Disclaimer: The Characters of the Stephanie Plum Series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Challenges: This story actually meets 2 different challenge - The first was Stephanie and Ranger on a stakeout, the second is from the 100_Prompts challenge I'm doing - prompt 087. Park Bench

One Thing…
By TT

It was a bight, sunny, cool mid-morning in Trenton, New Jersey. It was the type of Spring day that caused even the most dour expression to brighten and the most nature-hating soul long to be in the fresh air and sunshine.

It was the sort of day when teaching students was a hopeless task, workers took frequent “breaks outside” and even the bosses found excuses to leave their buildings.

It was the type of day it was a joy to have a job that let you be outside in the open, rejoicing in the return of sunshine and moderate temperatures after months of dull, gray winter gloom.

The flowers seem to burst forth in the joy of the season, radiating life and rebirth. The faint green tinge of the winter-brown grass was complimented by the green haze of birthing leaves on the trees.

All in all, the day was a wonder to behold, bringing joy to your soul; unless, of course, you were a bounty hunter on a four-hour-long stakeout.

“I’m bored,” Stephanie whined to Ranger.

Ranger ignored her.

They were waiting on a skip. He was one of those rare types who fell between Ranger and Stepahnie’s bond range. As a compromise, they were working the skip together.

It hadn’t taken long to find Henry Chisolm’s schedule.

After reviewing all of the possibilities, they determined it would be easiest to bring him down in the park where he jogged each morning. The small children at his home were a strong deterrent for taking him down there.

Since the time he ran varied between 8am and noon, Stephanie and Ranger had set out early that morning and walked Chisolm’s normal jogging route.

It wasn’t a long route, but there were a few places that would provide a relatively isolated location for the takedown. The last thing they needed was to have an innocent bystander get in the way.

Fortunately for Ranger and Stephanie, the park, or at least the part they were in, had been fairly deserted so far. A few other people had walked by.

As the morning progressed, however, more and more people came into the park.

“You know we can’t just sit here scanning the area,” Stephanie said, finally breaking the silence in which they had been existing.

Ranger turned to look at her and raise an eyebrow in question.

“Didn’t you teach me that one of the first rules of surveillance was to blend into your surroundings as much as you could, or at least don’t draw attention to yourself?” Stephanie inquired.

Ranger nodded his head. “What do you propose we do?” he asked, his face perfectly serious.

Stephanie looked at him and blinked a few times. To tell the truth, she wasn’t sure. Having never been much of an outdoors type of girl, it took her a few minutes to think of an answer. “Well,” she said, still trying to work out a plan. “Since we’re here together, we could do what most normal couples would do,” she suggested, feeling her cheeks color as Ranger’s eyes warmed. “Walk…” she squeaked. Clearing her throat, she tried again, “Walk together, talk to each other, hold hands…”

As she was speaking, Ranger had moved closer to her until their legs were brushing. With his eyes locked on hers, a smile curved his lips as he added to the list. “Kiss,” he said, suiting actions to words.

“Yes,” she whispered in agreement, completely entranced by his nearness.

“Touch,” he continued, caressing her face with one hand as he drew her flush against him with the other.

“Yes,” she breathed, losing track of everything around her except the man in front of her.

Ranger leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “More.”

Before she could say anything, the high-pitched squeal of a child shattered the moment.

Pulling back a little and shaking her head, Stephanie felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she saw Ranger laughing. He had told her once she was entertainment, but it still hurt a bit to have him laughing at her like that.

The source of the squeal was now within sight so Stephanie took the opportunity to shift her position to a relatively safe distance away from Ranger. She didn’t feel like being a toy for him. It wasn’t fun when the man you were in love with only enjoyed playing with you to see how far he could push. With Joe out of the picture for the past four months, she had been hoping for something more than that. But then, Ranger had told her his life didn’t lend itself to relationships and implied she wasn’t worth the effort to try one despite the difficulty.

Looking away from both Ranger and the approaching mother and child, she tried to collect herself. She was a professional. She had been doing this job for a number of years now and had good success with it. Just because she wasn’t as highly trained and didn’t do things in the expected way didn’t mean she should be the laughing stock. But, then, Ranger never laughed at the job she did or how she did it, just at her.

A new pain clenched her heart, which she quickly denied. She was here waiting for a skip. That was all. It was something they’d done before and something they could do again. She would just avoid any “couple” type things while trying to blend into the background. Instead they could talk about… about…

Sadness swept through her as she realized how little she knew about Ranger’s interests outside of work. She knew most of the important things about him – he was reliable, he was there for her, he was honorable (mostly)… But what he did at night after the day was done? Where he went on vacation? She had no clue. Joe would go to the islands and scuba, but Ranger?

