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Chapter Seven

Stephanie

As soon as I woke up, I was distinctly aware of someone beside me. I blinked, turned and saw the outline of a body. I looked away, rubbed the remains of sleep from my eyes and turned back around to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

I wasn't. Ranger had, somehow, made his way into my bed. He had the most peaceful look on his face and his arms were wrapped around my waist, cradling me to his chest, which was bare. His long locks were splayed across my pillow and his legs were entwined with mine. I checked to see if he had on any boxers and was just a tad disappointed when I saw he did.

He suddenly came awake, eyelids fluttering open slowly before his dark eyes landed on me. A lazy smile lit up his face. "Good morning." Was the only thing he mumbled before running his hands under my frilly nightgown.

I squirmed against him, feeling certain spots on my body react rather quick to his touch. "Ranger, what the hell? What are you doing here?"

"You let me stay the night, remember?"

"Yeah, ON THE COUCH."

He chuckled low in his throat and I felt his fingers draw circles on my thighs. "Do you know how uncomfortable your couch is to a man with broken ribs? Besides, I like sleeping with you. You're warm."

I liked him sleeping with me too. But for all the wrong reasons. "Get out of here!"

"Now, you don't mean that." His voice was heavy and seductive. His hands were becoming dangerously close to the spot between my thighs. This was the Ranger I remembered. Bold, silky, sexy.

I hated this Ranger. He had the power to knock down all my defenses.

"You smell good." He breathed with a smile. "Like flowers and home." He lowered his mouth to my neck and I felt kisses trail across my jaw line.

I didn't know what to do. One part of me wanted to let him the continue and the other part wanted to run away. I wasn't delusional. I knew enough about Ranger to distinguish wanting me from wanting my body. He was a man, after all. He liked sex. He liked having it. He liked having it with women. That was one thing he never tried to hide.

Those were the reasons I tried to stray away from him. I wasn't the type of woman who had casual sexual partners. If Ranger wanted to be with me then he would have to really be with me.

He didn't agree with that. Or, more so, he couldn't adhere to those circumstances. He was not very good boyfriend material, he claimed. His life didn't allow him to be.

Which had put us in this, seemingly endless, cat and mouse chase. Where he lounged to be in my bed and I made my bed off limits by being with Morelli who, unlike Ranger, would commit to a long term, monogamous relationship. I often wondered if that was the only reason I had stayed with Joe so long. Maybe I had just wanted the security of having someone who was obligated to be there for me. I mean, I loved him. I really did. But I don't think we could have made it. If only because our goals in life were too contrasting.

However, Ranger was a different story. He excepted me for what I was. He encouraged me. He was always around to comfort me. I could be trapped to my shower curtain by handcuffs, completely nude, and call him in the middle of the night to come help.

So what did that mean? That Ranger was more compatible for me? That he loved me? That he liked seeing me naked?

I wasn't sure. I just knew that I was willing to make a relationship between the two of us work. As long as he was willing to as well. Because, if you cared for someone enough, you'd be willing to make an effort, right?

Hell, did any of that matter? I could do whatever I wanted now, right? I was a free woman. I could just throw out my whole rule book and make myself happy, right?

Would sleeping with Ranger make me happy?

"Do you remember the first time I took you?" He was whispering in my ear and his hands were fondling my breasts, making it hard for me to think. "I do. It's engraved in my brain. It was amazing. You're so responsive. I loved making you moan." He was holding me tight against his frame and my mind was blanking out. I felt my breathing quicken, heat flared in my stomach, my nipples hardened. "Did you like that?"

I tried to speak but all that got out was a croak.

He chuckled again. "I've really missed your body, Stephanie. You wouldn't mind if I got reacquainted with it, would you?" He had hooked his thumbs into my panties and was slowly sliding them down.

"What-what about Diesel?" I trembled out.

"I threw him out of the window."

"What?"

"He's out getting doughnuts."

