Page 15 of Stunts and Sparks

“Isn’t it locked?” she asked.

“Sure, but this is an emergency. I’m sure they won’t mind.” The cafeteria was a log cabin with one huge dining room and a kitchen at the back. Cole managed to find a window that was slightly open, and he pushed it open the rest of the way. “Let’s go,” he said, offering a boost to Heather. “They’re bound to have some ice in here. Slide in feet first. I’ll be right behind you.”

She did as he instructed, and he crawled through the window right after her. As soon as he was inside, he went around and found all the light switches. Once they were both in a fully lit room, he gestured for her to follow him into the kitchen. He found some baggies and filled one with ice. Then he found a clean dish towel, wrapped the bag of ice in it, and handed it to Heather.

“We should clean the scrapes on your hands, too,” he said. He pulled out a clean washcloth and ran warm water over it. Then, he gestured for Heather to join him at the sink and washed her palms for her.

This was a side of Cole Heather hadn’t thought she would ever see. He always seemed so unserious and rough around the edges, but tonight, he was actually gentle. His touch was barely there when he handled her injured wrist, and nothing he did caused her any kind of pain. “When did you get so nice?” she asked him.

“I’ve always been this nice,” he answered. “You just didn’t notice because you were too busy being jealous of my superior stunt work.”

He winked, and Heather slapped him on the arm with her good hand. She appreciated that he was joking around with her to put her at ease, she assumed. Then she thought about how this wasn’t that different from his usual behavior. Maybe that wasjust his way of putting people at ease. Or maybe he was just an asshole. But she really was starting to suspect it was a lot more than that.

The sound of a door opening sent Heather flying out of her skin for a second. This whole event had brought her back to feeling like a kid again, like she was breaking and entering for nefarious reasons. A masculine voice called out, “Who’s there? Hello?”

“We’re in the kitchen,” Cole answered. He didn’t seem to be having the same nostalgic feelings of getting caught that Heather was experiencing. “Needed ice for an injury.”

A few seconds later, a man Heather recognized as one of the camp coordinators came around the corner with an irritated look on his face. Heather gave him an equal and opposite sheepish expression in the hopes that he would forgive her for making him get up in the middle of the night.

“Sorry,” she said. “I just fell. Clumsy me.” She laughed, embarrassed. “Hurt my wrist. Cole here is helping me to patch it up.”

The man who had found them crossed his arms and appeared to consider the situation. “Well, you should see the medic.”

“Are they up at this hour?” Cole asked.

“For this, she will be.” The man pulled out his phone and made a quick call. “Hey, Katie,” he said to whoever answered. “We have an after-hours situation. Doesn’t look too serious, but you should probably be the judge of that… All right. I’ll send them right over.” Then he turned to Cole and Heather. “Head to the infirmary. She’ll meet you there. You know where that is?”

Cole nodded, and he and Heather headed to the infirmary. It was easy enough to find, especially being the only building that had lights on at this hour. When they got there, he knocked on the door, and a middle-aged woman with long, curly hair opened the door.

“Who’s the injury?” she asked, and Cole pointed to Heather.

“I fell on it,” Heather explained, gesturing to her wrist.

“I see. Follow me.” She led them a little further into the building and had her sit on an examination table. “Let’s see it.”

Heather took the ice off her wrist and offered it to the medic, who examined it carefully. “This doesn’t look broken to me,” she said, confirming what Cole had already suspected. “You should probably get an X-ray, just in case, so we don’t miss a fracture. In the meantime, I can get a brace for you. Keep it on until you know for sure. But truth be told, I’ve seen much worse.”

“You get a lot of injuries here, do you?” Cole joked.

The medic smiled back at him. “Why do you think we make you sign that gigantic waiver before you even show up?”

Cole’s smile dropped, and he seemed momentarily angry that their director had insisted they come to a place like this. For once, Heather felt he possibly did care a little bit about her safety. He turned back to Heather with a concerned expression that was so unlike him, Heather had to do a double take. “The competition is off, by the way. I’m not racing you again.”

Heather glared at him. “I refuse to surrender.” She was half joking, but when he responded, she got the impression he wasn’t joking at all.

He patted her on the shoulder and said, “I don’t expect you to. The white flag is mine, sweetheart. You won the first time, and I have no doubt you would have won again. You work too hard not to kick my ass.” He grinned down at her. “And I respect the hell out of that.”

The nurse bandaged Heather’s wrist and secured it with a semi-rigid brace. “This should help keep you from injuring it further.” While she cleaned up her infirmary, she said, “You know, I see a lot of couples come through here. I don’t hold out much hope for most of them. But you two? I can tell you two are going to last.”

Heather glanced at Cole and met his eyes, questioning. Then he burst out laughing, and so did she. It was good to be friends, finally. Maybe this boot camp thing hadn’t been a waste of time after all.

CHAPTER 8

COLE

Cole waited on the stretch of highway he was meant to drive down with Heather handcuffed in the passenger seat. The director wanted a reshoot, but Heather was a few minutes late. For the first time since the day they met, Cole felt excited to see her and work with her again. He was determined to find that balance between making her comfortable and having fun with her.

When she finally showed up, she was wearing a smile and a brace on her arm. “Little wardrobe malfunction,” she said with a bashful laugh.

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