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Chapter 1
(Roxie)
______
I was mad and had to get things under control. This was like being called to the damn principal’s office. Not really, as I was a grown-ass woman, but that was exactly what this felt like. I had interrupted one of the five ranch owners in a bit of a compromising situation with his girlfriend when Luca and I had started filming some initial footage of the Safe Harbor Ranch. I didn’t understand why everyone was screaming and hollering, as they must have known I was coming.
I redialed my boss’s office, and my anger rose a few notches when he still didn’t pick up. This was madness. He was responsible for sending me to the middle of nowhere, and now he wouldn’t even answer his phone. He had to be dodging me for some ridiculous reason as he was on his phone twenty-four-seven and never missed a call. He would usually return my call if he didn’t pick up right away. Of course, today my boss has decided to take a vacation.
“You ready?” Luca, my camera guy, said, bumping my arm with his.
Luca was the best at what he did, and I say this after working with about a dozen other camera crew. He somehow always knew what I needed before I spoke and captured the best shots ever. We had done a couple of projects for a reality series in the jungle, two on an island, and recently a show on single moms in New York City. This one was a bit different, and I wasn’t even fully aware of what the angle was meant to be. We were just told to get to know the players and capture some amazing footage. Not a lot to go on, but you took the work that came your way in this business – hoping for your next break.
I had been living my best life as a film student in Michigan, of all places, when I made the leap to Hollywood. With just a small car of my belongings and the savings from selling everything left to me by my grandparents, I took a leap of faith. That had paid off for me in the form of a long list of large and small screen credits. However, it did mess up my personal life as I now moved around way too much to get serious about finding a home, much less a person to share it with. It was a tradeoff that Luca hadn’t had to make.
He was the very happy dad of bossy twins and had married his high school sweetheart Anna. They were the sort of family I had always dreamed of having one day. My own parents died in a car accident when I was three. Hit by a drunk driver. I adored my Pops and MeeMaw, my mom’s parents, and had minimal contact with my dad’s side of the family. I had no complaints, though, as I always had food, clothes, shelter, and love. Then seven months apart, my grandparents died, and I found myself drifting, unsure where to go next. That was when I got this bright idea, and I’d never looked back.
“Hey,” Luca whispered. “Randy call or text you yet?”
I shook my head.
“This Anders guy and the others that run the ranch look like badasses,” he murmured. “What did we get ourselves into?”
I shrugged.
“You can do all the talking. Hopefully, one of them likes that beautiful face, and you can flirt your way out of this,” he said, glancing around nervously.
I just looked at him crazily. “When has that worked for me?” I arched a brow in his direction.
“Shall I start a list,” he drolly asked as I just rolled my eyes.
Men are dumb, so Luca wasn’t wrong. I might have used the assets the good lord gave me on occasion. I honestly didn’t realize that he noticed. The man only had eyes for his wife and the perfect shot through a lens. He wasn’t much of a chatter, and it was tough for me to figure him out. He was loyal, always took my call, and was good with people – so I didn’t hold his introverted nature against him.
“Roxie Sachet,” said the most gorgeous lump of man meat I had ever seen walking toward me. He was just shy of six feet and had the sort of bulky build that took hard work or lots of gym time. The look on his face vacillated between anger and confusion. “Easton Lakin, you can come in now,” he said, extending his hand toward the door at the end of the sitting area.
I rose as gracefully as possible and walked ahead of him, head held high. Of course, three-inch heels helped my five-foot-four-inch frame, but I could still feel the man's heat radiating to my backside. I wondered what his story might be, but something told me he wouldn’t be much of a talker either.
“Aiden Raiden, Linc Haines, Xander Dajuan, and Bentley Cadak,” Easton made the introductions.
“Nice to meet you all,” I said, taking the chair Easton indicated.
“Maybe next time, no peeping Tom action,” Xander grumbled.
“Sorry about that. I honestly didn’t find anyone when I stopped in earlier, and I thought we had permission to be here,” I started, inhaling to try and quell the tidal wave of nerves trying to take hold of my body.
“One of us gave permission?” Anders asked me, looking angry.
“We pride ourselves on our solitude out here and privacy. We have clients and visitors who would not want their business on television. For all that and a million other reasons, I’m certain none of us gave permission,” Easton added to Anders's initial confusion.
“My boss just told us to come, get some footage, and then work on some angles for a series. He felt that your veteran status and the good work were worth a shot. Besides, the scenery is something else,” I remarked, thinking back to the amazing sights I had already taken in.
“Has your boss been here before or something?” Linc interjected.
“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “His name is Randy Neimann, and I don’t,” I stopped speaking as all five of the gathered guys started shaking their heads and guffawing. “You all know Randy.”
“We sure do. That son of a bitch,” Anders roared. “Ms. Sachet, I think you’ve been had.”
Chapter 2