Ranger had my panties off before I could comprehend it. He moved downwards, covering my nipple with his lips. I inhaled sharply and my back arched itself. He was well on his way to spreading my thighs when the doorbell rang. I felt both relief and anger strike my heart. "That's probably Diesel now. I'll get that!" Before he could argue, I quickly jumped up and barreled out of the room. Not risking what could be my only chance of escape.

I swear I could hear Ranger laughing behind me.

I skirted down the hall and opened the door.

It wasn't Diesel.

It was Tank.

I furrowed my eyebrows at the large man. It was only until I saw that he was staring intently at his shoes did I realize he was blushing. I had smoothed my night gown out considerably so no one could tell that I didn't have anything on underneath but it still showed a decent amount of cleavage and leg. And I was pretty sure my face was flushed. It took me a moment to catch my breath.

"Tank, is there something you wanted?"

"I...uh...I can come back if...I..." I snickered. Tank was tall, foreboding, intimidating as hell. He worked for Ranger at Rangeman so he was dressed in the usual all black. Give him a fire fight with millions of enemies and he could handle it but show him a partially nude woman and he'd run for the hills.

Tank was endearing. Sorta.

Ranger took that moment to come strolling up behind me. He had put on cargo pants and combed his hair back into a ponytail. His chest was still unclothed. He took one look at Tank and his eyes narrowed. "Tank?"

The big man glanced at his superior and his whole demeanor changed. He went from bashful to dead serious in seconds. "There's been another break in."

"What?" Ranger and I exclaimed in sync.

"I've been trying to get in touch with you all morning. I came in early to open up and noticed that the gate had been broken into. When I realized you weren't at Rangeman, I tried to get a trace on your vehicle but it wasn't signaling. It's like it just disappeared. After I got your voice mail for the tenth time, I called the others and learned that you hadn't even returned last night. That sent everyone into a panic. I've never seen those guys so worried. They were, literally, jumping off walls." Tank explained, shaking his head. A smile passed across Ranger's face and it took me a moment to grasp that he was touched at his colleague's concern. I smiled myself. Huh. He really did care.

"I decided to come here as a last resort." Tank continued. "But...I...I didn't know you were busy..." His eyes flashed to me before darting away and my face got hot.

Ranger rolled his eyes and I held back a giggle at the sight. It was still too unorthodox to see him doing things like that. "Did you get anything on camera from the break in? Could we see the guy this time?"

Tank fiddled with his fingers and, if I hadn't known better, I would say that he was scared. "Sorry to say but it's the same as last time. Actually, it's worse. We got zero visibility. It's like no one was even there. Except..."

"Except what?" Ranger urged.

"Um...well...I think the perpetrator stole...some of our cars."

"You think he stole some of our cars?"

"Okay fine, all of our cars are gone."

Ranger's mouth was open, his eyebrows were narrowed. He looked about ready to explode. "Tank."

"Yes?"

"There were twenty cars in that lot."

"I know."

"So you're telling me someone broke into my company AGAIN and stole TWENTY of my cars without anyone noticing?"

"Yes."

Ranger's mouth started to move rapidly and it sounded like he was cursing in another language. "That's impossible." He was muttering, shaking his head. "First my Porsche gets blown sky high and now all of my other cars are stolen. This is insane."

"Your Porsche got blown up?" Tank's eyebrows had shot clear to his head and he gave me a look.

I narrowed my eyes. "It wasn't my fault!"

That was around the time Diesel came waltzing in. He was carrying three boxes of doughnuts and had the widest smile on his face. "Hey guys, I got a discount! Buy two boxes and you get one...free." His grin slowly dissolved when he realized that Ranger was glaring at him with murder in his eyes. He glanced at me and then Tank. "What'd I miss?"

Ranger stalked over to him. "I've just been informed that all of the cars at my Rangeman lot are gone."

"Gone?" Diesel asked.

"Gone. Absent. Missing. Moved. Stolen. Removed. They vanished. They're AWOL. Poof."

"So...why is this my problem again?"

I could hear Ranger grinding his teeth together. "It's your problem because I know you know who did it."

"Why would I know?"

"Because as soon as you showed up, my life turned into shit!"

"Ranger, have you ever considered anger management?"

