Point Blank
Authors: Kaily Hart
POINT BLANK
Kaily
Hart
Point Blank
No more safe choices. No more watching life pass her by. No more
regrets
.
It’s
Lanie
Jameson’s new mantra, or it would be
if she had the guts to pull it off.
Lanie’s
harbored
a secret crush on bad boy Rex Harper for longer than she can remember. And
there’s no time like the present, right?
When Rex sees
Lanie
again he knows nothing’s
changed—he still wants her in his bed.
Lanie’s
got
the same idea—to fulfill a fantasy long overdue—except Rex doesn’t want the
fantasy to end. He wants it to be real.
For good.
He just has to convince
Lanie
to give him a chance
beyond her point-blank proposition.
Point Blank
POINT BLANK Copyright © 2011 Kaily
Hart
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical
means, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage or
retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where
permitted by law.
This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons,
living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Edited by Grace Bradley
Cover design by The Killion Group, Inc.
To anyone and everyone who ever had a secret
crush.
That’s
all of you, right?
One
Don’t
worry about making a fool of
yourself.
Lanie
drew in a deep breath.
Perhaps if she told herself that another gazillion
times she just might buy into
it.
You
get an opportunity? Go for
it.
Yeah,
maybe she just might even be able to follow
through.
Maybe.
She sighed. She’d told herself it would be fun to catch up
and see what
had happened
to
everyone,
where
they’d
ended
up,
what
they’d
made
of
their
lives.
She’d flown
in
the
night
before
to
meet
up
with
the
four
girls
she’d
been
closest
to
through
most of high school. Once upon a time they’d been inseparable, but it hadn’t
taken
long to
realize
they
had
zero
in
common
these
days
and
there
really
was
a
limit
on
the amount of time you could talk about
“the good old
days”.
Did
it
make
her
a
bitch
to
admit
she
wasn’t
really
interested
in
anyone
but
him
anyway? Yeah,
it probably did. Especially after they’d told her he was now hot,
loaded and
still
single.
She
didn’t
much
care
about
him
being
loaded,
had
always
considered him hot, but knowing he was
single? Bingo. It was like a sign or
something.
Just thinking about seeing him again had her abdomen
clenching, a combination
of nerves
and anticipation that had been there since she’d sent back her
RSVP.
Lanie
took a deep
breath.
Had it been ten years?
Already?
The
old auditorium was already packed and looked
the
same.
Jeez,
it
even
smelled
the
same.
Everything
just
seemed
smaller
than she remembered and a hell of a lot older—like her, well except for
the smaller part.
She couldn’t really
claim
that.
In
a
way
it
seemed
like
yesterday
she’d
been
up
on
that
tired
stage,
accepting
her diploma, but she’d gone so far from
that happy, optimistic eighteen year old that it
was almost as if it had been someone else’s
life.
Nope. She wasn’t going to think about that, not tonight. It
wasn’t as if all the
things that made
up her shitty life were going anywhere anytime soon. The entry-level job
she should have started out with six years
ago would still be waiting for her. As would
the
tiny,
bland
apartment
with
the
latest
plant
she’d
somehow
managed
to
kill.
Yeah,
and
let’s
not
forget
the
big
bed—the
big
lonely
bed—that
had
been
that
way
for
as
long
as
she could remember and then some. Divorce was a bitch in more ways than one.
While everyone
here
was
getting
on
with
their
lives,
well
into
building
one,
she
felt
as
if
she
was just starting
hers.
Deep
breath.
She
wasn’t
going
to
worry
about
any
of
that,
least
of
all
making
a
fool
of
herself
.
She
wasn’t
going
to
worry
about
being
embarrassed.
She
wasn’t
going
to
worry
about
looking like an idiot. She was just going to go for it.
Right?
She
snorted
to
herself.
Besides,
what’s
the
worst
that
could
happen?
He
could
say no.
He
could
even
say,
“Hell
no,
not
in
a
million
years,
are
you
kidding
me?”
