Ranger Ben: A Steamy Standalone Instalove Romance
Page 1
Contents
Ranger Ben
NEWSLETTER
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
Extended Epilogue
Extended Epilogue
NEWSLETTER
A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS
BRATVA BEAR SHIFTERS
LAIRDS & LADIES
RUSSIAN UNDERWORLD
IRISH WOLF SHIFTERS
Collaborations
About the Author
Ranger Ben
AN OLDER MAN YOUNGER WOMAN ROMANCE
_______________________
A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS, 250
FLORA FERRARI
Copyright © 2021 by Alan Bruce
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers.
Ranger Ben
Stacey
Growing up I’ve had two great loves.
Okay, three.
My dad and his best friend, Ranger Ben.
And my freedom at college.
And maybe pasta… That makes four.
The poster boy for the National Parks, it wasn’t hard to develop a natural, schoolgirl crush on Ranger Ben Slater.
Far from it.
The man is a living god.
But would an older man like that go for a thick-set, short, and younger college graduate like me?
I know what my dad would say.
There’s a storm brewing, and despite my diversion into Ranger Ben’s territory, I don’t know about it.
But I don’t think it would stop me even if I did.
I’ve got a feeling though, almost an ache that’s led me north. Right into his clutches.
My own shyness would normally prevent me, but the gods have favored me with a storm.
A terrible storm.
And one only Ben and I can come out of together, stronger. No matter what my dad thinks.
Right?
I mean. Ben is my dad’s oldest, closest friend. They’ve known each other forever and I’m his only daughter.
Why wouldn’t he want us all to be happy ever after?
Ben
Everything made sense until her graduation, which I missed because of work.
As a Park Ranger, I don’t exactly work nine to five.
I even blocked it from my mind when she was old enough to go to college.
My oldest friend. My brother almost, her dad.
Ignored by force, the snapshots of her becoming legal.
Hell, I used to bounce her on my knee.
But now? Jesus. She’s a grown woman. Almost.
Stacey.
A feeling more than a name that haunts me. Ruins my sleep and makes me want like I’ve never wanted anything before.
When I get the call she’s ‘potentially missing’ near my park, I know I have to find her.
It’s all I can do to stop the memory of her.
The regret of not being there, telling her how proud I am of her.
How much I wish a girl like her could even look at an older guy like me.
Knowing full well I have everything she needs.
Everything she wants and desires.
If only she had the opportunity to ask.
Ranger Ben is waiting to scoop her up.
To save her. To give her everything she needs and more.
*Ranger Ben is an insta-everything standalone instalove romance with a HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
NEWSLETTER
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Chapter One
Stacey
“You’ll do no such thing!” My dad jokes, an edge to his voice when I even suggest I’m diverting my route home from college.
I’m done. Finished.
Graduated and cleaned out my dorm.
Finally.
“It’s the only recharge port on the way,” I reason, justifying my extended trip home cross country in my rented electric car.
“The what?” he asks, chuckling nervously still.
I giggle too, once from the idea that I got a free upgrade to a luxury electric rental car and twice because I know the real reason I’m diverting.
What dad doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
I got the upgrade from the rental car company because the recharge ports are few and far between, meaning I have to go a few hundred miles (okay, almost five hundred) out of my way.
Perfect for me though, because it means I get to drive through Ranger Ben Slater’s territory.
“Recharge ports, dad,” I explain to him. “I got a sweet deal on an upgrade from the rental company, but it’s an all-electric smart car which means I’ll have to recharge it before I reach home.”
I hear my dad breathing heavily through his nose. That thing he does when he’s not happy but doesn’t want to let the world know how he feels.
“An electric car? Oh, honey. I could’ve just paid for a regular car if you were short on cash, gas money too,” he volunteers.
I know he would have. But a regular car would have meant I have no excuse to drive through Ranger Ben’s territory. I wouldn’t have the chance to drive by the tourist stop and drool over his billboard at the national park entrance.
Ben Slater is my dad’s best friend, and I can safely say, my only and deepest crush in this life.
He and dad grew up together, Ben from a wealthy family with connections, and my dad… well. He was raised in a boy’s home until he was finally fostered by Ben’s neighbors when he was a kid of about eight or nine.