Suddenly, the boxes of doughnuts that had once been in Diesel's hands went airborne. One second he was holding them and then the next, they were on the ground, lying half open. Creme and icing covered my floor and I felt a stab in my chest. Oh, those poor doughnuts. I would have to hold a funeral for them later on.

I turned my attention back to the matters at hand and saw that Ranger had Diesel by his collar. In the air. Pure hatred highlighted his face and I could see that Diesel had finally abandoned his care free attitude to gulp loudly. I glanced at Tank who was staring wide eyed. "Do something before Ranger shoots him!"

But the big man only shook his head and raised his hands. The universal sign for : I'm not getting in between that mess.

"Tank, close the door." Ranger ordered, narrowing his eyes. "I'm about to do some things and I don't want any of Stephanie's neighbors to see."

I was contemplating on what to do if worse came to worse when Joe Morelli came bounding in. As soon as he laid his eyes on the scene before him, however, he stopped and stared for a good ten minutes. First at Ranger who had set Mr. Magic man back on the ground, with a dangerous glint in his eyes. Second, Morelli glanced at Diesel who was trying his best to create a distance between him and his assailant. Then he turned to Tank and I, innocent onlookers, before he uttered, "Stephanie, I think we need to talk." His eyes had traveled down to the spilled deserts on the floor. "Alone."

I stepped out into the hallway with Morelli and closed the door. If only because I was afraid what would happen if three testosterone driven males remained in the room for too long. "What's up?"

"You tell me." He asked, putting hands on hips. His hair needed to be cut, his face needed a good shave and he needed to buy some pants without holes in them. Even so, he looked devilishly handsome. The one thing that kept Joe Morelli attractive was how scruffy he always appeared to be. And it wasn't like he did it on purpose. He was just naturally sloppy. But that was okay because it fit him. If he hadn't been giving me such an angry look, I might have taken the time to ogle.

"Whatcha mean?"

"Steph, there are three males in your apartment. Two of which I don't trust. Why is Diesel still hanging around here? And why the hell didn't Ranger have a shirt on?"

I groaned. "Did you come here JUST to argue with me?"

"No. I came here to kiss you and hug you and make up. I just hadn't expected all my worse enemies to have beaten me to the punch."

"Your worse enemies?"

"It's no big secret that Ranger and I don't get along." Morelli sighed. "And as for Diesel...well, I just don't like him."

"Listen, I'm not really in the mood-"

"Then maybe I can make you in the mood." Joe whispered, his eyes getting dark. Once upon a time, I had been a slave to those eyes. I had done anything they persuaded me to do. But now, as I stared at them, I found myself wondering why I hadn't seen past their charm.

"Morelli, seriously. I don't want-"

"Come on. I'm sorry about our fight. It was dumb. I didn't mean it. Do you forgive me? Is that good enough?"

No, I thought. No, it wasn't good enough. It wouldn't be good enough until we resolved the problem. "I'm a bounty hunter." I blurted out.

Morelli blinked. "I know."

"And I'm going to continue to be one. I'm good at it. Maybe I'm not a complete expert but I have great intuition. Why can't you see that?"

"Steph, I do see that. But...I mean...is that really the best course of action? Prance around Trenton with a gun you're afraid to use, risking your life trying to catch criminals? You do have good intuition, I won't knock that but...I just don't think you're cut out for this job."

My vision blurred and I felt my fist clench.

"I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything. I'm just concerned about you. There are plenty of other jobs that are safer, easier, more your speed. I could see you working at a perfume store."

Red hot anger shot up my body.

"Or maybe you can be a stay at home mom."

I growled low in my throat.

"You wouldn't want to stay doing this crazy job for the rest of your life. You'll turn paranoid, insane, wacky. You'd turn into a mini Ranger."

The next thing I knew, Morelli was on the ground, holding his nose that was spewing blood and, most likely, broken. I glanced at my hand, wondering if I had blacked out for a moment and struck him, when I felt someone side up to me.

I glanced up at Ranger. His mouth was turned down in a frown and he was shaking his hand. "Sonovabitch. My knuckles are going to be sore for days."