CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Carly

A shooting range is the absolute last thing I would have guessed for our date tonight. But it’s the absolute best thing that he could have picked.

“Ready to head in?” he asks, but I’m already halfway out the car door.

“Oh yeah,” I say.

“Carly.” He chuckles. “Wait.”

I stop walking and turn around for him to catch up. He opens the back driver’s-side door and reaches into the back seat. When he starts walking toward me, he’s carrying a black case in his left hand. He stretches his right hand out to me and interlaces his fingers with mine. He tugs me close to him, pulling my arm so it’s around his waist as we make our way into the building.

He opens the door and with his hand to my lower back, ushers me inside. I take a moment to look around. Along the walls are posters of different guns, a few pictures, but for the most part, there’s white walls. There are two doors, one that says Restroom on the front, and the other has a sign listing the rules of the range. Behind the counter-height desk stands a large burly man with a full dark beard and a black beanie covering his head. He has on a white long-sleeve t-shirt rolled up to the elbows. The stark contrast of the shirt makes the tattoos on both arms stand out.

The moment his eyes lift from whatever he’s looking at on the countertop, they brighten, and a smile breaks out across his face.

“Holy shit,” I whisper.

James really opened my eyes to the beauty in the ruggedness of a man. Once hating facial hair and tattoos, I now see a guy displaying both, and my body leaps to attention. He’s hot.

“Easy,” James growls into my ear.

“James!” he shouts, his voice boisterous. He comes around from behind the counter and pulls James into his arms for a man hug. They slap each other on the back a few times.

“Hey, Will. How the hell are ya, man?”

“Can’t complain. Not as good as you, I see.” Will nods his head in my direction.

I smile as James returns to my side, his grip around my waist tighter than moments before.

“No doubt about that,” James confirms while looking at me. “This is my Carly.” No way did Will miss the emphasis of the word my there.

Will chuckles. “Carly, nice to meet you. I’m Will. Known this idiot since third grade,” he tells me.

“Oh really? I bet you have some good stories, then?” I say, smiling up at James.

“No, he doesn’t,” James answers at the same time as Will says, “You bet your sweet ass I do.”

James puts his hand up in front of us. “Don’t even think about it, man.”

Will grins at James’s possessiveness. “Wasn’t.” He raises his left hand showing off a tattooed wedding ring. He looks over at me again and narrows his eyes. “Have we met before?”

Ha! I almost laugh out loud. I would definitely remember meeting him.

“I don’t think so. Do you have a kid at Liberty Elementary? I’m a first-grade teacher there.”

“Nope. Kids are in high school now. You sure we haven’t met though? You look really familiar,” he says, still looking at me like he’s trying to solve a puzzle.

“Sorry, maybe I just have a common face?”

“Nope,” James answers for him.

Will scrunches his eyebrows, still looking at me. “Huh. Weird. Anyway, you guys ready?”

“Hell, yeah,” I say, to which both men laugh at my exuberance.

“Been shooting before?” Will asks me as he leads us through the door.

“Never. I didn’t even know I wanted to so badly until James brought me here!” For some reason, even my voice won’t calm down.

He nods his head in understanding. “You two been together long?”

I begin to tell him this is our first date, but James interrupts. “Six weeks,” James answers. “But she just now agreed to me taking her on a date.”

I look up at him and beam. My happiness is so thick I can’t begin to contain it.

We walk into the back room, which has several different sectioned-off lanes. In one, he has two sets of eye and ear protection waiting for us.

“All right. James, I know you know this, but the newbie needs to hear it. Stay behind the line, keep the gun pointed downrange at all times, eye and ear protection must be worn. If you two are sharing a lane, only one person may fire at a time.”

We both nod our heads in understanding, and he moves to the side to check James’s gun, which is what he was carrying in the black case, as well as making sure he has the correct ammunition.

“You’re good to go. You two sharing this gun?”

I look at James and shrug. “I know it’s not really allowed, but I think she’d be comfortable with my 9mm. That okay with you?”

Will shrugs. “Sure. Just don’t go spreading that shit around. No one needs to know I’ve gone soft for the sake of love,” he teases.

“Nice.” James guffaws.

“Have fun, you two. No hanky-panky back here. Shooting a gun produces as much endorphins as a hot-and-heavy make-out session, and I don’t need y’all going at it back here with loaded weapons.” He laughs.

My face burns with embarrassment, but James just snickers, looking down at me then kissing me on the cheek.

“Promise. I’ll be on my best behavior,” James says.

