Chapter 34
Mace
One Year Later
“Babe, you gotta move out of the shot,” Slade said atop his stallion, Pepper.
Of course, I knew I was on the actual movie set. Absolutely. I wasn’t dumb, no matter how it appeared in that moment, but I was taking careful steps while recording a video for the sanctuary.
Besides Pepper being in Slade’s new movie, so was one of the geldings we’d saved and rehabbed. The horse was situated in the distant background, placed there with the purpose of filming him and others, pretending they were feral.
If Slade would stop fretting, I’d have video of him atop his now super-trained stallion.
A couple of perfect moments for our YouTube channel.
“I’m almost done, but you keep messin’ me up,” I said and dropped my phone in frustration. “Pay attention to anything else but me.”
“That’s hard to do when you’ve walked into the middle of the scene,” Austin said, frustration clear in his voice from his position atop his own horse. “It’s like you’re married to Lucille Ball, Whitaker.”
“I feel like you mean that as an insult,” I said, raising the phone again and walking widely around Slade and Austin, filming them both.
It was extra, I knew, but also great to see Kitt’s plan working.
Austin was becoming upset with me, but he’d get over it.
“But I don’t know who that is so the jokes on you. ”
I stopped recording and stood to my full height, just standing in the middle of his scene.
I made a show of replaying the footage for quality checks, except I couldn’t really see with the way the bright sun beat down over my dark screen.
Didn’t matter. Tommy regularly worked magic with his editing, and I was proud of how well I’d done.
When a shadow passed over me, I knew it was Austin and his horse walking up beside me, both by the shape of that shadow and the energy they gave off.
“You’re costin’ me time and money. I’m the director…” Austin started.
I was no longer the young man na?ve to the world, especially this film world, and I quickly cut him off. “I’m the director of my videos. What’s that even mean to right now?”
I couldn’t look at him. If I did, I’d give something away. That was the only rule Kitt had given me. If I agreed to mess with Austin on his behalf, I couldn’t tell him what I was up to.
Based on what Kitt outlined when setting this up, I’d lasted longer than anyone else in my position. Austin had easily picked off my predecessors who tried to play jokes on him at Kitt’s request.
Out of nothing more than curiosity, I shielded my eyes with my hand and cast a quick glance at him. Austin’s mouth opened. No words followed.
Yeah, that was my lesson since getting into this business with Slade. Toss out some craziness, make a show of it, then do whatever I wanted. That was the secret of my new successful superpower, at least on my farm.
Seemed it might have transferred to this farm too. “I’m done. I’ll meet you at the cabin.” My declaration was pointed toward Slade.
Since I was currently in a “fake it until I make it” mode, confidence building swiftly, I nodded, waving a hand to suggest he needed to get to work.
“Get,” Austin said, nodding me away. Since every eye on set had to be watching me, and this was the only day and night I planned to stay the night with Slade, today meant the world to my guy.
I nodded again and pivoted away, smiling freely with my back to the crew.
“You mad?” Slade said, still atop Pepper, absolutely not sneaking up on me, but I let him believe he had. I jumped but continued off the set.
“No,” I said, staring at the tip of my boots.
“You happy?” Slade asked.
“No,” I said, and cast a quick glance up and over at Slade, squinting to see him better.
“You trying to go home? Get out of staying?” Slade asked, and I grinned, focusing on the ground underneath me.
“Did it work?” I asked.
“Can’t hear you,” Slade said. Pepper came to a stop beside the UTV.
I didn’t stop until I was behind the wheel. I made a show of placing both arms on the steering wheel, glancing up at Slade again. “I don’t wanna leave. I talked to Kitt when I got here. We’re moving forward with Hooch and Wildflower. You good with that?”
“Will the foal be a gift to me?” Slade asked, grinning broadly.
“No. Unless it’s a colt then maybe. We’ll see.”
“Tell your boyfriend to kiss my ass,” Austin shot out, tugging his cowboy hat from his head, slapping it against his thigh. “And tell my husband that payback’s hell.”
My grin was instant. Austin had figured it out. I wasn’t sure he was going to, but he pulled it out in the end. A laugh burst free as I sat back in the UTV seat.
“What just happened?” Slade asked, glancing over his shoulder toward Austin’s outburst and back to me.
“Kitt’s agreed to waive his fees if I agreed to come over here and mess with Austin’s filming. It worked.”
Slade’s immediate burst of laughter pulled a stronger chuckle from me too.
“Way to save us money, sexy.” Slade shifted his hold on the reins, starting to turn away, but stopped once Pepper was facing the opposite direction. “You’re staying here with me because you want to?”
“Yeah,” I lied. It was literally only an hour ride home. He was treating this like a trip to Madagascar, with as remote as he treated this place.
“Good. I like you here,” he said, and dismissed me, taking Pepper into a trot back toward Austin’s thwarted scene.
I watched him go. My life. What a change.
Yeah. I was actually happy to be there with him too. I’d be anywhere he wanted me to be.
The End
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