I’ll explain my adventure when I get in range around seven.Xx.
She held up her phone.‘Does this text meet with your approval?’
Stone’s confident grin grew as he read the message, then focused back on the dirt road.‘I’m guessing that you’re used to people telling you what to do?’
Romy pressed send for her message.‘In my job I’m always dealing with directors and producers who have a particular vision of what they want.So, yeah, I guess I am.’They had the money and were paying for her service.But now she was jobless—even if it still felt like she was working.
Yet, she had rebelled enough to backchat a director, which was a big hardnoin her field, and then quit.What had she been thinking?After having spent years making her way through the filmmakers’ minefields to gain her own accomplishments and experience—she felt like she was limping away, with her professional reputation turning into dust.
‘What are you going to do now?’
Romy shrugged, staring out the window.‘I brought the drones to film a documentary.Didn’t plan much beyond that.’
‘Well, lucky for you, crocs don’t care about employment cheques.You could still point a lens at something toothy.’
She shook her head.‘Julian was on a deadline for a grant submission to help with filming and distribution costs.He had ten days to submit his work.’
‘Don’t you meanyourwork?’
Her brow ruffled at the guy.
‘You were the one doing the filming, you were there in the mud with me, ignoring the mosquitos and midges.’
‘They’ve never bothered me before.Not when there’s all this…’ She pointed at the fence lines running on either side of the dusty road.White cattle grazed on one side, as rows of mango trees stood on the other, with intermittent towers of mud made by ants adding an astonishing touch to this unique region.To think, not even twenty minutes away stood a thick tropical jungle that was home to the man-eating crocodile.‘This place is amazing.’
Stone gave a simple nod.No smart-arse comeback.Just a nod, as if he knew.
Well, he did live here, and the way he spoke about the mother crocodile’s welfare showed he cared, too.
‘Even though Julian flew you in to film a documentary, you must have done some research.’
‘I’ve never had to do it before.I just follow the director’s vision.’Boy, didn’t she blow that.‘I only learned about this job two days ago, when Julian’s last cameraman pulled out.He’d scored a great gig in South America.’While Romy thought this was her chance to prove herself on the meatier jobs.
How wrong had she been.
She sighed, leaning her head against the window.‘I did a quick search about the Territory on the plane trip.’
‘So, really, you didn’t know what you were up against?’He glanced at her like she was someone who easily got into trouble for lack of foresight.
‘I’m not a danger magnet.’
‘Did I say you were?’
‘Look, as the film crew, we get told what to do.We get itineraries slapped into our hands at the airports when we land, then whisked away to our first filming destination.Hey, where are we going?’She laughed at the idiocy of her situation.‘Sorry, I’m usually following someone else’s script.’But she wasn’t going to waste this opportunity of accompanying Stone to the crocodile farm.
‘I kind of got that bit.’He gave her another side glance.It was hot.And so was his rugged profile that was tanned, fit, and studious.It was an unusual combination.But then again, Stone was her first crocodile wrangler.
‘We’re going to Saltscale Farm.The Rowntrees own it.’
‘And you’ll sell these eggs to them?’She gently patted the cooler’s lid.
Stone nodded.‘They’ll incubate them until they hatch, then check over their quality and sort them into areas.’
‘For handbags.’She shook her head.
‘You know the locals call crocodilessnapping handbags?’
‘It’s sad.’
