JE owns the rights to anything familiar. Mistakes are all mine.

For Margaret who has spent every week (mostly) for the past year asking for a follow up to this story.

The sun was just starting its climb into the morning sky when my phone rang. Normally if I got a call at this hour I would assume someone must be dead or in trouble, but I was guessing that wasn't the case today. Rolling over, I grabbed it off the night stand and even though I didn't recognize the number, there was no hesitation to press the button and accept the call.

"You do realize that Florida and New Jersey are in the same time zone, right?"

"Morning, Babe."

I could hear the smile in his voice and despite the ungodly hour, I was smiling too. "Wrong. It's the middle of the night. Are all the clocks in Miami broken?"

A small chuckle sounded over the line and my smile got wider. I loved it when I could make him laugh. "I have a full plate today and wanted to call before it gets too crazy; I might not have time later."

I settled back into my pillows and pulled the comforter up to my chin. "Where are you?" I asked, already knowing the answer. He only called this early when he was running at the beach.

"At the beach. The sunrise is beautiful." I was guessing it paled in comparison to the vision of him clad only in a pair of black running shorts, which I imagined were riding very low on his hips, but I would take his word for it.

"How's Julie?" I always asked about his daughter or the rest of his family or the guys at the Miami Rangeman branch. Anything except what I really wanted to know.

"She's good. I'm taking her to her favorite Italian place tonight so she can eat her weight in spaghetti."

"I think maybe Julie and I are soulmates."

Ranger laughed again and my only regret was not being able to hear it in person.

"I gotta go, Babe, but we'll talk soon." He disconnected and I laid there for a good long while cradling the phone to my chest and wondering if he was ever going to come home.

It'd been a couple of weeks since I started getting the calls, the ones where he actually spoke to me. The ones when he didn't began months before. At first I ignored the signs; the Florida area codes, the times of day they occurred, and possibly the biggest clue of them all...the tingling on the back of my neck. Only one person caused that reaction in me.

I had no proof besides my gut feeling, but I knew. A few times I almost said something when he called but I figured he had a reason for not speaking and honestly, I was afraid the calls would stop if I let him know I was aware it was him.

It was the only connection to him I had left and I didn't want to lose it.

I'd been heartbroken when he left, mainly because he didn't tell me, but mostly because he didn't even say good-bye. I'd thought we were better friends than that and when I found out he was gone and not likely to return I spent more than one night in tears.

Those nights were what made me realize I couldn't marry Joe. I was more upset about losing a friend than I was over any of the multiple times Morelli and I called it quits so how could I have even considered marrying him?

After a couple of really extensive talks and a lot of beer, we decided the only reason we got engaged in the first place was to try and ease the pressure from everyone in the burg who had nothing better to do than wonder why we weren't married and popping out a bunch of kids. Okay, mostly it was from our mothers, but sometimes it seemed like the entirety of Trenton was backing up their insane quest to marry us off.

Our final split turned out to be pretty amicable; neither one of us yelled or anything. Joe and I are still good friends and all things considered, that's pretty amazing. We go to an occasional game together and grab a pizza at Pino's every now and again but thankfully he's moved on and is dating other people.

Trying to explain that to my Mother was an exercise in futility and she still hasn't fully forgiven me for breaking off my engagement. Good thing I don't give a crap what Helen Plum or anyone else thinks anymore. Sure, it means I spend a lot less time mooching dinner and lunches from her kitchen, and the holidays are a little tense, but I'm living my life the way I want to. Maybe it's not conventional or what's expected of me or even normal, but I'm okay with it. I've even gone on a date or two but….well to be honest; I'm waiting for a certain Cuban badass to get his ridiculous body back to New Jersey.

Unfortunately, I'm starting to think that's never gonna happen and maybe I need to get on plane and go get him…unless he doesn't want me to. What if he met some hot Miami chick on the beach where he runs and has no plans to ever come home?

The rational part of my brain thought if he did have a girlfriend there, I probably wouldn't be getting all these calls, but Ranger notoriously kept everything close to the vest so I couldn't be sure. I let out a sigh and tossed the covers aside. There was no way I would be able to fall back asleep with Ranger-on- the-brain disease. Too bad there isn't a pill or an injection I could take for that particular affliction - it sure would make things a lot easier.

