Her focus was waning. The distraction of his body pressing against hers sent a rush of wetness between her legs. She could feel his firmness and strength, and despite the faint fragrance of her shampoo, his scent was pure masculinity. She cleared her throat to remind herself of the dangerous weapon in her hand.
Concentrate, Kelsey. Concentrate.
“When you fire it, brace your arms and bend your knees to resist the kick back, but don’t lock them. I’ll stand behind you to help.”
She was grateful for his assistance, and with him standing so close, she couldn’t help but enjoy their date.
“Ready?”
She nodded and released the safety without instruction. “Okay. Here goes.”
He’d warned her, and she thought she’d properly braced herself, but when she finally squeezed the trigger and fired, the kickback was much harder than she’d imagined. If not for Nick standing behind her, she would’ve landed on her ass.
He let out a loud grunt when her body lurched into his, and he immediately grabbed both her arms as if she were falling. “Are you okay, baby?”
Kelsey carefully laid the gun down and burst out laughing. “Man, you weren’t kidding, were you?”
Her laughter was apparently infectious because he quickly joined in. “I tried to warn you.”
She wiped her eyes and tried to compose herself. “Oh, that was unreal. How can so much power be contained in such a little thing?”
“I was thinking the exact same thing about you,” Nick said before returning to their lesson. “Maybe we should try a different stance. Here, stand like this.” Instead of side by side, this time he guided one foot in front of the other.
His sweet words still echoing in her head, she adjusted her feet accordingly. Now that she knew what firing the weapon felt like, she was sure she would be more prepared this time. ”Okay, I got it.”
“Oh, I know you do,” he said with a quick kiss to her cheek. “Now lean into it a bit.”
She aimed the weapon and once again fired, her body only jerking a bit. She fired again, this time hitting the target. With every successive shot, she became a bit more confident, and a bit more exhilarated. Slightly disappointed when the gun clicked empty, she engaged the safety and ejected the magazine as if she’d done it a thousand times before.
“Wow. I’m impressed. You’re a natural.”
She pressed the button the same way he had, and the hum of the machine brought the target to them. ”Look! I hit it!” She was so excited she could hardly contain herself as she pointed to the three small holes on the edge.
“Very good. You’ll get better the more you practise.”
“Can I do it again?”
He laughed and slid the box of bullets to her. “Have at it.”
She spent the next hour shooting at various targets. With each new load, Nick moved the target farther and farther back. He seemed just as surprised as she was at her natural ability. Her aim was very good for a beginner, and even at full distance, she was able to hit the target, if not the bullseye itself.
“Not bad, baby, not bad.” He took the most recent target off the rack. “You’re getting better.”
“Your turn. I want to see you shoot.”
“Me? Nah… We’re here for you.”
“You’re not going to shoot? Oh, come on.”
“You wanna go one more time?”
“No, I want to watch you. What? Can’t you shoot? Are you afraid of embarrassing yourself?”
“Give me that.” He grabbed the gun with a small chuckle. She’d yet to meet the man who could resist proving himself when his manhood was challenged. Nick was no different.
Kelsey slid the target as far back as it would go as he loaded his gun. “Stand back.” He raised the weapon, aimed only briefly and began firing in a quick, but steady rhythm.
She watched as he emptied the gun and pressed the button to retrieve the target. She didn’t need to see it to know he’d hit his mark. His whole demeanour had changed. The power, the authority, the presence she saw the moment he’d raised that weapon was intoxicating. All she could do was stare in admiration.
He set the safety and released the magazine before pulling the target from the rack. “There ya go. Now what do you think?” He turned to her, showing her the shots all clustered towards the centre of the paper.
“I think you’re the hottest man I’ve ever seen,” she huffed, before quickly claiming his mouth in a heated kiss. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer as she slipped her tongue into his mouth, moaning when he offered his in return.
A moment later Nick pulled back, breathing heavily. “We can’t do this here, baby. We’re not alone.”
Kelsey buried her face against his neck and tried to contain her sudden rush of desire. She’d never had this problem before. She’d never had such a surge of lust for a man that she was unable to resist acting on it.
