Page 5 of The Backup Bride Proposal

“In Switzerland filming. And here I am in Oklahoma.” She patted his cheek. “Everly is still working on her film. She’s going to be late.”

Kane hated delays, but he’d been late to show up before, so he had to respect Everly being needed on one of her other films. “Of course she is. So what’s the plan?”

Alexis shrugged. “No clue. We may need to get a stand-in to get early shots. Are you ready to film?”

“Like always.”

“That’s what I love about you, Kane. You’re always prepared.”

There was a knock on the trailer door. It opened, and Brian, Alexis’s assistant, popped his head in.

“There’s a Mae Wallace here to see you, Alexis. She said she has an appointment.”

“Oh, right. Show her in, Brian.”

“She’s with the Bellini Weddings folks,” Kane said.

Alexis arched a brow. “You’ve been doing your research.”

“I like to get the geography down on a location shoot. And maybe check out the people I’ll be working with.”

She wagged a finger at him. “You will not be working with them. I will be liaisioning with them.”

“Uh-huh. Sure.”

“Hi. Hello. Are you Ms. Black?”

Kane turned around and smiled at Mae Wallace, who looked just as beautiful today as she had when he’d first seen her. Her wild curls had been somewhat tamed by pulling the upper strands back with pins, but Kane could imagine how lush and soft her hair was. Not that he’d ever get a chance to run his hands through it, which was a damn shame. He smiled at her.

She frowned at him. “Didn’t I throw you out of the wedding the other night?”

“You did.” He walked over to her and held out his hand. “Kane August.”

She barely shook his hand. “Mae Wallace. What, exactly, are you doing here, Kane August?”

Alexis snorted out a laugh. “Kane is the star of our movie, Ms. Wallace.”

She didn’t look the least bit starstruck. “Oh. Sorry. Didn’t recognize you. But you still shouldn’t have been on the property, or at a wedding uninvited.”

Alexis leaned back in her chair, her smirk evident. “Guess she laid those rules down fairly clearly, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, well, I’m not much for rules.”

“You should probably get used to them. We take pride in both the vineyard and our service to our wedding clients. We wouldn’t want their privacy disrupted as they celebrate their big day.”

Alexis stood and walked over to Mae, shaking her hand. “It won’t happen again, will it, Kane?”

“Sure.” He wouldn’t promise anything, and he enjoyed the high color of irritation on Mae’s cheeks.

“I won’t take up much of your time,” Mae said to Alexis. “I just wanted to meet you and let you know I’ll be your primary contact during this shoot.”

“Excellent. We’ll trade numbers and I’ll give you the production schedule. And if you wouldn’t mind, could you give Kane a tour of your grounds? It’ll help him get a feel for the atmosphere of the shoot.”

From the grimace on Mae’s face, that was the last thing she wanted to do, but she nodded and forced a smile. “Of course. I’d be happy to.”

“Great. I’ve got things to do, so I’ll email you the production schedule.”

They exchanged phone numbers and email addresses.

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