Disclaimer: Don't own 'em....blah blah blah
Ranger Moments ~ Of Armored Cars
and Shower Gel
Timeline:
Set the day after Plum Lucky
(4/13/08)
I was scraping the last bite out
of my half-gallon of Ben & Jerry's when I heard a soft knock on my door. I
glanced at the clock and it was 10:45pm, kind of late for a social call.
Looking through the peephole, I was surprised at who was on the other side.
I opened the door to Ranger.
"Babe," he said, which is the equivalent to "Hello". Depending on the situation, it could mean something completely different. "You didn't answer the door with your gun and you didn't ask who it was."
"Maniacs don't knock, they usually let themselves in." I thought about it for a second, "Actually, so do you. Why'd you knock this time?"
"It's early, figured you'd still be up," he said as he walked into the apartment and settled himself on the couch. I went into the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of water from the refrigerator. I popped the tops and handed one off to Ranger as I sat down next to him.
I settled down into the cushions and looked at him. He looked a little tired, but still completely edible. "So, what's up?" I asked.
"Thought you might want to fill me in on how you got yourself kidnapped, bombed a car in the middle of a fire-fight, rammed an armored truck through my parking garage, had half my crew held at gunpoint and used my Bulgari shower gel on a horse."
Well, when you said it in a list like that, it sounded kind of bad. I studied him for a minute. "Are you mad?"
Ranger folded his arms across his chest and gave me a pained look. "My shower gel, Babe? You couldn't have just used shampoo?"
Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for Ranger humor. I started laughing and I couldn't seem to stop. Ranger sat there with this small smile on his face as he watched me, his eyes sparkling in amusement. "Glad to see you're not taking things too seriously," he said.
When I finally had myself under control, I said, "I get held at gunpoint, cause thousands of dollars in damage to your building, scare the crap out of your Merry Men, park a horse in your garage and all you're concerned with is a bottle of shower gel?"
"It's Bulgari," he said with a smartass grin and then reached across the couch to pull me to him. He leaned back against the arm of the sofa and settled me in between his legs. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me back against him in a hug. "You did the right thing coming to Rangeman," he said as he brushed his lips against my temple.
"I didn't know what else to do," I said as I ran my fingers along one of his forearms. "He really wanted to go after Diesel, but I wasn't sure Diesel would be there or could even deal with the situation."
"Hard to say with Diesel," Ranger said. For a brief moment I again wondered how Ranger and Diesel knew each other. I had asked each of them but they were vague. Ranger was the Man of Mystery and Diesel liked his secrets too. Men.
"Anyway," I continued, "I figured a battalion of ex-military guys could handle one lunatic toad-man."
Ranger chuckled, "They had a bad moment when they thought he was wired with C4."
I remembered the "Oh Shit" look on their faces as Delvina and I stepped off the truck. "Were they afraid he'd blow them all up?"
"No, they were afraid if one of them lived through the blast I'd shoot him for letting you get killed."
I had a feeling he wasn't kidding about that. There were men bigger than Ranger who worked at Rangeman LLC, but not one of them was badder. They might make drug dealers wet themselves, but they would do almost anything to avoid facing Ranger with bad news. I'd never actually seen Ranger fight but if Tank, who was 300 pounds and the scariest-looking guy I knew, was afraid of him I could only imagine what Ranger could do.
Ranger leaned over my shoulder and rubbed his cheek against mine. He was sporting a five o'clock shadow and the whiskers scraped gently across my skin making me shiver. "So, did you give the horse a bath with my shower gel?"
"No, Snuggy actually gave him the bath. I just got the gel for him."
"Hm...too bad."
That surprised me so I glanced up at him. "Oh?"
He gave me a sly grin, "Well, I was going to see if you'd show me your technique. I haven't showered since this morning."
I had to grin back. Playful Ranger was a rare thing. So rare, in fact, that I might have been the only one to see him like this. He was known far and wide as a stone-cold badass - and it was a well-deserved reputation. Ranger could be a scary guy when he wanted to be. If I ever told anyone else that Ranger had a playful side, they'd call me crazy. "You already know my technique."
"True, but it's been awhile." He nuzzled my ear and kissed the base of my neck. "Besides, I could use a little help with those hard to reach places."
"And which places are those?" I asked teasingly.
He leaned over and whispered into my ear exactly which places he was referring to. I couldn't help it, the blush just crept up my neck. And the more detailed he got, the redder my face became. Finally, he leaned back and said, "Well?"
"I-I don't have any Bulgari here," I stammered. I should know better than to play with Ranger. He never stammers, and he never loses his cool. Jeez, he had me in a state and he hadn't laid a hand on me - yet.
The smile he gave me could have lit up Trenton for the month of July. "Bathroom. Bottom drawer. In the back."
Oh boy!
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