Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Ty knocked on Lydia’s front door, dressed comfortably in light-gray cargo shorts and a black T-shirt, very much looking forward to the next couple of hours after their evening together.
Dinner and a movie at his place had turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun and something that he rarely ever did.
In fact, it was something that he never did.
His career was his constant companion, not beautiful, hazel-eyed women.
He smiled when she opened the door, then frowned when he noted that her eyes were teary. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, wearing a black exercise bra with her Michigan State University tank top and frayed short shorts. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail, giving him a good look at her long, slender neck. “Nothing.”
“It doesn’t look like nothing.”
“I’m good,” she said, opening the door wider, stepping aside to make room for him. “Come on in.”
He breathed in flowers and vanilla as he stepped inside and immediately captured her hand as he shut the door, then led the way to the couch, sitting down next to her. “What’s wrong, Lyd?”
She shook her head again. “I promise I’m fine. Truly.”
“I thought we were working on you trusting me.”
She frowned. “You don’t have to know everything, especially the embarrassing stuff.”
He raised his brow as he held her gaze. “Well, now I’m extra intrigued.”
She stared at him for several seconds before she huffed out a breath. “I’m a sympathetic crier, which really sucks sometimes.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
She huffed out another breath as she rolled her eyes.
“I saw a clip on the news a few weeks ago about a disabled dog and his seeing-eye companion. He’s visually impaired, and his best friend helps him get around.
I started following them on Instagram.” Reaching for her phone on the coffee table, she scooted closer to him on the cushion.
“I was scrolling just before you came over and saw this.”
He looked at the screen as an adorable golden retriever with its eyes sewn shut leaned against a fully sighted German shepherd while they ran together through the park.
“It’s just so sweet. Look at how happy they both are—how Archie gets to play and live his best life. See how Piper grabs his leash and guides him when he needs it?”
Ty stopped paying attention to the clip, studying Lydia instead, watching the way her pretty hazel eyes grew soft and misty as she smiled and pressed her hand to her heart.
“Whenever they post something new… It gets me every time.”
He couldn’t stop staring. She was so sweet and sexy—so fucking gorgeous. Her big, tender heart was damn near irresistible.
Lydia had caught his attention from the first moment he saw her photo in the dossier. He’d liked her pretty much from the beginning, but this… This was the dangerous territory that Danny had warned him about.
He swallowed, understanding that for the first time in his undercover career, he was in serious trouble.
She looked up, meeting his gaze. “Well, there it is. Now you know. I cry over dogs on Instagram.”
He grinned, so very much in trouble. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
She shrugged. “It’s certainly not something I want to broadcast.”
He let his thumb slide over her knuckles. “Having a big heart is nothing to be ashamed of.”
She shrugged again. “Just promise me you’ll keep my secret. No one else needs to know about this.”
“I cross my heart,” he said, following his words up with the action. “I’ll take it to my grave.”
She grinned.
He grinned back. “Do you want to get out of here? We can take a break and distract you from your Instagram dogs.”
She laughed. “Yes.”
He stood, wanting a distraction himself, even as he kept her hand in his as she gained her feet. “Let’s go teach you how to shoot a gun.”
She tossed him a less-than-enthusiastic look. “I can’t wait.”
His smile was back. “It’s going to be fun.” He tugged on her hand. “Come on.”
Lydia stood next to Ty in the indoor gun range, wearing the same fancy ear and eye protection that he did.
Their shooting booth was slightly dingy, and the place smelled like a pungent mixture of sulfur and spent fireworks.
As first impressions went, it was slightly underwhelming, but this was something that Ty liked to do, so she was here for it.
She studied his broad shoulders in his simple black T-shirt, letting her gaze trail down to shorts that accentuated his very squeezable butt.
Clearing her throat, she slid her hands into her pockets, focusing on him loading the last couple of bullets into a clip before he put a silhouette target onto the arm of a machine and sent it out to the back of the range with a button he pushed on the wall of their booth.
He looked at her. “Are you ready to give it a try?”
She shook her head. “You go first. Show off for me. I want to see what you can do.”
“Okay.” He shoved one of the magazines into his pistol and racked the slide before she could blink, then raised the gun in two hands, firing and hitting the same spot at center mass with every shot.
She swallowed, pressing her hand to her chest, feeling the vibration every time he pulled the trigger.
