Page 111 of Cautious Love

What am I doing with a man like him?

Better question: what is he doing with a woman like me?

“What do you think?” he asks.

I hum. “Looks like it’s going to be a nice size house.”

He smiles and nods. “Yeah. I wanted it to have at least four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Do you think that’s enough?” he asks.

I shrug. “I would think so. Why are you asking me?”

He huffs and looks into my eyes. “Because I want your opinion.”

“Oh, then yes, I think that would be enough.”

He nods. “I’m glad to hear it. So will you let me show you some pointers with the gun?” he asks.

“Fine.” I sigh.

He laughs and holds his hand out for the pistol. I hand it to him, and he inspects it, checking the bullets in the chamber.

He leads me to a copse of trees in a dip in the land.

“Why do you want to do this with me?” I ask him.

Ledger walks around me and slides his hand around my hip while his other holds the gun out for me to take.

Once I do, he drops his hand on the open hip. He nuzzles his nose in the crook of my neck and says, “I want to ensure you’re prepared because as much as I wish I could protect you everysecond of the day I’m aware of my limitations, and I want to make sure you can fight back.”

I huff and hold my arms out, widening my legs a bit. “I already knew how to do that, baby.”

He huffs into my neck. Then stands up straight and clears his throat.

“Aim for that tree limb there,” he says.

I do as he says, hitting it.

“Okay, now right above the hole in the trunk.”

I do it again and miss by a few inches.

“You’re tensing a little too much before you squeeze the trigger, which will reduce your response time.”

“Fair enough,” I mumble.

He grunts. “My only concern is that you only have six bullets,” he says.

“It was all I could afford, and I figured six was better than zero.”

“It is, and it looks like the gun feels right in your hands.”

“It does.” I holster the gun.

He stares at me with that serious scowl, and my skin feels all prickly.

“Ledger?”

He hums and pushes a curl from my face.