughed at me. His amusement kept the panic at bay for about twenty seconds. Then reality hit. "Omigod. This can't be happening. What am I going to do? I can't be…" I saw it when his smile faded. Reality must have hit him too. Cripes. This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't ready. And Ranger. Shit. This wasn't in Ranger's plan at all. He wasn't going to do anything stupid like marriage or pregnancy, and yet here he was. A father again because I'd forgotten to take a couple of tiny little pills. Oh god. I could feel the tears, but I couldn't stop them. They welled up and spilled over. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

His face was guarded. "What exactly are you sorry for, Babe?"

"For getting pregnant!"

"Babe, it wasn't something you did on purpose."

"But if I hadn't told you I was on the pill—"

His hand covered mine. "Steph. I took that risk with you. Knowing full well what the consequences might be. I don't hold you responsible."

"But. I didn't know that I'd missed some pills. I tried to take them all at once, but…" I bit my lip. "Obviously that didn't help." Ranger didn't say anything. He just studied me, his hand still warm and firm around mine. I wouldn't blame him if he was pissed. I'd just made his solitary life a hellovalot more complicated. Then a thought cut through me. "Oh god. My mother's going to have a heart attack."

Ranger's thumb stroked my hand. "Babe. You don't have to tell her."

"Of course I have to tell her! Even if I don't, I think she's going to notice when I get all fat and…Omigod. I'm going to get fat!"

A curious look slipped through his Fort Knox expression. "You're thinking about keeping it?"

I was completely flabbergasted for a second. "Of course. I can't not keep it. I mean…Oh god, did you want to…"

He shook his head. "It's your decision, Babe."

I let that sink in. My decision. Not ours. Mine. I'd just assumed from the way he'd been acting that he'd take responsibility with me. He was the one who remembered I shouldn't drink. Filled my fridge with health food and switched me to decaf. Worried when I fell that it might have hurt the baby. Why would he do all that if we weren't in this together?

He must have read my mind again because he grabbed hold of my folded knees and pulled me toward him across the bed until I was almost in his lap. "Steph, I didn't mean you were doing this alone. I just meant that I wouldn't influence your decisions."

"I don't even know what decisions I can make. I'm already pregnant."

The corner of his mouth twitched. I was amusing him again. "First things first. You promised if the test was positive, you'd let me take you to a doctor."

"Is that really necessary?"

"Yes."

I felt a little cornered. Didn't really have a lot of wiggle room to refuse. This time he smiled.

"Is it safe to assume you would rather go to a private doctor instead of a hospital?"

"That does sound less painful."

Ranger leaned over me to kiss my head and got up to go into his office. He leafed through a few pages and dialed a number on his cell. Listened to it ring a second. "Yes. I need a referral for an obstetrician. That would be fine." He listened some more while they transferred him. "I need your next available appointment for a new patient. My girlfriend is almost six weeks pregnant and she was just knocked to the ground due to a concussive blast from an IED. We'd like to make sure there wasn't any injury to her or the baby."

That didn't compute for a full minute. I wasn't sure if it was the matter of fact way he said I'd been blown up. Or maybe it was the easy use of the word baby, like he wasn't in shock at all. There might have been something else, too. Couldn't put my finger on it.

"Sure. I'd appreciate it. We can be there in twenty minutes. Thank you."

My jaw was still hanging when he disconnected and turned to look at me. Amused that I was speechless. "You said girlfriend."

"And?"

"And you don't do relationships."

His eyes were crinkling at the edges when they dropped to my belly. "Babe."

"What? I'm pregnant and all of a sudden I'm your girlfriend?"

A smile quirked up at the corner of his mouth. "They're holding an opening for us. We should probably go now."

"Wait, hang on a second! You can't just say something like that and then drop it!"

"Clock's ticking."

"Ugh! You are so impossible!" I flopped back on the bed.

Ranger was laughing when he came over, the mattress dipping under his weight. He leaned over me. "Babe. I know this is a lot to take in all at once. This wasn't something either of us planned, and there are still a lot of variables that need to be settled. That was just the easiest way to describe our association to the physician's assistant."

"So I'm not your girlfriend."

Again, the smile. "Do you want to be?"

"I don't know. Everything's upside-down. This morning I woke up with Morelli in my kitchen and now Mr. I-don't-do-relationships is throwing words around."

"Babe. I promised I wouldn't try to influence your decisions. Truth is, at this point you could have pretty much anything you want. Within reason."

"What does that even mean?"

I was amusing him again. "Would you like me to lay out some options?" I nodded. Ranger tucked a stray curl behind my ear, lingering at my temple. "Well. It's worth saying right off the bat that financial support is non-negotiable. And I don't just mean the baby. I'll be covering all your medical bills, food, housing, and transportation. And when I say transportation, I mean something I'd actually allow the mother of my child to drive. It will be reliable, safe, and most likely bulletproof."

"Hard to argue with that."

He didn't hide the smile that time. "Beyond that, there's a lot of gray area," he said, stroking my cheek. "I can't make too many promises. But if you keep your demands to the immediate future, there's not much that's off the table."

"Like what?"

"Well." He lowered his weight on me again, lifting my hand to his lips. "You've pretty much had an open invitation to share my closet for a while now."

"But for how long?"

"As long as you want."

I blew out a sigh. "What happened to I'd have to leave your bed eventually?"

"That was more for you than it was for me."

Our eyes held. "What?"

Ranger was looking immeasurably patient. Maybe to the point of sainthood. "When I said I wasn't going to do anything stupid, like marriage or pregnancy, that was a promise I was trying to make to you. That I wouldn't tie you down to someone like me."

"Explain."

"I can't. And if I did, you'd wish I hadn't. It's a crime against you that I'm even open to this at all. If you weren't in such a precarious position because of my actions, I'd be telling you to run for the hills."

"What precarious position?"

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Babe. Is there any chance this baby isn't mine?"

"No."

"And do you still see yourself with Morelli even after having my child?"

I bit my lip. Cripes. Way to put it all out there. "No," I admitted against my will.

"Then it's my duty to take care of you." His eyes searched my face. "The truth is, I've been looking for an excuse to keep you ever since Hawaii. I like sharing space with you. I like having you in my bed. I like loving you. And now I have a legitimate reason to claim you for my own."

"Wow."

"Yeah. As I said. What you want is up to you. If you want to stay in your apartment when things have calmed down again, I'll be happy to pay for it. Whether you keep skip tracing or not. And if you want to save me some money, you're welcome to move into Rangeman. In fact, I have to admit I kinda like the idea of your cute little clothes in my closet. And if you want to talk labels, we can talk labels."

"Like girlfriend?"

"Yes. Like girlfriend."

"What about fiancée or wife?"

"Don't push it." I gave him an innocent smile and he laughed. Kissing my lips before he lifted off me again, offering me a hand to help me up. "Come on. We have a doctor to see."