Page 40 of The Boss I Can't Stand
I reached up, catching a lock of her hair and tucking it behind her ear. “Are you okay?”
She blinked repeatedly. “What?”
“You’re not hurt?” Maybe the smarter thing would have been to try to grab the light before it hit the ground. It was expensive, and replacing it would delay filming, but in the moment, my first priority had been to grab her.
“No…no,” she said, her voice trembling. “I’m not hurt. Thank you…really…I didn’t even realize?—”
Her body shook, and my arms tightened around her. But the next thing I knew, she was being hauled away from me and set on her feet as the crew swarmed us. Chaos set in, questions being hurled back and forth, voices shouting.
I immediately missed Sierra’s weight and warmth, but I tried to push that thought away. I took X’s offered hand and let him drag me to my feet. He clapped my shoulder. “Close one. Are you good?”
“Fine,” I muttered, trying to get a handle on myself. I turned to the crew, directing my frustration at them. “We need a new light in. Stat! Someone clear away this broken glass, and tape down the damn cables before something worse happens.Quickly,people. I want production up and running in fifteen minutes. And get the on-set medic to have a look at Sierra!”
“I’m fine,” she protested. My mother had taken up position next to her, patting her shoulder. “Maybe just a little bruised.”
“Get the medic now!” I snapped so loudly it sent two production assistants running with their walkie-talkies. Then I turned on my heel and marched off toward my office, needing a breather where I didn’t have to worry about lights falling or wide, shocked blue eyes positioned so close that they’d been all I could see.
15
SIERRA
“Xsaid Kaiden’s pants got a little roughed up on set yesterday,” Paisley explained. I could hear giggling in the background of the call. “He needs them patched before they shoot this afternoon.”
“Do we have any of that fabric left?” I asked.
“Yeah, I just found some on the shelf.”
“Okay, why don’t you go ahead and get a patch cut, and I’ll take a look when I get in. I just pulled into the parking lot,” I said, grabbing my bag from the passenger seat as I tucked the phone between my ear and shoulder. Finn had some errands to run before work, so he’d suggested we arrive separately, which meant I’d been spared another ride in the evil-mobile.
“Sounds good,” Paisley said. “See you in a bit.”
I hung up and hurried through the building to the costume shop. Now that filming was in full swing, we’d transitioned from making the costumes into costume maintenance, which entailed alterations and adjustments, wardrobe supervision, and on-set coordination. I spentmost of my days on the sidelines of X’s sets, prepared to problem-solve any wardrobe malfunctions.
“Morning,” I called, walking into the shop to find Ro, Trin, and Paisley giggling over something at the ironing station. Carter shot me a sympathetic smile from behind the industrial sewing machine. What the hell was that about?
“What’s going on?” I said, immediately on edge. I didn’t have time to deal with any shenanigans. I narrowed my eyes as Ro all but skipped toward me.
Ro took my hand. “It’ll be fine,” she said. “Come with me.” She guided me into my office and closed the door. “First of all, I apologize in advance.”
“For what?” I asked, wary, setting my bag down on my desk. Ireallydidn’t like this. I crossed my arms, leaning against the front of my desk.
“Just promise to keep an open mind.”
An uncomfortable shiver zipped up my spine. “If someone doesn’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to scream.”
“Screaming is unnecessary,” she assured me. “Finn’s just been working on something to prepare you for your upcoming breakfast date.”
“So I don’t butcher that like the last interview?” I muttered.
“Well, yes,” Ro said, not unkindly. She offered me a soft smile. “Finn just figured you’d probably refuse if he suggested it, so he asked me to do the honors.”
“Oh boy.”
“It’s actually really thoughtful,” Ro said. “He was kind of sweet about the whole thing. I get why you like him.”
“I don’tlikehim,” I said automatically, even though it wasn’t entirely true anymore. How could I not like—at least a little—the guy who’d thrown himself into harm’s way to protect me from the crashing light on set the other day? I couldn’t stop remembering the feeling of his arms wrapped around me as we hit the ground.
“No, you just have sex dreams about him,” Ro teased.