Not that it mattered, she assured herself. Theirs was a professional relationship, not a personal one.

So why does it hurt so much? a little voice whispered in her heart.

“Serious thoughts, Babe,” Ranger observed, his eyes looking straight at her.

Stephanie shook her head and offered a smile she hoped looked brighter than she imagined. “Just getting my mind back on business,” she admitted before standing. “Let’s head down the path a bit,” she suggested, needing to move.

As they set off down the path, Stephanie thought that this, at least, was one benefit of doing surveillance in the park was they could get up and move. There was no danger of her backside trying to become one with the seat of a car, or even a park bench.

As they strolled, Stephanie looked around her. It was an action not founded in a desire to keep her eye out for the skip, but rather in a desire to avoid looking at Ranger until she was certain she had her emotions under control and could laugh off her distraction as easily as he did.

They were approaching the duck pond and another bench upon which they could sit when Ranger took her hand in his own, leading her just past the bench and to the side of the duck pond, where he stopped and stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her close so her back was to his front.

From this position they could see the path in both directions and be warned about their approaching skip.

“What’s wrong querida?” he asked softly, his breath stirring the small hairs by her ears.

Ranger waited, his eyes still scanning the pathway. He was puzzled by her stiffness. Normally she would automatically relax into his touch. It was a constant in his life that gave him comfort, not because it displayed his power over her, as his male ego wanted to say, but rather, as his heart whispered, because it showed a level of innate trust that few others had in him.

“I’m just being aware of my surroundings,” Stephanie said back, her voice soft.

Ranger remained silent, just holding her as he tried to analyze her tone of voice. He could easily tell that something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t identify that elusive something.

Normally, Stephanie was as easy to read as a children’s book, but right now, he was having a hard time figuring her out. If he didn’t know better, he would say she was feeling too much, but too much of what?

Disgusted at the direction his thoughts were taking, he released Stephanie and stepped back. Taking her hand in his he moved them to a nearby bench to wait for their skip. He had a job to do and his job; his duty was something he understood, something that had driven his life, something that gave him purpose and direction. Romance, love and wonder might be fine for poets and authors, but in the dim, shadow-world where he lived clearing garbage from the streets, it had no place.

Glancing at the woman beside him, he couldn’t help the image of a welcome ray of sun breaking through thick cloud cover. The kind that is longed for more than anything else after so many gray days. She was refreshing. She was hope. She was why he continued to do the job he did.

She was completely unattainable.

She deserved more than darkness, dirt and grime that would only dull her, mar her and, eventually destroy her.

“Skip,” Stephanie said, indicating the man jogging in their direction.

Ranger sprang into action and had the man in cuffs before he had a chance to run two more steps, all thoughts of Stephanie gone as he allowed his work to consume him.

Two Days Later

Ranger stepped into Tank’s office and raised an eyebrow in inquiry as he saw his friend wearing a headset.

Stepping into the office, Ranger closed the door behind him and settled into the seat opposite Tank. He watched as his friend took of the headset and put it down on the desk. “Anything interesting?” Ranger asked, knowing Tank would tell him.

“Listening in on Lula and Stephanie’s stakeout,” he admitted, not even blinking. Most other men would think twice before admitting to listening in on Stephanie Plum, but Tank, being Lula’s man, knew it wasn’t a problem. Seeing the question in Ranger’s eyes, Tank continued, “Lula’s concerned about Stephanie. Something’s wrong, but she won’t talk, so Lula thought she’d try again on the stakeout today. She figured that if I listened in, maybe I’d hear something or think of a question to ask Bombshell to get her to open up.”

Normally, Ranger would have lit into tank for wasting time and company resources like this, but if Stephanie wasn’t speaking to Lula about whatever was wrong, then it must be something big. “Plug in the speakers,” he commanded, settling in to listen.

The two women chatted for a while about their latest shopping trip. Stakeouts were not a favorite of either of them, but they only had a few days left to bring in Theodore Roosevelt (no relation to the former President) and this seemed the best way to find him.

Eventually the subject drifted to other things. “I can’t understand how my man can put up with this,” Lula lamented as she unwrapped another snack. “Just sitting here is pointless.”

Stephanie just nodded, her mind immediately returning to the stakeout she and Ranger had done earlier in the week. The now familiar pain of discovering she was nothing more than a joke to the man she loved pierced her heart once more.

