Page 36 of Hate To Be Mine

“No, I want you to call off your guard dogs so I can get my own damn water.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, sounding exasperated.

“I can’t even get a bottle of water,” I said, the words sounding pathetic. “Cookie won’t let me have one. Says food and beverages are for crew only.”

He had the audacity to chuckle. I felt anger flash hot through my misery.

“Get. Away. From. Me. Now.”

He waved my command away like an annoying gnat. “Sorry. That’s probably my fault. I was venting to Cookie about you earlier and she’s really protective of me, like an aunt.”

“Haha, dehydration and heat stroke are so funny.”

“I’m just saying that’s probably why Cookie denied you water. She’s usually a sweetheart.” Sebastian shrugged. “Man, your company really dropped the ball. They sent you out here with no place to stay and no accommodations for meals and basic necessities. Maybe save some of that venom for them instead of blaming my crew.”

“Your crew hates me,” I pouted. He’d already seen me bawling, no need to act like I had any dignity left. “I know I’m not one of them. I know they think I’m the enemy. But I’m just trying to keep people safe. That’s all I’ve ever been trying to do.”

“No,” he snapped. “You’re just trying to cover your company’s ass. You don’t care about people. You care about money. About not having to pay out on the policy.”

The accusation stung because it was exactly what my father wanted. But it wasn’t what I wanted.

“That’s not true,” I said, meeting his eyes. “I want both things. Yes, I want to protect my company from unnecessary payouts. But I also genuinely want everyone to be safe. At the end of the day, our goals are the same, Sebastian. We both want this shoot to go smoothly, with no injuries and no delays. We’re on the same side, even if it doesn’t feel like it.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. He couldn’t argue with that, and we both knew it.

I took a shaky breath. “Let me tell you what my dad told me when I started working for him. Every safety rule in the book was written in blood.”

“Shit,” Sebastian said. “That’s dramatic.”

“Yes, and that’s my point. This is a big deal. These rules exist because someone got hurt. Someone died. Someone’s life was ruined because people got careless or cut corners or decided that creativity was more important than caution. Why do you think there’s a caution on coffee cups now? Because some yahoo seemed to forget hot coffee was hot and sued and won. All of the rules are established for a reason.”

“No one has been hurt on a shoot for as long as I can remember,” he said, but his tone was less defensive now. More contemplative, like he was actually trying to remember when someone had been hurt.

“Because people followed the rules,” I said, leaning forward. “Don’t you see? This is the problem. The rules work so well, with no injuries or accidents, that everyone forgets why the rules exist in the first place. They think they’re unnecessary. They think safety protocols are just bureaucratic nonsense. Then they get sloppy. And they’re forced to relearn all those lessons the hard way. Broken bones. Third-degree burns. A family without a father. A daughter who’ll never be home for Christmas.”

I was thinking of actual cases I had reviewed. It was dark. Macabre. But it was my life. They were all claims I had processed. Lives that had been destroyed because someone thought rules didn’t apply to them.

“You are fucking intense right now,” Sebastian said. I braced myself for the insult. The disgust at someone being such a downer. I was used to it. I wasn’t the life of the party—not that I attended a lot of parties. “And it’s turning me the fuck on.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, even though I felt a warm and fuzzy feeling spreading through my body. I was secretly flattered. And I hated that I was flattered. He was just saying stupid shit. There was no way he was turned on by anything about me.

I knew when I was being screwed with. He wasn’t the first guy to mess with the nerd. Throughout high school and college, I lived in fear I was going to be Carrie-d. That kept me from dating anyone until after I graduated, and even then, I was very selective.

“I’m being serious,” I said.

“So am I.”

“Do I need to write this all down on my tits to get you to pay attention?” I asked. “To get you to understand that there is real danger?”

He shrugged, that playful glint returning to his eyes. “Only one way to find out.”

I sighed, but it was more for show. His charm was surprisingly infectious. “Are you hearing anything I’ve said?”

“I’m hearing you,” he said with a wink. “I’m vibing on you, getting lost in your eyes.”

“Are you ever serious?”

“Not really,” he admitted. “But if it’s any consolation, I came out here looking for you because I wanted your opinion on the next shooting spot. There’s a lagoon we want to use, but the edge looks a little slippery. I wanted to check with you first. Make sure it’s safe.”