As the door shut behind him, Easton couldn’t help a slight smile. One of her people, huh? He’d been called worse things.

Chapter 5

   River wouldn’t lie. She’d enjoyed every second of letting the reporter have it.

One of the things she’d been warned of early in her career was that above all else, she needed to be pleasant. Don’t make waves. Don’t push back. And maybe at first, she’d gone along with it because she was new to LA, broke and scared. Hungry for more than only her dream of being an actress, River had been living off discount peanut butter and stale bread, sleeping in her car, and praying she didn’t have to tuck tail and crawl back home defeated. She’d needed the work, so she’d followed that advice.

One of the things she had finally learned in the industry was her most important lesson yet. Pleasant was code for pushover.

Screw. That.

She’d had her fair share of battles with the press, and while some reporter with an agenda to push was not even on her radar of what affected her, Tasha crossed the line when she went after Easton. He was the only one in this town who’d tried to help them, and trying to make him feel bad for taking her and the crew to Mount Veil was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

And boy, taking the reporter to task had been exactly what she needed.

Two coffees in hand, River nearly bounced as she crossed the street to the park where she’d left the rental SUV. A familiar faded red truck was parked next to her. Leaning against the tailgate, Easton Lockett was a sight for sore eyes.

“Should I make sure Tasha still has a pulse?” he asked.

“I probably shouldn’t have been so tough on her,” River said. “But she was mean to you, and you’re very good-looking.”

The beard twitched. If he was smiling under there, it was impossible to tell, but her gut said his lips were doing something.

“Do I need to call for Jonah again?”

River laughed, leaning back against the tailgate next to him. “You realize you’ve been threatening me with the cops since the minute we met. I’m starting to think you don’t trust me.”

“I’m going into the bush with you.” Arms folded loose across his chest, it was hard not to notice biceps the size of his, right at her eye level. “If I didn’t trust you, I’d never step foot above ten thousand feet with you.”

“What about below ten thousand feet?” she asked.

“I can hold my own closer to sea level.” He gazed down at her, adding mischievously, “But canceling on you might be even scarier.”

“Oh, trust me, it would be.” River handed him the second coffee. “Here, I brought you a refill. Least I can do for making you the talk of the town.”

“Not a big deal.” Even with the beard, River could see him choke on his first sip of coffee. “Damn, woman. What did you put in here?”

“Hey, I never claimed to know how you like your coffee. I just brought you one. I call that the River Lane special. Half hot chocolate, half coffee, and enough espresso to raise your heart rate.”

“You’re worse than Ash.” The man was brave enough to take another sip, grimace, then keep on drinking.

River gestured toward the SUV. “Okay, how do we do this?”

“We need to do an equipment check. And then afterward, I need to evaluate everyone’s skill levels. Where’s the rest of the crew?”

“Shooting B-roll.”

“Shooting who?”

Upon seeing the confused expression on his face, River had to hide her smile behind her cup. “B-roll is extra footage that can be used to fill in gaps in the documentary. We’re trying to get everything we can before we leave town. Don’t worry. I have everyone’s packs in the car.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? You’re going to get caught. There’s an official watch out on you right now.”

River almost spit her coffee. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“The town has a message board, and everyone posts the newest film crew sighting. They have you on high alert.”

“Show me.”

After some serious pressure, Easton finally caved and took out his phone. Sure enough, the website he pulled up showed a running list of—

“Wait. Are they calling this alien invader sightings?”

“They think Jessie kind of looks like E.T.”

“I mean…they’re not wrong.” River slumped against the truck. “Is this why Jonah shows up everywhere we are?”

“Probably.” His expression shifted from amusement to a frown. “If I’m taking everyone up, I need an accurate skill assessment of all of them.”

“We’re a skeleton crew, big guy. We all split the tasks, or we’d never get anything done. Don’t worry. They’ll get here eventually.”

Easton wasn’t happy with her answer. “Then this will have to wait.”

When River opened her mouth, Easton cut her off before she dug her heels in and forced the issue. “I understand the conflict, and I’m not disagreeing with your need for splitting tasks. I just can’t responsibly take you three up a mountain like Veil and not have an idea of your competency levels. I’ve had clients who’d never used crampons. I’ve had clients who didn’t even know how to put them on or had the wrong size for their boots. Now’s the time to be figuring this out, not after the helicopter has dropped us off on the slope.”

River perked up. “Oooh, we’re taking a helicopter?”

“Unless you want to hike miles of tundra and destroy your feet before we get there.” Easton gave her a sexy smile. “Have at it, but I’m taking the helicopter.”

That smile was far more dangerous than even the broad shoulders or tightly muscled arms only inches away from her. To distract herself, River changed the subject. “Do you think we’ll need the crampons? We got them because they were on the list, but I’ve never needed them before.” River pulled a receipt out of her pocket, waving it at him. “I kept thinking you were going to add a kitchen sink. And then you did.”

“It’s not a sink. It’s a lightweight collapsible bowl for washing dishes when we’re lower on the mountain. Believe it or not, fish don’t love soap bubbles in their rivers.”

“And Rivers can read. The label says camping sink. See? Right here. Sink.”

Chuckling, he finished his coffee and folded the paper cup, tucking it in his pocket. “Trust me, you’ll want it. And we won’t need the crampons at first, but we’ll be climbing a glacier once we get above the tree line. You’ll be glad when the mountain turns into one massive Slip ‘N Slide.”