I get the feeling Ben had a hand in dad being fostered. Once his parents saw the bond those two had, they kind of made it happen.
My dad’s always looked up to Ben, literally as well as figuratively. Ben is well over six and a half feet and built like a tank, but a tank with abs and muscles in all the right places.
Muscles with the face of a rugged angel.
And those dark, brooding eyes…
I feel a shiver move through me even just thinking about him, knowing I’ll get to see him soon enough. His picture anyway.
Ben Slater is also the poster boy for the national parks service in the state. I’m not the only one who notices his good looks. He’s been the face of National Parks and wildlife protection for ages now, which means I get to see him still, even when I can’t in person.
A brochure or TV ad isn’t the same, but his billboard near the National Park entrance is worth it. That’s where my detour for the recharge is taking me.
And I can’t wait.
Sounds silly, I know, but there’s only one thing better than Ranger Ben in the flesh, and that’s a thirty foot high Ranger Ben smiling at me.
He was supposed to come to my graduation, but some hikers got lost and Ben being Ben, he wouldn’t leave until he found them himself.
Dad told me he felt bad, told me he’d make it up to me but I think dad was just being kind.
A girl can dream though.
I mean, the chances of a man like Ben Slater falling for a girl like me?
Pretty thin, which I ain’t either. Not that it should matter, but I somehow see Ben Slater as the type of man who knows what he wants and can get it by snapping his fingers.
Short, curvy-thick college girls need not apply.
“Well?” Dad asks me again, breaking into my reverie about Ben. “If you’re in it now, how many ‘recharge’ stops will you have to make before you get here? Doesn’t sound smart to me at all.”
Dad’s not so old fashioned he doesn’t know technology, but he is kinda behind the times when it comes to how fast things are moving in that department.
“I’m not sure I like the sound of you driving an electric car,” he continues before I can go on. “I mean, what if you get stuck or break down? Nobody can just give you a jump start or some gas to get you to where you gotta go. No, I don’t like it, sweetie, get a regular car as soon as you pass through a city, I’ll pay for it,” he says adamantly.
This is why I didn’t say anything beforehand. Dad was up in arms about me driving cross country alone, to begin with, and I had to remind him I’m an adult now, not a little kid anymore.
“I’ll be fine dad, remember what we spoke about the other day?” I sigh smiling when I remind him about it. Feeling like nothing can go wrong if I’m thinking about his billboard, and the man himself, Ben.
Dad groans himself to submission but makes me promise to call him whenever I have to stop.
“Or even sooner,” he adds.
“I knew I should’ve waited after your graduation, we could have flown back together. I should never have—” he starts, but I intercept him before he can make me feel guilty.
“I’ll call dad, promise. My phone’s charging right now,” I chime back, hanging up and swerving back onto the right side of the road when I get distracted by the huge screen in the console which shows me where I am, where I’m headed, and how long until the recharge point.
And how much power the car has left.
It’s showing one red bar, but I figure that’s standard, they always have more power than they show you.
Right?
The thought of Ben’s billboard takes over again, and I feel the sleek car accelerate faster in tune with my own heart rate as my foot gets a little heavy on the juice.
Wiling myself to be closer to his huge image sooner, I know I’m probably risking a speeding ticket, but the view would be totally worth it.
Cranking up the stereo and singing to myself, thinking about Ranger Ben for what feels like nowhere near long enough, I finally see his huge smiling face coming into view.
I’m near the entrance to the National Park and feel the car slowing as if it somehow knows where I want to stop.
Pulling over onto the soft shoulder, I leave the music playing as I put the car in park and get out to stretch my legs and admire the view I’ve driven so far out of my way to reach.
Hugging my elbows from the cold, I press my legs together as I feel a familiar flush of heat down there as I stare up at him.
The sign is welcoming me to the park, telling me the entrance is a few miles ahead and Ranger Ben wishes me a safe and responsible stay.
Pity I’m not staying, I could stare at him all day.
I sigh with contentment, not even noticing when the music dies and the sounds of a chilly day turn into bad weather replacing my favorite all-girl band.
His chiseled jaw is clean shaven, leading my eyes to his perfect smile. Two rows of gleaming white teeth between his suggestive grinning lips.
Lips I’ve dreamed about pressing against my own, as well as covering a few other places.
