Page 11 of Sadie’s Highlander (Highland Protector #1)

CHAPTER 10

I f not for Dwyn sitting in the backseat of the Jeep, Alec would’ve already pulled Sadie into his lap and revisited some of yesterday’s delights. Her beguiling scent filled the vehicle, hardening him instantly and making him thankful he’d not donned his kilt again today. Lore a’mighty, if he’d worn his plaid, his cock would’ve tented the MacDara colors up past the steering wheel.

“Did Miss Lydia serve ye strawberries for breakfast?” Dwyn asked as they bounced along the roughly graveled network of employees-only roads running behind all the features of the park. “I distinctly smell strawberries and I dinna remember seeing them on the table when I had my coffee. I love strawberries. I canna believe I missed them.”

Sadie shot a wide-eyed glance at Alec, then exploded into a fit of coughing.

“Are ye all right, lass?” Dwyn leaned up between the front seats, peering at Sadie with concern. “What on earth choked ye?”

“I’m fine,” she gasped with another quick look over at Alec. “Caught something in my throat, I guess.” Her eyes flared even wider and another attack of choking coughs seized her.

Alec held his breath and forced himself to keep his eyes on the road, shifting uncomfortably to ease the denim stranglehold on his crotch. Aye, sweetling. Something caught in yer throat all right.

Sadie wheezed in another deep breath, then thumped her fist against her chest. “I must’ve sucked in a bug or something.” Still coughing, she pawed at the window controls in the center of the dash. “Gonna put up the window so that doesn’t happen again.”

Alec bit the inside of his cheek. He must not laugh. Must speak nary a word . Perhaps the sweet fragrance of berries hadn’t washed away after being branded into their flesh with the melding heat of passion. He shifted in the seat again, yanking down on a pant leg to give his hard-on more room. He’d never look at a bowl of strawberries the same way again—nor a can of spray topping.

Rounding the bend, he pointed to the rows of trucks, campers, and trailers filling the southeastern field adjacent to the park. “It appears Ross has them well settled. Seems yer sister doesna travel light.”

“It takes a lot of people behind the scenes to make a movie happen.” Sadie directed his attention to a gleaming black RV with Realm Spinners Productions emblazoned down its sides in silver lettering that dissipated into a trail of stars. “That one’s Delia’s. We’ll find her in there.”

“I’d prefer we walk through this chaos first so ye can enlighten me on the need for all this”—he flipped a dismissive hand toward the filming entourage—“clutter.” He didn’t like all this mess on his land, and he failed to see how the production company could possibly return the peaceful meadow to its original state when they left. A burning uneasiness set him on edge.

Alec parked the Jeep in the only corner of the field not cluttered with equipment. He glanced in the rearview mirror at Dwyn. “Ye can come with us or ye can vex Mistress Delia and get her good and stirred up afore I speak with her. Which are yer druthers?”

Mischief flashed in Dwyn’s eyes. He winked at Sadie, then arched a bushy red brow at Alec. “I believe I’ll start this lovely morning by having a go at Mistress Delia.” He lowered his voice and leaned closer to Alec. “I’ve always had a way with the banshees. Let’s see if I’ve lost me touch.” At the sound of Sadie’s sharp intake of breath, he turned toward her and barely ducked his chin. “No offense meant toward yerself, lass.”

“None taken.” Sadie giggled as she pushed open the door and hopped out. “ Banshee is one of the nicer things I’ve heard my sister called.”

Alec exited the Jeep and strode around to join her. The transformation of the formerly serene field that could usually be found dotted with grazing deer and any number of kinds of other local wildlife disturbed him greatly. The place had become a noisy, chaotic mass of machinery and cables, crammed full of strange equipment he’d never seen before. It was crawling with workers rushing about setting up tents and tables and generally making Alec tenser by the second. So many . He’d never thought there’d be so many. How the hell would they ensure none went where they shouldn’t go? The Heartstone and goddess weapons had to remain hidden at all cost.

“I dinna like this,” he said, a choking sense of something about to go terribly wrong tightening around his chest.

Sadie squeezed his forearm. “I know it looks really bad, but it’s a controlled chaos. I promise.”

Her touch calmed him somewhat, but he still had too many doubts. Sadie had no idea what was at stake here if the Heartstone and the goddesses’ weapons were discovered. Especially if they were found by this group of—he had no idea what to call these people, but none of the words coming to mind were good.

“Good morning, everyone! I didn’t expect to see you here so early.”

The sound of Delia’s voice ratcheted Alec’s already raw nerves to battle readiness. He liked that foul woman even less than he liked this venture. He pointed toward the field full of equipment as Delia made her way over to them, gingerly stepping through the tangled mounds of grass and struggling to keep the four-inch heels of her thigh-high leather boots from sinking too deep in the soft earth of the field.

