Learning To Love Again (Book #1 In The Learning To Love Again Series

by Jessica Danielle

  “Me and anything of potential bodily harm, I don’t know. I mean, I tripped over my own feet and had to stay at your house for a weekend to heal. Me with a gun? You think that’s a fit match?” Willow was skeptical about his decision to take her to the gun range.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Getting out of the car, Willow looked at the gun range with narrowed eyes.

  “You know they’ll sense the fear,” Micheal said, as Willow turned to look at him, as took a hold of her hand, walking up to the entrance.

  “The workers?”

  “No, the guns, silly,” he joked, as Willow smiled, as he touched the tip of her nose affectionately.

  “There's the smile I was waiting for. I thought it was something different we could do. Then we could get food afterwards,” he mentioned.

  “So how does this work exactly?” she asked, following him through the gates.

  “Well, you pick out your gun, get ammo. Then safety glasses and targets. And out to an open spot,” Micheal explained, as he walked up to the enclosed room full of guns.

  “KAHR CW9 9mm Luger for her, and I’ll take my shotgun,” Micheal said to the attendant, tapping his fingers against the counter, as the attendant came back with the guns and 2 buckets of ammo.

  “So, I take it you're a regular then?” she asked rhetorically, as Micheal grabbed for both guns.

  “Come here from time to time with Evan. Here’s your gun and your ammo,” he said, passing her the luger and the bucket of ammo, while he held the shotgun in his hands. Watching as Willow held it in her hand hesitantly.

  “Come one, it will not bite you. Oh, I see a spot that is open,” he said, leading her around the shooting range where the open space was.

  “I always like taking the end spot. Less chance of getting distracted by the shooting on both sides and everything. These also help too,” he said, passing her ear plugs as he put them in his ears. Then grabbing two pairs of safety glasses, passing a pair to Willow to put on.

  “Guns 101, at least for this one,” Micheal said as he took the one that was in her hand, “I picked it because it’s easy to control and the safety is easy to identify,” he said pointing on the safety clip that was on the handgun.

  “Always make sure the safety is on when not in use,” he instructed, clicking it into place and taking it off as he passed it to Willow.

  “You try,” he said as he watched her click the safety on and off a couple times, gripping it in her hand.

  “Good, now we have to load them. Take the clip out of yours,” he said, loading up his shotgun with ammo as Willow did the same, clicking the clip back into place.

  “This one has a recoil?” she asked, as Micheal smiled.

  “So, you know just a little more about guns than I thought, that’s helpful. To answer your question, yes, it has a bit of a recoil,” he said continuing to load up the shotgun.

  “Haven’t been around one in a while, used to go out with the family to shoot. I was always more of a fan of the bb gun honestly, but I never shot a shotgun before,” she explained, remembering those trips out in the desert, just her and her small family shooting at targets for hours.

  “Well then, I might as well show you,” Micheal said, turning Willow towards the target that was off in the distance.

  “Plant your feet, extend your arms out, bend your elbows and relax your shoulders,” he said, as she felt his leg go in between hers, moving her legs further apart. His hands went to her shoulders and squeezed them as they extended out to her arms as he passed her the shotgun. Still feeling him behind her, she looked back.

  “You know if I didn’t know any better, like oh, I don’t know. If we weren’t going out to eat afterwards and everything, I would think you were trying to pull a move on me,” she mentioned, as Micheal stepped to the side, chuckling.

  “You need to remember to control your breathing as well,” he said, moving her red hair to the side, as she saw him watching her in her peripheral view, as she felt her heart beating quicker at being the focus of his attention.

  Willow focused her attention on the target that was off in the distance, taking a calming breath as her finger went to the trigger and pulled it, hitting the target dead on.

  “Good job,” Micheal praised next to her as she laughed, turning towards him as he flinched at the movement, taking his arm out and putting the shotgun out of his range of his body.

  “Remember safety always on. And don’t point it at people,” he said in a stern voice, as Willow clicked on the safety quickly at the slight scolding before she set the shotgun down, jumping up to wrap her arms around his neck, bringing him closer to her as she quickly kissed him. Feeling him freeze up at the unexpected action, as she pulled away.

  “Thank you for taking me here. This was a great idea,” Willow said, unwrapping her arms from around him and sitting in the plastic seat that was in the space, picking up the gun and handing it to him.

  “Your turn,” she said, crossing her leg over the other, watching him take the shotgun and aiming it at the target, having to clear her throat when her mind was going south watching Micheal with the shotgun in his hands. He didn’t stop at just one shot but emptied the entire clip into the target, as Willow recrossed her legs, shifting in her seat and feeling her face heat. Trying to get her mind out of the gutter as Micheal flipped the safety on the shotgun and then toggled a switch to retrieve the target and put another one on.

  “That was fun,” Willow said, clicking on the gun safety and flicking the switch to get the target back, as Micheal took it off the hook and examined it.

  “Wow, all on target. You were fantastic. Sure, it’s been years since you’ve done this? You seem like a natural,” he said, looking at the cluster of shots that were grouped perfectly at the center of the target.