I heard from him several more times over the course of the next few days, including one very suggestive and long conversation late one night which left me horny and hungry, in that order, and after a hot shower with the massager I would soon have to replace and eating the last package of butterscotch krimpets in my cupboard, I made a long overdue decision.

I was going to Florida.

But first I needed confirmation that I wasn't crazy…or maybe that I was. I don't know which would be worse.

I met Lula, Connie and Mary Lou at Chevy's and after too many margaritas, too many nachos, and way too much information about an unfortunate waxing incident Lula incurred, I fessed up to the multiple phone calls and texts I'd received recently.

My confession was met with the expected reactions. "Holy shit," Connie breathed and started fanning herself with a napkin.

"What are you going to do?" Mary Lou asked while clutching the collar of her shirt and staring at me with mild panic in her eyes

"I told you Batman had a thing for your skinny white ass," Lula remarked smugly before stuffing the last cheese slathered chip into her mouth.

"I was thinking of taking a vacation," I said after finishing the margarita in my glass. "In Florida….am I crazy?"

"Yes!" From Mary Lou.

"Hell no." From Lula while she tried to get our waiter's attention.

And from a cautious Connie, "Maybe."

"Well, that's no friggin help at all," I groused, though I really wasn't expecting them to have a definitive answer for me. I blew out a sigh and leaned back in the booth so I could undo the button of my jeans. Definitely too many nachos.

"What if he doesn't want you to come?" Mary Lou brought up the very first fear on my list. "What if he's seeing someone?"

Lula looked at Mary Lou like she'd suddenly sprouted a third eye. "Shit girl, don't you know nothin' about men? If his mind or that hot Cuban ass was occupied with someone else there's no way he'd be calling all the time. Everyone knows men can't multi-task."

Normally I would agree with her, but Ranger was the exception to that rule. I was certain he could handle a dozen things at once and never break a sweat.

"She has a point," Connie agreed. "And I've seen how he looks at you…it's intense."

"Intense? Hell, it's more than intense. I'm surprised we all don't burst into flames when he sets those sexy as hell peepers on her." Mary Lou and Connie both nodded at Lula's statement and I couldn't argue either. Ranger had a way of looking at me that lit my blood on fire.

Lula finally got the attention of our waiter and though none of us needed it, we ordered another pitcher and more food and after both were half gone, as was my sobriety, Mary Lou brought up what I'd thought about a million times, but could never seem to do.

"Have you tried asking him if he has a girlfriend?"

"No."

"What about why he left? Or if he's coming back? Or if he wants you to come there? Or if he loves you as much as you love him?"

Whoa. Mary Lou was definitely wasted. "No, no, no and no."

"Well, what do you talk about then?" Connie asked reasonably. "And wait….are you in love with him?"

Was I? I had feelings for him, sure, but love? I shoved a nacho in my mouth because yes, of course I was in love with him. But I thought maybe I should tell him that before anyone else got to hear the words.

"She is," Lula nodded knowingly, making the beads in her hair clack together. "Youshooodcallim," she slurred out and I moved the pitcher of booze out of her reach. "Right now. Call Batman!"

"Okay," I agreed readily and then I moved the pitcher out of my own reach. "But I need a payphone."

"Oh!" Mary Lou exclaimed. "That's so romantic!"

"Romantic?" Connie queried. "More like disgusting. Payphones are gross, but there is one back by the bathrooms."

"Yeah, but that's how he calls her. It's romantic!" Mary Lou insisted again.

"Lessgo!" Lula practically yelled and jumped up out of the booth. She tripped over her own feet and went down like a sack of sugar, giving the entire restaurant an unwanted view of her poison green thong. But in true Lula fashion, she ignored the gasps of horror and was back on too high of heels, pulling her skirt down and making her wobbly way to the restrooms at the rear of the restaurant.

We all trailed after her and by the time we caught up, she was at the phone and holding the receiver. "What's the number?"

