Project Seduction by Tatiana March

the wash. He'd bought something similar for his daughter, so he knew it was supposed to look like that. She appeared fragile enough to be made out of spun glass.
    They checked in at the counter. He showed his license and bought another two boxes of 38 Specials.
    "Any other weapon on you?” asked the attendant.
    Rick tapped the two plastic cases on the table. “Just the Springfield and the revolver."
    "All right. You're in lane four."
    "Which way is that?"
    "All the lanes are that way. It starts at number one at this end.” The muscular youth pointed ahead, making the mermaid on his forearm leap to life.
    "Thanks.” Rick picked up the boxes of ammunition and the two cases that contained his handguns. “I thought this place had air conditioning,” he said to the young man.
    "It should be back on soon. Someone's working on it."
    Rick nodded. “I'll be using police clips on the Springfield."
    "No problem. Enjoy your session."
    Rick turned and addressed his words to Georgina. “Can you bring those?” He motioned at the two sets of eye and ear protection which the muscular youth had pushed across the table.
    Then he strode over to the lanes, feeling edgy. He didn't bother to check if Georgina was keeping up. The whole goddamn idea struck him as crazy. How was he supposed to teach her to shoot a handgun? She was a scantily dressed woman in high heels with her toenails painted red.
    At lane four, he laid the cases on the ledge at the end and flipped them open. “I'll start you with the semi-automatic.” He spoke loudly to overcome the constant popping of gunfire that filled the air. “It's faster to load. I've already filled the clips."
    Georgina craned to look past him. “Which bits are the clips?"
    He made an effort not to grit his teeth. “What do you know about guns?"
    "That they are used to kill people."
    He turned and eyed her with an open lack of patience. “Do you really want to do this?"
    "Yes."
    "Then cut out the stupid remarks."
    She gave him a defiant look. “As I know absolutely nothing about guns, most of my remarks are bound to be stupid."
    He picked up the Springfield. “This is a semi-automatic. The ammo goes into a clip, and the clip goes into the grip.” He pulled the slider, picked up a clip, slotted it in. “You press this button to engage the weapon.” He stopped to demonstrate, then moved to stand a few steps down the lane and talked over his shoulder. “When the weapon is loaded and ready to fire, you never point it at people, or at your feet. You either point it at the target, or to the ground in front of you, well away from your feet."
    He raised his arm and lined the weapon with the target. “When you pull the trigger, the spent cartridge is ejected automatically, and a new round is inserted into the chamber.” He lowered his arm and with a deft turn of his hands removed the clip. “You got that?"
    She frowned at him. “You've got to explain most of those words to me."
    "All you need to do is aim and pull the trigger."
    "If I'm going to learn, I want to do it properly. How do I insert the clip?"
    He glanced up, surprised. “I only paid for an hour, in case it got too hot. Why don't you just go ahead and fire a few rounds now, to get the feel of it? I'll show you later how everything works."
    "All right. I want to put these on.” Georgina picked up the ear protection. “Will I be able to hear you?"
    "Let me know if you can't."
    "Why the goggles?"
    He'd already slipped his earmuffs on. Her voice was muted, and he raised his own to make sure she would hear him. “The spent cartridges. They fly up."
    Georgina dropped her goggles on the floor. When she picked them up, the pants stretched taut over her firm round buttocks. Rick felt his throat go dry. Damn it to hell and back. He shouldn't have let Angelina talk him into this.
    "Here. Hold the grip tight.” He passed the Springfield into her hands and stood behind her. Sweat began to trickle down his chest. Christ, if she stepped back