Trying not to laugh, she pressed her lips together. It turned out nothing helped her forget her anger faster than him getting hurt. “Fairy shrimp.”
Back on his feet, he bent over the water slowly with a worried look on his face.
“They’re not going to bite you.” People who came from cities, who never went outside and interacted with the natural world, had reactions like that. Fear of an animal less than an inch long made her want to laugh. Blaze looked like he’d just seen a three-headed monster.
“They’re creepy.”
“I think they’re pretty.” As she waved her hand over the pool, the tiny creatures darted this way and that. “They only live for sixteen days.”
“That’s not very long. Doesn’t seem like they could accomplish much.” He sounded like her mom.
“Life is short and then you die.” Their conversation began to take a turn toward catastrophe, so she stood, tucked the garbage in her back pocket, and walked back to the trail. She’d gotten around the bend before he called out to her.
“Hey, wait up,” he shouted.
Why should she wait for him? By the time he caught up with her, they were approaching the edge of the set.
“I said,” he paused to breathe, “wait up.”
“Do you always get what you want?”
A cocky smile reappeared on his lips. “Yeah.”
Did he know how cute he was when he smiled like that? Why was she even thinking that?
“You know a lot of stuff about the desert.”
“It’s my job,” she said. “We lead tours all the time. They’re very informative. You should sign up for one if you’re interested.”
“Are you offering to teach me? It would get you that autograph you’ve been after.” His smile grew.
“No, Neal is our naturalist. You should talk to him.”
“Oh.” Hurt flashed across his face.
It was easy to revel in his disappointment. It didn’t matter how nice or charming he was, he deserved it. Didn’t he? A hint of guilt tugged at her for being so rude to him, but it didn’t last long.
As she walked away from him, she felt she did a fine job of hiding her pleasure at finally putting him in his place, but her smile faltered when she decided it was time to admit the truth to Maggie.
Chapter Six
Blaze stood long after Alex was out of sight. It was no use following her since she didn’t seem like she was willing to listen to an apology. Not right then, anyway.
Before following her onto the trail, he had ten minutes of lunch left. Without his phone, he had no way of knowing how much time had passed and decided to play it safe and head back. It wasn’t the first time he wished he had his phone, but he wouldn’t get it or his wallet until filming was over. It was part of the deal he had made with his agent, Alan.
“You’re walking on thin ice,” Alan had said. “After that shit you pulled over Christmas. No one will hire you if it happens again. It’s just a precaution.”
Blaze hadn’t responded. How could he? That was when he’d met Nate.
“Fucking Nate,” Blaze mumbled as he followed the trail back to the set. How had his life gotten so far off track? Of course, he knew the answer and so did anyone who read the news.
“Nice of you to join us,” Nate chided when Blaze returned.
The blood drained out of Blaze’s face. “Oh shit, am I late again?”
Nate cracked a smile. “No, I’m just fucking with you.”
Blaze balled his hands into fists. “Asshole.” Instead of punching Nate, he turned to the closest group of people and immersed himself in their conversation. They were talking about scorpions. Anything was better than Nate.
The lead actress, Jennifer Roman, stood nearby, her makeup and costume impeccable. But she didn’t seem to be following the discussion. She didn’t seem to be following anything. All dressed up with nowhere to go and motionless as a doll, she seemed asleep on her feet.
“Hey, Jennifer,” he said as he approached her.
“Hiya, Blaze,” she said after she blinked and focused on his face.
“How do you like it so far? The location,” he added to clarify.
“It’s dirty.” She scrunched up her nose. “Everything I own is covered with red dirt. I feel like we’re filming on Mars. I don’t know why we couldn’t just stay at the studio.”
“Mr. Reid said the sky never looks right in the studio.”
Jennifer tilted her head. “How are you?”
“I’m fine,” he responded habitually. He didn’t want to complain about the dirt because he happened to like it. It made everything more real. When the director shouted action, he didn’t have to act like a cowboy, he just was. “You look amazing.”