"I'll do it," I told her and snatched the handset from her. I tried not to think about what was making it so sticky while I punched in the digits to Ranger's cell. Somewhere at the back of my mind I knew I should wait until I was sober to make this call but I couldn't seem to stop myself. When it started to ring, I sucked in a breath and held it. My inebriated friends did the same.

It rang twice and I was starting to panic. What the hell was I going to say? And he'd know instantly I was drunk. This was a bad idea. I moved to hang up when his voicemail clicked on. "Leave a message."

Brief and to the point. Very Ranger.

The tone sounded and my brain completely shut down. I don't know how long I stood there in silence before Connie said, "What's happening?" And I was jolted back into the moment.

"Oh! I oh….Hi. It's ah…it's me. I was just….shit." I slammed the receiver down onto the cradle and turned to find three sets of wide eyes staring at me. "I panicked!" I blurted and then covered my face with my hands following a groan of embarrassment.

"It's okay," Mary Lou patted my back. "It wasn't that bad."

"Yeshitwas!" Lula was shitfaced, but at least she was honest.

"Maybe we should call it a night," Connie wisely suggested.

Mary Lou managed to call a cab to take us all home and by the time I crawled into bed fully clothed, the room was spinning and I'd convinced myself I'd never hear from Ranger again.

A horrible ringing noise woke me several hours later and when I finally managed to pry my eyes open and try and find the source of the sound so I could make it stop, I realized it was my phone. It was nearly four in the morning and though my head was pounding so hard I could hardly think straight, I was able to register Ranger's cell number on the caller ID.

Shit. I really didn't want to answer because I was still embarrassed about earlier, but somewhere during the ill-advised activities of the evening, I'd decided I was done being a coward.

"Hello?" I whispered after managing to answer the call.

"That greeting sounds like two pitchers of Margaritas were consumed. Sorry I missed your call earlier; are you okay, Babe?"

"Not really," I croaked out, "but I will be after a bucket of fries and all the coke McDonald's will sell me."

And there was the laugh I love. "I can have the cure there in fifteen minutes."

I paused, because that would be awesome, but I definitely didn't want him using his resources to rescue me from a night of bad decisions.

"Thanks for the offer, but honestly I'd only be interested if you were bringing it yourself." Oops. I hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Ranger was quiet for a beat and then he said, "That can be arranged, but it will take a bit longer than fifteen minutes."

Now it was my turn to pause again. I knew if I said that is what I wanted he might actually do it, but did I really want my drunken escapade to be the reason he comes home? Or was he looking for an excuse? "I appreciate the gesture, but I did this to myself so I should be the one to fix it."

"Fair enough. Was there a reason for your call? Your message wasn't very…clear."

I could hear the hint of amusement in his voice and it made my cheeks flush again. I was humiliated, of course, but he was giving me an opportunity to ask what I've wanted to for a long time. I took a breath and then a leap of faith.

"Are you…why did you leave? And are you ever coming back? You…you didn't even say good-bye and I…I miss you." Again, I let my mouth run and said more than I intended. I bit my tongue, waiting to see what his response would be.

"Oh, Babe… I miss you too." His voice was low and maybe it was my addled brain, but I swear I heard it catch in his throat. "I left because….because I was a coward and took the easy path. I couldn't stand the thought of seeing you happy with someone who wasn't me so I ran."

Holy crap. It sounds like Ranger felt the same way about me as I did, do, about him. Why the hell didn't we ever tell each other? Maybe he wouldn't have left if either of us would have had the balls to speak up.

"Ranger…I…" A very loud, piercing alarm sounded over the line and I heard him swear viciously, a rarity for Ranger, and then he told me he had to go.

"That's the fire alarm for my building, Steph. We need to finish this discussion, but I have to go. I'll call you as soon as I can."

He disconnected and I let out a growl of frustration that made the throbbing in my head worse. That was one of the only real conversations we've ever had and damn right we needed to finish it, but it was going to be in person.

The first thing I did was take a shower and then go get the cure. After my brain was back to normal, I quickly packed a bag and then I got online and bought a plane ticket for the first available flight to Miami. It maxed out my visa, but I didn't care. I did realize about a minute after I made the purchase that I had no idea where to go after I got to Florida and I was going to need help. There was only one person I knew who would fit the bill.

