Page 10 of Love’s Silver Bullet

“Good!” He rose to his feet and pulled her into a gentle hug. “Gosh, I’m so sorry, Sher, and you have my word I’ll be on my best behavior from now on if you want to continue.”

She managed a small smile. Only if you’re not on your best behavior.

He pulled away, hands braced to her arms as he cocked a brow in question. “Does your finger hurt too much to try again?”

“No.” She peeked up with a shy nibble of her lip. “If you don’t mind helping position my stance and grip again, that is.”

“Sure,” he said, not a trace of surly in his tone, his eagerness to make it all up to her almost making her smile. He stood behind to reposition her stance, then handed her the rifle, his body so close, she could feel the heat. When she lifted the gun, he adjusted her grip from behind, arms encircling while he tucked the butt into her pocket on one side and carefully straightened her trigger finger on the other. “Almost perfect,” he said, his words warm against the side of her head as he adjusted her left-handed grip on the barrel. “Now tuck your cheek against the stock and relax your body.”

Relax? When Jake Sullivan was so close she could feel his every breath?

“Come on, Sher, you can do it,” he said, the warmth of his palm against the small of her back almost singeing her skin. “Just relax your body and assume a calm breathing rhythm.”

Easy for you to say, she muttered in her mind, then suddenly noticed his breathing sounded as ragged as hers.

Mmm … maybe not.

“How’s this?” she whispered, loathe to even move a hair lest Jake back away.

“Perfect. Now close your eyes, relax, and memorize the feel of your stance and grip. Get comfortable with it, because comfort enhances confidence, and confidence enhances skill.”

Comfortable? With the heat of his body setting fire to hers?

“You just need to relax your left hand on the barrel a bit more”—he reached around to help her loosen both her grip on the barrel and her finger trigger on the other side. “So, how’s that feel?” he asked.

Oh, sweet chorus of angels—like heaven! “Uh … good.” A nervous laugh tripped from her lips. “How does it look to you?” she asked, turning to see his expression. Only when she did, his face was so close, all she could see were those lips mere inches away. Those full, sensuous lips that she’d dreamed of over and over … always caressing hers.

Her pulse took off while her breathing accelerated, and looking up, she saw the flare of surprise in pale blue eyes that suddenly darkened to deep-blue. His half-lidded gaze dropped to her mouth, and in one wild, thundering beat of her heart, she knew he was feeling the same thing too. “Oh, Jake,” she whispered, “I’m crazy about—”

His body jerked as if he’d been shot while panic expanded the whites of his eyes. Throat bobbing twice, he stumbled back with a hard shake of his head. “This lesson is over, Half-Pint,” he whispered, voice raw with denial, “and I’m taking off right now.”

Which he did. Arms flailing in the air, he fell backwards with a hard grunt.

Right over that blessed rock.

CHAPTER FIVE

Sweet mother of mercy—who hit me over the head? Jake had no bloomin’ idea how long he’d conked out, but he knew that he had because his memory was as fuzzy as his brain while he lay flat on his back with eyes shut. There was an ache all over his body that matched the one in his chest as he lay inert, struggling to remember …

“Jake, please wake up!”

He felt the soft press of a hand to his cheek and froze, nothing moving but his wayward pulse, begging for mercy.

God help him, he knew that voice, and it didn’t bode well for his state of mind.

Or his body.

“Jake, please—look at me!” A flurry of activity flickered the sun beyond his closed lids, and the last thing he wanted to do was open them again. To see once more the blue of those eyes that had rounded in shock, as surprised as he when she’d unexpectedly turned, her lips aligned mere inches from his own. A moment in time when paralysis had claimed them both, separated only by rasps of ragged air and a craving so potent, he’d felt the fire clear to his toes.

So help him, for one thundering heartbeat, all he could think about was tasting those luscious lips, caressing them, fondling them, coaxing them with his mouth to places he had no right to go.

“Jake!” Gentle fingers stroked his jaw, luring a groan up his throat that he quickly squelched because it had nothing to do with the pain in his body, only his heart. The same shameful pain that plagued his dreams for the last two years, now slipping out in a moment of stun, exposing a weakness he hoped and prayed she hadn’t seen in his eyes.

Attraction.

Longing.

Love forbidden ... and desire denied.