“All this is necessary?” Alec jerked a thumb toward the tents and campers.

Delia’s pinched face brightened with an irritatingly smug look as she pointed a slit-throat shade of red, perfectly manicured nail at Sadie. “Ask your assistant. That’s what she’s with you for—to explain all this.” Her eyes narrowed and her voice sank to an insultingly suggestive tone. “At least I thought that’s what you wanted with her. Wasn’t it?”

Alec lunged a step forward. “I’ll be damned if I allow ye to insult—”

Dwyn shoved between them, cupped a hand under Delia’s elbow, turned her aside, then pulled her stumbling along beside him. “Come along, Mistress Delia. I wish to review the layout of the filming to ensure all the terms are met.” He tossed a meaningful look back over his shoulder, one that Alec completely understood. “You two look around for a bit on this nice cool morning and then meet us in that fine black bus when ye’ve finished, aye?”

Alec clenched his fists until his knuckles popped. He knew damn good and well what Dwyn was doing. This was the twenty-first century. He couldn’t very well knock Delia on her arse without serious legal consequences. Damn the ways of this time! He took a step back, sucked in a deep breath, and slowly blew it out. “Aye. That we will.”

He soothed himself by imagining Delia bursting into flames from the demigod’s righteous touch as he watched the pair walk away.

“Don’t let her push your buttons,” Sadie said. “She’s like some twisted succubus that feeds on pissing people off.”

“What?”

“She’s a bitch and she enjoys it.” Sadie snagged his shirtsleeve and tugged. “Come on. I want to see if there’s a trailer for the writers. I can’t believe Delia would have them working on all the scenes at the keep instead of doing some of the patchwork here at chaos central.”

Grudgingly, Alec allowed Sadie to steer him to the center row of campers lined up down the field. Each of the compact units, nothing more than white metal boxes on wheels with a window and a door, had a sign taped on its side denoting who could be found inside: Makeup. Wardrobe. Director. Producer.

Alec shook his head. He had no idea it took all this for what amounted to barely two hours of make-believe. He tromped along beside Sadie, struggling to understand why anyone would want to spend precious time watching such foolish things instead of experiencing life firsthand. He’d much rather be riding up in the mountains—he stole a sideways glance at Sadie—or making love to this fine woman.

“There.” Sadie pointed to the last camper in the row. Two handwritten paper signs were taped to the door: Writers and Enter at Your Own Risk. The closer they drew to the trailer, the more animated Sadie became as she hurried him along. “You’ll like Seth and Holly. Abe’s a bit of a quirky jerk, but he’s not too unbearable once you get to know him.”

“A quirky jerk ?”

“He’s kind of weird, with a dash of asshole.” Sadie paused, one boot propped on the first step leading up to the door. “Actually, Seth and Holly are a little odd too, but all writers are.” She smiled back at him as she yanked open the door. “We fit into the worlds we create a lot better than we fit into the real one.”

If she only knew how much he understood about trying to fit into this world—into this time. “So . . . they are yer friends?” Alec ducked through the narrow door and nudged his way closer to Sadie. Saint’s teeth, this place was smaller than a priest hole.

“I wouldn’t say friends. But we all work together pretty well . . . most of the time.” Sadie edged her way around a table filled with dog-eared packets of papers, markers, and half-empty cups of coffee. She rested her hand on top of the closed laptop in front of one of the benches. “Still warm. We must’ve just missed them.”

The door to the camper flew open and a dark-haired male who looked to be barely older than his teens stomped into the trailer. He nearly ran into Alec, coming up short just in time to keep from head-butting him in the chest. The man-boy blinked a long, slow up-and-down look at Alec from behind the thick, black-rimmed glasses perched high on his long beak of a nose. “Damn—you’re big,” he said, adding a long, rude sniff as though his nose were about to drip.

“Nay.” Alec shook his head, forcing a polite smile while he held out his hand. “I’m Alec MacDara. And who might ye be?” If Sadie wished for him to get along with her coworkers, he’d do his best to treat the lad kindly.

Sadie sidled around the table and stepped into the narrow aisle. “Alec, this is Abe Masterson. He’s one of the screenwriters I was telling you about.”

Abe wrinkled his nose and sniffed again. He pushed his glasses up higher, then shot a glance over at Sadie. He shook Alec’s hand with a limp, unimpressive grip. “She told you I was a quirky jerk, didn’t she?”

“She might ha’ said as such.” Alec shifted uncomfortably in the small confines of the camper. ’Twas barely enough room for two people in this box, much less three, even with one as scrawny as the man standing before him.

“Damn, that’s it!” Abe pushed his way past them to the table, grabbed up a pen, and scrawled feverishly atop one of the packets of paper.