Will raises his eyebrows at me, and I feel my face burning even brighter. “I promise, too,” I murmur.

“Good enough. Have fun!” he repeats and walks back through the door.

“Ready for this?” James asks me.

“Yup.” I nod my head quickly. My excitement starts mingling with my nerves, and I bite my bottom lip.

“Hey,” he says, leaning over to kiss my lips softly, effectively releasing my lip. “These lips? The moment you said yes, they became mine. And I don’t want you hurting what’s mine.”

“Okay,” I say, completely breathless at being called his. Or at least my lips. Wait, am I his or just my lips?

“Let’s do this.” He grins. He places the eye-gear on my face then secures the headphones over my ears. “Gotta keep my girl safe,” he mutters.

Me. I’m his.

Gah, his words. Even when they’re gentle, they’re so full of meaning.

I watch as he gets his own gear in place then he reaches over and moves one side of my headphones away from my ear and does the same to his own.

“So, this here, is my own gun. I’ve owned it for a few years. It’s not hard to use, I promise. And there’s not a lot of kickback, or recoil. But you still need to brace yourself. I’ll shoot once, show you what it’s like. Then I’ll help you.”

“Okay.”

He removes his jacket and pulls his sweater over his head, tossing them both onto a chair to the side. In just his white undershirt (that fits him like a second skin) and jeans, he stands with his legs shoulder-width apart, his upper body standing tall and broad, the muscles in his arms contracting and bulging.

I have to fist my hands to stop myself from running them up his back and over the top of his strong, muscular shoulders. I lean back slightly and shamelessly check out his butt.

“Eyes up here, beautiful.”

“Sorry,” I say, smiling unapologetically.

“Mm-hmm. Sure you are.”

I shrug my shoulders. “So, you were saying?”

“You didn’t hear any of that, did you?”

“Not really,” I admit.

“Pay attention,” he admonishes, his voice serious, but the smile on his lips tells me he’s just as happy as I am with focusing on other things.

I watch him closely as he shows me how to hold the gun, load it, cock it, all the different aspects. Teaching-mode-James is hot. I’m also starting to realize that maybe I shouldn’t be around when James and Jack cook together because him doing this? Makes me tingly.

“Ready? I want you to know how to use a gun if I’m not around. It’s no different than learning to box. I’m not saying you need to start carrying a weapon around, but knowing how to use a firearm is simply protecting yourself. You’re strong. You’re fierce. You got this.”

Ah hell.

“I got this.”

He reaches over and moves my headphone so it’s back on my ear. I watch as he fires once, hitting the target just outside of the red center circle. The sound reverberates through my body but barely registers through my ears.

“Holy shit,” I say out loud, but this time I really mean it. My eyes are wide, and my body is vibrating, but if I thought Teaching James was hot? Doesn’t even come close to how sexy it is to see him in protective gun-firing, kick-ass mode. What Will said about endorphins and shooting? Spot. On.

“What was that?” James asks as he turns around to face me.

“Nothing,” I squeak and move my headphones so I can hear him again.

“Your turn,” he says, bringing me in close, our chests brushing up against each other. He shifts his body, his hands making a burning trail around my stomach and chest until he’s standing behind me, his chest to my back. His hands slide up my arms to my neck and slowly pushes my sweater off my shoulders. He leans over and throws it on the chair along with his shirt and jacket then smirks in my direction when I glance his way.

He reaches around me, placing the gun in my hand then circles his strong hands around my biceps. He lifts my arms so they’re in position, moves my hands and fingers so they’re gripping the gun correctly, and wraps my forefinger around the trigger.

His hands make their way from the tips of my fingers to my hips, wrapping around my body, pulling me closer to him.

“Just making sure your stance is good,” he whispers, his breath tickling my neck and the facial hair that covers his jaw scraping against my skin.

Have mercy, it’s like we’re in the middle of our own erotic dance.

“Mmm,” I mumble, not being able to form a full or coherent sentence. Meanwhile, his movements are smooth and confident, enticing and alluring, his lips skimming over my neck softly, and I roll my hips into him, the best kind of foreplay ever.

“Carly,” he whispers into my ear.

“Hmm?”

“We’re here to shoot.”

“What?”

He chuckles. “We’re definitely coming here again,” he says louder before standing up straighter.

His hands grip either side of my waist as he stands behind me. He kisses the back of my head once, twice, three times… and lingers.

“Ready?” he asks, his mouth still pressed to the back of my head.

“Uh-huh.”

“To shoot,” he clarifies.

“Ha ha.”

