Debbi Rawlins - Wild For You

ERIN MURPHY TURNED onto Main Street and nearly had heart failure. How could a small, isolated Montana town have changed so much in three months? Blackfoot Falls didn’t have a single traffic light, but the new steak house’s flashing pink neon sign could probably be seen from Mars. Early-bird specials written with black marker on colored paper covered half the window. But she could live with those, misspellings and all. They lent to the charm of the quirky town.

She drove past the newly opened motel that had been under construction when she’d first discovered Blackfoot Falls. Erin would’ve preferred the modern building wasn’t there, but she had taken it into consideration when she’d made a deal with the mayor, so no sweat on that front.

A small bakery now occupied a formerly empty storefront. Nothing flashy, so that wasn’t too bad. Next to it, the Full Moon Saloon was new, too, but it had a cool vibe to it that could probably work in her favor.

Maybe.

Whatever.

She’d make it work. She had to.

The whole reason Erin had returned was to fix something she’d failed to do the first time around. Now she had another problem to solve...before the director had a stroke.

The independent film for which she’d been scouting locations was on a tight budget. She’d counted on those buildings being empty. It was a lot cheaper to stage than change.

All she could do for the moment was breathe. And hope the mayor had made allowances for the deal she’d made with Erin before leasing out the buildings. Sadie Thompson was a reasonable woman who’d understood that the group’s pockets weren’t deep, and a modest fee was better than nothing. Quite a few scenes would be shot around the quaint little town, later, in December.

Luckily, Erin made it to the other end of Main Street without encountering any more surprises. She checked into The Boarding House Inn with its restored turn-of-the-century rooms and interesting woodwork. Thank God nothing had changed since her last visit.

She dumped her duffel bag in the narrow closet and sent off a few texts. Thirty minutes ago she’d been looking forward to a much-needed nap. Now she wondered if it would be better to go snap some pictures of the new storefronts and send them to the director right away. Jason would pitch a fit no matter what, but at least she’d be giving herself more time to smooth things over.

On the other hand, she wouldn’t be at her best, being this sleep deprived. She stared out the window and tried to relax. She smiled, though, seeing the cheesy Halloween decorations on some of the buildings.

Her cell rang, and it was Lila, of course. Even though Erin had just texted her friend that they’d talk later.

“So, you’re in Blackfoot Falls. That was fast,” Lila said. “When are you going to see him?”

Erin knew him meant Spencer Hunt, the reclusive, unreasonable, ill-tempered rancher who had thrown her off his property the last time she was here. He was also hot as hell. But Erin had never let a man’s looks excuse him for being a jerk.

“This afternoon.” Erin yawned. “After I take a nap.”

Lila snorted. “We’ve been best friends since third grade. You think I can’t tell when you’re faking a yawn? You just don’t want me coaching you on how to approach Mr. Tall, Dark and Mysterious.”

“For one thing, coaching and butting in are not synonymous, and second, you’re losing your touch because that yawn was real. I left Wyoming at 4:00 this morning.”

“I was up early myself. We were shooting by 5:15 and freezing our behinds.” Lila lowered her voice. “Jason’s on a tear, cussing out everyone within hearing distance. Nothing’s going right. The film is now officially over budget, and half the crew is ready to mutiny.”

“So everything’s normal.”

“Pretty much.”

Erin rubbed her tired eyes, glad she could still find some humor in the situation. “Well, I guess that settles it. I have another small snafu and was trying to decide when to tell Jason.”

“Oh, no.”

“It’s not that big a deal, but it could cost a few bucks.”

“Yeah, now isn’t the time to bring it up.”

Erin sighed. “I need to do more digging first.”

They both had a lot riding on the indie film. So did Jason Littleton and two other friends, who’d thrown in their savings and were working their asses off for practically no money, all in the hope their modern Western would get noticed and launch their careers.

Erin and Lila had met the gang in film school, all of them full of dreams and plans to conquer Hollywood. For six years, Erin had willingly tackled every industry-related job that came her way. Like playing location scout and convincing people to allow footage to be shot on their land, sometimes in their homes.

She negotiated the fees, drew up contracts and arranged for the permits and insurance. She’d even chauffeured big shots from major studios and picked up their laundry. Just waiting to get her foot in the door. Because what she wanted more than anything was to make her own movies.

“Have you been listening at all?” Lila asked.

“Nope. Is it important? Because I seriously have to grab some sleep.”

“Look, you need to listen to me. Jason really has his heart set on filming the final shoot-out on that mountain your guy owns. He’ll forgive just about anything else but that. So if I were—”

“Screw Jason. I gave him two alternate locations. Really good ones. If Hunt doesn’t want us on his property, there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.”

Lila waited a moment, then said, “You’re the most persistent, driven, goal-oriented person I know. You’ll convince him. But since you already know he’s not motivated by money—”

Erin groaned. “Don’t say it.”

“It won’t kill you to wear some makeup. Maybe do something with your hair.”

“I asked you nicely...”

“And for heaven’s sake, don’t wear that big, stupid Doctor Who T-shirt.”

Erin glanced down. “Which one?”

“Come on, Erin. Just treat it like a role you’re playing. Smile. Be charming.”

“You’re the one who wants to be an actress, not me.”

“I’m just saying...” Lila paused when someone called for her, but returned quickly. “We’ve both done some crappy jobs to get this far. Using a little sex appeal won’t kill you. As for Jason...he isn’t behaving any worse than most directors.”

“Yeah, and we’ve always said we wouldn’t be like those jerks.”

“I know.” Lila sighed. “It just feels like we’re really close this time.”

“We are,” Erin said. “I feel it, too.”

Lila chuckled. “You always do. The eternal optimist. I wish I could be more like you. I really do.”

“You, my friend, are perfect just as you are.”

“But not pretty enough to nab a decent role.”

“Come on, Lila. You just said we’re close.” Erin didn’t like her friend’s resigned tone. She was just tired. Everyone on location was living out of suitcases and in drafty trailers with lousy beds. “We’re going to kill it, and for the sequel, I’ll get the assistant director’s slot and you’ll get a supporting actress role.”

“Fingers and toes crossed,” she said. “They’re calling me. I have to go. You still have the list I gave you, right? And the makeup and heels?”

“Yep.” Erin shook her head. She was the wrong person to convince Spencer Hunt to change his mind. Lila should be here instead of doing hair and makeup for that prissy Penelope Lane, who was playing the lead role.

Natural blonde Lila was gorgeous. Anywhere outside of Hollywood, she was an easy ten. And with his dark hazel eyes and his perfectly chiseled jaw, so was Spencer Hunt. Still, Erin would’ve liked to see him try to say no to Lila.