Frozen Hearts (Beyond Reality Book 3) Read online

  Frozen Hearts

  Beyond Reality

  Book 3

  by Susan Stoker

  Working as a camera operator for a hard-nosed producer isn't all fun and games. Kina is seriously thinking about making this reality show her last. She's known as being 'cold-as-ice' when it comes to men, which is appropriate since they're filming in Alaska. Before she can figure out what she wants to do with her life she had to make it through this show. The contestants aren't exactly lumberjack material and the challenges range from ridiculous to downright dangerous.

  The Alaskan reality show is Jonathan's last gig before he goes to work in security with his brother. The shoot would be completely miserable except for the fact that the one woman in the world who is meant to be his is also a camera operator on the show. He has no idea how he'll manage it, but he is determined to win her heart and convince her to move to Arizona to be with him.

  Following in the footsteps of the contestants isn't a walk in the park for the camera operators. Fighting boredom and drama within the crew, hiking across glaciers, and camping in the Alaskan wilderness isn't as safe as it seems on television. An injury on the set will either bring Jonathan and Kina together, or tear them apart for good.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2014 by Susan Stoker

  No part of this work may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotation for review purposes as permitted by law.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy.

  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Cover Design by Chris Mackey, AURA Design Group

  Manufactured in the United States

  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Alaska was cold. That was the first thing Jonathan Baker thought after walking out of the airport in Anchorage. Hell, it was September, it theoretically wasn’t that cold yet, but apparently his Arizona blood wasn’t used to it. He knew it was going to be a long shoot.

  This was Jonathan’s last job before he could go home to Arizona and start work with his brother Dean. Dean was an independent consultant and set up security for businesses and others who requested his services. He also did some pro-bono work for women who’d been stalked or who had an ex-husband or boyfriend who wouldn’t leave them alone.

  Jonathan couldn’t wait. He loved his brother and his family. He was thrilled Dean and Becky had finally ended up together after the fiasco of a reality show Jonathan had just filmed. The producer, Eddie, was good at his job, but he tended to only see money signs when dreaming up different ways to put ‘normal’ people on television. It had backfired on him in Arizona because he hadn’t done his homework when choosing the contestants. Two of the men who’d been voted off the show had hurt Becky in retaliation.

  Luckily, they were too drunk to do any lasting harm, although they’d beaten the crap out of her. As a result of the entire thing, after the lawyers got involved, it was determined that Eddie wasn’t allowed to air the reality show Becky had been on. Jonathan knew both his sister-in-law and brother were relieved not to have to deal with the publicity and any mental issues that might be triggered in Becky by watching the show and re-living the events.

  Jonathan was just thrilled his brother had found hisOnein Becky. Throughout their family history, the men in their family found they had one woman in the world who was meant for them. Finding her was never easy, but as soon as they met her, they knew. No one understood it, but they’d heard story after story of it happening. Becky was Dean’sOne. He’d taken one look at her and known. Of course she was on a reality show to find love and Dean wasn’t a contestant, so it took a bit of time, but eventually everything had worked out.

  They’d gotten married in a small but very emotional ceremony at the family’s animal refuge. Becky had wanted to elope to Vegas and do it there, but Dean wanted to give her a proper wedding, even if it was small and low-key.

  Jonathan loved Becky and was thrilled to have her as a part of their family. She was great for Dean and she loved the family and the animal refuge his parents owned and operated in Arizona. Jonathan was still trying to get over what he perceived as his role in her ordeal, but thank goodness she’d put the incident mostly behind her. He only wished he could put it behind him as easily.

  It was only a matter of time before Jonathan could get back to the warm weather of Arizona and his new career, but he had this one last job to complete as a camera operator on the reality show to finish first. Since Eddie’s last production hadn’t worked out, he’d completely changed the theme of his current reality show. He’d apparently had enough of trying to hook people up and decided to go with a “tough man” theme. This show in Alaska was about men trying to compete with each other to be crowned the one and only ‘Extreme Alaskan.’

  It was quite a change from the man’s previous shows and Jonathan wasn’t sure Eddie could pull it off. It seemed to Jonathan that there were a lot of additional safety factors that would have to be taken into account and he wasn’t sure Eddie had even thought about them. If the men on the show were going to have to survive extreme Alaskan conditions, he hoped Eddie had made all of the contestants sign a liability waiver. Maybe he’d learned his lesson after the Arizona show.

  Jonathan was one of a handful of camera operators. The number of crew had been reduced drastically for this show. Eddie said this was because it wasn’t necessary to film the contestants back at the house they’d rented as men typically didn’t have as much drama as women when they were cooped up together. Besides, Eddie had said he didn’t really care if they did have drama, he was going to concentrate on filming their extreme challenges and not their antics back at the house. Jonathan figured Eddie was also probably trying to save money. He’d lost a ton of it since he hadn’t been able to air his last show, so fewer camera operators equaled less money spent here in Alaska. Cheapskate.