Alec looked at Sadie. This Abe person was a great deal dafter than she’d led him to believe.

Sadie shrugged and made a face—apparently, she didn’t understand Abe either.

Abe turned back to Alec, fixing him with an owl-like stare that was even more magnified behind the thick lenses of his glasses. “Say something else. Anything.”

Sadie rolled her eyes and stepped forward. “Abe, we don’t have time for you to try to dissect Alec’s accent and capture it for the script.” She gave Alec a twitchy, one-shouldered shrug. “Sorry. Abe gets excited when he finds the answer to something that’s had him stumped.”

“Aye,” Alec agreed slowly. How the hell did Sadie ever fit into this strange world?

“Where are Seth and Holly? I need to know which scenes the team would like me to work on first or if I just need to come up with some new ones in case we need filler.” Sadie wiggled her way through the tight confines of the trailer to stand between Alec and Abe, gently taking the pen out of Abe’s hands and snapping her fingers in front of his nose when he seemed trapped in an unblinking stare at Alec. “Abe! Did you hear me?”

Abe finally blinked and looked at Sadie, his long, thin face lighting up as though he’d just remembered who she was. “What are you talking about? All the scenes and most of the fillers have been done for weeks. We’re just here to amp up historically colloquial dialogue and add more accents in case they need it.”

Sadie’s jaw tensed, and the muscles rippled in her cheek. Alec could almost hear her teeth grinding together. The telltale signs of frustration and being betrayed stiffened her back ramrod straight. “Delia didn’t speak with you? With the team?”

Abe sidled behind the table, slid down to one of the benches, and opened the laptop. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Without looking up from the computer screen, he jerked his head toward the door. “Seth and Holly are over in wardrobe talking to Cat. Go pester them. I’ve got to get his accent down for the sequel.” Finally pulling his attention up from the laptop, he pointed across the room at an empty coffeepot. “And while you’re out, we need coffee and snacks. Delia said keeping the campers stocked was your job. You better get your ass in gear. I heard Sorin bitching that you hadn’t stocked his trailer yet either.”

A burn of protective fury surged through Alec. He wanted to grab the bastard by the throat and shove that laptop up his arse. How dare he talk to Sadie in such a way! Alec leaned over the table, thumping his fists down hard on either side of the computer. He lifted his chin and bared his teeth, coming nearly nose to nose with the wide-eyed, bespectacled man. “Ye’ll not speak to her like that again. She’s not some servant to be ordered about. Ye ken?”

Abe’s scraggly brows arched so high they disappeared into his ragged mop of dark hair. “Ken? What’s k-ken mean?” he stammered.

“It means ye understand that ye are to treat this woman with the respect she deserves. Aye?”

“Aye,” Abe whispered, shoving back as far as he could get from Alec.

A light touch patted the center of Alec’s back. “Alec . . . come on. It’s okay. Really.”

Alec straightened, pulled Sadie from behind him, and steered her toward the door. “We are finished here. We’ll find the others and see what they have to say about yer screenwriting duties.”

“Screenwriting duties?” Abe repeated with a derisive snort. “She’s not a screenwriter. She’s Delia’s gopher.”

Alec lunged across the short distance, grabbed Abe by the throat of his stained T-shirt, and lifted him off the bench. “Is yer memory so short or is yer stupidity just impossible to overcome?”

“S-sorry,” Abe stuttered. “W-won’t happen again.”

“Alec,” Sadie hissed. “Put him down. Please.”

Shoving the scarecrow of a man into the corner of the bench, Alec jabbed a finger hard against Abe’s narrow chest, thumping the cringing man’s breastbone in time with every word. “Ye best remember what I said.” This poor excuse for a man had no idea how badly Alec wished to snap him in two.

Abe’s eyes widened behind the glasses that were now sitting slightly askew on his face. He bobbed his chin up and down in a trembling nod. “I’ll remember. Promise.”

“Alec,” Sadie said.

Alec couldn’t help but smile. Sadie’s tone reminded him of Máthair when her patience was nearly spent. “Aye, lass. We’re done here.” He motioned her toward the door. “On to find the others to see what they have to say.”

Alec didn’t miss Sadie’s knotted fists as she blew out the door and stomped down the steps. As soon as she reached the ground, she whirled around, glaring at him with a murderous glint in her eyes. “I appreciate you defending me, but I can take care of myself. This is my battle. I’ll get it straightened out.”

Lore a’mighty. She was even more beautiful when she was angry . Alec clenched his jaws tight to keep from smiling. No sense adding fuel to her righteous fire, but—’twas time she learned that no Highlander stood aside and allowed his woman to be slandered.

