But the small flutter in her chest told her it wasn’t only that.
Chapter Six
Church kept his pace slow, allowing Miss Collins to navigate the uneven ground in her high heels. Their progress from the trailer toward the filming location was painfully slow, but it gave him time to scan the area.
Road clear.
Tree line clear.
This was one of the easiest jobs he’d ever had, and he’d take it. His years of war were behind him. Soon he’d spend his days training men for battle and his evenings with a beer in hand, looking out over the Wyoming mountains.
Except right now, the mountains didn’t have his attention.
Zee did.
The woman possessed an effortless elegance. In simple trousers and a deep red sweater, she looked like she’d stepped out of a movie set herself instead of a training facility office. The sunlight caught in her chestnut hair, turning the strands to warm copper as she moved from the food tent to her usual chair with a fresh cup of tea in hand.
Church had long ago learned the value of mirrored sunglasses. They were perfect cover in a bodyguard role and no one ever knew exactly where he was looking, which meant he could keep an eye on Zee without appearing like he was ignoring his surroundings.
Suddenly Miss Collins cried out.
Church snapped his attention forward. The actor wobbled, clutching at the assistant beside her. One of her heels had snapped clean off on the uneven dirt.
“Oh my god,” she gasped, grabbing her ankle.
Church stepped in, already assessing. Not an injury, just a heel dangling uselessly from the bottom of the shoe.
She looked up at him for answers.
“Nothing to worry about.” He pitched his voice into a soothing tone. “Heel’s broken.”
“But we’re supposed to be filming!”
“You’re not walking anywhere in that.” He eyed her. “May I?” He held out his arms.
She nodded, and he scooped her up in one smooth motion. From beside them, her assistant issued a small gasp and as he carried her back to the trailers, crew members hung back, staring.
By the time he reached the wardrobe trailer, someone had already pulled the door open.
He shouldered his way through the narrow door with Miss Collins in his arms. “Broken heel.”
The wardrobe assistant fell back a step, hand fluttering to his chest like Miss Collins had been injured in combat.
“Take twenty!” someone shouted.
Church almost laughed at the absurdity of it, unable to grasp the idea of breaking for twenty minutes when it took twenty seconds to slip on a new pair of shoes.
Miss Collins sank into a chair while the team fussed around her, bringing her alternate shoe choices and water, as if she’d crawled through the desert for twenty days. Within seconds she declared she needed a longer break to recover.
Seeing he wasn’t needed at the moment, he stepped back outside and mentally rolled his eyes.
The sudden pause in filming gave him a few minutes, and he scanned the area once more before heading toward the folding chairs near the trailers.
Zee was sitting where he’d left her. She had her phone in hand, her brows slightly furrowed as she stared at the screen.
When he approached, she glanced up. “Everything okay?”
“Broken heel. Production crisis.”
