Chapter 17
Alex
He sincerely thought Josie had lost interest when he talked to her that morning.
He had kissed her last night, and they talked on the phone.
Everything had seemed good. But the next morning, she said she didn't want to see him again.
He had taken her at her word, but he felt sick over it.
He knew in his heart that it wasn't over.
He was blown away that he ran into her again, and his heart felt tugged to her—given to her.
She was with Judd when he returned on the golf cart. She was in jeans with a black t-shirt and tennis shoes. Her sister had on a long, flowy skirt, but they both had on black tops. Josie was like an angel. She was delicate and sweet, and she was smiling and in a good mood as they drove up.
Alex knew she wrestled with things, and seeing her smiling and looking so resilient gave him inspiration as a director.
He would pull that energy out of his main female leads.
He would get them to have this same confidence.
Josie's peace was mesmerizing, and he made it his mission to make the audience feel like he did while watching Josie right then.
She was smiling, confident, and looking beautiful and uninhibited as she stepped off the golf cart.
She didn't see Alex at first. He had been behind one of the wagons when they drove up.
Josie Wells. Right down to her name, it all felt so meant to be. She was his very own Outlaw Josie Wells. There were two rows of wagons on set at the camp, and she had come up from behind them. Alex was able to see her before she ever noticed him.
Ty needed something out of her bag, and Alex called for a five-minute break, knowing he wanted to talk to Josie.
He took off his director's headset and started walking toward the place where Judd had parked.
Alex knew how to whistle loudly, and he gave a sharp, shrill sound out of his mouth that caused Josie to look his way.
Her smile broadened when she saw him, and he called her over.
He stopped in his tracks near one of the wagons and waited for her to come to him.
He could have gone to her, but he wanted to pull her away from the others.
She grinned at him the whole time she approached.
"Hey, am I interrupting your work?" she asked as she came closer.
"I'm the boss around here," he said. "We're done with a take. I told them to take five before we start the next one." As he was talking, she took the remaining steps toward him, and he took her into his arms.
He had no regard for others who were watching. He hugged Josie and held her for a moment, feeling relieved to feel her skin against his.
"Hello to you too," she said, staring at him and trying not to be shy. She stepped back and tucked her hair behind her ear, and Alex wanted to heft her over his shoulder and take her away from there.
"Are you spending the night with me?"
Her eyes met his at the question. "Not with you, with you," she said, causing him to grin.
"I know, obviously. I just meant with me, like out here at the ranch."
"Oh, yes," she said. "You know it. We have a good breakfast planned, too."
He looked her over. "Can you sneak out and come to my trailer tonight?" he said.
"Yes. I will. I'm pretty sure my sister will be fine with it, but I'll think of it as sneaking out, still."
"Oh, it is. I have a strict curfew around here. No one out of their trailers after eleven."
"Really?" she asked.
He grinned. "No. I'm joking. Come see me later. I've got to give my all to the rest of this night. Even now, I have to use the rest of this break to give notes to a few of my cast members over here."
"Go ahead. Please. Judd already told us about staying back with the crew."
"I won't be able to say 'hi' again until midnight."
She nodded.
"Come hang with me in my trailer. Your sister might want to hang out with some of the cast and crew. There's always a group who stays by the fire on nights when we do camp scenes. We could sit at the campfire, if you want. I could snuggle with you."
She shrugged. "We're already raising eyebrows with you hugging me a second ago."
"Hang on, I'm about to do something else," he said. He leaned in and gave her a quick but tender kiss on the lips. Her mouth was soft and warm, and it was all he could do to stop after one little peck.
"Okay, I'm going to work," he said reluctantly.
She smiled. "Have fun. Thanks for having me here."
"Thanks for making breakfast. I'll talk to you about your plans when I see you tonight."
"That'll be great," she said.
He turned and walked away, and she went back to her sister.
Alex had to leave Josie, but knowing she was there made all the difference in the world.
He had set himself up to be working in a high-pressure, high-stakes situation, and he didn't regret it.
He was thriving as a director because he believed in the project, and he was a natural leader who held everyone to the highest standards.
He was making it just fine with functioning in the chaos.
