Page 30 of The Inevitable Us

Afterthestandardwaiversand endless paperwork, I slip protective eyewear onto Rosalie’s face with a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Range three, to the left,” I tell her with a gesture of my hands.

She looks at the gun I’m carrying in the case with a frown. “Why do I have to….”

“Because, Rosalie, there won’t always be a man around to protect you. What if I’m away on a business trip or someone breaks in when….”When I’m not home, I finish in my head.

She huffs as we stop at our designated area. “You know, I have mace.”

None of that comes in handy if you don’t carry it with you.

Pouting green eyes shoot back up to me.

I rub my neck and take a deep breath. “I know you don’t like it, but you just have to be able to handle one just in case. I’m not asking you to carry it all the time. For now, let’s just teach you how to handle it. Would you do that much for me?”

With a resigned sigh, she nods. I lean in, just because I can, and steal a gentle kiss from her lips. Her eyes start to hood with arousal just from that, and I feel my own semi growing. I wonder if she’s wet.Down boy.

“Now, let’s get down to business.”

Chapter seventeen

Rosalie

Iloveguns.Ilove the rush of adrenaline, the power I felt pulling the trigger, but most of all, I love the close proximity to Sawyer as he keeps readjusting my pose to shoot correctly. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had so much fun trying something new.

Sawyer’s been very patient with me while I learn, rewarding me with tiny kisses that make me internally swoon when I do well.

I’ve had Sawyer all to myself for two whole hours when we stop at a restaurant near the shooting range. Sawyer slides into the booth next to me. Scooting closer, he rubs my leg through my jeans as we look at the menu. His hands slowly make their way up higher and higher until his hand is at the very top of my thigh. I try to keep my breathing under control to play it cool, but I feel myself start to get wet at his touch. My breath catches when his thumb barely grazes methere.I look at him with eyes as big as saucers, my mouth agape, and try to focus on the menu, but my core is growing warmer with each stroke of his touch.

“Breathe, Rosalie,” he chuckles quietly into my ear.

I clench my thighs together, and Sawyer looks back at the menu with a smirk. He knew what he was doing. Jerk.

His errant hand wraps around my neck. “What do you want to eat, Baby Girl?”

I take a big breath in. “Just a burger or something, I think.”

When the waitress comes, he orders both of our food, ordering my burger the way I like from memory. He must have been paying attention all these years.

Just as I’m done with my last fry, Sawyer wipes his mouth with a napkin. Looking at his watch, he asks, “Ready to go?”

After getting into his SUV again, he stops at a nearby market. He grabs four cans of wasp spray and then looks at me. “You’re free Friday night?” he asks.

“Yeah, nothing to do until I find a job,” I confess.

“Why don’t we have dinner together on Friday? I can bring food over?” he offers.

I pause and look at him briefly, thinking. “I’d rather cook if you don’t mind?”

We walk around the store, and I pick up the ingredients to prepare a meal for Sawyer. He carries a handbasket while his hand is wrapped around my waist. He hasn’t stopped touching me the entire day.

Wecarrythebagstogether into my loft. When I go to let out the kittens, he tells me, “Just check on them and feed them for now. They’ll be underfoot.” He throws a can of wasp spray at me. “Put this under the sink while you’re in there.”

It takes me a minute to clean up and tend to the kittens. I hear the thumping of cabinets that must be him putting away groceries and fast feet going up the circular stairs. When I hear my dresser drawers open, I look up curiously. Maybe he’s putting the wasp spray in there? I know he’s bought it to use for protection— the bodyguards have always told us, repeatedly, to keep it all over the place to use in an emergency because it shoots further than pepper spray.

I hear him come back down the stairs and open and close the cabinets just as I shut the door behind myself. I know he has to leave soon, he’s said he has to go to work in a bit, so I hurry, trying to spend as much time with him as possible.

He’s waiting in the kitchen, leaning across the counter, one ankle crossed over the other. I feel a wet heat in my core when I notice a rock-hard erection through the denim of his pants. “Jeans off, Rosalie,” he commands.

Umm, what. I look at him, shocked. “What do you mean..Here? Now?”

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