Dawn Stewardson - Wild Action

Naturally, she’d assured him it would be, but she suspected he’d have tried to back out of their contract if he’d been able to line up another trained bear on short notice.

“What’s with this scene where Attila chases the boys?” Nick asked.

“Oh, that’s the pivotal one I mentioned yesterday.”

“No, I mean what’s with him chasing them? You told me people should never run away from bears. You said it excites their predatory instincts.”

“Well, the boys won’t really be running away from Attila. I know the notes call it the scene where he chases them, but Jay will do separate takes of them running and Attila running. Then they’ll edit the sequences so it looks as if he’s chasing them.”

“Ahh.”

When Nick went back to his reading, she sat watching him, still not quite able to believe that he was actually helping her. Of course she realized it was to his benefit, as well as hers, if things worked out with Jay. But most men would never have stayed when they’d been in the midst of looking for a place to live.

Even fewer would have agreed to work with a bear, no matter how much it might prove to be worth to them financially. Especially when they already had a good job. Which added up to the fact that she felt very, very grateful. And despite her resolve to keep their relationship strictly business, she was aware of feeling more than simple gratitude.

As hard as she’d tried to fall asleep last night, she’d lain awake for a long time, extremely conscious that Nick was in the bedroom right across the hall—and that both their doors were open to allow what little breeze there was through the house. Then, at breakfast this morning, before he’d shaved, it had been impossible to ignore how sexy he looked.

Just as she was ordering herself to think about anything other than him, he tossed down the script and glanced over at her. “Here they come.”

Trying to quell a fresh surge of anxiety, she rose and looked across the clearing. Sure enough, there they were, just rounding the curve in the road.

Three black stretch limos led the way, followed by a convoy of trucks, trailers and RVs that would be home to the cast and crew while they were on location here.

The noise sent the rabbits scurrying under the safety of the porch, and in the house the Marx brothers began barking. They hated being shut inside, but she couldn’t chance letting them out until everyone was safely parked. All in all, there was such a commotion that she half expected to see Rocky Raccoon peering down from the porch roof—even though it took a lot to rouse a coon from his day’s sleep.

“Looks like an invasion,” Nick said.

She glanced at him and forced a smile, hoping he couldn’t tell how nervous she was. It would do nothing for his self-confidence.

The trucks began turning off into the field where she’d told Jay to set up camp, while the limos pulled up in front of the house.

The third one had barely stopped before the back door flew open and two boys leapt out

“I guess those would be our ten-year-olds,” she murmured as they headed for the porch.

“Hi, I’m Kyle,” the blond one said, grinning at her. “And this is Brock,” he added, pointing at the dark-haired one.

Brock produced a grin of his own.

“Well, hi. This is Nick and I’m Carly.” She glanced at the two frazzled women who’d hurried after the boys—their mothers were on location with them, she knew.

“They’ve been sitting in the limo too long,” one of the women said. “Would you mind if they looked around a little? Burned off some of their energy?”

“We’ll keep an eye on them,” the other woman promised.

“Sure. Go ahead. Just don’t let them stick their fingers into the aviary.”

By the time Carly turned her attention back to the limos, the drivers of the remaining two had opened the back doors. A couple of men were getting out of the first one, while Sarina Westlake and Garth Richards emerged from the second.

Carly focused on Jay Wall, whom she recognized from Gus’s description. Of average height and weight, he had long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, a scraggly beard and wire-rimmed glasses. His clothes said he wasn’t a man who dressed to impress—tattered jeans, a T-shirt with Two for Trouble printed across it and a bright orange baseball cap pulled on backward.

Luckily Crackers couldn’t see him from the solarium, but she made a mental note to mention the bird’s little color quirk the first chance she got Some of the cast and crew were bound to end up in the house, so they’d all have to be warned.

Glancing at Nick, she whispered, “The one in his early thirties is Jay. And I think the midfifties one must be the producer, Brian Goodfellow.”

“You’re sure he’s not the director?” Nick whispered back. “He’s got that pear-shaped Alfred Hitchcock look.”

“Well, despite that, he has to be the producer. Get Real Productions is his company.”

“Carly, darling,” Jay said, heading for the porch as the limos started back down the drive. “Finally, we meet in person.”

Reaching her, he took both her hands in his and stood beaming at her so warmly that, if she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he was positively dying to work with her. For a director, he made a great actor.

“This is Brian Goodfellow,” he added, releasing her as the short, rotund man joined them on the porch.

“Goodie,” he said, nodding to Carly. “Everyone just calls me Goodie.”

“And our stars…” Jay paused and made a sweeping gesture toward them.

Sarina and Garth nodded from the drive, then went back to whatever they’d been talking about.

“And this,” Carly said, “is Nick Montgomery, my new partner in Wild Action.”

“Oh?” Jay extended his hand to Nick, his expression saying he didn’t like surprises.

“Nick will be doing most of the work with Attila,” she added.

“Oh?” Jay said again. “Do you have a lot of experience with bears, Nick?”

“Actually, most of my experience has been with cats.”

“Big cats, he means,” Carly said quickly, shooting Nick a look that said this was no time for humor. “Lions, tigers and panthers mostly, right?”

He grinned at her. “Right. But Attila and I are good buddies,” he added to Jay.

Before there was time for anyone to say another word, a child yelled, “Jay? Look what we’ve got!”

Carly turned, then froze in horror. The two boys had come around the side of the house—Kyle with Crackers on his shoulder.

“We went in the back to get some water,” he said excitedly. “And all I did was say hi to him, and he hopped right on me.”

Behind the boys, their mothers appeared, both wearing “Aren’t they cute” expressions. A split second later, Crackers noticed the orange baseball cap.

He shrieked. Carly dove at Jay.

“Shee-it!” he said, ducking to avoid her hand.

She still managed to grab the cap—but only an instant before Crackers swooped through the air and snatched it from her. Landing on the porch railing, he sat bobbing his head up and down, the cap’s bill securely in his beak.

“Awesome!” Brock said. “Can you make him do it again?”

“Sure,” Nick told him. “Want to see him do it again, Jay?”

The director glared at him. “I hope you’re a better bear trainer than you are a comedian.”

Smoothing his hair, he looked at the mothers and snapped, “Keep those kids away from the animals, understand?”

When they nodded in unison, Jay turned his glare on Carly.

“I’m so s-sorry,” she stammered. “It’s the color orange. It sometimes makes him freak out.”

When Jay glanced over at Crackers as if he’d like to wring his little feathered neck, Goodie said, “You’re lucky he didn’t sink those claws into your head. If he had, I’d be starting to believe this movie really is jinxed. But come on, let’s go make sure all the equipment made the trip safely.”