Dropping his empty clip, he added a new one and fired at the head, hitting dead center on the paper face every time. He dropped the clip again, checking the chamber, then set the gun down, meeting her gaze. “That was me showing off.”
She nodded. “I’m impressed.”
“My ego demands that I tell you I can do the same thing with a moving target.”
She laughed. “Well, now I’m extra impressed.”
He chuckled. “Do you want to try?”
She shrugged. “Sort of, but mostly, I’m nervous.”
He shook his head. “You don’t need to be nervous. We’re going to keep this extra safe.”
“Okay,” she said, trusting him completely.
“Let’s get you set up,” he said, bringing the obliterated target back, then put up a new one, sending the arm back out into the range, just not as far. “Ready?”
She nodded.
“Let’s get you in a good stance,” he said, adjusting her body, using his foot to nudge her legs wider apart, then push her right foot forward. “Bend your knees a little.”
She did. “Like this?”
He nodded. “Nothing crazy. Just keep them soft.”
She nodded this time.
He used his hands to square her shoulders and hips, then handed her the gun.
She stared at her fingers wrapped around the grip. “It’s heavier than I expected.”
He nodded. “Keep your finger off the trigger. It belongs right here along the side until you’re ready to fire. The chamber’s empty, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.”
“Okay.”
“And, generally, if you’re not pointing at the target, your weapon should be on the table with the barrel pointed that way.”
She nodded again, feeling her heart race. Everything about this situation had the potential to be deadly.
“Go ahead and put the magazine in.”
She did as he had done earlier.
“Really good. Now rack the slide, so you chamber a round.”
She struggled to pull the slide back but eventually got it.
“Perfect. Let’s fix your arms. Bend your elbows a little. They’re going to absorb the recoil.”
She met his gaze, not so sure about any of this.
“You’ve got this. You’re doing great.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
He stepped slightly off to the side. “Go ahead and look at the target. Line up your shot with the front and rear sights.”
She did, licking her lips.
“Now, put your finger on the trigger and pull it back slowly.”
She licked her lips again and pulled the trigger, feeling the echo of the blast in her body.
“You can’t close your eyes, Lyd.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
He grinned as he stepped closer, fixing her stance. “Look right here through the front to the rear sight.”
“Okay.”
He stepped off to the side again. “Now keep your eyes open and fire.”
She did, entirely missing the target.
“Try again.”
She squinted, moving her arms to make adjustments, then pulled the trigger. “How did I not hit it this time, either?”
“It takes a lot of practice.” Stepping up behind her, he bent his knees to be more at her height as he nestled his head closer to hers, then put his hands over hers, helping her aim. “Try now.”
She pulled the trigger, hitting near center mass.
He stayed behind her. “Try it again.”
She did, hitting nearly the same spot before he gave her some space.
“Give it another shot.”
She pulled the trigger, hitting nothing. She did it again with the same result. “I’m starting to get the feeling that the shots I fired with you are going to be the only two bullets that actually hit the paper.”
He laughed. “So we’ll keep trying.”
She nodded, determined to hit the target without Ty’s help. Pulling the trigger again, she nipped the very corner of the paper and beamed. “I got it.”
He nodded as he smiled. “Good job. Keep your focus on center mass.”
She nodded again, lining up her next shot, feeling confident now. Pulling the trigger, she hit the very left edge of the sheet.
“Adjust a little to the right. You’ve got this.”
But it was clear that she didn’t, as she made the correction and tried again, then two more times, missing all three shots.
“Keep going.”
She shook her head, ready for a break, putting the gun on the table, making certain that the barrel pointed the way that he’d told her. “You do some more.”
“But it’s still your turn.”
“I like watching you. What else can you do that will impress me?”
He shrugged. “We have to shoot one-handed and qualify with both hands.”
She frowned. “How come?”
“If we get shot in our dominant arm, we still need to be able to return fire.”
She nodded, not liking just how dangerous his job had the potential to be. “Show me your one-handed shots. Hit both shoulders on the target.”
He picked up the gun, shooting with his left hand, then his right, hitting both of the shoulders dead-center again.
“That really is impressive, Ty, especially now that I understand how hard it is.”
He dropped the clip and checked the chamber again. “You did a nice job.”
She raised her brow. “If not hitting the target is a nice job, I nailed it.”
He laughed. “It was your first time.”
She smiled. “That’s true.”