“Let’s go to the range for an hour,” he said, chuckling when Brantley’s face fell.
“The range? Seriously?”
“Yes.”
Brantley sighed heavily, and Reese couldn’t help but smile to himself. He knew what Brantley was hoping for, and Reese had every intention of getting them both naked in the near future, but first things first. An hour at the shooting range would give Brantley time to center his focus, which would hopefully help him to deal with the new hires they would encounter later this afternoon. As far as Reese was concerned, everything flowed better when Brantley was centered, which was why he worked so hard to help out.
“Fine,” Brantley finally stated, closing his laptop before rising from his chair. “Butafterthe range…”
Reese chuckled.
Most definitelyafter.
An hour at the range turned into two, but it had been worth it. Not only did they get time with some paper targets, Reese also had the opportunity to talk to Matt Logan, the owner of the place. With so many new people on the task force, Reese had been hoping to get Matt on board with allowing them to block time each month for those who needed it, as well as implementing a contract for pricing that was fair for both Sniper 1, who would be footing the bill, as well as for Matt. To Reese’s relief, Matt had been more than happy to oblige, assuring him they would have first dibs on the underground range and giving him a more than reasonable dollar amount.
“Where to now?” Brantley asked when they were once again back in the truck.
“Like it or not, we’ve got to make an appearance at HQ. You do have to make the official offers if you want to hire these people.”
Brantley did not appear pleased by that.
In an effort to keep him in a decent mood, Reese added, “But I was thinkin’ we’d invite them out tomorrow night. Moonshiners? Give us a chance to get to know ’em better.”
Another sigh from Brantley, but this one wasn’t quite as distraught. “Dinner. Our house.”
Reese frowned. “What?”
“You cook.”
Reese stared at Brantley as though he’d lost his mind because there was a good chance he had. “You want me to cook dinner for all of them? Tomorrow?”
“Why not? You’re the one who wants to spend time with them. Plus, you’ve got a grill.”
“The bar is more convenient,” he countered.
“Our house is more … personable.”
“Yeah? And where do you suggest we seat them?” he asked, a subtle reminder they had yet to put a table in their dining room.
“We’ll go shoppin’ in the mornin’.”
Reese barked a laugh. “You want to go shoppin’?”
“I like to shop.”
“You do not.”
Brantley smirked. “I like to shop with you.”
“No, you don’t,” he stressed.
“But I will if you ask nicely.”
Reese sighed, realizing he was the one who’d set this all in motion. Teach him to make suggestions again. A night at Moonshiners, a few beers, some laughs … that was a far cry from him cooking dinner for the new task force.
But he would do it because Brantley had suggested it.
And he could only hope the lack of notice would have at least a few of them unable to make it.