That’s
what. At least she wouldn’t be left wondering, fantasizing and finding every
other
guy she met sadly lacking in
comparison.
Damn
it.
She
was
just
so
tired
of
the
safe
choice,
the
boring
choice,
of
not
going
after
what she
wanted,
of
settling,
having
regrets.
A
whole
pile
of
them.
It
would
be
better
to know, one way or the other, once and
for all. Wouldn’t
it?
She snuck a quick look into her purse.
Again.
Intellectually she knew no one
could
possibly
know,
couldn’t
see
what
she
carried,
but
she’d
checked
they
were
still
there
and
that
the
clasp
was
closed
about
a
hundred
times
already.
What
was
wrong
with
a woman
carrying
her
own
protection
anyway?
Okay
sure,
five
was
probably
overkill, but
her
logic
had
seemed
sound
at
the
time.
They
sometimes
break,
so
she’d
added
a
second.
Maybe
he’d
be
up
for
round
two,
so
she’d
dropped
in
a
couple
more.
Then
an extra one.
For luck.
Just in
case.
Lanie
closed her eyes briefly.
She’d gone loony.
Finally.
She stepped out of the
way of
a
woman
carrying
a
tray
of
drinks
and
right
into
a
solid
wall
at
her
back.
A
warm wall that grunted
softly.
“I’m
sorry,” she said, turning. “Are you
okay?”
“I’m
good.
You?”
It
was him. It was
him
and…
Holy.
Mother.
Of.
God.
Rex Harper. Oh my God. She’d said that already, right? Yeah,
she’d said that.
Well not
“said”
it.
Hopefully
she’d
only
thought
it,
but…wow.
And
he
was
looking
at
her,
right at her with those intense light gray eyes of his
and…
Breathe,
Lanie
, just
breathe.
She
cleared
her
throat.
He’d
changed
and
how,
but
she’d
still
have
known
him
anywhere
and
if
there
was
any
doubt
in
her
mind
as
to
whether
he
still
did
it
for
her?
Just blown out of the water.
“You ah…filled out.”
A
lot.
He’d
gone
from
tall,
lanky
and
awkward
looking
to
powerfully
built.
The
dark dress
pants
and
dark
gray
shirt
did
little
to
disguise
the
wide
shoulders,
flat
stomach and
lean
hips
and
jeez,
what
that
shirt
did
for
those
eyes.
He
looked
cool
and
elegant,
almost civilized, but the dark overlong hair and rough stubble on his cheeks
told her
he
hadn’t
completely
abandoned
his
wild
streak.
Her
stomach
somersaulted
as
her
gaze landed
on
his
mouth,
a
mouth
she’d
been
fixated
on
for
most
of
high
school.
And beyond.
“Yeah,
amazing what some decent food can
do.”
There
was
nothing
in
his
voice,
none
of
the
bitterness
she
might
have
expected.
Everyone had known about his family—had known, but had never done
anything
about it.
Including
her.
“Rex—”
“It’s old history.” His gaze roved across her face, lingered
briefly on her lips
before locking
onto hers. “You remember
me.”
Remember
him? How could she
not?
“We
didn’t exactly hang with the same crowd,” he
added.
Lanie
didn’t
think
he’d
ever
hung
with
anyone.
He’d
always
been
alone,
keeping himself separate from everyone
else, not that she could blame him. The kids
had ridiculed
him
for
his
too-small,
dirty
clothes
and
unkempt
appearance.
That
was
until
he’d
gotten
bigger
and
learned
to
fight
back.
And
he’d
always
won.
When
the
trouble
with the police started, he’d been labeled a wild, out-of-control troublemaker
and
none
of the parents had wanted their kids near him.
Including
hers.
“I
remember,” she said, her voice
husky.
His gaze raked her from head to foot in a searing glance she
could almost feel.
“You
look great,
Lanie
,
really
great.”
The sound of her name in his rich, deep voice caused her body
to hum and
her heartbeat
to
kick
into
high
gear.
