Page 16 of Hunted

“Oh, my goodness.” Tears stung the backs of Leila’s eyes before she blinked them away. “How precious is that? And you kept it all these years. It must mean everything to you.”

“It’s important, yeah,” he said, watching her closely. “But not the most important.”

“Bunny,” Thomas yelled, staring expectantly at the stuffed animal.

“He thinks that’s for him,” Leila said, walking over to her son. “No, no, honey. That belongs to Clint.”

The little boy frowned and reached toward the rabbit again. “Bunny.”

Clint came back toward her, right into her personal space. He was welcome there and he must have felt that because he didn’t pull away. Instead he met her gaze, his warm blue eyes flickering to her lips before he looked down at Thomas and handed him the stuffed toy. “Hey, gifts are meant to be shared, right?”

“Right,” she whispered, feeling herself falling for this man a little more. Clint’s eyes came back to hers, their faces so close that if she stretched up, just a tiny bit, she’d kiss him. Electric desire sparkled between them, and time seemed to slow as Leila slowly, slowly closed the gap between them and brushed her lips over his. Soft, warm, infinitely inviting. He reached up and brushed the backs of fingers down her cheek, turning slightly to slip his arm around her waist and pull her to him. His fingers traced from her face to the nape of her neck, tilting her head back to deepen the kiss and…

“Mama!” Thomas yelled, thrusting his new toy up at her and jolting her out of the kiss.

Leila stepped back and touched her still-tingling mouth, feeling as stunned as Clint looked. That kiss had been earth-shattering. World rocking. A mistake.

She turned and picked up her son, using him like a shield between herself and the man who had her body throbbing with need. “I, uh, need to get him ready for bed. Excuse me.”

9

“No, keep that arm straight,” Clint said, the next day. He nudged Leila’s left elbow. “Make sure your sights are lined up.”

He stepped back and watched as she fired six rounds, all of them missing her target by a mile. Dammit. That kiss the night before was messing with both of them today. It sure as hell had him in knots. The whole thing had been so unexpected and unreal and unbelievably hot.

Shifting slightly, he did his best to ignore the way heat pooled low in his belly whenever he thought about Leila in his bed, under him, crying out his name as he brought her to orgasm after orgasm.

Shit. Just shit.

This was why he stayed alone. So much less complicated that way.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me today,” she said, taking off her ear muffs and frowning down at her weapon as she clicked on the safety.

I do, Clint wanted to say, but stopped himself.

She’d been acting squirrelly around him since last night and if he could’ve kicked his own ass for his stupidity, he would have. He couldn’t blame her for the kiss. She was under enormous stress and wasn’t thinking clearly. He should’ve stopped it, no matter how amazing it felt to hold her at last.

“Maybe you need a different instructor, little lady?” Devin suggested as he strolled past. “I’m available.” He’d been shooting in the end lane for the past half-hour. As a matter of fact, he was around pretty often whenever Leila was shooting.

Clint’s customer and semi-friend had more than his usual swagger going on. And he was going to lose some teeth if he didn’t back away slowly. Clint glared at him, but Devin didn’t notice. He had focused his attention on Leila, a smile on his face.

“I could give you some pointers while Clint here minds the store,” Devin said. “I own a couple of Lugers. Happy to show you theins and outs.” Devin did a fancy twirl with the revolver he carried before sticking it in his holster.

Clint was seriously going to punch the guy, customer or not. He’d determined months ago that Devin was a decent guy, despite his player tendencies. But knowing that didn’t make Clint unball his fist. He was opening his mouth to tell Devin to go the hell home when Leila spoke first.

“Thanks,” Leila said, narrowing her eyes at Devin. “But I think we’ve got this.”

“Anytime, sweetheart. Clint’s got my number forwheneveryou need it.” With that, Devin went on out the door.

“Sorry about him. He can be a jerk,” Clint said. He’d make sure Devin understood to stay away from Leila.

“Yeah. I see that,” she said, unfazed. “He’s not the first jerk I’ve dealt with.”

Did Leila think thathewas one of those jerks? Their kiss had been off the freakin’ charts, but it shouldn’t have happened. And it was a jerk move to kiss a woman living under his protection.

“Try shooting again,” he said. While she loaded the weapon, he glanced through the door that led to the store to check on Suzie, who was watching Thomas again. Usually, Leila had her lesson before they picked Thomas up for the night, but an accident on the road ahead of them had meant they’d had to miss their usual time slot, so they’d come after getting Thomas instead. The kid still had Clint’s rabbit clutched tight in his hand. He hadn’t let it go since Clint gave it to him the night before. At the sight, warmth squeezed Clint’s heart, touching him deeper than he cared to admit. The thought that he’d made Thomas’s life a tiny bit happier and brighter had him feeling ten feet tall.

“I’m just wasting ammo,” Leila grumbled, popping out the empty magazine from her Luger to put in a fresh one. “This is ridiculous. I need to concentrate. I need to get this right, with Mike out there somewhere and Thomas depending on me and…”

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