Of all the irritating, obnoxious…she slid him a narrow-eyed glare, and saw his lips twitching with humor. Only out of deference to the earl did she resist throwing the pistol at him.
Gritting her teeth, she leaned forward and braced for the recoil, angling one foot slightly behind her. She laid her shooting arm across the barrel and used her free hand to grasp her forearm. Pinching one eye shut, she aligned the rear sight. Breath held, she squeezed the trigger.
The powder exploded with a deafening bang, and seemingly at the same instant a large chunk of pumpkin disappeared into the atmosphere. A loud ringing clanged in her ears, obliterating all other sound, and a cloud of acrid black smoke stung her nostrils, but she didn’t mind.
She put a hand to the small of her back massaging the area most impacted by the recoil, and smiled in utter delight.
“Good going, lad!” the earl shouted.
She’d have loved to offer Lord Thurgood a satisfied smirk, but how could she?
Claybourne’s lion of a grandson had already crossed to the wood stack to reposition what remained of the hapless pumpkin, without having offered one word of praise.
The moment Lord Thurgood rejoined them he broke into a lesson. “When push comes to shove, if you ever need to employ one of these things, there probably won’t be a convenient arm rest.” He gestured for Kitty to come toward him.
She obeyed, albeit with reluctance.
“Stand away from the barrel. Now aim.”
“Very well.”
Zeke moved close behind her, and her insides skittered like she’d had too much sugar. It must be the heat. Still, she scooted forward, putting a good foot of ground between them. Taking the pistol in both hands, she held it in front of her.
He closed the distance again. “Don’t let your arms droop like a couple of dead fish.” He wrapped his arms around her and encircled her wrists with warm, slightly calloused hands, lifting and pulling her arms until they stretched out straight from her shoulders.
The heady male scent of him, intensified by exertion and heat, enveloped her. The jittery sensation in her belly returned with a vengeance, bringing with it the oddest desire to turn her headand nuzzle the salty skin of his neck. Clenching her teeth, she tamped down a nervous giggle.
“Stay just like that,” he commanded, squeezing her wrists once for emphasis. He moved away from her, and only then did she realize her knees had gone wobbly. From the heat. Definitely the heat.
Get hold of yourself, Hastings. She closed one eye, setting up her shot, and prepared to fire.
Before she could, Zeke was back, reaching around her and hoisting her arms up again with a quick, impatient tug. He stuck there like a bad rash. “Watch your footing. There’ll be a—”
Bang!
The force of the shot lifted her off her feet, jackknifing her into the hard wall of Zeke’s chest, bottom first. She bounced off him and, as gracelessly as humanly possible, cartwheeled airborne to land on her feet, arms flung out before her.
She gaped at him through a snaking plume of smoke snaking up from the revolver, which, by some miracle, she hadn’t dropped.
“Recoil!” Zeke yelled with a grin.
Bloody, bloody hell.
She glared at him. This was all his fault. He’d flummoxed her so she’d pulled the trigger without preparing for the recoil.
When his grin only widened into a dazzling smile, she turned away to set the pistol atop the barrel. It was that, or aim it at him, the audacious peacock. He had nerve, looking as elegant and poised as ever.
Meanwhile, Kitty could only thank her lucky stars her wig hadn’t jettisoned off to land in the middle of the pond.
She sniffed and then grinned despite herself. She had hit the mark again.
“For all the exercise young Kit supposedly mandates for your edification, he seems rather malleable himself. I suggest he joinyou on some of your prescribed walks,” Lord Thurgood shouted to the earl.
Her mouth fell open. Had he just implied she had a large bottom?
“Kit, if you’re hot you could try losing the jacket.” He lifted a hand to point at her head. “And that felt hat.”
Evidently the sweat droplets rolling off her nose and chin had not escaped his notice. Kitty grasped her hat with both hands. She wouldn’t put it past the ogre to rip it off her head.
