into the round compartment and start it.
“What do you have going on today?” he asks gruffly.
“I have errands to run this morning, then I don’t have anything until the kids get home around six. I’ll start dinner around five.”
“Okay, well, let’s get ready to head out then. After your errands, we have someplace to go.”
“Where?”
His face is still sober as he watches me. Something has changed in his eyes, in his posture. He looks…confused.
“You’ll see,” he mutters and turns to leave the room.
***
“I don’t know about this,” I mutter and watch as Caleb pushes a clip into his handgun with a loud snick.
“You need to learn,” he reminds me for the thousandth time since we left the post office and he told me we were coming to the shooting range.
“Why? I don’t like the idea of having a gun in the house with the girls.”
“The girls won’t be shooting it.” He passes me a pair of clear shooting glasses and ear protection.
“Caleb, accidents happen.”
“Number one,” he begins, his voice hard, jaw locked and eyes cold. He’s in military mode.
It’s fucking scary as hell.
“Any weapon in your house will either be on our person or locked away. The girls will never have an opportunity to have an accident. ” He cocks an eyebrow at me, waiting for me to respond.
I’ll be damned if I will say, Yes, sir.
“Okay,” I respond and lift my chin.
His lips twitch before he continues.
“Number two, you need to learn this so you can protect yourself. The people who may or may not be looking for you are dangerous, and they will have firearms. Your screwdriver can’t compete with that.”
“Hey,” I begin, but he cuts me off.
“And number three…” He leans in to whisper in my ear, “Don’t be a pussy.”
That does it. Just like that, I’m fucking pissed as hell.
Pussy? I’m no damn pussy.
I narrow my eyes at him and push my face up to his. “Bring it on, sailor.”
“Good girl,” he mutters and grins down at me proudly. “Have you ever held a handgun before?”
“No.”
“Okay.” He holds it up for me to inspect. “This is the safety. It’s off because we’re about to shoot it.” He grins at me, and I can tell he loves this. “This magazine has ten rounds in it. I have four more magazines with me.”
“Got it.” I nod, staring at the black weapon in his hands, completely at a loss.
“Do you want me to go first?” he asks.
“Yes, please.”
He nods, pushes his own glasses onto his face and sets his target. I glance around the range and take in the smell of gunpowder and male sweat. It’s deserted right now, in the middle of a weekday. We are at the farthest window down and are completely alone.
And Caleb is completely in his element.
“Stand back just a bit. I don’t want one of these hot shells to hit you when it comes out of the pistol.”
“Got it.” I take my place, and when he’s satisfied that I’m safe from getting hit, he turns to the target, raises the gun in both hands, arms extended and muscles completely flexed, and takes his first shot.
And I’m immediately wet and panting.
For the love of all that’s holy, this man is pure, unadulterated sex on a fucking stick.
He squeezes the trigger slowly for a couple of shots, and then empties the magazine quickly, not taking his eyes off the target.
When he looks back at me, he smiles smugly and pulls his target to him.
“You okay?” he asks.
“Fine.” I clear my throat and feel my eyes widen when his target approaches. There is a cluster of small holes in the chest and another in the top of the head. “Nice shot.”
He shrugs and replaces the target with a fresh one and sends it out. “Your turn.”
“Maybe you should take another turn,” I mention, trying to keep my voice light. I’m suddenly nervous as hell.
“Pussy,” he whispers and laughs when I glare at him. He pulls out the empty clip and hands me a new one and the gun. “Load your