Page 24 of Sadie's Highlander (Highland Protector 1)

The door to the camper flew open and a dark-haired male who looked to be barely older than his teens stomped into the trailer. He nearly ran into Alec, coming up short just in time to keep from head-butting him in the chest. The man-boy blinked a long, slow up-and-down look at Alec from behind the thick, black-rimmed glasses perched high on his long beak of a nose. “Damn—you’re big,” he said, adding a long, rude sniff as though his nose were about to drip.

“Nay.” Alec shook his head, forcing a polite smile while he held out his hand. “I’m Alec MacDara. And who might ye be?” If Sadie wished for him to get along with her coworkers, he’d do his best to treat the lad kindly.

Sadie sidled around the table and stepped into the narrow aisle. “Alec, this is Abe Masterson. He’s one of the screenwriters I was telling you about.”

Abe wrinkled his nose and sniffed again. He pushed his glasses up higher, then shot a glance over at Sadie. He shook Alec’s hand with a limp, unimpressive grip. “She told you I was a quirky jerk, didn’t she?”

“She might ha’ said as such.” Alec shifted uncomfortably in the small confines of the camper. ’Twas barely enough room for two people in this box, much less three, even with one as scrawny as the man standing before him.

“Damn, that’s it!” Abe pushed his way past them to the table, grabbed up a pen, and scrawled feverishly atop one of the packets of paper.

Alec looked at Sadie. This Abe person was a great deal more daft than she’d led him t’believe.

Sadie shrugged and made a face—apparently she didn’t understand Abe either.

Abe turned back to Alec, fixing him with an owl-like stare that was even more magnified behind the thick lenses of his glasses. “Say something else. Anything.”

Sadie rolled her eyes and stepped forward. “Abe, we don’t have time for you to try to dissect Alec’s accent and capture it for the script.” She gave Alec a twitchy, one-shouldered shrug. “Sorry. Abe gets excited when he finds the answer to something that’s had him stumped.”

“Aye,” Alec agreed slowly. How the hell did Sadie ever fit into this strange world?

“Where are Seth and Holly? I need to know which scenes the team would like me to work on first or if I just need to come up with some new ones in case we need filler.” Sadie wiggled her way through the tight confines of the trailer to stand between Alec and Abe, gently taking the pen out of Abe’s hands and snapping her fingers in front of his nose when he seemed trapped in an unblinking stare at Alec. “Abe! Did you hear me?”

Abe finally blinked and looked at Sadie, his long, thin face lighting up as though he’d just remembered who she was. “What are you talking about? All the scenes and most of the fillers have been done for weeks. We’re just here to amp up historically colloquial dialogue and add more accents in case they need it.”

Sadie’s jaw tensed, the muscles rippling in her cheek. Alec could almost hear her teeth grinding together. The telltale signs of frustration and being betrayed stiffened her back ramrod straight. “Delia didn’t speak with you? With the team?”

Abe sidled behind the table, slid down to one of the benches, and opened the laptop. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Without looking up from the computer screen, he jerked his head toward the door. “Seth and Holly are over in wardrobe talking to Cat. Go pester them. I’ve gotta get his accent down for the sequel.” Finally pulling his attention up from the laptop, he pointed across the room at an empty coffeepot. “And while you’re out, we need coffee and snacks. Delia said keeping the campers stocked was your job. You better get your ass in gear. I heard Sorin bitching that you hadn’t stocked his trailer yet either.”

A burn of protective fury surged through Alec. He wanted to grab the bastard by the throat and shove that laptop up his arse. How dare he talk to Sadie in such a way! Alec leaned over the table, thumping his fists down hard on either side of the computer. He lifted his chin and bared his teeth, coming nearly nose to nose with the wide-eyed, bespectacled man. “Ye’ll no’ speak to her like that again. She’s no’ some servant t’be ordered about. Ye ken?”

Abe’s scraggly brows arched so high they disappeared into his ragged mop of dark hair. “Ken? What’sk-kenmean?” he stammered.

“It means ye understand that yer to treat this woman with the respect she deserves. Aye?”

“Aye,” Abe whispered, shoving back as far as he could get from Alec.

A light touch patted the center of Alec’s back. “Alec…come on. It’s okay. Really.”

Alec straightened, pulled Sadie from behind him, and steered her toward the door. “We’re finished here. We’ll find the others and see what they have t’say about yer screenwritin’ duties.”

“Screenwriting duties?” Abe repeated with a derisive snort. “She’s not a screenwriter. She’s Delia’s gopher.”

Alec lunged across the short distance, grabbed Abe by the throat of his stained T-shirt, and lifted him off the bench. “Is yer memory so short or is yer stupidity just impossible to overcome?”

“S-sorry,” Abe stuttered. “W-won’t happen again.”

“Alec,” Sadie hissed. “Put him down. Please.”

Shoving the scarecrow of a man into the corner of the bench, Alec jabbed a finger hard against Abe’s narrow chest, thumping the cringing man’s breastbone in time with every word. “Ye best remember what I said.” This poor excuse for a man had no idea how badly Alec wished to snap him in two.

Abe’s eyes widened behind the glasses that were now sitting slightly askew on his face. He bobbed his chin up and down in a trembling nod. “I’ll remember. Promise.”

“Alec.”

Alec couldn’t help but smile. Sadie’s tone reminded him ofMáthairwhen her patience was nearly spent. “Aye, lass. We’re done here.” He motioned her toward the door. “On to find the others to see what they have t’say.”

Alec didn’t miss Sadie’s knotted fists as she blew out the door and stomped down the steps. As soon as she reached the ground, she whirled about, glaring at him with a murderous glint in her eyes. “I appreciate you defending me, but I can take care of myself. This is my battle. I’ll get it straightened out.”

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