I don’t know why I
decided to show up to Morelli’s party. But as it turned out, it was one of the
best things I’ve ever had happen for a long time.
It was not long after I helped him clear his name from the murder frame up that his family held a party for him. If you could call it a party. I stood against the far wall watching the people pour in through the doors of the back room of Angio’s. There were close to 200 people throughout the room, cop’s, relatives, neighbours, friends and various others. I was thinking of leaving when she came through the door with a group of cops carrying Pino’s pizza boxes. She was the centre of attention and loving it. I could see why she was too. She was dressed in a short purple suit skirt with matching jacket, underneath the jacket she had on a black stretch top that hugged her body. Her shoes were high and spiky. Her hair was mostly swept up, but a few bits had escaped. She was hot and I wanted to strip her down. I started to make my way over to where she was gorging on pizza with two of the cops.
“C’mon Steph, if you
married me, it’d get your mother off your back.”
“Yes Carl, and then
I’d have you trying to get up on it.” Her voice was deep and husky, the voice
you can imagine in bed on lazy Sunday mornings.
“Well Steph, you can
marry me.”
“Christ Big Dog, I’m
less likely to marry you than I am Carl. Hell, I’d even marry Joe Morelli before
I married you.”
Both men burst out
laughing and she had a smug little grin on her face. I felt as though I’d missed
half of the joke. Carl noticed me and turned his attention to me. “Hey Ranger,
didn’t expect you to be here.”
“I was gonna leave.
Think I might stay awhile now.”
Carl looked me up and
down and hitched an eyebrow. “Steph, this is Ranger Manoso. Ranger, the one and
only Stephanie Plum.”
Her eyes travelled up
and down my body leisurely and she smiled a slow smile when she met my eyes.
“Ranger huh? That’s a new one.”
“My name is Ricardo.
Everyone calls me Ranger.”
“And why is that
then?” The look in her eyes was partially amused, partially intrigued and
partially wondering.
“I was a Ranger in
the Army.”
She rolled her eyes
and grinned at someone across the room. Her attention returned to me and she
grinned cockily. “How disappointing.”
“Disappointing?”
“Hmm.” She looked
around and saw that Big Dog had wandered off and that Carl was just standing
there watching. “Get me a drink Carl? Please?”
He rolled his eyes.
“What do you want?”
“Beer. Thank you
sweetie.”
“Hunh, the things I
do for you.”
“You’re an absolute
gem.”
Carl wondered off and
Stephanie’s attention wandered around the room. She occasionally grinned at
people, and occasionally she grinned to herself.
“So why is it a
disappointment?”
Her blue eyes shone
with an inner wickedness. “Well its disappointing because I have a standing rule
that I never get involved with anyone who’s involved in the armed services. I
made that mistake a long time ago.”
“And you don’t think
I’m worth breaking that rule?”
“I don’t know you
well enough. I don’t know you at all. You might just be though.” She looked past
my shoulder and smiled. “Here comes that mistake now.”
“Well, well, well. If
it isn’t Stephanie Plum. How’s it going hot stuff?”
Her eyebrows raised
and she looked him in the eyes. “Tactless Morelli, very tactless. None the less,
its going well, exceedingly so.”
Morelli leaned one
hip against the table the pizza was sitting on. “I heard that about you. I heard
a lot of things about you.”
“I’ll just bet you
did.”
Morelli nodded at me.
“Ranger.”
“Morelli.”
He returned his
attention to Stephanie. “Almost broke my heart to hear you got
married.”
“I didn’t need to
break your heart Morelli. I had already broken your
leg.”
Morelli barked out
laughter as my stomach shrunk. She was married? It should be illegal for women
like her to be married.
“Not to worry
Cupcake, probably I deserved it.”
“Probably? Probably I
should have backed up over you a few times.”
He grinned a quick
sleazy grin. “Probably you’re right about that. But then again, I can’t say I
was disappointed to hear about your divorce either.”
She raised her brows
at him. “Hmm.”
Stephanie’s attention
wondered as Morelli studied her, looking her up and down. She smiled and her
face transformed. This wasn’t the same smile she gave Morelli, this smile showed
warmth, delight and even love. I wondered who in this room deserved a smile like
that. The majority of the people here were cops. She excused herself and went to
wrap her arms around a pudgy, Slavic looking cop in
uniform.
Morelli let out a
pent up breath. “Damn.” He was looking at her ass, and I agreed. It was a great
ass. It went well with the rest of her. He muttered under his breath, “I should
have called before I left.”
“Who’s that she’s
with?”
“Eddie Gazara. He’s
married to her cousin. Been best friends with her for most of their lives. His
parents live two houses down from hers.” He was full of useful information was
Morelli. I raised an eyebrow in question at him and he shrugged. “Burg
life.”
I figured he meant
Burg as in Chambersburg where he had grown up and where his mother still lived.
Morelli was a surprising person as I had learned while working with him to clear
his name. At first I had been prepared to just take him in, ignoring all his
attempts to explain, bribe and threaten me. It was Tank who eventually worked
out a deal, it worked well for all of us in the end. I got the 10%, plus the
added bonus of a cop who owed me big time.
I watched as she
dragged Eddie back to the table. She didn’t drag exactly, merely gave a few tugs
on his arm and held his hand as they crossed the room. Gazara rolled his eyes at
her behind his back.
“Couldn’t stay away
Cupcake?”
“From the pizza
Morelli.”
“Sure thing.” I
watched as she took a slice and handed it to Gazara and then took a piece for
herself. She took a bite and I watched her neck as she swallowed. She looked
into my eyes and licked her lips. “Do you want some?”
I smiled. “I want
some alright.”
She smiled and handed
me a slice of pizza. She continued to watch me as I looked dubiously at the
pizza. It wasn’t exactly something I ate much. She took another bight. A smile
in her eyes, enjoying my discomfort at her having deliberately mistaken what I
had said. I shrugged and took a bight. It was good so I polished off the slice
watching her watch the room. She turned at Gazara’s comment that his wife was
pregnant again.
“Christ Eddie, you
need to get a new hobby.”
“I like my current
one thanks.”
“Get Shirley on the
pill. Jesus, you have 3 kids already.” She delicately screwed up her nose. “And
you wonder why I refuse to baby-sit for you.”
“Thought you didn’t
like kids.”
“I don’t mind kids
Eddie, its just yours are absolute terrors. Last time I sat for you I had to
have a crayon surgically removed.” Eddie laughed at her and I wanted to punch
him for it. She grinned at him and rolled her eyes. “It’ll be a cold day in hell
before I sit for you again.”
“And just how do you
expect to pay me back for wiping all those speeding tickets you’re
pulling?”
“Fucking Gaspick gave
me three tickets on Thursday. He was gonna take my licence until he saw that the
others had been wiped. I owe you big time for that one, gotta
say.”
“I can use a sitter
on Saturday.”
“No way in hell. I’d
lose my licence first.”
Eddie grinned and
wandered off. I turned back to Stephanie and noticed that Morelli had wandered
off sometime ago. It was just her and me.
“So Ricardo…” She
rolled my name off her tongue and I liked how she made it sound, exotic and
sexy. “What do you do?”
“Many
things.”
“Well that’s a great
answer.”
“I’m a bounty hunter.
What about you Stephanie Plum? What do you do?”
“I sell real estate.
Boring job, but I meet interesting people and I make a shit load of
money.”
“You like
money?”
“I like making it so
I can spend it. What’s the point of it otherwise?”
“What about
investing?”
She laughed and
rounded on me. “I invest by spending.”
“On
what?”
“That’s kind of a
personal question don’t you think?”
“Not
particularly.”
“I spend my money on
real estate, cars and clothes.”
“Sounds a lot like
what I spend my money on. Aside from the clothes.”
