Free His to Cherish by Christa Wick Page B

sliding wall that, at the push of a button, revealed an arsenal worthy of a city S.W.A.T. team.
    I reached for the gun-shaped taser, but he held it up and away from me. "What's so funny, Miss James?"
    "Just that you found it so quickly."
    He wrinkled his nose at me, the freckles scrunching together to form a darker line. "Weapons aren't like pens or remote controls, you don't just leave them scattered around."
    "Duly noted." I nodded, attempting to make the gesture solemn despite the earlier grin he had caught me wearing. Surprised I could relax around him so easily after Evan's threats and Collin's attempt to get me back to Stark International, a fresh threat of tears stung my nose and eyes. Trying to cover them, I reached for the taser. "May I have it now?"
    He continued holding the taser away from me. "You have any idea how to use this?"
    "No," I confessed and lowered my hand. "I had pepper spray once. Sat around in the bottom of my purse for two years before the nozzle broke and everything leaked out. I really liked that purse."
    Gillie rolled his eyes at me, showed me the safety and slid it off, then pointed the taser toward the center of his yard and fired. Wires shot out, falling to the ground when they found no living flesh in which they could embed. He showed me how to eject the wire cartridge at the front of the barrel then talked me through loading a new cartridge on my own.
    Seeing a man in his early thirties exit the house next door, Gillie cupped his hand to his mouth. "Hey, Carl, want to make twenty bucks?"
    I jabbed an elbow in Gillie's ribs before whispering at him. "Don't you dare suggest I shoot that man."
    He whispered back, his lips against my ear as Carl crossed into the yard. "That's a week of lunches for his kids."
    Unable to argue as Carl stepped within whisper range, I glared at Gillie. He looked at me from the corner of one eye, that side of his mouth rising up in a smile before he acknowledged Carl.
    Gillie tilted his head at me. "She needs to see one of these in action, so she isn't afraid to use it."
    "Okay." Laughing, Carl rubbed his slightly rounded belly. "I ain't been tased all week!"
    He held his hand out and Gillie passed over a crisp twenty. "You gonna spot me, John?"
    Gillie took in a deep enough breath for me to realize he hadn't thought the transaction through that far. I looked at him, a little part of me momentarily gleeful at the idea of tasing Carl if it would teach Gillie not to be so pushy and over-protective.
    "Guess I have to," Gillie laughed back. He moved behind Carl, guiding him about eight feet away from me. "That's accurate to fifteen feet, Mia, but you probably won't have a steady hand and need to keep it within ten."
    I nodded.
    "And no less than five if you can help it, or you're just as likely to have the attacker fall on you with the wires."
    I nodded again.
    "Come on, girl," Carl joked. "The suspense is killing me."
    I raised the barrel of the taser and tried to ignore the open throttle of my heart as it pound against my rib cage.
    "Mia, honey, you have to open your eyes before you fire."
    Blushing, I looked at the two men. Carl couldn't contain his amusement. His mouth was closed but his whole body shook with the laughter he tried to hold inside. Gillie just stared at me, his gaze patient and caring.
    Blocking Gillie's use of "honey" from my head so I could concentrate, I pulled the trigger while Carl still jiggled with mirth. The effect was like a chainsaw reaching that magic spot at which the weight of the tree takes over and snaps the trunk, dropping the tree in less than a second. Carl fell like that, his whole body rigid, toes up, rolling back on his heels. Gillie caught him by the shoulders, his own body giving a little twitch as he quickly lowered Carl to the ground.
    With the electricity fully discharged, it took maybe five seconds before Carl moved again. Gillie pointed at him the instant he did then hooked my gaze.
    "He'll be groggy and slow for another ten