Free Wild About the Man (Mills & Boon Modern Tempted) by Joss Wood Page B

his.
    ‘Nicholas!’ Jabu’s voice had Nick jerking back and scowling. ‘Can you stop doing whatever you’re doing for a minute and concentrate? This is important.’
    Nick pulled his hand from her back and scratched his forehead. Clem, realizing that the moment was over, lifted her hands from his chest in a gesture of surrender and took a step back.
    ‘What is it, Jabu?’
    ‘Poachers dehorned a rhino cow on the reserve up north last night. One of ours.’
    Nick’s eyes flattened with fury and she immediately stepped back. He swore viciously and dropped to his haunches, his finger and thumb gripping the bridge of his nose.
    ‘We’re getting the rest of those rhinos off that property this week.’ His voice was hard and Clemdoubted that anyone, anywhere, would have the guts to disagree with him at that moment.
    ‘That’s the plan.’ Jabu’s voice sounded weary.
    Nick stood up and placed his fist on his hip. ‘Book the transport, the vet, the capture specialists.
Mfo
, we need to get those rhinos out of there.’
    ‘The money? They’ll all want some money upfront.’
    ‘Hold on, I’ll check.’
    Nick looked at her and Clem nodded sombrely. ‘I’ll check with Jason, see that he’s done the transfer. Do you … do you need more?’
    Nick shook his head. ‘The money won’t be a problem, Jabu. Just get the ball rolling.’
    ‘You got it,’ Jabu replied, signing off.
    Clem watched as a shudder passed through his body, then another and saw the turbulent emotions in his eyes. He looked past her and she knew that his brain was running at warp speed, fury and sadness bubbling under the surface.
    Nick heaved in a huge breath and rubbed his temple before glancing at his watch and grimacing. ‘The worst way to start the day. We’ve got to get going.’
    He pulled open the front passenger door and gestured her to climb inside. ‘I’m going to do my pre-flight checks. I won’t be too long.’
    Clem watched him walk around the plane and squirmed in her seat. He was such a fascinating mix of hard male strength and capability but, when it came to his land or his animals, he hada kernel of vulnerability that touched her. And whenever he physically laid hands on her he made her blood sing.
    This could become very complicated, she thought ruefully.
    The sky was a beautiful concoction of blues and the sun a broad golden band on the horizon when Nick pulled into the air and cleared the trees at the end of the runway. Clem watched as he fiddled with the controls as the plane gained altitude and speed. When, she presumed, he was at the right altitude and on course for the airport at the regional capital of Mbombela, he leaned back in his seat and turned his head to look at her. ‘You OK?’ he asked.
    His voice was warm and sexy in her ears, deep and dark through the headset. She felt as if he was speaking directly to her soul.
    ‘I’m fine.’ Clem turned in her seat and rested her head on the back of her seat. ‘We need to talk about the filming. Jason sent me an e-mail confirming that they are doing a run-and-gun shoot with us, partly because you said that there’s no space for a big crew.’
    ‘Two people, that’s it. What is a run-and-gun shoot?’
    ‘Basically, it’s them following the action. They won’t have a coverage plan, they just want interesting, fun stuff and it’s up to us to provide it for them.’
    ‘Define interesting or fun,’ Nick said.
    Clem shrugged. ‘It could be lots of things. Conflict and fights provides a lot of entertainment. So does sex and intrigue. None of that will work for us, so I’ve been thinking about how to give them what they want so that they don’t have to splice and dice and make a story.’
    ‘Uh huh?’
    ‘As much as I hate to admit this, the audience will enjoy seeing me in situations that I feel uncomfortable in. The dirtier and yuckier the better.’
    Nick’s white teeth flashed. ‘Back to recycling for you, Princess.’
    ‘Ha ha … no. Every morning