Survival Instinct (Instinct Series)

by Janie Crouch

  He was almost to the door when he heard the noise from her—a cross between a moan and a quiet sob.

  “Chloe? Are you all right?”

  No answer, she wasn’t awake. But she was moving around on the couch, still moaning. Shane rushed back to the couch and crouched down. Was she having a nightmare?

  She had drawn her knees up to her chest and wrapped one small arm around her head.

  “Chloe, wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”

  She moaned again and her arm flew out, giving him a view of her face.

  A little drop of blood was easing from her nose again. What the hell?

  Her sobs were becoming more pitiful, like she was in pain and couldn’t do anything about it.

  Shane wiped Chloe’s hair back from her face. “Chloe? Can you wake up?”

  She reached out towards him with her hand, but he could tell she still wasn’t awake. He needed to get her to sit up. Couldn’t stand the pitiful cries coming from her throat.

  He picked her up and sat down on the couch, situating her on his lap. “Chloe, come on. Wake up.”

  She didn’t, but once she was settled against his chest, her distress seemed to ease. She snuggled against him just like she had when he carried her from the desk.

  Shane held her there for a long time, waiting to see if she would wake up or if her nightmare or nose bleed would return. Nothing happened. She just slept, her head against his heart, her weight around him like a blanket.

  Maybe her subconscious just needed to know someone was here. Nearby. Able to face any danger that might present itself.

  Shane knew what it was like to sleep better because a teammate had your back. Chloe’s mind obviously needed one. Shane could be that. And very deliberately ignore the parts of his body that argued that she was nothing like any teammate he’d ever had.

  Eventually he eased himself down so they were both laying on the narrow couch. Chloe still kept herself attached to his chest. Normally that would’ve driven Shane crazy.

  Avalanche wasn’t known for his cuddling.

  But right now there was nowhere else in the world he’d rather be.

  Chapter Ten

  In the ten days after the hot tub incident, security quadrupled on the set. Chloe’s life had been crazy enough before. This was an absolute mess. Everywhere she looked, everywhere she went, everything she tried to do, some sort of security person was around. They were obvious by their uniform: dress pants, collared shirt, tailored blazer, and sunglasses.

  Like they all shopped at the same Bodyguards-R-Us store.

  And now everyone was required to wear badges. Unless you were on camera, you had one around your neck.

  God forbid that you forgot your badge as Chloe had last week when she went into town. She had not been able to get back onto her own set. The guard literally was going to turn her away even after she explained who she was and showed her driver’s license. Showed him a picture on her phone of her holding her Emmy award for Day’s End.

  The last straw had been when the man had to get permission from the Khaki Power Ranger himself to let her onto her own set. Shane had arrived at the gate, grinning like an idiot, and calmly told her to please remember to keep her badge with her at all times.

  She had to put fifteen dollars into the curse jar that day. And Westman should be thankful she hadn’t had a gun.

  For ten days everyone had been walking around on eggshells. Waiting for equipment to break. Or something to collapse. Or blow up. Or a knife with blood dripping from it to arrive from the stalker.

  Nothing.

  It was like the stalker had never existed. Or maybe he’d just wised up considering the security force on set made it look like the queen would be visiting any day. No stalker in his right mind would try to sabotage something now. Chloe hated the tension around the set, but at least nobody was getting hurt.

  Which was good, because it was all she could do just to survive.

  The pain from Conversation Hearts had spiked ten days ago. She had sent everyone away from The Pit, even Nadine, under the guise of having a writing spree. But really Chloe had been afraid she was about to have a breakdown.

  She woke up the next morning on the couch, with no idea how she’d gotten there, feeling better and more rested than she had in months. She had hoped perhaps whatever had been happening with Conversation Hearts had passed. Maybe he’d gotten his girl.

  But by the next day the pain, noise, and emotional cacophony was back. And it had been getting steadily worse. She could barely eat, hardly slept, just tried to live through the constant pain.

  She never went anywhere without a tissue in her hand because her nose was bleeding more often than it wasn’t. His obsessive thoughts provided a continual soundtrack in her mind.

  In two days the show started their five-day break. It was written in everyone’s contracts that they would have these days in September off. All Chloe had to do was survive the next thirty—six hours, then almost everyone would be gone. She could use her time to figure out a way around whatever was happening with Conversation Hearts.

  You complete me.

  Great. Now the jackass was becoming Jerry Maguire. She rubbed her forehead trying to get rid of the ache, as the crew set up for today’s shoot.

  “Here’s some water.” Shane’s hand held out the bottle in front of her.

  She took it from him, muttering her thanks, glad the pain eased as she sipped the water. It wasn’t the first time he had offered her something before she even realized she needed it. As a matter of fact, for ten days straight he had pretty much been everywhere she looked. Holding the door open for her. Bringing food by The Pit and forcing her to eat. Ibuprofen in his hand every time the pain became too much to deal with.

  Nadine was so thrilled with it she was about to pop with happiness. Chloe had tried to explain that Shane was just doing his job, plus a little extra because he was… polite or something. Nadine had just laughed.

  But what did Nadine know anyway? She was in love and wanted everyone else to be as well.