“Bounty hunting
really make that much money?”
“If you’re not good
enough to make that kind of money, you have no business doing the job. Besides,
I have other interests.”
“Hmm.” She turned to
the door and she screwed up her face. I followed her eyes to see who she was
looking at. Vincent Plum had walked in the back door accompanied with his wife.
Amazing. He was actually with his wife. “Eddie told me you caught Joe. Helped
him even.”
“I run a company,
bounty hunting is part of that company.” Stephanie swore under her breath as
Vinnie made his way towards us. “You know Vinnie?”
“He’s my cousin. You
know him?”
“I work out of his
office bounty hunting.”
She snorted. “Aren’t
you the lucky one then.”
I stepped to her side
and slightly behind her, resting my hand on her lower back to face Vinnie. She
didn’t tense under my hand rather she relaxed back into it. I moved my head
closer to whisper in her ear. “Its not so much that I’m lucky, its more that I’m
good.”
She shuddered and
then chuckled low in her throat. My stomach twisted and my groin followed. She
spoke, low and dangerous. “I’ll just bet you are.”
Before I had time to
reply Vinnie and his wife, Lucille, was standing before us. Vinnie gave us the
once over and smiled lecherously at Stephanie. Her face was as devoid of
expression as mine. She transferred her gaze to Lucille and smiled a small
smile, greeting her like a good little girl. I had been watching her too much
tonight to know that she was anything but a good girl.
iiiiiiiiiiiiii
It was quite a bit
later, close to midnight when I decided to leave. Ricardo Manoso, more commonly
known as Ranger, had followed me most all of the night. And I can’t say as
though I minded at all. He was a gorgeous man. A big, dangerous, gorgeous man.
He was dressed all in black, from his boots to his shirt. The only colour on him
was the gold wrapped around his neck and in his ears. I had felt the gun that he
had tucked in the back of his pants. I had felt the small gun he had in his
trouser pocket. And later, I’d be sure to say the classic line that went with
it.
I had said goodbye to
everyone that mattered and I had felt the eyes that followed me as Ranger walked
with me. He had offered to drive me back to Pino’s to pick up my car. And I had
graciously accepted it. Graciously with a smudge of utter lust thrown into the
mix. I followed him and was surprised when he stopped next to a limited edition
BMW 850 Ci. I was surprised and turned on. I have a theory about men and cars.
The better the car, the better the man in bed. Of course I had been wrong a time
or two. But so far being right out weighed me being wrong. My ex-husband had a
great car and was great in bed, shame he didn’t keep it in our bed. I really
hoped I was right here too. If a man drove this kind of car, he knew things
about a woman’s body. It also meant he wasn’t lying about having
money.
I slowly walked
around the car and it was in prime condition, not a dent, not a scratch. And it
was hard to keep cars in that kind of condition in Trenton. I stopped next to
him near the driver’s door. “Can I drive?”
He looked at me
surprised and amused. “I don’t think so.”
“Do you think I can’t
handle it?”
“I’d prefer to see
how you drove your own car before I let you drive one of mine.” I nodded and
walked to the passenger side and climbed in.
“I’ve got a better
car anyway.” Ranger was already in and waiting for me, he raised an eyebrow but
didn’t say anything. He started the engine and slowly exited the parking lot. I
tossed my head in his direction and licked my lips. “Besides I want to see how
you handle this beast before you get to handle me.”
He pumped the gas. We
took off with a squeal of tires and I was laughing. It took less than 6 minutes
to reach Pino’s at the speed Ranger was going. And it took me less than 6
minutes to decide I was going home with him tonight. Ranger pulled to a halt in
Pino’s lot. There was a new model Town Car, an old Ford and my new BMW
convertible. He scanned the cars and I waited for him to say something.
“Which is
yours?”
“The
convertible.”
Ranger raised an
eyebrow at me. “Not bad.”
What can I say?
Life’s been good to me lately. Life’s been great. I released the seatbelt and
pulled Ranger to kiss him. He met me half way, teeth clashing, his lips
bruising. I pulled back and Ranger’s hand came up and held me to him from behind
my neck. I pulled away again and he let me this time. “So do you want to give me
directions or shall I just follow you home?”
He grinned and
muscles in my lower stomach tightened. “I’ll follow you
home.”
“I don’t think so. I
don’t take men home with me.”
“Well we’re in a
quandary then, because I don’t take women home either. Usually they’re happy to
have me come with them.”
“You might come with
me yet, but you’re not coming home with me.” I pondered what to do while Ranger
watched me. “What do you say to a game?”
“What kind of
game?”
“We’ll play tag. One
of us will take the lead, the first car. One minute start. If car one can loose
who ever is behind in car two then the looser in car two will take the other
home. Same goes with if the second car keeps up. Then whoever is in the first
car will take them home. Sound like a deal?”
“How do we decide who
is in the first car?”
“We’ll flip a
coin.”
“Hmm.”
I put my hand to his
neck and pressed my thumb against his pulse. “You afraid you’ll
lose?”
When in doubt call on
ego. “Ha. Flip the coin.”
I pulled a coin out
of my purse and flipped it. “Call while it’s in the
air.”
“Heads.”
“Heads it
is.”
“You can go first.
See if you can loose me.”
“Time limit of 20
minutes?” He nodded. “We’ll meet back here when I loose you
then.”
I climbed out of the
car and closed the door. I opened the door to my Beemer and took off my heels. I
could feel Ranger’s eyes on me and I played up to it. Using the light from
Pino’s to show my body off to advantage. I climbed into the driver’s side and
powered up the engine, powered back the roof and powered up the stereo. I tore
out of the lot, Metallica blaring.
I hit Hamilton and
punched the accelerator, I screamed through the traffic, hitting green lights
all the way weaving in and out of traffic. Ranger was a few blocks behind me
weaving in and out of cars as I took the turn off on to Chambersburg Rd, the
main road leading in to the Burg. He was closer than expected. He obviously knew
what he was doing. I drove straight until I saw Ranger’s lights behind me. I
took the first right fast, the tyre grip being the only thing keeping me on the
road. I took the next right and the next right again coming up parallel with the
first turn I had taken. I punched it and shot across Chambersburg Rd and took
the first left and turned the volume of the stereo down. Wouldn’t do to have the
stereo give me away. I drove along Mitchell St, which ran parallel to Hamilton a
few blocks over. I took King Street back to Hamilton and made my way back to
Pino’s. It had taken me a little over ten minutes to loose Ranger. What an
amateur. Of course now there was the possibility that he wouldn’t show up
because he doesn’t want me to see where he lives. Sigh. That would be a
shame.
I punched up the
volume again and went to lean on the front of the hood between the dimmed
lights. If Ranger did turn up I knew what it would look like. It was a powerful
visual. And turn up Ranger did. He pulled into the lot with a spray of gravel.
He stoped and sat, then slowly climbed out of the car and came towards me. He
stopped when his legs framed over mine, but since I was leaning backwards our
legs were the only parts of our bodies touching. His cock was stretched hard
against his tight black pants. I let my eyes wonder down and then up again to
look into his eyes. I grinned and stood up so my body skimmed against his.
“My, my, my. What has
you so excited?”
“You.” And then his
mouth was on mine, hard and demanding. I pushed my hips against his and he
purred. I pushed him back.
“We can do this
later. Get in your car.” My cell phone rang and I held up my hand to say stop.
“Wait.”
I grabbed the cell
and the readout was cop central. I grinned and answered expecting Eddie or Carl,
who were both on late duty. Probably sitting around the station taking shots at
a bin with scrunched up bits of paper. “Stephanie Plum, I’ll lick it if you
stick it.”
Ranger snorted and
stuck his head between my head and shoulder and started to suck on my neck,
teeth biting down. It took all my will power not to groan into the phone.