A smile made her cheeks dimple. “Why thank you, Buck.”
He slipped into character and tipped his hat and drawled, “May I escort you onto the set, miss?”
“I would be honored,” she replied. When she took his arm, she dug her nails into his skin as she struggled to walk on the uneven path with her teetering heels. If he had been inclined, he would’ve enjoyed the view down the front of her dress because she practically spilled out of it, so it was hard to miss. While he had enjoyed flirting with her throughout the filming, their conversations weren’t exactly sparkling. Plus, he had that rule against dating actresses.
When they arrived at the steps leading up to the saloon, he held her hand while she mounted them. At one point, her ass was right in front of his face.
“Enjoying the view?” she asked.
“Always.”
“Scoundrel,” she exclaimed.
He laughed and then joined her on the platform. “I think this is where Mr. Reid wants us,” he said in his normal voice.
Jennifer nodded. “I think so, too.”
“Would you like to sit? There’s a stool inside,” he offered.
“I can’t sit. If I did I wouldn’t be able to breathe.” She spread her fingers across her tiny waist. “Corset.”
Blaze grimaced. That one word embodied a world of pain he could only imagine. The women from his world sacrificed everything for their looks, even their ability to breathe. It was insane, but he understood why they did it. To some degree, he felt the same pressure, but was grateful it wasn’t as intense.
Jennifer spread out her fan and leaned against the outside of the saloon while Blaze spun his prop gun in his hand. They were about to film the villain’s death scene, so his gun-slinging skills were about to pay off.
Extras joined them on the platform, some inside the saloon, some standing near Jennifer, all of them waiting for the director to shout, “Action!”
The villain, played by Blaze’s acquaintance Jake, waited a few yards away. When Mr. Reid gave the signal, Jake strolled up to the saloon, tied his horse to the post, and pulled his weapon. The women standing outside screamed. Blaze cocked his gun and shot Jake.
On cue, Blaze ran to Jennifer and cradled her body while giving her a charming one-liner.
“Cut,” Mr. Reid said through a megaphone. “Jake’s charge didn’t go off.”
Everyone stood and got back into position while the crew investigated Jake’s blood bag and the mechanism that had failed to go off at the right time.
As they waited, Blaze made jokes. Jennifer laughed at all of them. Even the ones that weren’t funny.
When they finished for the day, the sky began to transform. An ominous layer of clouds blotted out the sun and filled the air with the promise of rain. Everyone loaded into the vans in a rush to beat the storm.
“Hang on a second, okay?” Blaze didn’t wait for Nate to respond, instead he bolted for the Visitor Center intent on apologizing to Alex, but he stopped when he spotted her walking the opposite direction, down a worn road on the other side of the park.
“Blaze, we’re leaving,” Nate called out.
Blaze growled. He would have to wait. Again.
****
Dark clouds gathered overhead when Alex a
pproached the row of modest ranger houses. Maggie, holding Henry close against her chest, came out to greet her. Her hair hung around her face and her clothes were covered with stains, but she smiled anyway.
“How was work?” Maggie said.
“Long,” Alex replied, unlocking her front door and greeting Koko.
The baby started to fuss and Maggie bounced him in her arms. After a quick diaper check she said, “He’s wet again. Hang on, I’m going to hand him over to Jim.” A few minutes later, she reappeared at Alex’s door.
“My baby pees more than anyone I’ve ever met.”
Alex laughed. “How has your first day home been?”
“Crazy. I don’t know what I’m going to do when Jim goes back to work.” Maggie wiped her forehead, smearing something chalky white across her skin. “Tell me about you. It’s been forever since we’ve talked. How are things with Blaze? Any better?”
Alex’s confidence began to crumble. “Not exactly…”
“Why? What happened? Did someone get hurt?”
“No. No one got hurt. He won’t leave me alone. I can’t get away from him and his stupid comments, and…”
Maggie shook her head and sighed. “I remember a guy like that from junior high. Ryan. Oh, how I hated Ryan. He made my life a living hell. Come to find out, he liked me. What’s wrong with asking a girl out? It’s a lot more effective than calling me peckerhead. Blaze seems like that kind of guy.”