  “I’ll have someone from catering bring you a sandwich.”

  “I’m fine. Just leave me alone. I’m not hungry.” Her stomach chose that moment to growl as loudly as possible, making her both a bitch and a liar.

  Shane just stood there with one eyebrow raised. “So. Sandwich?”

  She gritted her teeth, wishing a hole would just rip through the earth and swallow her. Or him. “Yes, thank you,” she said, then finally tacked on, “I’m sorry.”

  He took her apology like he did everything else: in stride. He left her to attend to all his other duties, but sure enough a few minutes later Noah arrived with the sandwich.

  “Mr. Westman asked me to make sure you got some food, Miss Jeffries.”

  She took the plate from the intern. “Am I ever going to get you to call me Chloe, Noah?”

  The younger man smiled. “No, ma’am, my mother taught my sister and me that we were to always be good. Polite to our elders.”

  She was definitely almost a decade Noah’s elder but didn’t like to be reminded of it. “Are you from Black Mountain?” A lot of the interns the show had were from Los Angeles, but they sometimes got a few from the local town.

  “No, ma’am, but I only live a couple hours from here. In an even smaller town if you can believe it. I always wanted to learn about film and television, so this has been a great experience for me.”

  Shane was talking to the stunt coordinator and caught Chloe’s eyes. He mimed for her to eat her sandwich. Bossy.

  “Thanks for bringing this for me.” She held up the sandwich and smiled at Noah.

  “My pleasure.” He said it so automatically she wondered if he had worked at that fast food chicken place that used the phrase so regularly. He was gone before she had a chance to ask.

  But Shane was still watching to make sure she ate. She made a big show out of taking a bite before he turned back to what he was doing.

  His attention
both thrilled and terrified Chloe.

  There was no doubt Shane was smart, capable, and very good at his job of coordinating the security team. Just because she was chaotic and free-spirited didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate organization and leadership in others. Shane Westman commanded attention. It wasn’t something he demanded—it couldn’t be—he just had a leadership quality people innately responded to. She had no problem picturing Shane as the Special Forces solider he’d been.

  Calm. Collected. Cool.

  Avalanche.

  She still felt the coolness wash over her almost every time he was around. She didn’t know why it happened, but figured it was the tight rein he had on his emotions, that leaked into her psyche. The opposite of Conversation Hearts who blasted his emotions through her subconscious, Shane did the opposite. Ice poured out of him.

  Chloe didn’t care why it happened, she was just thankful for the relief Shane provided from the burning agony in her brain.

  But couldn’t figure out his end game. Why had he been going out of his way to help her? To make sure she had food, rest, or whatever she needed? She was the creative force behind one of the most popular shows on television. She could afford to hire a whole posse who waited on her hand and foot, but she didn’t want to let people into her personal space. Nadine was the exception. Her sisters were also, when she saw them. They were allowed to be close.

  But never a man. She’d never wanted to let one inside her personal circle.

  Not that she’d never been intimate, it just had never been what she’d hope it could be. She’d been too aware of their tension. Good moods, bad moods, smugness. She might not have let herself read their actual thoughts, but their general emotions had always seeped through. It hadn’t been worth the few minutes of physical pleasure she got out of it.

  Looking at Shane she couldn’t help but feel it would be different with him. Even from a distance everything about him was appealing. Not just the physical package — although God knew he could give just about every actor here a run for their money in the looks department, with his brown hair, blue eyes, and chiseled jaw.

  And his droolworthy abs. She may have been cold and tired after jumping in the lake to help him rescue the scuba diver in trouble, but she surely hadn’t forgotten what his abs looked like after he stripped off his shirt. Neither had any woman on the set.

  And all the physical appeal was great, but what made her wonder about Shane went way beyond just his looks.

  She was willing to bet Shane would not be emoting nervousness and tension when he was intimate with a woman. If he was emoting anything at all.

  He looked up from his conversation and caught her staring, pinning her with his eyes. She couldn’t look away now even if she wanted to.

  She shivered. Not just from his coolness washing over her mind, but from what her body was feeling too.

  She wanted Shane Westman. That scared the hell out of her.

  She finally looked away from those blue eyes, afraid for once that he’d be able to hear her thoughts, instead of the other way around.

  She was careful not to catch his eye again as the cast and crew shot the last scene before the break. This was their third season, and the midseason break was always a big deal. Everybody was ready for their time off. No one had had five days in a row off for the past four months.

  It was especially needed now, given everything that had been occurring on the set. How tense they’d all been.

  Everyone would be leaving later tonight or maybe tomorrow. Chloe had considered going back to her house in Los Angeles but hadn’t made any plans or bought any tickets. Usually she and Nadine went there and decompressed, but Nadine and Travis were going to Wilmington for a few days.

  Chloe knew the real reason she hadn’t made any plans was because she was waiting to see what was happening with Shane. Maybe she could invite him to L.A. and they could do a different type of decompression.

  Or maybe that was too much. Chloe was terrible at this sort of thing. It was much easier to just live with the voices in her head than to take chances with real-life relationship stuff. This wasn’t a scene that she could just rewrite if the dialogue didn’t flow smoothly the first time.