I loaded my bag into my piece of shit car and drove to the building on Haywood. I'd only been to Ranger's office a few times and when I turned onto the street, a rush of nerves flooded my stomach. Tank had given me a fob for the gate and said I was welcome anytime, but I was still nervous.

After parking in an empty spot and spending longer than I should looking at Ranger's Porsche, I made my way to the elevator and hit the button for the fifth floor. By the time the doors opened, I'd nearly talked myself out of it but I came face to face with Ram who greeted me with a little half grin while he ran his fingers through his shoulder length black hair.

"Hey Bomber, long time no see. You don't come by nearly enough."

I smiled back. "You're sweet, Ram, but I don't want to be a bother." And he was sweet. They all were and I always had a good time when I was here or if I ran into any of them around town. That seemed to happen more often than not and every once in a while I wondered if Ranger had asked them to look after me when he left.

"You could never be a bother, Steph. What brings you by? Need help with a skip? I could use a break from monitor duty."

He slung a well-muscled arm around my shoulder as I made my way toward Tank's office. "If you're serious, I could use some help next week, but right now I just need to see the big guy. Is he in?"

Ram barked out a short laugh. "Yeah. It's pay week so he's probably neck deep in payroll reports right now. Be careful," he warned, "Tank hates paperwork and will probably be grouchy as hell. Call me when you're ready and we'll do some bounty hunting."

He left me at Tank's door after a peck on my cheek and my eyes were automatically drawn to the closed and locked door of Ranger's office across the hall. I let out a small sigh at the sight of the perpetually darkened windows and then squared my shoulders before knocking on the door of the interim boss.

A muffled "Enter," sounded from somewhere inside so I slowly pushed it open. Ram wasn't kidding about the paperwork. There were mounds of it covering the desk and sitting in his massive chair behind it, Tank had a look of pure hatred on his face.

"I can come back if this is a bad time," I offered when he didn't even look up from the stack. It made him raise his head and a genuine smile split his lips when he saw it was me.

"Have a seat," he offered. "And it's not a bad time. I could use a distraction from this crap so what can I do for you?"

I couldn't stop the grin. There was something infinitely amusing about seeing the mammoth beast, who was way more comfortable wielding a gun or a knife than a pen, working his way through a pile of papers.

"Not much, I just want to ask a question." Tank leaned back in his chair and regarded me with a quizzical eyebrow raise. Because of the brief conversation I'd had with Ranger this morning I already knew the answer but I wanted to see if he knew too. "Did Ranger leave because I got engaged to Morelli?"

The expression on his face didn't change but the muscle in his jaw was twitching furiously. After what seemed an unreasonable amount of time he offered this: "I think that is a question you should ask Ranger directly."

I couldn't argue so I changed the focus to Tank. "Fair point. How about this one...how long did you know those calls I was getting were from him?"

I'd received a call from Tank three weeks ago and all he'd said was, "The next time you get one of those calls, don't hang up." He disconnected before I could respond and not even a half an hour later, Ranger called so I suspected he'd known the entire time where the calls were originating even though he'd told me he couldn't trace them. I wasn't mad, Tank was nothing if not loyal and he would never do anything he thought might be a betrayal to Ranger.

His response was as expected. "I should really get back to this paperwork."

I flashed him all my teeth. "Just one more thing...I'm going on a last minute vacation. I've heard Florida is nice this time of year, do you have any recommendation of where I might stay while I'm there." I could be as vague and evasive as he was.

We locked eyes for two full heartbeats before he bent his head and reached for a notepad. He scribbled a few things and then tore off a sheet and handed it to me. "Call when you get there and I will make sure you can get into the building. When do you leave?"

I cut my eyes to the clock on the wall above his head. "My flight leaves in two hours."

"From Newark?"

"Yes."

He picked up the handset on his desk phone and pushed a button before putting it to his ear. "Stephanie needs a ride to the airport; meet her in the garage in five minutes." After hanging up, he said, "Zip will take you."

"What about my car?"

"It will be here when you get back. Go." He gestured to the door with a wave of his hand and just like that I was dismissed. I turned back at the doorway to thank him but he dismissed that too. "Just...bring him home."