“Steph, We’ve had
reports of two BMW’s playing chicken down Hamilton. You wouldn’t know anything
about that would you?”
“No. Don’t know
anything about two BMW’s playing chicken down Hamilton.” It was true. We weren’t
playing chicken.
“You still with
Ranger?”
“Yes Eddie, Ranger’s
still here. In fact we’re still parked in Pino’s lot.” Well we were. He didn’t
need to know it was again rather than still. Ranger’s hand circled my breast and
he pinched a nipple. “I gotta go Eddie, go bust a drug deal or something. Break
up a domestic.”
“Sure Steph, just
take it easy. Don’t want to trash this car.”
“Fuck you Eddie, I
didn’t trash my last car. It wasn’t me running into someone, it was someone
running into me.”
“Right.” You could
feel the disbelief in his tone.
“Later Eddie.” And I
hung up. Ranger had one hand half way up my skirt the other was under my shirt
rubbing the skin on my back. I pushed him away. “What’s your cell
number?”
He recited it and I
dialled as he did. His cell rang in his car. “Lets go.” I climbed into my Beemer
and Ranger closed the door behind me. “Tell me where you live and you can try to
loose me on the way if you want.”
“I don’t think
so.”
“Whatever. Go answer
your phone.” Ranger walked off and I watched his ass as he did. I wriggled
around, pulling my underwear off while I watched that fine ass. Ranger picked up
his cell in the car and we pulled out of Pino’s. We were driving parallel of
each other on Hamilton when I heard his voice. We had stopped at a red light
waiting for the green. I turned my head to look at him and he was watching
me.
“So tell me why we’re
on the cell’s?”
“Tell me where you
live.”
“I live at 139 Percy
road.”
I nodded. I knew
where that was. It was up in the light industrial area right before the turn off
to the Turnpike. The lights running the in the other direction turned yellow.
“I’ll race you home. Who ever win’s gets to be on top.” I heard a chuckle over
the phone and picked up my underwear.
“By the way. I’m not
wearing any underwear.” He looked over at me again and raised an eyebrow. I held
them up to the window so he could see. As I snapped the phone closed I heard a
‘Christ’ and I chucked the cell onto the passenger seat.
I slammed the gas and
took off through the red light. It turned green just as I got to the other side
of the intersection. My gears were screaming so I shifted up, Ranger was beside
me all the way. There were a few cars ahead of us and it would be a tricky run.
I moved the car into third gear and let it climb high in revs. I heard Ranger
change up into 4th, but stayed in 3rd. I could use the
power surge of the extra revs in 4th to get around the cars up ahead.
The nose of Ranger’s car was ahead of me and he tapped the breaks as we came up
to the other cars. I slipped into fourth, taking the outside lane where cars
normally parked, shooting around three cars in
succession.
I saw headlights
swerve behind me in my rear vision mirror and Ranger flew up behind me, swinging
out into the lane next to me. Next thing I know, he’s swung around me and ahead
of me. That wasn’t right. I slammed up into fifth and hit the power button. I
pulled in beside him doing close to 150mph and blew him a kiss when he looked.
He laughed, and while I couldn’t hear it, it looked nice. We both looked forward
and punch our accelerators to make the light that had just turned yellow before
us. We screamed through the intersection just as the lights turned red. We’re
both going so damned fast and we’re both parallel to each other. Suddenly a car
pulled out on the road in front of me and I had to slam on the breaks and pull
into the lane behind Ranger to avoid blowing us both to hell.
Ranger rode his
breaks in front of me about a block away and I knew that there was no way in
hell I would catch him, he was too far ahead. I took the corner at a reasonable
pace, back wheels sliding around the corner. I stuck to just above the speed
limit the rest of the way and pulled into a parking lot below an old converted
building that sits at 139 Percy. I parked between a Mercedes and Ranger’s
Beemer. He’s out leaning against the back of it, big ass grin on his face. I
punch the power button to replace the top of my convertible and suddenly
realised that my hair must be close to Afro from the winds I put it through. I
looked in the rear vision mirror and thanked god that it was still mostly in
place. Amazing, I hadn’t even used extra hair spray this morning. I guess with
super extra strong hold I don’t need it. I climbed out and Ranger was there,
using his body to press me against the door I had just
closed.
His hands gripped my
waist, his fingers digging in so they almost hurt. His hips ground against mine
in a way that made my skirt start to ride up. His lips were hot and demanding
against mine, his tongue insistent, brooking no resistance. Not that he’d get
any from me. I wrapped my arms low around him, digging my fingers into his ass,
returning his kiss. Ranger’s hands roamed up and down my body, roughly as if he
couldn’t decide to go up or down. He griped my breasts and squeezed, not gently
but not so that it hurt either. I pulled my head back and his lips moved down my
neck and he mumbled against my ear. “I want you. Now.”
“Yes.” I groaned it
out and Ranger moved his hands down to start pulling my skirt up.
“Jesus, you really
don’t have any underwear on.”
“No.” I undid his
pants and he lifted me by my thighs. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and
he stoped right before entering me, swearing.
“Do I need to get a
condom?”
I looked him in the
eye, grateful that he’d asked, happy that he still had enough wits to ask. “Do
you have any STD’s?” Normally its not something I ask, normally I never have sex
without a condom, unless I’m in a relationship with someone I trust. However
doubt that Ranger would lie about this. I doubt he’d lie at
all.
“No, I
don’t.”
“Then we don’t need a
condom, I’ve had a shot.” I rocked against him. “Now fuck
me.”
“God yes.” He groaned
and drove his hips up while using his arms to drive my body down.
It took 3 hard,
pumping strokes to drive me over. And I went over loudly, yelling hoarsely in
Ranger’s ear. One more stroke and Ranger came, biting down on my shoulder,
letting out a grunt. I held on around his neck hard, while he cradled me between
him and the car. I could feel him pulsing inside me, emptying his load. His
breathing was harsh, but not as harsh as mine. If I didn’t control my breathing
soon I was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. Slowly I got control. Ranger
groaned when I lifted my self off him and slid my legs down to stand. He held
onto me and I was glad of it when I stumbled. I stood and waited for the shaking
to stop. I smoothed my skirt down and watched as Ranger rearranged himself back
into his pants, grimacing when he touched himself. I grinned, wondering how he’d
like the feeling of fluid running down between his thighs.
I grabbed my panties,
bag and keys from my car and stepped back into Ranger. His hands were on my ass
leaning over me he put his mouth to my ear. He squeezed and whispered
“Again.”
He pulled me back
against him and ground his hips into my ass. I twisted and turned to him,
pulling away while I did. “You can wait 5 minutes until we get
inside.”
He stepped up to me,
backing me against the car. “I don’t think I can.”
I hit the central
remote locking on my car and pushed him back. “Yes you can. Now lead the way so
I can walk behind you and watch your ass.”
His head went back
and he laughed. But he did turn and I did watch. My, he really had a nice ass.
Nice shoulders too.
I woke the next day
about lunchtime, refreshed and aching. My muscles couldn’t decide whether they
were too sore to be happy or too happy to be sore. Either way, it had been a
fantastic night. Ranger was still asleep wrapped around me like a blanket. His
skin was hot against mine and it was a difficult decision to decide whether to
get up or stay there. In the end I got up. Nature was a pain in the ass when
there were better things to do. Since I was up and in the bathroom anyways, I
showered again and my mind wondered back.
