The Charming Storm Chaser - Page 7

“I think he was right,” I breathe, taking it all in. “These horse stables look nicer than my house!”

He laughs. “Nicer than mine too.”

When we arrive at the designated spot, I try to grab a seat at the table with the other camera operators. But Kane calls out my name and gestures for me to sit with him at a two-top near the window.

How can I resist?

“Best seat in the house,” he says as I sit across from him.

“Shouldn’t we eat with everyone else?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “I’m too aggravated to be part of a big crowd tonight.”

“Aggravated about what?”

He stares at me in disbelief. “About being skunked! We’re a third of the way through shooting and we still haven’t seen a single storm.” He runs a hand through his thick, wavy hair. “This is the problem with trying to do a TV show. The schedule is too inflexible. We were forced to put together a crew and just hit the road in hope of finding something. But I can’t just conjure severe weather from the clear blue sky!”

“No one expects you to,” I say soothingly.

He raises an eyebrow. “Isn’t the whole point of the show to film storms?”

“Well,” I say, tilting my head in thought, “Not really. The show is about chasing storms. I think viewers would be just as happy to see you grow frustrated with the lack of weather as they would if you captured the storm of the century on camera. It’s reality TV, after all. People love to watch others fail.”

He frowns. “That’s not my style.”

One of the forecasters approaches us with a laptop in tow. “Mr. Charming, I’d like you to see this. There’s a storm brewing just west of us.”

Kane inspects the radar and breathes a sigh of relief. “That’s the line of storms we’ve been waiting for,” he says. “We’ll need to get an early start tomorrow… it looks like eastern Kentucky is where we need to be.”

He makes arrangements with other crew members before turning back to me. When they leave and his eyes meet mine again, I nearly drop my fork. His face looks like Christmas morning—just as I’d known it would.

“I hope you’re ready to see some real weather tomorrow!” His good mood is infectious, and I can’t help but grin back at him.

Damn, I hate being right all the time.

Chapter 6

Cami

A thick blanket of fog hangs over the town as we walk to our truck the following morning. Kane opens my door as I stifle a yawn.

“Podcast, audiobook, or chat?” he asks as he pulls the truck out of the hotel’s parking space.

“Chat,” I say. “I’m afraid I’ll fall asleep if you don’t keep me awake.”

“Not a morning person?” he teases.

“Not even a little,” I admit.

“What do you want to chat about?”

“Let’s start with something easy,” I suggest. “Where’d you go to college?”

He shakes his head. “I didn’t go to college.”

My brows shoot up in surprise. “Oh, sorry. Since you’re considered one of the best storm chasers in the world, I just assumed you had some sort of degree in weather science.”

He smiles. “I love to read and learn new things, and I’ve always been obsessed with severe storms. So, I taught myself meteorology. After a while, I began meeting up with other storm chasers and learned a lot from them, too.” He glances at me over his shoulder. “Besides that, I couldn’t afford tuition. My sister was smart enough to get a full ride to Vanderbilt, but I was only ever good at the classes I enjoyed. As for the rest, I scraped by. No one was lining up to give me a scholarship.”