Of course on the way back I wasn’t sure if I was more scared that I might have been killed or that Ranier might have killed the security guard. He was firing right at the man’s chest with absolutely no pause for concern. It was then that I seriously began questioning whether or not that life was for me.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
Libby nodded and assumed her position. She started firing. Her aim was perfect. She was now hitting the target without any problems, as if she’d been doing it for years. I knew that I’d stirred up all the images in her head. She was firing out of fear and out of total desperation, but she felt awful about it.
Shooting someone was almost impossible for most people, even if the other person was trying to kill them.
Libby’s finger was pressed down on the trigger firing shot after shot without stopping.
Soon, however, the gun was doing nothing but making a loud click noise as it was now out of ammo.
I carefully reached out and lowered the gun. Libby now had tears streaming down her face. She was shaking.
I gently took the gun from her and sat it down on the counter behind us. She was trembling now, tears rolling down her face.
“I’m sorry,” Libby said.
“For what?” I asked, moving close to her. My voice was barely above a whisper. I wanted to be reassuring to her. I felt very guilty about riling up those emotions inside of her, but it was important that she see how she could use those feelings to defend herself. After she got over the shock of it, she would begin to see how empowering it was for her.
“I hate being this emotional,” Libby said. “It’s not like me. I’m not going to get through this if I don’t get a grip.”
I reached over and touched her hand, holding it inside of mine. Libby looked up at me then. Her eyes were so sweet looking, so angelic. But there was so much pain in them. I wanted to heal her pain anyway I could. Whatever I could do, I needed to.
I barely recognized my action as a thought, but then it was there. I was moving into her. My lips were touching hers, and she was kissing me back now.
It had been so long, so much wondering, thinking, wishing, dreaming, and fearing this moment right here—and now I was in it. I was the moment. Libby and I. Nothing else for that briefest of moments where her lips were on mine.
The kiss was romantic. It was sweet, and leaning towards passionate, but not quite there yet. I wanted to take it to the next level. Hell, I wanted to take it beyond that and anywhere else Libby wanted to go. But somehow I didn’t. I held back just a bit. It didn’t feel right to go from something so small to something so big…
It would come in time. There was no reason to rush it.
I pulled back from the kiss, and as our lips parted I kept my gaze soft, and warm as I stared into the beauty of Libby’s eyes. She was no longer in as much pain. I could tell that. The kiss had served one of its purposes and this brought me some relief.
Libby suddenly looked a little startled. She cleared her throat and changed her body language to one of strength and stamina.
“Thanks for helping,” she said.
“Sure,” I replied. “We can continue tomorrow if you’d like to.”
“Um, yeah. We should,” Libby said.
She walked out of the shooting range that was attached to the back of the gun shop. I heard her exit the gun shop and head down the hallway.
I stood there for several moments. My mind was racing with thoughts of what had just happened. Judging by Libby’s response to the kiss, I was glad I hadn’t tried to go for more. She might have even been into the moment, but there was something with her that was holding her back from it all.
Had I crossed the line? Libby wasn’t just a woman I was attracted to; she was now my house guest. Was that a bit smarmy, or creepy? I supposed it could be, but only if we both thought it was, right?
What was holding Libby back? Was that why I’d really waited so long to make a move on her? Because I thought for sure that she would not want to reciprocate?
Or was there something in her past that I just didn’t know about? Something there that held her back from pursuing relationships. There was still so much about this woman I didn’t know. But I wanted to know. I wanted to find out every single thing about her.
So far, I felt like I was barely getting anywhere.
I packed our guns away in the shop and turned out the lights. Then I locked the door again.