  Jonathan was looking forward to this job more than ever, because it was his last one behind the camera. This wasn’t what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, and thanks to Dean, he was going to get a chance to do something different. He was also excited about this job because he’d be spending time with Kina, another camera operator. Kina was hisOne. She’d been filming on the last show in Arizona. Jonathan hadn’t truly met her until the end of the show, when he’d gone to the other camera operators for help when Becky had been hurt. Kina was standoffish and somewhat rude to most everyone, but the fir
st time Jonathan spoke to her, he knew. She was his. Somehow, some way, he’d have to make her see it.

  * * *

  Kina Venable shook her head. Eddie was an idiot. She had no idea why they had to film this stupid show in the wilds of Alaska, but once Eddie got something in his head, no one could change his mind. She’d been working with Eddie for a while now, as part of his crew in Australia and on the show they’d just finished in Arizona. She’d pretty much decided this would be the last time she worked for him, though. He wasn’t very savvy when it came to people. Oh, he was a great producer and knew how to generate great dramatic TV, but he had no clue when it came to treating people with respect.

  Kina had become good friends with Sam, one of the female contestants on the show in Australia. After the show was over, Kina had kept in touch with her. That was uncharacteristic for Kina, as she was standoffish with most people, but Sam had saved her life, and honestly, Kina liked her and wanted to get to know her better. She had spent some time visiting Sam after the last show wrapped up, needing the down-time. Seeing what’d happened to Becky had shaken her up.

  She loved seeing how happy Alex and Sam were now. Eddie had tried to make sure they didn’t end up together in Australia, but even editing Sam out of the reality show altogether hadn’t kept the two apart.

  Spending time on their ranch in Texas was always so peaceful. Sam was down-to-earth and always wanted to please everyone. Kina didn’t trust many people in her life, but Sam was now one of the few people she’d trust with any secret. Something about the other woman made Kina want to open up and share her thoughts and feelings.

  While she’d visited, she and Sam spent a lot of time talking about what had happened to Becky in Arizona. Kina was horrified the men she’d gotten to know through the camera could have it in them to do something so hideous to another human being. Kina would never understand how people could do such awful things to someone else. Murderers, stalkers, rapists, pedophiles…the list went on and on. Both Kina and Sam agreed the world could be a scary place. Thank goodness Becky was all right and had Dean to lean on, now.

  Kina wasn’t jealous—exactly, she was happy for her friend Sam, and for Becky, but even as tough as she always acted, she wanted what they had. She hadn’t had good luck finding a man who would let her be who she was, though. Because of her experiences she knew she’d become cynical and had a reputation for being a man-hater.

  But for now, Kina was stuck in Alaska. As luck would have it, she was the only female camera operator on the show. Eddie had pared down the number of operators to only five. He was being really tight with money. Because of all the crap that went down in Arizona, he’d completely changed the premise of the show from another ‘find your soul mate’ type of show, to a more extreme, ‘see how macho you can be’ format. Just the sort of thing Kina hated.

  She’d had enough of men acting like they were God’s gift to women and behaving as if they were superior in all ways to everyone around them, especially women. Lately, she didn’t like many of the guys she met. She wasn’t a lesbian, although at times she thought it was a pity that she didn’t swing that way. She was tired of having to have to deal with a man’s crap in order to get laid. She just wanted to find a man who’d let her be who she was, but at the same time would be there for her. Her last relationship was such a disaster it almost turned her off to dating altogether. Matt had been a complete jerk. She couldn’t even remember what it was that she’d liked about him in the first place.

  It was ridiculous. She knew she was being unreasonable. She wanted a guy who’d let her do whatever it was she wanted to do, but yet would be as sweet to her as Alex was with Sam. Gah. She was totally messed up in the head. A man like that likely didn’t exist.

  Kina thought about the guys who also operated the cameras on the show. She’d worked with all of the men who were contracted for this show at one time or another. Carl and Taylor, she knew from the Australian show, Jonathan, she knew from Arizona, and Jeff, she’d worked with on a past show, with a different producer.

  Jeff was a jerk; she’d learned that from working with him in the past. Carl and Taylor were good men. They were both married and pulled out pictures of their kids all the time to show off, whenever they could. Carl’s kids were Celeste and Catherine. And Taylor also happened to have two daughters, Phyllis and Beth. Kina loved listening to them try to outdo each other when telling stories about how cute their daughters were. Their stories were always hilarious, and of course, their kids were adorable.

