and a twinkle in his bright blue eyes that had made her lose her train of thought on more than one occasion already.
‘I’m serious, Kat,’ George cautioned her again. Had he mistaken her smile to mean she wasn’t paying attention to his warning? ‘I’ve seen that look in his eye before. You really don’t want him to set his sights on you. Stronger women than you have fallen for his charms. He loves the thrill of the chase and he hates to let a pretty girl go unappreciated, but he has a tendency to leave a trail of broken hearts behind him.’
He had a cheeky appeal and amazing eyes and his smile made her stomach tumble, but Kat wasn’t about to succumb to his charm. She’d met charming men before and didn’t intend to be another notch on his bedpost. And she hadn’t been kidding when she’d said she knew how to handle herself. There was no denying Oliver Harding was gorgeous and charming but she was not the type to fall for charming and handsome. Well, that wasn’t technically true but she wasn’t the type to have flings with famous men who were just visiting. That was something irresponsible people did. Spontaneous people. And she’d learnt not to be either of those.
‘Don’t worry about me, George. I really can handle myself.’
‘He has a reputation for seducing women, but, in his defence, don’t believe everything you read or hear. He’s a nice guy but still a flirt and definitely incorrigible.’
‘I’m here to work, not fool around with the staff,’ Kat stated, reminding herself of her obligations as much as she was reminding George. ‘So, what exactly did you want to see me about?’
George sighed. ‘Oliver has it written into his contract that he gets to do a proportion of his own stunt work. A large proportion. But yesterday things didn’t go quite to plan. He was involved in an accident. The vehicle he was driving was supposed to crash but instead of going into a controlled sideways tip it flipped at speed and ended up on its roof. He seems to be fine.’
Kat thought back—she hadn’t noticed a limp or any bruising or protective postures, but she hadn’t been looking for signs of injury. She’d been too focused on his mesmerising blue eyes and on trying not to act like a star-struck fan.
‘But,’ George continued, ‘since the incident our first-aid officer is refusing to be responsible for Oliver’s safety and I must say she has a point. We have a stunt coordinator who is also Oliver’s double but…sometimes things go wrong. I think it would be prudent to have someone on set who has more experience than just a first-aid qualification. Not full-time, just when we’re doing the stunts. Do you think, if I gave you the filming schedule, you might be able to work with us? Would you be interested?’
‘I think so.’ George had outlined his thoughts on the phone to her last night but she needed more details. ‘Can you give me a basic idea of what would be required, mainly how much time?’
She listened as George ran through the filming schedule with her.
‘I’d still need to be available for ambulance shifts—even with the volunteers we don’t have enough staff to allow me to give those up,’ Kat said. Getting qualified paramedics to work in rural and remote areas was always tough and Kat knew she would have to make sure she didn’t put her colleagues under any additional pressure by requesting time off in order to do something that was purely to satisfy her own desires. As tempting and exciting as it was to think of working on a movie set, not to mention with Oliver Harding, her commitment to her career had to be her priority.
‘We could work around your schedule to a certain degree. As long as you could be on set when we’re doing the stunt work. Would that be possible? I don’t want to wear you out.’
From what George had described to her last night, the movie wasn’t really her cup of tea—she preferred drama and thrillers to science fiction—but she had to admit it would be exciting to work on a film set, and getting to work with Oliver would be an added bonus.
‘I reckon I can work something out. I’ll see if I can swap some of my day shifts for nights. We’re on call overnight. With a resident population of just over two thousand people there’s not usually a lot to keep us busy. It’s tourists that swell our numbers and keep us occupied.’
‘That’s great. I’ll get a contract drawn up; you’ll be fairly paid for your time.’
‘I don’t need—’
‘Don’t argue,’ George interrupted. ‘I need it to be all above board and your wages will be a drop in the ocean that is our budget. Think of it as spending money—put it aside and treat yourself to something.’
Kat couldn’t remember the last time she’d treated herself to something. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what she would do, but it was easier to agree.
‘There is one other thing,’ George added. ‘A favour. I need some extra locations. The cave where I wanted to shoot is apparently sacred Aboriginal land and I can’t get permission to film there. You don’t happen to know of anything else around here?’
‘I do know something that might do,’ Kat replied. ‘It’s on my godfather’s land about ten minutes out of town. I can take you out to see it later today if you like. Shall I meet you at the hotel?’
Kat picked up the copy of the film schedule that George had given her, kissed him goodbye and made arrangements to meet at five. She stepped out of the trailer and found Oliver waiting for her.
‘Now are you going to tell me what you’re doing here?’ he asked as he fell into step beside her. His voice was deep and pleasant, his accent neutral. She’d expected more of an American flavour. Had he been taught to tone it down?
‘I live here.’
‘Really? Here?’
She could hear the unspoken question, the one every visitor asked until they got to know Coober Pedy. Why?
She never knew where to start. How did one begin to explain the beauty, the peace, the wildness, the attraction? She loved it here. That didn’t mean she never entertained the idea of travelling the world and seeing other places, but this was home. This was where her family lived. And family was everything.
She had no idea how to explain all of that, so she simply said, ‘Yes, really.’
‘But you know George?’ He was walking closely beside her and his arm brushed against hers every few steps, interrupting her concentration.
She nodded.
‘Are you going to tell me how?’
‘It’s not my story to tell.’
‘At least tell me why you have the filming schedule, then.’
She stopped walking and turned to look at him. She had to look up. She wasn’t short—she was five feet nine inches tall—but still he was several inches taller. ‘Are you always this nosy?’
‘Yes.’ He was smiling. ‘Although I prefer to think of myself as having an enquiring mind. It sounds more masculine. I’m happy to be in touch with my feminine side, but only in private.’
‘I’m going to be working on the film,’ she said, hoping to surprise him.
‘Doing what?’
‘Keeping you out of trouble,’ she said as she continued towards her car.
‘Trouble is my middle name,’ he laughed.
She didn’t doubt that. She’d only known him for a few minutes and regardless of George’s warning she already had the sense that he was trouble. But she couldn’t help smiling as she said, ‘So I hear.’
Kat reached her car and stretched her hand out to open the door, which she hadn’t bothered locking, but Oliver was faster than she was. He rested his hand on the door frame, preventing her from opening it.
‘And just how exactly do you plan to keep me out of trouble?’ His voice was deep and sexy, perfect for