“Depends on what you have planned.”
“If you don’t like it, we can leave at anytime,” he said, handing her his cell phone. “Do me a favor and call Georgia. Tell her we’re on our way. She’ll need to meet us at the gate. We can’t get in without a member.”
Lena touched the screen and scrolled through the numbers. “We’re going to a country club?”
“Independence Falls doesn’t have a country club, Lena. We’re going to the Willamette Valley Gun Club.”
Her brow furrowed as she held the phone to her ear. “You want to show off the fact that can I shoot?”
“No.” He glanced over at the beautiful blonde in his passenger seat sitting tall and proud. “This is not part of the charade. This is for you. Because you went in there and you got the job.”
Chad focused on the road, his jaw tight. Lena’s new boss had no idea. When he’d offered the position, the jackass behind the desk had opened doors for her, and allowed her to reclaim herself.
“You did it, Lena.” Chad accelerated down the empty road. “And I’m so damn proud of you.”
Chapter 13
“WE WOULD NEED to stay behind the ready line,” Georgia said, pointing to the yellow strip of paint on the cement floor about four feet behind a large, thick red line. Lena had jumped at the chance to shoot first, quickly selecting a pair of “ears” and “eyes,” the protective gear required at the gun range. “But we can go out there and watch her.”
“I’m fine to wait here.” Chad nodded to the bulletproof glass separating the range from t
he spectators’ area.
Georgia raised an eyebrow. “If you’ve given Lena a reason to point her revolver at you, we need to talk, Chad Summers. I’m not a marksman, so I’m guessing I’m not as good a shot as Lena, but I excel at hand-to-hand combat.”
He glanced at the petite, brown-haired woman standing beside him. Growing up in the same town, he’d known Georgia most of his life. And he’d never thought of her as threatening—until now. Was it sending them into a war zone, training them to fight alongside men that brought out the fierce warrior in these women, or had the strength been there all along? he wondered.
“Shooters to the line,” the range safety officer called from the other side of the window.
Lena stepped up to the red line, her gaze focused on the target in the distance. He suspected she’d always been strong. Serving her country gave her a way to show the world that she was a fighter. And a survivor.
“I’m doing my best not to hurt her,” he said. “I want to be her friend, Georgia.”
“Good.” Georgia folded her arms across her chest. “She came here to find a better future for herself. Something more than the mess she left behind in Portland.”
“Grass is greener on the other side and all that?”
Georgia nodded. “I want to make sure she finds what she is looking for. I know what it is like to come home and feel at loose ends. But for her it’s worse.”
“Because of her ex and her family,” he murmured. The people who had given up on her.
But did the unknown on the other side promise a better future? He wouldn’t know. His mother had never sent him a postcard from her new home after she’d run out on her family in search of greener pastures. For all he knew it was brown and barren.
And he’d never been one to walk away. When the going got tough—losing his father, watching his family’s business slide toward financial ruin—he stayed, rooted to the one place he’d always called home. He stayed because he’d been the one left behind by a person searching for that something better, and it hurt like hell.
“Make ready,” the range officer called.
Lena loaded her revolver, her movements quick and efficient. Would she find what she was looking for here? Or would she move on again? If she left town, it would be easier to end the relationship designed to fool his friends, and even his family.
But looking at Lena, and remembering the triumph in her bright blue eyes when she’d marched out of that office building earlier, he didn’t want easy.
“Ready on the right,” the officer called, scanning the line. The man in charge of the range paused, his gaze lingering on Lena. She was new. Of course the range officer would pay her extra attention.
And she was flat-out gorgeous.
“Ready on the left,” the officer called. Chad searched his memory, trying to recall if he’d met the guy before.
“What’s his name?” he asked Georgia, nodding to the tall, blond man with the broad shoulders. And when the hell had he ever noticed another man’s freaking shoulders before?