Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
“How was the movie set this morning?” Casper asked, when Obi-Wan walked into the conference room shortly after eleven.
“Good.”
“You get to meet Carmen St. James?” Edge asked, with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Yeah, is she as beautiful in person as she is on screen? Or is it all makeup and editing that makes her so gorgeous?” Chaos chimed in.
“She’s pretty,” Obi-Wan told his friends, being as diplomatic as he could.
“What did you do? Did you meet Logan Striker? Did you get to see any of the movie being filmed?” Pyro asked.
Obi-Wan grinned. His friends’ excitement over his work on the movie was a huge relief.
They could’ve resented the time he was taking away from his job.
They could’ve given him a way harder time than they were about rubbing elbows with celebrities.
But some joking aside, they were pretty supportive, and obviously looking forward to hearing about his experience on the project.
He was also relieved that his boss, Colonel Burgess, was allowing him to take time off in the mornings to go to the set.
Yes, the man had recommended him for the military advisor job in the first place, but he was still appreciative that he was able to take so much time away from the base nonetheless.
Of course, if an urgent mission came up, he was expected to report in, but Henry Grubbner knew his job as a Night Stalker pilot came first.
He spent the next ten minutes or so answering everyone’s questions and telling them how filming that morning went, and how he’d watched Logan crawl through underbrush on the indoor set over and over again.
Wincing at makeshift sounds that would be recreated in post-production.
It was actually a little more…tedious than he’d expected.
Henry was an exacting director, and he wanted everything to be as perfect as it could be, which often meant redoing the same takes multiple times, until they were to his liking.
Eventually, Casper redirected the conversation to work, and the men began to research the area of their next mission.
Occasionally they didn’t get advance notice of where they were going, but many times they had a few weeks to learn as much as they could about the terrain they’d would be flying over and through.
After a short break for lunch, the meetings continued for another couple of hours before everyone headed to the hangar for some flight time.
Even though they were the best-trained pilots in the country, they were required to keep their skills honed by ensuring they had the hours needed behind the controls of their choppers while not deployed.
Obi-Wan’s copilot was Buck. Their most recent mission was down in South America, where the latter had met Mandy. In the middle of a rescue in the jungle, Buck had left the chopper to chase her down, and rebels in the area had forced Obi-Wan to take off without his friend and teammate.
The subsequent two weeks were extremely stressful. Obi-Wan second-guessed leaving Buck behind every day that he was missing. He’d had every confidence his teammate would be able to navigate the rainforest and make it back to Guyana with Mandy, but it was still a very difficult time.
Thankfully, the two had safely evaded the rebels and shown back up across the border…with a four-legged companion they’d picked up along the way.
Then everyone on the team was horrified when, just a few weeks later, Mandy was severely injured because of her association with the orphanage and school down in Guyana, where she’d volunteered.
But she was doing great now, and Buck was getting back to his old self.
Obi-Wan was thrilled for his copilot. Buck deserved to have a woman like Mandy at his side. Someone loyal, strong, and independent. Someone who could handle her man heading off on top-secret missions for days or weeks at a time.
It was a bonus that she and Laryn, the team’s head mechanic, got along so well. And nice to see Laryn opening up to another woman, since she spent most of her time around men.
Speaking of Laryn…when they walked into the hangar, for once the mechanic wasn’t instantly fixated on her boyfriend, Casper. Instead, Obi-Wan could practically feel her gaze on him as they walked over to the three choppers waiting for them.
“So?” she asked with a lift of an eyebrow. “How was it? Are you making sure those Hollywood idiots get their shit right with the choppers?”
Obi-Wan grinned. “Today wasn’t a day where they were filming with the birds. That’ll come later.”
Laryn harrumphed. “Well, be sure they don’t use any AH-64 Apaches.”
“Of course. I’ve already made that very clear.”
“Good. So…meet any girls on set?”
Obi-Wan blinked in surprise. That was the last question he expected from Laryn.
She didn’t give him a chance to answer before exclaiming, “You’re blushing! You did! Who is she? Was it Carmen? She seems likes a bitch from the interviews I’ve seen her do on TV. Please don’t tell me you have a crush on her.”