One eye is slightly raised, his Ranger’s uniform and cap bristling against his physique and thick head of dark hair, which I remember is graying ever so slightly at the sides but it looks like they edited that part out for the advertising billboard.
Hearing myself sigh again as I keep staring, I shiver and then decide to head back to the car to either get a sweater on or maybe keep going like I know I should.
But the high-pitched sound from the car jolts me back to reality more than the cold.
I figure it must be the car telling me I left the door open, but the doors are all closed.
There’s a growing feeling of dread inside me like I’m about to discover something I’m not gonna like, which only intensifies the closer I get to the car.
The screen on the console is cheerfully informing me the car’s battery cell is empty, showing a number to call for roadside assistance.
I groan loudly, then gasp when I snatch my phone up and see it’s died as well.
For all my congratulating myself on finding the USB port in the console to charge my phone, I hadn’t been so clever to make sure the phone was even connected.
My annoyance turns to anger and then finally dread when the monotone alarm from the car stops and the screen goes blank.
All I can hear is the blood rushing in my ears, and a distant rumble of thunder that reminds me I was driving away from a forecasted storm cell.
Trying not to panic, and feeling a little better when I look up at Ben’s smiling face watching over me, I tell myself someone will come by soon and I can flag them down. Maybe use their phone to call for help.
But after a solid hour, or what feels more like three, I don’t see any other cars and I feel myself starting to panic.
Stuck out on a lonely stretch of highway with no phone and no working car, I swallow hard. Shivering in my seat, looking up at the huge image of Ben.
Ranger Ben? Now would be a great time for you to drive past on your way to work.
It’s gonna be dark soon and by the time it starts to rain I’m almost hysterical with panic.
What am I gonna do?
Chapter Two
Ben
It’s unseasonal for a storm like the one coming through the park, but it’s my job to be ready for anything.
I’ve spent all day notifying campers and hikers to move to a safer location, with everyone who has a permit accounted for so far.
The first few drops of rain are starting, and the breeze has picked up rapidly from a slight chill to a persistent and icy howl.
We’ve sent a warning message to anyone in the area via text message, so anyone with a working phone within fifteen miles of the park has been getting the directive since this morning.
I wouldn’t want to be stuck out in this. I joke to myself, knowing full well I’m gonna be in it, like it or not.
Weather like this, and it being my first weekend off in a long time, it’s just the law of averages and my gut that tells me something’s gonna keep me busy for the next forty-eight.
I’ve got a long drive ahead of me to get back to base, but seeing my own phone light up with Greg’s name makes me smile.
I decide to take five and talk to my best buddy before heading out. As a rule, I never use my phone while driving anyway, even hands-free.
Safety first.
I’ve almost always got time to talk to Greg and hearing his voice usually makes me feel better no matter what kind of day I’m having.
But today something’s off. I can feel it.
“What’s up buddy?” I ask, prepared to give him my ear if he has a problem or something he wants to get off his chest.
He pretends like there’s nothing wrong, asks how I’m doing, mentions he’s just seen the news with the storm warnings for the state.
“Yeah, I’ve been rounding up any stragglers and moving them on. It�
��s gonna come in real nasty. Wouldn’t want to be caught out in it unprepared, how’s Stacey?” I hear myself ask, wincing a little and wondering if it’s so obvious.
I’ve known her since she was born. Her dad and I are more like brothers than just friends.
But how could I possibly tell him? How can I possibly even have these thoughts? As if she’d even be interested in an older guy like me anyway.
Ever since her graduation, which I missed. I’ve been a little more than just casually interested in how Stacey is doing.
The memory of the video her dad sent me flashes to the front of my mind, her recent graduation ceremony and the dinner afterward.
The thickness of my arousal in my pants tells me enough.
I have more than a casual, passing interest in my best friend’s daughter.
Calling it a crush doesn’t work either.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve played that video, trying harder each time not to feel so bad because I couldn’t be there for her.
Trying even harder not to free my aching dick from my pants every time I see her in her gown, in that white dress she wore after the ceremony.
I shift in my seat, letting my newfound hardness sit more comfortably, but it’s hopeless.
Just the mention of her name sets me off these days.
That video playing in my mind.
Her thick chest filling her gown, the way it hugged her hips like I wish my hands could.