Page 610 of One More Kiss

Josie

Mister Poser steppedinto the situation like he’d found the thing he was meant to do. Cole Worthington hadn’t fit anywhere all day. That much was obvious in the way he stood, trying not to jitter or shove his hands in his pockets too many times.

There’s nothing quite like watching a man who knows action but doesn’t have it.

Director Rennie was infamous for taking someone amazing and turning them into crap on screen, ruining lives and careers without a care, providing he got his ratings. My summer intern job had turned into a nightmare when I realized what he was like, but by then it was too late to back out.

Cole Worthington was nothing like him. Watching him turn the young man, a graduate student if not younger, onto his side to try to clear his airway was like seeing a wild animal hunt prey. Except this man saved lives, protected them, rather than took them.

And there was the broken romantic in me who wanted to make happy films rather than watch a man be pulled apart strand by strand until Rennie left him with nothing more than his worst deeds in office and walked away.

I didn’t want to see that happen to this Texas Ranger.

An ambulance pulled into the field up on the road, its miniature seeming lights a reminder of just how far away we were from the main road, or anywhere. I clung to Cole’s wrist, looking behind us. The lights of Austin set a glow against the darkening sky. The hard lighting lit the field around us but ruined any chance of night vision. Outside our little halo, it might as well have been midnight.

“You’re going to be okay, bud. No stress. Get you a decent doc and a cute nurse. Like nurses, man? I’ll find you the prettiest one in Austin if you can manage a deep breath…” I started to object to Cole’s some murmur, but it took me less than a second to realize he didn’t expect a response. He was just a really tall cop in a white hat in Texas, talking a person through trauma.

I knew those signs, and I’d grown up with a father who did the same thing every time I hurt myself. Sometimes it had been overkill, but most of the time I’d appreciated it.

Mostly.

Cole reminded me of the man my father used to be.

I shifted into a crouch, my thighs already screaming from crouching, and tried to straighten but Cole’s hand wrapped around mine and squeezed tight. A tingle shot through my hand and up my arm at the contact, but right now wasn’t the time to analyze it. I frowned but didn’t pull away.

Settling back beside him, I watched the Texas Ranger in full swing. His strong, firm movement spoke of his capacity to work under pressure and his ability to focus in a crisis. The boy had stopped bubbling, but was still breathing, calm, his eyes closed. Some of the panic that reduced my breathing space loosened.

Around us, the crew muttered, and though I couldn't make out the words, I knew what they were saying. It was the same thing that had shifted in my head the moment I saw those pink bubbles. But Paul, he seemed to be breathing better now, though I knew he was far from being out of danger.

Cole released my hand to grip the boy’s, and my hand grew cold at the lack of contact, though it had only lasted an instant. He kept on talking as the ambulance pulled up to the edge of the scene, and two paramedics jumped out. He managed to stay out of their way but help at the same time, lifting as needed, still talking in that low, soothing voice that could have lulled me to sleep any night of the week.

“Not bad, huh?” Owen, one of Rennie’s full time writers, leaned in to whisper in my ear. “It’s like he was born for that sort of shit. Not like the crap we had to watch all day.”

Though I didn’t agree with his full sentiment, I knew what he meant. Clutching my clipboard to my chest, I nodded, and cast a quick glance around, but Rennie was nowhere in sight. Had he heard my comment before? Cole had caught it; his body tensed and he reacted in a totally different way as soon as I’d let them slip. Not that we kept secrets, but being his first day, I wasn’t sure how many rumors he’d been subject to, and which he’d chosen to believe or not, just yet.

Or maybe he hadn’t heard me, and reacted to the situation instead, but something in the way he touched me, moving me to one side told me I had it right the first time.

“Gonna go out with him?” Owen squeezed my shoulder, his voice leering at me even if I couldn't see his face.

I winced at the unwanted physical contact. “Cole wants company, not romance. Pretty obvious he felt out of place all day, if you ask me. And right now…I think we should focus on Paul, don’t you?” It came out preachy but he had asked, so he couldn't be bothered by my explanation. That Cole had actually asked me on a date sat…all too well in my stomach. The idea itself sent a shiver over me but the Texas Ranger drew my eye.

Tall, broad shouldered with a head of soft brown hair, strong jaw and white teeth, Cole Worthington looked like a typical western poster boy. He filled out his shirt in all the right places, leaving me to imagine the hard muscle hiding beneath, and he wore a white hat just fine.

No wonder he was the man they’d sent out to film for the doco, but something with him all day hadn't felt right, like he hadn’t wanted to be there. Or maybe it was just standing around. After seeing him in action for the last minute, I could understand what the day must have felt like to him—long and wasteful.

“I think he wanted a bit more than to feel all included,” Owen grated in my ear.

I stepped forward, away from Rennie’s leech, and closer to Cole without a word. Torn between trying to rip Owen a new one and letting out a banshee yell at the top of my lungs to voice my frustration would terrify everyone nearby. Besides, a man was being carried away to an ambulance in front of me. Screaming would be considered poor form at best.

“Hey, Josie.” Cole twisted on the spot as the paramedic he’d spoken to moved off. “Give me a few minutes to file a report, ask a few questions, huh? I’d love to try the sushi place with you.” His disarming grin did odd things to my stomach.

Owen walked away behind me, his low, mocking laugh echoing in the space around us but I ignored it.

“Sure. I’ll help….pack up. Or something.” I glanced around the area but most of the gear was already packed away as people broke off and headed for their own rental cars and temporary accommodation. “Rennie,” I called, trotting to the director’s side. “Can I help set up anything for tomorrow? Are you heading to the hospital with Paul?” I asked in a too-bright voice but there was no one around to hear my insecurity, and Rennie wasn’t the sort to notice anyone’s concerns but his own.

“Jodie, Josie,” Rennie corrected himself. He swiped an arm across his mouth and sniffed hard. “Yes, sure you can go to the hospital. I need to edit today’s film and things…” His eyes glazed under the tall lights. “Pack those up. The ambulance is gone, eh? Go, look after the kid.”

“Oh.” I blinked, but Rennie slung his satchel over his shoulder and collected a small pile of folders. They teetered in his arms, but before they fell he set a fast pace for the parking lot I’d helped mark out sometime around daybreak. “I’ll— sure.” I sighed.

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