Obi-Wan immediately set her straight. “No. Although I did meet her. And several other women. Why, you need another friend?” He relied on the good-natured ribbing he was used to with his teammates, trying to deflect.
“I have all the friends I need right here,” Laryn returned without hesitation. She shook a wicked-looking wrench that could easily take someone down with one crack to the head, as well as a huge screwdriver.
Buck laughed from next to him. “I wouldn’t mess with her, for sure.”
“Easy, Rambo,” Obi-Wan joked, holding up his hands and taking a step back.
Laryn grinned and slid the tools of her trade back into the toolbelt she frequently wore around her waist. “It’s just that you and the others don’t get out enough.
You go from here to Anchor Point and back home.
It’s unlikely that you’re gonna meet someone to spend the rest of your lives with at the bar. ”
“Who says we want anything other than a casual date?” Obi-Wan asked.
“Well, no one. But I want all of you to be as happy as me and Tate.”
“You guys are a statistical anomaly,” he said. “Perfect for each other.”
“Mandy and I managed to fall in love even under unusual circumstances,” Buck piped up.
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. “Not everyone is like you guys. We can’t all meet the loves of our lives under extreme stress.”
“Right, which is why I’m asking about women on the set. There have to be a ton of them around. Makeup artists, camera operators, production people, extras, designers. You should do what you can to meet some of them. Talk to them. You never know what could happen.”
Obi-Wan’s mind immediately went to Zita.
There was no doubt he was attracted to her, but her life was so different from his.
She was part of the Hollywood scene. She knew all the actors and actresses, and even the director and his assistants.
Her life was in California, when she wasn’t on the road working on a movie set.
Hell, she probably traveled more than he did.
There was no way a relationship between a military guy and a set medic would work out.
He shrugged and said, simply to appease Laryn, “I’ll see what I can do.”
The mechanic narrowed her eyes at him. “I hate when people patronize me. Don’t tell me what you think I want to hear.”
Obi-Wan mentally sighed. It’d already been so long since he’d been with a woman, his dick had forgotten what it felt like to be inside anything other than his fist.
Buck slapped him on the back and said, “Come on, we’ve got flight checks to do. And I have a woman to get home to.”
Now Laryn grinned.
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
The truth was, he was envious of Casper and Buck.
He’d had no siblings growing up, which meant that he was used to a very quiet home.
But lately, his apartment seemed even emptier than usual.
It was also getting tougher to remain satisfied with his life.
Going from one mission to the next with nothing else to really occupy his time, no one waiting for him at home.
That was part of the reason he’d taken the job of military advisor for the film. He was bored. And while he’d never take a woman to his bed solely out of boredom, he couldn’t help but admit that having someone in his life would certainly break up the monotony.
But…was that fair to anyone who caught his interest? For boredom to be the catalyst for a decision to date? He didn’t think so.
Not to mention, he felt horrible that he was bored in the first place. He had a high-adrenaline job. One that many people would kill to have. He got to do what he loved most, fly, almost every day. Not only that, but he got to serve his country in a way that made him proud.
It felt shitty to be even the slightest bit dissatisfied with all that he had.
Thankfully, the flight checks took his mind off his gloomy thoughts. He was a professional, and no way would he get behind the controls of the multimillion-dollar chopper without having all of his attention on what he was doing.
When he and Buck got in the air, all his worries disappeared. He reveled in the feeling of flying. Of sitting next to one of his best friends, doing what they did best. By the time they landed, his good mood was restored and his morose thoughts from earlier were pushed to the back of his mind.
That night, when he arrived at his apartment and checked his email, he had a message from the script supervisor, asking for his approval of the changes he’d suggested that morning.
It read much better now, more believable.
Obi-Wan was pleased. It was fascinating to be on the inside, to see how movies got made.
It was a lot more work than he’d envisioned and involved way more people than he ever imagined.
To his surprise, he also had an email from Carmen St. James.
Obi-Wan hesitated to open it, an uneasy feeling swirling in his belly. Most people would be thrilled to have an email from a famous actress…but he wasn’t most people.