Ranger had attacked
when we climbed into the elevator. He had me up against the elevator wall before
I could say anything. Not that I minded, not that I minded at all. And thanks to
that effort most of my clothing and his were kicked in the front door and
remained on the floor there. We made our way through his apartment, knocking
things over, running into walls and doorjambs we had messy sex in the kitchen
and again in the living room. We eventually showered and fell into bed. We spent
hours touching and talking, we didn’t get to sleep until close to dawn. I
stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my head and another round
my body. I had just finished when Ranger came in, sleepily rubbing his eyes. He
smiled and his smile lit up the room. I tucked the corner of the towel up and
made sure it was secure before stepping into his arms. He was naked still and
the various scars on his body almost glowed in the bathroom lights. He had a lot
of scars.
Ranger’s mouth moved
down my neck to my shoulder. “You taste like my shampoo. It’s never tasted this
good.”
I pulled away and
rubbed my palm across his stubbled cheek. “We’ll see after you’ve showered how
nice it tastes.”
He grinned and
slapped my ass hard enough that I was happy the towel was there to take the
sting out of it. He climbed in the shower and I went looking for my clothes. I
found my shoes in the kitchen, and everything else was on the floor in the
entranceway. I bent over to pick them up and the door swung inwards smacking me
on the head. The towel cushioned it but I still sprawled onto my ass. I looked
up to see who was at the door to find Andrew Paul looking down at
me.
“Well fuck.”
“Well fuck indeed.
Don’t just stand their Andy. Help me up.”
He held out a hand
and pulled me into his arms for a hug. “I always seem to be helping you out of a
jam.”
“You’re the one who
knocked me on my ass.”
“Hmm.” He looked
around, noticing the state of dishevelment that Ranger and I had left his
apartment in after last night’s activities. He looked at our clothes in a pile
in the doorway and a sly grin crept across his face. “Well, well. What happened
here last night?”
“What does it look
like Tank?” Ranger had came quietly into the room and was taking in the fact
that Andy still had one arm wrapped around my bare shoulders with cool
eyes.
“Looks like a bomb
tore through here.” I elbowed him and stepped away to pick up my
clothes.
“It looks nothing
like a bomb hit.”
Ranger looked at me
and cocked an eyebrow. “And what do you know about
bombs?”
Andy grinned and I
bent over to pick up my clothes. I bent from the waist, showing Ranger my ass.
“My apartment was fire bombed before. I know what a bomb hit looks
like.”
Andy righted a lamp
that we had knocked over and gestured theatrically. “This is
Steph.”
“I know who she is
man.”
“No. This is
Steph” Andy placed particular emphasis on my
name.
Ranger looked from
Andy to me and back at Andy again. “Bullshit.”
Andy grinned and
nodded.
“Well shit. Seems
I’ve heard a lot about you Babe. Tank here told us all sorts of
stories.”
I shrugged. Probably
they were all true. Andy, or Tank as he was known, knew a lot about me to tell.
I had met Andy when I was in my final year of college. I hated what I was doing,
I hated my life and I hated everyone around me. He found me in a bar on my way
to getting inebriated and spent his weekend leave from the army reminding me
that life was wonderful. When I left college and couldn’t get a job, Andy had
convinced a cousin to take me on in his real estate business. It worked out well
for his cousin and me. His cousin got a great sales person and I didn’t have to
take a job for some shady lingerie company. Two years or so after my divorce I
ran into trouble with a pesky client. The bastard stalked me for a while and the
end result was a dead date and my firebombed apartment. A good enough reason as
to why men didn’t come home with me. Andy was fun and he was dead sexy, but he
was in the army when I met him, thus nothing ever happened between us. Once he
had left the army I knew him too well to have even the remotest of sexual
interest in him. He was like a little kid in a grown up’s body.
I strolled off to get
dressed, while Andy and Ranger discussed something about a take down and found 6
missed messages on my phone when I got back. There were also 13 voice messages.
Shit. 6 were from my mother, 2 were from my secretary about afternoon
appointments, 2 were from Mary Lou wanting to know about the hunk I picked up, 1
was from Eddie another was from a client and the final call was from Joe
Morelli. I wondered what the hell he wanted. His call had come about 15 years
too late. I didn’t see any reason to return the call so I didn’t. I sat in the
kitchen eating some rice paella thing I found in the fridge and called my
secretary. I arranged a time for a showing and got her to contact the client who
contacted me about the sale.
Ranger and Andy came
into the kitchen as I finished the rice. I had to go and get ready for my
afternoon appointments but Ranger walking around in boxer shorts distracted me.
Andy left giving me a kiss on the cheek and a few words of advice. “You always
had impeccable taste. What the hell happened?”
I gave a snort and
shoved him off. “Hormones. Besides, he can drive.”
Andy burst out
laughing. “Uh huh. Later Steph. Later boss.”
Ranger stood behind
me, skimming against my back. I slowly turned on my stool and let him stand
between my legs. I scrapped my fingernails down his chest and he let his breath
out in a hiss. “What did Tank say to you?”
“Nothing important.”
I bit his left nipple gently and stood up against him. “I have to get to
work.”
Ranger grabbed my
hand and pulled me up hard against him. He kissed me, his fingers squeezing my
ass. We pulled away and he walked me to the elevator.
I picked up my bag
and pulled out a card. “Call me.”
I stepped into the
elevator and as soon as the doors closed I slumped against the wall. It had
taken all my will power to leave and I didn’t like that it
had.
iiiiiiiiiiiiiii
I stood on the
balcony and watched her leave. It had taken all my will power to let her leave.
She was amazing, enthralling and scary as hell. I’d never met anyone like her.
She pulled out of the underground lot and took off. I could hear her stereo
blasting Metallica from here. She was the best fuck I’d ever had and I still
wanted more. What’s more amazing was she was the Steph Tank had told us all
about. He had told us some fairly amazing stories about her. From the pranks
they played to the out and out screaming matches she had with her ex-husband.
Tank had said he was more scared of her than us sometimes. And we were pretty
damn scary.
I watched until her
car was out of view and checked the time, wondering how long I should wait to
call her. I decided to give it 2 hours. No longer, no less. I worked out,
showered again and did some research for a new project we were about to take on.
Exactly 2 hours later I called her cell.
“Stephanie
Plum.”
“Yo.”
“Ranger.” Her voice went low
and husky and my groin twisted.
“You’re not even in
the room and I’ve got a hard on for you.” She laughed low and
throaty.
“Now there’s a nice
visual. Just what I need while I show this idiot his new
house.”
“He’s brought it
already?”
“No, but he
will.”
“Confident there
aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.”
“Meet me for dinner
tonight.”
“You don’t think
we’ve set enough tongues wagging for the week?”
“I think we can do
better.”
“You don’t ask much
do you?”
“No, eat, talk, and
sex. Not much at all.” She laughed again and I got
harder.
“Where and
when?”
“Tonight, 6pm. Where
ever you want.”
“Rossini’s
ok?”
“Sure. See you in 3
hours.”
“Ranger?” Her voice was low
and dangerous. I remembered that tone from the early hours of this
morning.
“Yeah?”
“When I get there, I
wont be wearing underwear.” And she hung up. And
she expected me to what now? I couldn’t even sit down for the boner I had. I
picked up the card with her number and business address. I grabbed my wallet and
the keys to my Mercedes and took the elevator to the car lot. I was waiting for
her at her work when she returned. Her hair was styled in big soft curls and she
had a sky blue skirt suit on. The top was pale green this time but I still
wanted to rip her clothes off. She got out of her car and dragged a box of files
out of the passenger seat.
“Let me take that for
you.”
She turned, no shock
or surprise, just a smug little smirk on her lips. “I’ve got it, thanks.” She
hefted the box and swung her butt to close the door. I took the box out of her
hands and a frown creased between her brows.
“It’s faster this
way.” She shrugged as if she didn’t believe it, but turned and grabbed her bag
off the bonnet of her car. She let us into the office where a large familiar
black woman was working on a crossword in a celebrity magazine. She looked up
when the door swung open and the bell above it rang.
