by Janie Crouch
“You okay there, short-stack?”
Her eyes flew open, then narrowed. “Are you trying to get me to fire you after only being here one afternoon?”
He wasn’t ruffled. “It didn’t sound like they wanted you firing anybody.”
Chloe knew she could fight. Could throw a fit and the studio would get rid of him to keep her happy. But she wasn’t going to.
“I’ve got your file right here.” She tapped her computer screen. “Background check the studio did. Tells me all about you.”
He didn’t look worried. “I doubt that.”
“Says you’re a local boy. Then college. Army.” Something caught her eye in the report. “Avalanche. Was that your call sign or something? Like Iceman or Maverick?”
Why was she even saying that? No doubt he wasn’t going to get the reference. She stood up. He was here, she wasn’t going to use her clout to get rid of him, she might as well stop acting like she was. She would show him around, dump him on someone else.
“Call sign?” His eyebrow raised high. “No, because I wasn’t a Navy fighter pilot. And my friends and I rarely ripped our shirts off and ran down to play beach volleyball or buzzed the tower. But yeah, it was a nickname. Still is, I guess.”
He did get the Top Gun reference. So maybe his pressed pants, chiseled jaw, and aviator sunglasses weren’t everything to him.
Or maybe he just had good taste in eighties movies.
She wanted to know why his nickname was Avalanche, but didn’t ask, afraid he might tell her. She needed to know as little about this man as possible if she wanted to keep her focus. She smiled.
“Okay, Avalanche, you’re in. Because you’re right, I don’t want to go ten rounds with the studio when you seem pretty qualified to do the job. And, because anybody who can throw a Top Gun reference back in my face can’t be so bad.”
“I’m relieved I meet your qualifications.” His tone was dry.
“My only qualification is that you are as least distracting as possible. We’re a family here. We try to keep a creative vibe flowing here. And before you roll your eyes at me, I’m not talking some kumbaya rainbow gathering, okay? I’m referring to an imaginative, expressive flare that allows the artists here to do their best work.”
“Well, your artistic flair is going to have to take a back seat to personal safety. That’s why I’m here.”
“Can’t it be both? That’s all I’m asking. Can you just try to respect the creative atmosphere here?”
Now he did roll his eyes. “I’ll do my best.”
Chloe doubted it.
“Fine, let’s go. I’ll show you around.”
She brushed by him in the doorway—damn it, why was her body so aware of him when he hadn’t done anything except piss her off and point out her lack of height since the second she’d talked to him?—and he pushed off from the frame to follow her.
“There’s an underwater submersion stunt scene being filmed the day after tomorrow,” she told him. “A lot of people are prepping for that. We do numerous stunts around here, but everyone wants more. They beg me all the time to write in scenes where they get to blow stuff up.”
“Sounds like some of the guys I knew in the Army.”
“Yeah, actually a few of our stunt guys are ex-military. Have you ever watched Day’s End?”
“No, I’m not a big television watcher. I’m more of a reader.”
Chloe loved to read too, so she would only hold that against him a little bit.
They walked out of the trailer and down towards the lake. Shane positioned her to his left and she wondered if he did it consciously to keep his shooting arm free, or if it was just ingrained in him. She didn’t want people with guns hanging around, distracting the creative team from the work they had at hand. Alexandra’s bodyguard had been bad enough, but now she had three. And a couple of the other actors had gotten some too.
Too many people feeling an ugly and more panicked vibe. Chloe just wanted to get back to writing the show she loved, that had become her very lifeblood. Her home. A possible stalker threatened that, but all the added muscle didn’t help.
Case and point: Shane, aviators back over his eyes, studying everything. Assessing. Weighing.
“Look, I want to be honest. I’m not sure these stalker threats are even truly dangerous. I mean, completely cuckoo, sure. But we’ve had crazies before. Our show seems to bring out the crazy in droves.”
“Leaving a knife dipped in blood on someone’s chair is beyond just cuckoo.”
Chloe shrugged. “Yeah, but I heard it was cow’s blood.”
“Regardless, my job is to assess the threat and make your location as safe as possible. I know you don’t want a crackdown, because you want your free-spirit writing creative voodoo clear. But there are no free-spirits if people start getting hurt or worse. So I’ll do my best to keep your vibe the way you want it, but I can’t make any promises.”
Why did his complete and utter calm make her blood pressure skyrocket? And knowing she was being unreasonable didn’t help, so she sucked in a breath and counted to ten.
“Where do you want me to show you?” she finally asked, at least sounding like a rational person.
“I’ll look around myself. It will be better that way. I’ll be able to study things more easily. People pay attention to you, but they won’t to me.”
Looking at him—that granite jaw, wide shoulders, and a body ready for all sorts of action—she found it very hard to believe that anyone could ignore him.
She had to get away from him right now. And stay away. Shane, as good as he might be for the set of Day’s End, was going to play hell with her equilibrium. And she couldn’t have that.
“Fine, explore all you want. I’ll make sure the security force knows you’ve been hired. Just stay away from me and my creative team and we shouldn’t have any problems.
She could feel his coolness beating against her back as she walked away.