Her
stomach
was
churning
because
it
wasn’t
just
his
words. His eyes told her he was thinking a lot more than
“great”.
“You
look…”
Incredible.
Gorgeous.
Lickable
.
Especially
with
the
bad-boy
vibe
he
still
had
going on. And she’d just bet he had to
have a tattoo. She swallowed.
Somewhere.
The left side of his mouth lifted in exactly the same way she
remembered and it
had the same effect
it always did—funky, weird things to her insides. Except now
her reaction
wasn’t
that
of
a
teenage
girl
with
an
out-of-control,
vivid
imagination.
No,
it
was
that
of
a
woman
who
could
all
too
easily
picture
the
things
she
wanted
to
do
with
that hard body, what she wanted him to do to
her
with it—in explicit,
graphic detail.
Oh God. And wet
panties, seriously wet panties—or she would have if she’d actually
been wearing
any.
“Yeah.
You like ink on
guys?”
Crap.
Shock
that
she’d
actually
said
that
out
loud
was
quickly
followed
with
the thought,
where
?
Lanie
took a deep breath. It was a futile attempt to
steady
herself
.
She’d
never
really
gone
for
tattoos
before
but
what
she
wouldn’t
give
to
be
able
to
find
them on Rex for
herself.
She was pretty sure she nodded, but she couldn’t be certain.
She’d lost it, really
lost it,
because if she had to guess, she’d say he was looking at her as if he wanted to
devour her whole and that just couldn’t be
right. Could
it?
He leaned down and she got a whiff of sexy, hot, clean male.
And something
fresh and
woodsy.
It was enough to make her
lightheaded.
“So,”
he
drawled.
“Is
little
Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes
ready
to
let
her
hair
down
and
have
some fun
tonight?”
She
shivered
at
the
wash
of
his
hot
breath
against
the
side
of
her
neck,
her
ear.
She
tried
to
draw
in
more
air
but
it
did
nothing
to
ease
the
jolt
low
in
her
abdomen
or
the
stinging ache between her legs, the sudden dryness of her
mouth.
Okay,
Lanie
this is it. You
promised.
“I think,” she whispered, wetting her lips. “I think she’s
ready to have
some horizontal, naked,
adult
fun.”
He
stiffened.
“Ah…what?”
Here
goes.
“With you,” she blurted before she chickened out, because
that was a
distinct possibility at
this point.
“If you
want.”
He stared at her as if he’d never seen her before. The frown
probably wasn’t a
good sign.
She
swallowed
again
but
it
didn’t
help
with
the
lump
in
her
throat.
This
had
all gone so much more smoothly in her
head. He hadn’t just stood there looking at her as
if she’d lost her mind, that’s for sure. And just look at him.
What the hell was
she thinking? He
had to have his pick of whatever woman he wanted, probably had to beat them
off.
She
was
delusional,
she
must
be,
to
think
Rex—hot,
gorgeous,
grown-up
Rex—after all that had happened, would
actually want
to—
Lanie
gasped when he grabbed for
her hand, folded his warm, rough fingers around
hers,
turned
and
began
walking.
His
grip
was
careful
but
unrelenting
and
she
couldn’t do anything but follow. She
looked at the back of his dark head, the curl of
his hair against his neck, the width of his powerful shoulders.
Heat surged up and
through her body
centering in a pulsing throb between her legs at the simple
skin-to-skin contact.
She
tugged against his firm hold until he stopped and turned to look at
her.
She
licked
lips
suddenly
bone
dry,
her
heart
beat
slamming
out
of
control
at
the heat in his gaze. “I-I
guess I should explain.
I—”
“No.
I got the message, loud and
clear.”
He turned and began walking
again.
“I was thinking,” she added as she tried to concentrate on
not falling in
the ridiculous
heels
she
hadn’t
had
time
to
get
used
to.
“We
could…you
know…a
night, one
night.”
His
fingers clenched on hers. It was slight, but his pace picked
up.