There wasn't anything I wanted more.

Zip got me to the airport in record time and after checking in and making my way through the security line I found my departure gate.

I settled into one of the highly uncomfortable plastic chairs and tried not to think about what would happen when I got to Florida. There were only two possible scenarios and I was hoping for the one where Ranger pulled me into his arms and kissed me senseless just before taking me to bed and never letting me leave.

Just after that thought, all the hair on the back of neck stood on end and a distinctive tingle started at the base. My phone rang from deep inside my bag and I knew it was Ranger. I tore through my purse to find it and once it was in my hand, I immediately answered. If I'd slowed down long enough to see the caller ID, I would have noticed the Jersey area code, but I was too distracted by wanting to hear his voice to even bother looking.

"Going somewhere, Babe?" What? How did he know that? Half of me wanted to lie so my arrival would be a surprise but the other part, the one that wasn't sure if he even wanted me there, had control of my mouth.

"As a matter of fact I'm about to get on a plane to Miami. What's the weather like today?"

"It's raining but you won't need an umbrella."

"No?"

"No. You're not going to leave New Jersey." I knew it. He didn't want me to come and Tank ratted me out. I tried not to let the disappointment seep into my voice.

"Oh. Well…." I didn't even know what to say and I was trying really hard not to cry.

"Turn around, Steph."

"What?"

"Turn around."

I slowly spun my head and then all the air left my lungs when I saw him there leaning on the glass partition of the payphone directly behind me. The black handset was pressed to his ear and there was a slight tilt to the corners of his lips. He was dressed in all black, his hair was cut short and those molten brown eyes that could instantly ignite the blood in my veins were focused solely on me. When I didn't respond, the small grin turned into a full-blown smile and he said, "We have a conversation to finish but I wanted to do that in person so I took the first flight out this morning; I guess you had the same thought."

"Oh my God," I finally managed to breathe out and then Ranger hung up on me. He crossed the distance between us in three long strides and I don't know how I made my legs work, but I managed to stand just before he pulled me into a crushing hug.

The entire airport fell away along with the past year and a half and my whole world boiled down to the feel of his arms wrapped tightly around me. I buried my face in his neck and the familiar scent of Bvlgari brought the tears to the surface. I never wanted him to let go so when he eventually tried to pull back I clung to his solid frame like he would disappear if we lost the physical contact.

He brought his hand up and caught a runaway tear with his thumb. "Are you ready to have the talk we should have had nearly two years ago?"

I gave him a small smile. "That's a lot of lost time."

"Yes," he acknowledged. "And I plan on making every second up to you." Then his lips were on mine and though it was a relatively chaste offering, it was full of all sorts of promise of much more to come and I felt it clear to the tips of my toes in a swirling vortex of heat only Ranger was capable of generating.

When he pulled his mouth from mine, I asked one more thing I was curious about. "If I hadn't said something to you on the phone today, would you be here right now?"

"No," he admitted and my stomach dropped. "I would have been here on Friday. Your call just bumped up my timeline. "I'm sorry," he said at my smile and kissed me again before finishing. "I'm sorry I didn't have the stones to say something before now."

That got another smile from me. Ranger had bigger stones than anyone probably ever, but not apparently when it came to sharing his feelings. I really couldn't fault him for that, I didn't have the cojones to say anything either.

"I should have said something too, so maybe we should just admit we're both chicken shits and move forward from here with a promise to not be so emotionally stunted in the future."

Ranger lifted a single brow. "Agreed. I'd like to take you home now unless you really had your heart set on going to Florida."

"The only thing my heart is set on is being wherever you are."

"Mine too. Let's go, Babe." He took my hand, lacing our fingers together and we made our way out of the airport. When we got outside I remembered my bag but Ranger said he'd have someone take care of it. As we waited for a Rangeman to bring us a ride my eyes were drawn to the bank of battered payphones along the wall by the exit doors and I felt my lips turning up in a grin. Normally I wouldn't give them a thought but because they - for some reason he'd yet to explain – brought Ranger back into my life I knew I'd never look at them the same way again.