Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Challenge: Wednesday challenge for 24 October 2007 – from Tricia. The wording is slightly altered so I could us the idea that I had in mind.
Rating: Suitable for all ages
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Romancing Stephanie
By TT

“Men!” Stephanie shouted. “Really, would it kill either of them to do something romantic once in a while? Maybe not flowers, but they could do something. Candy! Something! A girl needs some romance in her life!”

And I knew just what I was going to do to give it to her. And then, with any luck, after all of this was over, she would be mine.

I followed silently behind Stephanie as she grabbed her files and left the office. She didn’t even try to go for the driver’s seat today, but headed straight for the passenger’s side. I made sure that the doors were unlocked before she got there. No way was I actually going to be able to get her door for her – at least not this time.

Sliding behind the wheel, I put the keys in the ignition and turned to look at her.

I’d seen her in this situation before, but I never really took the time to look closely and figure out how she was really doing.

There were dark circles under her eyes and her mouth was pinched and tight. Her eyes themselves, normally bright and sparkling with life, were clouded and worried.

“Are you OK?” I asked. She looked at me in surprise and blinked. It was extremely unusual for one of us to speak to her when we were on guard duty, but if I was going to be able to pull off my plan to steal her from Morelli and Ranger, I would need to set myself apart.

She looked up at me, startled. I saw her take a deep breath and blow it out. “Yeah,” she admitted. “This stalker just has me really weirded out this time. And then hearing Lula go on and on about how Tank sent her fresh flowers every week, took her out for dinner or dancing or just to spend time with her… I realized I didn’t have that in my life and I really wanted it.”

I smiled as she blushed a delicate pink.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, flipping open the top file folder. “I didn’t mean to vent to you and I have nothing to complain about, not really.”

“No problem,” I assured. “I like talking with you.” Her eyes flicked up to me and I could read the surprise there. Not wanting to push too hard, I nodded toward the folder. “Who’s first?”

We brought in two of her skips. The first one had gone seamlessly. The second had a few rough patches. One of those rough patches was the reason why we were headed back to her apartment.

Her second skip had managed to push past her and run. The only reason I didn’t catch him was because he had pushed Stephanie into me. Before I could right her, though, she had already taken off after her skip. I followed along, staying close to her. Could I have caught the skip for her? Yes. But my job was to protect her and I couldn’t do that very well if I couldn’t see her.

We finally got within striking distance and she made a flying tackle, bringing the skip down. Unfortunately, she brought him down into a pile of garbage bags waiting to be picked up. And, wouldn’t you know it, one of the bags broke.

“Sorry about all this,” she mumbled, looking at her shoes.

“About what?” I asked, puzzled. “Doing your job? Catching your skip?”

She had an odd look on her face when she looked at me. “Rolling in garbage. Stinking up your car. Embarrassing you,” she countered, sounding slightly puzzled and a little disbelieving.

I shrugged. “You think I haven’t rolled in garbage a time or two?” I asked, raising my eyebrow in question. “Keeping the windows down for a little while will clear out the smell. And I have no idea what you mean about embarrassing me. I’m certainly not embarrassed.”

She just stared at me for a few moments blinking.

I shifted the car into park as I pulled into her lot and turned to look at her, letting her see that I was proud of her for catching the skip. I personally had been in much more embarrassing situations than what she faced today.

“Huh,” was her only reply as she shook her head in disbelief.

This time I did manage to get around the car to open her door and help her out of the car.

Keeping close to her, we walked into her building. She started trudging for the stairs. I grabbed her arm and turned her toward the elevator. I knew she only took the stairs when one of us was with her. Normally, I would rather take them as well, especially while guarding her, but today I wanted to give her every little comfort I could.

When she saw where we were headed, she rewarded me with a brilliant smile. I returned it and swallowed hard. If she looked at me like that everyday, I would give her the world on a platter.

We reached her floor without incident and I quickly cleared her apartment. She headed off to the shower and I knew I had about forty minutes until she would emerge.

Since it was close to lunch, I figured I could do something special for her. Forty minutes wasn’t a lot of time, but it would probably be enough.

I made the necessary calls and then got everything else ready.

There was a knock on the door and I was relieved to see that both deliveries had arrived at the same time.

Paying for them and locking up, I quickly arranged them and settled in to wait for Stephanie.

Sure enough, just about forty minutes after she entered the bathroom, she came out. Taking in the sight before her, she stopped dead.

Finally tearing her eyes away, she looked at me and asked, “You did this for me?”

I smiled back, rose from my seated position and walked over to her taking her hand in mine. “Yes,” I replied, leading her over to the blanket I had spread on the floor.

She settled down on the floor and took in the picnic I had laid out for us.

I watched as she sniffed the mixed bouquet I had ordered and caressed the leaf of the potted plant I had purchased for her. Her eyes met mine again and I was breathless at the soft warmth that existed in them.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice matching the warmth and softness I’d seen in her eyes.

“You’re welcome,” I told her. I might be good at the occasional romantic gesture, but I wasn’t a big romantic talker.

We ate lunch and chatted on and off. I was able to relate some of my more amusing mishaps and I wanted to shout for joy each time I made her laugh.

Eventually, though, we were finished eating and cleaned up the mess.

We were just putting away the last dish when a knock sounded at the door. Indicating that Stephanie needed to stay back, I pulled my gun and went to look through the peephole. Seeing it was Ranger, I undid the locks and let him in before putting away my gun.

He looked around for Stephanie and saw her poking her head out of the kitchen area. I saw him flash her a smile before turning to me.

“Report.”

I gave him a status report and he let me know I was dismissed.

As I was reaching for the doorknob, I felt Stephanie’s hand land on my arm. Turning to look at her, I could see that same soft look in her eyes as she stood on her toes and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

I smiled and nodded before flashing my eyes to Ranger and then leaving the apartment.

As I headed toward the stairwell, I couldn’t help the broad smile I knew was lighting my face.

If I was reading that look right, I might just have a chance to make Stephanie Plum mine.

End

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