“Hot damn
girlfriend.” She stood up and looked me up and down. She was wearing a cotton
dress that would have been nice had it not been skin tight and brilliant pink.
Her hair was close to matching. “You’re familiar looking. Seen you down on Stark
Street bouncing the brothers off to jail. Yeah. Ranger right? What’s
shaking?”
“Not much. Lula
right?”
“Hunh surprised you
even heard of me.”
“I’ve heard about
you. You’re a story of a life gone right in that area. You’re an inspiration to
some of the kids there.”
She preened and
turned to Stephanie who was standing back smirking to herself over the
conversation. “He’s ok.”
Stephanie nodded to
Lula and nodded to a door in the back. “In here.”
She went in ahead of
me and before she could kick off her shoes I had dropped the box onto a chair
and had my hands up her shirt. She groaned softly and leant back into me,
raising her arms to encircle my neck. She pulled my head down and I kissed her
neck.
“Mmmm.” She pulled
away abruptly. “Lets get out of here.”
“Where are we
going?”
“My place is closer.”
I nodded and we hurried out, calling out ‘bye to Lula who grunted in reply. 10
minutes later we pulled into one of the newer condos on the edge of Hamilton
Township. There was a brand new Subaru Impreza WRX and an outfitted 98 Acura
Integra. It was a hot car, with a custom make over. An even hotter car was next
to it. A new model Toyota Celica souped up to the max, custom kit, custom paints
and interior. I was betting under the hood was a custom engine. Probably running
nitrous oxide. Stephanie not only knew how to drive, she knew what to
drive.
“Shit. You ever race
this thing?”
“A few
times.”
“You show
it?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s under the
hood?”
“You want to go
upstairs or stand down here talking shop?” She stood with one leg bent, hand on
hip, head cocked.
“Upstairs.” She
grinned.
“That’s what I
thought.” She led the to an elevator and swiped a card for the penthouse suite.
Four hours later we
were lying naked and sweaty on her rooftop pool deck, having fallen off an
outdoor sun-recliner. I could feel the sun burning my skin and it took a lot of
sun to do that. I could just imagine how Steph’s skin was burning. I summoned
energy from somewhere and hauled my self to standing. I gave Steph a nudge with
my foot. She swore at me but otherwise didn’t move. I leant down and threw her
over my shoulder in a fireman carry. She grunted but otherwise made no other
movement. I carried her through her bedroom and stood under the shower. I turned
the cold water on full blast catching us both. She moved hard and fast, nearly
making me loose my grip and dropping her. I slowly eased the water to hot. I let
her down and caught her hand when she went to hit me. I missed the foot coming
at me and would have a bruise on my shin for quite awhile because of
it.
“You want to
eat?”
She snorted. “Sure,
but we wont find food here.”
“So we stick to the
original plan and go out.” She nodded. I dried off and went home to change. I
hated being apart from her. I made it to Rossini’s with in half an hour. A
record for me even. She was waiting for me, talking to a waitress. My eyes
locked on hers and I saw a sexual heat run through them, as she looked me up and
down. I’m sure she’d have seen the same in mine had she been looking at them.
She closed her eyes and shook her head, turning away. I walked past her, sitting
in a booth against the far wall, giving me view of the room. Stephanie sat
across from me, looking at me almost accusingly.
“This is insane, tell
me I’m crazy.” I didn’t have to ask what she was talking about. I knew because I
was feeling it too.
“If I tell you, will
you tell me?” Her eyes narrowed and went wide.
“We’re
fucked.”
“Yes.” She didn’t say
anything and we both placed our orders.
We didn’t say
anything until after the food arrived. She stabbed at her pasta.
“Damn.”
I looked up her to
see her watching me. I paused with a fork half way to my mouth. She licked her
lips and I lost my mind. “Move in with me.”
She watched me for
close to 10 minutes, neither of us saying a word. She nodded once.
“Yes.”
We’d both lost our
minds.
iiiiiiiiiiiii
“We’re fucked.”
Literally and figuratively speaking. My reactions to this guy were freaking me
out.
“Yes.” I couldn’t
reply to that. He agreed so it wasn’t just me. The food arrived and I didn’t
realise what I was doing until some of the sauce splattered on the tablecloth. I
looked up at Ranger.
“Damn.” Ranger looked
up from his plate, raised an eyebrow and his arm paused halfway to his mouth
loaded with food. My mouth went dry at the look in his eyes. Dark and ominous. I
licked my lips.
“Move in with
me.”
Was he insane?
And then I realise that somewhere in the back of my head I was actually
considering the move. I only met the man a little over 24 hours before and here
I was thinking about moving in with him. I watched him, waiting for a sign that
he was regretting his impulse. Nothing. Andy trusted him, so that was a plus for
him. Andy wouldn’t work for a man he didn’t trust like a brother. Shit! Stop
that, so what if Andy trusted him, it was an insane proposition. For over 10
minutes I watched and not a damn thing showed on his face. That more than
anything made up my mind to say no. I nodded once in decision, I opened my mouth
and the damnedest thing happened. I said, “Yes.”
Ranger stood up fast
pulling a cell phone from somewhere. He stepped away and started to talk into
the cell. He gestured to the waiter and came back to the table. My tiramisu came
packed to go. I climbed into my car and followed Ranger out of the lot, tyres
squealing. Less than 10 minutes later we pulled to a halt in tandem it the
garage at my condo. We stayed in tandem, climbing out of the cars together,
walking to the elevator together and then reaching for each other in the
elevator.
I ripped at his
shirt, two buttons popped off. I wanted to touch his skin. Needed to touch his
skin. I wanted it, needed it so much it scared me, it was only that the need was
so damn over powering that I wasn’t running for my life. This was worse than an
addiction. I was addicted to sugar, but I didn’t want it constantly. With
Ranger, I craved him. For more than 24 hours, I wanted him, I had him and still
I wanted more. I’d have to get smart about this, and smart about it soon.
Ranger’s teeth dragged along my collarbone.
Tomorrow would be
soon enough to get smart. We fell in the door and to the floor when they opened
directly into my apartment. Ranger had my dress up around my waist and his pants
were hanging at his knees. He entered me before the doors slid shut and still in
tandem we came together. Ranger rolled onto his back, pulling me with him to lie
on his chest.
“We’re insane aren’t
we?” A low laugh ran through his chest.
“Yes.”
“We’re gonna do it
anyway aren’t we.” His left arm
squeezed me.
“Yes.”
Eventually we got up
and went our separate ways. Ranger went to the bathroom and I went to the
kitchen to eat my tiramisu. I was adding ice cream when Ranger came into the
kitchen naked. He picked me up and I grabbed my dessert. I’d burnt off so many
calories in the past day that I needed more before I faded away to a shadow.
Ranger carried me into the bathroom and stripped me off before helping me into
the bathtub. He settled in and pulled me to straddle his legs so I could face
him. We shared dessert. Me feeding him small amounts, 1 spoon for my 3. We
finished it off and I rested my body against his, close to falling asleep.
“Don’t you know that
it’s dangerous to sleep in the bath?”
“Sure but I’m too
damn tired to move.” Ranger was half erect. Like he was too tired to do anything
other than lay there also. Twenty minutes later the water was cooling and we
summoned energy from somewhere to get up and out. We dried off and fell into
bed. Ranger flat on his back, me curled up aver his side. I woke early in the
morning or late in the night, lying bodily over him. My head on his shoulder,
chest-to-chest, arms around him, hands under his shoulders. My legs were either
side of him, stretched down along his. I nuzzled in and Ranger’s arms tightened
around me. I turned my head to the other side and went back to
sleep.
I woke again and an
instant feeling of guilt ate at my stomach. Sunday and I’d missed church again.