A laugh escaped her lips. “Are you saying he has the emotional maturity of a thirteen-year-old?”
Maggie shrugged. “Sounds about right. Some men never grow up. Others, like my husband, have been groomed for so long they’ve learned how to behave. It takes a lot of work, but it’s worth it.” She smiled and patted Alex’s leg. “Also, he’s probably intimidated by you.”
Alex snorted. “I intimidate him, right. Whatever.”
“I’m serious. Just imagine the women he usually deals with. You’re not like them.”
“Because I’m not falling all over him?”
“Exactly.”
“It’s more than that.” Alex’s shoulders fell. Time for the truth. “Blaze reported me,” she whispered. Each word hurt.
“Oh, no.”
She nodded. “Mr. Howard called me the other night.”
“And?” Maggie urged her on.
“Well, he’s not happy.” The rest would have to wait for another time. “So, what did you do? About Ryan?”
Maggie answered solemnly, “I kicked him in the balls. I got detention for a week.”
Another laugh bubbled out of Alex. “Are you suggesting I kick Blaze in the balls?”
“No, I’m certainly not. If it got me a week of detention, just imagine what would happen to you. Don’t let him get to you.”
“Easy for you to say.”
Maggie shook her head. “No, it’s not. I know how hard it is and so do you, but he’s trying to get a rise out of you. Don’t give him the satisfaction.”
Alex sighed. “I’ll do my best.” The promotion had been much harder than she anticipated, not just because of Blaze, but because of everything. Maggie never should’ve trusted her with the job, and she wished Neal was acting manager instead. Sharing that information wouldn’t make the problem go away, so she kept her mouth shut.
Maggie pressed her arms against her breasts and grimaced. “Um, I need to leave. Now. Apparently, I need to nurse Henry. My milk came in this morning.” She gave a pathetic smile. “Sorry. I really do want to talk to you, but I’m leaking.”
“You’re fine. Don’t worry about it. You helped more than you know. Believe me.” Truth be told, she was happy for the interruption and opened the door just as a few fat drops fell from the sky. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” Maggie called back.
The clouds opened and a torrent of rain spilled down on the arid sand. The drops tapped against the windows and drummed on the roof for the rest of the night. When Alex slept, she dreamed of kicking Blaze as hard as she could right in the balls…over and over again. For the first time in a while, she woke with a smile on her face.
****
Rain dripped off the rim of Alex’s hat as she made her way to the overflow parking lot. The smile she had woken with grew when she noticed the lot was empty. No extras, no cameras, no Blaze. She tried to check the time on her phone but realized she hadn’t turned it back on yet. Two messages.
“I can’t believe you hung up on me,” her mother screeched. “You need to—”
Alex pulled the phone away from her head, her mother’s voice trailing off, and erased the rest of the message.
“Alex, hi, it’s Steve. Listen, it’s been raining all night and the forecast isn’t great, so we’re going to postpone filming for a day. The storm is supposed to blow over tonight, so I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Call me when you get this.”
Alex grinned and returned his call to confirm that postponing a day would be great, fantastic even. In the Visitor Center, she smiled at Lynn who was standing behind the gift shop register.
“Hey, I just got a message from the assistant director. They’re not going to film today. Will you let everyone know?”
“Sure thing.” Lynn picked up a walkie-talkie and spread the word. “I took Maggie dinner last night. Isn’t Henry the cutest?”
Alex nodded. “He is. Maggie seems really happy, doesn’t she?”
“Yeah.”
“Hey, would it be okay if I head into Dembi for a bit? I haven’t been in town for a couple of weeks and I’d like to get Maggie something.” Unable to cook to save her life, she had to rely on the best restaurants and bakeries in town.
“You’re the boss. Anyway, I think we have things covered. We never get many visitors during storms anyway and without the movie crew here, we’re going to be hard-pressed to find ways to keep busy.”