Chapter Four
Shane spent the next two days observing as much as he could about the people, the location, and the general atmosphere of Day’s End. He went unnoticed as much as possible—everyone had a job to do and generally didn’t care about one lone stranger in their midst, as long as Shane didn’t get in their way.
Except for Chloe. Her whiskey-colored eyes had pretty much glared at him every time she saw him, and the few times they’d talked. No doubt about to punch him if he made one more joking reference to her height, which surprisingly, he couldn’t seem to help himself.
Teasing and joking were not Shane’s normal M.O. Everything about his interactions with Chloe had been slightly off from his norm.
He couldn’t quit looking at her. Maybe it was because she never stopped moving. He’d grown up in this area of North Carolina, knew the normal, slower pace people tended to keep here. Chloe Jeffries moved twice as fast—maybe more—than others around her. She was a sexy Energizer Bunny.
Although sometimes concerningly pale. Especially when he’d seen her first thing both mornings. She looked like she was recovering from the flu or something. A weakness that belied her tough attitude.
Yet after ten minutes in his presence she was back to feisty—paleness completely gone—and both times he’d wondered if he’d imagined the weakness.
God knew his normal M.O.—keeping remote and detached—hadn’t been working so far. Since the moment he’d walked in on her talking to the studio trying to get him fired, using obscenities that would’ve impressed even the most battle-hardened soldier, Shane hadn’t quite been able to keep his distance from Chloe.
Not that he truly cared if she and the studio decided to bring in someone else instead of him. But damned if watching her head nearly fly off her body in frustration wasn’t the most entertaining thing he’d seen in possibly ever.
Yeah, her push to preserve the artistic energy or whatever woo-woo stuff she was talking above all else had been problematic. Was having a hit show so important to her that she would p
ut a creative vibe over the safety of the people on the set? That was going to lead to some real fights between the two of them, not just ones where he was poking fun of her short stature.
But after the last two days hanging around, he’d realized the beautiful little spitfire was protecting the home she’d built. Her demands weren’t about the ratings, or at least wasn’t just about them. This set was her home. These people were her family, the ones she cared about. Yes, she wanted their physical safety, but also their emotional safety.
She viewed Shane as a threat to her family in the latter sense much more than she saw the stalker as a physical one to those same people. And had lashed out because of it.
He could respect her reasoning, and so would make an effort not to disrupt the creative woo-woo here, give them room to film where and when they wanted. But he would also make sure this was a safe place. Security here was tricky. Difficult. It was easy to see how someone could wander around unnoticed. Shane had been doing it for two days.
Chloe was by the lake, talking to Nadine, like everyone, getting ready for the big underwater stunt coming up soon. He saw her look up and glance at him, and gave a little salute, chuckling as she flipped him off.
It really said something about him that he was turned on by a woman who hadn’t said a single nice thing to him since they met and might be using some sort of voodoo doll to hex him at night.
“So you’re the new security guy?”
The man, roughly thirty-five years old, sandy blond hair, medium height and build, was part of Chloe’s creative team. Shane had seen him with Chloe and Nadine, but didn’t know his name. “I am. Name’s Shane Westman.”
“I’m Travis Oakley. One of the writers.” He held out his hand and Shane took it noticing the odd—looking scars running down the man’s wrist and hand. Relatively recent ones, Shane had enough of his own to know.
The man looked at his own arm. “Lichtenberg figures. I got struck by lightning not quite a year ago. Lucky to be alive, but left some crazy scars.”
Shane nodded, studying the unique tree-like patterns for a minute since Travis seemed to have no problem with it. “The alive part is what matters.”
Travis nodded and they both turned to look out at all the people preparing for the stunt. “I hope you can catch whatever idiot stalker is behind these threats. Chloe thinks it’s just pranks, but either way she doesn’t need the stress. She has enough on her plate.”
Shane shifted so he could glance at Travis. The man was protective of Chloe, although Shane had seen him with Nadine. Maybe the other man considered the entire creative team as part of a family, like Chloe did.
“Yes,” Shane agreed. “Chloe seems to stay pretty active.”
“She does. We all do. We’re a team. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help catch this guy and get things back to normal as soon as possible: tight and close-knit. We like to keep a creative vibe around here.”
Meaning, get rid of the stalker and thus Shane as soon as possible.
Shane dipped his head at the other man. “So Chloe told me. Thanks for the offer, Oakley. I’ll let you know if I need backup.”
They nodded at each other and walked in opposite directions. Travis wasn’t going to be a problem, not unless Shane decided to address this attraction between himself and Chloe.
So in other words, Travis wasn’t going to be a problem. Shane was here for a job. Emotions weren’t a part of it.
He spotted Alexandra Adams, or at least the three hulking bodyguards surrounding her, and made his way in that direction. She was the starting point for the investigation, particularly since the latest threat had been found in her dressing room.
He introduced himself to the head guard, Markus Templeton, relieved when the man had seen him around and had already called it in to make sure Shane was legit. That was definitely the type of diligence they needed. Markus had been Alexandra’s private security for years, even before the stalker incident.
