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A couple hours later, he was still engaged. We had walked in an endless circle, talked, played games, and argued good-naturedly about most of everything under the sun, including defense tactics, proper techniques for gunplay, and politics. If we could survive a debate of republican versus democrat, we could persevere through anything. Respecting someone’s differing opinion was another great quality to find in a man.
Night had fallen, coming in with a cool breeze hours ago. It was refreshing. In his company, I was constantly warm. The grounds were lit like the fourth of July. That was a plus considering my situation with Chad, who had a habit of showing up out of nowhere. He wasn’t even a concern as we went down one dirt track at the back of the carnival where Tobin took my hand. He used it to pilot me to a duck shoot tent. There, he pointed up at the hung stuffed animals on a panel wall.
“I want that unicorn up there, Cherise.”
Had he lost his mind?
Licking the last of my ice cream cone then tossing the remnants in the trash bin nearby, I tapped him on the chest to console him beforehand. “Poor thing. You don’t want it at all if you want me to shoot something to win it. Good luck.”
I swiveled to go have a seat on a bench nearby. As I turned, another soldier walked by dressed as Tobin, who snagged my waist in both hands. Tobin nodded at the man then gently swung me back around. I found my back pressed to Tobin’s chest, a rigid pole against my spine.
He folded his body around mine, forcing me to bend slightly as he gripped the stationary BB gun in front of us. “You wanted to learn how to shoot. Here’s your chance to do it without fatally wounding somebody.”
His warm breath glided over my cheek, sending my blood pounding through my veins. “I don’t know the first thing about guns, Tobin. I’ll probably fatally wound myself with that thing, and it has pellets. Hard pass.” I had no intention of moving away, though. He was every bit of a haven. I’d be a fool to let that go to waste, especially when my legs had become jelly again.
Of course, the gray-haired, grizzled game attendant had to butt in. “I’ll give you two the first three games for free, little lady.” Right. Get me caught in trying to win only to leave with my wallet dry and no unicorn.
“I don’t think so, but thank you.”
“We’ll take them,” Tobin accepted for us.
He wrapped my hands around the gun, giving whispered instructions that went right over my head with him so close. The heat he gave off warmed me down to my core. Freshly cleaned man smelling of soap and dark intensity clogged up my senses. I didn’t hear half the things he said as he pulled the trigger for me. A few minutes with no dollars spent later, the unicorn was being taken down and set on the countertop.
Tobin spun me around in his arms. “You did it, baby.”
Palming his chest, I giggled because damn if I wasn’t feeling carefree enough to do it. “You know dang well that was all you. I couldn’t concentrate with you behind me.” Or in front of me.
“Is that right?” He rocked me gently, lulling me into complete submission with just his sweet personality. The body pressed against mine encouraged complete surrender from me. He had made me totally soft, vulnerable, but protected. That was a heady feeling this woman could get used to.
His head dipped, taking my mouth. I fell into the magic that swelled around us as his kiss took me away from reality. That was until someone in the rear of Tobin gave us a round of applause and whistled from the other side of the track. Tobin broke away. His grin was brighter than any sun. I suspected I was glowing from the inside. Tiny campfires of lust were lit beneath my flesh. The attendant started yelling freebies at other people passing by. I figured that was our cue to get gone.
“Tobin, I think we should keep it moving along.”
“Me too. I saw a giant panda on the other side of the carnival I wanted before they shut down for the night.” The carnival closed at midnight.
I couldn’t think of anything better than ushering a new day in with him. “If you’re willing to do all the work to get the panda, I’m game,” I said low and seductively. I prayed it came across seductive as I strolled off. A temptress, I was not.
Tobin lunged for the unicorn almost as tall as I was. I had gotten a couple feet when I saw a hulking figure idling about twenty yards away at the last bend of the dirt track. I didn’t need binoculars to tell he was staring right at me and that nothing was right about him. Developing a moderate case of paranoia, I slowed my acceleration to nothing, refusing to get any closer. Parts of him were in the light and the dark at the edge of the grounds as if him skulking around wasn’t eerie enough.
A humid breeze lifted shoulder-length tresses of hair out from his body. In the light, they shone white. That far away, I’d mistake that for blond any day. Fists were clenched at his sides, and he was definitely mean-mugging me. Even if I couldn’t make out the features of his face in the dimly-lit shadows, only one person I knew had that build, light-colored hair, and a foul attitude that rippled over the air currents. It smacked me directly in the stomach, activating my intuition. It clamored loudly with a warning. Don’t get any closer, Cherise. Chad had chased me down here too.
Tobin
I came up behind Cherise, who was frozen to one spot. I searched for what had her spooked. A man stood off in the distance too far to be recognizable but giving off bad intentions in spades all the same. She was aware of it and holding her ground.
“Is that him?” I asked.
She startled, whirling around on me with eyes big as dinner plates. “Yeah, it’s him,” she panted. “I can feel it.”
She was frightened. I saw red. How dare that bastard come here to ruin her night.
“Underwood,” I hissed for him, who sidled right up to my side. He had never been that far away the whole night. “Stay with Cherise.”
Trusting him, I took off running as Cherise leaned over to get a good look at Andre. “Andre? What are you doing… Tobin! Where are you going? Dammit, Andre, let me go!”
“Stay with me and let Tobin do his thing, Cherise.”
“Andre, he’s going after Chad by himself again! Go with him!”