But Josie's presence made him feel happy and at peace.
Having her there was like a security blanket.
He never had one of those as a child, but he could imagine that they would give about the same feeling.
"Hey, Cameron, can you go to Wagon One and get some fabric to give that baby a blanket?" he said over the headset when he had the thought.
"What baby?"
"It's the little boy at your twelve o'clock with his mom. The toddler. Can we give him a blanket?"
"For him to hold?" Cameron asked over the headset.
"Yes. He's with the family at the edge of the shot. Have him just hold a blanket in his hand, kind of dragging behind him."
"Got it. I'll grab some fabric and tell his mom."
"Thank you," he said with a smile.
***
And just like that, it was midnight.
Alex heard a light knock on his trailer door, and he glanced at the clock before shifting his gaze to Cameron.
"It's late," he said. "Josie's here. I'm going to hang out with her."
Cameron nodded and stood up, gathering her clipboard and headset.
"Come in!" he said in a louder tone that woke Judd up. He was sleeping on the small couch that was adjacent to Alex's desk, and Alex leaned over to shake Judd's thigh. "Thanks for today," he said to him.
"Yeah, good stuff," Judd said, nodding sleepily. He got to the edge of the couch, blinking toward the door as Josie walked inside.
"Oh, hey, Cameron, I didn't mean to interrupt. Hey Judd." Josie's eyes scanned the trailer and finally met Alex's. "I can come back," she offered, looking worried.
"No, we're done," Cameron said. She kicked at Judd. "He's been sleeping for thirty minutes already."
"And I'm about to go sleep some more," Judd said, standing sleepily. He gestured at Alex's desk. "I'll grab this stuff in the morning," he said.
"Sounds good," Alex said.
"Hey Josie," Judd said, looking at her. "What time's breakfast?"
"Audrey and I are going to just set up for service at eight-thirty and make it to order. We'll probably be there till ten-thirty or eleven, depending on how long our supplies last. We should have plenty, though."
"That's amazing, thank you."
"I can't wait," Cameron said. "The Sutters are coming by."
"Sounds great," Josie said, nodding.
It only took a few seconds for Cameron and Judd to make their way out of Alex's trailer. Alex stood and stretched, reaching out for Josie as she moved toward him.
"You were amazing tonight," she said, staring at him like he hung the moon.
He wanted to squeeze her hard. He held onto her, leaning in and kissing her neck, causing her to squirm a little and giggle. He straightened and pulled back to stare at her, holding onto her hands. She grasped him back, looking at him with a sweet smile.
"You were really good, Alex. I loved watching you work."
"Thank you. I have some good people helping me with this. It's nice to have a great team."
"Yeah, but you're driving the ship," she said.
"Where's your sister?" he asked.
"She went to the campfire. Everyone here's so easy to get along with. She was looking forward to going over there. She's already talking about going into acting full-time."
He laughed. "Do you want to go for a walk—help clear my mind?"
"Yes. Sure. Where to?"
"Maybe back out there, to the camp. Would you want to walk over to the camp? I just thought a walk would be nice. It's probably thirty or forty minutes by the time we go there and back."
Alex wanted her. He was attracted to her in a raw, primal way that had him feeling all stirred up inside. The walk would force him to clear his head and be a gentleman.
"Do you have time as far as going to bed? I don't want to keep you up."
He shrugged. "You're the one who has to make breakfast. I'm sure you and I will get up at the same time."
"Let's do it," she said. "A walk would be nice."
"What about the guy in Colorado? Have we forgotten about him?"
Her eyes snapped up to meet his. "I talked to him today."
"You talked to him?" he asked, feeling irked at the thought. He was possessive, and he reached out and pulled her closer with a hand on the side of her shirt.
"I mean, I just talked to him long enough to tell him that I couldn't… that we couldn't… that we won't go on any dates anymore."
"You told him that?" he asked.
"Yes," she said.
"Do I even want to know what he said?"
"No," she said with a shrug. "It's not that interesting. I won't see him again. Not that it was serious in the first place."
He wanted her so badly that it was dangerous. "Come on," he said, taking her hand and pulling her out of the trailer.