Shallow (17 page)

“Boy, am I ever.”

I helped her aim in just the right spot. “Okay. Pull the trigger back.”

She hesitated and I could feel her trembling. “Are you scared?”

“Hell, yeah, I’m scared.”

“Don’t be. I’m with you all the way. Let me count and you can pull the trigger on three. Okay?”

She inhaled deeply and then blew it out slowly. “Okay, I’m ready. I can do this.”

“Here goes. One...Two...Three.” On three she pulled the trigger and took the top off of the first longneck.

When she realized she had hit it, she let out a loud squeal but didn’t move a muscle. “Woo! That was awesome and you were so right. What a rush.”

“So, you liked it?”

“Yeah. I wanna do it again.”

This girl was full of surprises. Could she be anymore perfect for me? “You wanna do it by yourself this time?”

“Yeah, I think I do.”

I took my arms away. “Remember your stance and where to hold the pressure. Bring it up and to the right just a hair. Do you want me to count again?”

“Yeah. I think that helped.”

“Okay. One...Two...Three.” She pulled the trigger and missed.

“Hmm, I missed.”

“It’s okay. Try again.” I reached for her arms and brought them up for her. “Lift them just a little higher this time and breathe. Don’t hold your breath.”

“Ready?”

“Yeah.”

One...Two...Three.” She missed again. And then again.

I could see she was getting frustrated. “Ugh! This isn’t easy. I need you to help me.”

I put my arms around her again to help her aim. “I didn’t get good at this in one day. I’ve been doing it since I was eleven. Relax. You’re stiff as a board.”

She let her shoulders go loose and I pushed her hair away from her neck to hang over her left shoulder. I leaned into her and put my mouth against her right ear. “Breathe. Loosen your shoulders and tighten your arms. One...Two...Three.”

Together we took out the other eight longnecks and then an additional dozen without a single wasted bullet. I dropped the magazine out to check it and then slid it back in when I saw it was empty. “I think we make a great team.”

“I could agree with that, but I think the teacher was greater than the student.”

I put my empty gun back in its case and we started walking toward my car. “Shooting small targets takes a lot of practice.”

“Well, seeing how good you are at shooting makes me worry a little less about you becoming a police officer.”

“It worries you?”

“Yeah, it does.”

Wow. I’d never felt like anyone had worried about me except Dallas and Ginny. I put my gun case on the ground and turned the bill of my cap around to the back before I put my hands on Payton’s waist to pull her closer. “You couldn’t possibly imagine how hard I’m falling for you.”

“I bet I have a pretty good idea.” She put her arms up around my shoulders and I lifted her to sit on the hood of my car. She leaned back, bringing me with her as I fell between her bent knees. She wrapped her legs around my waist and pressed my body into hers as my mouth moved over her neck. “How have you managed to put me under your spell, Payton Archer?”

She grabbed my ball cap by the bib on the back of my head and gave it a toss onto the windshield of my car. She laced her fingers through my hair, grabbing two fistfuls and pulled it hard, forcing me to look up at her. “Let’s go back to my house.”

“Okay.”

Let’s go back to my house.
Was that an excuse to get me to cool my jets or an invitation for something much different? I had no idea with Payton because she wasn’t like the girls I was used to, but she certainly seemed inclined to get physical and the ride home didn’t make me think otherwise.

She reached for my hand as I pulled away from the cabin and didn’t let go as I drove toward my house to pick up her car. She held it firmly and slowly stroked my arm from my hand up to my bicep and back down the whole way home.

By the time we got to my house, Payton’s touch had me so wound so tightly I thought I might spring at any moment. That was until we pulled up at my house and I saw Ginny’s car parked on the street.

No. Not today. Not right now. Not when Payton had just asked me to go to her house while her parents were still gone. Man, nothing could kill a boner faster than your grandmother. I leaned my head forward and put it on the steering wheel.

“What’s wrong?”

“My grandmother is here.”

She didn’t let go of my hand. “Then you have to go in to see her and we can get together another time.”

There was no way I was letting her get away from me. “Come in with me and meet her.”

“Really? You think I’m grandmother worthy?”

Was she kiddin’ me? She was way beyond grandmother worthy. “Of course. Ginny will love you.”

“Ginny. That’s a cool name for a grandmother.”

“It’s short for Ginger.”

“Yeah. I’ll come in and meet your Ginny if you’re sure I won’t be intruding.”

I couldn’t stop the huge smile that spread across my face as I leaned over and gave her a kiss. “I’m positive.”

We walked through the front door and found Ginny and Dallas in the kitchen. I had forgotten. Today was her day to give Dallas cooking lessons.

I let go of Payton’s hand and went over to kiss my grandmother. “Ginny, I have someone for you to meet. This is Payton Archer.”

My grandmother looked at Payton and then back to me and smiled. Me bringing a girl home had obviously taken her by surprise. “I’m so happy to meet you, Payton.”

Ginny didn’t do handshakes. She was a hugger and she took Payton by surprise when she put the sack of flour down to come over and embrace her. “Are you the girl that’s going to tame my Nickolas?”

“I’m afraid the jury is still out on whether he’s tamable or not.”

I knew my Ginny was in love with Payton when she started laughing. “Oh, she’s saucy, Nickolas.” She wrapped her arm around Payton and pulled her close as she whispered something in her ear she didn’t want me to hear.

Whatever it was made Payton very happy as evidenced by her smile. “I promise. I will definitely do that.”

“Now, Miss Payton. Do you cook?”

“No, ma'am. No one has ever showed me how.”

