Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum Series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
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Just Desserts
by TT
The anger simmered in the air between them as they glared at each other.
When two equally strong-willed people disagreed, most people found it safest to leave the room.
When those two strong-willed people were mother and daughter, it was only an extremely foolish man who stayed in the room. When that mother and daughter were Helen and Stephanie Plum, dangerous missions in far off third world jungles frequently took on an allure that would, normally, never be associated with them.
Ranger had heard their voices down the hallway, but continued on his way to Stephanie’s apartment. His own sisters and mother had taught him that such arguments weren’t uncommon and, in the long run, were generally not things about which one should worry.
When he reached the door to Stephanie’s apartment, his fingers had barely touched the knob when it was ripped out of his hand. Years of combat training and naturally quick reflexes allowed him to jump out of the way of the charging Ellen Plum.
She obviously hadn’t seen him as she advanced down the hall.
Ranger thought he heard her mumbling something like, “I’ll make sure she gets her just desserts.”
Blinking at the sight of an angry Mrs. Plum, Ranger paused a moment before entering Stephanie’s apartment. If her mother was that mad, then Stephanie would probably be in a similar state. It wasn’t something he was ready to face at the moment.
He was just about to turn and leave when the door flew open and Stephanie stood in the doorway, her purse slung over her shoulder.
“What?” she demanded, her hands landing on her hips.
Raising his eyebrow, Ranger just stood and stared at her for a few minutes. When she let out a puff of breath, he knew she was calming down.
Eventually, her agitated state calmed and, though anger was still in her eyes, she was more herself. “Sorry,” she apologized. “What can I do for you?” she asked politely.
Ranger’s mind immediately flew to the bedroom and all sorts of things she could do for him. He was unable to stop the slow, sexy smile that curved his lips. “Babe,” he said, hearing his desire in the husky tone that escaped him. He smiled more as he saw her flush and her eyes darken.
After a moment, she shook her head and cleared her throat. “I mean… um… What are you doing here?”
Ranger snapped out of his pleasant fantasies and replied, “Need you to come with me to pick up a skip.”
“Now?” she asked and received a nod of confirmation. “Sure,” Stephanie agreed with a shrug. “Whom are we going after?”
Ranger moved beside her and rested a hand on her lower back, gently guiding her out of the building. “Maureen Smith.”
Stephanie stuttered to a stop, her mouth open. “M-maureen Smith?” she squeaked. “Maureen Smith the woman who…”
Ranger nodded, confirming her suspicions.
“Oh, no. No! There’s no way I’m going with you to get her. The woman is psychotic. And you’re even crazier than her if you think I’m going to do this,” Stephanie denied, turning to head back to her apartment.
Not giving her a chance to flee, Ranger backed her against the wall of the hallway and placed an arm on either side of her, leaning in close, knowing it would distract her and willing to use every advantage he had to get her to agree. He reached a hand over and gently ran his fingertips over her shoulder, his eyes dipping to look at her lips. He carefully hid a grin of triumph as he heard her breath catch and then change. Her eyes were closed about half way and she was beginning to lean into him. Leaning forward, he paused when he was close enough that his lips just barely brushed hers. “Please,” he whispered.
“Yes,” Stephanie breathed in response, closing the minute distance and claiming his lips.
Not about to object, Ranger enjoyed the kiss. Eventually, though, he broke it off, knowing they needed to get going. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he led her to the stairwell door.
They were in the parking lot before Stephanie seemed to realize what had happened and planted her feet firmly on the asphalt and moved out of his embrace.
“I can’t believe you did that! That was low,” she spat out at him, her eyes narrow.
Ranger made sure his face was blank as he shrugged and replied, “You agreed.”
“Like I had a choice!” she shouted.
“You’ll be safe. You’re just there so she doesn’t accuse me of doing anything untoward,” Ranger informed. Seeing she wasn’t about to waver, he added, “I’ll make sure you’re compensated for your time.”
He became nervous when what can only be described as an evil smile appeared on her face. All her anger seemed to fade and a smug, satisfied air overtook her. Whatever Stephanie had planned, he was fairly certain he wasn’t going to enjoy it.
“Oh, you better believe it, buddy,” she replied. “You’re going to compensate me, but it won’t be with money.”
Ranger’s eyebrow went up as his mind once more headed toward the bedroom.
“You’re going to come to dinner with me tonight.”
Any thoughts of pleasant, nighttime activities instantly shattered only to be replaced with a vague sense of dread. He took a deep breath and forced his anxiety – for he would never admit it was fear – far away from him and nodded his agreement to her terms. He could only pray that he would survive the evening. “Fine, we’ll go after we drop her off,” he assured, motioning to the SUV and allowing her to lead the way.
The take down had been smooth. Smith had started crying abuse before they even had her the cuffs on her. Her protests lasted until she spotted Stephanie. At that point, she started fighting, but, between him and Tank, was quickly subdued.
The police station had been a madhouse, so it had taken them a while to take care of returning her and getting the body receipt. Now they were headed straight toward the Plum house
They arrived with two minutes to spare. He got out quickly and managed to get around the car before Stephanie had her seatbelt off. Opening her door, he escorted her to the front door where Mrs. Plum and Grandma Mazur were waiting.
As they entered the house, he could easily see Mrs. Plum’s underlying anger, left over, no doubt, from the confrontation he had overheard earlier. “Mrs. Plum. Mrs. Mazur,” he greeted politely, making sure to carefully keep Stephanie between Grandma Mazur and himself.
“Mr. Ranger,” Mrs. Plum greeted with a smile. “It’s a pleasure to have you here once more. We’re just ready to sit down for dinner, please join us.”
He studiously ignored the inappropriate comments of Grandma Mazur as they headed toward the dining room. The last time he’d eaten with the Plums, there had been ham. He could only shudder in dread as he contemplated what sort of heavy, artery-clogging food awaited him this time.
When they reached the dining room, he took one look at the table and froze in his tracks.
There wasn’t a spare inch anywhere on the table. Instead, it was overspread with every sort of dessert conceivable – cake, tarts, tortes, trifles, puddings, cookies, pastries, etc.
Stephanie tugged his hand and settled into seats opposite Mrs. Plum and Mrs. Mazur.
They waited as Frank Plum came in and took his seat. He blinked once at the spread before him before shrugging and digging in to the nearest dessert.
Ranger watched carefully as Mrs. Plum and Stephanie sat across from each other, eyes locked in a silent battle.
Looking for anything that might keep him from shooting into sugar overload, he knew he would have to complement the hostess on her meal selection. Normally he would try to ignore it, but, recently, he’d been suffering from random thoughts of what life with Stephanie would be like. Should that ever happen, both of their lives would be easier if he were on good terms with his family. Clearing his throat, he offered, “What an interesting menu selection you have tonight, Mrs. Plum.”
Mrs. Plum broke eye contact with her daughter to look at her guest. She smiled, but there was a gleam in her eye. “Thank you,” she replied with a smile. She then turned her attention back to Stephanie. The smile faded and her anger was once more visible in her eyes. Lifting her glass, she added, “I found it necessary to make sure that my daughter got her just desserts.”
End.