They clung to each other, breathing deeply, and trying to garner control. “Let’s get out of here. I want you alone. Now.”
She nodded and took quick steps towards the locker room. As he carefully secured his gun and remaining ammunition, she whispered, “I just have to use the restroom before we go.”
Nick leaned against the wall and watched her saunter to the ladies’ room, thinking how he’d really hit the jackpot with this one. He wondered how he was going to leave her, but soon he’d have to be on his way. He had a job to do and he certainly couldn’t do it in her bed, although that was the only place he wanted to be.
“Excuse me,” a man said as he passed.
Nick did a double-take and realised who the man was. ”What the hell are you doing here?” he whispered, glancing briefly to the door Kelsey had just entered.
“A little target practice. What else would I be doing?”
“Are you following me?”
“Do I need to be?”
“Don’t play with me,” Nick said, gritting his teeth. “You stay away from me.”
“I’m just here for recreation, Jensen. I’m not sure what the problem is.” The pleasant nature of his tone was obviously intended to unnerve. Nick said nothing, but continued to stare the man down. Anthony Portella’s reputation as a cold-hearted killer was well known. There was nothing the man wouldn’t do, especially if he thought it would get him ahead.
“I bet you’ll get your job done. You know what’s involved if you don’t,” Anthony said as he began to walk away. “Oh, and I’m sure the young lady you’re with won’t mind if you need to leave her. I know you wouldn’t allow her to get in the way.”
A cold chill travelled down Nick’s spine. ”I know what I’m doing,” he said calmly, not allowing the bastard to read anything in his reaction.
“Then I’ll leave you to it.”
After Anthony had disappeared down the hall, Nick took a few deep breaths. There was no way in hell he’d allow her to become involved in this. He was left with no other choice.
Chapter Nine
“What are we doing here?” Kelsey asked as Nick parked his bike in front of the restaurant across the street from The Rusty Spoke.
“We needed to get your car anyway, so I figured we could grab some lunch. Since this place is right across the street, it seemed convenient.”
“I thought we were going to go back to my place,” she whispered in his ear while leaning against him, her voice a mixture of disappointment and seduction.
He wanted more than anything to stay with her, but it was best he didn’t. He just wasn’t sure how to explain it to her. Instead, he turned slightly, allowing himself to pull away from her embrace. “Lunch is my treat. After all, you did buy dinner last night.”
“Okay,” she said as the smile left her face, “if that’s what you want to do.”
They each dismounted the bike and walked towards the restaurant. Her smile returned when he reached over and held her hand in his.
“Ever been in this place before, Bright Eyes?” Nick asked as he held open the door, allowing her to enter first.
“No, I haven’t had the pleasure. I hadn’t been to The Rusty Spoke until last night, either, but I used to hear about it from my brother. He liked going there.”
“Looks like I picked the right time and place to hustle some pool.”
They sat in the dimly lit restaurant and surveyed the menu—classic American-type food such as burgers, chicken, pork, salads and pasta. He was curious to see what she’d pick. Did she go for what she really wanted or would she go the girly route and just order a salad?
“Hey, folks, what can I get you?” the young waitress asked as she approached their cosy booth in the corner.
Kelsey perked up and began to order her lunch. She began with a side salad, causing Nick to grin, but his mouth slacked when she went on to order a full rack of baby back ribs, corn, fries and coleslaw, and finished up by adding a cold, frosty beer.
She laughed when she looked his way. His expression must have shown his awe. “What? You know I like to eat.”
“You’re always full of surprises, baby. I’ll have the same,” he said to the young girl and handed her his menu.
She reached across the table, sliding her hand into his. “So have you been here before?”
“A few times when I’ve passed through town.”
“So, is that what you’re doing now? Just passing through?”
Nick had no idea how to answer her. He didn’t want to lie to her, but he couldn’t tell her his real reason for being in town. “I hadn’t decided…”
“Oh.” Her disappointment was clear.
“Let me finish.” He squeezed her hand. “I hadn’t decided until now. I think I just may stick around for a little while.”