  The final scene wrapped, and everyone hugged one another and began preparations for their escape. Some members of the crew would stay on the set, security also of course, but everyone else was ready to go.

  “Beautiful Wilmington, here I come!” Nadine’s arm snaked around Chloe’s shoulder, her friend’s grin infectious. “This is it for Travis and me. He’s been wanting to take it slow, and I appreciate him being a gentleman, but it’s time for some decidedly not-gentlemanly behavior.”

  “You guys are going to have a great time.”

  Nadine’s smile slipped a little. “I didn’t even think about what you were going to do. I guess we always spend breaks together.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m probably going back to the Malibu house and just sleep and eat. You know, what we normally do. There will be so much sleeping and eating I probably won’t even know you’re not there.”

  That wasn’t true. Chloe would miss her friend, but there was no way in hell she was going to ask her to give up her romantic getaway.

  Travis walked up behind Nadine. “You ready to get going? I thought we could grab a bite to eat before we hit the road.”

  Nadine still looked a little concerned. “I’m just making sure Chloe is okay.”

  “Oh, did you want to come with us?” The awkwardness in Travis’ tone was almost laughable.

  Chloe smiled. “No, thank you. Like I was telling Nadine, I’m planning on sleeping for the full five days.”

  Even though that had been an almost nonexistent concept for her the last week and a half. She hoped it wouldn’t be the case over break. Hoped that Conversation Hearts would stay far from her head.

  That if she wasn’t getting any sleep, it was because Shane had decided to join her in her bed.

  Nadine pulled her in for a hug. “Are you sure? It doesn’t have to be weird, we can get a second room.”

  Chloe hugged her friend tighter. “I’m fine. I promise. You two go have fun.”

  They were off just a few minutes later.

  A few others stopped to say goodbye. Noah, God bless that kid, asked if she needed anything before he left to go home. He looked as exhausted and frustrated as she felt, and he wasn’t even getting paid for the hundred-hour work weeks he put in. She made a mental note to buy him something nice since they weren’t allowed to pay him as per his college’s rules about internships.

  She turned to make her way back to The Pit, then stopped. She should ask Shane what he would be doing for the break.

  She felt a hitch in her stomach and rubbed it. Amazing how having voices in her head that often projected violence and ugliness didn’t scare her. Writing about creatures of the night and things that could snap someone like a twig didn’t scare her. Going up against a board of Hollywood producers to demand whatever it was the show needed didn’t either.

  The thought of asking Shane out to dinner…had her about to vomit on the ground.

  She couldn’t see him now that everyone was milling around. She would go and catch him at the security trailer, before she lost her nerve.

  A few more people stopped her to talk, slowing her progress, but she honestly didn’t mind, trying to figure out exactly what she would say to him.

  Hey, I know I’ve been cursing at you and telling you to get lost since the day I met you, but I was wondering if you wanted to go to dinner.

  She rubbed her eyes tiredly. This wasn’t going to go well.

  Taking a deep breath she was about to round the corner of the security trailer when she heard Shane’s voice. His laugh. She wasn’t sure she’d heard that before.

  “New York, huh? Would’ve taken you for a Los Angeles girl.”

  “Oh, sugar, I’m both. Those of us who can successfully manage to be both a West and East Coast girl a
re a rare breed.”

  Alexandra. Shane was laughing and talking with Alexandra.

  Chloe knew she should move. Round the corner to let them know she was there, or back away to give them privacy. But her feet could not seem to do either.

  “You should come with me. The house in the Hamptons has plenty of room.” Alexandra gave a soft, sexy laugh. The kind Chloe had never managed in her entire life. “Not that we would need a lot of room.”

  “East Coast beach. Hmmm. Interesting,” Shane said.

  “So we leave in a couple hours? I have a private jet ready.”

  Of course he would go with Alexandra. Who in their right mind would get invited by Alexandra Adams to anywhere in the world and not go?

  “Miss Jeffries, I’m so glad I caught you. I forgot I needed your signature on this form to send to the studio.”

  Chloe cringed as Noah shoved the paper under her nose, knowing there was no way Alexandra and Shane hadn’t heard him. She grabbed the paper and walked around the corner, trying to save face.

  “Oh, hey guys,” she said as casually as she could before signing the paper, last week’s budget report, and handing it back to Noah with a tight smile.

  “Noah, we’re all on break now,” she told the younger man. “Go enjoy yourself.”

  “Is there anything new to report about the stalker?” Noah asked. “Studio wants an update. They are skeptical, and I can understand why, to think that there has been nothing for ten days.”

  “Thank God,” Alexandra said. She put her hand on Shane’s arm. “I’m sure that has everything to do with you.”

  “It’s definitely a team effort.” Shane turned to Noah. “But yes, you can tell them there’s nothing new to report. Especially since I’m sending them daily reports anyway.”

  Noah took the budget paper from Chloe, said his goodbyes and left, leaving Chloe feeling like the most awkward third wheel in the history of mankind.

  “Okey-dokey.” Oh good Lord, did she just say okey-dokey? Chloe had to get out of here right now. “You guys enjoy the Hamptons. We’ll see you after the break.”