Boss didn’t seem like the right word for her. It never did. Couldn’t everyone see that? “I’ll have my phone with me if you need something. I’ll be back soon. Thanks, Lynn.”
At her house, she grabbed Koko’s leash and then they got in her dark green SUV. “We’re going to town,” she announced. Koko responded by panting and thumping her tail against the passenger seat. Town meant treats. Koko loved going to town.
The damp landscape passed in a blur outside the windows as they drove the long road out of the park. Thankfully the rain subsided slightly, which meant the dip was still passable. During heavy rain, it filled like a river and she would have to wait for it to drain before she could cross. She didn’t want to wait. Not today—her first day off in weeks.
****
Blaze had gone to bed and awoken to the sound of rain. He loved the rain. News spread fast about the delay, which would mean an extra day on location. Most of the cast and crew were unhappy with the news, but not him.
“Why do you look so happy?” Nate asked when he plopped down at the table where Blaze was eating breakfast in the restaurant attached to the hotel.
Blaze shrugged. “No reason.” Having a day off was more than enough to make his day and he intended to keep their conversations as brief as possible. “How are things with Charlotte?” he asked, saying her name in a French accent.
“Fantastic.” Nate smiled.
“Good.” Blaze didn’t want details. Far from it. “Okay, I’m taking off.” The rest of his breakfast filled his mouth in one final bite.
“Where?”
“I’m going for a run,” he said.
“In the rain?”
“I’ll have the trails to myself.”
“You know there’s a gym down the hall, right?” Nate flagged down a server and ordered coffee.
“Why would I run on a treadmill when I can be outside?” He inhaled deeply and grimaced. “It smells like chlorine in here.”
“There’s a pool. Of course it smells like chlorine.” Nate shook his head. “Suit yourself. Just don’t complain when you get pneumonia.”
“You sound l
ike a grandma. You’re going to catch your death,” Blaze added in his best old lady voice.
“Shut up.”
“Don’t spill your coffee, sonny,” he said in the same creaky voice.
“Asshole.”
Blaze charged his breakfast to his room and pulled the hood of his rain jacket tight around his face before stepping outside. The trail into the hills above the hotel waited for him. The saturated sand slid under his shoes with each step and then flattened under the incessant rain. Without anything planned for the rest of the day, his run turned into a leisurely walk into town. Busy with work, he hadn’t had a chance to explore much of Dembi. As he walked down the deserted sidewalks, he passed a rock shop, a bakery, a few restaurants, and ATV rentals. It was perfectly peaceful.
It didn’t seem like his day could get any better, but he was wrong.
Chapter Seven
Surrounded by cars spraying up muddy water, Alex had a hard time seeing as the windshield wipers worked double time. Red rock cliffs gave way to flat land with a giant freeway cutting through its center. The exit for Dembi would be visible in ten miles.
Most of the cars exited together, slowing as the town engulfed them. The majority of buildings had been there for years, long before Dembi became a resort for outdoor enthusiasts. Only a few businesses, like the new monstrous hotel, seemed out of place. The rest fit right in. Little ruddy shops lined Main Street advertising souvenirs for sale or ATVs for rent, camouflaging into the red rocks that surrounded them. Alex drove away from the tourist traps and toward the local grocery store and the very best hole-in-the-wall restaurants.
She parked outside the grocery store, hooked Koko to her leash, and walked her toward the front door. They stopped just outside in a covered area the store called The Barking Lot. A row of dog beds and water dishes lined a fence where Alex tied Koko’s leash. She gave Koko fresh water and told her to lie down.
Koko curled into the bed, crossed her paws, and wagged her tail as she waited for her treat.
“I’ll be right back,” Alex said before ducking into the store. Once inside, she took her hat off and headed straight for the bakery. An entire corner of the display was dedicated to dog treats. The bag bulged with goodies, and she planned on sharing them with Pelli when she got home. After she paid for it, she returned to her patiently waiting pup.
Love on Location Page 6