“How long is a while?”
“I see no reason to leave any time soon. In fact, I have one pretty good reason to stay.”
She smiled. “That’s sweet.”
“Yeah, that’s me. I’m so sweet.” He tried to hide his embarrassment with a roll of his eyes.
“You certainly have been with me.”
“I’m gonna have to find a place to stay.”
She hesitated, her mouth opening and closing a few times before she finally spoke. “You can stay with me.”
Her offer shocked him. In his mind he wanted to immediately scream
Yes!
But he couldn’t. It wasn’t safe. For now, he’d have to make an excuse she would understand. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin what was promising to be a wonderful relationship. “As much as I would love that, Bright Eyes, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Oh.” She looked away and pulled her hand back.
“Kelsey.” He clasped her hand before she had a chance to remove it from the table. “We just met. I don’t think we should rush anything.”
“It’s okay. I understand.”
She may have said it was okay, but the way her head was tilted down, her shoulders drooped, and lack of eye contact, she was far from all right. “Baby, the last thing I want to do is screw this up, okay? I think we’ve got potential for something pretty great here. I want to keep seeing you. If we move too fast…” He didn’t want her feeling rejected. “I just don’t want to screw this up.”
She finally gave him a smile. “You mean that?”
“Yeah, I mean that,” he answered, smiling back at her. “You’re incredible.”
“Thanks.” This time she didn’t appear shy. Perhaps she was becoming more accepting of his compliments. “I do have another idea where you could stay.”
“You do?”
“I know the guy who owns Shindigs. There’s a room above it that he rents out and it is empty right now. It’s not much, but it may work for you.”
“I don’t need much. Shindigs, huh? That place seems to be one of your hangouts. Is it?”
“Oh, man, yeah.” She laughed. “I think I’ve spent a third of my life at that place.”
“I thought I saw a picture on your wall of you and your family there. I only got to look at it briefly before I was…um…distracted,” he said, remembering how she’d surprised him naked in her bedroom.
The waitress brought their salads and the conversation lulled as they began to eat. “So is that how you know the owner, because you hang out at Shindigs a lot?”
“Actually, no, I used to date him a while back.”
A strange feeling of jealousy flowed through Nick as the thought of her with another man flashed in his head. He returned his forkful of food to his plate. “Is that right?”
“Yeah, my senior year in high school. He was a junior in college. My family had known his forever and I thought it was so cool to be dating an older guy,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
He tried to hide it, but he had no desire to hear the details of their relationship. His only concern was where they stood now. “So what happened? How did you break up?”
“I guess whatever it was we had just puttered out over time. I graduated and wanted to attend school in Cleveland and we mutually decided to end it. We’re still friends, though.”
“Friends, huh?” He mumbled into his drink.
“Yeah, friends. Carl is a nice guy, but…”
“But what?”
“He’s dull,” she laughed. “Now, if you ask my family, they would probably think he’s the perfect guy for me—smart, polite, ambitious.”
“What if I asked you?”
She shook her head. “There just wasn’t that spark, you know? No excitement. No passion.”
“No late night romps in the woods?”
“Exactly. Carl would never have…”
Nick laughed quietly when the waitress returned with their meals, leaving Kelsey’s sentence unfinished and her face bright red with embarrassment.
“Anything else I can get you?” the waitress asked while clearing their empty salad plates. Kelsey simply shook her head as Nick thanked her and told her they were fine.
“So what about other guys?”
“There haven’t been many.”
He realised they hadn’t discussed it. “Anyone at the moment?”
“No. You?”
“No. No one for me either.”
“Good,” she said with a smile. “So, tell me. Have you ever been in love?”
He chuckled. “You get right to the point, don’t you, Bright Eyes?”
“Why beat around the bush? We’re a bit past that, don’t you think?”
He became serious when thinking back to a very different part of his life. “No. I’m not so sure I believe in love.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Let’s just say I haven’t seen a whole lot of it in my life.” He wasn’t sure how to explain without telling her the whole story, and he had no desire to relive it.