Ginny went to the closet and pulled out one of Dallas’ extra aprons. “Here, put this on. I’m teaching Dallas how to do fried chicken, smashed potatoes, green beans and biscuits with gravy.“

“No, Ginny. We can’t stay.” I looked at Payton and grinned. “We have somewhere to be.”

Payton slid the apron over her head and tied it around her waist as she smiled at me. “I think we can stay for a little while.”

I conceded and went to the living room to watch television while Ginny had her way with Payton and Dallas. I often heard whispering, followed by a rush of laughter and I was positive they were laughing at me about some sort of nonsense. The weird thing about it was that I’d catch myself smiling when they did it because I liked it. I liked having Payton in my house with my sister and grandmother and I liked the way they were in the kitchen together bonding over fried chicken.

An hour later, Payton came out of the kitchen and sat next to me on the couch. “You’re not mad because I wanted to stay, are you?”

“Of course not.”

“Would you mind if we stayed to eat?”

“I don’t think we have a choice. Ginny isn’t gonna let you do all that work and then watch you leave without eating.”

She leaned over and put her head on my shoulder. “Thank you. I had so much fun and Ginny taught me a lot. I actually made homemade biscuits. I can’t believe it. If they’re terrible, you can’t tell me. It would break my heart.”

“Doll Face, I promise you I’ll never do anything to break your heart.”

“You mean that?”

I kissed the top of her head. “Every word.” And I did mean it. I would rather die than do anything to break this beautiful girl’s heart.

“Ginny said we’d be eating without your dad because he wouldn’t be home from work until later tonight.”

“Yeah, his shift isn’t over until seven and he usually doesn’t get home until almost eight.”

“Okay. We’ll save him a plate.” She got up from the couch and tugged on me to coax me up. “Get in here and try my food.”

I probably ate too fast. One...because it was so good and two...because I was ready to get some alone time with Payton back at her house. I mentally screamed when she offered to help clean up after dinner, so I got in there and helped to speed up the process.

Dallas took note of my never seen before help. “You never help clean after a meal. Trying to make a good impression with Payton?”

“Yeah, that’s it,” I lied because it was easier that way. I put the last dish into the cabinet and made our getaway announcement as I went over to kiss my grandmother. “We’ve got to go, Ginny. Thanks for supper. It was great as always.”

“Don’t forget that your Payton cooked a lot of it.”

My Payton
. Hmm, I liked that.

Payton slipped off her apron and passed it to Dallas before she went over to give my grandmother a hug. “Thank you for everything you taught me.”

“I come once a week to teach Dallas and I’d love to have you back.”

“I would love that.” She turned to me as if to ask permission and I shrugged, letting her know that it was her decision and fine by me. The thought of Payton spending time with my family made me very happy, but nothing could make me as happy as getting her alone again and that was next on my agenda.

17 A Part of Nick

Payton

We came in through the front door instead of using the garage. Nick had his arms around me so he used his foot to kick it closed. He slid his arms down around my waist and squeezed me in a tight bear hug as he lifted my feet from the floor. When he finished, he put me back down and scanned the house. “You’re sure your parents aren’t here?”

“Positive.”

“Good.” He cupped my face with both of his hands and stared at it like he was searching for anything that might have possibly changed since this afternoon. “I thought I’d die before I got you here so we could be alone.”

My lips felt dry because my lip gloss had worn off so I lightly ran my tongue over them to be ready for his kiss. He slowly rubbed his thumb across the moisture and spread it over my entire mouth. “I love these lips.”

His teasing was killing me. “Hurry up and kiss me because I think I’m gonna scream if you don’t.”

He gently pushed me toward the door behind me. “Maybe you’ll scream if I do.”

The few hours since he had me on the hood of his car was too long ago so I fisted the front of his shirt and pulled him close. My mouth crashed against his and our kiss wasn’t soft nor sweet. My mouth was demanding because he was like a drug in my veins and I needed more and more of him.

With my back still pressed against the inside of the front door, I lifted my arms up around his neck and leaped to wrap my legs around his waist. I clearly surprised him, but he caught my legs and held me firmly as he pushed my back against the interior of the front door.

He backed away and kissed me as he carried me toward the living room. We tumbled onto the couch with him on top of me and I instinctively pulled my legs up around him while the weight of his body pressed me into the couch.

I loved having him on top of me and between my legs, but I was blindly pushing buttons I didn’t know how to control. I was shoving him to the outer limits of his control and I had no right to do that if I wasn’t planning to close the deal.

He was kissing down my neck while he pressed his groin into mine and I was starting to have some those wonderful tingling sensations I felt the night before. I had this instinctive inclination that just a little more would make it feel even better. I didn’t want to tell him to stop, but I had to.

My voice was much weaker than I meant for it to be. “Nick?”

He never took his lips away from my neck. “Uh huh?”

I didn’t want to say the words, but I had to before I lost myself completely and let him do anything he wanted to me. “Look at me.”

He stopped kissing me and lifted his head to see my face. I dreaded saying the words he had never heard before. I hated being the first one to tell him ‘no.’

“I’ve never been with anyone before and I’m not ready. I’m sorry.”

He smiled that lopsided grin I loved so much, but it wasn’t what I wanted to see after telling him I wasn’t ready to have sex with him. What did he find so amusing? Was it my lack of experience or was he pleased with himself for predicting I would slam on the brakes. Neither option made me happy.

I tried to slide out from underneath him, but he was too heavy and I was pinned. “You’re laughing at me.”

He pushed his arms under me and lowered his head to my shoulder to give me a big squeeze, very much like the one he gave me by the front door. “Mmm. I love that you’re not ready and I have to wait, but I especially love that no guy has ever been inside you. It gives me something special to look forward to.”