I clicked the button to call him instead.
“Tell me you’re pulling my leg,” he said without greeting me.
“I wish.”
“Why? Did they lose the fucking film canister or something?”
He was very grumbly this morning which made my dick hard. “Pretty sure canisters haven’t been involved much since the last millennium.”
He made another growly noise which brought a smile to my face. “Thank you,” I said sincerely.
“For what? Premeditated homicide?”
“For making me smile. You’re the best. I gotta go.”
“Be safe. Do you understand me? Tell those fuckers to—”
I cut him off before I came in my pants. “Enough dirty talk, Sheriff. You should get back to work, too.”
“Text me when you’re off the mountain.”
“10-4.”
When I ended the call, I felt grounded and ready to tackle the challenging scene again. An hour later, we were on the road toward Tempter’s Chimney.
It took three hours to get all the shots Joel and Nolan wanted on the tyrol. Thankfully, the ropes were still in place, and Bo and Sara had both traversed them to check their integrity before I clipped in. The weather was gorgeous, and the wind wasn’t high. The camera operator in the helicopter was able to get the angles she wanted. Both directors were chatting happily about the successful shoot. When I joined them in the craft services tent set up on the floor of the ravine, I thought I heard them mention making some changes to the final climbing scene on Slye Peak.
Crystobell came up to congratulate me on the shoot, so I didn’t get to hear the rest of the directors’ conversation about it. I hoped there’d still be time for Kramer to return before the Slye Peak shoot since it was a technical climb that involved a twenty-foot fall on the ropes. I’d feel better if he was there to triple-check all of the equipment before I put the stress of a fall onto the ropes. After being trained not to fall on the ropes and rely on your rigging, it was hard to do it on purpose.
Thankfully, that climb had a top rope I would be using as one of my redundancy anchors. We’d already gone over the choreography of the climb during some of the preproduction meetings, and Kramer had signed off on everything. My character had left his climbing gear bag in the back of his SUV before racing toward the mountain to rescue Crys’s character, so we had an excuse to have high-end gear at hand for the stunt.
I blew out a breath and enjoyed the slightly shaky feeling of exertion in my muscles. It had felt good to be up high again in the gorgeous Colorado sunshine. What a difference a few days made.
I chatted with Crys for a little while before it was her turn to film. People came and went as I took a break at a portable picnic table with my plate full of grilled chicken salad and a couple of bottles of water. This really was a beautiful place to live. I couldn’t imagine being so close to this many incredible climbs and being able to tackle them whenever I wanted.
Declan had mentioned mountain biking, and I wanted to try that, too. Colorado was like a playground for people who liked to be outdoors and active.
After another hour and a half, we were ferried over to another part of the mountain where the cave scenes were filmed. I’d already blocked and shot a hand-to-hand combat scene with Logan there and was very familiar with the layout of the area. The temporary set structure was in place, and I assumed that would be the structure they’d blow up for the explosion scene. It was made to look like an old hunter’s shack near the mouth of the cave. Crystobell’s character would be held in the shack until I rescued her, and we’d have to evade Logan’s character in the cave.
Blocking the explosion scene ended up taking four hours, so when I returned to the set trailer, I was dead on my feet. All I wanted was a shower, a light dinner, and an early bedtime. Preferably with a certain bossy law enforcement officer plastered to my back in spoon fashion.
I picked up my phone to text him that I was finally off the mountain.
Me: Am dead on my feet. Tell me you have sandwiches and a desire to stare at a sleeping actor for hours on end.
Declan: I definitely have a desire to stare at a naked actor for hours on end.
I laughed.
Me: I think you got part of that mixed up.
Declan: I don’t think so.
Me: Can I stay at your place? My mom refuses to leave and the sofa isn’t as comfy as your squishy body.
Declan: Is this how you woo a man? With dirty talk like “your squishy body”?
I laughed and began to type a response, not realizing Kix had appeared at some point and was helping himself to a snack basket on the little kitchen counter in my trailer.