Sunday and I had a date with a pot roast at 6pm. Christ. I sat up on Ranger’s
thighs and stared at him. He’d have to come with me, there was no getting around
it. Ranger’s eyes fluttered and he reached for me, a smile flirting along his
lips. His eyes opened and his hands fell to my hips and
gripped.
“What’s
wrong?”
I shook my head.
Wouldn’t do to have him know what my family was like before he got there. “I
have to go to my parents for dinner tonight. I’d like you to
come.”
He nodded. “Ok. Why
did you look so worried just then?”
“Because I’m going to
tell my mother I’m moving in with you.”
“It won’t be that
bad.” It will be bad. It will be very bad, but there was no reason for him to
know that. My mother was probably already ironing the towels after word had
spread that I’d left Morelli’s party with a man not from the Burg. Of course my
grandma will be ecstatic.
I shrugged. “Sure.
We’re gonna have to play twenty questions. My mother is going to quiz me about
you and it wont do to not be able to answer because we’ve been to busy having
sex to actually talk.”
Ranger laughed.
“Sure. Lets go up to the pool and we can play in
there.”
Another bonus to
owning the building and living in the penthouse was the private pool. Neither
one of us bothered with clothing. I walked behind him, watching the muscles in
his back work as he moved. I stoped by the pool watching as Ranger did a sleek
dive into the water. He came up half the pool away and stood swaying slightly in
the water that was up to his shoulders. I dove in after him, holding my breath.
I pushed between his legs and let out a lungful of air in bubbles. I watched
from underwater as the bubbles floated to the top of the water rubbing up and
along Ranger’s body. I watched, as Ranger grew hard from the tickling sensation
of the bubbles. I felt myself get wet in response.
I pushed up and rose
out of the water behind him rubbing along his back. I bit down on his shoulder
and his head fell backward. I wrapped my legs around his and ran my hands up his
stomach to his chest where I pinched his nipples. I ran my left hand up and
across his chest to grip on and slid the right down to cup him. I worked his
erection even as I bit at his neck. Ranger groaned and I squeezed him. One hand
moved to stop me and I grabbed it with my left hand. He groaned louder and his
other hand went to take my right one. “Christ. Stop or I’m going to come in your
pool.”
I stopped and
unwrapped my legs, sliding down into the water. Ranger turned to grab me but I
grabbed him from underwater taking him into my mouth. It was a little tricky
trying to work him with my teeth and tongue and keep from drowning at the same
time but somehow I managed it. His hands drove into the water and grabbed at my
hair. He thrust into my mouth once and came. I stayed with him, swallowing and
releasing a lungful of air around him. I pushed up for air again and wrapped my
self around him again breathing as heavily as he was. He put his arms around me
and nuzzled his head into my neck, kissing it. I waited until I got my breath
back.
“Did you enjoy that?”
Ranger’s head came out from where it had been hiding, his eyes slightly glazed.
“Yes.” His voice was
husky. “Very much, thank you.”
I smiled. “Great, now
lets play 20 questions.” Ranger laughed.
“Ok. How about we
climb up onto the floating lounge?”
“Sure.” Ranger
climbed on and I climbed up between his legs. We sank low but once we evened out
the weight a little we we’re ok.
We went through the
basics. Much of which Ranger already knew about me from Andy, or Tank depending
on who was saying his name. He was a year younger than me, same as Andy and had
pretty much the same background as him. Excesses in drugs, crime and women had
just about ended his life when he tangled with the wrong brothers sister. He had
been arrested a few times before and went to court over the fighting that
resulted from that particular tryst. The naughty boy way into the army,
re-upping when he had served his time in there rather than in jail. What came to
a surprise was that he had been married and he had a daughter. A daughter!
Something must have shown.
“What?” Ranger’s
hands stilled where they had been roaming, massaging my upper body
gently.
“Where does she
live?”
“In Miami with her
mother.”
I let out an
explosive breath. “You see her much?”
“When I’m in the
area.”
“So she doesn’t come
here?” I could feel my body relaxing again.
“No.
Why?”
“I’m not good with
kids.”
“She’s not much of a
kid anymore, she’s 9 years old.”
“You must have been
young when she was born.” He answered my unasked
question.
“Melanie was a one
night stand. She tracked me down through my brother. We got married the weekend
you met Tank.” He shifted slightly and we nearly went into the water. We
adjusted and he went on. “She was from a poor family and we both agreed to marry
so she could have the army insurance while she was pregnant. We divorced when
Emily was 5 and Melanie met a man where she worked. I had him checked out and he
was on the level and I agreed to the divorce and we worked out a custody
settlement. I can see Emily anytime I’m in Miami, but she isn’t allowed to come
here.”
“Did Melanie make you
agree to that?”
“No, I made her agree
to it. My life isn’t suited to a child and a child’s needs. My profession is a
dangerous one and I have a lot of enemies. When Emily turns 16 she can come
visit me provided she keeps up her training.”
“Training?”
“Self defence and
some martial arts.” That didn’t sound like much of a childhood to me. Sounded
like boot camp. “She likes it so that’s ok, she loves all sports and does
something different everyday.” I could hear the grin in his voice. “My daughter
the overachiever. Sometimes her mother has trouble keeping up. Em has to push
her sometimes in case they’re late.”
I rolled my eyes.
Emily sounded a lot like my sister Valerie. Valerie the perfect sister. We
stayed in the pool awhile longer talking but I finally had to get out of the sun
before I burned to a crisp. Ranger stayed out and lapped the pool while I
showered and called my mother telling her I was bringing a guest. I told her to
cook something reasonably healthy and she got offended. She cheered up when I
mentioned the guest was a male guest. My mother was ever the optimist. She
wanted me married and pregnant. I’d done one and wasn’t particularly interested
in two. But my mother was ever hopeful. If my sister didn’t live in LA my mother
might just let up on the whole thing. But as it was my sister got smart and
moved to the other side of the country.
Ranger came inside
dripping wet and he smiled a predatory smile. I felt my limbs go heavy. Minutes
later my sheets and I were wet and Ranger was driving me to
orgasm.
iiiiiiiiiii
“No
Grandma.”
“You
sure?”
“Very sure.”
Stephanie was looking at me. She wanted out of there. I didn’t blame her. Dinner
had been a nightmare. I started the engine. “Bye
grandma.”
“Bye Steph, Bye hot
stuff.”
“See you later
Grandma Mazure.” She stood on the porch and stayed there until we turned the
corner. I let out an explosive breath. “Jesus.”
“My sister is
normal.”
“Right.” She grinned
and settled back into the seat, closing her eyes. A minute later she was making
small twitching movements, like a puppy dreaming of chasing rabbits. I wondered
what she was chasing. We had pulled up to find Helen and Grandma Mazure waiting
on the porch. Stephanie had pushed until we got there at 559pm, she wouldn’t
accept us being late. Said sex wasn’t worth the hassles of facing her mother if
dinner was on the table late. Now I agreed with her.
We had sat at the
table, Steph and I across from her Grandma, Frank on my end of the table and
Helen on Steph’s end. Helen had gone slightly of her nut when Steph said she was
moving in with me. Her Grandma had sat back, grin on her face and cackled.
Frank’s hand convulsed around the knife he was using to cut up the pot roast. He
gave me a look that would have scared off any would be boyfriend. I didn’t look
away. Steph had told me he did a tour of ‘Nam. Better to look a soldier in the
eye when he thought you were about to defile all that was sacred. Steph, who was
still trying to get her grandma to stop laughing and get her mother to stop
genuflecting, mentioned that Tank was my friend and worked for me. Helen stopped
signing the holy cross and her grandma stopped cackling. Frank’s hand relaxed
its grip on the knife, but the look didn’t change. They honestly thought Tank
was a good guy? He was one of the deadliest I knew. He was only a good guy when
he was on your side. When he was on the other side you had better run for your
life.