  “Well, it was pretty difficult, trying not to think about you trying to feel me up. Which I think you owe me dinner for, actually?” she questioned, taking off the safety glasses and handing him her handgun.

  “I didn’t feel you up. I was just trying to show you how to properly hold and shoot the gun comfortably so the recoil wouldn’t affect you as much,” Micheal countered, but Willow saw he was trying really hard to not smile at her comment as they made their way back to the gun locker.

  “This one is yours, you can keep it here, like I do with the shotgun, papers of gun ownership signed for. Gun paid for, and conceal and carry permit signed as well,” Micheal said, stopping at the gun locker to give the shotgun to the attendant.

  “This gun is mine? But why?” Willow asked, surprised, as she turned the gun in her hand, looking at it.

  “I have the paperwork in the car and extra ammo unless you want to keep it here?” he asked, as Willow shook her head.

  “I’ll take it with me, you never know, you know?” she said with a smile at the gesture.

  He wants to know that I’ll keep myself safe.

  Willow cleared her throat and started walking with him out of the gun range.

  “You realize that when you have free-time on the weekends we are coming here now, right? With Evan of course,” she added as Micheal smiled.

  “Oh, so you want to see more of me then, that’s a good sign,” he joked, opening up the passenger door for her, as she hugged him.

  “Come on, you felt me up, now you have to reciprocate with food, I’m starving,” she said leaning up to kiss him and pull away at him freezing up again. As she laughed, getting into the suburban.

  “I love that I have that reaction on you Micheal, it’s adorable,” Willow said as she clicked in her seatbelt, Micheal closed the door shaking his head the entire time with a smile on his face.

  A phone in the distance snapped a picture of the suburban leaving the parking lot. Fingers tapping against the screen.

  “Hey, I just sent the photos. Yes, I followed them. And no, I didn’t close like you asked. They were here for at least an hour or more. They were getting all close and cuddly,” Carmen said, venom in her voice
as she ended the call.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “So, what’s the plan for part 2 of this date we’re on?” Willow questioned, feeling giddy as Micheal pulled out of the parking lot.

  “Didn’t have it really planned out that far actually,” He replied, his eyes on the road, but Willow could detect that he wasn’t saying everything that was on his mind, noticing he was trying to not smile again.

  “How about we just go somewhere to talk before going to dinner?” Micheal asked, turning on the turn signal, making Willow think that a location just popped into his head.

  “Well, that sounds great,” Willow said, happy that he wanted to spend more time with her and not feeling the need to have the distraction of eating food like Andrew always seemed to need while out on dates with her. Pulling into a park, Willow smiled.

  “You had something in mind, didn’t you?” she asked rhetorically, punching him softly in the arm as he laughed, parking the suburban at a spot that was already occupied by the table that was covered in various amounts of dishes and an ice chest.

  “What? You had this brought up here? And here I thought we were going to get takeout or something,” Willow said, getting out of the truck, with Micheal following close behind her.

  Sitting across from him at the table, she realized that other than being interrupted by Amanda, being alone like this hadn’t happened. Her mind went back to how they made out on the couch and got interrupted just as things were getting interesting.

  Willow’s smile got bigger and bigger by the second thinking about it, as she noticed Micheal was looking at her with a raised brow, having taken off his sunglasses.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked

  “Oh, just thinking about the last time we were alone, and my roommate interrupted us is all,” Willow admitted, standing up to open up the ice chest seeing that it was full of beer and water.

  She grabbed a beer, feeling the coldness of the glass against her skin, as she put the top on the edge of the table popping it off, and then grabbing water for Micheal, and passing it to him.

  “Thanks. Nervous?” he questioned as Willow laughed.

  “Pft, no, not at all. What makes you think that?” she asked in a shaky voice, taking a big sip of the beer and grimacing at the harsh taste as it attacked her taste buds.

  “Because you're drinking beer like it’s going out of style,” he said, taking a sip of his water, Willow’s eyes went to his Adam's apple. Watching it bob as he took a drink of water and swallowed, her face heating. Resulting in her, taking a bigger sip of her beer, needing the liquid courage.

  Her eyes went to where his hands were playing with the bottle cap.

  Almost as if he was nervous too.

  “So,” they both said as Willow laughed lightly.

  “Ladies first,” he said as he rested his arms against the wood table, waiting for her to talk.

  “Um, well I was going to ask what got you into painting?” she said, running one of her fingers over the lip of the beer bottle.

  “Oh, well, I always liked it and realized I had a skill for it instead of what my parents wanted me to do, which was go to college. I tried that out, but it just wasn’t for me. What about you? What got you into substitute teaching?” he asked, as Willow sighed.

  “Got into community college and worked my way through courses. And I fell in love with history again, changed my major to that before transferring to a university and well the only route is teaching. Went through the teaching credential program to teach middle school or high school history. I just took the substituting gig to get money while I’m looking for work. I was thinking maybe about going back and getting my masters, but that means more time in the classroom and well I need to help Amanda pay the rent,” Willow explained, as Micheal nodded.

