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I look down at her. She stares at her shoes and I reach for her chin. Her skin is like whipped cream, soft and smooth, and her blue eyes swim with unshed tears.
“Look.” I motion with my head toward the clubhouse. “That’s common. I hardly notice because that’s how we live. I’m sorry. I haven’t been sleeping much, and I wanted to teach you how to protect yourself. But maybe that’s a mistake.”
She sniffs. Her eyes lock with mine and I almost take a step back. I know her. It’s this familiarity that’s been plaguing me, and yet I know I’ve never seen her before…
“I’m not a victim. Just because I don’t know how to—” She’s interrupted by a couple of strippers’ laughter while they smoke and drink coffee on the porch.
“I’m not…” She looks around, frowning, as if she’s so flustered she’s forgotten what she’s saying.
“Enough. You’re gonna learn how to protect yourself.” I grab her hand, which is like a block of ice, and my first instinct is to wrap her in my arms, rub my warm ones on hers.
Protect.
I remove my leather jacket and hold it out for her. She looks at me and bites her bottom lip as she slips one arm and then the other into it. It dwarfs her, but fuck if my cock doesn’t harden when I see her in it. Pulling it tight around her, she buries her nose in it.
“It smells like you.”
Grunting, I move her toward a wooded area where we keep empty bottles lined up on a brick wall. Usually, I come out here fucked up to shoot at them, but for Julianna, this is a perfect spot to start.
I pull out my phone and text a couple of Burbank PD officers that I’ll be firing off some rounds. We have a good portion of them on the take, and our property is huge, but the popping noise upsets a lot of the neighborhood dogs and horses down the road. Rather than deal with unwanted visitors, I give the cops a heads-up and send them extra cash.
“Ryder, I’ve never seen a gun, much less held one…”
I tighten my hand on hers.
“That’s why I’m gonna teach you.” Fuck, I like the way that sounds. Suddenly, all I can think about is her kneeling, trusting me to guide her…
“Julianna?” It comes out harsher than it needs to, but Jesus, I’m only a man. The farther we get away from everyone, the more I feel and smell her. I stop at a couple of picnic tables.
“Yes?” Her body is too close. Her wet hair is starting to curl around her shoulders. Absently, I wonder if she straightens those gold locks. This is far enough. If I take her farther away, I can’t be held responsible for not fucking her up against a tree.
“I need you to listen to me.” Letting go of her hand, I turn to her. She gives me a slow nod. Clearly she’s not on board, but fuck it, she’s gonna learn to shoot.
“This is a .40 Glock.” I bring the gun out from the back of my waistband and place it on the table. Julianna backs up as if I just placed a viper in front of her.
“This is what you are going to learn on.” I bring out the .40 caliber and set it next to mine. “Now, I can tell you’re afraid of them, and you should be, because you don’t ever pull a gun on someone unless you’re gonna shoot to kill. You understand?”
Her blue eyes dart to mine. “Okay.” She takes a breath.
“I’m not kidding. You bring that gun out, you’re doing it because it’s between your life and theirs.”
“I just can’t imagine I’d ever need to know this. When would my life be in danger?” She looks at the guns, then at me, and before I can even comprehend what I’m doing, I push her long curls off her shoulder. The morning light makes her hair look like expensive, bubbling champagne.
“That’s why I’m teaching you. No one will fuck with you.” I reach for her gun to show her how to load the clip, pull back the slide so a round is in the chamber, and explain that the safety is in the trigger.
After unloading the gun, I hand it to her and say, “Take it. Repeat what I just did.”
She takes a breath and reaches for it, frowning as soon as I let go.
“Oh wow. It’s cold and real…” But she repeats the steps quickly and looks at me, a small smile on her lips.
“Good girl. It is real, very real.” I move behind her. Grabbing her hips, I turn her toward a large redwood tree.
“Aim for the middle, breathe, and keep your shoulders relaxed. You’re not gonna get a big kickback, but it is loud,” I murmur into her ear as she bites her lower lip. When she raises her arms, my leather jacket looks like it weighs more than her.
