“How am I going to hit it with so many branches in the way?”
“You might not have a clean shot every time. Be honest with me. Are you wanting to slow down this person or kill him outright? I might move the target depending on your answer.”
She sucked in a breath. “It depends.”
“On what? You aren’t here to win some shooting competition, I'm guessing.”
“No.”
He appreciated that much honesty. “Has someone been stalking you, and now you want to be prepared in case you are put in a life-threatening situation?”
“The second part.”
When Paris took a step back, he moved forward. Yes, his questions were making her uncomfortable, but that intrigued him even more. “Explain, please.”
Paris planted her hands on her hips and inhaled. “Did someone hire you to come to Ames?”
“What?” Rider almost jerked at her question, but he was a professional and kept his expression blank. “Okay. I’ll answer that. Yes. Someone hired me to come here.”
“Who?” She stood up taller, almost as if she was challenging him.
Paris had her small caliber pistol in her hand. He nodded to her weapon. “If I answer incorrectly, are you going to use that thing on me? Because if you are, it won’t do much harm, unless you’ve dipped the bullet in some super poisonous solution.”
If that were the case, she’d have to know Charley Palmer, over in Richmond Hills, who had such a poison, and that was highly unlikely.
“Maybe.”
“Why take me out? I thought you wanted to learn to be a better marksman.” He held up a hand. “Oh, wait a minute. You didn’t agree to come up here so you could seduce me, did you?”
Of course, he was being ridiculous, but he wanted to cut the tension.
“Seduce you? Are you kidding? You are the last person I would have sex with.”
Damn.He lifted an arm and sniffed. “I don’t smell that bad, do I?”
“You’re a werewolf.”
That didn’t explain anything. “So are you, kind of.”
“Which is why I plan to avoid your type at all cost. Remember what my dad to my mom?”
“Are you saying because one man ditched a woman that you’re painting all werewolves with the same brush, so to speak?”
Her brows pinched. “He bit my mom, told her that he loved her, and claimed she was his mate! Then he left and never came back!”
There was no way he’d win that argument. In fact, it served his purpose, despite feeling this incredible draw to her. “I get it. No sex between us. Glad you cleared that up.” Rider made an exaggerated motion of dragging a hand across his forehead.
“I’m serious. I don’t date werewolves. Ever. At least not anymore.”
That was telling. “In case I had too much to drink at the bar last night, did I ask you out on adate? Because if I did, I certainly don’t remember it. Your friend, Jenna, suggested that I offer my coaching services. Being a nice guy, I agreed.” Not only that, with his werewolf metabolism, alcohol had little effect on him.
A slow red blush raced up her face. “I'm sorry. I know this isn’t a date. I let my past get the best of me. Are we good?”
That was a fast turnaround, but he appreciated she was willing to admit that she’d wrongfully accused him of something. “Yes. No dating. Got it. I trust kissing is off the table too?” Once more he was trying to make light of an awkward situation. She lifted her gun, and Rider raised his arms. “Only kidding.”
She lowered her weapon. “Okay.”
Rider placed his hands behind his back to look less threatening. He was a tall man, packed with muscles from daily workouts. Too often he was told he intimidated people—especially women. “Let’s get back to why you want to learn to shoot with great accuracy. The more honest you are with me, the better able I’ll be to help you achieve your goals.”