he’d come up with that she could get behind.
Darci did as he said. She pulled her ear protection back into place, picked up the gun and held it like he’d showed her. She exhaled and squeezed the trigger.
The kick combined with the noise took her off guard. She squinted through the safety glasses he’d given her, trying to see the target.
“Good job. Right through the heart. Impressive for your first shot.”
“I was aiming for his head.” She realized she was probably shouting and slipped off the big earmuffs he’d given her.
Chris pulled out his earplugs too. “Ah. Okay. Don’t do that. Aim for the torso. It’s the widest area. You have less chance of missing. That’s what they taught us in sniper school, so that’s what I always did.”
Sniper school .
Once in a while, the guys would say something and remind her they’d been trained to kill.
It was easy to forget, seeing them with their feet up on the coffee table, drinking a beer and yelling at the television during a game. But there were times, such as now, when one sentence gave her a peek through the crack in the door that led to that other half of their lives. The part they kept hidden from friends and family. The life where it was kill or be killed.
Everything about this trip showed her a different side of Chris. He could be both serious and organized. She saw that from his range bag , as he’d called it, packed with all the necessities. Ammo, eye and ear protection for her and him, extra targets, even baseball hats for both of them, because apparently the hot brass flew around and could hit her in the face. Who knew?
Then there was the way Chris walked in to the shooting range like he owned the place, and the fact the range safety officer knew him by name.
It all showed her aspects of him she’d never seen before.
What was it about men and guns? Even Rick had acted like a different person when it came to this trip to the range. He made her change her clothes this morning before Chris arrived to pick her up because, according to her brother, she wasn’t wearing proper range attire .
All right, she did have to agree with him that she didn’t want to experience hot brass flying into the scoop neck of the shirt she’d had on, but usually he didn’t give a crap what she wore.
“Try again. This time aim for the center of the chest.” Chris shoved his earplugs back into place and she realized the talking was over as the door into his other life slammed closed.
Darci nodded, though she couldn’t shake the knowledge that though she might be shooting paper targets shaped like men, Chris had shot actual men.
Squeezing the trigger seemed just a bit harder for her after that.
CHAPTER 8
“Do you want to come in? I have a few questions about Thursday.” Darci glanced at him as he shifted the truck into Park in her driveway and let the engine idle.
It was probably safe to go in. It was only a little past noon and the sun shone brightly enough Chris wouldn’t be tempted to confuse this daytime field trip to the range with a real date.
Rick’s truck was parked in the driveway in front of him, so he knew they wouldn’t be alone.
“A’ight.” He turned the key in the ignition and cut the engine.
He stood behind Darci as she slid her key into the lock and pushed open the door of her house.
Rick glanced up from where he stood in the kitchen. “Hey, that was quick. Couldn’t stand her for any longer?”
Chris shook his head at Rick’s teasing. “She did real good.”
Darci spun to face Chris. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
Rick let out a snort. “He’s just being nice. It’s that damn southern politeness of his.”
And now he was in the middle of a sibling spat. He was more than glad he had a brother and not a sister, if this was what it would be like. Brody might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but there wasn’t this constant bickering bullshit he saw between Rick and Darci.
“It’s not me being polite.
Darci did as he said. She pulled her ear protection back into place, picked up the gun and held it like he’d showed her. She exhaled and squeezed the trigger.
The kick combined with the noise took her off guard. She squinted through the safety glasses he’d given her, trying to see the target.
“Good job. Right through the heart. Impressive for your first shot.”
“I was aiming for his head.” She realized she was probably shouting and slipped off the big earmuffs he’d given her.
Chris pulled out his earplugs too. “Ah. Okay. Don’t do that. Aim for the torso. It’s the widest area. You have less chance of missing. That’s what they taught us in sniper school, so that’s what I always did.”
Sniper school .
Once in a while, the guys would say something and remind her they’d been trained to kill.
It was easy to forget, seeing them with their feet up on the coffee table, drinking a beer and yelling at the television during a game. But there were times, such as now, when one sentence gave her a peek through the crack in the door that led to that other half of their lives. The part they kept hidden from friends and family. The life where it was kill or be killed.
Everything about this trip showed her a different side of Chris. He could be both serious and organized. She saw that from his range bag , as he’d called it, packed with all the necessities. Ammo, eye and ear protection for her and him, extra targets, even baseball hats for both of them, because apparently the hot brass flew around and could hit her in the face. Who knew?
Then there was the way Chris walked in to the shooting range like he owned the place, and the fact the range safety officer knew him by name.
It all showed her aspects of him she’d never seen before.
What was it about men and guns? Even Rick had acted like a different person when it came to this trip to the range. He made her change her clothes this morning before Chris arrived to pick her up because, according to her brother, she wasn’t wearing proper range attire .
All right, she did have to agree with him that she didn’t want to experience hot brass flying into the scoop neck of the shirt she’d had on, but usually he didn’t give a crap what she wore.
“Try again. This time aim for the center of the chest.” Chris shoved his earplugs back into place and she realized the talking was over as the door into his other life slammed closed.
Darci nodded, though she couldn’t shake the knowledge that though she might be shooting paper targets shaped like men, Chris had shot actual men.
Squeezing the trigger seemed just a bit harder for her after that.
CHAPTER 8
“Do you want to come in? I have a few questions about Thursday.” Darci glanced at him as he shifted the truck into Park in her driveway and let the engine idle.
It was probably safe to go in. It was only a little past noon and the sun shone brightly enough Chris wouldn’t be tempted to confuse this daytime field trip to the range with a real date.
Rick’s truck was parked in the driveway in front of him, so he knew they wouldn’t be alone.
“A’ight.” He turned the key in the ignition and cut the engine.
He stood behind Darci as she slid her key into the lock and pushed open the door of her house.
Rick glanced up from where he stood in the kitchen. “Hey, that was quick. Couldn’t stand her for any longer?”
Chris shook his head at Rick’s teasing. “She did real good.”
Darci spun to face Chris. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
Rick let out a snort. “He’s just being nice. It’s that damn southern politeness of his.”
And now he was in the middle of a sibling spat. He was more than glad he had a brother and not a sister, if this was what it would be like. Brody might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but there wasn’t this constant bickering bullshit he saw between Rick and Darci.
“It’s not me being polite.
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