“No! God da...Bless America!” If Candy weren’t so terrified of the hunk of metal in her hands she would have laughed at Jameson. He had spent the better part of the day turning himself inside out trying not to swear in front of her. “Candy, you’re flinching every time before you pull the da— the trigger.”

“I’m sorry! I hate guns. If I had known I had to do this part I wouldn’t have taken the job. I mean, I knew you used them but I just figured they’d be locked up all the time. Can’t we just say you’ve trained me, I’m just not any good at it.”

“You aren’t trying.”

“I am. Okay maybe not, I’m terrified. My husband said never pull out a weapon unless you are willing to use it. And never use it unless you are willing to kill someone. Look at me, I’m never going to kill someone.” He looked her up and down and nodded his head then he looked at her hand where a wedding band would be. “I’m a widow. Bill died ten years ago.”

“I’m sorry.” He actually looked like he was too. “Wait, how old are you?”

“You can be a widow any time after you’re married. And you can’t fire me because I’m too old. It’s against the law.”

“You just seem young to have a husband who has been gone ten years already. What, did he rob the cradle?”

“No! He was nineteen and I was eighteen. He was killed on his first tour in Iraq. When they were still flying the ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner.” That still pissed her off. Bill used to say the mission wasn’t over until everyone came home. She’d buried an empty casket when she was barely in her twenties.

“What branch?”

“Army, he was infantry but he wanted to go for the Rangers.”

“Then in his honor you are going to learn to fire a weapon. Come here.” She squeaked when he pulled her down on top of him. Could the candy bar she stress ate at lunch count as extra weight already? She struggled to get off the man’s lap. He may have moaned a little. Great, she was so big she was crushing him. “Stay still. Please.” His voice sounded pained. “I can’t exactly stand behind you to show you how to do this. I swear I’m not trying to get fresh.” He hadn’t groped her in the least. His chest was wrapped around her back, his arms alongside hers and his hands covered hers holding the pistol. Oh crap, yeah, everything about him made her feel dainty, delicate, and feminine. Of course the guy was male with a capital M so that wasn’t surprising. As shocked as she was by his actions she felt oddly safe at the same time, it had been years since she had been wrapped in a man’s arms.

“Candy?”

“Hmm?”

“You aren’t looking at the target.”

“Oh.” She shook the cobwebs from her head, as foggy as her head felt, her body was electric with sensation. She could feel the heat of his body, the softness of his cotton T-shirt, the stiffness in his cargo pants. Oh God! So that part of him was still working. Her cheeks burned and not just the ones on her face. Her breathing got shallow and her vision dimmed around the edges.

Jameson jostled her to get her attention. “Focus. I’m going to do all the work but you need to feel the sequence. I’ll talk you through what I’m doing. Repeat after me. Take a breath and let it out.”

She repeated his instructions and then did as he said. “Breathe in and out.”

“Now take a deep breath and let it half way out.”

She did what he said and felt her shoulders drop some. She wasn’t really relaxed but more than she had been even a minute ago.

“Anticipate the kick.”

“Expect the kick.”

“Line up the sight.” He lifted the pistol slightly so she could sort of see where the bullet would go in the target.

“Keep your eyes open.”

“Eyes open.” His breath fanned her neck every time he spoke. She could smell hints of his soap and the coffee he’d been drinking all day. How his hands were this steady when he’d had that much caffeine was beyond her.

“Are your eyes open? Because you just dropped the nose of the gun?”

She flinched with embarrassment at getting caught not paying attention to what they were doing.

“They’re open.” He couldn’t really tell sitting behind her, could he?

He chuckled in her ear and the sound seemed to pour like warm oil down her back. “They are now.” He reset the aim.

“Pull the trigger.”

She put some hesitant pressure on the trigger and felt his hands tighten around hers. He nudged her that last little bit to fire the gun. The explosion made her squeak but when she looked at the target there was a good size hole close to the center.

She turned to look at him and the gigantic grin on his face. “That was all you,” she finally said to him.

“Nope, you did that.” He seemed more proud of her than she was.

“Because if it were just you, you would have made a perfect shot.”

“That isn’t what I meant and you know it.” She managed to get off his lap without making a scene. This wasn’t as bad as the start of the day but it was just as weird.

“Okay, I’ve had my firearms training.” She shivered in relief. She was never touching a gun again as long as she lived. Oh God, she wasn’t in charge of inventorying them, was she?

“Not even close.” He ejected the magazine and checked the chamber. “This is going to be yours. You’ll practice every day until you’re proficient and then I want you to carry it with you.”

“What? No. No way. I won’t carry a gun.” She backed away from the man and the weapon. “I won’t have one in my house.”

“Why the hell not!”

“Because women who carry guns are more likely to get killed by their own weapons. And I can’t, I just can’t is all.” He didn’t need to know about her past and she had no intention of telling him, now or ever. He scrubbed his hand through his cropped hair, it didn’t dare look the least bit mussed afterwards.

“So you’re one of those anti-gun nuts. Do you realize the crime that happens in the blocks around your house?”

“The neighbors keep an eye on each other’s houses. Mostly the crime is drug related, as long as we don’t stray into their business we’re fine.” The skin of his face was mottled from anger and his eyes were closed tight as though just looking at her would make him scream. Then he blew out a breath.

“Fine. I’m setting up a watch on your house, at least until we get a security system in.”

“I can’t afford that.”

His smile made her blink. “I didn’t say how you could pay it off.”

“Wha—” She snapped her mouth shut.

“Candy. I was teasing about you paying it off. I’m used to the guys around here and should have thought first. I want you safe, that’s all. And I’m serious about the watch and putting in the system.”

“You’re just going to give me a security system? What happens when Karen comes back? I’m not paying for some monitoring contract.”

“Maybe I’ll have convinced you to stay on.” She smirked. “We’ll worry about it then, for now though we’ll see who can watch your house tonight.”

She closed her eyes and huffed a few breaths in and out while he cleaned and secured the gun. She was overreacting. Bill had wanted her to keep a gun too, and he hadn’t had any better luck than Jameson. Now those poor kids were going to be camped outside her door, or in her house. She should be mad as heck at him but everyone she’d met had seemed nice. Except for the boss and even he, well, he was growly but Karen was right, there was something sweet about him. She was not going to be the one to say that to his face though. How twisted was it of her to be just a little thrilled to have people to feed and fuss over. She wasn’t ready to deal with Jameson but she’d love to give some of those kids a good home cooked meal. Dinner plans danced in her head without even a thought. The day hadn’t started out so good but maybe this was the place she should be. If she was working here the alarm contract wouldn’t be a problem, and if she wasn’t working, well that would mean she had bigger problems.