  Jonathan was altogether different. He made her nervous. She couldn’t put her finger on why, he just did. Not nervous as in she was scared he’d hurt her, just nervous as in jittery. He was single, always polite, and she liked the way he went out of his way to help Becky when the assholes on the last show had hurt her, but there was just something about him that threw her for a loop.

  He was way too good-looking, for one thing. Not many men could pull off long hair and not look like a seventies biker dude, but he managed it. His black hair was thick and went down to about the middle of his back. He usually wore it pulled back in a ponytail so it didn’t get in his way while he was working. His main outfit of choice was faded jeans and a tight shirt. They were mostly short-sleeved when they had filmed in Arizona, but up here in Alaska, they were long-sleeved.

  Kina never saw him lose his cool. Ever. He was the most even-keeled person she’d ever met, besides herself, and that freaked her out. It was her experience that people, especially men, were hot-headed and impulsive. Even Taylor and Carl got upset at Eddie, the contestants, each other, her…but not Jonathan.

  Kina always tried to be honest with herself, but it was hard to admit that she admired Jonathan and might even like him. She typically didn’t like men. But somehow, something, wouldn’t let her dismiss Jonathan as easily as she had other men in the past. She admired him. That was what made him different from the other men she’d known. He was tenacious and had made sure he’d gotten all of the camera operators to talk to the police in Arizona to help Becky, and he wasn’t even in love with her. That kind of loyalty and compassion was rare in Kina’s life and watching it made her crave it for herself. What would it feel like to have someone feel that way about her? To have that loyalty to her? It was something she’d never had, but now that she’d seen it firsthand, she wanted it to the bottom of her soul.

  There was no way she’d do anything about it however, she’d just have to make it through the next six weeks until the show was over. Unless Eddie changed drastically, she’d find another production company to join up with and be on her way.

  Chapter Two

  Eddie gathered his camera operators around him for their first production meeting before the contestants were to arrive later that day.

  “Hello again, everyone. Welcome to Alaska.I wanted to make sure you knew what I expected of you for this shoot and what the general plan is for the show. As you know, this isnot a dating show. I’m bringing in twelve men to compete in typical Alaskan challenges each week. At the end of the six weeks, there will be two men left and they will have to go out in the wild and survive over a three day period. The person who completes all of the tasks the best will be named the ultimate Extreme Alaskan.

  “The plan for the first few weeks is to travel only a short distance away from Anchorage to compete in mini-challenges. While those challenges are going on, you’ll all have to be on hand for filming. When we aren’t filming challenges, your time will mostly be your own, as will the contestants’. They won’t be allowed to leave the production house, but neither will we be filming them all day, every day, either.

  “Generally, you’ll all be working at the same time. You won’t be assigned to work all day every day, but it’ll vary with what is going,as to how long you’ll work. I’ve procured a different hotel than where you stayed last night. This one is closer to the production house. You’ll stay there for the rest of the shoot. I expect you to arrive at the set on time and to work your entire shift
. There’s a rental SUV that you’ll have to share. You pay for your own gas if you decide to go anywhere other than the set and the hotel. It’s up to the five of you to figure out who’s driving when and where. I don’t have time to deal with that crap. Also, I’ve had enough drama to last me a lifetime, so keep it to yourselves. I don’t want to hear about it. Nothing can go wrong on this show, and I meannothing. The rest of my career depends on this show going off without a hitch. Does anyone have any issues with anything I’ve said so far?”

  Nobody said a word. Even Jeff, who was usually a complete smartass, kept his mouth shut. It was obvious Eddie was dead serious and that his past legal troubles had changed the type of producer he was.

  “Great,” Eddie said, continuing with his rules for the show. “When we get down to the last few challenges they’ll most likely be overnight wilderness trips. You’ll be split up and will be paired together to watch and film the men competing in and completing the challenges. The contestants will be sent out either in pairs or in a trio and there will be two cameras on them the entire time. I expect you to work together amicably and to get the money shots while they’re out there. If you don’t think you can hack the temperatures or the kind of terrain we’ll be sending the contestants out in, let me know now and I’ll replace you.”

  Kina scowled at Eddie, as he stared right at her. She glared back. Just because she was female didn’t mean she couldn’t handle the cold temperatures. What a jerk. When she didn’t say anything, Eddie finally nodded his head and continued.

  “All the contestants have signed waivers of liability so if anything happens to them on the set, anything at all, no one can come back and sue us. You’re all covered as well because of the contract you signed. If you get hurt, you’re covered by the company’s insurance.” Left unsaid, was the implication that the show would be aired no matter what might happen to a contestant or one of the camera operators as well.