Shane felt even better after talking to the man for a while. Markus had been in the security field for more than twenty years, and had been in the Navy before that. He was obviously in top physical shape, even for a man close to fifty years old. Shane had served with soldiers like Markus: alert, focused. Those were the type of people you wanted to have your back.
“Markus, sugar. Who is this?” Shane felt a hand touch his arm softly. “Is this the new security liaison?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Markus’ eyes never stopped looking for potential threats as he spoke to the woman who’d come up behind them. Shane glanced at her then couldn’t help but almost do a double take.
Alexandra Adams herself.
She was already in full makeup for her part in the scene they were about to shoot, but it was clear that even without cosmetics she would still be gorgeous. Porcelain skin, full lips, big green eyes.
She wasn’t one of the most loved actresses in the country for nothing.
“Yes, ma’am, I’m Shane Westman. I’ll be coordinating security until we get the situation handled.”
Alexandra laughed, the sound almost musical. She was famous for it—that sweet laugh that had made her America’s sweetheart.
But all Shane could think was that it wasn’t as real and gutsy as the laugh he heard from Chloe when he made the joke about Top Gun that first day.
“Now sugar, I’m not going to be able to let you call me ma’am. Markus here insists on it, but I don’t think there’s any way I’m going to allow it from you.”
“Alexandra, then.”
If possible her smile turned up another hundred watts. “Or Lexi, that’s what the people who are really close to me use.”
Although the man never said a word and his stance didn’t change, out of the corner of his eye Shane saw Markus’ eyebrow raise. Evidently the call me Lexi offer didn’t come up very often.
Alexandra continued to chat, talking about how nervous she was after the stalker had left the weapon in her dressing room. How glad she was the studio was taking the threat seriously, since Chloe thought it was some sort of prank. How glad she was that they were sending someone as obviously qualified as Shane.
Markus’ eyebrow had basically found a new home at the top of his head by that point. Alexandra continued to talk with her melodic voice and angelic smile, her hand only leaving Shane’s arm when she made some sort of statement and touched his chest to emphasize it.
Shane didn’t discourage her. His nickname may be Avalanche, but nobody was cold enough to ignore Alexandra Adams when she turned on her full charm.
Finally, a kid in his early 20s with a headset that looked like it was permanently attached to his ear, who’d been flittering around from person to person since Shane and Chloe arrived, came up to Alexandra.
“Miss Adams, we are ready for you. We just want to get some primary shots of you in the car with the same lighting before the stunt woman takes over.”
“Sure, Noah, sugar.” Alexandra turned her smile to the younger man, but her hand didn’t leave Shane’s arm. She turned to Markus.
“I’m going to have Shane walk me down to the shot, okay, Markus?” She didn’t wait to see if her head of security would agree, just linked her arm with Shane’s. “It will give him a chance to see everything up close.”
Markus didn’t get huffy. “Good idea. But I’ll come with you.” Markus’ eyes met Shane’s. “No offense.”
Shane gave a half shrug. “I rarely get offended by people doing their job well.”
He walked with Alexandra down to the water’s edge until she was swarmed by the costume and makeup teams, all trying to ensure she was perfect for the upcoming shot. Shane stepped back next to Markus as the crew peeled off the robe Alexandra had been wearing.
The shirt she had on under the robe was completely ripped down one side, exposing her entire shoulder and the upper curve of her breast. Lots and lots of creamy skin.
A six-inch prosthetic gash ran along her chest.
“Don’t worry
, it didn’t hurt.” Alexandra winked at Shane as she handed her robe to Noah and stuck her breasts out so the makeup crew could continue adding the finishing touches to her wounds. Finally, she headed off in the direction the minions were leading her, in no way self-conscious by her state of half-undress.
“A chance to see everything up close, huh?” Shane muttered.
Markus chuckled. “North Carolina is a long way from L.A. A girl gets lonely. Fresh meat starts to look mighty tasty.”
Shane’s eyes sought out Chloe. She was still standing over with Nadine, looking out at all the happenings and chaos around her as if she was a hostess and this was a party she was throwing. Which it kind of was. He found her much more compelling to watch than Alexandra even with the actress’ state of half-undress.
“Believe it or not, I don’t think I’m interested in being Alexandra’s fresh meat,” he told Markus.
And if that didn’t make him an idiot, Shane didn’t know what did.
“Well, we won’t tell her that, because that will just make her want you more.”
Shane couldn’t help but wonder, what would make Chloe want him more?
And as opposite as they were, why the hell would he even want that?
Chapter Five
Nadine pressed a wet washcloth into Chloe’s hand from where they had set up to watch the big water stunt just behind the director and assistant director’s station, so they would be able to see the footage as it was being shot.
Chloe immediately put the washcloth to her face, relishing its coolness. “Crap, is my nose bleeding again?”
Nadine’s features became even more pinched. “No, but there’s some dried blood so I know it was earlier. Does your nose start bleeding without you even realizing it now? Chloe, you’ve got to do something about this. Maybe it’s a tumor.”
Chloe did her best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice. “It’s not a tumor.”
Nadine didn’t budge. “You can’t be sure of that, Chlo. I know the voices have always been part of your brain, but this one is different. I’ve been reading about how people with brain tumors sometimes feel like they hear—”