Right before dessert
was brought out, Stephanie’s Grandma pulled a .45 colt out from under the table.
Helen went crazy, moaning and yelling all at once. Frank just kept on eating as
if it was an everyday occurrence and Stephanie grabbed my arm as if she knew of
my immediate reaction to pull my own gun. Grandma Mazure put the gun away and
went to help Helen bring out dessert.
“You should talk to
Andy about the first time he came to dinner.” She looked thoughtful. “And his
second time.”
Frank laughed softly
and Steph grinned at him. “Don’t remind your mother.”
Helen stepped through
the door and their faces were wiped clean of grins, simple as that. If I hadn’t
been in the room watching it I wouldn’t have known it had happened. Stephanie
had been correct in the assumption that her mother would ask infinite questions.
And Stephanie knew most all of the answers. She knew her mother and what she
would want to know. We finally escaped, hearts, minds and bodies intact. Barely.
I pulled into the car lot of my building and parked next to Tank’s hummer. Tank
got out and opened the passenger side door.
“The others are on
their way.” I nodded and he hefted Stephanie into his arms as though he had done
it many times before. I squished a sudden jolt of jealousy when she moved into
him; she was mine now, that’s what mattered. I grabbed the bag she had packed at
her place and led the way to the elevator. I dumped her bag and took her from
Tank’s arms. I carried her into the bedroom and lay her on the bed. She woke
when I was stripping her off.
“You know it’s polite
to wait for me to wake up.” I grinned down into her sleepy
face.
“Tank’s here. Let me
finish stripping you off and you can get some sleep while I talk to him and the
others when they get here.” She looked at her watch and
sighed.
“I need to get some
work done too. So I’ll do it now while you talk to Andy and the guys.” She was
down to a bra and underwear. She sat up and kissed me. Hard and fast. Pushing
away to stand up. She pulled a pair of snoopy boxers out of her bag and a
matching tank top and handed them to me to hold. She smiled at me slowly,
reaching behind her to undo her bra. She wriggled her shoulders and
everything wriggled as the bra fell down her arms to the floor. She ran
her hands down her stomach and bent over, pushing her underwear down.
“Shit.” I swallowed
hard. I was about to come in my pants.
She took three steps
closing the distance between us and grabbed me shirt. She kissed me again, this
time, slow, deep and drugging. She pulled back, grabbed her clothes and took off
laughing. She went through the door and there was a
yell.
I followed and
stopped just outside the door, not knowing weather to laugh or swear. Stephanie
lay naked on the floor, flat on her back with Tank standing above her. The
boxers and tank top were on the floor on the other side of Tank. She stood up
and started to yell at him. “Jesus Andy! What were you doing standing
there?”
“I was coming to get
Ranger. The guys are here.”
“Why didn’t you
move?”
“You were going too
fast. Why were you running?”
Her eyes opened wide.
I had wondered how long it was going to take for her to realise she was naked.
“Shit where are the guys?”
“Here.”
“Here.”
“Here.”
Stephanie stood in
the hallway and met my eyes. She drew her shoulders back and turned to face
them. “Well? Are you just going to stand there?”
They all
nodded.
“That’s just rude.
You’re not even going to introduce yourselves?”
“You’re standing
there naked and you want us to introduce ourselves?” by the look on Lester’s
face he wasn’t sure weather to be amused or turned on.
“You want me to get
dressed?” I leaned against the wall, this was proving to be very amusing. And a
turn on, though I was hard as a rock already.
“Hell no Stephanie
Plum. I’ve been waiting for years to see you naked.” Bobby knew
Steph?
“Well if it isn’t
Robert Brown. What are you doing with this lot?” She said ‘lot’ like it was a
bad thing.
He smiled a big
toothy smile. “It’s all part of my grand plan to see you
naked.”
“Uh huh.” She
dismissed him by picking up her clothes and brushing past me back into the
bedroom. The door slammed behind her. A muffled ‘idiots’ came through and that
was it. I nodded down the hall.
“Lets get to
work.”
An hour later we
found Steph in the kitchen area eating ice cream out of a container talking on
her phone. Disappointingly she was dressed. The guys were loud and she dropped
her spoon to press her finger to her ear. Her face got darker and darker and
finally she pulled the phone away from her ear. “Shut up for a minute would you?
I’m on the phone here.”
The guys went quiet
and looked from her to me and back again. She made a motion with her arm.
“That’s better. Thanks.”
She pulled the phone
back to her ear and started to eat again. Lester got up and walked to her
snapping the phone closed in her hand. I didn’t move, this had to be between her
and them. Besides, I had no doubt who would win. She looked at him, blue eyes
snapping mad. This was going to be good. I saw Mark and Tank make hand gestures
on bets. Tank upped Mark’s bet, backing Steph for a hundred.
“Who do you think you
are?” Lester got right up in her face. Points for her for not backing down. Show
these guy's an inch of weakness and they’ll push for a
mile.
Steph smiled slowly.
“I’m me. Who do you think you are?”
“Lester
Santos.”
“Well Lester. I think
you owe me an apology.”
Lester let out a bark
of laughter. “Excuse me?”
“You just hung up on
me. That could have been a client. Worse though, it was my best friend. I should
make you call her and apologise too.”
“Who are you that I
should be apologising to?”
“Think about it and
ask me a question worth answering.” Lester stepped right up to her so that she
had to tip her head back to look him in the eyes. Tank made a sound and
Stephanie gestured. “No Andy. This is between me and Lester
here.”
Lester took a step
back and glanced back to Tank. “Who are you to call him Andy? He doesn’t let
many people call him Andy.”
Stephanie’s eyes
narrowed. “And Ranger doesn’t show just anyone where he lives. Gee Santos, I
thought you’d be smarter than that.”
Lester rolled his
shoulders. “I’m smarter than you’d believe.”
It was true. Lester
tested at genius levels. He just had a problem with the everyday kind of
intellect.
Stephanie just looked
at him. “Are you going to apologise?”
Lester had backed
down, realising that she obviously meant something to Tank and I. “For
what?”
“For being rude. For
hanging up on me and my best friend in my own damn home!” Steph was pretty damn
steamed. Four pairs of eyes swivelled to me and I nodded. Tank raised his brow
and then slowly started to nod and smile. Bobby’s face was blank, while Mark and
Lester’s faced registered shock.
Slowly Lester nodded
and his gaze turned to Stephanie. He looked at her contemplatively. “You’re
right, I was rude. I’m sorry. But I want you to know that I’m apologising
because I was rude. Not because you live with my
boss.”
Stephanie shrugged.
“Sure.” And she went back to eating ice cream redialling her best friend I
presume.
“That’s it?” Lester
never knew when enough was enough.
“Sure. You
apologised. End of story.” Lester was looking amazed, usually a female will drag
out a fight. I was male, I knew. I had been on the end of a few of those kind of
fights. Stephanie picked up her ice cream and walked out of the room with it,
talking to her friend with the cell phone in her other arm. Mark slapped the
table and pulled his wallet out, handing a grinning Tank a hundred dollar bill.
Bobby was still blank faced.
We all grabbed
something to eat and sat round the bench top. “So Bobby, how did you know
Steph?”
“She used to be a
majorette when I played ball in high school. She was damn hot. Course since she
was always on the opposite team it wasn’t right that we ever got together. I
used to tease shit out of her.”
“A majorette? In
those little boots and skirt? Shit.” I was getting hard about
it.
He started to laugh.
“I remember at one game she took out her side’s cheerleaders. The pyramid fell
when she lost her baton. She used to hate the cheerleaders though, like most
majorettes. There were rumours she did it
deliberately.”