“I willna have anyone speaking to ye in such a way.” He squared off in front of her, doing his best to appear stern but finding it an impossible task. The way the breeze toyed with her hair, fluttering the dark ringlets of her ponytail back around her throat like a lover’s caress, reminded him of yesterday. And how she had been. Breathtakingly naked and glorious. Astraddle his body with her head thrown back in ecstasy. He pulled in a deep breath and smiled. “And by the by, ye do smell of strawberries still.”

Her frown melted away and her tensed posture visibly relaxed. “It’s my shampoo. Strawberry. One of my favorite scents.” She tilted her head to a teasing angle and smiled up at him—the same inviting look she’d given him while lying beneath him yesterday. “Especially after our picnic.”

His cock nearly roared to be set free. ’Twas a wonder the crotch of his jeans didn’t split asunder. Alec reached out, stepped closer, and cradled her face in his palm. “So, I’m forgiven then?”

With her gaze locked with his, Sadie wet her lips, then pulled in a shaking breath and slowly blew it out. “Yes,” she said quietly. “As long as you promise to let me fight my own battles from now on. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“I can make no such promise,” Alec replied, tenderly nibbling across the soft sweetness of her bottom lip. “I always defend my own,” he whispered, adding a light kiss to seal the oath.

“Sadie!”

Sadie jerked away and stumbled back a few steps. Shifting to Alec’s side, she kept her voice low while calling his attention to the man and woman walking toward them. “It’s Seth and Holly. Good. Maybe I can get this settled now.”

Doing his damnedest to hold his composure, Alec glared at the approaching couple. He already didn’t like them. They’d just rudely interrupted what was about to be a very fine kiss.

“So, this is your assignment. ” The woman, short and spritely, looking like a demonic elf with coal-black hair tipped in neon blue, sauntered closer. Her smirk, paired with the insulting tone of her voice, colored her words an ugly shade. She gave Alec a brazen up-and-down glance as though sizing him up for breeding, then sidled up next to Sadie. “Delia said you’d finally hit pay dirt.”

“Don’t be such a shit, Holly.” The man at her side, a tall, lanky fellow with long, sandy hair pulled back in a thin ponytail, gave Sadie an apologetic smile. “Ignore her. You know she hates setting foot anywhere outside of LA.” He extended his right hand to Alec. “I’m Seth Hanover and this is Holly Mason.”

Sadie squeezed Alec’s right arm, nudging him to take Seth’s hand. “Seth’s been with Realm Spinners Productions since the beginning.” She nodded at Holly with a look that clearly conveyed she didn’t like the woman. “Holly joined our ranks last year.”

At least the man had the good sense to show a bit of civility. Alec took his hand, squeezing hard to leave no doubt as to who was the alpha here.

“Alec MacDara,” he said without releasing Seth’s hand. “’Tis good to meet those that Sadie will be writing with.” He ignored Sadie’s sharp intake of breath. If these two were going to behave as the disrespectful Abe had, ’twas best to flush the bastards out in the open straight away. Battles were best waged head on.

“Writing with?” Seth flinched as he drew his hand away from Alec’s iron grip. Massaging his fingers, he cradled his hand tight against his chest.

Holly snorted out a very unladylike chortle, increasing Alec’s dislike of her tenfold. “What the hell are you talking about? Sadie’s not a writer. She’s Delia’s flunky.”

“Delia didn’t say anything to either of you about me joining the team or helping with scenes and dialogue?” Sadie directed the question to Seth, pointedly turning her back on Holly as the woman stood impatiently tapping the toe of one ragged boot and chewing on the tips of her glossy black fingernails.

Seth cast a nervous glance at Alec and edged back a step with a quick shake of his head. “I’m sorry, Sadie. She didn’t say anything to us. As far as we know, it’s just business as usual, where Delia whines and bitches and you make sure everyone has whatever they need.”

“By the way, I’m out of nail polish.” Holly spit out the false fingernail she’d just peeled off with her teeth and held up her ragged-looking fingers for inspection. “Blacks and blues. Just like always.”

Alec gritted his teeth. He could feel Sadie trembling beside him, struggling to deal with the humiliating situation her damnable sister had thrown at her feet. He sucked in a deep breath and clenched his fists, noting with not a little satisfaction that Seth’s face had grown visibly paler.

With a wide-eyed glance at Alec’s fists, Seth backed up another pace and jerked his thumb back over one shoulder toward the long black bus parked at the head of the field. “Why don’t you go talk to Delia?” He bowed to Alec with a respectful dip of his chin. “I’m sure you’ll get it straightened out.”

“He’s right. Come on, Alec.” Sadie charged forward, pushing her way between Seth and Holly.

“Hey! Don’t forget my nail polish,” Holly called after them.

Without slowing down or looking back, Sadie shouted, “Fuck you, Holly!”