“Alright, show me what you got.” He moves his hands only briefly from my hips to put our headphones back in place, then moves them back down.

I close one eye and look out through the lane, my vision secured on my target. I take a deep breath and squeeze the trigger. The force of the pull makes my arm go up in the air just slightly, but my feet don’t move. My body feels like a thousand jolts of electricity just shot through me, my heartbeat pounding so violently I can feel the pulse in my neck. I have no clue if I hit the target, and I can’t bring myself to care.

“How’d that feel?”

“Amazing!”

“You did so good, baby.”

One of James’s hands snakes around my waist and settles on my stomach. His mouth moves to my neck where he lays a lingering kiss, allowing his tongue to sneak out and shivers to wrack my body. I don’t know if it’s the proximity of him, or if it’s from the power I felt when I pulled the trigger, but, even though I felt stronger every day from the moment I walked away from Vince, I now feel the strength I have been searching for all along.

I place the gun gently on the counter and spin around as I pull off my protective gear. James follows suit quickly as I pull him closer to me. I place my slender fingers around his face and look into the eyes of the man who knows everything I need without me even knowing what it is. I want to show him that he deserves every ounce of love in this world, show him a love he wasn’t shown before. I want to kiss him every single day, and with each kiss, I want his heart and soul to know that he is loved forever.

I pull his face down to mine, and it’s obvious in his eyes that he knows. He knows he has my heart, and he’s never going to give it back. And I know I have his, and I hope like hell he sees the same thing in my eyes.

“Carly,” he moans, seconds before slamming his lips to mine. His arms wrap around my waist, bringing our centers together.

My arms hold tight around his neck. This kiss is so much more than simply endorphins firing. This is healing our hurts, overcoming our pasts. He’s somehow familiar, as if my heart has been beating his name all along, even before I stumbled into him and we locked eyes for the first time.

He’s warm and safe and strong and fierce — and every single thing I didn’t know I needed or wanted to have in my life again. But he is all of that and so much more. I want to crawl into him, become one and never let him go.

I feel his hardness press against my core, and I whimper into his mouth. His responding groan sends a rush of heat straight to my center. My stomach dips, and I fight for breath but never release my hold on my new forever.

James lifts his head from mine, and I protest by chasing him, pressing my lips to his once again and begging for entry. His tongue battles with mine, loving, caressing, rebuilding all those walls he tore down. But this time it’s for him, because no one else can ever get in. My heart is now restored… for him.

Slowly we part, both breathless, lips swollen and eyes glazed over.

“I plan on doing that for the next fifty years of our lives,” he tells me.

“I’m good with that plan,” I say, tears springing to my eyes.

“Took Harper to school,” he murmurs, his eyes still darting between mine.

“Yeah,” I agree, but his statement confuses me. “Wait. What?”

“Something that shouldn’t have changed my life forever, taking Harper to school. Is it bad if I say I’m so damn glad she broke her arm that night?”

A bubble of happiness pops in my soul, exploding like a firecracker of color. I cover my mouth with my hand and press my lips together. “Not bad.” I shake my head, trying not to laugh.

“What did I tell y’all about making out in my shooting range?” I hear Will shout, laughter filling his voice.

“Sorry, man. Couldn’t help myself,” James says, eyes still on me.

“Warned you!”

“Some things happen without warning,” he says quietly, but Will still hears him.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come here when you’re cooled off, lover boy. I need to ask you something,” he says as he makes his way back into the front office.

“Ready to get out of here?”

“Not really,” I admit.

Obviously pleased by my response to the first part of the date, he stands up straight and puffs out his chest. “I did good?”

“Oh yeah, Captain. You did real good.”

“Want to shoot some more?”

“Absolutely.”

For the next thirty minutes, we shoot James’s gun. The first few shots of mine don’t even come close, but by the end of our time, I’ve successfully hit the target more often than not.

“Let’s get a move on to the second part. See if it’s as good as the first.”

“I don’t know if I can handle a second part.” I wink then walk slowly in front of him, trailing my fingertips down his arm as I pass.

“I’m rethinking the second part of this date,” James groans, making me giggle. He reaches out and jerks on my arm until we’re once again pressed tightly to each other. He brings me in for another scorching kiss before informing me, mouth still close to mine, his breath caressing my lips, “Next time we’re grabbing takeout.”

“Mmm. Good plan.” I reach up to kiss him softly on the mouth. “I’m gonna use the restroom while you’re chatting with Will.”

As I’m walking past him, he reaches over and swats me on the butt. And my insides shoot off like bottle rockets.