Page 50 of Love Takes Home

“I.” He kisses my forehead. “Love.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “You.” He kisses my lips. Sweetly.

“And I have your food. Now stop making a spectacle in my place and eat up.” Sandy carries our dishes to the table, but she can’t hide her grin, either.

Joker turns to the women behind us. “Happy now? Was that big enough for you?”

“Extremely. Give her our cards,” Claire tells him. Turning to me, she sobers. “If you ever need someone to talk to, you call us. Both of us are well equipped to deal with what you’ve been through, and we like to listen.”

“Thank you,” I tell both of them.

“We’ll leave you alone now. Joker? I’ll see you next week. Enjoy your meals.” Claire gives me one more smile and the two women stand up and leave us to our own devices.

“Well, that was something.” I blow out a breath and Joker returns to his seat next to me. “Any of your other friends going to ambush us while we’re here?”

He chuckles, picking up a fry and dipping it into his chocolate shake. “Nope, but we might run into a couple of them at the next stop.”

“Which is where? I’m not sure I can go in blind anymore today.”

“The gun range,” he states before popping a fry into his mouth.

“Why are we going to the gun range?”

“Because you need to learn to shoot. And I’m an excellent teacher.”

Chapter 16

Joker

The gun range wasa hit. Ginny has obviously been around firearms before, and admitted to shooting her grandpa’s hunting rifle a time or two, but she’s never handled a small caliber pistol. Hasn’t owned one until today, either. My buddy at the range in Rock Hill where we all do our annual firearm classes let Ginny pretty much have the run of the place. She tried out every make and model, her eyes lighting up when she curled her hands around the Sig.

The first round she shot was horrible. She was timid, stiff, and maybe a little afraid. But when I stepped up behind her and walked her through the flow, helping guide her, she relaxed and had some fun with it. She’s not going to join any Olympic teams anytime soon, but she could hurt someone out to hurt her. And that’s all I care about.

“That was the best day!” Ginny yells over the sound of the bike when we pull up to a stoplight heading back into town.

“It’s not over yet,” I reply over my shoulder. “We have another stop to make.”

“Where?”

“Your brother’s house.”

I take off when the light turns green before she can say anything else. We pull up to Davis and Trish’s house and I cut the engine. I help Ginny off the back of the bike and we remove our helmets. Grasping her hand, we walk side by side to the already open door. Davis looks at us from head to toe, pausing on our joined hands, and raises his eyebrow at me, a smirk already forming on his face.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asks.

“Ginny’s my girlfriend.” I grin at him. The grin turns to a laugh when Ginny slaps my shoulder. Davis joins in.

“Ginny, is this true?”

“Is what true?” Trish asks, stepping up beside Davis with baby Aaron in her arms.

I look at Ginny, whose face has gone soft. I can feel her trying to pull away from me, but I’m not letting her go until she confirms the question.

“Gin, you going to answer Trish?” I nudge her.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess. He did declare his love for me in a diner in Briar Mountain.”

“You went to Sandy’s?” Trish asks.

“Yeah. She said to tell you hi,” she points at Trish, “and you to come visit,” she moves her finger to Davis.

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