AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She did as she was told. Got into position and waited for further instruction.
He placed the gun in her hand. “Some people say to squeeze the trigger slowly, but I’m of the mind that you should do it as fast as you can—while keeping the gun from moving. If you need to take it slow at first, to keep the gun steady, that’s okay. But make sure you press the trigger all the way to the rear and hold it to the rear through that shot. Then ease the trigger forward until you hear theclick. When you hear theclickfire off that next round.”
She was beginning to feel like a bobblehead with all the nodding, but she did it anyway. “Like this?” She squeezed the trigger slowly. The gun didn’t move at all. Then she squeezed it faster the next two times. It didn’t move at all.
“Yeah … just like that.” The surprise and pride in his voice sent warm ribbons dancing through her.
He cleared his throat. “Okay, uh … now let’s try loading it. But first, stance.” He backed away from her and she turned to face him, after setting the gun back down on the counter. His feet were planted parallel and hip-width apart. “Now, since I’m a cop and am always wearing a vest, Iwantto get shot in the chest as opposed to anywhere else. But you won’t be wearing a vest, so you want to adopt a fighting stance.” He switched his position and put one foot behind the other, staggering them. “A fight is a fight is a fight. Always remember that. Fists, knife, or gun. You don’t want your opponent to knock you off balance, so when you’re shooting make sure you stagger your stance.”
She nodded and copied his stance, staggering her feet.
As serious as this all was, she was struggling to keep the giggles at bay, or her smiles from getting too big. The serious furrowing of his brows and stern, flat set to his lips was just too cute to ignore.
He nodded. “Good. Arms up like you’re holding a gun.”
She complied and he tried to shove her in the shoulder to knock her off balance, which he obviously failed at.
“Now let’s try it with a gun in your hand.” They turned back to the counter and he picked up the gun, loaded it, then handed it to her.
“Remember, our eyes can’t concentrate on three things at once, so focus on your front sight.”
“Got it. Front sight. Tight grip on the gun. Pull the trigger fast. Don’t move the gun. Fighting stance.” She got into position, and he came up behind her, once again pressing his heat to her. “You’re um … a bit of a distraction there, Lassie. Unless you plan to pull down both our pants and stick that dick somewhere warm and welcoming in my body, I suggest you get it away from my ass.”
“Oh! Uh, sorry.” He stepped away and to the side. When she glanced over at him, the skin beneath his scruff was getting pinker.
Her smirk was involuntary. “Can I go?”
Now he was the bobblehead. He gave her a thumbs-up, so she turned back to the front and pushed everything else out of her mind. She focused her eyes on the front of the barrel, let everything else around her and in front of her go blurry, pulled the trigger eight consecutive times, absorbing the recoil and keeping her shoulders and arms strong but relaxed.”
“Holy shit,” Jordan exclaimed, hitting the button to draw the target sheet toward them on an electronic track.
It whizzed forward and as she expected there were four shots to the chest, taking out each of the lungs, two in the heart, and then four to the head. One in each eye and two in the forehead.
“This isn’t your first time shooting a gun, is it?” he asked, awe still laced through every word he spoke.
“Nope.” She set the gun down and grinned at him.
“I should have asked that before I brought you here, hmm? I’m going to guess you know self-defense then, too?”
Rayma shrugged. “I mean, I haven’t been in a couple of months, and it’s a new guy working at the counter today, so he doesn’t recognize me.”
“Heath?” he asked.
“Heath, Rex, Chase, Brock, Krista, and Pasha. They all insisted I take lessons in shooting and self-defense after …” She trailed off.
They weren’t there yet.
“After …?” he probed, concern replacing the admiration in his eyes.
She shook her head quickly. “Not ready to go there yet, Lassie.”
Hardly anyone knew what happened to her when she was seventeen. Not anyone outside her inner circle that is, which consisted of the Hart family and only the Hart family.
And they only knew because they’d been the ones to rescue her.
Her parents had the abridged version, just the highlights to keep their tender hearts and minds from getting blown to smithereens from the information, and she wasn’t close enough with her other sisters Triss, Mieka, or Oona to tell them the whole gritty story. Maybe one day. When she felt strong enough to share.
It had only been three years, and she was still dealing with the aftermath of how her decisions, her selfishness and her stupidity had nearly cost her her life, her body and her soul. She’d come so close to becoming one of those girls you see on a late night crime special. Erased from existence, leaving nothing but a confused, weeping family without so much as a footprint or a drop of blood to send them in a direction to search.
