Read Online Love, Tussles, and Takedowns by Violet Duke - Free Book Online Page B

of the mobile house that had been home for him for the past few weeks. It was basically a trailer with roots about thirty minutes from the film site but he’d requested it specifically when his boss had told him he’d be living in Yuma for a few months during filming. It was an hour away from the posh neighborhood where most of the principle cast and crew were staying. Extravagant hotel-like accommodations and resort-style villas in gated communities didn’t float his boat. His tiny little house just contained the bare necessities, along with the one indulgent thing he’d allowed himself to splurge on, his giant king-sized bed that essentially filled up the entire bedroom.
    Tonight was the first night he truly wished his bed weren’t quite so empty.
    And that the woman he wanted sharing it with him wasn’t quite so off-limits.
    It was a slightly easier pill to swallow now that he was officially two hundred miles away from her.
    Yes, he’d counted the mile markers.
    He grabbed a beer and sat out on his little lawn chair in his ‘back yard.’ Oh, if his parents could see him now. This entire lot could fit in their current Paradise Valley mansion. Yet another reason for them to be disappointed in him.
    Taking a swig, he watched the sun set and wondered over the hollow feeling he was experiencing. Sure, he’d felt like he was missing something now that he wasn’t in the military anymore but that wasn’t it. It was more than just a hole where his life used to be, it wasn’t a feeling that he was necessarily missing anything but rather…wanting something.
    Something more.
    It was an unsettling feeling. He’d never wanted for anything in his life before now. Not really. And he was entirely ill-equipped to process the feeling fully.
    And to think he’d only gone to the gun show on a lark.
    As a believable excuse to get away from his friends who’ve been ‘killing him with kindness’ from the moment his latest film consulting contract relocated him back to Arizona temporarily.
    By the end, however, he’d found himself glad to be in attendance. It was all a very different take on weaponry. Almost artistic.
    Almost enough to make him forget that these very weapons were the ones responsible for the career-ending injuries he’d sustained to his hands.
    He had not been expecting this when he woke up today.
    Life lately had been…routine.
    Not that he wasn’t grateful for having landed a job that his unique skillsets qualified him to be an “expert” in outside of the military. Thanks to the company run by a buddy he knew back when he’d been a Ranger, Hudson had been able to start fresh in California, consulting on fight scenes and weapons for the movie industry. And as luck would have it, his newest project involved him working alongside his favorite little starlet, Fiona—his only friend from high school who’d clung like a barnacle to their friendship no matter how much Hollywood tried to change her, and how far the Army took him.
    Talk about a departure from his past life.
    But it was good in a way for him to be around Fiona and her crowd. It took his mind off things he’d just as well never remember again.
    Lately, however, even Fiona had been proving herself to be less the non-hovering free spirit friend he’d come to appreciate in his life and more like everyone else who couldn’t help but give him ‘that look’ whenever meeting his eyes. Sure, he’d taken this latest contract in Arizona knowing full well that she’d be one of the main actresses on set, but he didn’t honestly think they’d be seeing each other too much since she wasn’t playing a role that had any weapon or combat scenes. He’d thought he could just take the few months to collect himself. Re-charge. Heal.
    Or at least forget.
    He quickly discovered that this was the exact opposite of Fiona’s plans for him. From chick-prowling bro-dates with a few of the guys on the crew to the not-so-subtle suggestions for him to show the