I took my stance. “Your feet should be shoulder width apart like this and square with your hips. The majority of your weight should be on the balls of your feet.”
“Now I see why you told me to wear sneakers instead of my tall ass heels.”
“Baby, I love you in those tall ass heels, but they weren’t gonna cut it out here in the boonies with a pistol.”
“You don’t know that. Maybe I’m a Charlie’s Angel natural.”
“I’m positive you’re an angel, but we’ll see about the natural part.” I held the Glock out away from Payton and positioned my hands around the grip. “Your left hand should be high on the pistol with both of your thumbs almost touching the side like this. Put your left thumb forward so it is in front of your right and both should be pointing at the target. Think of your left hand as the steering wheel so squeeze a little harder with it. Hold your arms out straight, but don’t completely lock them, and take aim at your target.”
I stretched my arms toward the first bottle and then took all eight of them out one by one. “Think you can do that, Angel?”
“I think I rather watch you do it.” She broke into a huge smile. “Damn, Nick, that was so hot. I don’t think I got it all. Wanna do it again for me? So I can watch your technique?”
“One more time and then you’re gonna give it a try.”
I had nine rounds left in the magazine so I lined up nine more bottles because that’s how confident I was in my accuracy.
Bam! Knocked all nine out perfectly. I dropped the magazine out and started reloading it. “Don’t be nervous. The worst thing you can do is miss.” I slid the magazine back in when I finished loading it and held it out for Payton.
She stared at it, but didn’t make a move to take it from me. “I’m nervous.”
“Don’t be. Come here and I’ll help you.” From behind, I wrapped my arms around her before I took her hands and placed them on the grip of my Glock. “Thumbs here and here. Squeeze more with this hand because you’ll use it to aim. Hold your arms straight out.” I noticed her feet were next to each other without any distance between them so I leaned around and put my mouth against her ear. “Spread your legs.”
She giggled as she moved her feet apart. “You are so bad.”
“I’m just trying to be a good instructor,” I said innocently.
“Yeah, I’m sure you’ve had enough practice to be an expert instructor.”
Okay. The line became hazy somewhere along the way and I wasn’t sure if we were talking about target shooting or sex. “What can I say? I’m good at what I do.”
“So far, you’ve been quite excellent at everything you’ve done.”
Hmm. I was very fond of hearing her praise.
“New shooters tend to want to go low and to the left, so lift a little and bring it a tad to the right. We’re aiming for the first bottle on the top left. Are you ready?”
“Boy, am I ever.”
I helped her aim in just the right spot. “Okay. Pull the trigger back.”
She hesitated and I could feel her trembling. “Are you scared?”
“Hell, yeah, I’m scared.”
“Don’t be. I’m with you all the way. Let me count and you can pull the trigger on three. Okay?”
She inhaled deeply and then blew it out slowly. “Okay, I’m ready. I can do this.”
“Here goes. One...Two...Three.” On three she pulled the trigger and took the top off of the first longneck.
When she realized she had hit it, she let out a loud squeal but didn’t move a muscle. “Woo! That was awesome and you were so right. What a rush.”
“So, you liked it?”
“Yeah. I wanna do it again.”
This girl was full of surprises. Could she be anymore perfect for me? “You wanna do it by yourself this time?”
“Yeah, I think I do.”
I took my arms away. “Remember your stance and where to hold the pressure. Bring it up and to the right just a hair. Do you want me to count again?”
“Yeah. I think that helped.”
“Okay. One...Two...Three.” She pulled the trigger and missed.
“Hmm, I missed.”
“It’s okay. Try again.” I reached for her arms and brought them up for her. “Lift them just a little higher this time and breathe. Don’t hold your breath.”
“Ready?”
“Yeah.”
One...Two...Three.” She missed again. And then again.
I could see she was getting frustrated. “Ugh! This isn’t easy. I need you to help me.”
I put my arms around her again to help her aim. “I didn’t get good at this in one day. I’ve been doing it since I was eleven. Relax. You’re stiff as a board.”
She let her shoulders go loose and I pushed her hair away from her neck to hang over her left shoulder. I leaned into her and put my mouth against her right ear. “Breathe. Loosen your shoulders and tighten your arms. One...Two...Three.”
Together we took out the other eight longnecks and then an additional dozen without a single wasted bullet. I dropped the magazine out to check it and then slid it back in when I saw it was empty. “I think we make a great team.”
“I could agree with that, but I think the teacher was greater than the student.”
I put my empty gun back in its case and we started walking toward my car. “Shooting small targets takes a lot of practice.”
“Well, seeing how good you are at shooting makes me worry a little less about you becoming a police officer.”
“It worries you?”
“Yeah, it does.”
Wow. I’d never felt like anyone had worried about me except Dallas and Ginny. I put my gun case on the ground and turned the bill of my cap around to the back before I put my hands on Payton’s waist to pull her closer. “You couldn’t possibly imagine how hard I’m falling for you.”
“I bet I have a pretty good idea.” She put her arms up around my shoulders and I lifted her to sit on the hood of my car. She leaned back, bringing me with her as I fell between her bent knees. She wrapped her legs around my waist and pressed my body into hers as my mouth moved over her neck. “How have you managed to put me under your spell, Payton Archer?”
She grabbed my ball cap by the bib on the back of my head and gave it a toss onto the windshield of my car. She laced her fingers through my hair, grabbing two fistfuls and pulled it hard, forcing me to look up at her. “Let’s go back to my house.”