After a few seconds of silence, Lula’s phone buzzed. She took a quick glance at it and read the text message from Tank. “Didn’t you have a stakeout earlier this week?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Stephanie said, her voice soft, barely audible.

Lula’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. Bingo! The problem with her girl was definitely related to that. “Can’t imagine having to sit in a car on a day as nice as that,” she observed, carefully not looking at her friend. “Of course, with a fine piece of man like that to watch with, it wouldn’t be too hard.”

Stephanie made some sort of noncommittal reply and squirmed in her seat.

As always, Stephanie was easy to read. Lula knew she was getting closer. After another moment’s silence, she decided to take the direct route; it had always served her well in the past. “What did that man do to you?” she asked, her anger already rising.

Stephanie looked sharply at Lula. Seeing her anger and the protectiveness in her eyes, a small smile appeared on Stephanie’s face. “Nothing I didn’t know. Nothing I shouldn’t have expected,” she said quietly. Then trying to lighten the mood, she tossed out, “You know what they say. A man’s only good for one thing. But then again, how often do you need to parallel park?”

Lula continued to stare at her friend, knowing that now was the time to wait, despite her desire to smart back at that joke. If she could be quiet long enough, Stephanie was sure to spill. Eventually she was proved right.

“Ranger flat out told me that his life didn’t lend itself to relationships. He told me I’m a line item in his budget under entertainment.” Here Stephanie paused and took a deep breath. “He’s always there for me. Always. I know neither of us can give 100% to a relationship with all the other commitments and I know I attract more psychos than a horror movie marathon, but he’s not even willing to try. That hurts. That I’m not even worth the effort. I lo… He makes me feel… When he touches me, it’s like I lose track of everything, like the world stops and all that matters is he and I. And when we were in the park… he laughed at how distracted I was, how I lost track…” At this point, tears were visible in her eyes and audible in her voice as she struggled for the words tried to get the hurt out. “I suppose it shouldn’t hurt so much, but…”

Ranger and Tank were both staring at the speakers waiting for Stephanie to continue.

It was Lula who finished the thought, though. “But you love him,” she completed, her voice soft.

“Yeah,” Stephanie agreed, the word coming out in a half-gasp, half-sob.

Tank quickly shut off the speakers, but still jumped as Ranger cursed loudly, jumped to his feet and threw his chair against the wall. He leaned back and watched his friend. Much of what Stephanie had said was true. Their lives didn’t lend themselves to relationships, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t worth trying with the right woman. The entertainment thing had obviously been a joke. He saw the books, so he knew. Though, some part of him wasn’t surprised by Bombshell taking it seriously.

The admission they had heard of Stephanie’s feelings was something he didn’t want to touch with a ten-foot pole, but the admission that Ranger laughed at her after deliberately distracting her, puzzled him. He had never known his friend to be deliberately cruel to a woman unless they deserved it.

Finally, Ranger’s tirade died down. When he met his friend’s eye, Ranger knew he owed Tank some answers. There was only one he was willing to give right now, however. Despite knowing that he would need to speak with Tank, he needed to sort things out first in his own mind and then with Stephanie before doing anything else. “I didn’t laugh at her,” he stated, his voice flat, but the underlying emotion was evident. “I was laughing because for those few seconds I kissed her, I was completely unaware of my surroundings,” he admitted, his shoulders slumping. “I’m always aware, Tank. But not around her.”

Tank just nodded. He could tell Ranger wasn’t going to share any more with him right now. He just watched as his friend squared his shoulders and left.

A week later

Stephanie stepped into her apartment and let her bag fall to the floor. She was exhausted.

It had been a busy week this week. She’d needed Ranger’s help twice and both times she was told he was in the wind. A part of her mind couldn’t help but think it would have been nice for him to tell her, but, then, he never really did.

After an early start today, she had been on the go right up until dinner at her parent’s house with Val, Albert, the girls and Grandma Mazur’s latest squeeze. It was a miracle she’d escaped.

Now, in the quiet confines of her apartment, she let the stress of the day fall away.

Taking a deep breath, she smelled flowers.

Her eyes shot open as she couldn’t help but wonder if she had another stalker. A quick mental run through of her recent skips didn’t reveal anyone she should need to worry about.

Finally realizing that she wouldn’t find out what was going on until she explored for herself, she cautiously moved toward the living room.

A few steps brought her close enough to see the room.

She gasped at the myriad of arrangements scattered around the area.

Her eyes finally landed on a figure standing by the window holding a single red rose.

“Babe.”

End.