  “That makes sense, but if it makes you feel any better the time you spent in Evan’s class. He couldn’t stop talking about you. So you have what it takes to be a brilliant teacher, Willow,” Micheal said, as he leaned forward, taking her hand in his and squeezing it affectionately.

  Micheal was going to say more but the sound of Willow’s stomach grumbling stopped him and he started laughing.

  “Guess this little get to know each other session just ended early. How ‘bout we get to eating all this stuff?” he asked rhetorically, opening up containers of food, as Willow looked at everything.

  “You had someone come here, drop it off? Did you make any of it?” she questioned, as Micheal passed her a plate.

  “Yeah, most of it earlier this morning. I couldn’t sleep,” he answered honestly, as Willow smiled.

  “Nervous?”

  “Um, yes, have you looked at you? You are way out of my league,” Micheal said as Willow stopped eating and looked at the food.

  “You really planned this,” she said in an uneasy voice that made Micheal look over at her.

  “What? You never had someone plan out a date for you?” he asked, regret in his face at asking at the look on Willow’s surprised face.

  “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. You, you want me to take you back to the apartment? I completely understand,” he said reaching for her hand, as she moved away clearing her throat.

  “No, I want to spend time with you. And no, no one has ever done something this sweet for me before. Thank you,” she pulled the containers closer to her.

  “Wait before you say that wholeheartedly. You haven’t eaten the food yet,” he warned with a laugh as Willow waved it off.

  “What are you talking about? I spent that weekend with you and a week after that with you. You are great in the cooking department,” Willow said, putting pasta sauce on her plate of warm noodles.

  And in other departments as well.

  Willow put down a container of pasta that was still warm and noticed that Micheal was smirking at her now from across the little picnic table.

  “Did I say that last part out loud?” she said, feeling her face heat and her heartbeat quicken at the look on his face.

  Like he wanted to come across the table and grab you.

  “Sweetheart you just wait, you don't even know,” Micheal replied in a husky tone, making Willow go for her beer drinking it again. And all Willow could think about was wishing they weren’t at the park at all, but at his house instead.

  Willow stopped sipping at her beer and thought about something, smiling at him.

  “You realize, you did just delay sex an extra date now?” she questioned him as he smiled.

  “Good, there're more dates in your mind already. Plus, it gives me time to wind you up Willow,” he said as Willow felt her face heat at the mental images running through her brain at the suggestive comment.

  Chapter Nineteen

  It took Willow a moment to compose herself. If at all really, but she did what she always did when she got uncomfortable, drank and eat food to get her mind out of the gutter.

  Which was a perfect distraction, with the beer in her hand and a plate of pasta in front of her. She started eating more of the pasta, feeling the beer that she consumed already taking effect, making her feel light-headed.

  “How would you wind me up?” she asked, curiosity peeking at what he possibly had in mind.

  “I think I’m going to leave you guessing for now. Don’t want you to know my diabolical plans. But it will be worth the wait guaranteed,” he said, digging into his own plate of pasta.

  “Setting the standard high, aren’t we?” she questioned, focusing on the food in front of her.

  To get her mind off the inappropriate thoughts that were dancing in her brain. At this rate, her threat of waiting for an extra date would not be honored if they kept on the same subject.

  “You want another?” he asked, getting up as Willow nodded in mid-chew.

  Her eyes landed on his waist as he stepped over the bench seat to get to the ice chest. And she started coughing.

  Because from her memory of when he woke up in bed next to her, didn’t do him justice for what she saw when he s
tood up. And it definitely wasn’t little.

  And he definitely goes commando

  Willow started coughing more, and he was right next to her, his hand on her back.

  “Willow, are you ok? You need me to do the Heimlich?” he asked, as she pushed him away, taking a couple hesitant breaths, waiting for the coughing to start up again.

  He placed a water bottle placed in front of her on the picnic table. After taking a few sips, she set the bottle down and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

  “You know it's your fault that I almost choked to death, right?” Willow asked, her eyes flicking down to his waist and back at his face again multiple times.

  Willow could see that he went slightly pink in the face at that. One hand going to his neck and rubbing the back of it.

  “I honestly didn’t think you would notice,” he whispered, trying to laugh off the awkwardness.

  “How am I not going to notice that? How?” Willow asked in a mock serious tone that didn’t even last for the entire sentence, before both ended up laughing.

  Willow noticed that Micheal stopped laughing and was looking up at the sky, as she turned to see what he was seeing. Dark clouds approached, coming closer and closer by the second.

  “Weather said nothing about the rain at all, that’s why I came here,” he said as he got up and clicked to unlock the truck.

  “Might as well try to beat the storm before we get rained on,” he said, picking up the ice chest, and putting it in the back of the truck. Willow started picking up the containers and placing them in the back, feeling the warmth from the containers under her fingertips.

  As they were folding up the tablecloth, the rain started coming. Making them rush to fold it and put it in the back with the rest of the items as they rush into the truck. Willow flipped the vanity mirror down and looked at her reflection, taking in the mess of wet red hair, and smeared mascara under her eyes. Micheal turned on the car and clicked on the heater.