“Not bad.”
“Not bad? Are you joking?”
“Pretty good.”
“I’ll show you pretty good when we get our targets back, and I kicked your ass.”
“So competitive.”
“Aren’t you?”
“Oh, absolutely,” he said. “But watching you makes me want to get out of here, Jules.”
“Does it?” I asked breathily. I placed my gun down and fully faced him.
“You know it does.”
“Is that what this is?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “Just sex…again?”
“No,” he answered automatically.
“Are you sure?” I was being combative for no reason.
“I’m here on your terms. You know I want you. But I’m fucking trying. Why can’t I want you without an argument?”
I held my hands up in surrender. He was right. Not that I wanted to say that out loud.
“It’s hard after what happened last time.”
“Living in the past is a surefire way to screw this up.”
“I know,” I whispered. But that was my life. I couldn’t stop living in the past. “Let’s start over. Hi, I’m Julia Banner.”
I extended my hand to him, and he firmly took it in his own.
“Austin Wright.”
He tugged me toward him so that we were between the lanes. Movement was going on all around us. It was loud as hell. And we probably were supposed to be focused on the shooting range. But none of that mattered.
My body was pressed against his, and everywhere he touched sent shivers straight through me. His hand tilted my chin up toward him. Our eyes locked, as if he was waiting for permission, making sure I wouldn’t snap at him, as I had in the past. But all he saw from me was compliance. Maybe I did need to live in the present more.
His lips touched down on mine, and I surrendered to him.
For a moment, the stars aligned. The world felt right. Just the taste of his lips and the incredible feel of him against me. The memories of days spent locked together flooded my conscience. As Austin took over, I released into a free fall.
Thirteen
Julia
A throat cleared behind us.
“If you’re going to make out, do it somewhere else.”
I laughed and pulled back from Austin. “Sorry,” I said with a shrug that showed how sorry I really was.
“We were just leaving anyway,” Austin said.
“We were?”
“Yeah. Let’s get out of here. We can come back another day.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Already planning a second date? You’re very confident.”
“You can pretend to hate that about me if you like.”
Cocky bastard.
Of course I didn’t hate his confidence. It had always been a huge turn-on. Even when everything about him drew me crazy, I still knew it was hot. And my body was torn halfway between relishing this date and wanting to push his buttons just for fun.
“But there are so many other things to pretend to hate about you,” I said, batting my eyelashes.
Austin shook his head at me. I could tell that he wanted to press his luck and inch closer to me again. That kiss had been…electric. A current of energy that had trapped us in a whirlwind. I hadn’t wanted to stop…and I wouldn’t have if we hadn’t been interrupted.
It was so easy to be caught up in Austin. I needed to be careful, or I wouldn’t make it through the night with my heart intact.
I carefully replaced my Glock in its case while Austin returned his to the front. Our targets were pulled down and handed to us as a souvenir. I grinned like a fool when it was clear that my aim was much better than Austin’s. Not that he was bad, but I was better.
“Luck,” Austin said as we left the shooting range.
“Ha! Sore loser!”
“Well, if I was there as often as you, then I’d be as good.”
“Yeah, but you’re not.”
I popped open my Tahoe and placed the case into a carrier under my seat, so it wouldn’t slip around. Then, I raised my hands over my head and stretched. I could feel Austin’s eyes on the bare strip of stomach I was revealing.
“So,” I said, dropping my arms, “where are we off to? Do I need to change?”
“Uh, yeah, no. You’re fine.” He gestured to the dark jeans and black polo he was wearing.
“Right.”
“And where we’re going is a surprise.”
I narrowed my eyes. A surprise from Austin. I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly.
“Let’s drop your car off first,” Austin said to keep me from arguing. “Then, I can drive you around all night.”
“Sure. Sounds good,” I agreed easily.
He raised his eyebrows at the ease of my compliance, but in that moment, I decided to go all in. No more hesitating at everything he did. No more second-guessing motives. I wasn’t going to have a good time if I didn’t relax and try to enjoy this date. Austin and I could fight like cats and dogs, but I wanted to prove to myself that we could do more than that. That we were capable of just being Austin and Julia…like we had at the art gallery. I wanted more of that Austin.