Tank cracked up. “She
did.” Attention shifted to Tank and before anyone could ask he answered. “That’s
Steph. You know, the Steph.”
A collective sigh
left the other three men.
“Damn.” Lester looked
at the closed door and his shoulders slumped. “Wish you had told me before I got
up all in her face.”
“Wish you’d told me
before I bet a hundred bucks on it.”
“Shit man, you told
us what happened with her stalker. He had to have a fucking testicle
removed.”
Tank’s face darkened.
“Muthafucker deserved all he got.”
Through the apartment
I heard a squeal and a loud thump. We all jumped up and went
running.
iiiiiiiiiiiii
I woke up comfortable
and in bed. I yawned and moaned in pain. My head hurt like a bitch. I lifted my
arms and gently probed the back of my head where the pain radiated from. I
slowly realised I couldn’t focus and that no one was around. I tried sitting up
and didn’t even get so far as to my elbows when I blacked out. Well
shit.
I came to again, I
don’t know how much later. I sat up, slowly. Colours morphed and everything went
photonegative. Dark was light and light was dark. I let out a groan and it hurt
my head. I lay back again and let the colours morph back to normal. Everything
was still blurry but I made out Ranger as he came through the bedroom
door.
“What
happened?”
“You don’t
remember?”
“I remember leaving
the kitchen.” I paused. “I slipped? On the corner of a
rug?”
“Yeah, that’s what we
think. You hit your head on the tiles.” No wonder it hurt like a
bitch.
“How long have I been
out of it?”
“Not long, bout and
hour or so.”
“Shit. I need to talk
to Mary Lou. She’ll be panicking.” Ranger smiled and shook his head as he sat
next to me with a glass of water.
“Here drink up.” He
held the water to my mouth and I took a few sips as he explained the Andy had
talked to Mary Lou. That was ok then. Mary Lou thought Andy was a spunk. Mary
Lou had thought I was insane to not hook up with him instead of Dickie. She had
been right, but she didn’t hold it above me. Everything was back to normal with
my vision and I tried sitting up again. With Ranger’s help things went blurry
but the didn’t go photonegative. “The guys are going to move your stuff
tomorrow. Is there any furniture or anything you want brought
over?”
I looked at him. He
didn’t seem to realise that no one, no one at all was going into my apartment
without my permission. “No, they aren’t.”
“What?”
“Everything that
needs to be moved will be moved by me.”
“It’ll be easier this
way.”
“I don’t care from
easy. No one is going through my stuff.” Ranger had an eyebrow
raised.
“So you don’t want to
move in tomorrow. Is that it?”
“No. I can do it
myself tomorrow. Monday is my day off.” I worked solid Tuesday through Saturday
and had a half day Sunday. I liked being my own boss.
“You sure you don’t
want the guys to do it? You have a concussion.”
“I’ll be fine by
tomorrow. Besides, I’m only bringing clothes and a few personal things.” He
nodded.
“Ok. If you want help
call me and if I can I’ll come help.” I could see the thought run through his
eyes that someone would anyway. I wanted to go to sleep and I doubted that with
him next to me that would happen anytime soon.
“Can you do me a
favour?”
“What?”
“Will you go get Rex
for me?”
“And bring him
here?”
“Well yeah.” Where
else would he go?
“Can’t believe I’m
going to let a rodent live in my kitchen.”
“He’s not a
rodent! Rex is a hamster!” I lay back down. That little piece of yelling had
cost my head.
“Ok. Calm down.
Where’s the swipe card?”
“In my bag. I
think.”
He left and came back
in carrying my bag. I dumped it upside down and everything came out in a pile of
mess. I found it wedged in my wallet. Amazing. It was where it was meant to be.
Ranger hesitated in the doorway.
“What?”
“Can I drive your
Celica back?” He looked like a little kid anticipating Christmas and Santa
bringing lots of presents. I’d only had the Celica for a few
months.
“Sure. Keys are in
the desk drawer, top left.” He started out. “You so much as even scratch it I’ll
kick you ass.”
He laughed and left.
I used an arm to swipe everything of the bed and fell to sleep
immediately.
The next day I
promoted Lula to rentals manager when the current manager Vic Blake quit when I
told him the put my condo on the rental list. Apparently he had been holding a
candle for me thinking we were going to get it together eventually. And when
that had happened he was expecting to take over my business while I stayed home
and had the babies. My moving in with Ranger had crimped his designs and he was
moving onto the next lady he had in his sites. I was really hoping he gave the
office as a reference.
Mary Lou and I spent
a few hours going through my stuff and I packed up all my memories into boxes. I
called Andy and he set a time so I could borrow his Hummer. He wanted to take my
Celica but I still hadn’t got it back from Ranger, so he settled on the Subaru.
I loaded as much into it as I could and then started to load up the Hummer. When
that was filled up I put the last few boxes into the Acura. I had been worried
that there wouldn’t be enough parking space with my four cars and all of
Ranger’s cars but he had assured me there was plenty of parking positions.
Another advantage to owning the building.
It took us all day
long. Mostly because Mary Lou and I took plenty of time to catch up and giggle
over every little thing we found that might have been incriminating. It had been
a long time since Mary Lou and I had spent a day together. So it was a great day
for me in that regard. It was a great day all round. Ranger had balked at
letting me tell Mary Lou where I was going to be living and we had argued. I had
won on the point that if I couldn’t tell the people I loved where I was going to
be living I wasn’t going to be living there.
By 9pm that night I
had most everything put away and was stretching out on the couch with Ranger
while he watched a documentary on the elephants of Africa. We had spent a few
hours together earlier while I had put stuff away. Ranger had been moving his
stuff around to accommodate me and mine. Now I was just ready to crash out. Or
at least lie here and not move. Ranger was spooning me and my eyes were slowly
drooping. Ranger’s right hand was slowly making large circles on my stomach
lulling me deeper to sleep. His hand moved up to cup my breast and started to
squeeze and release. I sighed and turned to face him so I could kiss
him.
iiiiiiiiiiiii
I had been concerned
earlier when Steph had woke up with a headache. I had been prepared to argue
with her about her going to pack up her stuff but she had been gone before I had
gotten out of the shower. When Tank had turned up just before I was going to
call her saying that she had called him and arranged to borrow his Hummer I was
relieved. I was kind of shocked at how much I was thinking about her. I had
tried unsuccessfully to concentrate on business all day long only to realise I
was daydreaming about her.
Now we were lying on
the couch and she had just rolled to face me. We were kissing, long slow kisses.
Drugging kisses with our eyes opened and hands moving against each other. I
wasn’t in any hurry, we had plenty of time together now. She pulled away and
grinned at me.
“I’m happy I’m here.”
I grinned back at her.
“I’m happy you’re
here too.” She came back for another kiss. And pulled away
again.
“Do you think we’re
crazy?”
I smiled. I couldn’t
help it, she didn’t sound the least bit concerned about it.
“Absolutely.”
She sighed and moved
into my neck, burying her face against me. “Me too.”
I wrapped my arms
around her as hers came around me. I thought back to earlier this afternoon when
Steph’s friend Mary Lou had come up to me and threatened to cut off my balls
should I hurt her friend in any manner. Mary Lou was a pit bull. I liked her. I
had done my best to reassure her but it wasn’t until Tank had come in and told
her I was ok that she had let up on the subject. I was amazed by these people
and their faith in Tank. And once again I was glad to know that he was on my
side.
Steph wrapped her leg
up over mine, seeming to try and wrap herself around me. I pulled her closer and
breathed in the scent of her. I wanted to keep her wrapped around me like this
for the longest time. She exhaled and goose bumps raced across my skin where her
breath flowed. My body and mind slowly relaxed and I fell asleep feeling her
heart beat against mine. My last conscious thought was that it would be awfully
easy to fall in love with this
lady.