She Will Be Loved, a janet evanovich fanfic

There comes a time when you just have to wonder. Wonder what life would be like if you had made different decisions. Wonder if life would be different. If I hadn't taken the safe route all the time. If I hadn't let myself slip into the land of denial all those times. If I had stood up and conquered my fears. My fear of commitment. My fear of the future. My fear of love. What would be different? Would anything?

I sighed and turned off the shower, leaving such troublesome thoughts with the water as it drained. Time to get on with life. Skips to pick up. Fees to collect. My name is Stephanie Plum and I'm a bounty hunter. I generally leave the heavy thinking to people who have less demanding jobs. Mine requires my full attention. Even if I'm not very good at it.

One thing I never quite learned was to be aware of my surroundings. Something my mentor, friend, and once upon a time lover, Ranger always warned me about. Ranger's full name was Ricardo Carlos Manoso and he was a big hunk of Cuban sex god. And he was standing in my bedroom, arms crossed, not looking entirely happy.

I gripped the towel tighter around my damp body and stumbled. "Ranger. You scared me."

"We need to talk." His gaze was burning holes into me. That was his 'you're withholding information from me' stare.

I definitely didn't want to tell him anything, though I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I wasn't telling him. "Huh?" Eloquent, I know. Ranger has that affect on me.

He sank to my bed. "Babe." Ranger's one word answers often said more than I needed to hear. This one was disappointed. I hated that sound in his voice.

The radio alarm clock picked that moment to turn on. I wasn't quite sure why, but I had to laugh slightly at the song that was playing. Maroon 5 "She Will Be Loved." Just what my shower pondering had been about. I loved two men, and they loved me, in their own ways. One was in my bedroom, clearly upset about something. The other, vice cop Joe Morelli, was more like the dependable best friend. We were currently in the middle of an off phase of our on again, off again relationship.

Beauty queen of only eighteen
She had some trouble with herself
He was always there to help her
She always belonged to someone else

How appropriate. Ranger had saved my ass more times than I could count. Yet, I was usually with Morelli. Ranger seemed to be listening to the radio as well. His eyes moved up to mine, and I felt very self-conscious about the current state of my clothing.

"You just get back?" That was my attempt to change the subject. Ranger had been in the wind, as he did often, for the past month or so. I wasn't aware that he was back in town, which meant he did just get back. But, what can I say? The queen of denial was hard at work.

"Babe." He stood up and walked toward me. "We need to talk," he repeated.

Oh, damn. Just was I was worried about.

I drove for miles and miles
And wound up at your door
I've had you so many times but somehow
I want more

That was about right. I'd had Ranger only once. One spectacular time. He promised me that he'd ruin me for all other men, and boy was he right. Lately, Joe wasn't doing much for me. Which was a big motivating factor behind this last breakup. That, and he told me to quit my job. I don't take kindly to being told what to do. Blame my Italian temper.

Back to the problem at hand. "Can I get dressed first?"

Ranger's eyes darkened slightly as they raked down my mostly naked form. "If you insist."

I didn't, really. I was only slightly uncomfortable. And I was willing to let him take over for the shower massager. It hadn't been doing much for me lately, either. I pulled on some underwear and a t-shirt that was close at hand. Turned out, it was one of Ranger's. That only made the eyes darken more. Oops. "What's up?"

I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved

He didn't say anything. His eyes searched mine, not holding that blank face he was so good at. He was open. It was amazing. It took my breath away. "I'm tired of the games, Steph. I'm tired of the yo-yoing with Morelli. I'm tired of waiting for you to figure out what you want."

Queue that temper I was talking about. "Wait for me?" I stood back to give my arms proper room to flail. "What happened to the man who didn't do relationships? What happened to that 'my love doesn't come with a ring, but a condom would be handy' attitude?"

He winced. Yeah. He had said that. To my face. "Babe, let me finish."

Tap on my window knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful
I know I tend to get so insecure
It doesn't matter anymore

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. "Please, continue." It was almost not sarcastic. Almost.

Ranger sighed. If I hadn't heard it, I wouldn't have believed it. "I just got back into town, Steph. I came straight here."

Now, normally, to most girls, that wouldn't be very romantic. For Ranger, for me, that was practically a proposal. He hadn't called Tank. He hadn't checked in on his multi-million dollar empire. He came straight to me. My knees went weak and I took my place back on the bed next to him. "Really?"

He nodded, taking my hands. "Really." He pushed a wet curl out of my face. "I missed you so much it hurt."

And there go the tears. I know because one landed on my arm and my vision was a bit cloudy. "I missed you, too," I managed to squeak.

It's not always rainbows and butterflies
It's compromise that moves us along, yeah
My heart is full and my door's always open
You can come anytime you want

We let our little admissions linger for a few moments. Okay, so he missed me. Now what?

"Now what?" He smiled. Had I said that out loud? "I want more, Steph. I want more than stolen kisses in the alley and hiding from Morelli."

What did that mean? It had been awhile since he'd ever tried to steal kisses in the alley. I had all but given up, figuring he had moved on. Apparently not. "Morelli and I have been over for awhile, Ranger." Probably, he already knew that. I felt the need to reassure him, though.

"How long?"

I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
And she will be loved
And she will be loved
And she will be loved

I had to think. "When my car blew up and I called tried to call you to come get me. You were in the wind, Tank came. So, I guess that was the day you left, because I saw you the day before. Morelli made a scene and I gave it to him. I haven't talked to him since." And I was damn proud of myself, too. I had almost given in to my Hungarian hormones. Damn sex drive. Luckily, I had plenty of donuts to tide me over.

Ranger smiled and I wondered how much of that I had said out loud. "Babe, that stuff will kill you." Okay, so definitely the donut part. Damn.

"What does it matter how long, anyway?"

He moved slightly. Was he fidgeting? Oh, my. Batman was fidgeting. "I'm not fidgeting."

I laughed. "You are too."

I know where you hide
Alone in your car
Know all of the things that make you who you are
I know that goodbye means nothing at all
Comes back and begs me to catch her every time she falls

He stood and turned toward me. "I'm not good at sharing, Steph. It matters because once…if we start something, I won't share."

What a hypocrite. He was all for poaching unless it was on his territory. Then, I realized I had branded myself Ranger's territory and mentally slapped myself. Focus, Steph. I believe this was Batman's way of starting a monogamous relationship. Did I want that? Of course I did! Who the hell was I kidding? I stood up and walked toward him. "I'm not too good at sharing, either."

Tap on my window knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful

So, here we are. At an impasse, I suppose. Neither of us are taking that first step. I laughed quietly. "We're pretty pathetic, aren't we?"

Ranger smiled slightly. "I'm still trying to figure out what the hell to say to you."

I reached up and put a hand on his face. "You know, you're much better with actions than words, Batman."

His eyes darkened as I reached back and pulled his face down to mine. His lips meshed with mine and I went damp and warm in all the right places. Damn if this man didn't have absolute power over me.

It seemed like days, but it was only two hours later when we finally emerged from the bedroom. Ranger went to the kitchen for water in all his naked glory and I watched him disappear before ducking into the shower for the second time that morning. I needed to at least clean myself before heading to the bonds office. Connie and Lula would never let me live it down if I came in looking too freshly fucked.

Warm hands came around my waist as I scrubbed and I smiled and leaned back. "Haven't had enough yet?" I teased.

"Not by a long shot, babe." His lips trailed down my neck. "Not for a long, long time."

Please don't try so hard to say goodbye
Please don't try so hard to say goodbye
Yeah
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain