Marc nodded and made another mistake that would later haunt him. "Loser has dishes!"
Angela took off at his challenge, heading for the distant line of dented soda cans they'd set up. Grinning, distracted by her obvious happiness, Marc gave chase, leaving their nearly identical vehicles in the middle of the street for anyone to see.
Angela was able to match him shot for shot until he moved the cans back so far she could barely see them. After missing half and him missing none, she put her gun away. "That's not really a challenge for you, is it?"
Marc shrugged, looking at her with shuttered eyes. "Does it matter?"
"Maybe. Kenn's very good. Go stand by that speed limit sign. I wanna see."
Their eyes locked for a brief, intense moment. "If you like."
It was amazing to watch. When she asked him to move farther back, he did it with no comment, just a curious look she chose not to respond to. He was wondering if she was seeing a showdown between him and her man…and she was.
He didn't miss a single shot, and Angela knew instinctively that this still wasn't very hard for him. Marc was good. Better than anyone else she'd ever seen, maybe even Kenn, who liked to take her to the range, but not let her shoot. Designed to rub in how defenseless she was, it was yet another reaction that said these two men were worlds apart. Kenn had been her warden, while Marc... He was her protector. He made her feel safe, she realized, watching him reholster his gun and move toward her. He was a good man; one she trusted, cared about…one she still wanted.
Angela smelled him as he stepped by, smoke, sweat, and deep underneath, sexy, musky man. Her nostrils flared, and she inhaled deeply, instinctively, before it was gone. Feeling the restless yearning of her heart, she turned away, suddenly lost and hurting. They'd missed so much!
"You all right?"
It was a question he couldn't stop asking, and she smiled, looking at a thinner layer of sky grit instead of his handsome face. She could almost see the sun again, but even the good things couldn't distract her from the fear, the desires. There was no way this would end well. "Just thinking."
"Care to share?"
She shook her head, not meeting his eyes. "No."
Marc could feel her unease, her sadness, and he tried one last time to get her to take the easy way out. "Let's just grab him and go. We'll find some other people to settle down and rebuild with."