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Stephanie was holding a jar of maraschino cherries in her hand, while she checked prices on the shelf. Would this small jar be enough or should she get the bigger one? She heard footsteps heading down the aisle toward her and looked up, expecting to see the others. Instead she saw Joe Freaking Morelli. Ugh.
They'd been avoiding each other ever since she'd loudly and publicly kicked him to the curb six months ago. Then, for the past two weeks, she'd seen him lurking in the background but he hadn't approached her until now. Maybe it was because this time she was standing by herself. The other times she'd caught sight of him she'd been with Lula or Eddie Gazara or one of the Merry Men.
She waited until he stood near her before cautiously greeting him. "Morelli."
"Stephanie." There was a brief lag then Morelli took a deep breath and said, "I love that you are my person and I am yours. That whatever door we come to, we will open it together."
As Morelli began speaking, Steph heard footsteps behind her and took a quick look. It was Lester, strolling up the aisle, holding his designated item in one hand. He raised an eyebrow at Morelli but positioned himself behind Steph and to her right, making it clear that he was letting her handle this, but was ready to jump in if things got heated.
She turned her attention back to Morelli. "Wow. That line is so cheesy you must have gotten it from the dairy section. And 'person'? How very vague and non-committal. The only way it could be worse is if you called me a sentient bi-ped."
Morelli frowned at her. This was clearly not the reaction he'd expected. "You're deliberately taking that wrong."
"Golly," she replied, "What a loving comment to your person. As for the doors, we've never opened one together. You've certainly never opened one for me and let me enter ahead of you. It's always been you first and me having to tag along or get left behind."
The outside corner of Morelli's left eye began to twitch, a sure sign that his temper was rising. "You're going out of your way to find an insult."
"Pfft! I don't have to go looking, the insults and put-downs just flow right out of your mouth. Honestly, Morelli, if you're going to take advice from a women's magazine at least make it a good one."
Morelli stared at her for a moment and she could swear she saw him change his plan for this confrontation. She knew she was right when he said "I'm willing to fight for love and I always have been. But before I sign up for war, I need to make sure I'm fighting for a warrior, not a deserter."
Stephanie's mouth dropped open in astonishment. "Okay, now you're not just insulting me, you're insulting the true warriors here. Which, by the way, does not include you in any sense of the word And framing this as a battle? As warfare? Jeez, I can just feel the romance. Maybe you should stick to the crappy women's magazines because that load of crap clearly came from one of those sites where men spend all their time degrading and dehumanizing women then pouting because no one will date them."
As she spoke she heard a second pair of footsteps come up behind her. That was Ranger's voice murmuring "Sit-rep?" to Lester who didn't bother to keep his voice down.
"Steph just slaughtered Morelli." Lester sounded both amused and awed. "Totally eviscerated him. Metaphorical blood and guts everywhere."
Morelli puffed up like he was ready to take on Ranger and Lester as he pointed at them. "This is between me and her so you yahoos can just butt out."
Stephanie shook her head, "Sorry Morelli. It's like the three Musketeers. You talk to one of us, you're talking to all of us. Things have changed quite a bit since last we spoke."
To emphasize her point, she used her free hand to grab the collar of Lester's shirt and pulled him in for a kiss with plenty of tongue. Then she turned to Ranger who had already positioned himself to be pulled down for the same.
Morelli looked at them in shock. Then his eyes flicked to what each of them was holding. Steph had a jar of maraschino cherries. Lester had a large bottle of chocolate syrup. And Ranger was holding not one but two cans of whipped cream.
"Sorry to cut this short, Morelli," Stephanie said. "But I've got places to go, people to do. Maybe you should grovel to Terry Gilman, try those lines on her."
Turning they headed to the checkout with Stephanie between them, Ranger's hand on the small of her back and Lester's between her shoulders. She was really looking forward to dessert.
END